Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1686 - 1201: Chief Divine Festival, Cuba’s Alliance, Trade, and Farming

In Iron Bay Town, the Chief Divine's grand festival lasted several days. After the first day's blood sacrifice, all the captive craftsmen who surrendered trembled as they drank Rodrigo's Blood Wine, taking a Blood Oath to convert to the Supreme Main God, as if they were under a spell of a Blood Curse. The royal steward Gutierrez was even more tearful, kowtowing to High Priest Tomate, begging for surrender, fearful of becoming the next Rodrigo, a sacrifice in the terrifying "Demon Ritual," with his soul eternally falling into the Hell of Fire!

"Praise the Supreme Main God! Fight for the God, die for the God!..."

After witnessing this heart-shaking sacrifice, the Kingdom's Warriors and the tribespeople sang and celebrated, devoutly kneeling before the Temple, praising the name of the Chief Divine. The Taino Chiefs and leaders from various tribes also showed reverence, kneeling down in prayer, truly planting the seeds of faith. Then, High Priest Tomate invited the chieftains to discuss matters within the Temple, about preaching the Chief Divine's teachings across various tribes and forming a Taino Tribal Alliance.

"The Chief Divine's blessing! More than thirty Taino tribes in the hot lands of Cuba must unite, worship the Chief Divine, and form a Hot Land Tribal Alliance! Of course, a few chieftains from West Haiti can also join with their tribes! The tribes that join the alliance can support each other, exchange resources, and send militia to assist... And here in Iron Bay Town, it will be the center of the entire Hot Land Tribal Alliance!..."

Faced with the proposal to form a tribal alliance, the various tribes of Eastern Cuba, especially the Northeast Coast that had been plundered by Evil Demons, expressed their approval actively. However, the tribes of Western Cuba and West Haiti seemed hesitant, discussing fervently among themselves.

Of course, High Priest Tomate understood early on that with the kingdom's current strength in Cuba, organizing tens of large tribes that are far apart with different ideas, even with the threat of Evil Demons, would not be easily achieved!

For High Priest Tomate, his first-phase goal was not too ambitious. Initially, just creating a nominal alliance, expanding the dispatch of the Kingdom's Warriors and training the tribes' militia range, would already be a great success! More alliance operations, preaching, and control await until large reinforcements from the Black Wolf and more Chief God Priests arrive in Cuba...

Outside the Temple, tribespeople from each tribe laughed and engaged in what was the most important purpose of attending the sacrifice, which was trading the tribes' goods! The three thousand miles of Cuba, besides all growing Cassava, had different surplus productions, and Iron Bay Town was the trading center for all tribes.

The Iguanodon Tribe's iguana skins, the Lake Bird Tribe's feathers, the Havana Tribe's Divine Smoke, the Salt Coast Tribe's rock salt, the Fish Bay Tribe's dried fish, the Sacrificial Plains Tribe's pottery, the Camaguey Tribe's cotton thread, the Gold Lake Tribe's copper stones, the Marine Tribe's pearls, as well as the Great Gold Tribe of Haiti's gold sand, the Stone River Tribe's jade stones, and Iron Bay Town's Lake Gems and ironware were all exchanged in the grand market, goods for goods!

Indeed, for the productivity-challenged tribes of the Caribbean Sea, there was no universally recognized currency. The production and trade scale of the tribes had not yet reached a stage to issue currency. Even gold and silver or gemstones were not recognized by many tribes. If anything could barely be considered a general equivalent, it would only be the Cuban tobacco, which everyone favored!...

"Praise Wezi Lopo! Can bird feathers be exchanged for jade? Can iguana skin be traded for pearls? Can dried fish even change for gold sand?..."

Seeing the honest bartering of the Taino people at the trading market, Goldsmith Paulo's eyes almost turned red with longing. Unfortunately, because of his obvious skin color, no Taino Chief would trade with him, there were even calls to beat and kill. In the end, he could only find Ah Gou Chachu and with a few pieces of ironware, exchange for a small bag of precious gold sand from the Great Gold Tribe's chieftain. Then, the two of them shared it, grinning widely.

"Ah! Praise Wezi Lopo! I've drifted on the sea for twenty years, experienced so much life and death, stained my hands with so much blood, even having to sleep with one eye open!... Only this native's Divine Smoke can relax me completely from head to toe, even more joyously than being with a woman! Truly miraculous, truly marvelous!... If I have this kind of Divine Smoke to inhale constantly, even not returning to the Kingdom of Castile is worth it!..."

