Chapter 11: Very, Very Fast
The setting sun was like blood, and the battlefield was filled with the roar of battle.
Although the war had already lasted for eight hours, those human or orc soldiers were still full of energy. It wasn't that they had great stamina, but rather that these human or orc soldiers died in wave after wave. Those who were exhausted had already been killed in action, and those still fighting fiercely were soldiers replenished from the rear of both camps.
Su Xiao was still swinging his blade to kill enemies. This kind of large-scale war could easily make people lose their reason and go berserk.
Killing a short, stocky goblin—a rare sight on the battlefield—Su Xiao looked around. No one nearby was paying attention to him.
With a thud, Su Xiao "fell to the ground." He wasn't exhausted; he was pretending to be dead to recover stamina. Although he was lying down, he still held his blade. If exposed, he could immediately deal with any enemies that approached.
Just after falling, Su Xiao noticed something off in the pile of corpses beside him.
A dwarf and two human soldiers were lying on the corpse pile, not far from each other. All three were severely exhausted and recovering their stamina.
The dwarf had an orc corpse lying on top of him, which was a good cover. As for the two human soldiers, one had his abdomen covered in intestines, and the other was half-soaked in blood plasma.
"Hey, should we kill him?"
A tall, thin soldier kicked the one-eyed soldier nearby.
"Don't talk. Maybe we can make it to the end of the war."
The one-eyed soldier's face was covered in blood and mud, and his single eye darted around.
"I keep feeling like that dwarf is going to punch me. Let's just kill him. There are three of us now."
Clearly, the tall, thin soldier had noticed Su Xiao, a few meters away, also playing dead.
"Don't count me in. I need to rest for a while."
Su Xiao had an orc corpse lying on each side of him. His position was good.
"Coward of the Empire, who were you calling a dwarf?"
The dwarf three meters away spoke, but he didn't get up. The reason was simple: he was severely exhausted.
"What, not happy? If you've got the guts, get up and punch me."
The tall, thin soldier sneered.
"I'll fight you to the death!"
The dwarf in the corpse pile tried to stand up. That was the nature of dwarves: hot-tempered and straightforward.
"If you've got the guts, stand up."
The one-eyed soldier also sneered. Just as the dwarf was about to get up, he found three pairs of eyes staring at him. After hesitating for a moment, the dwarf squeezed deeper into the corpse pile. Out of sight, out of mind. Compared to venting his anger, his life was more important.
The war continued. As time passed, the sky gradually darkened. The fires illuminated the battlefield.
About an hour later, the sun on the horizon sank below the horizon, and night fighting began.
Su Xiao stood up. Seeing him get up, the two human soldiers also got up. As for the dwarf, he had long since crawled away somewhere. He wasn't stupid; why would he wait there to die?
Su Xiao's stamina had recovered a lot. The soreness in his arms from earlier was gone—it was the aftereffect of using Ring Break multiple times.
Although the battlefield was brutal, there were no deserters from the Empire's side. It wasn't because the Empire's soldiers were of excellent quality, but because there were five thousand soldiers with heavy crossbows in the rear acting as an execution squad. Desertion meant immediate execution without question. Moreover, most soldiers had families. If they fled, it meant they could never set foot in any city of the Empire again.
By now, there were no soldiers fighting near Su Xiao. Because the Empire's soldiers cooperated well and the command was effective, the Empire had a significant advantage, pushing the Tribe forces back a considerable distance.
"Soldier, why aren't you at the front line killing the enemy?"
A dozen soldiers wearing leather armor and carrying heavy crossbows came from the rear. They were the execution squad. While overseeing the battle, they also cleared out Tribe soldiers who were playing dead.
"I'm tired of killing. Taking a break."
Su Xiao turned and walked toward the front line. The execution squad soldiers were used to this. Besides, they could tell from Su Xiao's aura that this was definitely not the aura of a deserter.
"Soldier, have you eaten?"
An older execution squad soldier spoke.
"I had a meal this morning."
Su Xiao was indeed quite hungry at this point, having been fighting all day.
"Just in time. We brought some rations. You two, come along too."
The older execution squad soldier waved, signaling the other two soldiers to join as well.
On this battlefield, mixed with the smell of blood and various strange odors, a dozen people began to enjoy their dinner. The dinner wasn't lavish—it was a kind of cake made from a mixture of flour, meat, and vegetables, baked together. Unlike pies, these were dried, and if you didn't have good teeth, you couldn't bite into them.
This was the exclusive ration during wartime. Its advantages were that it was easy to preserve, ready to eat, convenient to carry, nutritionally balanced, and could maintain a soldier's stamina. But it had many disadvantages too: it was very hard to eat. Imagine mixing flour, meat, vegetables, salt, and water together, stirring them evenly, baking them, and then drying them. It would be a miracle if it tasted good.
After eating five of these marching cakes, Su Xiao felt full. He stood up and walked toward the front line.
"I'm leaving."
"Yeah."
The execution squad soldiers just nodded. The battlefield wasn't a good place for socializing. Some veterans didn't even want to know the names of new recruits. Forming friendships with new recruits was a terrible thing; new recruits could die at any time. Over time, veterans on the battlefield chose not to get close to them, as no one wanted to repeatedly experience the feeling of a friend dying in battle.
