"I object! Why should we cooperate with those despicable humans? We are the people of the great God of War. We don't need anyone's help to take back the land that originally belonged to us!”
In the dark stone house, 20 tall orcs (pure orcs) sat in two rows on a slightly decorated large rock. They had their own weapons by their hands. Most of them were blunt weapons made of hard rock. The incessant buzzing in the stone house made it easy for people to think that there was a fierce argument going on here. Although these rude orcs tried their best to lower their voices, it still sounded noisy.
"Luo! Mind your tone, you're talking to the Great Elder!”The orc sitting on the seat of honor pulled him down and turned to the Great Elder, who was sitting on the seat of honor, to express his apology." Please forgive Ro's rudeness, Great Elder. He's just a child."”
"Ji, I've said it many times. I'm not a child!”
"Luo, remember, you haven't held your coming-of-age ceremony yet. You're still a child!”Ji once again sat Luo An on the stone chair. He was very dissatisfied with his repeated rebuttal." Whether we cooperate with those humans or not is decided by the Great Elder. It's not your turn to speak. Sit down and listen carefully. Otherwise, don't think I'll bring you here again!"”
Hearing Key's words, the indignant Ro finally calmed down. According to his status, he didn't have the right to participate in such a meeting with the leaders of the various tribes. However, Ro was extremely famous for his bravery among the orcs, and he was the brother of a large tribe leader!! It was his first time sitting here today. He just didn't expect that the meeting would be about cooperating with the humans he hated the most.
"Luo's attitude is very firm. Then, what do you think?”The Great Elder, who had been listening to the commotion below, suddenly asked Ji in a hoarse and low voice. His face was hidden in the shadows, so no one could see his expression.
"This…I thought we might as well accept the invitation of those humans and cooperate with them temporarily.”Key hesitated for a moment before voicing his opinion.
The Great Elder was an extremely revered existence among the orcs. His power was above all the tribal leaders. The orcs believed that the Great Elder was chosen by their god to manage them. He was the only one in the entire orc race who could communicate with the god and convey the will of the god to the orcs. Therefore, when the First Elder's voice sounded, the noisy discussions in the stone house immediately quieted down.
"Oh, temporarily cooperate with them? Our ancestors were driven to this barren land by humans. Why should we cooperate with them? Humans could not be trusted. They were despicable and cunning.”First Elder didn't seem to expect Ji to have such thoughts, and his tone was a little surprised.
Ji glared at his younger brother who wanted to speak. He organized his words and answered the Great Elder's question respectfully," Great Elder, it's precisely because they're despicable and cunning that we need to cooperate with them.”Keane paused and carefully observed the Great Elder's reaction, but he didn't see any reaction from him. He could only continue," This time, it's a war between humans. Because those who came to find us couldn't defeat their enemies, they came to seek cooperation with us. We can use this to take back the land we lost from those despicable humans!”
"Hmph! We are the people of the great War God. We will use our power to reclaim our land, not to use those despicable and shameless tricks like the cowardly humans!" As soon as Key finished speaking, an orc who was stronger than Ro immediately stood up and retorted.
"You…Barker, hmph! Use your power to reclaim our land? The last time they attacked the human defense line, it was your Giant Bear tribe that led the attack, right? Why didn't I see you use your powerful strength to reclaim any land? Moreover, they seemed to have lost more than 100,000 strong young clansmen last time, right? Hehe!"
Key's counterattack was extremely sharp and unkind. Just a few words had already caused Barker's face to turn red and his eyes to turn bloodshot. If it wasn't for the Great Elder, Barker would have already pulled out his weapon and cut Key into eight pieces.
Looking at Barker, who was desperately trying to suppress his anger, Key didn't intend to let him go just like that." Hey, Barker, it seems like every time you command a battle, we'll suffer heavy losses. You've already killed almost 500,000 clansmen, haven't you? Using great power to reclaim the land? Hmph, I think you're going to use your powerful strength to bury our race!”
" You…You…" Barker's entire body trembled as he pointed at Ji in front of him. He was so angry that he couldn't speak. He was already on the verge of exploding.
Ji grinned in disdain." Me? What about me? Am I wrong? Didn't you kill those 500,000 clansmen with your powerful strength? Humph!"
