Chapter 30: The Legendary Hero

Qian Ye was also in a dilemma. Making a decision was easy, but carrying it out was hard. He could only take one step at a time.

As for this matter, the higher-ups of Darkflame couldn’t offer any good suggestions. Even if some had ideas, they were cautious about voicing them. Perhaps the only one who could help Qian Ye was Song Zining, but he was far away in the Empire and couldn’t get away.

Putting aside these distracting thoughts, Qian Ye pondered for a moment before saying, “The current task is to capture Wolf Fang Fort No. 2. Now that we have Count Esca, he can contact the tribal warriors within the fort. Our goal for this siege is to control casualties and minimize the damage to the fort itself.”

Darkflame already had absolute aerial superiority, and now with an inside man, victory wasn’t a problem. Under this premise, Qian Ye preferred to have a complete fort to form a fort circle with Tafeng City, controlling the vast area around it.

Building always required more effort, time, and resources than destruction. If they could gain a complete fort, it would be a significant benefit. The goal proposed by Qian Ye naturally met no opposition.

Early the next morning, Qian Ye began his assault on Fort No. 2. He still faced the main cannon of the fort alone. Among the three werewolf counts in Fort No. 2, two were fierce and chose to fight to the death, both falling under Qian Ye’s sword. The huge disparity in combat power made their desperate resistance meaningless.

The other werewolf count, from the same tribe as Esca, only symbolically resisted. After Qian Ye killed the other two counts, he dropped his weapons and surrendered.

However, the werewolf count felt that Qian Ye’s gaze carried a deep sense of regret, as if wishing for him to resist. This werewolf count, who was not cowardly, felt his hair stand on end and pressed his head to the ground, praying that Qian Ye wouldn’t be like some of the cruel and bloodthirsty nobles of Evernight, who enjoyed torturing prisoners.

After a moment of regret, Qian Ye withdrew his gaze, his pupils returning to normal. “Get up. Gather your people, have them lay down their weapons, and assemble in the designated area.”

“Yes, sir!” The werewolf count was particularly deferential.

Indeed, even Earl Gader Esca had surrendered, so how could a mere count resist? Since Qian Ye had promised the tribes survival rights, there was even less reason to resist.

The werewolf count’s feeling was correct, but for reasons different from what he feared. Qian Ye’s regret stemmed from his yearning for another battle. After killing the two counts, he found that his origin power had shown signs of further advancement, inching towards the crystallization stage.

It seemed that to crystallize the source liquid and cross the divine general threshold, he needed external force, like a divine weapon forged through countless trials, using the pressure of battle as a hammer, and himself as the metal, forging it into crystal.

Dawnbreaker’s rank was too high, already quite close to the Origin Point of Dawn. Even in its source liquid state, it was stronger than the crystals of many divine generals. Relying solely on Qian Ye’s cultivation to crystallize, it was unclear when that would happen.

However, opponents at the count level posed limited threats and provided limited assistance. To face stronger enemies, he might have to go to the Emerald Sea. The strongest force in the Great Corridor was just a werewolf marquess, and reportedly, his true strength might not even match Esca.

The cleanup after capturing Fort No. 2 was not yet complete, but Qian Ye’s mind was already drifting to the Emerald Sea. The only uncertainty was the rumored duke-level experts residing deep in the Emerald Sea, but that was just a rumor, and even Esca didn’t know if it was true.

Most werewolves on Yong Continent were still in primitive tribal states or the most basic chieftain kingdoms. They were quite isolated, relying on word of mouth for information, without continent-wide newspapers or similar channels for regular collection and dissemination of news. Some mercenary organizations became the most efficient and widespread sources of information, though the quality of such information was naturally questionable.

The lack of information dissemination meant that the werewolves didn’t need a unified life, content with their tribal system. The environment of Yong Continent also left them with few natural enemies. Besides the human settlements in Zheng, only a few areas were controlled by spider demons, with no other significant racial powers.

While it was extremely difficult to reach the duke level on Yong Continent, it was originally a half-abandoned land by the main world of Evernight. The werewolves living here were considered the lowest among their race, and they had few aspirations.

Thus, the ancestors’ sect of the werewolves flourished, while the Apex of Peaks had little influence. In Esca’s tribe, only a few strong ones had heard of the Apex of Peaks.

With his target in the Emerald Sea, Qian Ye didn’t intend to waste time in the Great Corridor. Over the next few days, before the mopping-up operation of the two forts was complete, the war had spread throughout the front part of the Great Corridor.

Xu Jingxuan’s new army and Esca’s tribal warriors swept through the dark races in the Great Corridor. All tribes that dared to resist were uprooted, and against stronger large tribes, the Darkflame mercenaries were deployed. Qian Ye’s elite mercenaries were accustomed to coordinating with airborne warships, and under the dual strikes from air and ground, even the two Wolf Fang forts couldn’t hold for a day. How long could ordinary werewolf tribal camps resist?

Occasionally, there were strong individuals, but they were no match for Xu Jingxuan and Esca, and Qian Ye didn’t even need to intervene.

