Chapter 90 Don't Touch My Totem

Late at night, the barking of dogs echoed through the city. First, it was one dog, and then all the dogs in the city started barking.

Beris, hiding outside the hotel, was panicked, his breath caught in his throat, and he tried his best not to make a sound.

A flickering red light appeared in the direction of the giant tower.

Some running footsteps appeared, and startled horses neighed in the night wind.

But the number wasn't large, and in a short while, the big city suddenly became excessively quiet again.

Snowflakes swept in from the north, like waves rolling in.

Billis put on his coat and lit a cigarette at the door. He had already learned from the innkeeper that the bear spirits from the big city would go to the giant tower every Tuesday at this time to participate in the pilgrimage.

The giant tower is actually a building constructed of rough wooden beams, deeply embedded in the snow and firmly frozen in ice.

The long, winding staircase, far more sturdy than it appeared, led to rooms without windows.

The top of the tower is a large platform overlooking the entire city, and it is also the source of the red flames.

“It’s just a big chimney.” Billis said to himself as he arrived at the giant tower. “I want to see just how much the Bear Spirit values ​​totems.”

It was snowing heavily outside, but lightly inside the tower, and the wooden beams were being battered by the cold wind.

Due to a lack of maintenance for a long time, the wooden planks on the steps have been worn down by footsteps, and crushed ice has gradually filled the gaps, making it like walking on a smooth mirror, and very easy to slip and fall.

Billy pulled hard on the ropes securing the wooden stairs and struggled to climb up. His feet seemed to be frostbitten and were in great pain. He would sit for a while and then climb again.

Once you reach the top of the tower, you can see large braziers placed all around.

I didn't expect this place to be even wider than the city's main avenue.

An icicle stands in the center; upon closer inspection, it turns out to be an ice sculpture totem.

The totem is carved with three animals from bottom to top: a snow eagle, an ice wolf, and a polar bear. It is said that the three animals represent three tribes: the snow eagle tribe, the ice wolf tribe, and the polar bear tribe.

The bear spirits who came to pay homage all belonged to one of the three tribes. Judging from the tattoos, the White Bear tribe was the majority, followed by the Ice Wolf tribe, and the Snow Eagle tribe was the least numerous.

Billy was squeezed inside, the smallest of them all, his cheeks were purple from the cold, and his feet were already protesting.

But he ignored them, focusing instead on how to use totem culture to find the bear spirits who had sabotaged the satellite launch.

A white snow butterfly perched on the shoulder of a bear spirit. Their footprints in the snow were very large, somewhere between those of a human and a polar bear, and the sound was loud enough to be heard a kilometer away.

"After the major restart, big cities have changed to varying degrees. Every day, several trainees have lost their ears due to frostbite while working the night shift. Women are afraid to go out at night. The weather has become unusually cold. The fire pits in the giant tower are not as bright as before. Fortunately, those things are different from wood and can withstand the ravages of heavy snow."

"Yesterday, someone found several dead cows in the pine forest. The cows' flesh had been stripped in several layers. In big cities, the hides of cows are thick and tough, so it would be difficult to cut them without an axe."

"An axe? Since they came, who still uses an axe to shave meat?"

"Yes, everything has been replaced by machines, and the dwarven craftsmanship has gradually been lost. The furnace no longer makes the sound of an anvil."

Billy hid by the brazier, pretending not to hear.

Through the conversations between these bear spirits, we learn that non-reincarnated individuals still harbor some degree of dissatisfaction with the existing civilization.

It's the same group of guys who were talking before, but now an even bigger guy has joined them.

This huge creature was like a wall, blocking out the heavy snow. Around its neck hung an intricate metal necklace, a heavy chain made of twenty-three different metal pieces: black iron, red copper, fine copper, and silver, hanging from its throat down to its chest.

The big guy doesn't look wild at all; in fact, he's quite knowledgeable.

"Have you all heard? Someone discovered a huge, glowing structure in West Silverback, about the height of a giant tower."

"What does this have to do with us?"

