The moon was halfway up the sky, the Milky Way was dazzling, and the cold moonlight shone on the sea, where the seawater lapped against the rocks and splashed.
Unlike those by the sea, the sea tribes nestled in the mountains and forests are exceptionally quiet.
The sound of the giant bird flapping its wings was exceptionally loud in the silence. Ever since the sea tribe's priest and chieftain returned, the sea tribe had maintained a high state of alert.
As soon as Eagle Mountain and his group approached, they were detected by the sea tribe orcs.
They simply stopped worrying. Although the Sea Tribe was a large tribe by the sea, they still didn't think much of it.
Moreover, the sea tribes lacked weapons capable of flying and diving, making it extremely difficult for them to move around.
Although the orcs of Beast City were all wounded, they hadn't expended much effort in their attack on the Sea Tribe; their wounds had only been reopened.
The priest of the Sea Tribe was forced to sit in front of the fire, staring at Lion Thunder for a long time. "Have I seen you before?"
“I came to your tribe before to select orcs.” Lion Thunder did not deny it. He took out the meat stored in the priest’s cave, picked out the fresh meat, skewered it on a tree branch, and then put it on the fire to roast.
The face in the sea tribe priest's memory slowly overlapped with the person before him, and he asked urgently, "Where are my people?"
Lion Thunder found the other party's words somewhat amusing, and he pretended not to understand, "Your people? Didn't you sell them to me for the meat of ten large prey animals? They are clearly my beast slaves, how could they be your people?"
"What beast slaves? I don't know what you're talking about." The sea tribe priest was completely confused. He explained, "You said you were taking my people to do something, and that they would be returned after it was over."
Lion Thunder turned the branch to make the meat on it heat more evenly. Hearing the Sea Tribe priest's words, he chuckled dismissively, "If you want to see them, wait until I wipe out the Wood Tribe, then I'll go back to the graveyard and dig them up for you. But so much time has passed, they'll probably just be bones now."
Lion Thunder's tone was somewhat regretful. He didn't see the shock and anger on the sea tribe priest's face and continued to roast his own meat.
Eagle Mountain and the others also found some meat to eat. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Lion Thunder finally got down to business, "Which of the beastmen in the Sea Tribe can transform into water?"
The Sea Tribe priest didn't answer immediately. If he hadn't misheard, the orc in front of him had said to destroy the Wood Tribe. Wasn't that the foreign tribe from the foot of the mountain?
Consider that their Sea Tribe and Wood Tribe have a new feud, and they have an old grudge against this powerful orc in front of them.
Neither of these two sides is something that the Sea Tribe can afford to offend. But if they can make the two of them fight, wouldn't that mean that without the Sea Tribe having to do anything, the foreign tribe can be thwarted and the orcs in front of them can be taught a lesson?
The sea tribe priest pondered for a moment, then made a decision: "There are some sea tribesmen who can transform into human form and live in water, but they are very few. I'm afraid you can't find more than a handful in the entire sea tribe. However, there are quite a few of these kinds of beastmen in smaller tribes."
“Then go and capture them,” Lion Thunder said dismissively.
At this moment, the priest of the sea tribe looked troubled and said, "The lives of my people are now in your hands. It's not that I don't want to go, it's just that I can't go."
Lion Thunder's fierce gaze swept over the Sea Tribe priest, who trembled in fright and secretly pinched himself to calm down before continuing, "An outside tribe, the Wood Tribe, came to our Sea Tribe. Apart from the Sea Tribe and the other two major tribes, all other tribes have become subordinate tribes of the Wood Tribe."
The Namu tribe has many powerful orcs, especially their leader. He can even render people completely weak; we don't know what method he uses. Now that the Namu tribe's orcs are protecting us, how dare we randomly capture people?"
After hearing about the Wood Tribe, Shi Lei couldn't listen to anything else. "You mean that tribe by the sea is the Wood Tribe?"
Seeing that Shi Lei had taken the bait, the Sea Tribe priest nodded and replied, "Yes, but their real tribe isn't here. The ones here are orcs sent by the Wood Tribe to fish."
"Alright!" Lion Thunder took a bite of meat, thinking to himself: If he can't defeat the Wood Tribe, can't he at least wipe out these Wood Tribe orcs by the sea? Once he kills all the Wood Tribe orcs by the sea, he'll let those Wood Tribe orcs know that the orc warriors of his Beast City are not to be trifled with!
Ying Shan and the others clearly shared the same idea. They exchanged glances, knowing without a word what to do next.
Snake Forest huddled to one side; he hadn't managed to snatch any meat, only managing to drink half his fill of water. He hadn't expected the Wood Tribe's influence to have expanded to the coastal tribes...
But so what? They're still going to be slaughtered anyway. These orcs in the Beast City didn't bother to hide their thoughts at all; you could tell what they were thinking at a glance.
The sea tribe priest naturally saw it too, and he sneered inwardly, wishing that both of these orc tribesmen would die in battle.