"F * ck! You despicable scoundrel, you only know how to learn from those cunning humans. Every time you fight, your 'Eagle' tribe will only hide at the back. You are not worthy of being a citizen of the War God!”The enraged Barker no longer cared about the presence of the Great Elder. He picked up the long axe beside him and swung it at Ji.
"Barker, hehe, with me here, don't even think about hurting a single finger of Ji. Although I hate him, he is still my brother, hehehe!”Ro stood in front of his brother and used two double-edged stone axes to block Buck's weapons. Even the strongest warrior was nothing more than this.”
"Luo, Ji, I will tear you into pieces!”
Beastmen had always valued bravery. Barker was deeply provoked by Lowe's contemptuous mockery. He kept shouting," I'll kill you!" and raised his long axe to attack Lowe.
Thump! Thump! Thump...
After a series of violent collisions, Barker and Lowe separated and stared at each other's movements, gripping their weapons even tighter.
The giant bear and the eagle were the two most important tribes in the orc tribe. The giant bear had the most and strongest warriors, while the eagle had the most fertile land and the most abundant food. Before the orcs were driven away from their original land by humans, the two tribes were already at odds with each other, and small-scale conflicts often occurred. When the orcs came to the Western Swamp, the eagles also seized the most abundant food resources, accounting for more than half of the orc tribe's food production. This made the giant bear even more jealous, and the conflict between the two tribes gradually increased.
Half of the orcs 'food was provided by eagles, so they didn't need to participate in the attacks on the cities of the Tell Empire that were defending against the orcs' attacks once every two years, unless they encountered an emergency and needed to mobilize the entire orc race. As a result, the giant bear, which had always been the main attacking force, gradually weakened due to the war, while the eagle, which had always been recuperating in the rear, continued to grow stronger. This was something that the leader of the giant bears, Barker, had always been brooding over. Today's conflict was just a tipping point.
The leaders of the other tribes automatically made a large space in the stone house. The disagreement between the giant bear and the eagle was a well-known matter among the orcs. They were also happy to see the two tribes fighting with each other. Although compared to humans, the thoughts of the orcs were very direct and simple, it was the instinct of living creatures to seek the greatest benefits for their own tribe.
Sitting in the shadows, the Great Elder turned a blind eye to the battle below. He had no intention of stopping it, as if he was thinking about something alone...
"Luo, you haven't even grown your hair yet. I'll show you what absolute power is!”The muscles on Barker's body slowly swelled up, and a manic aura suddenly appeared around his body.”
As Barker shouted, a powerful wave of air shot out from him. At this moment, Barker was already a full size larger than before. The muscles on his arms that were holding his weapon rose and fell according to the rhythm of his breathing, and a strange squirming appeared.
"Humph! Other people might be afraid of you, Barker, but I'm not! So what if it's Berserk?" Facing Barker, who had used the Berserk skill and was much stronger than him in terms of aura and strength, Lowe roared loudly. He was using his roar to hide his fear. The berserk Barker wasn't someone that a young orc like him who hadn't even learned Berserk could deal with, even though he was famous for his bravery.
Thump, thump! Two muffled sounds came from the Great Elder's seat, and the two people's fighting spirit immediately disappeared.
"Enough! We're talking about cooperation with humans now, not fighting for us to see! How can you take back the land of your ancestors by fighting endlessly like this?”
"Great Elder, please forgive me. I know I was wrong.”
At the same time, Low and Barker lowered their heads in a very humble manner.
"Alright, all of you sit back down. What benefits do we get from cooperating with humans?”
Hearing the esteemed Great Elder's orders, all the tribal leaders slowly returned to their seats. Barker had also dispelled his Berserk state, and he looked a little dispirited.
"Yes, Great Elder." With the support of the Great Elder, Ji was ready to speak freely. " We all know that humans are despicable, cunning, vicious, and treacherous. But there is one thing that everyone has overlooked." In human nature, what they value the most is profit. They are crazy about profit. They don't care about each other like our people. They like to scheme against each other. No matter when, they will sell their souls for the small benefits in front of them. This is what we have to do.”
"Humph! You put it nicely. Anyway, the ones who will die won't be your Eagle Tribe's people." The unwilling Barker muttered softly, but his words were still clearly heard by everyone in the stone house.
Key ignored Barker's obvious provocation and continued his analysis.
