Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 327 Boundless Vast Sea, White Deer's Glory, Land of Life and Death
After leaving the "Refined View" area, the dense, overwhelming aura of death vanished abruptly, like the receding tide.

As we walked, we were surrounded by lush greenery, shimmering in the golden sunlight. Everywhere we looked was the desert landscape, teeming with life. The scent of green plants wafted through the air, creating a sense of unreality that enveloped us.

This rapid contrast left the group bewildered and at a loss once again.

Especially after they saw the territory of the Vast Ocean Territory, the city of Vast Ocean.

This is a vast city built along the undulating terrain. Towering buildings, like swords emerging from the desert, reflect the unique luster of metal and glass; dense clusters of buildings spread out, with throngs of people and vehicles passing through, creating a prosperous scene.

This is a huge, bustling city, yet its walls are nowhere to be seen.

A city without protection!

What does it mean that such a city has appeared on the southern front line of Qishan, which is adjacent to the orc-controlled area and is at risk of being attacked by wolf riders at any time?
Is it arrogance or overconfidence?

If Daryl hadn't witnessed that "beautiful sight" outside, he might have had some other guesses, but now, he was very certain of one thing.

For the forces represented by this city, whether or not there are city walls seems to have no real significance.

After saying goodbye to the guiding sentry, the group followed a new guide into the city.

Walking along the wide and clean main road, with shops lining both sides of the street and the sounds of vendors calling out their wares, people of all shapes and colors—humans, dwarves, elves, goblins, centaurs, and even some orcs who seemed quite friendly, as well as a large number of mixed-race individuals, roamed this land.

Children played and frolicked by the newly built fountain in the square, their cheerful laughter reaching the ears of the Restoration Society members from afar.

All of this stood in stark contrast to the northern plains they had come from, a place where everyone lived in fear and uncertainty. A mixture of envy, bitterness, and a glimmer of hope churned in the hearts of the members of the "White Deer Restoration Society."

In the increasingly bustling city lord's mansion, the representatives of the Northern Human Race, the "White Deer Restoration Society," received a personal audience with Chen Mo.

Chen Mo removed his lofty seat of honor and casually leaned against the edge of a large desk.

In the past, Helan always emphasized that the Lord's Mansion and the Lord's Throne were meant to showcase the leader's majesty. But now that Chen Mo has become the chairman of the alliance, the leader's majesty no longer needs these things to enhance it, so he can be more casual.

He looked much younger than Daryl had imagined, dressed in a gray casual suit without any of the ornate aristocratic accessories or the long, curved staff befitting a mage. He seemed to have nothing in common with the necromancer, the powerful and influential lord of the vast sea in Daryl's mind.

Only those eyes, bright and piercing, revealed a gentle light when they raised their cups in a gesture of respect.

"Get up, there is no need to kneel before me!"

The old cat bowed in thanks and stood up. However, the next sentence made the old cat Daryl and the snake Aiden kneel down again with even greater speed and force than before, filled with trepidation!
"If Lin Zhong were sitting here, he would probably like it very much..."

Chen Mo shook his head, forcefully banishing the inexplicable thought that had entered his mind, and repeated what he had just said.

"Yes, you heard me right. I can't go into the specifics, but if the 'White Deer Restoration Society' remembers and acknowledges that you once had a leader named 'Aurelio Zelin Lee'..."

"Then, your 'White Deer Restoration Society' can also be considered my subordinates!"

Daryl the old cat was so excited that he was trembling all over and almost cried.

"My lord! The emblem of the Aurelio family has always been the highest spiritual guide for our 'White Deer Restoration Society'!"

"Although it is hidden deep in a secret chamber and the holy emblem has been covered in dust, every child of our Restoration Society has never dared to forget the glory of our predecessors for a single moment!"

The old man was so excited he was almost incoherent, tears streaming down his wrinkled face. He then slammed his head on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Under the White Deer Banner, the seven thousand warriors of the Restoration Society are willing to serve the leader, even unto death, through fire and water!"

Aiden, the snake who was also kneeling on the ground, seemed to have not yet fully digested the shocking news. He hesitated for a moment and was immediately nudged by Old Cat with his elbow.

Aiden jolted awake, instantly snapping to attention. He immediately mimicked the old cat, slamming his head on the floor tile and roaring with all his might, "Loyalty to the leader, even unto death!"

Old Cat is an old hand at this; you should be able to trust him.

