Chapter 77: Neanderthals

The meraxes was a predatory dinosaur that belongs to the family of giant carnivores like giganotosaurus, mapusaurus and carcharodonthosaurus. It could exceed ten meters in length and was taller than a modern house. Even if it wasn't at the level of lethality of a t-rex, it was still a nightmare for any creature smaller than a triceratops or less armored than an ankylosaurus. The Neanderthals had begun to fidget in fright, and many of them had dropped their jugs in fear. They had put their weapons on, but it was clear from their eyes that they knew they would have done nothing. Against such a large beast, spears and arrows were equivalent to appetizers. They were nothing more than mosquito bites against a dinosaur of that size. The meraxes seemed to know that they were an easy prey, and in fact it didn't hesitate to approach them. Probably it wasn't the first time it saw some Neanderthals. It opened its enormous jaws and roared. Some leaves fell from the trees for the extreme loud sound. Some of the Neanderthals shouted something to their companions, then they threw themselves at the dinosaur. They threw their spears at the animal's paws and tried to hit it in the eye with their bows. Evidently they hoped to hit some vulnerable points to annoy him or at least slow him down. But it was clear that they couldn't win. The difference of strength was too great. The skin of the meraxes was barely scratch by the spears and that only made the predator even angrier. Without the power of technology, humans were nothing against the dinosaurs. Those who had launched the attack were probably just trying to buy time for their companions to escape. The meraxes would probably have eaten them all, without effort to boot. But then, Sobek decided to intervene. After all, the System gave him bonus money if he did 'good things', so why shouldn't he have taken advantage of the opportunity that presented itself to him? Also, maybe Neanderthal could help him to increase the fame points. After all, he didn't risk losing anything since he was now too strong to be endangered by a meraxes, so he could indulge in that little pleasure. With a roar he emerged from the water. The meraxes instantly froze when it saw him. Sobek advanced towards the dinosaur, showing himself in all his enormous size. The meraxes bowed terrified, clearly having never seen such a large predator before in its entire life, and than it turned around and ran away. Sobek was a little disappointed: he hoped that he could kill the meraxes and eat it, but he had wanted to make a grandiose entrance on the scene that showed him in all his power. He had sinned out of vanity and this had allowed the meraxes to escape. Now he couldn't reach it: the meraxes could run far more quick than his current maximum velocity. There was no point in even trying to reach him. He looked down and stared at the Neanderthals. They froze and were staring at him with a look halfway between terrified and amazed. Some of them had even dropped their weapons and two of them had even knelt, probably praying to some unknowing tribal deity for safety. Sobek looked at them for just about ten seconds, then he let out a slight growl and walked towards the forest. Within seconds he disappeared behind the trees. He wondered what the Neanderthals would have thought seeing him. Who knows if they would have mistaken him for a dragon, assuming that such creatures existed in their mythology. It would have been fun to become part of the stories of an entire people. Once far enough away, he sat down and pulled one of his cellphone out of the inventory, then went to Google and quickly typed in the word 'Neanderthal'. The information came quickly. As he had predicted, the Homo sapiens sapiens knew about the other hominid species. According to the Internet, the Homo sapiens sapiens had always had to compete with other hominids, but as soon as it began to develop civilization it crushed them. For centuries they had been used as slaves or even circus animals. The other hominids had not been able to oppose the excessive power of the Homo sapiens sapiens: they were too unintelligent. Apart from the Homo sapiens sapiens and the Neanderthals, all the others still lived in caves, and in the case of the Homo abilis they did not even know fire. The Neanderthals, on the other hand, had developed a civilization like the Homo sapiens sapiens, but they had done so much more slowly. At present, most of the Neanderthals present on human-colonized continents had been "integrated" into society. They did the humblest jobs and lived on the fringes of society, and were often victims of racism. As for the other hominids, over the centuries they had suffered a fate very similar to that of the Native Americans: their numbers had drastically reduced and the few survivors lived in nature reserves and were considered a tourist attraction. As for the three continents not yet reached by the Homo sapiens sapiens, however, the Neanderthals had been able to develop quietly. They lived in cities surrounded by solid walls to defend themselves from predatory dinosaurs. They also did not have a nation: each city had its own government, like the city-states of ancient Greece. The other hominids, on the other hand, lived mainly in caves in the mountains, where predatory dinosaurs were less frequent. The Homo sapiens sapiens had had very little contact with the Neanderthals of that continent. They knew of their existence thanks to satellite images, but in most cases they were unknown tribes. Only those who were in the vicinity of rivers or the sea, which were therefore accessible by boats, had had any contact. It had been brief cultural exchanges: humans had brought them some trinkets and the Neanderthals had explained to them how their city worked. According to information on the Internet, Neanderthals called the Homo sapiens sapiens "khel'valart", meaning "those who travel on iron boats". Contact with the Neanderthals of that continent had been few because the Homo sapiens sapiens reasoned in the same way as Sobek: they could not represent a danger to them, so there was no point in making an effort to forge friendly relations with them. When civilization reached them they would have been forced to integrate, or they would have disappeared with the deforestation. If they couldn't threaten anyone or provide resources, they weren't even worth bothering with. Even though there were some activist groups trying to fight for the rights of other hominids, they didn't get much support. The superiority of the Homo sapiens sapiens and racism were deeply rooted in society. The fact that there had been no crimes like the holocaust in that world did not mean that the evils that plagued the humans of Earth were not the same on Eden. Human beings managed to be racist even towards their own species, let alone towards others! So far it was just the enormous size of that world that saved the other hominids. While on Earth the Neanderthals had been killed and driven from their lands by the Homo sapiens sapiens until they became extinct, in that world ten times larger there were many more places where they could have escaped. One example was the continent where Sobek was now, which had remained a virgin land throughout human history. In Sobek the Neanderthals were very reminiscent of pre-Columbian civilizations, such as the Incas or the Aztecs. It was likely that when civilization pushed this far, they would have suffered their same fate. He decided that when he started his war he would have left the Neanderthals and other hominids alone. After all, they hadn't done anything to him, and unlike the Homo sapiens sapiens, they weren't a threat to his survival. They also had no impact on natural balance. Sobek wasn't bad: he simply acted according to the law of the jungle. And in the jungle people kill themselves only for hunger and for defense. The Homo sapiens sapiens were a threat to him and to all animals, so it was necessary to fight them; but killing Neanderthals or other hominids, who did not have the means to do anything against him and did not even have decent nutritional value, would have been an act of sheer malice. Sobek didn't want to become someone he killed for sport, or he wouldn't have been any different from the ones he was trying to defeat. He was also pretty sure that God wouldn't have taken his action well. She had said that she wouldn't have intervened in his life, but he preferred to not risk: that woman had never given him the impression that she was telling him everything. Also now he knew that Hell existed and even if it wasn't eternal he didn't like the idea to go into it. "That reminds me why I save that people... the bonus money!" Sobek thought, and he opened the main interface to see how much they were increase. But he was disappointed: they had increased, but not as much as he expected. "Why? Was it because it wasn't a selfless act?". He growled: in a way or in another, that world seemed to make fun of him.