Not far away, Boatswain Bartolome was squatting in a corner, smoking Havana Tribe's handmade tobacco, leisurely blowing smoke rings. As an old sailor used to seeing storms, licking blood on the knife edge, and lacking any faith, honestly, normal pleasures couldn't calm his violent heart. Only this unprecedented Divine Smoke could bring him a rare peace, even allowing him a rare good sleep... Simply put, he had no resistance to this stuff.

"Right! Right!... Truly good, better than the Holy Mother of Heaven!..."

Sailor Gonzalo gathered beside him, holding a cigarette but unwilling to smoke, instead earnestly inhaling the secondhand smoke, his face showing a bit of intoxication. These exceptionally superb tobaccos were obtained by Barto swapping clothes, hats, and daggers with Ah Gou. Now, the two Castilian sailors were dressed in Taino people's straw clothing, aside from the scimitar at their waists and the firestone in their arms, there was almost no sign of them being Castilians anymore.

"Oh! There's a wooden beast here that can run!..."

"Hiss! Could this be the spell of an Evil Demon?..."

Among the captives, Carpenter Antonio was the most skillful, crafting a cart with wooden wheels that could carry a load of timber. The Taíno Tribespeople watched in amazement. Unfortunately, this type of cart wasn't practical; it could only run on the flat terrain of the village, and the outside jungle marshes were out of the question. As for the little sailor, Gil, who was also the chicken-raiser Ah Gou, he was thrown near the tribe's chicken pen, responsible for raising the tribe's turkeys.

"Ah... Almighty! There are such... such big chickens here? Is it even possible? Could humans raise these? Or is it truly... that the natives' blood wizards used witchcraft to turn people into chickens? Hiss! Such evil, such Devils, no wonder the Red Hair Retainer called it 'huehxōlōtl,' 'human turned into a large chicken'..."

Seeing the large "chickens" with a wingspan of 1.56 meters, weighing over ten kilograms, little Gil's eyes widened, filled with terrifying thoughts of the witchcraft preached by the Church. He had previously asked the Red Hair Retainer what animals he was supposed to raise. The other drew a simple sketch of a little human, then added a few strokes, suddenly turning it into a chicken. "Human turned into a large chicken," it scared him so much he wet himself!

"Horrifying blood sacrifices! Horrifying blood wizards! Turning people into chickens!..."

Recalling the terrifying blood sacrifice from not long ago, little Gil shivered all over, too frightened to speak. He looked down at the naive, plump turkey, yet no matter how he looked, it seemed like a ferocious human. Left with no choice, as the Red Hair Retainer ordered him to raise the chickens, disobedience meant death. Trembling, he cautiously approached the large "chicken," knelt, and prayed.

"Ah! Holy... Holy Mother! You were turned into a chicken by the natives' wizards! Please do not eat... eat me... I promise to raise you... fat... fat and strong... so that the natives' wizards can eat you... Hiss! That's terrifying!"

Across the bustling and lively Iron Bay Town, in a remote southeastern corner, lay a vast barren grassland with many big and small pits dug out, and piles of fermenting manure. Next to the pits where people squatted, there were also heaps of leaves, pressed down by stones. From time to time, Warriors of the Kingdom came and went, squatting and rising, leaving fertilizer for farming. This place was the largest "public toilet" in Iron Bay Town and the entire tribe's composting site!

"Merciful Almighty! My brother-in-law abandoned me and ran away alone... and I believed in the natives' god, cursed with a horrible malicious blood curse, becoming a 'chieftain' of the natives, specifically tasked with using excrement to compost nitrate? Goddess of Destiny! You have spun my thread of fate onto the spindle, what kind of woven cloth will it become? What kind of pattern, and what kind of ending?"

"Chief Alana! Time to work!"

Guard Chief Alana stood desolately at the pit's edge, the evening wind carrying evocative scents, making him even more forlorn. But soon, the call of the Taino Militia snapped him back from the dense-scented gloom.

Looking at the Taino Militiamen with bird patterns etched on their foreheads, axes at their waists, and unfriendly faces, Alana forced a smile, nodding vigorously. He knew these militiamen were not only assigned by the Red Hair Retainer to work with him but also to monitor him and perhaps eliminate him if they were suspicious... Quickly, he picked up a stone shovel and dragged it across the dirt, drawing two long lines.

"Lord of Vizilopo! Our first goal is to dig out the composting trough! This wide, this long, dug two arms deep, with the earth piled on one side... Yes, just like that! Yes, once the trench is dug, sprinkle lime, build a rain-shelter bamboo shed, and then we can start adding manure and toilet soil for composting!"

"May the Almighty bless us! May the Goddess of Destiny bless us! And may the native's earth god bless us! This time, the composting must succeed! I cannot die... Brother-in-law, please bring the large ship and come back to save me! Boo hoo hoo!"