“I didn’t say this has anything to do with you, but I can’t rule out the possibility that it doesn’t. I’m just wondering what they’re going to bring here again, or make the Northern Continent completely their territory.”

"That's right. Many of the bear spirits started getting sick about nine years ago, and it's getting worse every year. They like to use antibiotics to treat the disease. Have you ever heard of antibiotics?"

"I think I've heard of it before; it's like a kind of witch doctor's medicine."

"So this time, they must be using the same trick again at the West Silverback Experiment Base."

These bear spirits are referring to the satellite launch tower.

Six cigarettes were stuck upside down in the snow; they all belonged to Billy.

The large creatures with necklaces around their necks began to dance around the ice sculpture totem, and the rest joined in.

This dance is the dance of steel, the dance of slashing, the most magnificent dance of the god of war. Only those who can dance this dance are worthy of being descendants of the King of the North.

The one who danced the best pulled up her dry hair, looking as beautiful as a hedgehog.

In Xiong Ling's opinion, she is a genuinely good girl. She is actually not even twenty-two years old, quite plump, and her upright posture resembles a herd of horses with their legs raised. Her strong shoulders and broad neck are what every female Xiong Ling can be most proud of.

It must be admitted that their perspective is unique.

In big cities, strong winds are a real thing, like a dire wolf howling all around in the snow, only to return to calm in a moment, as if intentionally luring pedestrians to let their guard down.

Looking up from the tower, the stars seemed brighter after the snowstorm, almost within reach. A colossal star hung in the clear night sky, and the clouds floating in the air were much more beautiful than ever before, like ice crystals formed over hundreds of years.

Billis faced the sky and took a deep breath.

The more he saw the beauty of the stars, the stranger he felt. In the end, Billis thought that everyone in the city should have figured it out by now, and he was the last one who was confused.

The sky is so clear, where did these snowflakes come from?

However, these dancing bear spirits clearly hadn't considered this question, and didn't even have the slightest interest in studying snowflakes.

They only care about worshipping the totems of their ancestors.

"When did this human sneak in?"

Finally, someone spotted Billy crouching in the corner.

Billy answered boldly, "I saw a fire on it and thought it needed to be put out, so I came."

"Is your brain frozen? You're not welcome here, get out of here!"

"Can't I even take a look?"

"no!"

"I want to learn dance from you, is that not allowed?"

"Our God has no place for you!"

"Oh, then I'll wait a while before I leave."

"Don't argue with him. If he doesn't leave, throw him off the tower!"

Now, Biris has a new understanding of the culture of non-reincarnated individuals; they do not want reincarnated individuals to participate in any activities related to totems.

A dozen pairs of eyes stared at him, as if they wanted to devour this human.

If it weren't something important, they wouldn't forcibly drive away the reincarnated person.

Using a miniature camera hidden in his clothes, Billis secretly took a picture of the totem, then bowed to everyone and went back the way he came.

The next day, Billy got up very early and, without even telling Lisa what he had seen the night before, went to visit the best sculptor in town.

He gave the photo of the totem to the sculptor and asked him to make a totem exactly like the one in the photo.

The totem does not need to be ice-sculpted, but it must be hand-carved using colored materials; machine cutting is not permitted.

No repainting afterwards is allowed.

The sculptor readily agreed, and Billis provided a delivery address.

After explaining everything, Billis went to a professional surveillance equipment vendor, selected the best one, and gave them the installation address.

The delivery and installation addresses are all satellite launch sites.

After everything was done, Billis returned to the hotel with peace of mind and told Lisa step by step about his plan to find the enemy.

Do you really think they'll fall for it?

"According to my investigation, the reason why the bear spirits identify with big cities is because their gods are in the giant towers. Wherever there is a totem, the bear spirits will go to worship. Therefore, I think the totem is the best lure."

"What if some dwarves infiltrated the launch pad?"

"Don't worry about it, darling, I've already thought of a way."

The flames in the fireplace leaped high, and Billis took out his communicator to contact Agent Mia, who was already prepared at the launch tower.