There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

I whispered to Gray, then secretly gave him a push, squeezing him into the tent first—since this guy has already shown his fighting prowess, let's just keep up the high-profile act.

The refugees following us stopped neatly outside the tribal camp, as if they had encountered an invisible dividing line. They could only look at us with unreadable expressions in their eyes.

That gloomy and somber look in his eyes reminded me of a scavenging crow.

"Ora ora ora ora ora..."

As soon as I entered the tent, the strange atmosphere outside disappeared. Inside, tribal chiefs dressed in various styles gathered together with only a few followers, all looking at us as we entered. Then came a series of forced, insincere greetings, making me think I had stumbled upon a Jotaro-esque mess.

Gray walked ahead without fear, shouting "Muda muda muda muda!" to the surroundings, displaying an air of "I am the best in the world!" His voice instantly drowned out the noise inside the room.

A pungent odor emanated from the large tent, masked by a strong smell of tobacco. The group sat in a slanted arc. From my observation, those closest to the tent entrance were the weaker tribal chiefs, while the elderly man in the center, with his white hair and beard, exuded an imposing aura—clearly the leader. And to my left, dressed in black, was my old acquaintance, Sakam.

Coincidentally, there were exactly thirteen tribal chiefs in this tent, probably the legendary thirteen allied tribes.

"Chief of the Cedar Clan... I never thought I would see you again after so many years."

The old man sitting in the center of the tent, facing the entrance, suddenly stood up. I noticed that although he was quite old, he was extremely tall and not hunched over. Wearing a fur cloak, he resembled a giant bear standing upright. He looked at Gray with sharp eyes and said, "But you only sent a dozen or so people. Is this how the tribe treats its ancestors?"

Gray looked up at them with neither arrogance nor servility, and retorted sarcastically, "What a coincidence, we also brought camels. We didn't expect that you would welcome animals more than warriors."

Upon hearing this, Sakam stood up angrily and said to the tall old man, "Chief Bertholdt of the Great River Tribe, I was merely following your orders to procure provisions! The battle to recapture the Holy Mountain is still ongoing, and all the tribe's grain should, according to regulations, belong to the public! I urge you to make a fair judgment regarding their malicious attack on the grain requisition team!"

Upon hearing this, all the chiefs whispered among themselves, saying, "How could this happen! It's outrageous! They must be punished!"

"Chiefs of the Cedar Clan, do you have any explanation?"

Gray looked expressionlessly at the old man who was a head taller than him and said, "Interesting. We heard that a sacred battle was taking place here, so we traveled all the way back to our ancestral land."

He pointed at Senbo behind him and said in a loud voice, "Even though our tribe is weak, we have sent our best warriors. The battle just now has proven that these warriors can fight ten against one! But instead of thinking about reclaiming the Holy Mountain as soon as possible, you are blaming us for not bringing enough supplies?"

Gray surveyed the room and laughed loudly, "Are you all here for a picnic?! How ridiculous! Then I'll take my leave. The warriors of the Cedar Clan can only lick blood from the edge of a knife; they'd never learn to beg on the streets!"

When I heard that, I almost stood up and applauded him. After he finished speaking, everyone's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. To put it more politely, "every guest turned pale and left their seats, sleeves rolled up, as if they wished they could die with Gray."

These words were piercing and deadly, questioning the intentions of the thirteen allied tribes from the outset, and then mocking them for being useless, wasting food and manpower here, no different from beggars.

If a group of people in suits were chatting here, people might just laugh it off and think it's just empty talk.

But the problem is that their appearance and behavior really do resemble those of beggars...

Sebala doesn't have such eloquence. I wonder who Gray learned it from, how come he's so foul-mouthed?

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but chuckle. The laughter not only clashed with the tense atmosphere but also seemed extremely abrupt in the otherwise silent setting. Immediately, a chieftain spoke up to question me.

What are you laughing at!

I covered my mouth, trying my best to control my laughter, and said with difficulty, "I...I thought of something happy...Haha...Don't mind me, you guys continue..."

The unknown chieftain roared, "Nonsense! Tell me what's so funny!"

I continued, "I just remembered... your wife gave birth... haha..."

"What's so great about my wife giving birth?" he retorted casually at first, then noticed the strange looks from the other chiefs and instantly realized he had been taken advantage of. He kicked over the table and was about to draw his knife when he was firmly held back by the people next to him.

I thought the conversation had reached a dead end and there was no other solution but to turn against each other, but Chief Berthold unexpectedly burst into laughter.

"What an interesting fellow, reminds me of your old chieftain Leopard... Are the old man and the snow cow shaman Alvaro still alive?"

