Survival and Death

After the Minotaur priest stabilized the situation, he took out a crystal ball from a leather pouch at his waist and gestured for the Bunny Girl standing beside him to operate it.

"Everyone, let's first watch a few scenes transmitted from the Ancestral Land. After you've seen them, I'll explain in detail what happened~"

As the Bunny Girl placed the crystal ball onto a stone pillar carved with magic patterns on a high platform, video clips began to play. The Orcs seated below watched, utterly bewildered.

At this moment, a representative of the Foxfolk, seated closer to the front, suddenly spoke up:

"By Geush's grace, what is this? Is this real? High Priest Mordor, is this rift continuously widening?"

The old Minotaur nodded towards the Foxfolk representative.

"Jiafan, you are very perceptive. What the images show is indeed as Jiafan said. From the time Prince Kuraldo went to investigate until the footage transmitted the day before yesterday, this rift in the images has widened by about a hundred meters since it first appeared. And that's not the most terrifying part. I don't know if you've noticed the dock and coastline appearing in the video. According to reports from Coldwind City, the White Ice Dock has been damaged. The reason for the damage was a collision with a giant rock that was originally a hundred meters away from the dock."

At this point, some of the more intelligent Orcs began to grasp the High Priest's meaning. A chorus of gasps and sharp intakes of breath filled the tent. However, High Priest Mordor did not pause to wait for everyone's reaction this time. He continued speaking.

"It's not just the White Ice Dock. Prince Kuraldo dispatched multiple scout teams to investigate the coastline and found numerous impact marks. Therefore, I probably don't need to explain much further; you all likely understand what's happening. Although we don't know the exact length of this rift yet, it can be basically confirmed that a part of the Terramia Continent, where the Ancestral Land is located, is drifting towards us."

Having said this, the old Minotaur signaled, and attendants standing outside the tent brought in a huge wooden chest. Under the watchful eyes of all the Orcs, it was placed in the center of the tent. The chest was filled with water, and two soil blocks were placed on either side.

The old Minotaur stood up from his seat, walked to the wooden chest, reached out, and drew the curved saber from the waist of a guard standing nearby. With a swift motion, he struck one of the soil blocks. The saber was withdrawn, and the soil block that was directly hit split along the cut, with one half falling towards the other block. It slammed into it, splashing water that submerged the entire block.

After the old Minotaur finished his demonstration, the entire tent fell silent, so quiet that the sound of a falling needle could be heard. After a long while, the tent suddenly erupted like a boiling kettle, filled with incessant noise.

"Great Geush~ Are we doomed? Is the Orc Empire going to be destroyed? Gusai Ke, Bage Chu, Yina Fu... save your people! What are we going to do? Is heaven trying to destroy us Orcs?..."

Mordor calmly watched the panicked Orcs. His dry, hairless Minotaur face showed no emotion. After a long while, the Orcs noticed that the five Royal Families and the Great Elder, seated in the main positions, remained silent, simply observing the crowd. Slowly, the Orcs in the tent quieted down.

"Do you need more? You can continue. I can wait."

Seeing that the Orcs were no longer speaking, High Priest Mordor continued, "I understand your fear, your panic. But we cannot act like headless flies just because we are afraid, nor can we be helpless due to fear. We are the great Orc Empire! We are the incarnations of the great Geush, and the Orcs are immortal!"

As the old Minotaur unleashed the aura of courage to envelop everyone, he clenched his right fist and slammed it onto his chest.

"Roar~ Roar~ Roar~ Long live the Orcs! Geush is immortal~"

Inspired, all the Orcs stood up, pounded their chests, and roared.

"Very good. Then let's get to the main point of our meeting today. First, we need to migrate all the tribes from the Ancestral Land back and prepare for war. The second matter will proceed simultaneously with the first. This meeting will conclude. You will return to your respective tribes and prepare a delegation. We will gather at Coldwinter City in twenty days, and each tribe will be able to conduct on-site investigations to verify the truth of the matter. The third matter is that all our tribal territories will be merged under the five Royal Families for unified management. Finally, I have offered a sacrifice to the great Geush. We have approximately five years left. In the second year, we will launch an invasion against the Aster Empire and the Ingis Empire."