After eating and drinking his fill, Shi Lei didn't want to waste any time. It was late at night, the perfect time to attack.
Lion Thunder didn't leave the Sea Tribe to stand idly by; he brought along all the orcs from the Sea Tribe's hunting team and guard team to act as their human shields.
The Sea Tribe priest gritted his teeth and endured it. He knew he couldn't escape, so he could only take advantage of Lion Thunder and the others' inattention to pull the Sea Tribe chief, Shark Sea, aside and whispered, "Although you're going to be meat shields this time, you need to kill as many low-level orcs as possible from the subordinate Wood Tribe. Don't touch the high-level orcs from the Wood Tribe, understand?"
"Understood, priest."
——
In the darkness, Shen Er opened his eyes, got out of bed, opened the door and walked out of the dormitory.
The orcs from the Sea Tribe and Beast City had already approached the dormitory area of the Wood Tribe. Because the area was very open and there was nothing to cover them, the orcs guarding the Wood Tribe also discovered their presence.
Just as they were about to report to Shen Er, they turned around and saw Shen Er standing behind them.
Shen Er roughly counted the number of the enemy; there were quite a few level seven orc warriors, and one level eight orc warrior as well. Their fighting strength at the beach was no match for these orcs, so Shen Er immediately told Shen Nong on the message platform to send reinforcements.
"Go and wake up all the orcs." After saying this, Shen Er took the initiative and launched an attack.
The orcs of the Feather Tribe immediately transformed and flew into the air to assist Shen Er's attack.
Lion Thunder was visibly taken aback when he saw the Feather Tribe orcs; he hadn't expected the Wood Tribe to have avian orcs as well. He called out, "Eagle Mountain!"
Ying Shan understood and led three bird-like beastmen into the air to fight the Feather Tribe beastmen.
The orcs in the workers' quarters had all emerged by this time, with level five and above orcs at the forefront, engaging the sea tribe orcs in combat. The sea tribe orcs, acting on orders from their priests, did not linger with these orcs. Instead, they led them back, letting them fight Lion Thunder and his men.
The fourth, third, and second-level orcs are the targets of the Sea Tribe orcs.
To ensure timely communication, Shen Nong kept her system message platform open. Shen Yi and the others knew Shen Nong's schedule, and unless it was something urgent, they wouldn't send her a message late at night.
Startled awake by the notification sound from the message platform, Shen Nong read Shen Er's message and told Ze to quickly take him to the military guard. At the same time, she left a message for Shen Yi, asking him to find the chieftain of the Yu tribe and bring all the tribesmen from Wushan to the seaside tribe to support Shen Er first.
Shen Nong led the beastmen on a journey through the night, not daring to stop for a moment, hoping they could make it in time...
The seaside tribes were now locked in fierce fighting. Lion Thunder was furious as he stared at the "orc" in front of him, who showed no trace of orcish aura. This person had been tirelessly holding him back from the beginning.
Fortunately, Shen Er was holding back Shi Lei, allowing the other orc warriors from the Wood Tribe and the coastal tribes to catch their breath against those level seven orc warriors.
Lion Thunder, as an eighth-level orc warrior, was not easy to deal with, and Shen Er had also consumed a lot of energy.
Several orcs from the Sea Tribe sneaked into the workers' quarters, and soon emerged dragging several people out. A sharp-eyed orc recognized who the Sea Tribe orcs had captured and quickly shouted, "Priest!"
The priests of the affiliated tribes were all captured by the orcs of the Sea Tribe. Shark Sea stared at the orcs' tense faces and couldn't help but laugh, "If you want your priests to live, you have to listen to me. No one is allowed to move. If you move, I will kill one of you. If any tribe can kill ten orcs from the Wood Tribe or its affiliated tribes, I will release the priests of that tribe."
This sudden change tilted the previously balanced situation.
The priests sensed the malice in Shark's words and roared, "No one is allowed to move!"
The orcs were coerced into not fighting amongst themselves, but they were also unable to fight the orcs of the Sea Tribe and the Orc City. If they made a move, their priests would be killed.
Shen Er realized what had happened and frowned slightly. His movements became somewhat disordered, and Shi Lei, sensing the abnormality, quickly launched an attack.
Knowing that his mindset was affected, Shen Er took a deep breath and calmed himself down again, making his defense impenetrable.
Lion Thunder had wasted a lot of effort and was furious. He shouted at Shark Sea, "Send over a priest!"
Shark dared not resist and, upon hearing Lion's words, threw out the nearest one he had.
With a sudden lunge, Shi Lei pinned the man to the ground with his massive claws. He held his head high and glanced at Shen Er with disdain, the meaning clear: "Move again, and he'll be turned into mincemeat."
Shen Er glanced indifferently at the old priest of the Fish Tribe who was being pinned to the ground by Shi Lei.
The fish tribe priest turned his head with difficulty, looking in Shen Er's direction, "Captain! Don't worry about me!"
