Ye Chui, Debbie, and the others showed complete indifference to Satan’er. They had never taken the Blood Dragon Flower Alliance seriously. Even after contacting Niga from the Purple Silk Flower world, Ye Chui only briefly inquired about the alliance’s strength and paid no further attention to anything else.
He might have heard names like Mad Beast Yagan or Satan’er before, but he had never bothered to remember them.
Niga had once declared with cold arrogance that he did not deign to know Ye Chui’s name. In truth, it was Ye Chui who truly did not deign to remember theirs.
As for Dulong killing Satan’er, Ye Chui offered high praise, and that was the end of it. After having Dulong carry the body away, he simply continued his friendly discussion with the orc high priest from the Cow Plain world.
Several elves from the Green Forest world stood nearby. With the elf king dead, a new leader was needed. Ye Chui casually appointed Kuba to lead the elves temporarily. In the Stan world, Kuba’s role was akin to “Minister of Agriculture”, responsible for producing grain and vegetables. The newly submitted orc race excelled at animal husbandry, so the orc high priest would serve as Ye Chui’s “Minister of Livestock”.
In fact, the orc leader was properly called a chieftain, not a high priest. However, the position of great chieftain in the Cow Plain world had been vacant for decades. Dulong had the strength to claim it, but he lacked broad support and had never succeeded. Dulong was an odd orc. As the high priest put it, “He has always believed himself the smartest orc, and that puts the others off. I wanted him to inherit his father Sar’s duties and become great chieftain of the Cow Plain world, but the tribal leaders have always refused, saying he needs more tempering.”
“Indeed, he needs tempering. He looks exactly like the brainless type,” Debbie nodded in full agreement and glanced at Dulong, who had just tossed Satan’er’s corpse into a distant pit.
Orc warriors had dug a large pit there to dispose of the blood land corpses. Their own fallen would be returned to the Cow Plain world and buried on the grasslands according to tradition.
Dulong looked thoroughly glum, silently heaving lumps of earth and stone into the pit.
At Debbie’s remark, the high priest gave an awkward laugh. “He is actually quite clever, just with some peculiar ideas at times.”
Ye Chui decided the topic needed changing, as it felt like slapping an ally in the face. Curious, he asked, “You mentioned the Cow Plain world has no chieftain. Dulong’s father was the previous one. What happened to him?”
The high priest let out a heavy sigh. “Sar was a fine chieftain who led our race to prosperity, but he challenged someone he should not have.”
“Someone he should not have?” Ye Chui paused. “The Blood Dragon Flower Alliance?”
“Humph, the Blood Dragon Flower Alliance is nothing. We orcs simply offended too many human worlds in the past. Attacking the alliance rashly would have united every human world against us. Otherwise, we would have crushed them long ago.”
For a moment the aged high priest seemed to radiate overwhelming dominance, but the aura quickly faded. “The Blood Dragon Flower means nothing. The one who killed Chieftain Sar came from the top-ranked fragment world: Golden City!”
In the lower layer of the Godsin Continent, the number one fragment world was called Golden City.
“Is the Golden City world that powerful?” Ye Chui asked curiously. Over the past month he had gathered much information about the lower layer, but details on Golden City were scarce. He knew only that it had held first place for decades, possessed immense strength, and its people never left their world or traded in the central city.
Several fragment worlds had once tried to invade Golden City and been utterly annihilated, their own worlds destroyed entirely. It was said the Blood Dragon Flower Alliance had formed precisely to counter the threat from Golden City.
Only now did Ye Chui learn that the former great chieftain of the Cow Plain world had died at Golden City’s hands.
He pressed on. “What exactly is Golden City like? High priest, tell us everything you know.”
“Of course, I will share all I know,” the high priest promised at once.
Almost every resident of the lower layer had heard the name Golden City, yet few truly understood it. The fragment world maintained an air of profound mystery.
Its people had never set foot in the central city and conducted trade with only a handful of worlds.
Decades earlier, Golden City had risen abruptly to become the undisputed number one. No one could explain the full process of its awakening or why the celestial pillar suddenly judged it the strongest.
Golden City had existed as a lower-layer fragment thousands of years ago and had been powerful enough to ascend to the middle layer over a thousand years before. Yet roughly a century ago, it had suddenly fallen back to the lower layer.
Upon its return, few in the lower layer still remembered its name. Even the long-lived elves retained little memory, largely because their numbers were so few and they had struggled for millennia merely to survive and propagate. With their aloof nature, they rarely involved themselves in trials or conflicts and had little time for other matters.
When Golden City reappeared, it remained quiet and ranked beyond the top thousand. After lying dormant for fifty or sixty years, it stunned everyone overnight by seizing first place, forcing the former top-ranked worlds of blood land, black dragon pool, and purple silk flower to form the Blood Dragon Flower Alliance.
Golden City was entirely self-sufficient, able to grow its own food, and thus required no trade. It was a completely closed world.
“It is said that fragment worlds in the middle and upper layers are also self-sufficient and need no excess trade,” Kuba interjected. “In recent years several worlds have degraded from the middle layer back to the lower. I have occasionally met people from such worlds and gleaned some vague information.”
