Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 325 Gold Coins and Longsword Revival Society Returns to the Vast Sea Territory

The World Tree of Dongxia still needs to grow, and the "artificial humans" of the Sea Eagle still need to be strengthened, but the Starry World has ushered in a new round of clear autumn skies.

The sky was like a huge, polished sapphire, clear and high, carrying a wild and expansive feel that belonged to the North.

The White Deer Plain has gradually taken on the shape of orcs!

According to a custom that has continued for countless years in this land, in about two months, when the last leaf of the broadleaf forest falls, the autumn hunt of the main orc force will begin.

That would be a military operation ostensibly for hunting, but in reality for sweeping and plundering, targeting all non-orc races.

The southward march of the orc army, however, provided a respite for the rebel forces hiding in the remote corners of the White Deer Plains. The more orcs who were conscripted left, the less pressure they faced to survive.

Young Stephen wrapped his roughly sewn jacket, made of unknown animal hide, tighter around himself. Feeling the biting wind that seemed to pierce his bones as it howled from the northern wilderness, he couldn't help but shrink his neck and bend down to crawl into the cave hidden by green plants.

The human warriors outside quickly covered the cave entrance and restored it to its original state.

This is the Qishan branch on the western side of Bailu Plain, located in the upper reaches of the Bailu section of the Huanyan River.

To the west lies a majestic, continuous plateau, the territory controlled by the Misty Moon Divine Court. This unique geographical location is neither appealing nor desirable for the beastmen who rule the plains.

If a tribal stronghold were to be established here, it would mean facing the threat of the Temple Knights on the plateau. Although those guys haven't launched a large-scale invasion in over a hundred years, who can predict the course of war?

Based on this consideration, the orcs have always maintained a semi-laissez-faire attitude in controlling this area, allowing some small tribes to act as scouts here, while the large tribes have remained steadily a hundred miles away.

Because of relatively insufficient control, the largest human resistance army in the White Deer Plain is active here, called the "White Deer Revival Society".

Chen Mo had always thought that the humans on the White Deer Plain lacked courage, but that was a slightly one-sided view.

According to incomplete statistics, there are at least thirty resistance forces of varying sizes on the White Deer Plain, with members representing almost all the major races currently existing on the continent. Among them, more than two-thirds are resistance armies composed of humans.

Previously, Chen Mo had mostly seen human slaves who had been largely domesticated by the beastmen. He had not only been unable to come into contact with these resistance forces scattered throughout the mountains and marshes, but he had never even heard of them.

On the one hand, the area where these human rebels could hide was limited, and they could only hide on the outskirts of the White Deer Plain, far away from Chen Mo's controlled area. On the other hand, their harassment was very weak, at most they could only attack some wandering sentries, and they didn't even dare to touch the guards of established caravans, so naturally they had no impact.

However, just because Chen Mo doesn't know them doesn't mean they don't know Chen Mo.

This meeting of the "White Deer Revival Society" was to discuss whether to seek the support of that human lord, and in what way to seek that support.

This was a gathering of leaders from various branches of the Revival Society, and when Stephen arrived, the discussion seemed to have been going on for some time.

"Hey, Skinny Snake! You're late again! Did you go raid some orc's den on the way here?"

A burly, bald man with arms thicker than Stephen's thighs shouted and casually tossed over a dark, sticky lump of food, greeting him loudly.

"Have something to eat first! Look at you, like you only get a decent meal on this day of the meeting every year!"

Stephen, nicknamed "Skinny Snake," caught it without saying thank you and took a big bite, his cheeks immediately bulging out.

The food dumplings were made from some kind of root plant mixed with a small amount of grains and possibly some minced meat from an unknown animal. They had a rough texture and were unusually sticky, but for Stephen, who often went hungry, they were a rare treat.

He wolfed down almost a third of the food before finally managing to lift his head and give a mumbled reply.

"How can my place compare to yours? Your territory is bordered by Weasel Beastmen and Rat Beastmen, and they're constantly fighting each other. My territory belongs to the Lion Beastmen. Those big cats have incredibly sharp noses and claws. I've already given it my all to keep my brothers alive!"

He swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty, took a breath, and his expression became somewhat serious. "Let's get down to business. There are noticeably more green-skinned patrol teams on the plains. I think this year's autumn hunt will be quite large-scale. They might even have to sweep through the area first. Everyone needs to prepare in advance."

"You've seen so many on the road, why didn't you just take advantage of it?"

Upon hearing this, Stephen grinned, revealing a set of somewhat blackened teeth, and pulled out an orc fang stained with dark red blood from his pocket, throwing it onto the table with a "thud".