The old chief seemed to have a wealth of experience in political struggles. He clearly understood that a sudden upheaval would mean chaos for a unified group and would be a trampling on his decrees. Therefore, he remained silent, changed his attitude, and adopted the approach of an elder.

The atmosphere in the room indeed eased, as if Gray's behavior was just a child's prank. The chiefs present automatically switched to elder mode, adopting a posture of not arguing with a child, and sat back down in silence.

Gray then added, "Chief Bertholdt, the old chief passed away last month, but unfortunately the Snow Cow Shaman is still alive and fully capable of attending your funeral."

Chief Berthold was unconcerned by the verbal provocation. Given his status, there was no need for him to directly engage in a fight. He continued, "It seems you have grievances about our results, but the road to the Holy Mountain is extremely treacherous. We suffered heavy losses but were unable to drive away the invaders."

He pointed to Chief Sakam beside him, "The Scorpion Yakan tribe has lost all its elite forces and can only return to handle logistics and requisitioning. Everyone here is seething with anger, wishing they could fly to the holy mountain. Is this still not enough to satisfy you, our few remaining tribal warriors!"

Seeing Gray's cold smile and silence, Chief Berthold suddenly slammed his hand on the table and said generously, "Our siege is now teetering on the brink of collapse and difficult to sustain. If the once valiant and skilled Fir Tree Clan could lead us to conquer the Holy Mountain, then what harm is there in us following your command!"

After a moment of silence, everyone agreed and burst into enthusiastic applause. Even Chieftain Sakam turned his gaze to Gray without uttering a word of mockery.

At this moment, it seems everyone is waiting for the legendary hero who will save the world, wielding the village's best sword and shouldering the heavy responsibility of saving the world from peril!

"Damn it, Gray, don't fall for it..." I saw something was wrong and was about to grab Gray's arm, but I deliberately hid behind Mori to conceal myself, which made me a step too slow, and Gray beat me to it.

"It's a deal, the Cedar Tree Tribe accepts this mission!"

No! Gray! That's not the Muramasa Sword, that's Frostmourne!

Chapter 504 Winning and Losing

The legendary hero, the Lich King (fake), and the sucker (real) Gray stepped out of the tent. A gust of cold wind blew on his face, pulling him out of his feverish state. He scratched his head, looking at Senbo beside him and asked.

"Moribo, do you think we've been tricked?"

Former chief hero of the Sugi-no-Ku clan, Senbo, shook his head and stood behind him, indicating that whatever he said was correct.

Looking at the camel munching on the grass outside the door, I couldn't help but say, "Grey... I told you to be the one to take the lead, not to be the sucker. How come you got all worked up after that old man's flattery and provocation? What kind of place is Mount Corillo? It's practically the Maginot Line of the grasslands! There's no way it could be breached!"

After making this analogy, I suddenly felt that this part might actually be quite easy to conquer...

Gray cried out, his face contorted with misery: "Boss! Help me! I'm being targeted!"

Calm down and think it over, Gray immediately realized he'd been used as a pawn. This mountain had been impregnable for so long; how could it possibly be so easily solved in our hands?

I immediately followed up with Bian Que's three-part combo: "Hopeless, just wait to die, goodbye!"

Leading all the tribe's warriors to attack the mountain sounds prestigious, but in reality, full authority means full responsibility. If the campaign fails, there's no way to deny the commitment.

"These guys are taking advantage of your youth and lack of understanding of the stakes. Once you step into their trap, they have plenty of ways to kill you."

I whispered to Gray, "If you fight, they can sabotage you from behind and take care of a dozen people in the chaos, right? If you don't fight, then they can legitimately annex the tribe and completely wipe out the Cedar Clan. These guys look barbaric, but they're not simple-minded..."

Gray's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "Then we'll break out tonight! We'll turn their plans upside down and see how they try to pull any more tricks!"

If he were alone now, Gray would definitely rush back and turn on him on the spot, but he still has ten subordinates of the Cedar Clan to take care of, which makes him hesitant to act rashly.

As I strolled out of the tribal tent, I noticed that the group of people, who looked like refugees, had disappointed expressions on their faces before dispersing.

I sent Senbo to grab a skinny refugee and deliberately said, "This guy is too thin, but the meat looks alright. Take him to the river to wash him up, and we'll make bone broth for tonight! I'll keep the pork bones."

The refugees scattered like startled birds, leaving only the unfortunate one who had been captured trembling and crying out, "Don't eat me! Don't eat me!"

I glared at him fiercely: "Fine, I won't eat you, but answer two questions first. First, why are you following us?"

