Do you want to become a Xia beastman? Beastmen are the children of Xia...

The messenger team, which had been away for less than ten days, returned to its habitat at Senhu Lake.

Of the Apocalypse Orcs they successfully captured, seven possessed natural powers. Fearing that these seven Orcs might lead the other Apocalypse Orcs to escape, Maple Red and the other Orcs took turns monitoring them around the clock with the Elves.

After all, they were incredibly troublesome, several times more troublesome than the Wood-Power Apocalypse Beastmen that Maple Red had once guarded. Several Summer Beastmen had to convince themselves to suppress their urge to kill them every day.

"We've taken over the care of the prisoners you brought back, so you can relax and get some rest. You all don't look too well; you must have put in a lot of effort these past few days to keep an eye on them." Jiang Yunlan succinctly summarized the matter of unsealing the magic circle in a few words, giving Feng Hong and the others a reassuring look.

After hearing Lan's explanation, the Xia beastman, who hadn't had a proper rest for several days, cheered and happily ran off to rest.

The seven Apocalypse Beastmen, about to lose their natural power, widened their eyes, breaking out in a cold sweat from fear. Panicked, they exchanged glances and focused their attention on Jiang Yunlan and the other beastmen around them, preparing to control the weakest one to blackmail Xia Beastman into letting them go. But their little schemes were always discovered.

Jiang Yunlan had anticipated that they wouldn't obediently go to lift the seal, so she asked the returning elves to do the same for her, helping her guard the orcs until the seal was lifted. The elves could keep an eye on them then, and they could still do it now.

They unleashed all their strength in a desperate struggle, only to be met with the loss of natural power and bruises all over their bodies from being beaten back.

As the last vestiges of natural energy within their bodies dissipated, the seven Apocalypse Orcs lay on the ground in despair, unwilling to rise, unwilling to accept that they had once again become the weak orcs whom anyone could kick. This was more painful for them than being killed outright.

They couldn't help but recall the fate of the last orc in the tribe who had been deemed useless, and then, thinking of themselves as prisoners of the Xia tribe, they burst into tears of fear. The Xia orcs would surely treat them the same way, making them wish they were dead.

Jiang Yunlan watched them transform from arrogant wolves and tigers into trembling quails, her expression unchanged, yet she felt a sense of relief. They were finally able to quiet down and cooperate with the interrogation.

She raised her hand, ordering her people to come forward, pull them up, and take them to the prison for interrogation.

Upon hearing the command, the officers lifted up the Apocalypse Orcs in pairs, handcuffed their hands with standard movements, and stared at them with sharp eyes.

The seven listless orcs followed the officer's lead, only to unexpectedly encounter Bai Su, who had supposedly been captured by the Xia tribe and subjected to unimaginable torture. He sat casually on the ground, watching them, holding something resembling candy in his hand.

Sugar? How could Bai Su have such a good thing?! Wait, Bai Su is still alive!

The Apocalypse Beastman who had seen Bai Su was shocked and stared at him, unable to move, thus slowing down the officers' pace.

Bai Su noticed their reaction and, unusually good-natured, greeted them, "Long time no see."

"You're still alive? Did you betray the tribe?" they wondered.

"Don't you want to live? You can live as long as you tell us what you know. Why would I hide information from Tianqi? Do you think we can go back to Tianqi after losing the power of nature and never being able to obtain it again?" Bai Su smiled sarcastically.

Even if he could go back, he wouldn't.

He'd finally become a Summer Beastman, and he certainly wasn't going to go back to that damned place. 022 had said he only had two years and one season left to live, so of course he wanted to enjoy his last moments as a Summer Beastman.

022 discovered this after he stepped into the unsealing magic circle: orcs who had plundered elves would experience a decline in lifespan after losing the fragments of the elves.

Other Apocalypse Beastmen might despair or even hate Xia because of this, but he was grateful to Palia for the punishment he received. Because he would die in two years, his remaining lifespan was the same as the suspended death sentence he had been granted, and Xia's restrictions on him were actually less.

He couldn't become a Xia official beastman; he needed to apply to leave for other habitats. But he could live like a regular Xia beastman.

Looking at his former companions, who were staring in astonishment as if deep in thought, Bai Su unusually showed a hint of goodwill towards them. "If you cooperate well with the reformation, the Xia orcs won't torture you. If the information you provide is useful and you can earn merit, you might be able to be protected by the Xia tribe like me and become a member of Xia."

He spoke of his experiences to his former companions who remained behind, his eyes shining as he looked back at them one by one, leaving behind his last words: "Xia and Tianqi are different; they are a very good tribe."

They then watched as police officers carried them away.

Seeing him sway the Tianqi orcs, Jiang Yunlan knew that some orcs had already been persuaded by him, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Very good, Bai Su. I didn't expect you to have the potential to be a persuader."

He laughed heartily, poured out the spicy candy from the paper bag, popped it into his mouth, and a smile curved his lips.

He was telling the truth.

Because it was his honest opinion, it touched a few Apocalypse Orcs. They were Orcs who had shared similar experiences, and he knew all too well what they longed for.

In Apocalypse, the orcs who resemble him are destined to yearn for summer, regardless of whether he tries to persuade them otherwise.

