Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 396: The Wisdom of the Half-Goatmen

"May I dare ask the Lord, what exactly is meant by the Gods?"

Sure enough, an Ability User spoke up to ask. It was another Half-Goatman. It seemed these Half-Goatman Spellcasters were all relatively calm and had quick-witted brains.

This time, Li Wei thought for a moment and still chose to answer.

"The organization I belong to is called the All-Heavens Lord Alliance. And the temple within my territory is called the All-Heavens Temple. The ones worshipped inside the All-Heavens Temple are the All-Heavens Gods, or the Gods for short. And the core divine oracle passed down by the Gods only has a single rule: that is to forever ensure the most basic Humanistic Care."

"This is what I can say, and it is also all that I know. As for anything else, I cannot speak of it, and simultaneously do not know of it either."

After speaking these words, Li Wei was also a bit worried, because he didn't know if this would trigger an NG (No Good/Out of Bounds)?

But the reason he dared to speak like this was because they had already entered a special storyline phase right now. The other side was already discussing amnesty and enlistment with the Frost Duke; couldn't he conduct a minor wave of amnesty and enlistment regarding a few surrendered Ability Users on his end?

At this time, the Half-Goatman who spoke earlier spoke again: "You are outsiders. Those military advisors are also outsiders. But you all clearly belong to two different organizations. Last night, we all received a message transmitted by the Frost Duke, which is that he intends to negotiate a peace with you all. I want to know, if the peace negotiation succeeds, will the Frost Duke turn into an existence like you?"

Eh?

Li Wei hadn't thought of this question.Seeing Li Wei reveal a surprised expression, that Half-Goatman actually smiled. "Respected Lord, please do not be surprised. The only ones capable of receiving these messages are us spellcasters here. Moreover, in a certain sense, during the battle last night, the four of us were planning to defect. Otherwise, if the Lord wished to breach and capture this fortress, I'm afraid it wouldn't have been that easy."

Good heavens!

Li Wei felt it made sense now. During the battle last night, he hadn't seen these four Half-Goatman Spellcasters at all. As a result, in the end, the four of them actually appeared among the captives.

It was very magical. So this was why.

"Firstly, I am not responsible for negotiating with the Frost Duke. That will be discussed by the Kingdom's Envoy. It seems to be an extremely formidable Mage. Therefore, I have no way of knowing what price the Kingdom will offer the Frost Duke. But regardless, as long as the peace negotiation succeeds, the Frost Duke will become an important subject of Locke Kingdom."

"Alright, I've answered your questions. Can you tell me why you few wanted to defect? Do you not recognize and agree with the Frost Duke's theories and convictions?"

Li Wei asked curiously. He was truly far too curious.

"Actually, it's very simple. We do not wish to turn into that kind of Transcendent Body Half-Goatman Spellcaster. You've seen that thing, right? This is even the second time you've shot one of those things to death. To tell the truth, it's far too terrifying. Actually, originally we also wouldn't have dared to defect. But we deduced that you would come to attack the city, which was why we held secret discussions. As a result, we didn't expect it to actually evolve into this outcome. When we saw the Divine Art released by that Paladin Mark, we didn't hesitate in the slightest to stay behind and become captives."

"Moreover, there's no need for you to inquire with us regarding the details of modifying Transcendent Body Spellcasters. We don't know anything at all."

"I somewhat understand now. Then, you few, could you answer another question I'm relatively curious about? Why did you become Half-Goatman Spellcasters, instead of Ability Users like Half-Pigmen, Centaurs, or Half-Minotaurs?"

"Probably because we are all relatively rational. I used to be a university Physics Professor."

"I am an Associate Professor."

"I am a Doctoral Student."

"I am a high school Biology Teacher. Sometimes I also teach Math."

—

Good heavens, they all come equipped with scholar prefixes, huh?

"Then, you four, as well as everyone else, can we consider ourselves to have reached a consensus at this moment? That is, you believe in me, and also believe in Paladin Mark. You are also willing to fight for me, or serve as Freemen within my territory?"

Li Wei asked again at this time.

He wasn't afraid of these guys; he alone could slaughter them all cleanly. But winning over human hearts was a matter that required gradual progression and sincere actions. Therefore, he was very cautious.

Why did he stall for so long just now, putting on various performances, providing various welfare benefits, and even conducting Profession Card binding on the spot for those 37 former Ability Users who had already turned into normal humans outside?

On one hand, it was to rapidly gather a group of loyal soldiers.

On the other hand, it was to put on a show for this group of captives who were still Ability Users to see.

Words are sometimes very pale; only facts are colorfully vibrant.

There was another moment of silence.

After a long while, those four Half-Goatmen all nodded prudently. "Respected Lord, we believe in your sincerity, and we also believe in Paladin Mark. We are willing to pledge loyalty to you, and hope to have a place to settle down under your governance. We can even lend a hand and help you manage and escort those natural persons south."

"But we still have a presumptuous request. That is, considering our current state, although Respected Lord is a leader with broad-mindedness and extraordinary vision, we must consider the fear and hatred the other Freemen under your governance will harbor toward us. Therefore, if you permit it, we hope to continue remaining in this fortress until we can revert to normal humans half a year or a year from now."

"This matter is understandable, but this place is too far. It's a full thousand kilometers away from my territory. If something happens and we want to provide support, it will be too late. How about I find a location for you all instead?"

