Chapter 23: Group Suicide Mission
The border region appeared peaceful, but this was merely the calm before the storm. With no one stationed here for too long, the Aberrant Beasts naturally had no reason to come. Once they discovered the Doomsday Fortress, the conflict would escalate completely.
This was exactly what Su Xiao wanted. Sending these ten thousand or so pig-headed people who didn't understand combat to fight the Vassal Alliance head-on would be suicide.
On the other hand, the Aberrant Beast faction, though led by several Overlord-level creatures, was internally divided. With too many species, for example, the Viper-Hunting Wolves, which evolved from hyenas, and the Saber-Toothed Lions, which evolved from lions, were natural mortal enemies.
The situation of the Aberrant Beast faction made it suitable as the first opponent. As long as he dealt with the two nearby Vassal Alliance outposts to prevent them from discovering their development here, there would be no problem.
Trying to keep it hidden for more than a month was wishful thinking. Half a month was already difficult. Therefore, from the moment they settled in the border region, they had to race against time to develop.
When the morning sun had yet to climb over the horizon, the pig-headed people were awakened by the sound of a horn and gathered on the open ground in front of the fortress.
Looking out, over ten thousand pig-headed people lined up in four rows—a spectacular sight. Back in Freedom City, Su Xiao had commissioned the house merchant to make tens of thousands of necklaces resembling soldier tags. One side was blank for the pig-headed people to carve their own names, while the other side came in two colors: blue and red.
A blue-backed tag meant a worker-type pig-headed person, while red meant a warrior type.
This made command easier. Among the current ten thousand pig-headed people, those with the potential to evolve into wild boar people were assigned as warriors, while the rest became miners. The 500 female pig-headed people were responsible for daily cleaning, meals, washing, and such.
Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha, as Su Xiao's followers, could check the data of their pig-headed people. Using the ability to evolve into wild boar people as the standard, they began distributing name tags.
From now on, there was a rule: during wartime, name tags must be worn 24 hours a day, even during... intimate moments. Violators would have their heads chopped off.
The Doomsday Fortress had very few rules, and there were no guards or overseers. The few rules that existed, once broken, meant death.
Su Xiao also participated in distributing the name tags. He sat behind a wooden table with two large wooden boxes on either side, filled with two-colored name tags. Across the table was a long line of pig-headed people.
Each pig-headed person carried a mining pick. They couldn't get other weapons yet, so the easiest-to-obtain all-metal mining picks served as their weapons.
Check the pig-headed person's data → choose a name tag → place the name tag on the table → the pig-headed person takes it. The whole process took only a few seconds, but with so many pig-headed people, it took an entire morning to finish.
Based on the distributed name tags, Su Xiao obtained the following data:
Pig-headed Warriors: 8,736 (Reserve).
Pig-headed Leaders: 6 (Hausmann, Steel Fang, etc.).
Pig-headed Miners: 2,178.
Female Pig-headed People: 500.
...
Given the mining capacity of the Doomsday Fortress, 2,178 pig-headed miners was already overstaffed. Once the fortress was upgraded to T4 level, this wouldn't be a problem.
The mining capacity of a T5-level fortress, even at full overload, could only accommodate 1,000 pig-headed people mining underground simultaneously. That meant a 12-hour work system. If mining continued to be overstaffed in the future, they would further shorten the work hours.
Su Xiao arrived at the top cabin's main control room and sat back on the soft sofa. He took out the fortress core. The method for upgrading the fortress was quite simple and crude: drip [Mutation Solution · Type V] onto the fortress core, place it in Living Ore, and wait.
After 10 hours, if the fortress's volume began to "grow," the upgrade was successful. If not, it meant failure.
As long as he wasn't particularly unlucky and the fortress withered to death during the transformation, even if he failed once, he could try again after obtaining another [Mutation Solution · Type V], though it would consume a lot of Living Ore.
According to Kaisa's investigation, the success rate of a T5-level fortress evolving to T4 was over 96%, which was considered very stable.
In Su Xiao's view, anything less than 100% was unstable. More importantly, his initial observation suggested that this small bottle of [Mutation Solution · Type V] looked like a tampered version of some alchemical potion, modified in a clumsy way.
Su Xiao decided to study the remaining [Mutation Solution · Type V] when he had free time. He picked up the fortress core, attached the [Mutation Solution · Type V] to a syringe, and began dripping the solution onto the core drop by drop.
After dripping four-fifths of it, gray-black fleshy sprouts grew on the fortress core. Seeing this, Su Xiao pushed open the secret room door and placed the fortress core on a large pile of Living Ore.
The gray-black fleshy sprouts on the fortress core first coiled around the Living Ore, then, like rapidly growing tree roots, climbed up the ceiling and walls, connecting with the fortress.
After doing this, Su Xiao checked the fortress data, his gaze stopping on the daily Living Ore output: about 1,000 kilograms per day.
It was clear that the pig-headed laborers had never received such good treatment—quality food and no need to sleep in troughs. Even a shared dormitory was far more comfortable than being squeezed into a sleeping trough; the sleep experience was on a completely different level.
