For My God Karl

"Yuan, this is for you."

As he spoke, the village chief handed over a small axe.

"What does this mean?" Looking at the newly sharpened axe, Yuan was slightly stunned but quickly took it.

"We don't know what will happen on this journey; no one has ever returned from the Kingdom's conscription. So, we are completely in the dark about what lies ahead. Keep this as a weapon; it's better than nothing."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome; I just want to ease my guilt." The village chief's face was filled with apology and helplessness.

This village didn't always have so few people; it used to have a decent population. Ever since the Kingdom's conscription began, the village's population has plummeted.

Even so, he had never experienced sending such a young child onto the list before. Every time he looked at Yuan's tender face, an indescribable sense of guilt filled his heart.

"Hahaha, no need to be like this, Chief. We don't have a choice, do we?"

"Alas, perhaps."

Immediately, the atmosphere fell silent. Everyone knew they had to depart soon, and a heavy mood filled the entire area.

The village chief forbade anyone from seeing them off in the village square, only allowing them to watch from the foot of the distant mountain. Yuan didn't know why, nor did he want to ask.

He just looked back at his home from afar. After his grandmother fell asleep last night, he had cleaned the house inside and out.

He hadn't said anything special to his grandmother. As he'd said before, he had no choice. He could only hope that his cooperation would lead to the village treating her better.

However, he figured it should be fine. His grandmother had some medical skills, after all. And she was old, so the village would likely take care of her to some extent.

Before long, once everyone had gathered, the soldiers who had arrived yesterday also reached the village entrance. After counting the assembled people, they nodded.

"Good, the numbers are sufficient. Follow me."

With that, one person led the way, while the remaining two stood by the roadside. They followed at the end of the line only after everyone had set off.

Their hands rested on their sword hilts, appearing ready for battle at any moment.

Soon, the anxious group arrived at the main road, where donkey carts were already waiting.

"Get on. It's still a long way. If you had to walk the entire distance, you'd be exhausted before you even arrived."

Thus, with everyone taking turns on the donkey carts, they took nearly seven days to reach their destination. The scene before them left Yuan bewildered.

He had originally thought that the so-called Kingdom's conscription might be for the battlefield. For farmers like them, with little to offer, they would be nothing but cannon fodder on the battlefield.

However, the scene before them surpassed Yuan's imagination.

They saw a desolate mountain peak. From top to bottom, there was not a trace of life. Instead, there were mixed soils and stones of yellow, green, and black.

There was no vegetation, and no life besides them. Only tattered tents, battered by the wind at the foot of the mountain, and tools scattered on the ground, creating an indescribable strangeness.

Suddenly, a voice broke the silence.

A man dressed in splendid attire stood behind them. He glanced at them with disgust and then spoke:

"I am Baron Harris, the highest-ranking official of this mine. Listen carefully, you scum.

I am happy that you are the first batch to arrive. Therefore, you and the teams arriving within the next three days have earned the favor of the merciful Baron Harris.

You can rest well, and someone will be responsible for bringing you food and drink. As for everything else, it's up to you."

Seeing the hundreds of armored soldiers behind the so-called Baron, everyone swallowed the curses they were about to utter.

They lowered their heads in silence, not daring to respond. This scene caused Harris to nod repeatedly, casting a praising glance at the leader of Yuan's team.

"Good, good. Your city lord has taught you the meaning of discipline. Soldier, come, tell me loudly the name of your city."

Seeing this, Yuan couldn't help but curse inwardly, "What a fine discipline. If you didn't have so many people behind you...

You'd know what was meant by the discipline of wasabi."

The scenes at the mine were chaotic, and these people were unaware that in the darkness of space, the even darker Taotie was on its way.

"How much longer?"

"Officer Cole, we are only seven days away from that planet." The Gorilla-man quickly simulated the data on the command center's light screen.

"How many teams have lost contact?"

"Not many, only sixteen teams have encountered problems. Two of them unfortunately ran into a solar storm, while the others were taken offline by Angels and other God-making civilization super-soldiers."

"Bang! Lawless! These damned gods. One day, one day I'll make them smell my farts."

Upon hearing this, the entire command center fell silent. They looked at each other, unsure whether to chime in.

"Forget it, speed up. There aren't many target planets left. Hurry up; we might still make it in time for the Thousand-Year War Plan."

"No problem, Officer."

As they spoke, they began to operate the warship to accelerate with some dejection. Seeing their low morale, Cole frowned and said, "Why the long faces? Look at your downcast expressions, so listless. Damn it, I told you to go to the VR room less, and you all treated my words like farts, didn't you?"

Hearing this, the Gorilla-man beside Cole quickly explained, "No, no, Officer. We really haven't been to the VR room lately.

It's just that after so many years, we..."

As he spoke, he seemed to hesitate, glancing at Cole, who had a poker face, then gritting his teeth and continuing.

"For so many years, we haven't found a suitable target in the Styx Galaxy. According to the requirements from above, we need to find Divine River Bodies with over 20% brain development.

But it's almost impossible to find such individuals in pre-nuclear civilizations. The ones we found a few years ago were in star systems where Divine River Bodies gathered, with a sufficient population base.

However, these are the only planets in our Styx Galaxy that currently have Divine River Bodies. It's impossible to find them!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

Cole's fingers tapped slowly on the table, the atmosphere in the command center almost freezing.

Cole didn't rush to interrupt him, as he himself had asked higher authorities about these issues.

"I know what you want to say. The Thousand-Year War Plan is imminent, yet we're wasting time and energy on this action plan that was shelved long ago, right?"

"Commander Cole, I, I didn't mean that." As Cole's calm gaze fell upon him, the Gorilla-man beside him trembled and quickly retorted.

Cole raised his right hand slightly, interrupting his defense, and said, "Enough. I don't want to hear this pointless nonsense. All of you listen up.

This plan started five hundred years ago. What you think was shelving was merely because the time wasn't ripe yet.

Whether this plan succeeds or fails concerns our entire Taotie civilization. Keep that firmly in your minds.

From now on, all of you get the hell away from that damned VR room.

The King's plan must be completed at all costs, even if it means sacrificing everyone. Do you hear me?"

"Yes!"

"For our God Karl!"

"For our God Karl!"