Recaps

Kang De heard how Nick and Hong San had kept Valentan’s defenders alert through the night, then prepared to face the full elven assault as Twilight Moon’s overlord began attacking the city. He left the others behind and set out to kill elves.

• Kang De learned that Hong San had spent the night helping Nick counter elven raids and feints with an alert system and a mage ambush.
• Hong San explained that he had advised the defenders to provoke the elves with insults, humiliating them into reckless attacks that the humans could punish.
• Leona asked whether they could insult the elves again that night, but Kang De noted that a costly battle was about to begin.
• Twilight Moon’s overlord launched an assault, darkening the sky and sending spells toward Valentan.
• Kang De told everyone to stay inside, then shouldered his pack and announced that he was going to kill elves.

Kang De witnessed civilians suffer from the elves’ bombardment and helped extinguish a fire before heading to the walls with Hong San. There, they joined Preston Valentan as the elven assault intensified and a catapult crew was struck.

• Kang De and Hong San rode through Valentan as elven spells hit civilian districts, and Kang De reflected on the suffering of people caught in the war.
• Kang De extinguished a burning building while municipal officers prepared to rescue survivors, then rode on after Hong San reminded him that everyone had their own duties.
• Kang De noticed the determined municipal officer named Steve plunge into the fire to help with the rescue, and he told Hong San that she did not need a man’s name to prove herself.
• Kang De and Hong San reached the walls and met Preston Valentan, who urged Kang De to return to the safer rear lines.
• A spell smashed a catapult, killing its warlock and badly injuring the crew, so Preston rushed out to investigate and Kang De followed, offering to help.

Kang De and Preston discovered that the elves had destroyed the No. 5 catapult with a carefully planned Rending Stone Pierce, leaving a gap in the city’s defensive fire. The elves began their assault as the defenders returned to their posts, and Kang De left the ruined weapon to the engineers.

• Preston ordered reinforcements and repair crews to the damaged No. 5 catapult while Hong San explained its role in the city’s overlapping long-range defenses.
• Preston found the catapult’s magical core and transmission mechanism destroyed, then warned the other firing positions that the elves had used a ground-based Rending Stone Pierce.
• Preston rallied the officers and sent them back to prepare for the attack, while Kang De realized he could not repair the complicated weapon and left with Hong San.
• The elven commander ordered the infantry assault, reasoning that the humans would soon guard against the method used to destroy the catapult.
• Lord Ailras blew the horn, and the elven formations advanced as the defenders shouted along the city walls.

The elves attacked Valentan’s western wall with enormous wooden war puppets disguised as Wild Wood Spirits, while hidden elven troops and mages used them for cover. As the defenders struggled to stop the advance, Kang De decided to return to the destroyed number five firing position, hinting that he had a desperate plan.

• Hong San explained that the elves were using distant fog to conceal their siege preparations as the army advanced toward the western wall.
• The elves’ wooden war puppets emerged from the mist, frightening the defenders until messengers reassured them that the giants were artificial constructs, not true Wild Wood Spirits.
• Kang De spotted elven sharpshooters and spellcasters concealed among the puppets’ branches and decided he could not safely use his Extraction ability against them.
• Hong San realized that the elves were rushing to capture Valentan, possibly because they had detected the Gladiolus Legion’s plans.
• As elven attacks intensified and the city’s war machines struggled to respond, Kang De said he would return to the number five firing position with a plan.

Kang De infused a shattered catapult with Elements, transforming it into a crude, fearsome weapon that could still fire. Its first enchanted projectile struck an elven wooden puppet, and the Dusk Warband commander concluded that an ork mek was inside Valentan.