The sweep was very smooth, advancing at a speed of over ten kilometers a day. This speed could be faster, but Qian Ye’s troops were limited. Spreading a few tens of thousands of people over a vast area barely caused a ripple.

During this week, Qian Ye stayed in the Wolf Fang fort, cultivating daily and reading reports. Life suddenly became much more relaxed.

There were still worries, however. For example, Song Hui came to find him three times a day. Each time she appeared, she brought a headache-inducing problem: the number of surrendering werewolves was growing, and now he had to decide what to do.

Qian Ye originally thought the number of werewolves to accept would be limited, and Esca’s tribe of over ten thousand werewolves was already one of the larger tribes.

In the days following the capture of the two Wolf Fang forts, the surrounding dark races were cleared, and the number of surrendering dark races had already increased by an order of magnitude compared to Qian Ye’s original estimate, and it continued to grow at an incredible rate.

When the number of counted werewolves and other races exceeded 500,000, Qian Ye finally lost his patience, summoned all his generals, and asked, “What’s going on? Have all the dark races in the Great Corridor surrendered?”

The mercenary generals remained silent, with strange expressions.

Xu Jingxuan, knowing he couldn’t avoid it, gritted his teeth and said, “Sir, not all the tribes have surrendered. Some resisted and were annihilated; some fled, and the rest surrendered.”

Qian Ye immediately knew something was off. Frowning, he said, “Give me the exact numbers!”

Angered, Xu Jingxuan no longer dared to be vague. “In all the tribes, about 80% surrendered, 15% fled, and only 5% resisted and were wiped out.”

“How could it be so many? Was it like this before?” Qian Ye had done his homework before the battle. When he was in Zheng, he had reviewed ten years of war reports to understand the continental situation. His impression was that, in the past, when Zheng attacked the Great Corridor, most tribes either resisted or fled, with virtually no surrenders.

Seeing Qian Ye ask, Xu Jingxuan pointed at Esca, “Ask him.”

Esca, unable to avoid it, knelt on one knee. “To ensure the successful subjugation of the tribes, I sent people in advance to proclaim your greatness. Many of the tribes were willing to follow your glory.”

Qian Ye felt a bad premonition. “What exactly did you tell them?”

Unfazed, Esca replied, “I simply told them that, sir, you stand at the Origin of Darkness and will rule over the entire Evernight world. You are the great guide and undefeated war god of ancient legend, who will lead us to break free from our cage. Your eternal journey will begin with the slaying of the king of the Emerald Sea.”

Hearing this, Qian Ye was somewhat stunned.

For a long time, various races had developed a common language, but only those of a certain status would use it. In specific contexts or for certain terms, nobles would use ancient languages to express unique traditions and heritage more accurately.

Esca’s statement contained several such terms, which he needed to explain slightly for Qian Ye to understand. It was easy to imagine how compelling this speech must have been when delivered in the tribal language of the werewolves.

This description sounded more fitting for a true god. Just standing at the Origin of Darkness, strictly speaking, even the Queen of Night might not have reached this level. Esca spoke without thinking.

Among the exaggerations, the only plausible part was the slaying of the king of the Emerald Sea. But Qian Ye remembered that the king of the Emerald Sea was a duke.

Even a deputy duke was a major rank above a glory marquess. So far, Qian Ye had no record of solo-killing a duke, although he had defeated one, but that was due to a combination of factors. In Esca’s words, slaying a duke was as simple as killing a chicken.

Sighing, Qian Ye massaged his forehead. “Do they believe these things?”

Esca, with a sunny expression, “I believe them, so why shouldn’t they?”

Qian Ye muttered a curse. He had forgotten that werewolves greatly revered the strong, especially in more primitive societies, where ordinary warriors blindly trusted their tribal leaders and shamans. With Esca’s status and power, his words would likely be believed by many, but 80% of the tribes choosing to submit still surprised Qian Ye. The legend had played a significant role.

Seeing Qian Ye’s expression, Esca added, “Sir, your legend has already spread. If things go as expected, many more tribes will voluntarily submit, saving us a lot of effort.”

Qian Ye was even more troubled. “How many is ‘many’?”

“There are about four million tribal people in the Great Corridor. Based on the current situation, it won’t be long before you gain over three million subjects.”

Esca spoke respectfully, but Qian Ye was exasperated. The total population of the corridor region of Zheng was only about two million, and now the werewolves in the Great Corridor numbered over three million, surpassing the human population.

“Did you tell them that, even if they surrender, their status will still be below the humans?”

At that moment, Qian Ye’s gaze was sharp, but Esca was prepared. “No seed, no harvest; no hunting scars, no game. Only by establishing merit will there be land and food. All werewolves understand this. We are willing to shed blood or sweat for you, to earn our status through merit. Where we start doesn’t matter. Even a slave can become a warrior.”

His answer left Qian Ye speechless.

Thinking for a moment, Qian Ye dismissed Esca and the mercenary generals, leaving only Song Lun, Song Hui, and Xu Jingxuan. Directly, he asked, “What should I do with these three million werewolves?”