Rope didn't even give these villagers a chance to resist.
Seriously, this was already the third village they had found together. The quality of the people in these villages was getting worse and worse...
The first village, which was Diana's village, had all the younger people left except for some of the older ones. The connection with the outside world is not much. But it hasn't been broken either.
The second village is Eiichi's village, although because of the energy problem is trapped and locked in the village, isolated, autistic. But she still has a yearning for the outside world, to a greater or lesser extent. And he's careful to see if he can fit into the outside world.
And now this village...and a truly primitive village and its think. It seemed to have very little contact with the outside world, and remained a primitive tribe...and it didn't seem to have any desire to change.
Aohane glanced at the man in the lead he didn't recognize the man but he knew that this man must be quite something...after all this kind of strength wasn't something an average person could possess.
"These people behind Rope...just let them follow like that?"
Whitley followed behind Rope, first glancing at the guards following behind him, with ugly faces. Then opened his mouth to ask.
"What else would it be? This is someone's territory alright..."
Rope smiled and stroked Whitley's head, "This itself is someone else's territory, and us trespassing in here is actually going too far."
Whitley rolled his eyes at Rope. Since it was already excessive, Rope naturally wouldn't mind going a bit further... this guy's bottom line was there, but it really wasn't high...
"Alright, let's not talk about this, let's continue walking. Don't worry about these people...they're all just inconsequential."
Rope wasn't at all polite when he said that.
"Aohane...what next?"
Kosuke asked as he followed Aohane's lead and opened his mouth.
Aohane looked at the divine wind speed dog. Some of his eyes were coveted and at the same time he was also very wary...such a powerful wind speed dog...this person must not be simple, he should be among the very strong group of outsiders.
But what are they planning to do by coming to hit their village? Is there anything in our village worth their quest?
Aohane pondered, unable to find an answer for a moment.
"Let's take one step at a time. The strength is not as good as others, and we have to look at others' faces for everything now." Aohane spoke somewhat helplessly.
They knew that there was nothing they could do if Rope wanted to force his way in, and now if the other party didn't have the intention to force his way in. Then it was best for them to go along with the other party's wishes.
"Let someone with fast feet go back first and report a message to the village chief and the others, saying that they understand the strength of this one, so that the village chief can think about a way to deal with it... I have no idea anyway."
Aohane shook his head somewhat helplessly before walking quickly in Rope's direction.
Kosuke looked at Aohane's back and shook his head helplessly as well. Of course he knew what Aohane meant...this was actually saying in front of the village head that he couldn't do it...which was obviously unwise for Aohane to inherit the village head position.
But the matter had come to this, and it could only be arranged in such a way. With a shake of his head, he called over a youth and muttered a few words in his ear. The youth nodded, and ran sideways and circuitously towards the front.
Rope certainly didn't fail to notice. But he didn't bother. He was more interested in the youth running to his side instead.
Aohane looked at this youth, who was even smaller than himself, and for a moment was even more speechless. He had trained hard, and as a result, the odds were now that he wouldn't be able to catch a single move in the hands of this guy who was smaller than himself...
In this river?
Rope didn't know what was going on in his mind, otherwise he would have definitely replied back to him with ''In this Ganges River.''
After all, the frog at the bottom of the well, even if it is strong, that has not seen the vastness of heaven and earth. Moreover, a frog at the bottom of a well would lose its motivation to fight when it is invincible against all kinds of small bugs.
If all the frogs at the bottom of the well are strong, then it's not the bottom of the well...it's a breeding ground...
Rope didn't think this would be any kind of place to raise parasites either.
"What are you doing here?"
"I would like to ask why exactly Your Excellency came to our village." Aohane's face wore a trifle of humility. To talk with your fists when politeness was useless. But when fists can't speak for others...one must be polite.
Rope smiled and said, "It's nothing, I'm a researcher and these two girls behind me are my assistants and students. We heard about the very peculiar monuments in your village, so we're here to do some conservation research."
Aohane's eyes narrowed as if he had gotten some information.
"I wonder from what source you got the information, sir."
"What do you care?"
Rope said with a light smile.
Aohane had no temper at all at that comment... all he could do was nod his head in a sarcastic manner before changing his question.
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
Since the tough approach wouldn't work then it might as well be a soft one. It looked like this person wasn't a completely evil person. So this kind of person if you go along with everything then he will respect your reasonable needs.
A gentleman can bully his way out of a square.
"I'm not sure if there are any right now. Let's talk to your village chief directly when the time comes." Rope opened his mouth full of unconcern, then sighed and said, "I don't want to start a conflict with you guys either, after all, it's not easy for all of us either. But you guys need to cooperate with me as well."
"Or I'll just have to make you guys cooperate with my work."
Rope's words were still helpless. It was like a feeling of deploring the fact that the secretary was a thief...
The corners of Aohane's mouth twitched... he didn't know if this person was a good person or not, this person must be a bitch for sure...
Rope looked at Aohane's face and smiled. It was still fun to tease such 'innocent' fools. Wild? It was better to be civilized.
Rope spoke again, "Do you still do rituals in this village?"
Aohane's brow furrowed once more unsure if he should answer or not.
"Look, that's all there is to say that you intend to help me? You won't even answer my first question."
Rope still had that same look of pain on his face.
"There will still be sacrifices, a small one every month. At the end of the year there will be a major sacrifice."
He could only answer truthfully now. Though he didn't know where Rope had gotten this news about their sacrifices. But it wasn't like it was, like, a secret...
Rope nodded, having some basic understanding of the state of this village. It looked like the traditions of this village shouldn't have been lost.
Rope looked the man's clothes up and down carefully, then unsurprisingly noticed a very strange symbol.