"Damn it, they ambushed a three-man squad. I killed one, but the other two ran away like mad! What a waste of my three arrows, they got stuck in their fat asses and carried off! What a huge loss, a really huge loss!"

The previously subdued atmosphere immediately livened up when the topic of killing orcs and their loot came up. The leaders began whispering among themselves, sharing their recent successes.

The head of the "White Deer Revival Society," Rhino Moon, patted the adobe table. "Everyone's here. I need to get down to business!"

Mu En was a middle-aged man, with a strong build and dark skin, and his overall demeanor was like the rocks on Qishan Mountain.

He lost one eye in a battle years ago, and covered it with a piece of tanned black fur, which added to his fierce appearance. In private, he was also known as the One-Eyed Rhinoceros.

"Going east from Qishan Pass, there's a place called Hanhai Territory, you all know about it, right?"

"How could we not know? We crushed the orcs at the mountain pass. Good heavens, none of the orc soldiers from our tribes down the mountain who went out came back. They were crying their eyes out!"

"I heard that they not only attacked the orcs, but also the Green Pine to the west. Tens of thousands of people died at Qishan Pass, and the corpses blocked the pass..."

"You've heard something wrong!"

A slightly high-pitched leader interrupted him, trying to demonstrate his extensive information network, "It's over a hundred thousand! We have special intelligence channels in the south. At least a hundred thousand came out of Greenpine alone, and the orcs are no less. They've all been wiped out by that Lord of the Vast Sea!"

"Your information is outdated. What kind of ancient astrological calendar is this? The latest news is that the lord has conquered the Silvermoon Forest, taken over the Stream Moon Federation, and has already declared himself emperor!"

This last, overly exaggerated statement unsurprisingly drew unanimous and merciless ridicule from everyone.

Boasting is fine, but to boast like this is just too outrageous.

On Earth, this would be as ridiculous as saying that Dongxia's economy would surpass that of the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent within a certain number of years.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Rhino Moon slammed his fist on the table again.

Those who could join the "White Deer Restoration Society" were all outstanding heroes, but their discipline was too poor. At least half of the time in each meeting was wasted on making noise.

"Since this lord is fighting orcs, he must be a hero among us humans."

"I have an idea. I'd like to contact this lord and ask for some support. Let's make a big scene at the orcs' autumn hunt this time, and get more food and supplies so we can have a good winter!"

"Some time ago, I sent Aiden the Serpent to the south. Although he didn't meet the lord, he did meet some high-ranking officials from the Vast Sea Territory. They were quite hospitable and brought Aiden back a bag of gold coins and three longswords, all of them top-quality swords!"

Rhino Moon paused intentionally at this point, bent down, picked up a heavy-looking burlap sack from beside his feet, placed it on the table, then grabbed the bottom and yanked it down sharply—

"Crash-!"

Dozens of gold coins bounced and rolled around on the table, making a pleasant clinking sound.

A loud bang echoed through the meeting hall, and the murmurs rose straight to the top of the cave.

"Good heavens, Aiden, you're back! You didn't run away? No doubt about it, you're a real man! No doubt about it, you're a fucking man!"

"You didn't bring back any food. It's much cheaper to get food over there than here." "Are you out of your mind? Those are snakes, not camel-drawn beasts. You had to dodge orcs the whole way. It's already difficult enough to bring these things back, let alone carry food?"

"Where's the sword? Where's the sword? Let me see it!"

After admiring the gold coins, everyone then collectively appreciated the standard longsword given by Han Hai.

It's not anything rare, but it was forged using modern technology, and its design and strength are in stark contrast to the crude stuff made by the resistance.

It can already be called a "divine weapon"!

The "Restoration Society" members were already struggling to survive in the orc territory, let alone have the resources to acquire better equipment and supplies.

Take the Rhino Moon tribe, which is currently in the best position, for example. They have a small flat area in the valley of Flag Mountain where they can grow some food. Outside the mountain is a pioneering tribe of the Ratman tribe. Although they are still no match for the Rhino Moon tribe in a head-on fight, they would never dare to send small groups to approach Flag Mountain.

When there were many enemies, Moon would run away; when there were few enemies, Moon would kill them. Day after day, he created a large space for himself to survive. Even when dwarf caravans passed by, they would occasionally stop and do some trade with the "Restoration Society".

But what does the "Restoration Society" have to offer for sale?

That is, some local specialties, spellcasting materials, monster pelts and the like, collected from the mountains.

Because there were no other trading channels, the dwarves had a tight grip on the Restoration Society, and the purchase price was always at rock bottom. The entire harvest of several hundred people in Rhino Moon could only fetch three to five gold coins in a single harvest season.

The dwarfs' goods were sold at exorbitant prices; a thick iron arrowhead the length of a finger joint would cost six silver coins from the Restoration Society.