• Kang De blocked an elven sharpshooter’s arrows with his shield, returned fire with three explosive shots, and hurried off the wall with Hong San.
• Kang De reached the broken catapult at position five and used Fantasy Enchantment to transform it into a red, heavily modified machine.
• The warlock crew found that the catapult could fire, though its altered aiming scales forced them to estimate their shots.
• Kang De enchanted a stone projectile, which tore through a wooden puppet and scattered debris among the elves.
• The commander of the Dusk Warband saw the projectile strike and demanded to know how an ork mek had entered Valentan.

Kang De and the defenders of Valentan fought to stop the advancing Dragonfang Army as elven wooden puppets reached the city wall and turned into bridges. As the battle erupted across the wall, Kang De rushed toward the third puppet bridge, determined to end the fighting.

• Kang De helped fire enchanted catapult projectiles that damaged the elven formation, but the elven commander ordered the assault to continue.
• The first wooden puppet collapsed against Valentan’s wall, forming a bridge that let elves charge across while human defenders rushed to meet them.
• Human and elven soldiers and mages fought fiercely atop the wall as two more wooden puppets reached it and formed bridges.
• Kang De left the catapult crew under Wang Chengzhu’s command and leaped onto the wall after hearing that the third puppet had arrived.
• Kang De sensed he was being watched, activated his golden clock-face eyes, dodged an arrow, and charged toward the third puppet bridge.

As the siege of Valentan stalled, the Dusk Warband's legion commander discovered that the defenders were using large numbers of enchanted weapons and concluded Goth had lured his army into a trap. After recognizing Kang De on the wall, he ordered the Blade of Dusk to capture him alive.

• The legion commander noticed that the Dusk Warband was being held back at the walls despite its advantages in equipment and training.
• The adjutant reported that magical arrows and javelins had inflicted heavy losses on the Silver Cloak Unit, and the legion commander deduced that Goth had secretly supplied them to Valentan as bait.
• A wooden golem collapsed during the fighting, and the adjutant saw a Cathayan wielding an axe and a strange weapon while using an uncanny ability against elven soldiers.
• The legion commander and adjutant identified the Cathayan as Kang De, Tina's husband and Goth's prince consort.
• The legion commander ordered the Blade of Dusk into action with mage support and commanded them to take Kang De alive.

Kang De and Hong San destroyed the first wooden golem, forcing the Dusk Warband to concentrate its forces around the last one. As Kang De prepared to face the reinforced elven defenses, greenskins on roaring two-wheeled machines arrived with a steel beast and charged the battlefield.

• Kang De fought through the second battlefield, reached Hong San at the first wooden golem, and joined him in driving into an occupied tower.
• Kang De and Hong San detonated explosives that collapsed the first wooden golem’s bridge, while the Dusk Warband’s legion commander recognized Kang De and ordered the elves to concentrate around the last golem.
• Kang De and Hong San discussed how the elves had begun intercepting their bombs, and Preston offered Valentan’s forces to support another attack on the final golem.
• The last wooden golem began spreading roots into the wall as the elves used concentrated magic to attack it.
• A steel beast and smoke-belching two-wheeled machines appeared from the east, carrying greenskins who charged the elven scouts and roared, “WAAAAAGH!”

Kang De’s son and Kan Fantian’s greenskin bikers joined the battle, helping Kang De and the defenders destroy the elves’ wooden golems and repel the siege. The city stood ready to face the elven army as Kang De fired on its command platform, where the corps commander survived the blast.

• Kang De recognized the charging Hummer as his son and ordered Preston’s troops to support it and the greenskin bikers following it.
• Kan Fantian identified the Big Mek’s weapon among the defenders’ artillery and led the bikers after the Autobot toward the elven formation at battle zone two.
• The Autobot transformed to break through the elven spearmen, while the bikers used their customized motorcycles to attack the elves and reach the wooden golem.
• Kang De joined his son on the golem, freed it from binding roots, and helped destroy its bridge and disrupt its magical core as Kan Fantian’s bikers detonated their motorcycles and climbed aboard.
• The Autobot and Kang De shattered the golem’s core, and the greenskins helped wipe out the remaining elves; all five wooden golems were destroyed and the city’s defense succeeded.
• Kang De used the golem’s power to fire on the elven command platform, which collapsed, but the corps commander emerged from the wreckage and faced the defenders.

