Chapter 253: Slann

As the Skink party surged out of the forest and approached the Dwarf group, Sinuoli sized up these little fellows. Some held obsidian swords and shields in their hands, others held spears of the same stone, and some had blowpipes much like those of the Pygmies.

Sinuoli certainly knew that the use of blowpipes was something the Pygmies had learned from the Skinks; the Lizardmen were the Eldest Children of the Old Ones, and it could be said that only other races learned from them, never the other way around.

Immediately following, a palanquin with a bizarre decorative style appeared, upon which sat a corpulent, toad-like creature. The palanquin was floating, which was undoubtedly due to the powerful magic of the one riding upon it.

The Dwarfs let out a gasp of admiration; as an equally ancient race, they knew the newcomer was a Slann Mage-Priest, the most favored servant of the Old Ones. These fellows possessed high intelligence and magical ability.

However, Sinuoli was not intimidated by this floating little carriage; he knew that the truly formidable Slann of previous generations all had Stegadon mounts. The backs of those Ancient Triangle Dragons chosen as mounts even carried powerful weapons left behind by the Old Ones.

The Outelakesi before his eyes was in all likelihood a fourth or fifth-generation Slann Mage-Priest. He was surrounded by a group of Skinks that were faster and stronger than their peers; these fellows had red crests and wielded two-handed heavy hammers, which looked somewhat incongruous when placed alongside their bodies.

Sinuoli remembered that under normal circumstances, it should be Temple Guard protecting the Slann; they were a unique and highly respected group among the Saurians. Their purpose in hatching was to protect the Slann and the Temple City. Such a change indicated, from the side, the weakness of the Lizardmen in the Southlands.

"Dwarf, after thousands of years, you have finally returned to the homeland designated for you by the masters!"

"Yes, honored Slann, we have returned to the place of our origin!"

Sinuoli responded aloud, and after he finished speaking, he saw his clansmen around him looking at him with bewildered expressions. Sinuoli paused, only then realizing that the Slann had not spoken aloud just now, but had communicated with him directly through his mind. To everyone else, he had just blurted out a sentence to the front for no apparent reason.

Although the Slann had the ability of telepathy, this did not mean the Amazons had not shown their value. The physical bodies of the Slann were relatively fragile, and they were always under the tight protection of other Lizardmen; to see them, one definitely had to communicate with the Lizardmen in advance.

"You requested to see me, guardian of the Bone Temple, for what purpose?" The Slann opposite did not open his eyes; he looked as if he were asleep, but Sinuoli could feel his massive soul fluctuations.

The way the Slann viewed the world was different from mortals; their consciousness, filled with order, had no time for rest, forever interpreting profound questions and contemplating the true meaning of the universe. The Meditation of some Demon Toads would go so deep that even vital signs were difficult to detect, so him not opening his eyes did not mean there was any hostility.

"We have come from afar and are not yet familiar with the surrounding environment. We wish to communicate with our neighbors, build good relations, and if the opportunity arises, trade what we have for what we lack, develop together, and contribute to the Great Plan."

Sinuoli kept his attitude toward the Lizardmen very low; if he wanted to fight, the two Elf factions were easier choices. For the east side of his territory, he only wanted peace.

"The Great Plan! You, you actually know of this?"

The Slann's eyelids twitched slightly; he was quite shocked that such a term had emerged from the mouth of a short-lived race.

"As far as I know, you and your kin in the Southlands have lost contact with your counterparts in Lustria, is that not so?"

Sinuoli said in his mind; this was a deduction from his previous life, but the phenomenon of the lack of powerful Lizardmen around the Slann confirmed his judgment.

"Hmph! Indeed, for various reasons, the Geomantic Web here is in tatters, and our sporadic communication with the predecessors across the big pond is intermittent. Moreover, it seems that I, and some among them, do not share the same understanding of the Great Plan!"

Outelakesi sighed; to the Slann, the Vast Ocean was nothing more than a big pond. But the understanding of the Great Plan limited the Slann's subjective initiative.

"May I ask which generation of Slann you are?" Sinuoli asked the topic he cared about most.

"You even know this? Ordinary visitors are only interested in our Gold Plaque!" The Slann became more interested in the Dwarf before him. "True enough, I was created by the masters last, even after your ancestors."

Sinuoli nodded; the feeling Outelakesi gave him was not as good as the Fay Enchantress, and perhaps not even as good as Malage the Dark Omen. He felt that if he activated Avatar of the Gods, relying on that greatly enhanced magic resistance, he might even be able to force a kill on the Slann before him.

"I think we can delineate a border to avoid friction. How about using the mountains as the boundary?" After probing the bottom line, Sinuoli put forward his suggestion.

"It is only right; the Qunshan belong to you. Even when you had left, I always restrained my subordinates from stepping into the mountains!" The Slann's voice was very flat; this guardian created by the masters followed the original laws even better than the Dwarfs.

"Very good, very good!" Sinuoli did not expect his minimum goal—a Non-Interference Treaty—to be achieved with almost no effort.

"Then perhaps our two sides can do something else together! You know, we Sons of the Mountains have a unique talent for forging equipment and constructing buildings."

"Dwarf, what do you want to obtain? Gold? In that case, you are no different from those greedy kin of yours before! I really don't know what is wrong with the heads of you fellows who popped out of stones, valuing gold more than your own lives!"

It seemed that in his long life, he had been disturbed no small amount by Dwarf clans plotting for his treasures; Outelakesi became irritable at these words, and Sinuoli could feel his mental fluctuations shift from a trickling stream to a torrent.

Sinuoli knew that the Lizardmen's gold was mainly used to make plaques to record information, and the most critical of this information was the Great Plan and its related interpretations. They cherished gold more because they cherished the content recorded upon it.

The reason for doing this was that in the tropical rainforests where they lived, paper and leather were easily dampened and rotted. In contrast, gold had anti-corrosion properties, and its texture was relatively soft, making it easy to engrave text.

"Stay calm, I am different from my previous kin! You can use food, knowledge, technology, and so on to exchange for our products and services. Of course, if there are jewels or such, that is also fine."

Sinuoli had long ago overcome Kezhinzheng; with the End Times looming behind, if one couldn't hold out, what use would gold be if the world were gone?

"That sounds good; my Temple City indeed has many places where your kind can be of use. It has been a long time since any Kroxigor have hatched, and many tasks the Skinks cannot complete."