"The emissary sent by the humans requested to cooperate with us, asking us to help them defeat their enemy. In that case, the envoy that came this time must have brought their conditions. His master must have also given him a bottom line. As long as our conditions do not exceed this bottom line, they will agree. What we need to do is to obtain the greatest benefits within the limits of their hearts.
Humans are not sincere in cooperating with us. Just like how we don't trust them, they don't trust us either. Therefore, when we negotiate with the humans, we must try our best to obtain food and weapons from them. We shouldn't ask for land from them for the time being, otherwise, they won't agree…"
"Bullshit!" Barker stood up abruptly." You just said that if we cooperate with the humans, we can take back our land!”
Key looked at Barker with contempt. He had never looked down on such a brawny but simple-minded person."Cooperating with the humans is to recover the land we lost, but it is not a charity from the humans. Even if we get it, we will lose it again. We have to use our own fists to take back the land where our ancestors lived!”
In terms of intelligence and strategy, ten Barkers were no match for one Guy. He could only laugh dryly and sit down with an ashen face, while Guy continued his rambling.
"The humans who came to find us are currently at war with a human empire called Yarsus. The news I received is that the war between them has always ended in failure. This time, they will definitely ask our powerful army to help them win this war. We can also use this opportunity to leave the western swamp and enter the rich eastern part of the continent. We will bypass the defensive line that has trapped us for thousands of years. The second step is how to defend the land we once owned.”
Key glanced around the stone house and found that everyone's attention was focused on him. He immediately felt very satisfied. It seemed that his dream had already been half realized. " As I said just now, human beings are profit-oriented. They will betray their companions, their motherland, their race, and even their souls for the sake of a little bit of profit. If we want to defend the land we have taken back, we must rely on this. The land of our ancestors is now occupied by a human empire called Arthurs. According to the information I received, Arthurs is now the most powerful human empire with about five million soldiers. More importantly, Arthurs has the most mages in the entire continent. If we clash with them directly, even if we win in the end, we will suffer heavy losses, let alone defend the land we have taken back.”
"Go straight to the point. I'm getting annoyed listening to you! What do you mean we can't have a head-on conflict? One of our orc warriors is worth ten useless humans!”Ro, who was listening to him from the side, felt drowsy. In the end, he could not help but interrupt his brother.
Hearing his brother's words, Ji was stunned. He raised his head slightly and quickly scanned the area. He found that most of the tribe leaders were like Luo, showing impatient expressions. Some of them had already gathered in groups of two or three and were talking. Key shook his head helplessly. In his excitement, he had forgotten that he was the only " freak " in the entire orc race. Didn't these people think that the number of humans was tens of times that of us Beastmen?
Looking at the Great Elder who was covered by the shadow, Key was silent for a while before he explained his plan as concisely as possible." My plan is mainly to use the opportunity of the Kuge Prairie battle between the Tyre people and the Arthurs to help the Tyre people. In fact, it is to let them hold back the Arthurs 'forces for us so that we can have enough time to set up a defense line after taking back our land.”
"Tell me! After talking for so long, he still hasn't told us what to do!”
"That's right! Hey, can you be more specific?"
Key's plan had really attracted the attention of all the tribe leaders. They all urged him, but the Great Elder remained silent.
"The land of our ancestors was close to the Krug Prairie, and this time, the two human countries are fighting over the Krug Prairie. " Therefore, we can cooperate with the Tyr people and help them defeat the Arthurs. Of course, this is just a cover. We only need to send a small number of soldiers over. We should take this opportunity to send out our army to take back the land that belonged to our ancestors!”
Key was so excited. He stood up and waved his hands, saying loudly," Our action of helping the Tyr people will definitely attract the attention of the Yarsi people. The resistance to us seizing the land will be much smaller, and we can also get a lot of things that we urgently need from the Tyr people. Food, weapons, and even advanced farming technology. When the Tyr people are about to defeat the Yarsi people, we will withdraw and take our spoils of war back to the land of our ancestors!
The Arthurs have always placed great importance on the ownership of the Kuge Plains. They would definitely not be willing to let the Tyre people take over. Seeing our army retreat, they would definitely take the opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the Tyre people. The more Arthurs 'forces are tied down by Ter, the fewer forces will come to attack us, and the greater our chances of success! This is my plan!"
The tribal leaders lowered their heads and began to think about the feasibility of this plan. However, out of the pride of the orcs, no one expressed their agreement. Everyone's gaze was focused on the First Elder. At this time, the final decision was usually made by the First Elder.
