Chapter 874
(Unedited)
…
A tall young dwarven soldier stands in front of the dwarven boy as he accidentally hits him. The dwarven boy was unable to stop himself as he bumps towards the soldier standing in front of him.
Bam!
The kid lost balance and fell to the ground. The impact was a bit strong as the kid felt dizziness as he clutches his head.
His brother who is following him showed horror in his sigh upon seeing the soldier. He wanted to run, but he could not move his legs as his whole body is frozen in fear.
The two boys began to tear up as they saw the looming and scary figure of the soldier in front of them.
"Hey… You two should not be running around at this time…" the soldier suddenly said as he picks up the fallen kid.
He carefully patted the kid's dirty clothes and then squatted down. He could clearly see the fear in the kid's eyes just like the rest of the kids he always saw. He knew of the teaching of the parents to their children. And this type of teaching has been etched in the hearts of every dwarven kid in the dwarven kingdom. Since young, they are taught to fear the soldiers and obey what the soldiers would say.
"Run along now…" he said as he let the two kids run.
"Sigh… what is happening right now?" he muttered as he takes off his helmet and wipes away his sweat.
The dimness of the surroundings should have made it hard for them to see. But as dwarves who live inside this mountain, he is already used to the darkness and has adapted his eyes somehow. But as a young dwarven soldier and someone who came from the destroyed village outside, he is still not used to the environment.
Hence he is still trying to adapt his senses in this place.
He carefully puts on his helmet and was about to turn around. He suddenly felt something hitting the back of his head, and then his consciousness began fading.
…
The young soldier slowly opens his eyes and saw a tall human meditating calmly on the ground. Beside him is a person wearing a weird suit lying on a wooden bed.
He wanted to move, but he found himself tied up.
The human man slowly opens his eyes and looks straight at the young dwarven soldier. He could tell that this human is someone powerful and from their command, this is the one responsible for causing the chaos happening in the city.
"I will ask you some questions, and you answer. If you answer wrongly, I will make sure that you suffer." Shin Jiao asked in a deep voice.
The young dwarven soldier felt his body stiffen with just that gaze. He knew that if this human wanted him dead, then with a flick of his finger he would surely die.
He is just a mere 11th level warrior, how could he fight against such a man? According to the report, this person is a mage, a High-mage, or possibly an Arch-mage. So how could he dare to think of fighting against him?
The young soldier seems to have surrendered to his fate as he gritted his teeth and nodded.
"How many soldiers are there in the city?" Shin Jiao probed.
Then the young soldier found himself able to move and speak. He was a bit stunned but then realized that this is the true power of this person. He is an Arch-mage!
"That… That… That… information is only available to… to the… to the commanders… Sir." He said with a stuttering voice.
The soldier wanted to shout when he was able to talk. However, he immediately realized that this human let him talk for some reason. If he shouted, it would still be futile as Arch-mages have powerful and strange abilities.
In the dwarven kingdom, dwarven Arch-mages are a few, and they have a high status. He dare not provoke an Arch-mage so he just said what he could.
"Then… you are useless to me." Shin Jiao suddenly said.
His words made the young dwarven soldier suddenly wanted to cry. How could he know the number of soldiers when he is just a lowly soldier?
Then suddenly he remembers something. When he was asked to get some papers from his captain, he remembers seeing a long table with a map on its surface.
Then he recalled that he saw some numbers on the surface and some figures which he did not understand at first. But after he asked his friend about it, he soon discovers that those numbers represent the total number of soldiers in the kingdom, and the symbols are troop deployments.
Luckily his friend came from a military background, so he is able to learn more about it.
He did not want to say this to the human because he fears that this human would destroy his dwarven kingdom. But right now, his life is on the line so how could he not think of preserving it?
He decided to tell the human half of the truth.
"Sir… wait… I… I know a little bit but…" he hesitated for a moment.
"Speak… you are wasting my time." Shin Jiao said sternly.
"Around… around 20,000 plus soldiers are in the kingdom."
"Good…"
When the young dwarven soldier heard his answer, he immediately heaves a sigh of relief. He did not want to tell him more, but with just the number he is confident that this human would be satisfied.
But what the human said next, made the young dwarven soldier feel like cursing.
"You will be my eyes inside the castle from now on." Shin Jiao said.
He gave the soldier his helmet and then put on his neck a necklace.
"If you remove this necklace, you will die… If you tell anyone about this conversation, you will die… act accordingly and follow my instructions and you will live." Shin Jiao said as he put something on the young dwarven soldier's ears.
"Do you understand?" Shin Jiao said in the young soldier's earpiece.
The young dwarven soldier nodded his head still feeling a bit dazed.
"Good… Oh, if you remove the earpiece… you will die." Shin Jiao warned as he suddenly flicks his hand and the young dwarven soldier lost consciousness.
The soldier woke up in front of the dilapidated still feeling a bit confused. He did not know what just happened, and he feels like everything is a dream.
'Remember my words…' suddenly someone said from his ears.
He wanted to reach and remove that thing, but he suddenly remembers the words of the human.
'Remove the earpiece and you die.'
"So it was not a dream after all… Damn it… This… This thing is called… earpiece?" he thought as he slowly stands up and patted the dust off his body.
He looks around but saw no one. Hence he walks back to his group.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Shin Jiao is calmly sitting on the ground still meditating while several large screens are in front of him.
The screen shows the activities of the soldiers and the things happening outside. Ever since he started his move, he had the small squirrel install the mini cameras all over the city so that he could monitor everything.
All of his monitoring senses are only limited to 100 meters, so the only way to monitor everything is manual.
Luckily, the squirrel has a human-like intellect and could understand him. Though Loom is the only one who could communicate with it, Shin Jiao gave it a task to fulfill before returning to Loom's side.
"How are you holding up, Loom?" Shin Jiao asked.
Warkita who is still recovering on the side turned her attention to the monitor.
'I'm okay, Master Shin. I'm just a bit bored. When will little Pao Pao return?' she asked.
"So you are calling him little Pao Pao now?" Shin Jiao asked with a smile.
'It sounds cute, right?'
"Haha… He is your pet from now on anyway, you can name him whatever you wanted to… He is now coming back to you…"
After hearing that, Loom showed a faint smile on her face.
"Loom, are you really fine in that cell?" suddenly Warkita asked with a hoarse voice.
'I'm fine mom. Just quickly recover okay. We will soon get away from this place…' Loom said while looking at the stone ceiling of the dungeon.
Suddenly, from the small window, a small figure appears while carrying something in its tiny little mouth.
"Little Pao Pao is here… And he… he brought me food," Loom said with a happy smile.
The squirrel squeaked and immediately rushed to Loom's shoulder while giving her a small bundle of dried food.
Shin Jiao who saw this in the camera knew that the little thing stole something for its friend.
"What a good pet…" he said with a smile.