# Chapter 40: Brutality
"Beautiful lady, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."
An Imperial soldier was embracing a wolf-headed half-beastman, a female half-beastman. To the Imperial soldiers who had been stationed at Black Earth Fortress for several years, female + decent figure equaled beauty. As for the wolf head, it could be covered with clothes, since half-beastmen only differed greatly from humans in their heads; their body structures were similar.
That female wolf clan half-beastman lowered her head. She felt no fear, only numbness. Under the ravages of prolonged war, such was the fate of civilians.
"Ah!!"
Screams came from nearby. A male dog-head beastman covered in wounds was hung upside down, with several Imperial soldiers watching from the side.
"I suggest bleeding him out."
"Burning him to death is more satisfying."
Several Imperial soldiers laughed as they discussed how to execute the wounded prisoner. These Imperial soldiers might be kind fathers or good husbands in peacetime, but in war, they were all butchers.
In the end, they decided to burn the prisoner to death. Other Imperial veterans who witnessed this were already accustomed to it.
A bonfire was lit. The beastman prisoner wailed in agony, but he didn't beg for mercy. Instead, he cursed and damned the Imperial army.
A dozen new soldiers witnessed this scene. They were newly transferred to Black Earth Fortress. Though trained, this was their first real combat.
The dozen new soldiers had just begun to adapt to the cruelty of the battlefield, but what they saw before them was somewhat hard to accept.
What they didn't know was that if Imperial soldiers were captured by the tribal army, they would face the same fate—burned alive, throats slit, or even skinned alive.
War has no humanity. Even if soldiers initially had it, it would disappear as war continued.
Whoosh~
A sound of something cutting through the air came. The dozen or so new soldiers near Su Xiao instinctively threw themselves to the ground.
Boom!
A civilian house exploded, with crushed stone and wood chips flying everywhere. The dozen new soldiers lay on the ground, not even daring to lift their heads.
"What are you afraid of? That came from far away, not a precision strike. Once you're stationed at Black Earth Fortress, you'll get used to it. These things often fly into the fortress."
An old soldier, holding a female beastman, smirked at the new soldiers.
Su Xiao looked at the compressed biscuit in his hand that had gotten dirt on it. After a moment's hesitation, he threw it away, took out a new one, and continued eating very calmly.
Several new soldiers stared at Su Xiao in surprise. Their thoughts were: Isn't this guy afraid of death?
Just as Su Xiao put the compressed biscuit into his mouth, a green "meteor" flew into the town—a green phosphorus fire bottle.
As it turned out, if one was unlucky, even if they survived the battlefield, they could die from "stray shots" afterward.
Su Xiao stood up. He sensed someone inside the civilian house behind him. As a "civilized person," he knocked on the door.
A clattering sound came from inside the house, followed by dead silence.
No one answered the knock, so Su Xiao had to resort to less civilized means—kicking the door open.
Entering the house, though it was daytime, the windows were tightly covered, making the room somewhat dark.
This house was quite large, with two floors. Adding the upper and lower levels together, it was at least three hundred square meters. It was clear that the owner of this house was of no low status.
Su Xiao sensed the situation inside the house. Three life signatures appeared in a room on the second floor.
Walking up to the second floor, with his keen hearing, Su Xiao could even hear faint breathing. The owner of the breathing was very nervous, deliberately suppressing it.
"Come out."
Su Xiao sat on a wooden table on the second floor, stored his [Storm Kai Windbreaker] in his storage space, and took off his dust-and-blood-stained undershirt, baring his upper body. His face and torso were covered in dust and bloodstains, with small stones even in his hair.
The door opposite Su Xiao opened. A female lion-head beastman walked out. She was somewhat nervous, the hand behind her back holding a dagger trembling. This dagger wasn't for killing enemies but for suicide.
"All of you, come out."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette, completely relaxed, leaning back in his chair.
"It's just me..."
Before the female lion-head could finish, she found Su Xiao already looking at her.
"I have no interest in female beastmen. Even if I did, you couldn't resist."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the female lion-head tightened her grip on the dagger.
"Even if I die, I won't be humiliated by you. Never!"
The female lion-head was resolute. She hadn't thought of killing Su Xiao; she just didn't want to be ravaged by the victorious Imperial soldiers.