"Hmm…you guys go back first, let me think about it. Kee, stay here and tell me more about your plan.”
No one dared to disobey the Great Elder's words. After everyone filed out, Ji's excited voice sounded from the stone house into the sky. He had taken another big step towards his dream.
They set off from the Wind Shadow Castle and ran at full speed for three days. They passed through the vast interior of the Krug Prairie and bypassed the sacred land of a nomadic tribe. They walked into a secret path that existed completely in the gaps of the mountains and arrived at the border of the Byron Empire near the Krug Prairie. It was a huge forest.
Due to its remote location, the difficulty of the road, and the large number of magical beasts, the Byron Empire did not draw this forest into the protection circle of its border guards. They only sent a small group of cavalrymen to patrol once in a while. They never thought that an enemy could break through the holy land of the nomadic tribes without alerting them. In their opinion, this was completely impossible.
The edge of the forest was connected to a large part of the Kug Prairie, almost covering the entire border. It was considered a holy land for nomadic tribes. They regarded this place as the birthplace of their ancestors. No one was allowed to enter, or else they would be attacked crazily. This meant that the nomadic tribes had completely taken over the responsibility of defending the Byron Empire's border.
In order to build a stronger relationship with the nomadic tribes, or more specifically, to make the Byron Empire's " watchdogs " more competent for their current position, the Byron Empire would send a large number of resources to the nomadic tribes every year. As a result, the nomadic tribes that had received the Byron Empire's secret support gradually became stronger. They had excellent weapons and sufficient food, making them one of the three great nomadic tribes on the Kug Prairie.
The Byron Empire was not worried that the nomadic tribes would relax their defense of the border. That was their holy land. In the ancient tribes, the holy land was absolutely sacred and inviolable. Other than the noble wizards in the tribe who regularly offered sacrifices, no one else could enter unless they were summoned by the god that the tribe believed in.
With the help of the nomadic tribes and the " help " of the magical beasts in the forest, the Byron Empire was relieved to hand over the defense of the border.
Perhaps no one knew that in the hearts of these nomadic tribal leaders, besides their god, there was another thing that had absolute command over them. It was something that their ancestors had sworn to their god with their souls and would never violate.
"Sir, can we stop and rest for a while? " Those people behind can't keep up…" Aina turned around and looked behind her, hesitantly giving her suggestion to Luo Lina.
Frowning, Luo Lina quickly looked back and nodded slightly." Rest for half an hour. Inform the team leaders to expand the perimeter.”After saying that, he raised his arm high. After a series of neighs, the 20,000-man cavalry stopped in the forest.
Luo Lina threw the reins to Mellina beside her and walked to a tree nearby." Sen, where are we now?"”
"Sir, according to uncle's travel notes, we should be in the Byron Empire's territory now. Further south is the Beastmen's southern swamp. We should be able to see the town of the Tell Empire after crossing the mountain in front and walking for about two days.”After answering the commander's question, Sen could not help but sigh. "I thought that only adventurers like my uncle would know about such a secret path. I didn't expect Lord Feng to know so much.”
"Captain Sen, please mind your words! You are now the guide of this troop. Whether or not you can complete the mission given by Lord Feng depends largely on whether or not you are a qualified guide. I hope that you won't let me down, Lord Wind. Don't waste your time on such meaningless emotions and observe the nearby terrain!”
Luo Lina reprimanded Sen sternly, but the happiness in her eyes revealed the true feelings in her heart. Women liked it when the man they loved was praised. It was more effective than praising them directly.
"Yes, my lord! This subordinate will not disappoint the commander and vice commander!”Sen lowered his head in fear to ensure his determination. At this critical moment, he would not allow himself to make any mistakes. This was the opportunity he had dreamed of!
Luo Lina tried her best to maintain a serious expression and said,""Captain Sen, is there any record of this mountain in your uncle's travel notes? If there was anything that needed to be noted, he should bring it up as soon as possible. This time, more than half of the attendants are mages. We have to be fully prepared! One more person meant one more strength!”
Sen quickly glanced at the regimental commander in front of him, lowered his head, and began to flip through a beautifully bound booklet in his hand. This was the best item he had bought from the market in Kuge City. It was a copy of his uncle's adventure travel notes. He understood the deeper meaning behind Luo Lina's words. In this situation where they were deep in the heart of the Tell Empire and had no backup, every bit of power they had was so precious. One person dying was one less person.
