Quadruple split.

Chapter 2699 Fire
Game time AM05:17
Blood Barbarian Region, western Eagle Claw Gorge, the southern camp of the Dunbuya tribe of the Black Brahma Independent Army.
"Are you awake?"

Turning to look at Kevin Shadowsong, who was slowly waking up with a pained expression, Asra Morin, the captain of the vanguard of the second company of the fifth battalion under the second mixed battle group, grinned at the former and said happily, "The surgery was a success. You are a girl now."

【?!?!?】

Upon hearing this, Yingge, who was still immersed in pain, immediately sat up straight. She then lowered her head and stared intently at her crotch for a long time. After hesitatingly touching it, she gritted her teeth and looked up at Asura: "You bastard, you lied to me?!"

"You have to show me some respect as the captain, and even if I turn into an egg, it has to be a lizard egg, not a turtle egg."

Asra shrugged and chuckled, “You have to get used to these otherworldly jokes. To be honest, I really admire their intelligence and sense of humor, especially when it comes to insults and sarcastic remarks.”

"roll."

Yingge replied succinctly, then, while moving her body, which felt almost broken and ached from the inside out, she said in a dry voice, "I feel like I'm about to die."

"Me too."

The lizardman, who was twice as muscular as Shadowsong and covered in bandages, smirked and said, "But as uncomfortable as it may be, we had a really good time killing people, didn't we?"

Yingge rolled her eyes, casually tossed the one-handed sword next to her—Asura's main weapon, which hadn't even chipped after killing at least six Blood Barbarians and was practically as sharp as cutting through mud—at the latter's feet, and said irritably, "You brat, do you really want me to owe you a favor?"

"You can only blame yourself for being so useless. You were left with me by the captain when you were half-dead."

Asra picked up the longsword, casually sheathing it as he sneered, "It's too late to regret it now. If we manage to get back alive this time, that favor I just did will be enough to bankrupt you."

Yingge, who didn't mind being mooched off by her friends until she went bankrupt, chuckled lightly. Then she peeked out of the bustling tent and asked curiously, "What's going on now? How did we get back? What happened after everyone came down? Before I passed out, I think I saw a big commotion to the east. Who came?"

"Is it possible, buddy?"

Asra grimaced as he lay back down, lazily retorting, "I only regained consciousness less than two minutes earlier than you."

Yingge frowned and said succinctly, "Useless trash."

"You little brat, aren't you...?"

Asra was about to curse when the half-closed tent door was pulled open from the outside, and a head with an artistic hairstyle but a rather rugged appearance poked its head in.

Asura and Shadowsong were both startled and exclaimed in unison, "Vice-Captain?"

"It's time to get up, you two."

The orc priest Rugal of the Melody Cult grinned and pointed cheerfully outside the tent, saying, "Come out and change your clothes."

Yingge blinked blankly, then instinctively propped herself up and walked outside alongside Asura, asking in bewilderment, "Change clothes?"

The next second, he got the answer, because right next to the fire about twenty meters from the tent, there were at least two hundred sets of equipment with a style even wilder than Rugal's face. Around them, at least fifty strong men were changing clothes. Some were already fully armed, some had just taken off their clothes and were down to their underwear, and some were squatting in front of the pile of equipment, picking and choosing.

It has to be said that this visually striking scene really stunned Yingge and Asila for several seconds, until they were slapped hard on the shoulders before they came back to their senses.

It was only then that the two realized that the vice-captain, who usually wore a blue robe with gold patterns and carried a war drum and a lute, was actually dressed in a very... retro style, emphasizing a closeness to nature.

"vice captain……"

Asura swallowed hard, looking at Rugal, who was mostly shirtless, wearing something resembling a tiger-skin skirt, carrying a terrifying musical instrument called "Sona" made by some unknown otherworldly being in his left hand, and wearing straw sandals, and said in a dry voice, "What, what's going on here?"

Rugal scratched his thick, muscular, and incredibly well-built leg, which was mostly exposed, and said in a serious tone, "What's going on? Didn't I just say to change clothes? Change into Skolsk-style clothes. Everyone is almost done changing by now. You guys should hurry up and pack up your spare equipment, write your names on it, and send it to the logistics department. Your colleagues at the [Organization] will take care of it for you."

"Brother Rugal!"

Just then, a harpy, sweating profusely and sporting dark circles under her eyes that looked like smoky makeup, flapped her wings and flew over from a distance. She said earnestly, "I've told you so many times, this outfit of yours is really not in the Skork style. Although our equipment is not as refined as your Holy Alliance's, we don't need to dress like savages."

Lucar's eyes widened, and he said seriously, "What are you talking about? How can you call this a savage? This is the liberation of one's nature, this is a return to simplicity and oneness with nature, this is a higher level of art, this is Skork's unique aesthetics!"

"No, that's not how it is in Skolsk."

The harpy, who was almost in tears, shook her head repeatedly, sweating profusely, and said, "You can't dress like that, it looks too strange!"

Rugal shook his head repeatedly, retorting, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! These are the clothes you prepared; they're definitely wearable!"

"Oh, no, oh dear, what I mean is there's something wrong with how you're dressed!"

The harpy stamped her claws and said urgently, "These two are linings! Do you know what linings mean? Liners are meant to be worn with outer garments. At least put on two other things, or at the very least put your pants on properly, please, brother, at least put your pants on properly!"

Snapped!
Rugal slapped his strong, powerful thigh hard and said seriously, "This is the wild art that is closer to its essence!"

"No, oh dear, we really can't do this. I'm in charge of your area. If someone sees you dressed like this, I'll get scolded when I get back."

The harpy frantically dug at the ground while turning to look at Shadowsong and Asura, her eyes brimming with 'Help! Help!'