Ye Chui turned to Kuba in surprise. “Vague information?”
Kuba nodded. “Degradation is terrifying. The fragment world itself suffers massive damage, its residents fall under a mysterious curse, and the world soon perishes. Memories of events in the middle layer gradually fade.”
When Ye Chui had previously asked the elves about the middle layer, they knew nothing for this very reason. Kuba had been unable to extract much from those degraded residents.
“So Golden City withstood the degradation curse and rose again,” the high priest continued, returning to the story of the former chieftain Sar. “Our Cow Plain world has always been at odds with human worlds and originally had no ties to Golden City. But the other human worlds were terrified by its sudden rise. In desperation, those pitiful creatures begged us orcs for help, to test Golden City’s depths. Humph, humans always boast of their cleverness and strength, yet in the end they came crawling to us orcs! Though the great chieftain fell, he was a fearless warrior who earned the awe of all humans!”
The nearby orcs all puffed up with proud confidence.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Ye Chui’s group and the elves exchanged subtle, awkward looks.
“Er, high priest, forgive my bluntness, but when the humans asked you to probe Golden City, it probably was not out of reliance on you, but to use you,” Ye Chui said carefully.
The high priest blinked. “Ah?”
“Golden City’s rise scared everyone,” Debbie explained. “They dared not confront it directly, so they sent you in as cannon fodder.” She shook her head and sighed. “Alas, orc brains.”
Even Guni, not known for sharp thinking, added, “The other humans were playing you for fools.”
The high priest froze for a moment, then fury erupted across his aged face. He raised his staff and roared, “Humans, the bullying is too much!”
“Too much! May those who deceived our orc race die horribly!”
“Die horribly!”
The other orcs bellowed in rage.
Ye Chui’s ears rang from the volume. He rubbed them, marvelling inwardly at how long their reaction arc must be, then quickly soothed the high priest and asked more about the former great chieftain Sar.
The high priest continued. Sar had challenged Golden City to a trial duel. Besides Sar’s orc warriors and Golden City’s trial team, the other participants were condemned prisoners. Once inside, those prisoners banded together to equip Sar with high-grade armour and weapons so he could face Golden City’s champion.
Only a few fragment lords had witnessed the duel through the light screen; the high priest was one of them.
According to his account, the Golden City warrior wielded a short sword. Even with all powers sealed by the trial, his agility surpassed that of elves. Sar, the mightiest orc and strongest warrior in the entire lower layer, lasted less than half a minute before being struck down.
And that warrior was merely one among countless in Golden City. The power of their leader was beyond imagination.
This made the other fragment worlds fully grasp Golden City’s terror.
“Agility surpassing elves even with powers sealed?” Ye Chui narrowed his eyes. “Could it be that in the middle and upper layers, unlocking power grants some kind of bloodline enhancement?”
And did the name Golden City have any connection to the goddess of wealth?
The high priest went on. “I saw the battle with my own eyes. After Chieftain Sar fell, the Golden City warrior spoke one sentence.”
“What did he say?” everyone asked urgently.
“He said, ‘Golden City has no wish to make enemies of lower-layer fragment worlds, for you are not worthy to be our foes. Once we repair the “divine artifact”, we shall leave the lower layer. Our true enemies lie in the middle and upper layers.'” The high priest still remembered the scene vividly.
“Repair a divine artifact?” This was crucial information.
Kuba frowned. “The dwarves of the Mine world are very close to Golden City. Could it be to help them repair some divine artifact?”
Besides humans, the most important races on the Castro Continent were elves, dwarves, and orcs, each with fragment worlds perfectly named after them: Green Forest, Cow Plain, and Mine.
The dwarves were born master craftsmen, every one a superb forger.
The high priest gave a long sigh. “Nearly fifty years have passed since Sar’s death, and the Cow Plain world has yet to elect a new powerful chieftain.”
At that moment Debbie suddenly cried “Ah!” as if realising something vital.
“Debbie, what is it?” Ye Chui asked quickly.
Debbie nodded, wide-eyed, and turned to the high priest. “Your Chieftain Sar died fifty years ago? Dulong looks barely thirty.”
At her words, the others realised the issue too.
The high priest looked puzzled. “Yes, Miss Debbie. Is something wrong?”
“Er,” Ye Chui glanced at his companions. They all looked at one another, then his gaze settled on Dulong. He continued to the high priest, “Forgive my boldness, but orcs are like humans, with ten-month pregnancies, correct?”
The high priest nodded. “Yes.”
“Then do you not find Dulong’s age a little odd?” Ye Chui pressed. “He was born years after Chieftain Sar died.”
“Exactly.” The high priest grew excited at the mention. “It was a miracle of life! Chieftain Sar’s wife bore Dulong many years later. Sar could not bear to see the Cow Plain world in chaos, so he sent us Dulong. Ah, praise Sar’s greatness.”
With that, the high priest thumped his chest toward the sky in the orc salute of reverence.
The other orcs followed suit.
Ye Chui and his group: “”
Among the orc race, the concept of family ethics clearly did not exist.