"I'll give you ten seconds. The other two, come out. Also, get me some hot water."
Though Su Xiao killed without blinking, he wouldn't kill meaninglessly. There was no gain in that. Soldiers and civilians were different.
The female lion-head hesitated for a few seconds before finally compromising.
"Ura, Shirley, come out."
A young lion-head and a lion-head girl emerged from the room, both looking at Su Xiao fearfully. Three female lion-heads in total—this wasn't surprising. All the male lion-heads had gone to join the army.
Before long, the adult female lion-head brought a basin of hot water, carefully placing it on the wooden table beside Su Xiao. Su Xiao took out a towel and began cleaning the bloodstains and dirt from his body.
Soon, the basin of hot water turned dark red. Su Xiao gestured for the female lion-head to change the water.
A few minutes later, feeling much fresher, Su Xiao leaned back in the wooden chair to rest, water droplets dripping from the tips of his hair.
"Don't come within five meters of me."
Dragon-Slaying Flash was placed on the wooden table beside him. Su Xiao could respond to enemy attacks at any time.
"Do... do you need food? As long as you don't hurt us, we won't do anything stupid."
"No need."
Su Xiao just wanted to rest now.
Messy footsteps came from downstairs. Several soldiers entered the house, laughing and talking loudly, very noisy. Hearing this clamorous laughter, the three female lion-heads' faces turned pale.
Soon, several soldiers covered in dirt rushed up to the second floor. Their eyes lit up when they saw the three female lion-heads, but after noticing Su Xiao resting in the wooden chair, they shook their heads, somewhat disappointed, and turned to go downstairs.
"Someone got here first. Let's look elsewhere. Lucky bastard, three of them—one big, two small."
The soldiers laughed and left, and the house fell silent again. They were all soldiers surviving in war. Fighting over female beastmen would be absurd.
After the Imperial soldiers left, the lion-head girl knelt on the ground, crying silently.
Such was the plight of tribal civilians. This lion-head family's situation was relatively good—at least they wouldn't starve. As for other beastmen, most were cold, hungry, and living in constant fear. No wonder they had started the war.
The Imperial army occupied the tribal town. The "carnival" began.
When night fell, bonfires were lit on the town's streets. Around each bonfire were Imperial soldiers laughing loudly while holding female beastmen. They were enjoying the moment. They all knew they might die any day—perhaps tomorrow, or the next moment when a goblin weapon fell from above.
Ooo~
The sound of a horn came—the assembly horn.
Su Xiao, who had been resting, opened his eyes. He hadn't slept well, as he had to constantly watch for goblin bombs or fire bottles falling from above.
Su Xiao put on his windbreaker, yawned, and walked downstairs. The three female lion-heads watched him leave, their eyes devoid of much emotion.
Under normal circumstances, the female beastmen in the tribal town would be captured and sold as slaves. But now, Black Earth Fortress didn't have much food, and the fortress needed repairs. There was no time to capture beastmen slaves to sell.
Moreover, the legion commander, Carlos, had a characteristic: he only captured tribal soldiers as laborers, never female beastmen to sell as slaves. The legion commander was like this, and so were his subordinates.
In fact, the most effective method would be to massacre the town. But after a massacre, cleanup was needed, otherwise plague could break out. Remember, this place wasn't far from Black Earth Fortress. An outbreak of plague could easily spread to the fortress.
Simply leaving like this wouldn't work either. With these female beastmen around, in a few years, they would give birth to new beastman soldiers. Therefore, the Imperial soldiers took a measure—a somewhat inhumane measure. Though those female beastmen wouldn't die, they would be unable to continue reproducing. This inhumane measure was done after the Imperial soldiers "relaxed themselves"—using a very thin dagger to stab those female beastmen's wombs.
War made everyone cruel. If the war continued, sooner or later, some races would be exterminated. In fact, some races had already been nearly wiped out, like the centaur clan.
The assembly horn sounded. The Imperial army quickly gathered. The tribal forces in the nearby area had been scattered. It was time to return to Black Earth Fortress.
Su Xiao followed the army toward Black Earth Fortress. The current situation was good. Black Earth Fortress had been recaptured. Next, he needed to consider the issue of the World Core.
But before that, Su Xiao had to exchange the [Holy Oak Branch] as soon as possible.