Chapter 2214 - 1593: Evil Demons Without a Trace of Promise
The Caribbean islands are green. Mangroves stretch along the coast and only become sparse near the river bay at the Taino Village. Shrubs and tall grasses grow wildly across the plains, with various vibrant tropical flowers blooming year-round.
The local Taino tribes would pick colorful flowers, collect vividly colored snails, and stack various smooth and bright pebbles, creating small altars to place Zemi God Cards. Then, young men and women would dance before the Zemi altar, while the elders gathered to smoke and sing ancient songs passed down through generations. This was originally a peaceful, harmonious, and beautiful Taino Village, as it had been for hundreds and thousands of years.
However, the arrival of the Castilian Expeditionary Army completely destroyed everything. Mast forests docked in the natural harbors, and the flags of the cross fluttered over the occupied Taino roundhouses. The tribe’s elderly, weak, and strong men turned into bloody mud, burnt into blue smoke. Only the scarred women remained, curling up in the church of survival. This church had originally been the ancestral longhouse where the tribe sang, but no ancestral plaques remained. All past beauty had turned to ashes, falling into the abyss of death.
At this moment, outside the "dead" Taino Village, two entirely different forces are confronting each other on the plains. On one side are more than four hundred Castilla Expeditionary Army troops, and on the other side are over a thousand Taino strong men.
Among the Castilla Expeditionary Army, the left wing consists of 140 Shenluo Mercenaries. Their front row is composed of spearmen wearing heavy armor, the middle row consists of axe and sword wielders, usually in medium armor covering half the body, and the rear is crossbowmen, wearing only light leather armor. Such a three-layer formation is a formation most accustomed to by mercenaries and is a standard configuration for infantry on European battlefields. The middle road’s 240 Holy War veterans wear half-body chest armor, also in a three-layer formation. They merely adjusted the sequence, putting crossbowmen at the front, spearmen in the middle, and sword and shield soldiers at the back. On the right wing, 60 members of the Church Armed Forces include 20 Santiago Order heavy cavalry knights, 10 heavy armored foot knights, and 30 chamberlains in medium armor with longswords.
Undoubtedly, this four-hundred-strong armored army is the core force of the Castilla Expeditionary Army. Nearly everyone is armored, and comparing their equipment to the Taino strong men on the opposite side is like crossing three eras!
On the other side, the thousand Taino strong men show hardly any formation, merely clustering in a mass. The front four to five hundred people wield short spears made of flint or sharp wood, with the spears only reaching human height. The strong men at the back hold short bows, stones, slings, and very short stone knives.
Right now, the cold white-skinned demons on the opposite side, those flashing armor and weapons, bring great unknown fear to the Taino strong men. However, the most terrifying are those occasionally shrieking "four-legged beasts." Every time a "beast" shrieks, a wave of disturbance breaks out in the formation of the Taino strong men. The crowd presses tightly together, trying to gain a false sense of security through bodily contact. Yet they still bravely hold their weapons, just like countless times before when they confronted the Caribbean people robbing food.
"The Sweet Potato God watches over us, and so do our ancestors! White-skinned foreigners, I do not understand your words, but I see your greed..."
The Chief of the Earth Tribe, "Land Guardian" Aramana, holding the only bronze spear, stands arrogantly before Columbus.
Aramana wears feathers on his head, a shell necklace around his neck, an earth-themed tattoo on his chest, and an Earth Zemi God Plate tied around his waist for protection. His stature is tall, and even barefoot, he stands as high as boot-clad Columbus.
He looks directly at the "chieftain" of the alien race on the opposite side, gazing into those light brown eyes, seeing no tranquility, but only greed filled with desire and cold cruelty. This kind of gaze is unfamiliar to the Taino People, a gaze even the "fierce" Caribbean do not have.
Thinking of this, Aramana remains silent for several breaths, takes a deep breath, and earnestly requests.
"Greedy alien race, this is the land of our tribe! Western tribes once told us, they prophesied your arrival in advance. They call you ’white-skinned demons,’ but even ’demons’ should be able to negotiate and share peace, just like the Caribbean people of the East!"
"Western tribes told us that what you covet upon arrival is not food, but a kind of yellow, shiny stone... Ancestors bear witness! I have brought all the yellow shining stones from the tribe. Our Earth Tribe does not need this useless decoration; we can hand them all over to you! I swear by the name of the ancestors, this is all!..."
"White-skinned alien race, please take the stones you desire and leave the land of our tribe! Hopefully, these stones can satisfy your greed. If you need food to leave, we can also provide enough for your large ships to return. And we only hope you leave now, return peace to us, and never come back!..."
Aramana’s plea echoes across the plains of Puerto Rico, resounding upon the lands where the Taino people have lived for generations. Then, he bows his head and deeply bows. Two strong tribal men then forcefully lift a heavy basket of grass and place it before the "chieftain of the alien race."
In the simple cognition of the Taino People, such communication between tribes in the world should be as such. Once one party’s desires are satisfied and the goal of their arrival achieved, they should choose to leave. The world should be pure nature, just like how no matter how fierce a crocodile is, once it is full, it won’t attack the tribespeople it encounters. And for hundreds of years past, the Caribbean people have similarly adhered to natural laws. As long as they could steal, rob, or demand enough food from the Taino Tribe, they would not resort to violence, but instead peacefully leave.