Shen Er shifted his gaze, weighing the situation in his mind. Although there were many beastmen here, they wouldn't stand a chance against these people in the long run.
At this moment, the Feather Tribe orcs in mid-air were already showing signs of being unable to hold on.
Eagle Mountain and his companions were all level seven orc warriors, while the highest-ranking orc from the Feather Tribe was only level six, and there was only one of them. They were no match for Eagle Mountain and his group and were already at a disadvantage. If the fight continued, they would either be killed or crippled.
If they were held back by this lion-like orc, they would all be wiped out before reinforcements arrived.
Shen Er moved his feet slightly, scrutinizing Shi Lei, trying to find a weakness in him so he could rescue him.
"Chief! They've all been captured!" The voice of the sea tribe orc brought the battle to a complete halt. Elders and children from various tribes were all being dragged out, bound and gagged.
Some elderly people who couldn't move were dragged out, and some children who couldn't walk were carried around like trinkets.
Shark Sea now holds the lives of the priests, the elderly, and the children of various tribes in his hands. He looked at Shen Er from afar, his smile wicked. "Captain of the Wood Tribe? Hmph, I've suffered a lot under your command! Want them to live? If so, kill the orc in front of you!"
Shark Sea kept their priest's words in mind, hoping that the two sides would fight each other to the point of being unable to move.
Lion Thunder was surprised that the orcs of the Sea Tribe dared to say such a thing. He had no time to care about Shark Sea and warned Shen Er, "Don't move!"
He exerted a little force, and the fish tribe priest, who was being trampled on the ground, groaned under the weight.
Shark Sea was closing in, holding a newborn baby above his head. "If you don't make a move, I'll kill this cub!"
Before Shen Er could react, Shi Lei was already furious. How dare this mere meat shield betray the warriors of Beast City! He roared, "Beast City Hunting Team warriors, listen up! Kill all the meat shields!"
Shark Sea was taken aback. Beast City? These orcs were actually from Beast City!
The words had already been spoken, and Shark Sea didn't think too much about it. "Wood Tribe! All the tribes along the coast! Stop them! Otherwise, all of them will die!"
The orcs of Beast City, the Wood Tribe, and the various seaside tribes are once again embroiled in conflict because of a single remark from Shark Sea.
The orcs of the Wood Tribe and the various coastal tribes had little strength left; some could not even maintain their beast forms. The orcs of the Beast City bit through their bodies with their sharp fangs, leaving them bleeding profusely and staining the sand.
Shen Er looked up at Sha Hai, and the next second Sha Hai felt a throbbing pain in his head. Before long, the pain in Sha Hai's head had become unbearable.
He was very familiar with this kind of pain; his head had been hurting just like this when he was captured by that person from the Wood Tribe!
The child had been thrown to the ground, where there was sand, so he wasn't in any immediate danger. However, the child was in pain and was crying incessantly.
Shark was so annoyed by the noise that he wanted to strangle the other person, but he was already in too much pain to move.
He knew it was that person from the Wood Tribe who had used some method to give him this headache. Knowing his plan had failed, he endured the excruciating pain and said, "Quickly, release these orcs! Release them all! Go, go help the Wood Tribe! Hurry!"
Shen Er needed to consume his own energy to control the energy he had previously implanted in Shark's mind. He looked at his energy bar, which was marked in red, and slowly released his control over Shark.
With his energy reserves nearly depleted, Shen Er experienced a moment of dizziness due to insufficient power supply.
"team leader!"
After a scream, Shen Er felt himself being pushed aside.
The chieftain of the Fish Tribe had been hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to rescue the priest. He saw Lion Thunder kick the old priest he was stepping on aside and rush towards Shen Er without Shen Er noticing.
Shen Er staggered but quickly regained his balance. As he turned around, he felt a warm, wet touch on his cheek.
The lion's claws struck the orc who stood in front of him, tearing his body apart and pulling out his internal organs. The fish tribe chief fell to the ground, his eyes wide with excruciating pain, unable to close them again.
Blood splattered, and Shen Er gently wiped the blood from his eyes. His gaze remained cold, his face expressionless, as if nothing had happened.
Looking at Shen Er's indifferent eyes, Shi Lei couldn't help but sigh in his heart: This person is just like the High Priest.
The screams and sounds of fighting filled the air, and Shen Er knew they were no match for these people. The fact that they had held out this long with only a dozen or so dead was already the best possible outcome.
As long as they hold out until dawn, they can wait for Shen Yi's first wave of reinforcements. Although many orcs will die, they are all low-level orcs, so it doesn't matter much and won't cause much damage to the tribe.
Shen Er entered the core program, his consciousness focusing on a red button.
[Enable destruction mode?]
Stay calm and rational. His pushing you away was the right thing to do. If you die, the orcs won't survive until the Wood Tribe comes to their rescue. Don't act impulsively or be swayed by meaningless human emotions.
[Once this mode is selected, it cannot be changed.]