Chapter 81.1: Siege Warfare Prerequisite
Turning the clock back eight hours ago (OtherWorld time), when Yang Qiu was still peacefully asleep on earth… Daybreak arrived.
Due to the heavy contamination of his mind, Charlie Rex couldn't laze around in bed like others his age. He was awake as soon as the first light of day shone.
Rex had long gotten used to only being able to sleep for six or seven hours a day at max. After changing into a set of fresh clothing, he issued a breakfast preparation quest to the undead while he went to collect and heat up water for himself and Mia to freshen up.
The tireless undead frolicked around the campsite nonstop, and even when Rex was washing his face and brushing his teeth, someone ran over asking for quests. This bit was something that Rex had already grown accustomed to.
Long-term harassment would also cause one to build up resistance. Rex had not only adapted to the eccentric bunch of players but even came to enjoy the experience of being able to make the undead move when issuing quests.
Of course, the condition was that rewards had to be settled immediately upon quest completion; otherwise, the undead, who could switch from docile to aggressive in an instant, might try to test if they could snatch equipment off one's body…
Rex still couldn't understand why the undead were willing to do things for "reputation." And this was especially so after Yang introduced a new "territory prestige" which made the undead enthusiastically collect materials from beasts and monsters just to change specific values on the matrix's "panel." But that didn't really matter to Rex. All he understood was that this system was way more convenient than dealing with copper coins.
After all, copper coins were heavy, and after a settlement of copper coins, an account had to be made in the matrix to keep track of where every single coin was given out to. While it wasn't labor-intensive, it was certainly troublesome.
While sending an undead that came for a quest to collect wild vegetables, Rex, with toothbrush still in mouth, heard a mournful wail from the neighboring tent.
He immediately spat out the foam and rushed over to see what was going on.
Tuttle, who occupied the neighboring tent, was standing over a tricycle cart that had been ransacked, with even the tarp in disarray.
Tuttle was fuming so hard that he seemed to have lost his sanity. Twirling his arm, he paced around the messed up tricycle cart furiously. "—Who! Who touched my stuff?! Come out, you jerk!"
Rex, observing in secret, didn't make a sound and silently backed away.
Both he and Mia wouldn't go through Tuttle's cart, and neither would the others. That only left the undead.
More than 200 undead had come along with the caravan, and from time to time, several would disassemble themselves and lie down in the tricycle carts. Finding the "culprit" would be really difficult, and nothing much could be done even if the culprit was identified.
In any case, Rex had no interest in this matter since it had nothing to do with him. Also, he hadn't grown close to the former bandits to the extent that they would share common enemies.
However, the fact that these undead, who cared only about equipment and reputation, were sneaking around and stealing from others' carts surprised Rex. He felt that he ought to be more vigilant and bring important items into his tent when setting up camp for the night…
While Rex was feeling somewhat amused by Tuttle's misfortune, he saw two undead approaching.
One of them was called "Ji Tang" and Rex had a rather favorable impression of this skeleton. Ji Tang was an undead, but he possessed a certain masculine air about him. As per usual, Rex greeted Ji Tang with a friendly nod from a distance.
"Huh!" Give Me Medicine, who was accompanying Ji Tang, expressed exaggeratedly, "Ji-God, how high is your warrior reputation? Why is the NPC so polite to you?"
"Uh… Honored," Ji Tang replied.
"For real? My treasure expert reputation is Honored as well, but Finley's always black-faced when he sees me as if I owe him several million," said Give Me Medicine bewilderedly.
Ji Tang couldn't exactly say that the motions of a living, breathing person weren't quantifiable, so he shifted the direction of the conversation, saying, "Perhaps it's due to the difference in personalities of these instructor NPCs. Rex has a better temperament than most of the other instructors."
During this time, the two had jogged up to Rex's tent.
Many years in the military meant that Ji Tang had built up a rather straightforward nature. When they arrived at Rex's tent, he immediately got straight to the point.
"Rex, we picked up two orcs and a human outside the camp. We can't communicate with them due to the language barrier and we would like your help finding out where they are from."
Rex, who had initially assumed Ji Tang was here for a quest, tensed up upon hearing this.
A short while later, in the improvised tent set up by the undead, Rex saw the dark-haired teenager and the two orcs.
At the same time, he also noticed… dessert packaging (cake, wafers, carton milk were considered desserts to the natives) casually strewn in the corner of the tent.