He knew that some orcs who joined the Apocalypse had only hoped to have the power to protect themselves and their comrades, just like his chieftain and his people. However, after entering the Apocalypse, everything was distorted.

Apocalypse is a place where defection is not allowed. Orcs who enter have only two options: death or life.

Bai Su touched the ceramic beast-shaped figure hanging from his waist, then approached Jiang Yunlan, who was about to leave. He now had a third option.

"I want to sculpt new orcs from clay. If I dig up some clay, can I apply to buy it? The porcelain kiln doesn't want to allocate any clay for me to use," he asked with a grin.

"Is the porcelain kiln running out of clay? That makes sense. Lately, few orcs have been sent to collect clay. I guess the porcelain kiln has been using the clay to make bowls, chopsticks, and other items." Jiang Yunlan recalled the construction progress of Senhu and had a better understanding of the situation.

She looked at Bai Su with sympathy. "The Central Building will increase the number of clay-digging tasks to replenish the raw materials for the porcelain kiln, but I don't know if you can successfully participate in this task. You know, going out on missions has always been very popular with the beastmen."

Bai Su blinked, looking aggrieved.

"Keep it up! I believe you can snag this mission so you can successfully buy clay from the kiln. Try to negotiate with the orc in charge to keep a small piece of clay for yourself." Jiang Yunlan patted Bai Su's arm and slipped back to the central building to continue thinking about the Senhu construction plan.

Bai Su's words gave her inspiration. She finally remembered that the orc clans outside of the Xia tribe were still lacking in pottery, and perhaps pottery and porcelain could become an important source of income for Senhu in the future.

Fortunately, Senhu will be able to stabilize after the next flowering season, and it's time to recruit new orc workers and allies.

Jiang Yunlan mentally assessed Xia's combat strength, pondering how many orcs to send out to explore the surrounding area after the snow season ended. She wanted to develop all the orc clans Xia had visited into allies and comrades-in-arms. Xia still desperately needed help.

Only sufficient strength can make enemies fear and submit.

It seems time to introduce new assessments to increase the number of warriors. The new warriors will need to wield enchanted weapons and learn how to fight alongside the Guardians, just as warriors used to be able to partner with their war beasts.

Tianqi Tribe.

"Oh? The Xia tribe is so powerful. They not only possess nature that existed before the Age of Catastrophe, but they also received nature's blessing. Moreover, they have analyzed our magic and can forge enchanted weapons?" Yuan Dong's fingertips tapped lightly on the armrest of her chair, and a dull "thump-thump" sound accompanied her voice.

The Apocalypse Beastman inside the room trembled upon hearing her seemingly angry question. He lowered his head silently, not daring to make a sound, for fear of becoming a tool for venting his anger.

Yuan Bingsheng was already used to her older sister's temper. She first softened her voice and coaxed her angry older sister a few times before describing what the Xia tribe looked like.

The dull "thump-thump" sound kept echoing in the room.

After hearing all the information, Yuan Dong stopped tapping on the armrest of her chair. She leaned back slightly, her body slightly forward, and her hands hung at her sides. This was usually her reaction when she was about to take action and kill something.

“Xia, very good. It should belong to us.” She uttered the name of an orc, her eyes sweeping over one of the orcs in the room.

The orc felt a gust of wind blowing towards her and immediately used all her speed to find the orc she was looking for.

An orc dragged a bleeding wound into the house, his head bowed, exposing his unprotected neck. He knelt on one knee. "Chief, what is the mission this time?"

“You failed to capture those Zelan, so I’ll give you a chance to make amends. Go and capture some Xia beastmen,” Yuan Dong chuckled, lowering his eyes to look at the beastmen kneeling on the ground. “Didn’t the Xia chieftain claim that she would protect all the beastmen in the tribe? I’d like to see what price she’s willing to pay for her people.”

Yuan Dong noticed that the animal hides spread on the ground were stained with blood, and said with disdain, "Go, take the animal hides you've soiled. If you fail again this time, the punishment will be doubled."

The orc suddenly increased the force with his hands as he flipped up the animal skin, almost tearing it in two.

"I understand, Chief." The orc said, picking up the animal skin, suppressing the urge to grow wings and fly away, and calmly and silently withdrew from the house.

Yuan Dong's irritated voice rang out again from inside the room.

"The Wise Clan, tsk. I knew this Wise Clan would become an obstacle for us sooner or later. If Yuque and the others hadn't been unwilling to reveal the Wise Clan's information to me in the first place, I would never have let them escape from that place. Honestly, they've already chosen to join us, so why are they still attached to their original clan?"

The thought that she had only found a small number of orcs from the Sage Clan and had only managed to eliminate a portion of them made her even more unhappy.

With the written language of the Wise Clan, it wouldn't be difficult for the Xia tribe to decipher their tribe's magic.

Yuan Dong clicked his tongue again, speaking impatiently, "The previous leader should have listened to me and directly eradicated the Wise Clan, instead of listening to Yu Que and the others and not dealing with the Wise Clan. Fine, since he's already dead, I'll help him clean up one last time."

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Author's Note: Later, the former Apocalypse Beastman Bai Su and others, who had a change of heart, patted their former comrade on the shoulder: "Good comrade, wanna betray us together? You won't get beaten up in the Xia Tribe." (Whisper of an angel)