novelraw Chapter 226 226: The Hybrids.
Chapter 226 226: The Hybrids.
There was something else he needed to attend to while his subordinates began reshaping the city in his absence.
But first, the gate itself presented a minor obstacle, or rather, a persistent one.
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As Su Ping approached, he saw the particular problem he'd been thinking about: the same female guard who had questioned his previous departures. She stood at her post, looking like a born diligent soldier, her eyes scanning the people being admitted into the city with what she probably thought was professional vigilance but which Su Ping recognized as barely-contained anxiety.
She was young for her position, about the same age as his wife.
Her eyes locked onto him as he drew nearer, and he saw the familiar mixture of surprise and excitement settle on her features. She stepped forward, intercepting his path just as he reached the checkpoint.
"You're heading out again?" she asked, her voice carrying a genuinely curious tone that suggested she saw herself as somehow responsible for his safety.
Su Ping stopped, regarding her with a patience that was wearing dangerously thin. "Is there a law prohibiting me from doing such?" he questioned with a raised brow.
'The other guy seems new, meaning the former guy was moved. So how come she's still here? Is she stalking me or something?' Su Ping monologued to himself, clearly upset.
From his position several yards away, her fellow guard, an older man with a weather-beaten face and tired eyes, sighed almost imperceptibly. He saw the way the two of them reacted with each other, and rather than walking over to see what the matter was about, he deliberately glanced in another direction, pretending to examine a merchant's cart with sudden intense interest. It seemed he had no intention of butting into his colleague's matters.
What a smart man he was. He'd been on gate duty long enough to recognize when someone was best left uninterrupted.
Luckily for him, his actions were correct. Who knew how the Dark Dragon King would react if approached and started acting like a stereotypical wannabe hero?
"No... there isn't," the female guard said, her voice turning quieter when faced with his visible lack of warmth. She fidgeted slightly, her armor clinking with the movement. "It's just... the southern wilds have been particularly active lately. There are reports of some undead sightings... I just thought that you'd like to know about that."
Su Ping's expression didn't change. "Noted."
He made to move past her, but...
"Wait!" she called out to him right after.
'What is it now...' Su Ping grumbled in his heart, gritting his teeth momentarily before stopping in his tracks and turning to face her. He said not a single word; yet his expression spoke volumes, clearly communicating that he wanted to know why he'd been stopped, and that his patience had reached its limit.
"The fact that you can converse with me makes this much easier."
"What?" replied the hybrid, confused by what he meant.
"You wish to be set free, no?" Su Ping said calmly. "I'm willing to set all of you free, but on one condition."
"And what's that?" The hybrid's eyes were filled with visible suspicion while staring at the figure before him.
"That's if you're able to defeat me."
'There's something fishy about this....' thought the hybrid to itself. For the lord of such monsters to offer him an opportunity like this, he felt that something wasn't right.
He secretly tried probing the figure in front of him but stiffened when he saw that the aura he permeated was that of a level 2. Normally, someone in his position would have become ecstatic, but on the contrary, he didn't become anything of the sort. Rather, you could say that he became far more cautious instead.
'Oh?' Su Ping naturally felt his probing. Unlike his past opponents, he was intrigued when he saw the hybrid becoming guarded rather than happy.
This hybrid really did have a good head on its shoulders.
"What's the matter? Don't tell me you're suddenly unwilling to accept my offer?" Su Ping said, yet the latter was silent.
Su Ping sighed, looking a tad disappointed.
"It can't be helped then. I was really looking forward to a fight." And that was the last thing the hybrid heard before his pupils dilated while staring at Su Ping.
In a single second, the Dark Dragon King warped his mind, as well as the minds of every hybrid in the cage with him.
Once done, he glanced around at the countless other cages there.
'Well, let's get to work,' he said to himself before approaching the other cages one at a time. Each cage he visited instantly became silent, for the hybrids dared not make a squeak before their master after being officially enrolled into Su Ping's forces.
'That should be the last of them—well, the last of the grown ones, anyways,' he said to himself, taking a breath once he'd enslaved several thousands of hybrids into his forces.
"My lord, what should we do with the younger hybrids?"
'Hmm...' Su Ping placed a hand to his chin. He really hadn't thought of that.
These guys supposedly only reached maturity after eating enough, just like demons. It seemed perhaps all monsters were the same, and amongst this boon of forces, there were bound to be some who hadn't grown to the adequate size yet.
"Continue to feed them until they've grown enough. I expect that to happen by my next return." While some of the hybrids resembled humans in a sense, in the Dark Dragon King's eyes, they were all nothing but soldiers he would add to his forces. No matter how cruel it sounded, he didn't feel any shame, since he wasn't the one who brought them into this world.
Having been rejected by their own mothers and with the potential of them being viewed as abominations by their maternal race's relatives, one could simply say that their fates were quite pitiful.
"Wait." Just as the zombie kings were about to get to completing his command, he stopped them. His eyes were still on the small hybrids.