The elves retreated after their siege weapons were destroyed, while their commander reflected on his soldiers’ reliance on superiority and resolved to rise within their ranks. Kang De then met a band of greenskins who called him the Big Mek, and learned that their improvised motorcycles ran on crude oil mixed with dirt, stone powder, and plant juice.

• The elven commander ordered scouts to watch for an alliance between the orcs and Goth, then worried that his troops’ confidence depended too much on winning through superior force.
• The commander decided to join the elite ranks himself so he could push for change from within, and warned Kang De that the campaign would still bring him defeat.
• Kang De left the celebrating crowds and encountered Kan Fantian and other greenskins, who hailed him as the Big Mek and argued with his iron son over the name Little Mek.
• Kan Fantian recounted his two-month journey to find Kang De, and Kang De suggested he record the story on a phone to share with his tribe.
• The Autobot explained that he had provided simplified motorcycle engines, while the greenskins had found an oil well and mixed crude oil with dirt, stone powder, and plant juice for fuel.

After the battle for Valentan, Kan Fantian invited Kang De to become the greenskins’ prophesied Big Mek and lead them in war, but Kang De refused to exploit their trust for his own purposes. The chapter ended with Kang De warning Mayor Nick not to try to enlist the greenskins, while he and his companions left for the Vidal Chamber of Commerce.

• Kang De questioned the Autobot about the greenskins’ strange abilities and learned that it had picked up their language after spending time with them.
• Kan Fantian invited Kang De to return to the tribe as their Big Mek and unite the greenskins, but Kang De said he needed to protect his friend and settle accounts with the elves first.
• Mayor Nick approached Kang De, who urged him to care for the fallen soldiers and survivors rather than focus on repaying Kang De.
• Kang De declined Nick’s banquet, requested food for the greenskins and a chance to inspect any enchanted battlefield spoils, then left for the Vidal Chamber of Commerce.
• Nick privately proposed that the greenskins fight for Kang De, but Kang De refused to send them into a war and warned Nick not to manipulate their trust.

Kang De refused to use his standing with the orcs to persuade them to fight for Goth, despite Mayor Nick’s desperate plea that their reinforcements could save the country. Nick accepted that Kang De would not change his mind, then remained alone in the alley, grieving and grateful for Kang De’s understanding.

• Nick confronted Kang De and pleaded with him to lead the orcs south to help Goth, arguing that the war demanded ruthless choices.
• Kang De said he would help Goth but would not betray the orcs’ trust by dragging them into the war, and he insisted their lives mattered as much as the Goths’.
• Nick defended his willingness to sacrifice lives to hold the cities and urged Kang De to consider the deaths and hatred that might follow Goth’s defeat.
• Kang De admitted he feared what Tina might think if Goth fell, but said he would keep his promise and principles because the person he had in mind would not blame him.
• Kang De left after telling Nick he admired his decisiveness but disliked his ruthlessness, and Nick wept alone, thanking him for agreeing with what he had done.

Leona waited anxiously for Kang De during the battle for the city, then welcomed him back with his transforming war chariot and a pack of greenskins. As Kang De and Leona discussed the greenskins’ seemingly impossible abilities, Leona suggested they might have become extraordinary through their connection to him.

• Leona waited in the Vidal Chamber of Commerce courtyard until the proclamation officers announced that the elves had withdrawn, then watched for Kang De’s return.
• Kang De came back uninjured, and Leona thanked him and offered to have hot water prepared before his war chariot transformed outside the wall.
• Greenskins climbed into the courtyard, and their leader recognized Leona as a little shrimp, ruining her imagined romantic reunion with Kang De.
• After bathing and changing, Kang De told Leona about meeting the greenskins and wondered whether they could somehow make their wishes come true.
• Leona denied knowing of any such greenskin ability, and Kang De described how they had found oil and built powerful motorcycles.
• Leona speculated that the greenskins might have become extraordinary because they were connected to Kang De, while he remained unsure how to explain what he had seen.