In fact, as a veteran who had struggled at the bottom for most of his life, Lao Mao understood everything the moment he heard Chen Mo finish speaking.

First of all, there's no doubt that someone would recognize the "White Deer Restoration Society," a "disabled" organization, as their son; they are definitely the biological father!
Because the current "White Deer Restoration Society" is simply incapable of providing any benefit to the Lord.

They had no money and no food. They claimed to have seven thousand people, but in reality, they were just a dozen or so small groups of a few hundred people each, including the elderly, women, and children.

Let alone the fact that they can't possibly get together, even if they could, they might not be able to take down a small orc tribe.

As for going through fire and water, that's just talk. If this lord really gave them a mission with a nine-out-of-ten chance of death or a ten-out-of-ten chance of survival, and the "White Deer Restoration Society" couldn't complete it, does this lord think he could break through layers of orc tribes and go there to slap himself a few times?

Having figured this out, Old Cat knelt without any psychological qualms.

"Seven thousand people?"

Chen Mo paused for a moment, then changed the subject and asked a few more practical questions.

"Tell me about the specific situation of the northern human resistance forces. How much area do you control? What is the state of the orcs in the surrounding area? How are your living conditions? What specific difficulties are you facing?"

"Sit up, eat something, and talk slowly!"

The representatives sat down again. Old Cat hurriedly swallowed a pancake, gulped down a few mouthfuls of water, patted his sore chest, took a breath, and answered honestly.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, our people on the plains are now mainly concentrated in the west and north, trying to survive in the cracks between rocks and in puddles."

"Why is that?" Chen Mo pressed.

"My lord, you may not be aware of this, but there are actually quite a few differences between orcs. The temperaments of different tribes are different, and even within the same tribe, different tribes are different. They are different in many ways!"

"After the orcs conquered the White Deer Plains, they divided up territory among the various tribes. The northern part of the plains was right next to the orcs' homeland in the wasteland, and the western part faced the direction of the Mist Moon Divine Court. Both of these were important places."

"So the tribes placed in these places are all core, ruthless characters within the orc race. In our plains people's old words, they are those with particularly strong 'beastly nature'! They are very fierce!"

"I understand." Chen Mo nodded slightly. "Because these places are strategically important, they've housed the main forces of the beastmen, who are even more ferocious, is that what you mean?" "Yes, yes!" Old Cat nodded repeatedly: "Extremely fierce, extremely ruthless, they don't treat us humans like human beings, they're even worse than livestock!"

Daryl paused, his tone tinged with complex emotion: "Many of the orc tribes in the east and south were originally poor tribes that couldn't make a living in the wasteland, or small tribes that later attached themselves to the land. After coming to the fertile plains, they relied on the humans to farm, weave, and do chores for them. They had food and clothing, and their lives became comfortable."

"Therefore, they should be more 'gentle' towards the human slaves below them, at least not so much that they would push people to their deaths."

At this point, Daryl the Old Cat showed a bitter expression on his face, a mixture of disdain and helplessness.

"My lord, you don't know, those humans are also cowards, spineless cowards! The orcs have just killed their parents and children, but as soon as they are given a bite to eat, they can shrink back and pretend nothing happened, and continue to work for the orcs!"

"So in those places, our 'Restoration Society' simply can't recruit anyone. Rhino sent people to develop a few small teams before, but... they were immediately betrayed by the people they recruited!"

Chen Mo nodded calmly.

He had a deep understanding of the character of these slaves from the north.

At first, he felt sorry for their misfortune and angry at their lack of resistance, but gradually, he realized that under long-term inhuman oppression and a complete lack of education, the spirit of many people had long been destroyed, leaving only the most primitive survival instinct.

Just like a herd of deer on the wilderness, when chased by wild beasts, they will only run for their lives. Once their companions have been pounced on and eaten, and their own lives are no longer in danger, they will stop and take the time to eat a few more bites of grass.

Except for the one that was killed, the other deer just watched coldly, rejoicing that they weren't the ones who died this time.

As for the next time...

It's the same as always: whoever is destined to die will die; death is fate, survival is luck!
Old Cat explained it very clearly: the core reason why the Restoration Society was able to maintain its position in the northwest was that the north served as the gateway to the Beastman Wasteland, and the west served as the front line of confrontation with the Mist Moon Divine Court. The Beastmen here were not only die-hards, but also the kind of Beastmen in the Wasteland who were already of high status and lived a life of luxury.

They had no shortage of food and their need for humans was not so urgent, so they unleashed their brutality on humans with impunity!

