After confirming that the envoy understood his meaning, Leilin directly seized the gold and silver wealth the envoy had brought, then had someone take the group of envoys to meet the surviving chieftains before driving them off the great vessel.
"See that? This island is brimming with wealth! And the natives who guard it are so cowardly and ignorant..."
Leilin stepped onto the gold, gazing at the greedy looks in his subordinates' eyes.
"I declare! Half of this gold, and half of all future plunder, belongs to you... Distribute this gold now..."
The pirates' cheers erupted, drawing a smile to Leilin's lips.
Though the pile of gold looked impressive, once divided among three thousand pirates, how much would each man actually receive?
But it would certainly inflame their greed and deepen their impression of Banksi Island's riches, becoming the driving force for future wars!
Already, Leilin had spotted many pirates with bloodshot eyes, itching to seize all of Banksi Island and plunder its wealth without restraint.
Faith without profit cannot drive believers to march willingly to their deaths — at least not yet. So Leilin had to bring tangible gains to his followers. And gleaming gold was undoubtedly the finest catalyst.
"
"That Engodo tribe — they're related to one of them through marriage, aren't they? The two tribes must have a good relationship to jointly rule this territory..."
"That's not necessarily true at all! After all, we're not natives — we don't know how they think. And two tribes living so close together with no friction? Impossible!" Tifa offered a different opinion.
"Indeed! And if they won't act, we can give them a nudge — for example, spreading rumors that one side is about to attack the Engodo tribe, or even posing as natives to raid their villages ourselves..."
A shrewd gleam flickered in Leilin's eyes. "Once the seeds of suspicion are planted, uprooting them is never so easy. And as things escalate, war becomes inevitable!"
"Once both tribes are exhausted, we sweep in and destroy them in one stroke — seizing the bridgehead to all of Banksi Island at the smallest possible cost!"
Isabel now understood Leilin's plan and had to admit it was highly feasible.
But her brow furrowed as she raised another concern: "With such a large-scale operation, what if the Sakakatsi Empire discovers us? If they intervene, with our current strength we'd likely be driven straight into the sea..."
Banksi Island was the size of several kingdoms. At its heart lay the Sakakatsi Empire, while various tribes dotted the periphery.
Although Leilin's group had chosen a relatively remote area for their schemes, this was still a single contiguous island. Without the ocean as a natural barrier, news would spread quickly.
"Don't worry. They'll soon have their hands full..." Leilin shook his head with a smile, and the implications in his words sent a chill down both Isabel's and Tifa's spines.
...
After all, tribes sharing the same territory and competing for survival resources could hardly maintain genuine camaraderie.
Moreover, the totem spirits of both tribes hungered to devour each other and grow stronger, gaining more power. Combined with all the other factors, the outbreak of conflict was entirely expected.
To show good faith, Leilin's fleet made no move to dock on the mainland. Instead, he sent most of his ships away, and the remaining vessels avoided the war zones, maintaining an air of detachment.
Furthermore, Leilin even purchased war captives from both tribes — these were strong, able-bodied native warriors. Whether trained as auxiliary troops or shipped back to Chihuahua Island as slaves, they were invaluable.
And for the wealth used to purchase these captives, Leilin was far too shrewd to squander precious metals like gold and silver. Instead, he simply provided obsolete military hardware!
Armed with firearms, the native tribes gained greater power, allowing them to plunder more captives to sell onward. To avoid falling behind, the enemy tribes had no choice but to trade with Leilin as well, creating a vicious cycle in which both sides bled each other dry while only Leilin feasted at their expense.
While everything outside was in full swing, Leilin quietly sequestered himself in his laboratory.
The trade affairs could be left to his subordinates. These pirates had plenty of experience with such tactics from their earlier native slave-capturing operations and could handle things with ease.
What Leilin was working on now was far more important — a trump card that would ensure the Sakakatsi Empire could not interfere!
In the dim light, Leilin gazed at the culture dish before him, which held a piece of semi-decomposed muscle tissue. The scanning beam of the Chip flickered across his eyes.
"Already reached this stage?"
The flesh on the culture dish had been harvested from native test subjects, and through countless experiments, Leilin had largely mapped their genetic sequence, enabling him to develop a highly targeted epidemic bacterium.
