Qianye retracted his origin power after letting the werewolf get a feel of it. At this distance, Venus Dawn could easily blind the count.
The sniper still hadn’t woken up from the daze. “Y-You… How come you have daybreak origin power? The energy you just unleashed, wasn’t that blood energy? And one that’s extremely close to the grand origins.”
“I…” Qianye gave it some thought, “am half-vampire, half-human.”
The sniper found it hard to believe. It wasn’t that he had never seen a hybrid before, especially since their numbers were higher on the lower continents. However, their origin powers were usually too impure to cultivate to a high level. So, at one point, one bloodline would completely devour the other, with the dark side usually becoming dominant.
Yet there was living proof right before his eyes. The sniper finally said, “I understand now, but why would you stand with the humans since you’re so powerful? They are weak, greedy, and like to fight amongst themselves.”
Qianye replied, “That’s not your concern. Prepare to be on your way after you’re done speaking.”
The sniper said with a hesitant expression, “Sire, I see that your subordinates aren’t all humans. There are some ancient demonkin descendants among them, right?”
Somewhat surprised, Qianye praised, “Good observation.”
Caroline’s subordinates were present during the battle. Thunderfrost Temple was an ancient demonkin branch that had drifted to the neutral lands. Who would’ve thought a werewolf count from Fort Continent would have such eyesight?
The sniper said, “Sire, your power is probably not native to Fort Continent. You must have some greater objective than killing and plundering us.”
Qianye was quite intrigued by this werewolf’s observation and sharpness. “What objective do you think I have? What’s more important than resources?”
“With your power and unparalleled bloodline, you should be building your nation,” the werewolf count said, “and purely killing isn’t the most effective way. My tribesmen and I might not compare to those demonkin, but we were born, grew up, and lived here all our lives. Wherever your vanguard points toward, we might be more useful.”
At this point, Qianye could understand the other party’s intentions. He waved his hand in silence, gesturing for him to keep talking.
“Can you give our tribesmen equal living conditions in your future nation? If you can, I’m willing to vow eternal loyalty to you before the darkness origin. If it’s impossible, then kill me.”
Hearing what he had expected, Qianye fell into deep contemplation. The above conversation would be ridiculous in a war between Great Qin and Evernight Council, and without the experience from the neutral lands, he wouldn’t be listening to a werewolf count, either. But now, he was actually considering whether there might be a quicker way to accomplish his plans on Fort Continent.
Qianye had come to Fort Continent in order to build a territorial power and prepare for the coming of the new world. Currently, all information regarding the new world was firmly in the council’s hands, but it would surely come to light one day.
What he wanted to build, at first, was a human nation. Yet, even with similar consideration for the human race, he was deeply disgusted by the actions of certain people from the Empire. Zhang Boqian had shown him a clear path—there was no need to consider appearances when protecting the human race. If he felt that the actions of the Empire weren’t agreeable, he could build his territory up as he wished.
Yet, he had never thought about how much space he would leave for the dark races in this nation. Throughout the millennium, the war between the two factions had been mainly between humans and dark races. How were they to live together in harmony? But from a different perspective, could they not coexist at all? There were always grey areas between borders where the races were able to do just that.
In neutral territories, big and small, the concept of faction and race would usually become quite blurry.
Taking the neutral lands, for example, most of the smaller city-states would accommodate people from both factions. It was just that one faction would always have the dominant role in each settlement. There were also cases of different races fighting side-by-side as mercenaries.
Even Dark Flame now contained a demonkin component after taking in members of Thunderfrost Temple. Speaking of Qianye himself, he would never be able to eliminate the vampire race because of Nighteye. He would sometimes dream of the moment where he was accompanying her to the Sacred Mountain, and those prostrating before them were all dark races.
The reason why this werewolf count before him wanted to submit was because of his ancient vampire bloodline. The dark races revered strength and powerful experts. Especially in adverse environments, the common objective of all intelligent creatures—after survival—was to surpass their divergent bloodlines.
It was just that a nation of humans and dark races was too crazy of an idea. Yet there was a notion in Qianye’s mind, one that could not be expressed with verbal language. Not only did he not refuse the idea immediately, but he actually thought about it for quite some time.
Politics was never Qianye’s strong suit. Just the thought of all the troubles that would come in the future made his head ache. It was during this period of meditation that several more people arrived near him.
Song Lun, Song Hui, an increasing number of mercenary generals, and even airship captains began to appear. The fortress grew progressively quieter, and the sound of gunfire was becoming sparse. A large fraction of the dark races had escaped, while the remainder had chosen to surrender.
Song Zining had laid down strict military rules prohibiting the killing of surrendered enemies, and this applied to all races. More and more dark races started to yield after discovering that those who surrendered were spared. In the end, entire regions would just give up resistance.