"cough."

Perhaps it was because the harpy was too cute, or perhaps it was because Rugal's sudden burst of artistic talent was too terrifying; in any case, after receiving the signal, Shadowsong immediately and discreetly kicked Asura next to her, sending the latter, who was in relatively better condition, to find someone to settle the matter.

“…Wait.”

Asura, who was also somewhat unable to bear Rugal's appearance, nodded and then secretly ran away.

For the next five minutes, Rugal, as an artist, thoroughly and simply explained the relationship between 'art,' 'nature,' 'aesthetics,' and 'exhibitionism' to the young lady from Shadowsong and the harpy, until he was hit on the unarmored knee by Arahan who rushed over, and he fell to the ground in pain, clutching his leg.

"Either get dressed properly, or I'll beat you to death right here and now."

After Arahan uttered those words while brandishing his hammer, Rugal finally stopped indulging in his sudden burst of artistic reverie, obediently put on a chainmail over his clothes, and reluctantly donned a pair of tattered leather trousers, before leaving dejectedly.

"Thank you!"

The harpy grabbed Shadowsong's hand and shook it vigorously, saying gratefully, "If it weren't for your help, I might have really gone crazy. My name is Shiri, Shiri Bitter. Can you tell me your name?" Shadowsong scratched his head, somewhat at a loss, and chuckled dryly, "My name is Kevin, Kevin Shadowsong. It's nice to meet you. Oh, by the way, this is my friend, Asura."

"Hello, Mr. Asla."

The harpy named Hili nodded quickly to Asura, then turned to Shadowsong even faster, giving her a sweet smile: "Do you need me to help you pick out some clothes? Although these hastily collected equipment are rather old and certainly not as stylish as your armor, they should look great if we put them together properly, especially... well, on someone as beautiful as you."

Yingge: "...Huh?"

Asura: "Tsk tsk~"

……

For the next half hour, Hilly helped the two (Shadowsong for about 27 minutes) choose and coordinate outfits. As she said, although the equipment commonly found in Skullcrusher was not very attractive, and many of them were even considered rudimentary, with the Harpy's careful coordination, Shadowsong, after changing his clothes, retained his handsome features while gaining a touch of wildness, making him incredibly cool.

"I think this girl is somewhat prejudiced against people based on their appearance."

Asura, who had been randomly given a set of thick chainmail and had a steel helmet shoved over his head, with his boots even having holes that exposed his two toes, and who might even get bribed by people (except for the followers of the Cult of Wealth) while walking down the main street of the City of Light, clicked his tongue and said mischievously to Shadowsong, "I was the one who called the squad leader, but that girl's eyes are glued to you, I can't take them off her."

While adjusting the position of her wristband, Yingge asked without looking up, "What, are you envious?"

"I'm not envious. That girl doesn't fit my aesthetic."

As a lizardman who, in the vast majority of cases, only intermarries within his own tribe, Asra gave a decisive answer, saying with a chuckle, "I just find it a little funny."

"I don't find anything funny about it."

Yingge shrugged and casually said, "It's possible that Miss Xili was just frightened by Vice Captain Lukar, so she decided to look at me a few more times to rest her eyes and relieve visual fatigue."

Asura: "...So you also think you're handsome?"

"Yeah, what's the problem?"

Yingge tightened her belt and said matter-of-factly, "This isn't something hard to face, is it?"

"Ah."

Asra chuckled dryly, waved goodbye to the enthusiastic girl, Hili, in the distance, and strolled back to the assembly point, remarking with a sigh, "So, we really are going to team up with some Persian Kolk guys, huh?"

Yingge nodded and said seriously, "It must be. Although I can roughly guess that they don't want our Dunbuya City Army's identity to be exposed too early, I can't guess the specific reason."

"Whatever, I'll just trust Lord Black Brahma."

Asra said nonchalantly, then narrowed his eyes and said meaningfully, "I just wonder when those 'real beings' will figure this out."

“You should be more tolerant. Do you remember what you said the night Lord Black Van arrived in Dunbua?”

"Shut up, Kevin."

"If I had the chance, I'd really like to give that fool who got transferred to Dombua through nepotism a good whack, preferably with your favorite big shield."

“I told you to shut up, Kevin.”

"In short, Lord Black Van is a magnanimous man, and he won't mind giving Skork's friends more time."

……

"Although I'm a very magnanimous person, guys, I don't mind giving you a little more time to think—"

At the same time, on the second floor of the Skolke Great Hall, bathed in the dawn light, Mo Tan slowly raised his head and smiled at the management team of the resistance group, led by the current Skolke Elga, saying, "But it seems that you no longer want to wait and see."

"If you were really that patient, you wouldn't have revealed all your plans after that previous meeting about trust."

Elgar sighed and said with a wry smile, "I don't understand why Pastor Black Vane has rejected our requests to go and support our comrades in Dunbua City at least twenty times, but we really..."

"Don't get me wrong, guys, this isn't some kind of punishment game. The reason I've been asking you to stay put is simply because I'm waiting for the news to spread."

"News? What news?"

"To protect Skolke, the resistance is fighting desperately against those ruthless thugs in Eagle Claw Gorge."

"what?"

"Too many people are waiting for a reason that will make them feel at ease giving up everything to join you."

"The reason? I don't understand..."

“I know you don’t understand, but given our limited time, I would rather prove it with action than try to convince you. A spark that acts with the ultimate goal of not being extinguished can never become a prairie fire.”

"What do you mean?"

"I hope you can understand one thing—"

"..."

"The weight of sacrifice for hope is far less moving than the hope paved with sacrifice."

"..."

"Now that the seed has been sown, let's make a bet."

Chapter 2690: The End