[Ding! Infection Source No. 2 activity stable. Reading curve...] The Chip projected a massive stream of data before Leilin's eyes, and he nodded repeatedly.
"Excellent..."
Leilin used a small pair of tweezers to lift the tissue sample and placed it into a test tube filled with transparent solution.
[Experiment No. 17,642 initiated! Collecting data...]
The Chip's mechanical reminder sounded as Leilin watched intently — the tissue dissolved within the solution, forming a mass of tendrils that then coalesced into clusters of foam.
"Hmm! The fission is stable — the chances of success this time are very high!"
Leilin nodded, his hands occasionally flickering with spell-light as he used radiant energy to forcefully influence the organism's evolution.
After the violent reaction subsided, Leilin looked at the blood-red test tube in his hand, and a satisfied smile crossed his face.
[Ding! New lethal bacterial strain developed successfully. Please designate a name!]
"Genetic Virus No. 1." Leilin named it with casual indifference.
[Ding! Designation recorded. Archiving data...] The Chip faithfully executed Leilin's command and projected the digitized records before him.
[Genetic Virus No. 1: Specialized genetic weapon. Pathogenic bacterium with extremely resilient survivability — can persist for over 100 hours in extreme heat and cold. Transmitted via upper respiratory tract. Infection rate: 90%! Mortality rate: 90%! No natural immunity possible. Secondary transmission observed! (Note: This bacterium has been genetically calibrated for extreme specificity. Current target: Stock Native Sample No. 1!)]
Targeting only the natives, with high infectivity, pathogenicity, and lethality — in essence, a hybrid of smallpox's deadliness and influenza's contagiousness. Leilin had no doubt that releasing this would be more terrifying than unleashing demons and devils!
And the 10% survival margin wasn't out of mercy — he was simply afraid that if every last native died, he would lose his source of faith.
"Can't let them all die off, but wiping out the majority is perfectly fine. Even so, the remaining natives would still provide enough believers to support my ascension to true godhood..."
Leilin stroked his chin in thought.
In his previous world, releasing such a pathogen would have been an extinction-level catastrophe for the natives of Banksi Island. But the rules of this world of gods and demons were different — one had to account for supernatural forces and the existence of deities. Besides, Leilin had built in a safety margin, so presumably a small portion of the natives would survive.
"After developing the plague, the next step is the antidote and the vaccine..."
Though the human body couldn't develop natural immunity against this viral weapon, external intervention to stimulate immunity was entirely feasible. This was the back door Leilin had built for himself.
As the natives fell ill and died in droves, any native who received the Feathered Serpent God's baptism — which was really just taking the antidote and receiving the vaccine — would earn the right to live. Once word of that spread, imagine the impact!
The priests of the totem spirits would be fortunate to keep their noble patrons alive, let alone have any divine power remaining to heal the common folk.
Therefore, Leilin was certain that his faith would reap an enormous harvest.
"And when the believers die off en masse, the totem spirits' power will inevitably decline — even demigods can't prevent that. Since these bound spirits can't leave their respective domains without suffering devastating losses, for them it's a dead end!"
A sharp gleam flashed in Leilin's eyes.
With a mere wave of his hand, he had sealed the fates of millions of natives. Leilin's current actions could hardly be described as merely "evil."
If he could accumulate just a bit more faith, with a single thought he could become the God of Plague or the God of Biological Warfare, directly usurping the original Goddess of Plague's position — though he had little interest in that particular domain.
"But... the divine portfolios of disease and plague may be difficult to consolidate, but there's one I absolutely cannot pass up —
Leilin's plans had always been interlocking and sequential. Using both the plague and the antidote to conquer all of Banksi Island in the fastest, most efficient manner was only one objective. Another was to gain insight into the domain of Death through the massive loss of life!
Slaughter and Death — both were immensely powerful domains, perfectly suited to Leilin's current stage, making him covetous of their power.
With the extinction of a million lives, the death-force on the island would become terrifyingly dense, and comprehending the domain of Death was entirely within reach.
Compared to this, everything else could be utterly disregarded.
In Leilin's view, only great chaos could bring great order. Only after experiencing the current suffering could the natives of Banksi Island sincerely accept his rule and usher in a new age of prosperity.