Otherwise, why would Stephen have gone on and on about being taken away by the orcs because of a few arrows?

It can be said that the Restoration Society's best weapons and armor plates were all stolen from orc patrols!

In a situation where you have to give it your all just to survive, how could everyone not be excited when they suddenly encounter a big spender?

A dozen or so leaders took turns trying it out, marveling at the craftsmanship, "Good heavens, this level of craftsmanship is probably only worthy of the orc noble guards."

"Exactly! With guys like this, next time we ambush the green-skinned patrol, I'll charge at all five of them by myself! No need to risk my brothers' lives again!"

"Boss Moon, what are you planning to do with these gold coins? Buy all of them for food? Or buy more arrowheads and swords?"

"If you ask me, we should definitely buy more weapons!"

Stephen squeezed to the front, twirling his longsword in his hand, his voice hoarse with excitement, "With good weapons, we can 'borrow' food from the orcs! What good is food alone? Are you going to pound wheat into the orcs' heads and kill them?"

Amidst the fervor, a somewhat abrupt voice broke in.

Daryl the Old Cat, the oldest and most senior leader among them, stroked his uneven, graying beard, looking melancholy.

"What does that lord want us to do for him, after offering him money and weapons?"

"It can't be given away for free, can it?"

Rhino Moon was slightly taken aback and turned to look at the snake Aiden to the side.

Aiden shook his head: "They didn't say anything..."

"They didn't make any requests?"

Aiden shook his head firmly, recalling, "It really is, Boss. The official who received me was very polite. After listening to me, he arranged food and lodging. Before I left, he gave me these gold coins and the sword, saying it was 'a token of my appreciation' and 'support for the righteous warriors fighting against the beasts.'"

"Oh right, when he left, he seemed to casually mention that if we had any information about the orc troop movements or the distribution of tribes, we could let them know."

"Impossible! Who spends money and doesn't buy anything? So much money can't be spent on charity!"

Old Cat Daryl tapped the table with his thin fingers, making a soft, rhythmic sound. "I've been in the White Deer Plain for so many years, I've seen all sorts of forces. If you take someone's money, you have to work for them..."

"We've been paid so much, we have to be willing to risk our lives for them. Otherwise, who will give us the chance to risk our lives again?"

Daryl the cat's words were like a bucket of cold water, slightly cooling down the originally enthusiastic atmosphere. Everyone looked at each other, and they all saw a hint of doubt in each other's eyes.

“Old Cat is right,” a leader with a scar on his face said in a deep voice. “That’s how it is on the plains. You eat as much as you bleed. If someone pays you, you have to work for them! You can’t ruin your reputation!”

"Besides, we have a blood feud with the orcs. Helping the Vast Ocean Territory fight is actually helping ourselves!"

"How about we send some orc heads and spoils over, and then talk to this lord?"

"Yes, yes, rather than freezing and starving to death in winter and wasting our lives, we might as well exchange them for something!"

Clearly, not everyone is doing well; often, they can't even find a chance to work hard.

The members of the "White Deer Restoration Society" are partly descendants of the resistance fighters who have lived in the mountains for generations, and partly newly born humans who still have some rebellious spirit but have been forced to join the rebels by the inhumanity of the orcs. No matter which group they belong to, there is no possibility of compromise with the orcs.

However, they really can't get any outside help.

The nearby Mistmoon Divine Court had no such need, and even flirted with the orcs through the Dwarf Merchant Guild. The human kingdoms that were far away never took these people seriously.

In the minds of most human forces, the White Deer Plain already belonged to the beastmen. This land, lost for hundreds of years, was now too far removed from the human race.

Even the "White Deer Restoration Society," after so many years of setbacks, no longer mentions "restoration"; their goal has become simply to live a few more days.

This is like a small business owner who has gone bankrupt and is homeless suddenly encountering a venture capitalist willing to give money. Shouldn't they hold on tight?

Well, they probably don't realize that this is not venture capital at all, but just a casual "charity," or to put it more nicely, a gift!

As everyone discussed the matter, their opinions gradually converged, and Rhino Moon made a decision.

"Alright! Since everyone thinks this path is feasible, let's send someone there again! This time, we'll bring our 'sincerity'!"

"Since we don't have anything fancy to give, let's gather detailed information about the orcs that each family has, and also bring some local specialties from the mountains, as a token of our sincerity!"

"Aiden, it's kind of you to make this trip!"

Old Cat Daryl stood up: "I'll go too."

"You can't even read many characters, so you probably can't understand what people are saying!"

"Although I am not as nimble as you are, I used to ride in merchant caravans when I was young and have seen some of the world."

"It's a good opportunity to see for ourselves who this Han Hai Territory really is!"

(End of this chapter)