Kang De learned that the greenskins revered him as their Big Mek, while Leona explained their habits and urged him to use that influence to guide them. After Leona reflected on the orcs’ lost homeland and uncertain future, Kang De returned and dragged her along to meet them.

• Kang De asked Leona whether the greenskins’ ability to build and think things into working came from his Big Mek aura, but neither could explain it.
• Leona warned Kang De that the greenskins liked fighting, talking bullshit, and piling up dung, and said the Bad Moon Clan had adopted better hygiene for business.
• Leona suggested Kang De could use the greenskins’ admiration to change their habits and potentially earn the Goth People’s trust, but said his immediate task was keeping the visiting orcs from spreading dung around the city.
• Leona advised Kang De to give the greenskins a proper way to pay tribute rather than let them build him a dung statue, then joked about his developing their habits.
• After Kang De left, Leona reflected that the orcs had lost their fertile homeland to humans and hoped Kang De could guide them toward a better future without renewed conflict.
• Kang De returned, grabbed Leona, and pulled her toward the door so she could accompany him to meet the greenskins.

After Valentan repelled the elves, Kang De celebrated with the greenskins, talked with his Autobot son about choosing a name, and encouraged Hong San to see himself as human. A letter from Nick left Kang De suspicious of its wording, but he set it aside to focus on the city's defenses as the next elven attack loomed.

• Kang De told his Autobot son to keep the unruly greenskins in check, then promised to help him find a respectable name.
• Kang De discussed the coming fight with his Autobot son, who said he wanted to choose his own name after learning more about stories from both worlds.
• Kang De reassured his Autobot son that the hard drive contained no ancient Greek myths, while the Autobot began reading Egyptian mythology.
• Kang De praised Hong San for beginning to stand up in his heart and reminded him that he was human.
• Hong San gave Kang De a letter from Nick, who thanked him for helping defend Valentan and delivered rewards, but the wording made Hong San uneasy.
• Kang De set aside his suspicions about Nick's letter and asked Hong San what the elves might do in their next attack.

After Valentan’s defense, Kang De encouraged Hong San to rethink military strategy and considered adapting the greenskins’ vehicles for warfare. He then stopped the greenskins from making a statue of him and began discussing the city’s defenses, but a sudden blast interrupted them.

• Hong San explained that Valentan would likely have fallen if Kang De had not helped destroy the wooden golems and disrupt the elves’ attack.
• Hong San praised the greenskins’ vehicles as a force that could transform warfare, and Kang De asked him to develop new military tactics around them.
• Kang De argued that Hong San could become a great military thinker, then threatened to have the greenskins make a statue of him from shit if he refused to apply himself.
• Kan Fantian told Kang De that the greenskins wanted to build statues of him, so Kang De offered them framed photos instead and suggested they make insulting statues of his enemies.
• Kang De asked Hong San how vehicles could aid Valentan’s defense, and Hong San suggested improving weapons while preparing for another direct assault.
• A greenskin fired a thick tube, producing a thunderous bang as Kang De and Hong San turned to look.

Kang De discovered that a greenskin had independently made gunpowder and a crude firearm, prompting him to test the weapon and consider the danger of the technology. He left the greenskins unharmed, ordered more guns made under controlled conditions, and was shocked when he learned how the gunsmith produced its powder.