Rope pointed to the large mouth-like design on his shirt and asked.
"Is this the symbol of your village?"
Rope's question froze Aohane in his tracks... first he was going to open his mouth to retort. But a little later it was a slight frown. Making a thoughtful look.
Rope didn't bother him either. Though Rope already had the answer basically.
After a while, Aohane nodded seriously and spoke, "It's possible. I hadn't even noticed such a thing before. But now that I think about it. There are still a lot of these signs in our village. Whether it's on clothes or houses."
"The village elders told us that the signs can be used to pray for blessings and peace."
Aohane was also serious in what he said. To be able to find such details after looking at it so twice, it was evident that this self-proclaimed researcher really had his own abilities as well.
Rope could be said to be satisfied with Aohane's attitude. Nodding, he said, "Are you still sacrificing to Arceus?"
"Arceus?"
Aohane used a puzzled tone.
That froze Rope for a moment. Including Whitley, Diana, and Hoopa behind him, who all froze...
"Isn't Arceus the one you worship?"
Rope spoke up in confusion.
"No, we don't know the name of the god either...but we do know that the god gives us protection."
Aohane did look serious and worshipful as he said this. It was as if his god was looking down on him.
Rope and the two men and the demon behind him looked at each other.
After a moment, Rope said, "Then let's go quickly o'clock...I can't wait to see your god's true form."
Rope actually already had a guess, but he really needed to double check.
"So you're saying...there are very powerful outsiders coming into our forest and Aohane and the dogs can't there's no way to fight them off?"
The village headman who was sitting in his place spoke up and asked.
The youth below nodded and said, "Yes village chief, the other party is very powerful and we can't deal with them at all. The unseen Pokémon by his side easily controlled all of us. We don't have the ability to resist at all."
Pokémon of the Superpower Department were indeed bug-level conveniences. As long as they were strong enough, then there was basically nothing they couldn't do. Going up to the sky and sea, controlling cranes and tackling dragons.
The village chief pondered for a moment, then spoke, "You will wait for them over at the village entrance now, and when you see the other party coming, immediately come over and shout at me."
"Yes! Village Chief!"
The youth paused his head, then got up and walked out of the place, heading towards the village entrance.
The village headman didn't look too good when he came to say which line. He knew that knowing Aohane, since Aohane said that he didn't have the means to cope with it, then he really couldn't cope with it.
"Village Chief! I'll go test the depths of that man." The middle-aged man spoke up.
The village chief stroked his white beard and revealed a contemplative expression.
A moment later, he nodded and said, "Since Aohane said he couldn't beat him, then the strength of the other party should really not be underestimated. You must be careful when fighting the other party."
"And you should also go all out, it's best if you can force out the opponent's true strength."
The middle-aged man nodded at his words and responded, "Don't worry, Village Chief, I won't let anyone underestimate our village."
With that, he walked towards the door. He had to prepare for a fight now.
The village chief looked at his back as he walked away and stroked his white beard.
If Aohane said he couldn't fight, then he couldn't fight.
Whether the village chief went on or this middle-aged man went on it would all end one way or the other. But at least the villagers must be made to understand. It wasn't as if their village chief hadn't resisted. And the stronger the opponent was, the less they would lose face.
If it was possible, the village head couldn't wait for that outsider to directly display the strength to destroy the entire village with a single strike. Then their submission would be logical.
Not a moment later, the youth who had just left quickly ran into the courtyard of the village chief's house.
"Village Chief! Village Chief! Those people have come!"
The village chief's eyes lit up at the words, then he got up, straightened his clothes, and prepared me to rush to that village entrance.
"Aohane, why don't you guys just think about visiting the outside world?"
Rope asked in a somewhat puzzled voice.
He took this time to also get the basics of the village and the name of this youth out of the way. Though Aohane was along for the ride. After all, these things that Rope was going to ask were the same things that he intended to introduce to Rope. When one was truly powerless to resist and there was no need to do so, then it would be better to tell the other party everything he wanted to know. Minimizing one's losses as much as possible.
"Why do you want to visit the outside world, the village is quite nice!"
Aohane had a proud face.
"We don't lack food or clothing, we have our own rules, and we live in harmony with the Pokémon. And it's not like we don't contact the outside world at all. We also trade with the outside world."
"We have our Pokéballs, and some furniture for the house. We have generators and things like that too."
"And we don't have any other barriers to communicating with each other, we've been out of touch with the rhythms of the outside world for too long. It's better to be good than to go through all that trouble of adapting."
Aohane said it matter-of-factly, and Rope watched the faces of those behind him, realizing that they all mirrored Aohane's as well.
He nodded, it did seem like the people in this village were different from those in the previous ones...I just wondered what the rest of the village would be like.
Rope and the others walked on for a while longer before they saw the village in the distance. It didn't look very big. It was meal time, and there were curls of smoke rising from the chimneys of the houses. It looked full of the smoke and fire of the earth.
And when they walked to the entrance of the village. A middle-aged man was standing at the entrance of the village, looking at the crowd aggressively.
Aohane saw the middle-aged man and quickly walked forward, "Uncle Sangato, this is..."
He looked at the expression on Sangato's face, and the words that came out of his mouth paused for a moment.
'You're the one who lured the demons here?!'
That was probably what Sangato's eyes expressed.
Aohane also let out a helpless, bitter laugh. He thought it was Sangato complaining that he shouldn't have resisted at all.
"Uncle Sangato, the thing is..."
"You don't have to say anything." Sangato said coldly.
He looked at Rope and said seriously, "We are clear about your intentions. But our village has just issued a no-entry order. It's better to please return.
The surrounding atmosphere instantly stagnated. One could even hear breathing...