The better the treatment, the more the pig-headed laborers wanted to keep it. What happened when they slacked off before? The answer was: first, a whipping; second, ear-cutting; third, being sold off directly.
Now, these pig-headed laborers were worried about being sold off for laziness and forced to leave the Doomsday Fortress, so they worked extra hard. But they hadn't quite understood what working 12 hours and resting freely for 12 hours meant yet.
An income of 1,000 kilograms per day was far from enough. Even if they occasionally dug up good things, like life-attributed gems or other curiosities, the development speed still wasn't fast enough.
Su Xiao needed other ways to make money. He had already thought of one: the fur, claws, and teeth of Aberrant Beasts.
If they encountered a tiger-type Aberrant Beast, tiger penis was especially valuable in this world. Produced by supernatural tigers, it had a strong effect. It was said that after boiling it in hot water to sterilize and disinfect, eating it directly produced "immediate results" with no natural side effects, making it highly sought after by the upper class.
Hunting in the Aberrant Beast territory was also very profitable. It was one of the main sources of income for hunters on the continent, or rather, it was why they were called hunters.
Su Xiao planned to have the 8,736 reserve pig-headed warriors take their metal mining picks and enter the Aberrant Beast territory to hunt. Moving 200 meters east would bring them into the Aberrant Beasts' domain. While this made hunting convenient, it also came with risks.
Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha would guard the base. Unaware of the situation, others would think the fortress only had one entrance—the main gate. When the pig-headed main force went hunting and Aberrant Beasts attacked, Su Xiao would stand at the main gate, holding the line alone against a thousand.
Su Xiao stood on the gentle slope before the main gate, looking at the reserve pig-headed warriors lined up with anxious expressions. They were going to hunt, but also to "die," or rather, to hone their combat skills through life-and-death trials. In the dangerous Aberrant Beast territory, all their potential would be unleashed—or they would die.
The benefits of hunting Aberrant Beasts weren't just the sellable goods like fur and teeth. With the pig-headed people's physique, they had no problem carrying back a complete prey over long distances.
Apart from fur, teeth, and other goods, the remaining Aberrant Beast meat could be cooked and fed to the pig-headed people. For those with only strong physiques, this was a natural tonic. It might even increase their chances of evolving from pig-headed people into wild boar people.
The pig-headed main force was about to depart. Dorothy, chewing gum, stood diagonally behind Su Xiao.
"Dorothy."
"Huh?"
Dorothy tilted her head to look at Su Xiao.
"I have a task for you."
"Mm, mm."
Dorothy had just gained power and was eager to test it out, already impatient.
"This time during the hunt, you're responsible for monitoring whether anyone tries to flee. If found, execute them on the spot."
"Understood!"
The grinning Dorothy turned serious. Her eyes clearly said she would handle this. Suddenly having the power of life and death made her a bit giddy—it was only human nature.
"I'm counting on you."
Su Xiao patted Dorothy on the shoulder. Hearing this, Dorothy lifted her chin slightly, blew a bubble with her gum, and walked toward the pig-headed main force.
The smile faded from Su Xiao's face. He signaled Amu to come closer, and Amu immediately leaned in to listen.
"If Dorothy dies, you're responsible for retrieving the Boiling Red. Be cautious on the way. If things go south, retreat alone."
"Moo."
Amu nodded in agreement and walked toward the pig-headed main force. In front of him, Dorothy still looked relaxed, and he could faintly hear her humming a tune.
Dorothy seemed to have forgotten that she had only gained power recently. Such an important task as overseeing the battle wouldn't be entrusted to her. It was just that she didn't seem too bright. Calling it "overseeing" was actually a way to get her happily to the Aberrant Beast battlefield to hone her strength and mentality. When the chaos erupted, she would have plenty to cry about.
Three hours later, 12 kilometers east of the base camp fortress.
The sounds of battle cries, roars, and screams mixed together. In the chaotic battlefield, the smell of blood was thick. Intestines on the ground were still steaming. A dying pig-headed person clutched his spurting throat with both hands.
Not far away, Steel Fang grabbed a Viper-Hunting Wolf with one hand and bit down on the Aberrant Beast's head. His metal flat teeth, stained with blood, tore off the Viper-Hunting Wolf's ear and large patches of fur, even leaving bite marks on its skull.
From above, the ground was littered with the corpses of pig-headed people and Viper-Hunting Wolves. The pig-headed people weren't good at fighting, but they were thick-skinned and tough. When a Viper-Hunting Wolf bit their throat, they would scream for help while punching the wolf that had latched onto them.
A common sight was a pig-headed person, after being bitten on the throat by a Viper-Hunting Wolf, crying with tears and snot streaming down, screaming loudly, all while using their fists to crush the skull of the wolf biting them. Thick-skinned, strong.
Inside a pile of corpses made up of pig-headed people and Viper-Hunting Wolves, Dorothy, her face covered in blood spots, was curled up. She had long forgotten the task Su Xiao gave her. Her current priority was simply surviving.
If Aichi, the former host of Black A, had seen this, he would have criticized Dorothy a bit. To put it in a more modern way: "You should quit the group. Among all the Devourer hosts, you're the most embarrassing."