“Rightly said,” the man finished, and more voices echoed loudly in response.
Shao Qian scanned the crowd, then spoke out loud, “Alright, since that’s the case, let’s set off. Tell me, have you all left your farewell letters by your bedside?”
“I did. I even left a pair of my own underwear.”
“Oh, I thought I was the only one who left underwear.”
“Huh, am I the only one who left smelly socks?”
Shao Qian listened somewhat helplessly as the people below discussed what they had left behind. After a while, Martin came over to tell him that the carriage sent by the lord had arrived.
“Whether you left underwear or smelly socks, I don’t care if you were too lazy to wash them before leaving them behind. But now, we’re setting off,” Shao Qian joked. “I really feel sorry for the people who have to collect those letters.”
“I feel sorry for my underwear too,” someone else shouted, eliciting laughter from many. The half-orcs filed out of the underground city in an orderly manner, and along the way, all that could be heard was laughter and chatter, devoid of the nervousness and hesitation of going to war.
“I really hope that when we return, we’ll be greeted with the same scene,” Shao Qian watched as the half-orcs left, then walked over to a borrowed recording device and spoke into the lens. “This time, there are 873 half-orcs heading to the battlefield, with 496 combatants, 377 support personnel, 92 orcs, along with myself and Adolf, totaling 967 individuals. I hope that everyone can return alive.”
“We have collectively built this underground city, and one day, this city will be revealed to the world. And we, the 967 of us, are the masters of this entire underground city,” Adolf said, finishing his words before shutting off the recording device. He lifted the device with one hand and pulled Shao Qian out with the other. “Diudiu, we will all come back. This home is waiting for us.”
“Yes. We’ll return to this place,” Shao Qian nodded vigorously. He stopped, turned around slowly, and scanned the now-empty training ground, as if trying to etch everything before him into his memory. After a long while, Shao Qian took a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly, and pulled Adolf along as they walked out.
As they left, The Lord Luden was already standing beside the energy carriages, waiting for them. Seeing them approach, he smiled reluctantly. “Be careful on the journey.”
“Thank you, Uncle Luden.” This time, Adolf didn’t retort to Lord Luden. He handed the recording device in his hand to the lord solemnly. “Please keep this safe for me. When the zerg race is wiped out, we will bring back every single one of our brothers. By then, the recording inside this device will need to be shown to them.”
“You can rest assured.” Lord Luden took the recording device. “I’ll guard the underground city for you. Red Shield City will always wait for your return.”
“Farewell.” Shao Qian bowed to Lord Luden and then climbed onto the energy carriage with Adolf.
Lord Luden refused his subordinates’ suggestion to take the recording device. He held onto it tightly, watching the three energy carriages depart until they disappeared completely, reluctant to leave.
Lord Luden stood in that spot for half an hour. Then, he rejected the follow-up of his subordinates and entered the underground city alone. He walked through every room in the underground city, his hands gliding over each letter. Over these three years, he had watched these half-orcs, and even the 92 orcs, grow up. How many of them would return after the war ended?
The speed of the energy carriages was fast, and they experienced about three days on the road. As they approached the desert, the villages and cities along the way became fewer and fewer. The closer they got to the desert, the more corpses of orcs and half-orcs could be seen on the road. Some of the corpses had been gnawed on quite a bit, likely by the zerg race.
Shao Qian instructed the carriage to stop not far from one of the gnawed corpses, and he asked all the half-orcs and orcs on the carriage to get off. “You still want to go to the battlefield, knowing that you might be killed and eaten?”
The faces of the half-orcs present looked somewhat grim, but surprisingly, not a single person made a vomiting sound. They pressed their lips together, staring at the corpse of the orc for a while. Then, suddenly, someone turned around and silently walked into the energy carriage. The first person acted, followed by the second, then the third…
More than nine hundred orcs and half-orcs, without exception, boarded the energy carriages. Adolf pulled Shao Qian forward. “They are not cowards.”
“I just don’t want them to go to the battlefield unprepared.” To arrive at that place without any psychological preparation would be akin to a death sentence.
“Seeing the body of the orc, they may feel disgusted, but they also feel a greater sense of responsibility on their shoulders. They also realize that on this planet, orcs are not the strongest. They can be killed and even devoured. On this planet, every life is equal.” Adolf pulled Shao Qian onto the carriage. “So, since we’ve already brought them out, we can only help them strive to become stronger.”
“You’re right.” Shao Qian felt like he had been foolish. At this stage, what was the point of wanting the half-orcs to give up but also not wanting them to give up? It would only add to his troubles.