The battle had come to an end. After some exchange of words, the higher-ups of Dark Flame understood the situation at hand. Everyone was now looking at Qianye and waiting for his decision. This almost seemed like an insignificant decision, but from a certain perspective, it was a fairly big one as well. Qianye’s decision on whether or not they would accept werewolf tribes would decide Dark Flame’s direction.
Was it possible for the dark races and humans to interact with one another? Additionally, this werewolf count was suggesting for them to be granted equal rights. All those born in Great Qin remained silent because this matter had gone beyond their knowledge. In the traditional viewpoint of the Empire, all dark races must die, and one did not need a reason to kill them. Those who had grown up in the neutral lands were much more relaxed. Their main considerations were more detailed things like organizational structure and collaboration in battle.
The sounds of distant fighting drifted toward them as the last of the werewolf soldiers resisted obstinately. This was followed by some mournful cries before the entire fortress fell into utter silence.
The sudden silence actually woke Qianye up. He snapped back from his thoughts and glanced at the higher-ups of Dark Flame. Without asking for their opinion, he cast his gaze at the werewolf count.
“I can accept the surrender of your tribe, but if you want rights, you will have to work for it on the battlefield. Whether or not you get equal space will depend entirely on yourselves, understand?”
The werewolf count fell to his knees and performed the highest ceremonial salutation. “I, Eiseka, swear upon the spirits of my ancestors and the origin of darkness, to dedicate my life to your cause and never betray you!”
Swearing in the name of one’s ancestors was the most solemn of oaths to a werewolf. The higher-ups of Dark Flame found it unimaginable that Qianye would accept the loyalty of a werewolf virtuous count, but no one objected. They had already gotten used to Qianye’s style during this period—they could speak freely when he was seeking advice, but execution was their only role once Qianye had decided on something.
Qianye did not remove Eiseka’s weapons and gear, only assigning Song Lun to follow him as he organized the prisoners.
Eiseka was originally the vice-commander of this fortress, so his voice commanded much respect, and many of the core positions here were held by his tribesmen. With him on the case, the prisoners of war became much calmer, no longer bursting into violence or trying to escape.
The situation in the fortress stabilized as all strategic points were captured by the mercenaries. Eiseka led a squad to inspect the entire fortress, urging all of the hiding soldiers to come out and surrender.
He only returned after the cleanup was done and Xu Jingxuan’s new army had taken over control of the fortress. He was summoned to the conference room at the main hall to join the higher-ups of Dark Flame at the meeting.
Qianye’s arrangement surprised Eiseka, filling him with both excitement and pressure. Even an annexation of forces from the same race would require a period of wearing in. Immediately receiving an important position was of course a good thing, but it would depend on him to perform well and secure a stable footing under Qianye’s flag.
Qianye paid no attention to the count’s thoughts; to him, the werewolf’s presence was to advance their intelligence. He cut straight to the chase once the meeting began, asking Eiseka to introduce the dark races’ distribution and defenses in the area. He listened to the werewolf count’s own thoughts about the situation around the Jade Sea while matching them against the information at hand.
Wolf Fang Fortress was, in fact, garrisoned by three major tribes, and the same went for the other smaller fortress. Eiseka’s tribe was one of them as they were ranked in the top three around the great corridor area.
The werewolves made a living by farming, hunting, and raiding Zheng. They also worked as mercenaries. Those who were in this profession were fairly used to working for different parties as long as they paid the money. To these soldiers, the continued existence of their tribe was the most important.
No wonder Eiseka didn’t seem pressured when he submitted to the ancient vampire that was Qianye. From a certain perspective, the racial balance of Fort Continent was similar to the neutral lands; not entirely under Evernight’s command.
After passing through the great corridor, there were three dark race nations near the Jade Sea, each of them a bit stronger than Zheng. In recent years, Zheng had been suppressed so badly by these territorial werewolves that they could hardly breathe. Hence, leaders like Eiseka believed that they would be able to fight their way into the country and devour it if they tried a bit harder. They weren’t willing to let the werewolf tribes at the Jade Sea interfere.
There were four human countries to the southwest of the Jade Sea, each of them a bit weaker than Zheng but comparable to one another. The four countries would work together to repel the enemy when faced with pressure from the werewolves, but they would restrain one another once the threat was gone, afraid that one of them would grow too strong and devour the other three.
As a werewolf, Eiseka only understood that much. He had no idea about the world beyond.
Song Hui said in a hushed tone, “So primitive!”
Eiseka felt embarrassed when he heard the comment. Qianye glanced at Song Hui—although he didn’t express anything harsh, the action alone was enough to scare her. She poked her tongue out, not daring to say anything more.
