“The day before yesterday, I overheard a few half-orcs discussing that if they had the chance to go to the battlefield, they would not be inferior to the orcs.” Adolf thought for a moment and continued, “Moreover, they also said that fighting the same old orcs in the underground city every day is no longer exciting, and they urgently need a change of taste.”
“… ” Shao Qian was choked by such a reason. Really?
“Leader, when will you give me the ten thousand kilograms of pig iron you promised?” The dark-skinned half-orc was already by Shao Qian’s side, his large white teeth flashing, causing Shao Qian’s eyes to ache. “Hurry up and give it to me so I can start forging.”
“… Wait.” Shao Qian rubbed his nose. “Where can I get ten thousand kilograms for you all of a sudden?”
“You can’t deceive me.” The dark-skinned half-orc widened his eyes. “If you deceive me… I’ll come to your doorstep every day to forge.”
Shao Qian’s mouth twitched. “I won’t deceive you.”
“In the future, call him Legion Commander.” Martin patted the dark-skinned half-orc’s shoulder. “We’ll leave all our weapons to you in the future.”
“Don’t worry.” The dark-skinned half-orc patted his chest and assured, “I won’t dare to say anything about other things, but my forging skills are definitely not worse than those outside orcs.”
“I didn’t say your forging skills were bad.” Shao Qian glanced over the excited half-orcs and then spoke loudly, “Listen to me first, okay?”
Upon hearing Shao Qian’s voice, the discussing half-orcs all stopped, but they still had smiles on their faces, and some even blushed with excitement.
“Do you know what it means for us to go to the battlefield?” Shao Qian felt that he should make it clear. He looked seriously at each of the half-orcs present. “It means that we may lose our lives at any moment. We may die under the Zerg’s mandibles, be crushed into minced meat, or even die without a complete corpse.”
Shao Qian paused and continued, “You’ve been training with me to become stronger, thinking of making your own lives better. If I lead you to the battlefield, it means your heads are hanging by a thread, and you could lose your lives at any moment. Tell me, are you still willing to go with me?”
Are you still willing to go? This question made the smiles on the faces of the half-orcs disappear to some extent, and some even lowered their heads in silence. However, not long after, many people looked up at Shao Qian with determined eyes. Someone started shouting, “Even if we die, it’s honorable.”
The first person shouted, followed by the second, the third…
For a while, the entire underground city was filled with waves of these voices. Shao Qian, watching these vigorous half-orcs, felt a bit choked. He pinched his nose and smiled, saying, “Aren’t you afraid that the orcs will look down on you?”
“Whoever looks down on us, we’ll fight until they acknowledge us.” Martin, inspired, became a bit excited. “We’ve experienced so much suffering and finally come to where we are today. If we retreat at this critical moment, maybe we can save our lives, but we’ll regret it for a lifetime.”
“Martin is right.” After Martin spoke, others expressed agreement. “In the past, we only thought about how to make our own lives a bit better. Now we’ve achieved that, but we have a farther goal—to legalize half-orcs. Now that such a good opportunity is in front of us, even if we have to sacrifice our lives, we won’t hesitate.”
This person’s words received another wave of approval. If this were three years ago and a half-orc said these things, many would disdain it or even think the person was crazy. But now it’s different; after two or three years of training, they can no longer be satisfied with fighting the same familiar orcs every day.
Moreover, the reason they became stronger was to change the perception of half-orcs on the planet. Now that such an opportunity is in front of them, these half-orcs are like grabbing a lifesaving straw. How could they give up, even if the cost of this opportunity might be their lives?
“Alright, let’s do it.” Shao Qian felt that watching these half-orcs, he also became somewhat impassioned. He smiled and said loudly, “Everyone, get ready.”
“Good. When do we depart?” Martin asked casually.
“… ” Shao Qian’s smile froze on his face. When to depart…
“I’ll go find the Lord tonight.” Adolf, as a loyal wolf, how could he let his partner be troubled? So, he quickly added, “I’ll take care of this matter.”
“I’ll go with you.” Shao Qian patted Adolf’s chest with the back of his right hand. “Don’t sell yourself without knowing it when you come back.”
“I only know that Diu Diu is good to me.” The wolf cub said and was about to approach again. Even if Shao Qian’s face is thick-skinned, he cannot be indifferent and be openly kissed in front of a hundred pairs of eyes. Therefore, before Adolf could kiss him, he quickly took a step back.
Adolf, who didn’t get to kiss, felt that his whole person was unhappy. He felt that Diu Diu, since meeting these people, no longer approached him intimately. It seems that tonight, he has to have a good talk with Diu Diu about life and ideals after returning from the Lord’s Mansion.
