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Chapter 380: Humanity in a Foreign Land

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Siva was currently wearing Janus’ gift, the [Beast Blood Pendant] that allowed him to speak with beasts and achieve what an Apollo Race individual couldn’t even with their contract.

Communication!

—true and genuine exchange of thoughts!

———verbally!!!

Siva, as an Apollo Race player, was given this racial trait that enabled him to understand bits and pieces of a contracted or enslaved beast’s intent but never actually talk to them.

But with this item, he now can establish a true sense of communication with beasts of any kind.

WHOOSH!!!

Siva flipped his palm and chunks and drums of Dragon Blood appeared next to him.

He commanded to the monsters, “You only have one task… evolve! Eat when you’re hungry and drink when you’re thirsty! I want you all to push your bloodline to the limits and evolve into a real and genuine dragon! Am I clear?”

He was talking in normal Terran language but as soon as his first word came out, the monsters all turned to listen to him attentively.

Nine large monsters 10m large all looked at him like little children listening to their teacher.

Another thing to take note was his manner. He was clearly dictating them what to do with not a care to what they were thinking or feeling.

—one could only imagine what kind of contract these monsters were forced to take.

But, as a reply, and as soon as they got a whisk of the alluring smell of Dragon Meat and Blood, the monsters became ecstatic and replied.

“I follow!”

“I will eat it, sire!”

“I will do best!”

“Give me enough and I shall evolve!”

“Dragon! Food!”

“Hungry! Thirsty!”

Basically, all monsters are the same and that the ‘rankings’ are only there to measure the danger level they possess in accordance to the skill level of players. It was on the same comparison with a mortal against a mortal and a God against a God.

They were only roaring in the outside but these messages were clearly delivered to Siva as clear words he could definitely understand.

He made a smile and turned to Akhenaton, “You supervise their feeding and also make sure that Little Blacky don’t slack off. I’m going to have a visit to the Sword-God District to try a few more times to study that big Black Ball.”

“My Lord, what about the training of these ones in this Barn, should I also include them with the same training as Blacky?”

Siva nodded. “Yes. Just make sure that they’re only on the verge of death before you stop so they don’t get lax and still experience the call to be strong and ignite their potentials. Just as the way it was before I left, make use of the Healers to heal them.”

“I shall follow the command.”

*****

In front of the Big Black Ball…

Siva couldn’t help but be surprised with what he discovered.

“I see, so there was this as well. I didn’t expect it for this thing to have a connection with EXP.”

In front of him, there was a notifications panel.

[Convert resource to EXP?]

[Total EXP conversion: 300EXP]

[Yes?] – [No?]

Siva wanted to use this resource to improve his [Black Master] at the least or if he can’t, use this to create another but as soon as he touched the surface of the item, he was received by this one very surprising notifications prompt.

“But still, given its massive size, why only 300?”

It was indeed a wonder.

A hand sized “Black Ball” can create ten [forms] for a BlackTech Weaponry. And yet, this large item from the arm of Gyoolu wasn’t actually treated as a Black Ball and is instead an EXP resource.

This discovery was very surprising.

“If this thing only gives 300EXP, then how about the smaller Black Balls?”

[Calculating results. It’s around one or two EXP.]

“&^%&*@[email protected]#$%^”

[…that’s for the lowest kind of Black Ball. But for those from the Supreme Commander level, their Black Ball may give around five points.]

“That’s still not something to smile about.”

Considering how hard it is to hunt down that so called “Supreme Commander” level demon just for a mere 5 points of rewards for a precious 10-form Black Ball for a BlackTech is…

“In the end, not everyone who found the unique weapons with [LOCKED] abilities is granted the chance to use them in their best states.”

[Not everyone is lucky like you, boss, who killed an entire unit of demons in The North.]

“Aye. Indeed.”

Back then, he, Volt, and Thorn used tactics to deal with an entire unit of demons and since he got [1613 EXP] for it, it was easy to calculate how many demon pawns he had killed that day.

“But there was no conversion of points that popped out when I took the Black Ball from that Demon Commander. Is it because it automatically adds up or I have to manually convert it?”

[Insufficient data. Please gather more data.]

“Stop with the monotone.”

[Yes sir.]

Siva looked at the prompt and then muttered, “I got 1613 points from the demons… does that mean that EXP points can only be received by killing the Demons?”

What about monsters and predators?

What about players?

[Insufficient data. Please gather more data.]

“Cortana.”

[Mouth, shutting… progress at 99%.]

“…”

*****

Jeremiah was a buzz with activity with the many events that happened in the last few days, just before the country’s greatest annual event.

It was the start of the [King Test] ceremony!

Just the day before, there was that scandalous controversy about the Circle of Magi ordering a world-wide manhunt for a fugitive; and now, the news about The Naturals halting production of their monthly tribute to the Terran sovereigns also exploded; and what more… even the Circle of Magi was, once again, involved in it.

An emergency meeting was held by the Terran-Human Alliance seats and in it, the Circle of Magi had announced that this is because of the completion of The Teacher’s [Instructions].

