Players’ NPC daddy

Chapter 2203 Orc Curse Chapter 65
The Windyak clan, one of the four major clans, unlike the Stolther clan which led the Gianthoof tribe representing all herbivorous beastmen, did not form a large, unified tribe due to their speed.

Because the competition among carnivorous orcs is just too fierce.

Unlike the food competition among herbivores that only occurs in winter, the battles among carnivores over hunting grounds can be said to be ongoing year-round.

More fighting leads to more hatred.

Herbivores can peacefully share food, while carnivores must guard against creatures that may appear out of nowhere and steal the food they have hunted at great cost.

Although the Windyak clan, known for its speed, is able to hunt monsters, they are always vulnerable to being raided by other, larger carnivorous orcs. As a result, their tribe is small. The reason they are still one of the four major clans is simply because, among the orcs, no one can match their speed.

Mash, the cheetah orc king, stared at the extremely abstract patterns on the animal hide in his hand, feeling terribly worried, even more so than about his ever-growing, bloated body.

He didn't know whether to worry that he couldn't understand the meaning of the abstract patterns on the animal hides, or that even if he couldn't understand them, he could still tell that they represented bad news.

He is 444 years old this year and is the longest-lived Beast King of the Windyak clan. Previous generations usually lived to be around 200 years old, but he lived twice as long. Not only did he suffer twice as much, but he also experienced the "blessing" of the Great Beast God's new policy.

Beast King Mash summoned the person in question, hoping they could translate the meaning of the abstract patterns on the image.

This happens every day. Logically, he should reprimand this extremely inefficient process, but firstly, there's no standardized way to express it, and secondly, the things written here are usually quite tragic, so he can't say anything.

The animal skin was handed over by a female cheetah beastman; she was somewhat thin and had bloodshot eyes.

"Oh, it's Anna. You look so haggard. You must have just given birth. Didn't you get any supplies?" He thought Anna was reporting on this matter, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

The Windyak clan was always in a state of food shortage, so they adopted a system of distribution according to need, with pregnant women and children given priority. Usually, once the food was distributed, there would not be enough left. Otherwise, the hunters would eat the day before setting off to ensure they had the strength for the hunt.

He never imagined that the food shortage problem had become so severe that even mothers in labor hadn't been allocated food. He only found out about something so important now. But this was easy to solve; he just needed to go hunting.

Even the Beastmasters are designated for hunting zones; their extremely high levels only allow them to operate in dangerous hunting zones of the same level.

"Give me two days, I..."

"The child is dead."

Beast King Mash's expression froze, and he subconsciously gripped the animal hide in his hand, making some of the abstract patterns on it appear bloody.

The average lifespan of carnivorous orcs is only around 50 years old, and these speed-type orcs are only 25. It's not that their lifespan is half that of other orcs, but rather that more of their children die young.

"Is this what's written here? Does it mean I need to be buried?" Beast King Mash didn't mind his people telling him these things; accepting them was part of his duty.

Anna shook her head.

"It had been buried, but it was dug up."

"Those bastards who eat each other!" A low growl came from the throat of Beast King Mash.

Wild monsters would never approach his territory. Apart from the ghouls who were addicted to the flesh and blood of orcs, who else would dare to come here to dig up corpses?

"I understand. I'll investigate right away. This is absolutely an overstepping of boundaries. Find the priest immediately, and we'll use the Great Beast God's duel ritual to seek justice!"

Anna chuckled, a laugh devoid of any emotion, as calm as stagnant water, yet it deeply stung the Beast King Mash.

"Don't go, you can't win."

Beastmaster Mash's throat was blocked, and he couldn't make a sound.

He can't win because the duel between the Great Beast Gods is absolutely fair. He is the Beast King, a Beast King whose level exceeds LV200. In a fair duel, he can only fight against Beast Kings of the same status.

He couldn't defeat the other beast kings, not because he wasn't good at fighting, but because in the Great Beast God's fair duels, he could only fight the other beast kings head-on within a limited area. In order to be able to fight those behemoths in that confined space, he sacrificed speed and increased his weight, but he still couldn't win.

His face twitched with tears, but as a cheetah orc, his greatest advantage was that even when he cried, the black tear stains on his face would cover them up.

"So, you've come here to complain about me?"

If that's the case, he'll accept it.

He could accept it. It was his fault for not being able to save her child's life, for not being able to ensure she could even rest in peace after death, and for not being able to seek justice for the child who was dug up and eaten.

"I want to die. If you can't find me after this, please don't look for me anymore. Thank you for protecting me for 14 years."

Beast King Marsh was stunned. Before he could even fully understand the meaning of those words, Anna had already turned and left, as calmly as if she had said something completely ordinary.

"wait wait wait!"

He chased after it, which was the only thing he was good at, but he couldn't catch up.

He couldn't catch it; he was panting heavily as he ran, for it was something he couldn't catch no matter how hard he ran.

He was knocked to the ground in the pouring rain, his face slammed into the mirror-like puddle of water, each ripple reflecting his wretchedness and incompetence.

He didn't get up; half his face was submerged in the water, his figure, which had broken through the water, reflected in his eyes, which were blurred with either water or tears.

He realized that this wasn't a past he could still salvage, but a present where nothing could be salvaged.

He is 500 years old, and nothing has changed.

Great Beast God, in the end, aren't we still living in a world where only the strong can survive, and the weak can only be humiliated?

"You... won..." His smile was forced yet genuine.

"The clan and tribe are now in your hands."

With a powerful Beast King, clans and tribes can have a future.

"I am not an orc." The man removed his bull-head mask, revealing a young, human face.

"I know."

He slowly closed his eyes, sighed softly, and rippled the water's surface, as if asking the human before him, or perhaps asking himself.

"How fast do I have to run to prevent my child from dying and to ensure that my child grows up healthy?"

"It only takes one step."

The young man reached out his hand to him; it was a human hand, different from, yet the same as, the orc's hand.

Hold on, and everything will change.

"That step really took a lot of courage."

“Someone told me that after taking that difficult first step, countless people will follow, and if we’re all together, at least we can laugh and chat along the way.”

"Then... let's go."

(End of this chapter)