This essentially forced the "Restoration Society" to survive in that area.

Chen Mo had a large map hung up, and with Old Cat Daryl and Snake Aiden adding their own points, he gained a relatively clear and comprehensive understanding of the areas deep in the plains that he had never been able to explore.

On the White Deer Plain, there are three major tribes in the north and four major tribes in the west. They call themselves the "Upper Beast Clan," and each of them is a powerful force with tens of thousands of warriors and more than a dozen vassal tribes.

The Restoration Society has twelve branches, each with several hundred members, hiding in high mountains, dense forests, and wetlands.

The reason for their scattered settlements was both cruel and realistic: First, being too concentrated would make them easy targets for the enemy, and if the orcs attacked, the Restoration Society would be completely unable to resist. Second, each settlement had extremely limited natural resources, barren land, and scarce resources; too many people simply couldn't be fed, and they would all starve to death.

However, their population structure is surprisingly "healthy"—under the Restoration Society, young and middle-aged men and women account for more than 70% of the total population.

There's no other reason than that in extremely harsh environments with scarce food, clothing, and medicine, those who aren't physically strong will be quickly eliminated by the cruel laws of survival. Those who survive are either the strongest or the luckiest.

Aiden the Serpent couldn't help but interject, "It's not that we're afraid to fight the orcs. When we see a lone or small orc patrol, we always try to take them down! But... but our weapons are just too bad!"

“Those orc patrolling soldiers are all armored, and the leaders are usually heavily armored. When we, a few dozen people, ambush and surround a few orcs, our swords only leave a white mark when we slash them, and our arrows bounce off! An orc can cleave our men in two with a single backhand slash! This battle... this battle is really impossible to fight!”

As these ragged representatives rambled on and on, Chen Mo leaned back in his chair, his mind racing, trying to organize his thoughts and sketch out a vision of the future.

Contrary to what Lao Mao and the others had guessed, Chen Mo never intended to use the "White Deer Restoration Society" to fight the orcs from beginning to end.

When it comes to fighting, Chen Mo has plenty of thugs under his command who are far more effective than them!
However, these few thousand young men, who still maintain a certain will to resist even in dire straits, are of much greater importance to the Han Hai Territory and even to the future gradual takeover of the Bai Lu Plain area.

According to Lao Mao's description, because this group of rebels had no room to move around, they could only be confined to a small area. With more free time, they actually became quite educated.

With a little training, the shortage of grassroots management personnel at Hanhai can be greatly compensated for.

Of course, all of this is predicated on the fact that they must first survive.

Chen Mo's gaze returned to the shadowy area on the map that had just been marked, representing the area where the Restoration Society was active, and he asked, "You just said that you're having trouble getting through the winter?"

"Yes! Your Excellency, winter is the hardest time to get through."

“In the past, the orcs would launch an autumn hunt every year, drawing many orc soldiers from various plains tribes to go south. With them leaving more often, the patrols became less frequent, and we could always find some opportunities to go out and plunder some food, salt, and winter clothing, or connect with caravans to barely get through the winter.”

The old man shook his head bitterly: "Last year, I don't know why, the orcs' autumn hunt was delayed. We had no choice but to bite the bullet and go out several times, but... but we always ran into a brick wall and lost a lot of good young men."

"Winter... we just had to tough it out; many elderly people and children died..."

"Hopefully, the orcs' autumn hunt will come soon this year..."

A strange sense of absurdity once again lingered in Chen Mo's mind.

Outside Qishan, the human kingdoms prayed day and night that the orcs would not leave the pass; while inside Qishan, those who struggled to survive under the orcs' iron hooves prayed that the orcs would move south as soon as possible, so that they could have a chance to catch their breath in the cracks.

Chen Mo sighed softly and stood up.

"Here's what we'll do: I'll figure out a way to help you with your winter supplies. I'll try my best to make sure you get through this winter smoothly."

"If conditions permit later, I will try to bring the elderly, women, and children out of your tribe!"

"You will discuss the specific details with my councilor, Heran, later. He will arrange the transportation routes, handover methods, and other important details for you."

Several burly men from the north instantly had tears in their eyes. Led by Old Cat, the group knelt down once more. Chen Mo shook his head helplessly and sighed softly.

"There's no need to say anything more about going through fire and water or risking one's life."

"I have only one request for you."

"Live!"

"Strive to live on, live until the day when Bailu Plain is truly liberated!"

(End of this chapter)