Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1853 Wouldn't it have been better if he had woken up earlier?
Upon receiving the summons, Song Jinyu immediately entered the palace and left half an hour later with a solemn expression.

Clearly, this wave of funding isn't limited to steam-powered armor projects; many military projects are starting to receive increased funding.

Song Jinyu clearly had no room to refuse.

The news of the discovery of an unknown force on the outskirts of the desert by their Great Zhou has not yet been made public, but officials in certain departments have undoubtedly already received the news.

In particular, the Ministry of Military Affairs has increased the number of new recruits by 10 percent compared to previous years in the latest conscription, while also expanding the number of standing troops on the Saint Laurent border and the Russian border.

The magnitude wasn't large, but it was undoubtedly a sign.

All of this demonstrates that His Majesty is already preparing for a possible war.

This also made the various relevant departments within the Great Zhou Dynasty feel a greater sense of urgency.

After some time, on the desert border, Gargamel faithfully carried out the tasks assigned to him by Zhou Xu.

To ensure the sentries had sufficient capability to respond, Gargamel directly dispatched his Undead officers, both at the Hundred Refinement and Transcendent levels, to assist in this surveillance mission.

Compared to ordinary undead units, they possess clear consciousness and can now recover from their losses by converting energy, thus increasing their ability to perform tasks independently.

Furthermore, they can simply disguise themselves as skeletons and bury them in the yellow sand.

After all, in such extreme environments, it's not unusual to find a few skeletons in the sand.

Neither the orcs nor any other faction could have imagined that these skeletons were sentinels responsible for monitoring them.

This made their mission run exceptionally smoothly.

As of now, neither side has discovered the existence of their Great Zhou. In the following days, the opposing force will hunt orcs while exploring the surrounding desert area.

From the perspective of the Great Zhou at this stage, it is really difficult to understand what the other side is planning.

However, in order to remain hidden, they could only hide under the yellow sand most of the time, passively observing the actions of the other side.

In the next round of operations, one of the orcs who scattered and fled escaped by feigning death.

Taking advantage of the opportunity while the opposing force was piloting mechs to chase after the other orcs, the orc struggled to his feet. After glancing fearfully at the direction the other side had gone, he fled in the opposite direction without hesitation.

He wasn't particularly fast; his previous escape had already exhausted him, and now he was relying entirely on his will to survive to grit his teeth and persevere.

Just then, he suddenly felt his foot trip.

As he lost his balance and fell forward, a pair of skeletal arms emerged from the yellow sand and landed on him with incredible speed. By the time he tried to react, it was too late.

The orc instinctively tried to resist, but found himself unable to move.

The opponent used techniques, directly using their body to block or hold his joints, making the orc unable to exert any strength at all.

The orc's fear made him instinctively want to cry for help, but a pre-prepared ball of cloth mixed with sand was stuffed tightly into his mouth.

During this time, a figure quickly jumped out from the yellow sand nearby to help.

Only at this moment did the orcs finally see the attacker's true form: a moving skeleton!

In an instant, his entire state became even more terrified.

But the other party was incredibly swift. A thick wad of cloth mixed with sand stuffed his mouth tightly. It was so full that he felt his lips were about to split open, tears were welling up in his eyes, and his tongue was pinned down by the cloth, making it impossible for him to move or make a sound.

Before he could think any further, he was already bound hand and foot.

The orc then discovered that these skeletons were quite strong. Although he wasn't particularly heavy, he still weighed over a hundred pounds. The skeleton hoisted him onto its shoulder and ran swiftly into the depths of the desert. During this time, the orc tried to struggle, but the undead were swift and decisive, knocking him unconscious with a single chop to the neck.

When the orc awoke from his coma, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place.

Just as he was quietly observing, the orc's ears twitched. He heard footsteps approaching, so he quickly closed his eyes and continued to pretend to be unconscious.

Before he could even finish pretending for a couple more seconds, the voice rang out.

"Stop pretending, I know you're awake."

"..."

Hearing this, the orc felt a little nervous, but he also suspected that the other party was bluffing him, so he remained motionless.

Seeing this, the skeleton officer wasn't in a hurry and continued speaking on his own...

"We only brought you here to obtain some information. As long as you cooperate, we can guarantee your life."

With things having been said to this extent, various thoughts raced through the orc's mind, but he still showed no sign of 'waking up'.

The undead officer, a mage at the Transcendent Realm, was speechless.

A transcendent mage, under the influence of spiritual perception, can sense the other party's spiritual fluctuations to a certain extent.

Basically, the stronger the emotional fluctuations, the more obvious the mental fluctuations.

This guy's mental fluctuations have been jumping around since just now. Who is this kind of good person who is so mentally active while unconscious?

"Since you won't cooperate, there's nothing we can do. Kill him, and we'll bring another one back for questioning later."

Almost as soon as he spoke, the undead officer at the Hundred Refinement Realm next to him drew his sword. Hearing the sound of the blade being drawn, the orc shuddered and immediately opened his eyes.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!!"

Looking at the blade that was just a fraction away from landing on him, the orc almost choked on his last word.

"Wake up earlier, wouldn't that be better?"

The undead officers were speechless at this.

During this time, the orc, having at least caught his breath, looked at the two skeletons standing before him and cautiously asked a question...

"If I cooperate, will you let me leave?"

The undead mage, upon hearing this, spoke his mind directly.

"We won't let you leave. If you expose our information, it won't be good for us. So we'll send you to another place. Don't worry, if we said we'd protect your life, we definitely will."

The undead mage's words were surprisingly frank, which actually made the orcs believe him a little more.

In the current situation, just being alive is good enough; don't worry about where you're going to live.

Not to mention that their entire tribe is now in a precarious situation due to the enemy's invasion, and going back might not be a good thing.

"Okay, I believe you. What do you want to ask?"

(End of this chapter)