Chapter 90:16. The Logic of the Skink's Operation
"Sending troops to Lustria and conquering the Kaochen Plains are things for the future. We'll have to investigate first. We need to investigate the Kaochen Plains before making a decision, but it should be no problem. If that doesn't work, we can build a port in Chapeiuto as a transit point."
Dacus was walking around thinking, but after a while he stopped thinking because it was too noisy.
The wide streets were crowded with Skin Lizards of various professions. The Skin Lizards chattered endlessly with clicks, hisses and other strange high-pitched sounds. The color of their crests kept changing with the tone and content of their speech, just like the RGB marquee in a computer case. What made Darkius even more upset was that he could understand what these Skin Lizards were saying.
Chupakoko wore the mask of a Skink Priest today, adorned with various gold jewels and ornate feathers. He walked in front, his back hunched, holding the staff given to him by Darkius. Although he had only cast magic with it once before, he loved it and believed it held some significance, a symbol of his friendship with Darkius.
Behind Chupakoko were two waiters fanning him. Perhaps staying cool was very important in the hot and humid jungle? But seeing his demeanor, Dacus wanted to kick his ass hard with his boots.
The central parade avenue of the city is like the Suzaku Street in Chang'an, dividing Hesiota into left and right. The Lizard Residential Area constitutes the main body of the city, where tens of thousands of bar friends live.
Led by the Slann Demon Priests who interpret the Grand Plan, the swift and light Skink Lizards, numerous Lizardmen Warriors, fierce and powerful Giant Lizards, and many other beasts and behemoths all firmly follow the Grand Plan arranged by the Ancient Saints.
The Skin Lizards play an extremely important and critical position in the grand plan and the Lizardman society. They are an indispensable part of the Lizardman society and exist like a lubricant.
Skinks are mortal, though genderless, and they have a natural affinity for water, swimming swiftly through dark jungle swamps and rivers, often remaining submerged for up to an hour.
Skinks have many professions: astrologers who calculate when the Old Ones will return, administrators of grand plans who arrange schedules, fishermen who catch fish and frogs in the swamps, envoys who travel between various temple-cities, cleaners who are responsible for cleaning hatcheries, miners who dig for Osinite ore, supervisors who ensure military supplies and equipment, librarians who keep stone tablets, architects who direct the construction of temples, rare and experienced meteorite iron forgers, and breeders who tame and feed wild beasts.
These professions ensure the smooth daily operation of a temple-city; without the Skinks, Lizardmen society would collapse. They also patrol the vast jungles, possessing exceptional organizational skills and teamwork, often operating in groups. They are also among the few Old Ones capable of commanding larger, more primitive beasts and beasts into battle.
As an army, the Skinks range between reckless and suddenly panic-stricken. Their lightness and agility make them stand out among the other bulky Lizardmen. Their nature makes them more likely to flee than the stoic Saurus, and their nature makes them more willing to surprise the enemy than the conservative Saurus.
Skinks seek opportunities to attack and outflank their enemies from unexpected quarters, or they flank and rear up Lizardmen armies, harassing enemy forces with a hail of javelins and blowpipes. Their javelins and blowpipes are particularly threatening, as their weapons are coated with a potent poison extracted from the poisonous frogs, insects, and snakes that inhabit the jungle swamps of Lustria.
Standard jungle special forces and skirmishers make it difficult for invaders entering the jungle to defend themselves.
Skinks also have a hierarchy, a pyramidal structure, with the highest rank being the Skink Priest. (The Skink Priest Pichipochi was introduced in the chapter about him, and the other encounters will be introduced later.)
The second is the Skin Lizard Prophets, or Skin Lizard Oracles, who ride on cave dragons. They are extremely rare and there are none in the city at all. They usually move around in the wild, wandering in the jungles of Lustria and abandoned temple cities.
Next up are the Skink Leaders, similar to generals in command of the army. The lowest level of Skinks are the group that Darkeus now sees. Chameleons and Red-crowned Skinks are both variants of Skinks.
At this time, Mazdamuddi was still soaking in the divination pool, with a gold-inlaid stone tablet suspended in front of him, and he was interpreting the contents on the gold-inlaid stone tablet.
This kind of gold-inlaid stone tablet usually records very important things, such as magic that can move mountains and fill the sea, the manufacture of some kind of magical equipment, how to use the equipment left by ancient saints, etc.
Three of the stone tablets do record an extremely terrifying and magical magic, the "Golden Orb of Razkoto", which will be needed by the second generation of Slan Adoshi-Tehega who lives in the moon city of Taraxlan.
Only the content of the fourth stone tablet is quite unique.
The content on this stone tablet was very simple, so simple that it only contained one sentence. It read, "An ancient saint will come to this world, adjust and make new great plans, and arrive."
Mazdamuddin repeatedly pondered the words on the stone tablet, including every punctuation mark.
By now, Dacus had arrived at the bustling Grand Market, which was the trading market for the Spirit Lizardmen. In the Lizardmen's society, there was no concept of shells and precious metal currencies, and all transactions were based on barter.
The Skin Lizards argued and gestured fiercely, trying to increase the value of the items in their hands in this way. In the eyes of Daquus, these Skin Lizards were full of cunning and mercenary, and at the same time there was a strange sense of incongruity, as if some kind of setting was dominating these Skin Lizards.
A Skink was showing off his bird feather weaving, boasting about his craftsmanship, saying that he had painstakingly collected and carefully woven the feathers of precious birds such as parrots and hummingbirds. The Skink in front of him was holding bracelets, anklets, earrings, and a nose ring made of gold, and was also boasting about his craftsmanship with a hissing sound.
Darkius watched, curious as to whether the two Skinks could make a deal. Surprisingly, his logic worked perfectly. After five minutes of arguing and haggling, the two Skinks finally exchanged their artifacts: the exquisite bird feather weave for a pair of anklets. The two Skinks donned the artifacts on the spot, their faces beaming with joy, a perfect match.
With the help of the half-step translator Ryan, the Duruchis began to exchange items. They were very restrained and did not pick up weapons to rob, but instead used their belongings to exchange.