The night battlefield wasn't dark. The fires from explosions illuminated the battlefield. Occasionally, a green "meteor" streaked across the sky—it was actually a green phosphorus fire bottle from the Tribe side.
A few minutes later, Su Xiao saw human soldiers ahead of him. He quickly blended in.
Swinging his blade, killing enemies, searching for the next enemy. When enemies were dense enough, he used energy blades. If they were too dense, to the point of being packed together, Su Xiao used Ring Break to clear the area.
Su Xiao noticed that some soldiers nearby had a look of fatigue in their eyes. It wasn't physical fatigue; it was mental exhaustion.
Su Xiao didn't have that kind of fatigue, because he tried to remember the features of every enemy who died under his blade, reminding himself that these were all people he had killed. He had to bear all of this with a firm will.
Killing was a bad habit. Su Xiao might never be able to quit it, but he wouldn't let himself get used to the feeling. That was the characteristic of a murderous demon.
He didn't know how long he had been killing. Su Xiao's hands were sore from swinging his blade. The enemies nearby were gradually decreasing. The surviving orc soldiers began to look at him differently—their gazes filled with hatred, unwillingness, and mostly fear.
"Bro... brother, the one under your foot is already dead. Stop stepping on him."
A human soldier looked at Su Xiao and couldn't help swallowing. He seemed to see a mixture of blue and red aura emanating from him.
"Yeah."
Su Xiao kicked away the orc corpse under his foot. When he looked up, he saw the sky turning pale at the horizon. It was dawn. He had been fighting all night.
Stretching his sore arms, Su Xiao looked at the Black Earth Fortress half a kilometer away. This battle was almost over. The next battle would be to capture that fortress. Once the fortress was taken, he could move freely in this world.
Around 8 a.m., the Empire's army surrounded and killed the last small group of Tribe soldiers on the battlefield. This war, which had lasted a day and a night, was declared over.
The Empire's military achievements weren't as exaggerated as imagined. About eighty thousand of the over two hundred thousand Tribe soldiers died on the battlefield. The rest fled into the Black Earth Fortress. With the flat terrain and the enemy's rear fortress, a complete annihilation was impossible.
Su Xiao sat on a pile of corpses, smoking a cigarette. The deafening roar of battle in his ears finally disappeared, replaced by the screams of the wounded from both sides.
The medical team, execution squad, and logistics team soon entered the battlefield. The medical team was responsible for treating their own wounded, the execution squad for killing enemy wounded or prisoners, and the logistics team for handling the corpses, directing captured orcs to dig pits.
The combined casualties of the Empire and the Tribe in this battle exceeded one hundred thousand. Such a large number of corpses couldn't be left untreated. Environmental pollution was a minor issue; an outbreak of plague would be disastrous. Plagues always accompanied wars because of improper corpse disposal. In this technologically backward world, plagues killed far more people than wars.
Their own corpses were loaded onto carts like garbage. Later, they would be identified, and valuables on the bodies would be collected. Valuables that could identify the corpse would be sent to the soldier's family; those that couldn't would be confiscated for military use. Finally, the corpses would be buried together. Officers received better treatment and could be sent back to their hometowns.
As for the enemy's corpses, they were stripped first. Everything valuable was taken. The naked corpses, like naked pigs, were piled up and burned.
"Phew~"
Su Xiao exhaled a puff of smoke. He was holding a tablet computer, playing a game that had somehow appeared on it. It was a parkour game, probably downloaded by Bubu Wang. No one else could touch Su Xiao's tablet.
[Announcement: The enemy has successfully obtained the World Core. You must retrieve it within 20 natural days. After 20 natural days, the World Core will be fully activated.]
Upon receiving this shocking news, Su Xiao immediately checked Bubu Wang's condition. Bubu Wang's vital signs were normal.
Su Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, then began to think about his next move. The situation was clear: he had to retrieve the World Core within 20 days.
Just then, a message from Bubu Wang popped up.
"Master, stay calm. This dog has successfully infiltrated the enemy's ranks. I'll steal that shiny stone back very soon."
As soon as Su Xiao saw this message, a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Announcement: Your side has successfully obtained the World Core. You must hold it for at least 20 natural days. After 20 natural days, the World Core will be fully activated.]
The cigarette in Su Xiao's mouth slipped. That was way too fast. He immediately started composing a message to Bubu Wang.
"Bubu, well done. Keep it up..."
Before Su Xiao could finish his message, another notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Announcement: The enemy has successfully obtained the World Core. You must retrieve it within 20 natural days...]
Su Xiao was completely dumbfounded. The speed of obtaining the World Core was very fast, but the speed of losing it was even faster. What the hell was happening over there? Or rather, what ridiculous thing had Bubu Wang done again? Most importantly, would that guy get so excited that he bit the World Core?
Su Xiao sighed. He needed to resolve the current situation as quickly as possible, or else Bubu Wang might do something even more shocking. If he wasn't around, that guy was like a wild dog off its leash—unrestrained and suffocatingly stupid.