• A greenskin fired a crude iron-tube gun, and the Autobot explained that it had been made from a motorcycle exhaust pipe.
• The gun broke apart when Kang De picked it up, and he realized his presence seemed to cause the crude firearms to shatter.
• Kang De suppressed his urge to harm the greenskins and ordered the Autobot to make more iron tubes so he could investigate the effect.
• The gunsmith made several more guns, which broke only when Kang De handled them, and Kang De ordered five greenskins to make their own.
• The gunsmith fired a gun after Kang De gave it protective gear, and Hong San recognized the weapon's value and prepared to test another.
• Kang De asked how the greenskin made gunpowder, then reacted with shock when the gunsmith touched its butt.

Kang De learned that greenskin gunpowder was made from dung and discovered it could power firearms, though its unreliability made it unsuitable for automatic weapons. He decided to have the greenskins produce more gunpowder through a steady supply of food and assigned them to handicraft work, while considering how to use it against the elves.

• Kang De stopped Hong San from tasting the greenskin gunpowder and explained that it was made from shit, making Hong San vomit.
• Iron Son tested the greenskin gunpowder and found its shot comparable in power to modern ammunition, but smoky, dirty, and unpredictable.
• Kang De fired a greenskin cartridge, but it failed; he learned that Iron Son could use the gunpowder while humans could not.
• Kang De rejected sending the greenskins into battle or equipping them with automatic weapons, and instead planned to have them make gunpowder as handicraft workers.
• Kang De told the greenskin gunsmith to feed the greenskins well and have them produce plenty of gunpowder, then considered using it to surprise the elven invaders.

Kang De organized a greenskin munitions factory and planned how to support Goth’s defenses while questioning whether he should stay in the besieged city. The next morning, Hong San warned that the elves were preparing an all-out assault.

• Kang De established a greenskin munitions factory, using food, work, and heavy metal music to keep the greenskins producing.
• Kang De and his iron son discussed making enchanted ammunition and weapons for the city defenders, as well as the difficulty of leaving Goth to return to the White Mist World.
• Kang De explained that he planned to stay until reinforcements led by Tina’s brother arrived, but admitted he did not know what he would do if they failed to come.
• Kang De worked through the night with the greenskins, whom he called his brothers.
• The next morning, Hong San returned and warned Kang De that the elves were likely preparing an all-out assault on the city.

Kang De and Hong San prepared for the elves’ expected mass assault, with Kang De trusting the greenskin gunpowder to help counter their siege equipment. After Hong San warned him to keep the greenskins under control, Kang De left for the toilet, unaware that the Boom-Boom Gunsmith had begun eyeing its contents as a possible source of gunpowder.

• Hong San told Kang De that the elves would likely abandon clever tactics and launch a costly assault on Valentan’s walls, overwhelming Kang De’s ability to disintegrate siege equipment.
• Kang De said that large numbers of siege ladders could be countered with weapons made from greenskin gunpowder, and that holding out would give the Gladiolus Legion time to arrive.
• Hong San explained that war justified using disgusting methods, then asked whether human waste could be used to make gunpowder; Kang De said it could not and told him to focus on defending the city.
• Hong San urged Kang De to keep the greenskins firmly under his control, and Kang De reassured him before leaving to use the toilet.
• The Boom-Boom Gunsmith watched the toilet’s ventilation window and wondered whether human waste could also be made into gunpowder.

As the elves prepared to attack Valentan again, Hong San worried about the Heaven and Earth Society, while Kang De urged him to focus on defending the city. The elves then publicly named Kang De and revealed his identity, and Preston arrived to report that the elven commander had invited him to a feast beneath the walls.

• Hong San reported that Valentan's defenders faced heavy casualties and that Mayor Nick was rotating private guards, mercenaries, and gladiators into the fight.
• Kang De teased Hong San for worrying about the Heaven and Earth Society and reminded him that Valentan's residents also needed protection.
• Hong San began sharing his ideas about elven plots, but a voice from beyond the walls called out Kang De's name.
• Kang De realized the elves had identified him and worried that the revelation would change how Valentan's people treated him.
• The Autobot and Preston arrived, and Preston confirmed that the elves had identified Kang De as Princess Tina's husband.
• Preston told Kang De that the commander of the Dusk Legion had arranged a feast beneath the walls and invited him to meet.