“Wasn’t that an eternal oath?” This was majority of the sovereigns’ thoughts when the issue was brought forth in the council.

This irresponsible remark greatly displeased the President of the refugees, Higginson Bollard.

With the current situation they are facing, they are more interested in this topic than the safety of the planet.

It was a Pontifex from Divine Crown Theocracy, implying that the Humans should just always be the supplier of their advanced tech-equipments.

But then, Gaia, the elusively lazy leader of the Circle of Magi —that only attended in this kind of meeting once since its founding— spoke up for the Humans.

[The [Instructions] said that they will only work for this goal until the technologies are widely spread and known to the Terrans. Now that the goal has been achieved, they will now focus the remaining effort on their disposal into rebuilding their ruined civilization.]

It was an indirect assisting stance.

The magus of the Circle of Magi was supporting the Humans!

“Then what about the supplies?”

“More importantly, why is this so sudden?”

[Do not fret. There was a reason for this. As you may know, 56 years ago, when all of the “Nine Braves” led the war against the Demon Armada, five of them are Humans. To recognize this big contribution, the Teacher bestowed upon them the responsibility of being the provider of all the technological tools that can aide us Terrans into overcoming the severe backlash brought forth by that war. All the while, they are also the main and even the only effort in the cleansing and rectification of the devastated Misty Plains, East of Jeremiah, the site where the greatest amount of demonic contamination is present. I know you all know this as well, as the stale and unhealthy air within the area because of the war continues to spread, and with so little and nigh-negligent help from the supposed responsible citizens of this planet, and considering the Humans’ already dwindling numbers; in exchange for the chance to avoid extinction and to be able to stay in our land… for 56 years… they have not even once complained with how you’ve treated them and still continued to do their part of the post-war work while enduring the sickness that’s plaguing their people! And now… with their responsibility having been met its due termination and the vow they’ve taken, fulfilled, not only were you all a bit even thankful and understanding of them, you even dare to suggest that they must remain a slave forever and deny them the opportunity to rebuild their ruined civilization. No City has been allowed to be built for the humans and yet, not one of you even considered their hard work all these years!]

It was a long and calm formal rebuke from one of the recognized sovereigns of the Terrans.

Everyone fell silent.

It was their silent unspoken agreement.

“Please…” Higginson tried to speak up to raise the issue of the defense but not one soul was listening and even as much as turning their ears to his direction.

Time is of the essence and yet these guys are still relaxed.

Higginson was silently furious.

In the outside world, the Humans are thought to have a great voice in The Alliance but in truth, they are this… a voiceless minority consisted of refugees with advanced technologies that can be exploited because they are refugees.

Because of their innate discrimination of the low magical talent of the Humans —thus the slang to their entire race, they subconsciously disregard the agreement from before that they will all help each other in cleansing Misty Plains off of the plasma corrosion from the past war.

In fact, even though they sent representatives to help out in the effort, those who were sent in the place were all either convicted criminals or exiled sinners of their respective countries.

As such, at times, instead of becoming a help, it was even sometimes a problem for the Humans to defend themselves against the unbridled acts of these ‘helpers’.

In that regard, Maki was forced to utilize all his White Armor Bodies to maintain steady progress in the effort to clean up the plains.

Now, it was 98% complete and with enough time given to the area, it will regrow its vegetation and gain back its former thriving life, away from the grey and desolate appearance it currently has.

Everyone knew that it was all done by the Humans but their sense of superiority won over their rational and upright logic.

—with the Council of Elders of Jeremiah being one of the major doers of this irresponsible act.

That Pontifex from the Divine Crown Theocracy remained silent for the remainder of the meeting and so, with the abdication of their ‘job’ lasting a staggering 50 years of service, the Humans are finally given the chance to rebuild themselves.

And since most of the work was already done in the cleansing of the Misty Plains, 900km East of the boundary of Jeremiah, with most (and only) effort being rendered by the Humans, the news of a new country being founded in the continent of Zenturo became one of the hottest news just before the hottest event in Jeremiah.

The “Misty Plains” that occupied half of the East mountainous region of Jeremiah, and a quarter of the flat region in the Southeast, was given to the Humans —an area summing up to 40,000+ square kilometers including a tiny ocean border.

Since the entirety of the Misty Plains and the Misty Mountains were desolate areas devoid of resources, the Humans are still almost at the ends of their ropes just trying to survive —with a monopoly in export products, and the (unfair) open increase in prices when they are importing necessary resources like foods and such.

This way, even if the Humans have a monopoly for the Technological Equipments export, there was still a balance in benefits that the Terrans had (secretly) achieved.

“Are we finally done with this?” Higginson was really discontented with the current situation and the lax stances of these people.

“Why are you so eager to discuss the defense?”

It was the same Pontifex.

Higginson’s chest was rising up and down and his body was trembling all over, but he balled his fists and inhaled the rage, asking coldly: “Why’re you still relaxed?”