Since everything was arranged, Shao Qian and the wolf cub didn’t stay at the training ground for long. They needed to prepare gifts for the City Lord.
In the evening, Shao Qian and the wolf cub went to visit the City Lord. The Lord didn’t seem too surprised by their arrival and directly pointed to the seats. “Sit.”
“It seems that Lord Luden anticipated our visit long ago.” Shao Qian smiled as he looked at Lord Luden. This was a genuine fox, a fox in both form and heart.
“That’s right,” Lord Luden said as he set down his cup. “My information may be well-informed, but it can’t surpass both of you.”
“Old fox, why so many twists and turns with you?” Adolf became impatient. “Every time we come, you’re like this. If it weren’t for the fact that you don’t bother us, I’d be annoyed.”
Lord Luden wasn’t angry either; he even smiled even more. “Adolf, we haven’t seen each other for such a long time. How about catching up a bit?”
Shao Qian kicked Adolf and smiled at Lord Luden. “My dear Adolf doesn’t talk much; you’re just teasing him.”
“Alright, alright, I know you’re protecting him.” Lord Luden restrained his smiling face. “Comparatively, did you both come for that piece of news?”
“Yes.” Shao Qian nodded. “Normally, such significant news should have been known by the Empire already. Why is there still no movement until now?”
There was no increase in military forces guarding the borders, and there was no news of any Zerg outbreak. This was indeed a strange situation.
“The news did spread, but it was intercepted on the way.” Lord Luden sneered. “To get this message out, I also sacrificed several orcs.”
“Someone is blocking it?” Shao Qian was somewhat surprised by this answer. “If the Zerg break through the defense line, doesn’t that mean a direct threat to the Empire?”
Although the desert area was far from the center of the Empire, the Zerg’s actions were swift, and winged Zerg could fly directly into the air, posing an even greater threat. Faced with such a serious situation, how could the Empire remain silent?
“The Empire is currently divided into three factions.” Lord Luden frowned tightly. “When Marshal Derek resigned and left, it directly led to the disintegration of the First Legion, Third Legion, Fifth Legion, and Sixth Legion. The four legions were dispersed and merged into the commands of the other three Marshals. They have not been living well these years, being heavily excluded.”
Saying this, Lord Luden couldn’t help but snort. “Back then, I had said to kill Rio, but Ade didn’t agree… If not…”
“Even if you killed Rio, it wouldn’t have changed the situation at that time, right?” Regarding the events of that year, Shao Qian had heard quite a bit after becoming familiar with Lord Luden. He could only say that Rio’s selfishness directly caused Grandpa Derek to fall from the altar to hell. When he learned about what happened back then, his initial thought was also to kill Rio directly. However, at that time, Rio had already left with Grandpa Ade…
“You see, I’ve gone off topic again.” Lord Luden slapped his forehead and returned to the topic. “Although the military power of the Empire is controlled by three Marshals, the imperial family is not to be underestimated. The wolf clan is the most united. The members of the imperial family are basically huddled together. Even if the three Marshals unite, they haven’t been able to overthrow the imperial family from their controlling position so far.”
“Can the three Marshals still unite?” Shao Qian raised an eyebrow and sneered. “I’m afraid they are just putting on a show.”
“Knowing is enough; there’s no need to say it.” Lord Luden chuckled. “Those three old bastards, on the surface, unite to resist the imperial family, but in reality, each one is secretly trying to trip up the others. Such scoundrels still want to overthrow the imperial family? It’s wishful thinking.”
“Are you implying that the reason the news hasn’t spread so far is because of which Marshal?” Shao Qian suddenly realized. “Someone is obstructing it.”
“It’s not someone; I’m afraid all three of those old bastards are involved.” Lord Luden sneered coldly. “However, the more they don’t want others to know the severity of the situation, the more I want to spread the news. It’s not that simple for them to achieve their goals by taking advantage of this disaster.”
“I came this time hoping you could help.” Shao Qian took the opportunity to speak.
“As soon as you come, I know you have something.” Lord Luden pointed at Shao Qian and laughed. “First, show me what gifts you’ve brought.”
Adolf felt extremely wronged; he hadn’t had a chance to speak the whole day. It was really frustrating for the wolf. Now, hearing Lord Luden saying he wanted to see the gifts, he directly took out an item from his bag and put it on his palm, then forcefully opened his palm, shooting out five sharp steel claws.
Lord Luden’s eyes lit up when he saw this. “Bring it over; let me take a look.”
“We’re going to the battlefield.” Yes, Adolf spoke straightforwardly. “Agree, and this thing is yours. Disagree, and I’ll use this thing to smash your place.”