The Dusk Warband used Kang De’s identity and a public invitation to pressure him into staying in Valentan, while Leona urged him to flee and Preston urged him to remain. Kang De chose to attend the elves’ feast with plans for an artillery strike and poison, unaware that the legion commander was preparing to attack the city if the scheme to capture him succeeded.

• The legion commander announced that he would use the invitation to discredit Kang De or blame him for a massacre, then had soldiers deliver the invitation throughout Valentan.
• Leona urged Kang De to leave, while Preston argued that he should stay for the reinforcements; Kang De protected Leona when Preston drew his sword.
• Mayor Nick apologized for Preston and told Kang De that Valentan would follow his decision whether he stayed or left and whether he accepted or declined the invitation.
• Kang De decided to meet the elves and proposed pretending to attend their feast before calling in a long-range artillery strike; he also asked Nick for potent poisons.
• The legion commander ordered his units to mobilize and told Lord Ailras that they would attack Valentan if they captured Kang De alive.

Kang De approached Selendron’s staged banquet and provoked the elves while Iron Son waited for his signal to fire. After Selendron revealed that Mage Garcia had anchored the space to prevent Kang De from teleporting, Kang De used the Crimson Scroll to escape and kill Garcia, just as a shell streaked toward the elves.

• Selendron prepared a public banquet and planned to capture Kang De when they met, while Kang De secretly coordinated with Iron Son to attack the elves.
• Kang De rode alone to meet Selendron and refused to shake his hand, then criticized the elves’ hypocrisy and insulted them.
• Selendron revealed that Mage Garcia had locked the space to prevent Kang De from teleporting away.
• Kang De used the Crimson Scroll to vanish, and Garcia died when the spatial spell failed and a universe filled him until he burst.
• A shell shrieked toward the gathered elves.

Kang De escaped the elves’ spatial trap by using the Crimson Scroll’s divine power, then reflected on how war was pulling him away from Earth and drawing him closer to the other world. After returning to Valentan, he learned the elves had issued an ultimatum demanding that the city hand him over or face slaughter.

• Kang De used the Crimson Scroll to break through Garcia’s spatial defense, killing the elven mage as he escaped to the White Mist World.
• Kang De contemplated the scroll’s power and worried that his life and values were shifting toward the war-torn other world.
• Kang De returned to the Vidal Chamber of Commerce, where Leona scolded him for risking his life before he hurried toward the wall.
• Kang De learned that the defenders could not assess the bombardment’s damage and ran through the frightened city to join them.
• Elven cavalry delivered Selendron’s ultimatum: Valentan had to surrender Kang De or face the slaughter of everyone inside.

Kang De repelled the elven envoys’ attack but feared that continued casualties would turn Valentan against him, and he refused Hong San’s suggestion to abandon the city preemptively. As the siege continued, he resolved to build a new army after the crisis, leaving Valentan’s defense to Mayor Nick and the coming reinforcements.

• Preston ordered an attack on the elven envoys, and Iron Son transformed into a giant Autobot and fired on them as Kang De hurled javelins into their ranks.
• The elves retaliated with archers, cavalry, and powerful spells, beginning another battle around Valentan’s walls.
• A despairing soldier told his captain that both his brothers had died, while Preston and the captain urged the defenders not to believe the elves’ offer or lose morale.
• Kang De told Iron Son that the elves were exploiting the city’s fear and that he hoped the Gladiolus Legion would arrive before Valentan’s will to resist broke.
• Hong San suggested that Kang De leave before the elves could damage his reputation, but Kang De refused to betray Valentan as long as the city remained loyal to him.
• Mayor Nick ordered information from the walls restricted and elven envoys killed on sight, while Kang De said he would prepare ammunition and later organize a new army with rules for hiring orc mercenaries.