After speaking, the old Minotaur surveyed the expressions of the Orcs. He continued, "That's roughly how things stand. You need to return to your tribes as quickly as possible and convey this information to your leaders and chieftains. If you have any further questions, you can raise them now."

The Orcs whispered and discussed amongst themselves for a long time. At this moment, a Boarfolk, seated below, asked the old Minotaur at the head seat, "High Priest Mordor, our Steelmane Tribe has always lived in the southern part of the Empire, near the human countries. I wonder if we can be exempted from participating in the war against the human empires? We don't need new territories; we are quite satisfied with what we have now."

The old Minotaur, seated at the head, looked down at the Orc with dark red skin, a pig's nose, and pig's ears. Just as he was about to explain further, a Tigerfolk Prince, seated to the side, stood up. He walked up to the Boarfolk, his emerald eyes glaring fiercely at the foolish pig.

"Hahahahahahahahaha, what they say about human empires is indeed true. Pigs are truly the most foolish and clumsy creatures in this world, only knowing how to eat and sleep. Sometimes they don't even realize what's happening when death is upon them."

The Boarfolk's already dark red skin turned even redder. Under the pressure of the Tigerfolk Prince, he kept backing away.

"Your Highness Tarada, as you know, our Steelmane Tribe has been fighting for years, truly, truly... uh... Your Highness!"

The Tigerfolk Prince struck with lightning speed. His sharp tiger claws pierced through the Boarfolk's chest. The Boarfolk spurted a large amount of blood from his mouth, his lips parting and closing, unable to utter a sound. Tarada gently pushed with his left hand, and the Boarfolk's plump body crashed to the ground, a bowl-sized hole appearing in his chest. The Tigerfolk Prince raised his right hand, a bright red heart still beating in his palm. With a forceful squeeze, the heart instantly turned into a pulp, sliding through Tarada's fingers.

"Is there anyone else who shares his thoughts? Who thinks they shouldn't participate in the Empire's actions this time? You can step forward, and I'll be happy to explain things to you properly."

The Tigerfolk Prince's green eyes glinted with a chilling light. His long, golden hair fluttered in the windless air as he held his bloody right hand to his chest, looking at the assembled Orcs.

"Tarada, don't be like this. We are doing this for the future of the Orc Empire; there's no need for such bloodshed. I believe all the Orcs present are willing to share in the Empire's hardships."

The Tigerfolk Prince flicked the pulp from his right hand and returned to his seat. He bowed to the old Minotaur.

"My apologies, Lord Mordor. I've made a spectacle of myself. Please, continue."

"It was also my fault for not explaining clearly earlier. Merging into the five Great Royal Families does not mean you become subordinates. You will retain your independent tribal sovereignty. We are merely implementing effective management to avoid any synchronization issues in our cooperation.

Simultaneously, the five Great Royal Families solemnly pledge that for any inter-tribal disputes or conflicts, the governing Royal Family will do its utmost to mediate. If responsibility cannot be clearly assigned, the managing Royal Family will compensate according to the circumstances.

Finally, regarding the future war against the Human Empire, the five Great Royal Families jointly promise that the subsequent division of territories will be based on meritorious deeds and contributions, jointly guaranteed by the five Great Royal Families.

Everyone, we must now fight for the tomorrow of our great Orc Empire. Long live the Orcs!"

The Orcs, inspired, roared in unison.

"Long live the Orcs, long live the Empire!"

"Alright, everyone, that's all for today. Hurry up, time is precious to us."

Watching the Orcs quickly depart, the old Minotaur sat in his seat, lost in thought. Only the five Great Royal Families remained. Seeing that the High Priest had nothing more to say, the Princes all stood up.

"Lord Mordor, we shall take our leave as well."