He looked at the rest of the seats, “We’re being threatened to extinction and yet you all are still treating this like it was nothing.”

The Pontifex scoffed, “Relax… even if they’re swarming like bees, we have the protection of the Light Towers. 56 years ago, the reason why we were almost pushed to the brink is because we have yet to discover the real capabilities of the Light Rock mineral. But now, with the help of your technologies, it’s even improved to such a high grade. Why are you still shaking? Don’t tell me you still have nightmares of your home planet being destroyed?”

Higginson’s face actually turned purple as he summoned all his will just to stop himself from screaming at the guy.

The Pontifex was nothing more than a [email protected] rendering so it was useless to even attack him to vent this rage of being insulted.

In truth, one more reason he couldn’t scream in this council is because, yes, they are nothing but a defeated weak race…… Humans who had lost their planet and was forced to activate their last resort: “Project Genesis” to fix Earth.

During the time when it’s still being fixed, they had no choice but to find a planet to use as their temporary shelter.

Terroa was the closest they’ve found but now, with 44 years more to wait, Humans, no, Higginson Bollard had no choice but to swallow his anger and accept all the beating.

He consoled himself by the fact that they were already given the chance to “repair” themselves in their own territory, the Misty Plains.

“Didn’t we give you enough resources to create a few Light Towers of you own? What’s the big fuss about?”

Higginson hissed, “We already reported since yesterday that the Demons are swarming. We’ve estimated that within an hour’s time, 24hrs ago, they would have amassed at least 100,000 units and will attack the planet. Now, 24hrs later, they have numbered close to a million! They also had a mothership!! They are swarming with a Demon Armada Mothership!!! That is a mothership! How are you going to defend against a mothership?”

The Pontifex laughed followed by a few others.

Only a few tactful others were taking the matter seriously, with Gaia, having her poker face on, seated placidly on her chair without a care in the world.

She had already accomplished Siva’s orders and whether the Alliance Council will listen to the Humans or not is already out of her jurisdiction.

In fact, she had already spoken for the Humans and defended them earlier. She already did the Humans a favor by granting them their country in the Misty Plains. She wouldn’t summon the ire of the Council Seats with a race that doesn’t do her own situation any good.

Furthermore, the reason why these Seats were provoking the humans is also because of the event happening in Jeremiah.

They were in festive mood, with their own cocks having been fully prepped up to take the throne this year… but then, there was this god damned alarming news.

*****

Demons are swarming and preparing to attack!

This is a world-wide emergency situation and all and every Terran Organization is to prepare a contingency plan for the worst case scenario.

The alarm was sounded first in Jeremiah and in the news that came to the War Council that the demons are swarming; a total of 30 minutes had already passed.

“They’re still increasing the size of the swarm!”

*****

Remembering the trouble it caused yesterday had ruined the momentum of these people.

“Please, everyone, this is a serious matter.”

The Head of the Council of Elders of Jeremiah was also silent. Although he was on the side of the Humans, it was only on the surface. In fact, if one would connect the dots, the Council Head 50+ years ago who established Jeremiah along with Lunette Astarte was only riding the waves that the Humans had to rope in the nobles who supported the Nine Braves during the war.

In fact, those “noble factions” have long realized this secret of the Council of Elders. If not, then why would they even form their own factions to try and usurp the rule of The Council?

Why would they even try to enter the Council of Elders and infiltrate the leadership by throwing in their King Candidates every year?

Everyone has their own good intentions.

For the nobles, they wanted justice. The reason why they wanted their candidate(s) to be King is because of revenge.

The Council of Elders did something and they can’t tolerate being used like that.

But alas, they have already thrown their lot when Jeremiah was established and their nationality is already that of Jeremiah.

The nobles knew that they cannot terminate the foundation and reputation of Jeremiah or they will be subjected to an invasion by other nation so they could only resolve this issue by the legal means left behind by Altair.

In fact, some of the nobles have even thought that perhaps the reason why Altair left is for the reason that he had discovered the anomaly that the Council of Elders did in Jeremiah.

As such, even though the Council Head made a stance that they are with the Humans, in truth, they are nothing more than preserving their own self interests.

Besides, it’s highly likely that the demons’ first target will be Jeremiah where the Humans are.

Higginson, on the other hand, was burning in his fury deep inside.

The last words the Pontifex said was burning the last of his restraining will to his anger.

Giving them enough resource to build a “few” Light Towers?

BULLSHIT!!!

They only sold enough to build four towers!

SS-Pandora… the colony… their home… was a massive 5km-wide starship. One Light Tower is enough only to protect an area 200m away from the tower itself. How can that be enough?

Higginson could still remember when he made the request to “buy” at least enough Light Rock resource to build another tower but when they acquiesced to the request, they demanded so much technological resource from the Humans that it practically drained them of resources for an entire year.

And the amount given, yes, was only enough to build one tower. The amount of resources they paid for it was actually enough to buy them six more Light Tower materials.

Higginson swallowed his anger. They can’t do a thing as they were exploited like slaves!!!

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The cruel fate of a refugee…

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