Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Little Lion

The orcs abandoned nearly fifty thousand corpses and, following their King’s command, began to pack up and retreat. They followed in their King’s footsteps, withdrawing toward the Beastlands.

By the second night of the march, Wobia ordered camp to be set up and security tightened. He even insisted that every soldier sleep with their weapons at their side. They had no choice; they hadn’t rested well the previous night and had endured another full day and night of forced marching. Most of the orcs were utterly exhausted.

As expected, they were ambushed once again. Yang Dianfeng had divided his twenty thousand Zerglings and Hydralisks into ten squads, attacking from various angles. Although the orcs managed to hold off the ambush, they left behind another ten thousand corpses. Exhausted as they were, they were utterly incapable of pursuing the attackers.

Seeing that the orcs were not mounting a counterattack, Yang Dianfeng grew bolder and kept harassing them. Here, the Zerg’s ability to sustain long-term combat was fully realized; they were like war machines that never tired, always remaining as fierce and vigorous as ever.

Yang Dianfeng had originally intended to use this large-scale battle to identify the weaknesses of the Zerg, but to his horror, he found that these creatures had essentially no flaws. Yang Dianfeng held the firm belief that, in equal numbers, the Zerg feared no force; this was the confidence the Zerg had instilled in him.

In truth, Yang Dianfeng had been somewhat hesitant at the start. The initial disparity in numbers was too great, and launching an attack rashly was dangerous, which was why he had chosen to strike under the cover of night. Honestly, neither Yang Dianfeng nor Shen Yi had anticipated such results.

The orcs continued their retreat while the Zerg kept up their relentless harassment. Viewed from afar on Shen Yi’s screen, the orc army resembled an organ being slowly devoured by a virus, yet that organ had no way to stop it.

Wobia was absolutely livid. He charged out alone, hoping to slaughter the enemy, but five or six Zerglings acting as rear guards slammed violently into the great lion. Though the Zerglings were torn to pieces, they managed to halt Wobia’s advance, followed immediately by a rain of bone needles. By the time Wobia finished enduring the volley, he could no longer find a trace of the monsters; they had long since burrowed deep into the earth.

"If you have the guts, don't run! Come and fight me together! Just hiding underground—aren't you afraid of hitting granite?" Wobia felt an overwhelming sense of frustration. He took his massive axe and smashed repeatedly at the spots where the Zerg had burrowed, creating huge craters, but he didn't find a single hair. He was so angry he nearly coughed up blood.

"Aaaah!" Wobia roared as he smashed the ground, acting as if he had lost his mind. The orcs in the rear began to feel a sense of pity for their commander, though some of the more timid ones thought, "What if the commander can't find the enemy and decides to take his frustration out on us?" Many of the orcs trembled, afraid to move forward.

Yang Dianfeng naturally saw all of this, but he felt not a shred of pity. Instead, he felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

"Little lion, give up your resistance and I will leave you an intact corpse," a will echoed in Wobia's ears.

"Who is it?" Wobia looked around, his eyes bloodshot as he scanned the surroundings. This was not telepathy; telepathic communication resonated in the ears, but this voice seemed to emerge from within his heart. It was a divine art, or some unknown power. Wobia’s lion mane bristled, making his head appear to swell in size.

"If you don't understand, then be destroyed!" Another will came through. Clearly, Yang Dianfeng had no patience for conversation.

Afterward, no matter how much Wobia called out, there was no response, as if the voice had never existed. When the orcs saw their commander’s fur standing on end in such a rage, they dared not approach him. Though they didn't know Wobia was terrified, they knew well enough not to provoke a bristling lion.

Wobia returned to his command tent, exhausted. He sat in a daze for a long time.

"I don't want to learn martial arts," a young lion cub snarled at his father.

"Pick up the sword beside you! I will not say it a second time," a lion-man said sternly, looking at the cub who wanted to slack off. It was a sweltering summer day, and the sun shone down on the flourishing grassland where the two lion-men stood in confrontation.

"Why practice martial arts? Why kill people? What did they do wrong?"

"They were born human, which makes them the enemies of our race! And you are the future King of the orcs!"

"So what? Why can’t we live in peace? If we let them go, the humans will be grateful to us and we can make peace!"

"Oh? Fine, I will listen to you this time. But you must release them yourself! I will not stop you," the large lion-man said, as if swayed by the cub, and made a gesture of invitation, implying he was free to do as he pleased.

"Dad, are you really letting me release them?"

"Yes!"

The cub, overjoyed, ran back to where the humans were being held. In a foul-smelling cell, five mercenaries were chained together. They had originally come to the beast territory to capture orc slaves, but their presence was exposed and they were imprisoned. Knowing they were certain to die, they were discussing how to escape. Suddenly, the cell door opened.

"It’s finally time," they thought. "Come on then, make it quick!"

"Shh! Don't make a sound, I'm here to save you!" the cub whispered, fumbling to unlock their chains. The men looked at each other in confusion. They had expected death, yet here was a lion cub saving them. Had the orcs lost their minds? Despite their doubts, they followed the cub. Having grown up in the tribe, the cub knew the safest path and led them out without incident.

Over the next few days, the men grew familiar with their savior. During a casual conversation, they discovered something extraordinary.

"What? You are the child of the Beast Emperor?" one of the mercenaries asked, astonished to learn the truth after they were safe.

"That's right, my father is the King here. According to you humans, I am a prince," the cub said proudly. The mercenaries exchanged glances and began to flatter the cub even more enthusiastically.

And so, the cub escorted them all the way back to a human town, enjoying the journey. Looking at the city in the distance, the cub said, "Uncles, I can only take you this far. I enjoyed the time I spent with you!"

"We enjoyed it too. We will surely repay this life-saving debt one day, even if it costs us our lives!" The five mercenaries cupped their hands in salute before heading toward the town. Seeing them safe, the cub prepared to head back, thinking, "Who said we couldn't be friends? These people don't seem bad at all!"

He had only taken a few steps back when he felt a blow to his head, and his vision went black.

When he woke up, he found himself in an earthen house. "Where is this? How did I get here?" the cub wondered, bewildered. Stepping outside, he saw the mercenaries he had saved in the courtyard, some practicing martial arts, others cooking.

One of the younger mercenaries smiled at the dazed cub and said, "You're up! Are you alright? We were just about to leave when we saw you being knocked out by someone! Luckily, our leader looked back! Otherwise, you might have been turned into a slave by now!"

"That's right, it's lucky the boss noticed. We had to fight hard to save you! We killed that man, so don't worry!"

"First, you were unconscious, and second, we couldn't just let you go back alone, so we brought you to our hideout."

The men explained what had happened after he lost consciousness. The cub didn't think much of it; after all, he had saved their lives, so why would they harm him? "Thank you so much! If I had been caught by bad guys, my father would be heartbroken! How about this? Send a message via carrier pigeon and have my father send someone to pick me up?"

The leader spoke up, "We have already sent word and are waiting for a reply. Just rest easy here for a few days! Once we hear back, we will send you home. After all, the human city is dangerous for you."

The cub settled in, and everything remained peaceful until one day, he accidentally overheard the mercenaries talking, which made him regret his choice immensely. He heard them discussing how to use him for profit and mocking the orcs as nothing more than foolish beasts.

The cub was furious. So, they had been using him all along! Rage caused him to lose his reason.

"So, in the eyes of humans, my people and I are all just beasts!"

"You were using my compassion!"

The cub walked toward them, his eyes burning with fury, and shouted his anger.