Debate 2

Translator: Cinder Translations

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"Everyone!" Abal shouted to his loyal subordinates. 

"This meeting is called to determine the next direction of our strategy."

The chieftain's tone was incredibly serious, revealing a hint of urgency and anxiety. In his heart, this was a once-in-a-thousand-year opportunity for the orcs.

The Aldor Kingdom to the south of the Rocky Mountains had once been the dominant power at the western end of the continent, but this dominant position was closely tied to its royal authority. During the peak of Aldor's power, its influence far exceeded the territories it ruled over legally. Just looking at the northeast of the kingdom, past the Neron Corridor, lay a vast desert dotted with numerous oases like a pearl necklace, where resilient human city-states existed. These city-states had once submitted to the powerful Aldor Kingdom, with the Watcher Legion stationed at the Neron Corridor providing them protection. For centuries, under Aldor's leadership, human coalitions had repeatedly penetrated the grasslands, crushing various attempts to unify the orc tribes, ensuring that the vast plains remained fragmented.

However, a hundred years ago, Aldor's royal power began to wane. Especially in the past fifty years, the kingdom's control over its territory had rapidly declined. By the time the current king, Rodney XVII, ascended to the throne, powerful warlords like the Giles family and the Vibern family had emerged, capable of opposing the royal family. The decline of the power center also affected the surrounding regions. The royal family's ability to maintain control was severely exhausted, and their support for frontier troops like the Watcher Legion was naturally much less than before. The Watcher Legion was forced to withdraw its forces, retreating from the vast grasslands and desert oases back to the northeast gate of the kingdom, the Neron Corridor.

With the loss of the unified human suppression, Zarg, who had once led the orc tribes, rose to power, vowing to reclaim the legendary glory of the royal tent and to restore the orc's glorious history of resisting the ancient Gabella Empire. This time, their goal was even greater than what their ancestors had achieved—to penetrate the human world and rule over them.

After countless battles, the orc tribes surrounding Zarg had directly or indirectly submitted to the royal tent's rule. The chieftain's influence extended widely, from the endless icy plains in the north to the Rocky Mountains and the human kingdoms of the oases in the south, from the Lucky Forest in the west to the great human nation of Gabella in the east. This area of grassland in the northwest of the continent was firmly under the control of this orc leader.

Having conquered the orc tribes of the grasslands, the royal tent now needed to find a new target. The glory of the orcs must not be limited to the grasslands—this was the consensus among those within the royal tent.

However, there were disagreements about where to expand next.

One faction believed that they should continue to unify the orc world. The vast grassland in the interior was immense, and the grasslands north of the Rocky Mountains were merely a part of it. The grassland seemed to stretch endlessly into the eastern interior, where various orc tribes still roamed, and there were also branches of orc civilization in the Lucky Forest to the west—forest orcs who had become accustomed to fishing and hunting. This faction argued that all orc tribes on the continent should be brought under the rule of the royal tent first, but there were disagreements about whether to first subdue the forest orcs or to launch an inland campaign.

Another faction believed that the royal tent now had enough strength to attack the human world—what the orcs called revenge. The royal tent had once promised the subdued tribes a prosperous and abundant life, allowing them to thrive in lands flowing with milk and honey. Promises had to be fulfilled. Continuing to subdue the impoverished relatives of the grasslands would yield minimal rewards; only by bringing the wealthy human world under their rule could they fulfill their promises. After losing the protection of the Watcher Legion, the oasis nations had faced the orc's military might several times. Besides offering substantial wealth each time, some had even secretly expressed their willingness to submit. This meant the orcs now had a foothold to penetrate the southern human world, and both the Aldor Kingdom to the west and the Gabella Empire to the east were facing varying degrees of crises. Trading caravans across the grasslands had brought even more pleasing news to the royal tent—the spiritual leader of the human world, the Church of the Light, was deeply mired in religious conflicts. In the past, when human nations faced internal or external conflicts, the church often acted as a mediator, and due to religious reasons, it played a role in uniting the human world to some extent. Now they seemed to lack the energy for that.

Wasn't this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? 

"Let's infiltrate the Lucky Forest to the west!" 

"No, we should continue attacking the eastern grasslands." 

"You're all wrong. Aldor is now a big fat sheep; why not take advantage of it?" 

"I think it's better to attack Gabella. It's said that Gabella is located at the center of this land, controlling the center of the continent gives a significant advantage." 

"Fools! Occupying the center of the continent? Are we inviting all the surrounding humans to come and beat us?" 

As soon as Chieftain Abal voiced his concerns, the tent was filled with various suggestions, with everyone expressing their viewpoints.

"Chieftain." Eugene, the manager of the royal tent's trading caravan, supported taking control of the Lucky Forest first. "I believe we should first accumulate our wealth. With wealth, we can purchase more iron armor and weapons to equip our warriors. Although we orcs are brave, we are ultimately flesh and blood; against human swords and blades, we suffer losses. Only with equipment similar to theirs can we leverage our advantages. The Lucky Forest is filled with endless treasures, especially animal pelts, which are highly sought after by human nobles who are willing to pay in gold. There are also plants that can be used as medicinal materials, which can also bring a lot of wealth. With the Lucky Forest, we can use the money earned from trading with humans to purchase their weapons, making our warriors even stronger and facilitating our attack on the human world."

"Chief Eugene makes a valid point." Chieftain Abal nodded, seemingly agreeing with him.

"Father!" Ajil, his eldest son, grew anxious, supporting the attack on the Gabella Empire. "The two princes of Gabella currently have sharp contradictions, which also means their national power is divided. The major lords of the empire are watching to see who can obtain the throne. If one of them wins, then the empire will regain a strong leader, making it difficult for us to attack Gabella."

"Ajil makes a valid point as well." The chieftain nodded.

(End of the Chapter)

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