As they neared the desert, the road ahead was blocked, and the energy carriages couldn’t pass. They had no choice but to abandon the carriages and proceed on foot. Shao Qian instructed a few winged half-orcs to put on blade harnesses and fly into the air to scout, while the rest of them had to unload the items from the carriages and proceed on foot.
However, Shao Qian and the others hadn’t gone far when the flying half-orcs sounded a warning whistle. Shao Qian, accompanied by Martin and Oden, went to check the situation, leaving the reluctant Adolf behind to remain vigilant.
Shao Qian, Martin, and Oden moved quickly. When they reached the spot where the half-orcs were on alert, they found that they had already engaged with several flying zergs of the insect race, and below them, a few orcs were struggling against some large zergs. It seemed that those orcs were already on their last legs and wouldn’t last much longer if they didn’t receive help.
Although the orcs were fighting the zergs, they were still quite concerned about those who were diverting the attention of several flying zergs. They were pleasantly surprised when they heard the whistle. Were these people reinforcements?
However, their hope seemed to fade when they saw only three half-orcs rushing over. What could half-orcs do? Were they coming to their deaths?
“You’d better scram.” One of the orcs rolled to dodge the attack of a bug and shouted loudly, “Although I hate to see you half-orcs insulting the god of beasts, I don’t want you to feed these damn bugs either.”
Shao Qian and the others didn’t have time to deal with him. Shao Qian observed the movements of the zergs, asking, “Can you tell where their weak points are?”
“In the abdomen,” Martin said, putting on his blade harness. He opened his hands sharply, and sharp steel claws shot out. “Damn it, I’ll give this bastard orc who’s cursing me a good lesson later.”
“Count me in.” Oden also wore his blade harness and shot out sharp blades, ten flashing blades shimmering with cold light.
Shao Qian’s nails were sharp enough, so he didn’t need a blade harness. He used his soul power on his feet and dashed into the fray. A flying kick hit the jaw of the insect, then he dodged its attack and drilled into its abdomen. The sharp claws pierced through the insect’s abdomen, and with a strong pull, it came out with a chilling sound. Then, before the insect fell, he sprang out again.
The orc who had been dealing with the entire insect was dumbfounded, watching as the massive creature was dealt a fatal blow by someone. Then it collapsed with a thud.
Not only was this orc dumbfounded, but the other orcs who were still in combat also turned their heads when they heard the sound. When they saw Shao Qian standing at the other end of the insect, their movements stopped for a moment, and the zergs took advantage of this opportunity to try to bite the two orcs who were exposed.
However, they didn’t get what they wanted. Before they could bite down, the two orcs were kicked away. Then, sharp weapons almost severed the two zergs’ mandibles.
The two zergs screamed in pain as they were stabbed in their brains by the half-orcs wielding blade harnesses. The flying zergs, who were in combat with the few half-orcs in the air, wanted to provide support. However, the half-orcs engaged in combat with them would not give them that chance. Seizing the opportunity while the zergs were distracted, the half-orcs jumped onto their backs and forcefully stabbed their palms, piercing into the zergs’ brains.
The flying zergs screamed loudly and tried to shake off the half-orcs on their backs. But it wasn’t that easy. The more they struggled, the deeper the blades of the half-orcs penetrated. Eventually, they pierced through the zergs’ hard skulls, killing them.
One massive insect plummeted from the sky and crashed into the ground, crushing another insect underneath it. Taking advantage of the insect’s immobilization, Shao Qian punched it in the eye, concentrating his soul power into a spike that penetrated its brain, then detonated it.
Meanwhile, Martin and Oden also killed several zergs. The injured orcs stood there dumbfounded, watching as the half-orcs slaughtered the zergs before their eyes.
“By the beast god, I must be dreaming,” one of the orcs who had just shouted for Shao Qian and the others to leave stood there dumbfounded. “Or are they miniature orcs?”
“It doesn’t seem… likely.” Orcs were very sensitive to each other’s scents, and although these individuals had the scent of orcs, it seemed only superficial. So, were they truly half-orcs, the ones labeled as trash? If even they were considered trash, then what were they?
Several orcs felt shaken by this realization, while the half-orcs seemed unfazed. What were they planning to do with those zergs’ thighs they were cutting open with their blades? Please don’t tell me they intend to take the meat?
Shao Qian and the others managed to kill all the massive zergs present, and the flying half-orcs descended. “Legion Commander, these zergs are much weaker than I imagined,” one of them reported to Shao Qian.
I am really sorry for not updating for so long…I was so busy with my college but finally I have a little bit of reprieve so I will try my best to translate 😅