"This mountain is located at the western border of the Byron Empire. It doesn't have a name. After crossing this mountain, you will reach the western swamp of the Beastmen. There was a small human village near the swamps in the south and west. There were only a few hundred people in the village. The edge of the village was close to the western swamp. The swamp here was covered in dense poisonous fog all year round. There were also many magical beasts that roamed in the depths of the swamp. It was difficult for people to pass through this swamp safely. On the mountain range separating the village…"
Luo Lina interrupted her subordinate's report and asked with a frown,"You mean that the side of the mountain range is directly connected to the Beastmen's swamp, and they can come out directly from there? They could go around here and attack Krug?”
" This..." Lorina's series of questions made Sen a little stunned. He lowered his head and flipped through the adventure travel notes in his hand." I... I'm not sure if the orcs can pass through the swamp. Uncle's travel notes only said that the swamp is 'very difficult for people to pass through safely.' Sir, you know that those lowly and filthy Beastmen are always…different from humans…"
Beastmen, especially pure Beastmen, had the best physical strength and endurance in the entire Rostocker Continent. Humans simply couldn't compare to them in this aspect. Although the orcs ate a shocking amount of food, they were much better than humans in every aspect other than their magic comprehension and intelligence. What Luo Lina was worried about was that the orcs would use their familiarity with the swamp and their physical strength to bypass the mountains and attack the Kug Prairie. After all, the western swamp was a place where the orcs had lived for thousands of years. There were too many things that humans could not understand.
"Alright, continue what you just said.”Seeing that Sen could not give a definite answer, Luo Lina did not make things difficult for him. She summoned the personal guards beside her and ordered them to send an additional group of scouts to double the scope of the alert.
"In the mountain range separating the village, there aren't many Magical Beasts. The ones that threaten us mainly come from the sky. Uncle's travel notes said that there are often large groups of Thunder Hawks hunting nearby.”
"Thunder Eagle?" Luo Lina subconsciously repeated the word, her beautiful eyebrows deeply knitted into a straight line." This is a big problem. We brought 12,000 mages this time, so we're not afraid of these things. However, if we fight with them, we might attract Byron and Ter's attention…"
Sen felt helpless. Luo Lina had personally asked him to participate in this mission. She wanted to use his ability to recognize the way. To put it bluntly, she wanted to take a fancy to the adventure travel notes left behind by his uncle. He had thought that he could use this rare opportunity to gain some merit and become a noble of the empire after the war. However, the possibility of this seemed to be decreasing. The problems they had to face seemed to be directed at him, leaving him almost helpless.
Just like the Thunder Hawks now, these flying magical beasts that lived in groups could easily appear in tens of thousands. What was worse was that this group of carnivorous magical beasts that could release Intermediate and Advanced Spells had violent and cruel temperaments. They saw humans as their food and would take the initiative to attack.
"Sen, didn't your uncle write anything about how to deal with such a situation in his travels? If there were always large groups of Thunder Hawks hunting for food nearby, how could humans pass through here? Didn't you say that there's a village on the other side of the mountain? How could the villagers defend against these Thunder Eagles? They would take the initiative to attack humans!”
"This…This subordinate is useless. Uncle's travel notes have no records of this.”Sen lowered his head deeply. Even he felt that these words were harsh to the ears.
" Sigh... Feng's plan was too hasty..." Luo Lina sighed helplessly."Sen, it's not your fault. You don't have to blame yourself. This was the mistake of the higher-ups of the army. The entire operation was perfect, but they forgot to consider the environmental factors.”
"This subordinate is incompetent and has failed to live up to Milord's expectations.”
"No, I don't. Sen, I told you, we can't put the blame on you. This is the mistake of the higher-ups of the army. Moreover, even the Empire's library did not have any records of how to deal with the Thunder Hawks that appeared in groups. After all, they were unique creatures that lived in the southern forests. We'll need your help in the future. Don't be burdened by anything.”
Hearing the commander's words, Sen's heart jolted. He knew that the opportunity was not far away from him. This subordinate will definitely not disappoint you!"
"Okay, you can go and rest." Luo Lina smiled at Sen; she was very satisfied with her subordinate's high spirits. No matter what his goal was, as long as he could win this war for the Empire and her husband, everything else was not a problem.#
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