Rex: "…"
He didn't particularly have a sweet tooth and wouldn't go out of his way to hoard snacks for indulgence. The only person he knew with such a habit was Tuttle.
Rex silently turned his head and subtly took measure of Ji Tang.
You must have been quite the character in your past life, huh? Even knowing how to steal stuff…
People who weren't in the imprint matrix couldn't communicate with the undead, as Yang had explained to them some time ago, so Rex wasn't too surprised by this. He carefully chose his words and, with a stern face, addressed the adult orc, "I am Charlie Rex, the leader of this undead merchant caravan. Why have you appeared near our camp?"
The three rescued individuals revealed undisguised panic when they heard what was said.
Rex was also taken aback by their reaction, but he soon came to the realization that they weren't too far from the infamous red-light district, Weisshem. He also recalled the nature of those merchant caravans that had passed through the Sorenson Mountains…
Feeling disgusted, he quickly clarified, "Our caravan's owner is the esteemed Lord of Taranthan. We aren't like those other horrible fellows. Now, answer my question."
The human teen and the orc girl, Lyka, who didn't know much of the world, were dumbfounded when they heard this caravan full of undead belonged to a certain lord. The teenage boy, especially, when he had been living hand to mouth in Indahl, couldn't even dream of coming into contact with servants of nobles, let alone nobility.
The adult orc, unlike his two companions, wasn't completely ignorant, but he was still rather surprised. When had Taranthan, a place ten times more dangerous than Sorensen, gained a lord?
This adult orc couldn't help but cast his gaze at the players behind Rex who were looking on curiously…
These undead, who were nothing like typical undead, came from Taranthan. Now, Taranthan had a lord and the ability to produce goods for trade?
The adult orc, who himself had once been a professional-level combatant before falling to such dire straits, thought for a bit, and an image of some unknown and powerful black mage came to his mind…
Subconsciously, the adult orc straightened his back and no longer put on his exaggerated display of weakness. He was someone who had suffered a great deal, and he couldn't be easily bought over with food. If it weren't for Rex coming in person to explain the current circumstances, he would have planned to "feign weakness," eat a few meals to build up his strength, and then find an opportunity to escape.
"Please allow me to introduce myself first, esteemed sir." The adult orc placed a hand on his chest and bowed slightly, adopting a dignified posture he hadn't been able to use in many years. "My name is Ossirian Jin. I used… to be a member of the Seleras Alliance."
"Seleras Alliance?!" At this point, it was Rex who revealed his surprise.
Seleras was a deity from the outer continent. The Seleras Alliance was an underground organization formed by descendants of Outer Continent orcs that had been trafficked to Navalon and mainly specialized in resistance activities in countries where orc slavery was legal (mainly the Kenyan Empire).
Naturally, the Kenyan Empire, which had prospered from selling orcs for several centuries, deemed the Seleras Alliance to be an illegal organization.
However, many nations on the Navalon Continent weren't united, and some with frosty or even hostile relations with the Kenyan Empire were more than happy to give the Seleras Alliance official recognition.
Quite a few nations would also provide financial support to the Seleras Alliance discreetly. After all, the bulk of the Seleras Alliance's resistance activities was within the Kenyan Empire, and naturally, there would be many delighted to see the empire bleed from the inside.
But… roughly ten years ago, the Seleras Alliance had ceased to exist.
This organization, which had resisted the suppression of the Kenyan Empire for several centuries, was shattered overnight by a single piece of legislation, the "Orc Civil Rights Act."
Rex's stern expression softened. Any discerning eyes knew what the Kenyan Empire's "Orc Civil Rights Act" was all about. This emaciated orc before him, who had been a member of the Seleras Alliance, deserved respect.
"Ossirian, why have you and your two companions come here?" Rex asked in a gentler tone.
Ossirian became down-crested and, with some difficulty, said, "To be honest… I was sold into Weisshem several years ago. These two children… have experienced circumstances similar to mine.
"I had already given up on ever escaping… until last night, when someone attacked the Golden Coast, Weisshem's largest establishment. That's when I had a chance to flee with these two. We were exhausted from the escape and fell asleep not too far from here."
"I see." Rex didn't pry too much into the experiences of these three. He said some words to comfort Ossirian, then beckoned the undead to step out together with him.
Before leaving, Rex made sure to collect the discarded packaging left in the tent. He planned to bury it discreetly later…
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