Li Wei smiled faintly. He casually took out a hand-drawn map, unrolling it so those guys could all see it clearly.

"To the north of my territory, right at the northern exit passing through this mountainous region, there is a small county city. I don't know what its name is, but it's roughly a hundred kilometers away from my territory. This place relies on the mountains and borders the water; the terrain is exceptionally excellent. As long as a fortress is built there, it will be easy to defend and difficult to attack. What's more, there are also many sturdy large buildings in this city serving as strongholds."

"You can garrison there, which can be considered serving as a border pass for my territory. I can even provide manpower and materials to help you build city walls or other fortifications. Even if you change your minds in the future and no longer want to be human, no matter; so long as you don't initiate a war on your own accord, I will give you an opportunity to survive. I will even allow you to act as a neutral faction."

"How about it?"

Hearing Li Wei's words, the other Ability Users didn't have much of a reaction, but those four Half-Goatman Spellcasters were clearly moved.

Capable of advancing to attack, and capable of retreating to defend. Not bad, not bad.

"Good! Since the Lord has spoken such, how can we hesitate with indecision any longer? I suggest we need to set off immediately. The relationship between the Frost Duke and those military advisors is a bit bizarre. We are not trusted aides of the Frost Duke, so we don't understand it too well. But I dare deduce that this peace negotiation will not be that simple. Lord, it is still best to make more preparations."

"This is natural. But there's no rush for the moment, because my reinforcements will be able to arrive before tonight. Otherwise, how are these one thousand six hundred people supposed to travel? Trekking forward on foot is absolutely out of the question. Oh right, how may I address you few teachers?"

Li Wei laughed heartily.

"I wouldn't dare accept the title of teacher; that feels as if it were from a previous lifetime. My name is Chekhov. This is my former assistant Kidman. This is my student Liu Huan. As for this high school teacher, he's named Hank. The four of us were once a squad, and we also once organized a Survivor Base, but were later subdued by the Frost Duke. In fact, quite a few Half-Beasts in here can be considered our companions."

"However, Lord, we Half-Beasts hold a sort of natural hateful revulsion toward apocalypse-era machinery, electrical power, and the like. So if you permit, we hope to slightly avoid them when the reinforcements arrive."

"This is doable. Oh right, you guys can try consuming Blood Resistance Potions; perhaps they will be effective for you." Li Wei's heart suddenly stirred.

"It won't be effective, Lord. The Blood Plague is not a disease, but rather a fanatical, disorderly evolutionary process where Chaotic Magic Particles have tampered with gene sequences. On this point, the Frost Duke is great. He helped us comb through and transition from a fanatical, disorderly evolution into a calm, orderly evolution. Our power system now has basically stabilized."

"As for the Blood Resistance Potion you mentioned, we indeed have heard of it. Last year, a person named Ron, and another named Zhao Kewu, who belong to you outsiders, they brought some Blood Resistance Potions. But after researching them, we discovered that this Blood Resistance Potion is actually also a type of early-stage gene stabilization potion. It can resist the damage to gene sequences caused by Chaotic Magic Particles during the initial stages. But for ones like us, it is utterly powerless."

"So, Lord, do you know why we believe your words? Because the things you mentioned regarding the All-Heavens Temple and Divine Arts—which seem absurd—actually perfectly prove a single point. And that is, there exists higher-order magic that can modify these gene variations of ours from the very source, readjusting our genes."

"The so-called Divine Arts are nothing more than a transaction with a high-order Mage. I guess it absolutely must be like this."

That Half-Goatman Chekhov spoke with fervor and assurance. Li Wei was dumbfounded hearing this, and didn't even pick up the conversation.

Much less dare to say that the so-called All-Heavens Gods were simply higher-dimensional Mages.

Speaking of which, didn't this crisis of disorder caused by magic origins originate precisely from ancient Mages?

But this had nothing to do with him.

Following that, Li Wei directly had Chekhov lead all the Ability Users to the other end of the city to avoid clashing with the vehicles.

He wasn't afraid of them escaping; running away didn't matter either.

They could no longer jump around and stir up any major waves or storms anyway.

Subsequently, Li Wei personally visited those natural persons again. Primarily the Level 3 and Level 2 Ability Users who had been healed and recovered by Mark's Divine Art last night. In Chekhov's words, they were all in the early stages of symptoms, and could all be rapidly purified and healed.

And these people were concurrently the strongest batch among those natural person survivors. Stabilizing them basically equated to stabilizing the old, weak, women, and children.

This matter wasn't difficult, but it couldn't be treated lightly either. Li Wei personally questioned them one by one, explaining to them, clarifying, and ultimately distributing One-Star Profession Cards to them.

Even if it was just one card per person, it was an exceedingly excellent tool to stabilize human hearts.

Following that, Li Wei temporarily reorganized them. Ten people to a group, thirty people to a squad, having them elect their own Group Leaders and Squad Leaders. He distributed weapons, had them patrol the perimeter of the fortress, and casually repair large-power weapons like the giant ballistas.

Worth mentioning was that the other 37 recovered Ability Users were directly incorporated into his own squad by Li Wei. Because these were truly elites, and could also become loyal soldiers.

Given their identities, aside from drawing closer to Li Wei to prove themselves, what else could they possibly do?

(End of this chapter)