"Someone's trying to frame me, I don't have a reason to steal prey from others" at this point, Meng 37 had no choice but to insist on his innocence.
This was completely incomprehensible. He didn't know why his prey was swapped out with another person's, but he fully believed in his own innocence.
"What do you mean there isn't a reason? Isn't the fact that you're dissatisfied with your status as an inferior Desolate and want to become a Warrior the exact reason why you'd steal?"
"I…" Meng 37 was completely speechless.
There was no way he could say that he found a treasure and gained a buff that allowed him to hunt without issues, could he?
These kinds of treasures were obviously not something people like him should have gotten their hands on in the first place. The tribe could only ensure relative fairness, if anyone truly found a treasure and turned it in, the tribe would only reward them with a bit of benefit.
Meng 37 had his ambitions, he was naturally unwilling to simply hand his treasure over, so he couldn't explain why he was able to obtain so much prey in a short period of time. Even if he told the truth right now, he wouldn't benefit from it and would only have his treasure taken away.
…
While the [Protagonist] of a world could be considered the ruler of all beings, the natural king of the people, but before their [Protagonist Aura] was fully released, the only unique characteristics they display would be unusually strong luck and a great level of information disturbance.
In other words, various things would 'accidentally' occur around the [Protagonist] with the goal of training them, forging them step by step into a person capable of sustaining the fully released [Protagonist Aura].
For that reason, a [Protagonist] wasn't necessarily unbeatable, they were merely hard to kill under the world spirit's protection.
There was originally a corresponding function within the world's operation system, as long as it was in line with the world's operation, the world spirit could aid the [Protagonist] in various indirect manners. For example, to increase the first impression of everyone towards the [Protagonist], thus giving him a helping hand when he needed it most.
However, Meng 37 had only just begun his path as a [Protagonist], he still hadn't manifested his own glow or aura, so everyone's impression of him right now was that of a petty thief. It wasn't impossible for the world spirit to impose goodwill towards Meng 37 on everyone, but that would only interfere with the world's operation, which was essentially putting a wrench into its own gears.
It could be said that for the world as a whole, to ensure normal operation, even the world spirit had to follow its rules. Things that were out of the ordinary or even miracles could be made to happen, but not too often.
Since the [Protagonist] hadn't even begun his journey, the world spirit didn't feel a need to break the rules for something so minor.
And thus, when Meng 37 had no way of proving his innocence, his right of residency was stripped and he became a slave. In this world, slaves were synonymous with 'spare offerings', and there was a chance of him being dragged away to be sacrificed at any moment.
…
Sitting in the stinky prison, Meng 37's expression was completely grim. No matter how much he thought about it, he really couldn't imagine why someone would frame him. After all, he was only an inferior Desolate, no matter how much he didn't want to admit it, those who had the power to frame him wouldn't even bother to glance at him.
"Regardless, I can't continue like this. Being a slave has no future" Meng 37 recalled how the majority of slaves usually turn out, causing his originally tanned face to become even blacker: "Of course, there are also exceptions"
There was indeed a precedent of slaves managing to leave their status behind to become a Warrior in the Meng tribe. Holding the beast tooth in his hand, Meng 37 silently made up his mind.
I have to prove my strength.
Currently shirtless, Meng 37 wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead, then continued to break the ore in front of him using his pickaxe before throwing it into a nearby wheelbarrow. Slaves were usually forced to continuously do hard labor until they ran out of strength and died.
Suddenly, Meng 37 saw the one called Meng Li approaching the mining area with a cold expression on his face, leading several people to talk with the manager of the mines. Thanks to his enhanced sense of hearing, Meng 37 was able to hear something about unusual digger beasts attacking as well as setting up a defense; from which he understood why Meng Li had come here.
Essentially, they discovered a type of unusual digger beast and came here in order to capture that unusual beast. It was because he understood this that Meng 37 felt even more unwilling to accept this fact, because being assigned this job could only mean that the other party had already become a Warrior.
He was supposed to be first, obtaining a treasure that could change his life and gathering enough prey. These two joyous occasions should have doubled the joy, so why did things become like this?
However, this is also an opportunity.
Meng 37 suppressed his jealousy and instead began to think about the benefits this could bring him.
By helping them catch the unusual digger beast, I'll prove my strength. And since the one who reported the theft was Meng Li, as long as he helps me prove my innocence, I should be able to clear my name and escape being a slave.
And so, when Meng 37 volunteered himself as bait to draw the unusual digger beast out, Meng Li's impression of him clearly got better, which delighted Meng 37. From this point, by relying on his enhanced senses, he'd very easily be able to find the unusual digger beast.
Contributions would give him a chance to leave slavery.
"It's over here, I can sense the ground trembling, good…" while soaked in animal's blood, Meng 37 stood at the bottom of the mines and reported to Meng Li and the others.
Everything went smoothly and the unusual digger beast swiftly showed itself, after waiting for a bit for the Totems to take effect, the unusual beast would be caught in no time.
Right at this moment, cracks suddenly formed in the ceiling right above and caused a cave-in, raining numerous stones on top of everyone who was fighting the unusual digger beast.
While the Warriors of the tribe had Totems, these Totem Warriors who accepted this mission were clearly at a preliminary level. They still needed to continuously offer more sacrifices in order to slowly nurture their Totems. A cave-in of this level required at least a Great Totem Warrior in order to resist against, so this group of amateurs were completely wiped out without fail.
On the other hand, Meng 37 was completely intact except for a bit of dust on his body. Suddenly feeling a bad omen, Meng 37 entered the zone of the collapse to observe and found traces of external sabotage above the rocks.
Behind him, he also heard the other slaves running in due to the commotion. As Meng 37 observed the traces, his lips twitched and approached the fallen rocks to pull out Meng Li's metal sword.
"What happened?"
As he heard the sound of someone calling out from behind, Meng 37 turned around, greeting the person with a smile and an unhesitant sword thrust through the heart. As blood spurted on his face, his smile also became a bit twisted.
…
Half a day later, the Meng tribe issued a wanted order for Meng 37, charging him with the crime of using traps to kill Warriors of the tribe, a target for everyone to kill.
Who exactly is the bastard who did this!?
Meng 37 quickly travelled through the forest. He perfectly understood just how powerful the tribe was, the only reason why someone who wasn't even a Warrior like him managed to flee from the mines was that the Warrior who guarded the mines was also crushed under those rocks. Having no other choice, he could only try to run.
However, there was a price to pay for becoming a rogue Desolate, as he had become a hunting target for everyone while drastically decreasing his chances of becoming a Warrior.
…
"Achoo…"
Killer J rubbed his nose and observed Meng 37 as he slowly fled. He knew that the world spirit would soon act to provide the [Protagonist] with some privileges, and it would be extremely difficult to stop this from happening.
