While the human society was mobilizing, the Orcs were not idle either.
The current Emperor of the Orcs, "Iron Teeth" Ilo, presided over a meeting and gathered all the leaders of the various Orc tribes.
The meeting was not held inside the Great Golden Tent, the capital of the Orc Empire. Instead, it was held in the wilderness outside the Great Golden Tent. Emperor Ilo stood on a high platform, riding a chariot, looking awe-inspiring.
"The humans are going to attack us," he said, going straight to the point. "It's not going to be a small-scale attack like in the past. Instead, they're going all out, mobilizing all the troops that they can mobilize, sending out all the knights that they can mobilize, gathering all the allies that they can assemble, and sending out all the gods that they can send out — to attack us."
He said loudly, his voice reverberating in the wilderness, entering the ears of every chieftain and reverberating in their hearts.
"Yes, they're coming. With a scale that has never been seen before, they're going all out to kill us. I've estimated that there will probably be … an army of three million people or more. If necessary, it can be doubled, or even doubled on that basis. It's not impossible. "
"So, are you all afraid?"
Quite a number of chieftains' faces changed. Some of their faces turned pale, which was due to being frightened by that shocking number. Some of their faces turned red, which was due to feeling angry that their courage had been insulted.
Emperor Ilo did not give the chieftains a chance to speak. He continued, "To be honest, when I first heard about this number, I was really a little worried."
"Three million! Three million! What a shocking number this is! Not to mention that it could be six million, or even twelve million … Oh my God! " He shouted loudly, his voice full of distress. "Chopping off so many heads, I don't have enough money in the national treasury to give out bonuses!"
The chieftains immediately burst into laughter. Their pale faces were no longer pale, and their flushed faces were no longer flushed. Even those who were previously calm and composed could not maintain the calmness of their facial paralysis, and their laughter became one.
"Hey! Don't laugh! I'm very serious! " Emperor Ilo's scarred face revealed a very serious and distressed expression. "I'm really very serious! The head of a soldier is worth one gold coin, the head of an officer is worth ten gold coins, the head of a knight is worth a hundred gold coins, the head of a baron or viscount is worth three hundred gold coins, the head of a count is worth a thousand gold coins, and the head of a marquis, duke, or king is worth ten thousand gold coins. Everyone knows this rule. This is how the market is, and I can't take advantage of the situation to lower the price just because the goods are overflowing. Old Yi Luo isn't that kind of person. "
"Are you interested in calculating how much?"
Many of the chieftains closed their eyes or lowered their heads, silently calculating.
Unfortunately, the education level of the Orcs was generally not high. They quickly became confused by the numbers and could not figure out the answer.
"I'll just look for someone. In the end, Old Wilder told me that if I want to keep my good reputation of being law-abiding and trustworthy for a long time, I'll probably have to prepare more than 30 million gold coins!"
Emperor Ilo shook his head, a look of despair on his face. "Heavens! 30 million gold coins! After I got this number, I carefully checked the treasury twice, wishing I could pry open the floor to see if there was even a copper coin stuffed inside, but I only found … No, I can't say this, it would be too demoralizing. "
"In short, I'm bankrupt this time anyway." He spread his hands, looking very helpless.
The chieftains burst into laughter again, convulsing with laughter.
Unlike the wise and farsighted former Emperor Junero, Ilo was a veteran who had slowly been promoted from the army. He had never been dignified, and had always appeared in front of everyone with a straightforward and straightforward image. This time was no exception.
An emperor like him who frankly admitted that the treasury had no money was probably unprecedented.
"Everyone knows that Old Yi Luo is a law-abiding and trustworthy person, so I thought of a way," Ilo said. "Although I can't renege on a debt, I can owe a debt! Anyway, there's only so much money in the treasury. Those who perform meritorious deeds first, I'll reward them according to the rules. Those who perform meritorious deeds later … I'm sorry, His Majesty the Emperor isn't reneging on a debt, but there's no money to give you for the time being. Please wait a while. "
"In other words, if you still want to get the rewards and benefits like before, you'd better hurry up after the war starts. Don't delay, otherwise, I can only hope that you'll live long enough for me to find enough money to pay your rewards."
Amidst the laughter of the chieftains, Emperor Ilo waved his hand, indicating for everyone to be quiet.
"Alright, the jokes are over, now let's get down to business — oh, the one just now wasn't a joke, I'm serious."
The chieftains laughed again.
Ilo smiled slightly, and suddenly his expression became serious. He roared, "Orc brothers, are you afraid of war?"
Subconsciously, all the chieftains shouted together, "We're not!"
"Yes, we're not!" Ilo roared. "We Orcs have never been afraid of war. For us, war is as common as eating and sleeping. Fighting with humans, chopping off their heads, obtaining rewards, winning the favor of the ladies, carrying on our ancestral line, and finally heading to the palace of the gods — this is the way of life of us Orcs, passed down from generation to generation since ancient times until the present day. "
"We're not afraid of war. On the contrary, we like war, we love war! We Orcs are warriors created by the gods in imitation of their appearance. The meaning of our life is to fight for the gods. We fight for them when we're alive, and we still fight for them when we're dead. Other than war, we don't need to care about anything else! "
"I won't promise you anything, because I, too, want to participate in the war. I want to put on my armor, pick up my weapons, and lead the most valiant warriors into the battlefield. I'll fight with all my might, behead as many enemies as I can, and use their blood to dye my equipment a beautiful bright red. I'll use the severed heads of my enemies to add new splendor to my throne. Although I'm old, I'm still a warrior! My desire to pursue glory and liven up the war will not lose to any young man! "
"Those weak humans, those ants that we've crushed and dealt with since the day they were born, those maggots that we've chased all over the place, those who don't have the courage to swing their blades at us, and only dare to bully the weak. They've lost their minds this time, and that's why they've come to seek death and attack us!"
"All this while, we've been unable to eliminate them because they're everywhere, faster than anything else. There are too many of them, and we can't catch them all, nor can we kill them all. They're like mosquitoes in summer, buzzing around, and it's so annoying."
"But this time, these ants, maggots, mosquitoes … they've jumped out on their own, jumped right in front of us, jumped right under our blades!"
"Then what are we waiting for?"
The old Orc Emperor revealed a ferocious smile, raised his battle axe, and roared furiously, "Crush them!"
The roars and roars joined together and soared into the sky, turning into rising battle clouds.
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