The tribal refugees said furtively, "Because...because if we follow...there will be food...several of our tribe members have already starved to death..."

Will there be food if we follow the Scorpion Yakan tribe? These people really seem to be scavengers, always ready to fight over food scraps left by carnivores.

"Then the second question..."

I gestured for Mori to let go of the guy, and then affectionately put my arm around his shoulder: "Where do you live? Take me to your base."

…………

With the help of the tools carried by the camel caravan, we finally set up our tents before dark, enjoying the grassland scenery with its fine grass and gentle breeze. We watched the afterglow of the setting sun reflected off the mountaintops, and the sun cast thousands of rays of light through the gaps in the clouds onto the plains, giving the wilderness, tents, forests, and rivers a soft hue.

Countless beautiful scenes, illuminated by the setting sun, resemble a giant oil painting, appearing intense and vibrant.

"Honorable warrior, may I return?"

The poor man, who had been conscripted, huddled to one side, trembling as he asked, fearing that once the water in front of him boiled, we would casually slice him up and put him in the pot.

I waved to signal the chief of the small tribe called the Loka Free People that he could leave—after all, his people were still pitifully watching us from the side, and it wasn't the time to eat noodles or wontons.

The warriors of the Cedar Clan collectively transformed into cooks, taking out their rations and starting a fire to prepare dinner, while I sought out Gray to plot against him.

“Grey, I’ve been thinking about it... it doesn’t seem like a bad thing for you to accept this order…”

I touched my chin and said those words, which startled Gray so much that he quickly waved his hands and said, "Boss! Are you out of your mind from anger? I promise I won't make you angry from Monday to Friday from now on, don't scare me!"

I was furious and kicked him away: "Add weekends to the list, you bastard! Take this: Sebala's Wrath!"

After kicking him, seeing Gray's relieved expression, he knew that Gray had deliberately provoked a beating because he felt he had done something wrong. So he said gently, "Although the Cedar Clan taking on the main attack is a trap, it is also an opportunity for us. If we use it well, we can fight back when our forces are insufficient and turn the passive situation into the active one!"

Seeing my serious expression, Gray finally sat down obediently and raised his hand to ask, "I didn't understand."

I smiled slightly. "Betterhold has given us such great power, and the Cedar Clan has a reputation for being a formidable warrior. Under your leadership, we are fully capable of achieving great merit and establishing a firm foothold here. They think we will return empty-handed, and this blind spot in their thinking is the best tool we can exploit."

Gray finally seemed to understand. "Boss Marcus, you mean we're really going to fight tomorrow? To make a name for ourselves and shut them up?"

I nodded: "The direction is right, but the methods can't be too obvious, otherwise their purpose will be easily seen through. The atmosphere in the camp is extremely strange right now. Look around, what's the difference between these emaciated tribesmen and beggars?"

I frowned, smelling the stench wafting from the nearby tents. "An assault clearly requires elite troops to advance, but now it's turned into an inefficient siege... Considering the situation in Delvas Town, I reckon their elite troops are out scavenging for food to feed these troops... Is this reasonable? Is this really reasonable?"

Gray's eyes lit up, and in his excitement he broke off the branch he was holding. "So we really have a chance to turn things around?"

I nodded and looked around. The darkening sky seemed so close, the setting sun almost within reach. But there was no smoke rising from the yurts of the neighboring tribe, no flocks of sheep, and no herdsmen. The world was so quiet that only the sound of the wind whispering in my ears could be heard.

But seeing the emaciated "warriors" of the Loka Free People tribe and their dilapidated living conditions completely shattered my desire to enjoy the scenery, leaving only the stark reality before my eyes.

Gray stood up, clenched his fists, and paced around in place, seemingly brewing an inner storm, ready to make a big move at any moment.

...Why is this guy so excited? I clearly told him that the people trapped on the mountain are our allies. Does he intend to replicate the legend of an undercover agent becoming a mob boss and infiltrating to become the President of the United States?

"Boss, wait a minute... Even if we wanted to fight, these people in the tribe wouldn't let us finish so easily, right? There are only a dozen of us... and Sakam, he'll definitely sabotage our supplies. This guy sees us as a thorn in his side now, should we strike first?"

Hmph, I had already thought of all this. I, Cao Cao, am adept at cutting off people's supply lines. How could I not have the means to guard against Yuan Shu, the Skeleton King of Huainan?

I feigned indifference: "What's there to be afraid of? Sakam may be dangerous, but what is our goal? To rescue the Brownpool tribe! Remember your undercover identity; you're here to assist me in this rescue operation!"

I patted his shoulder hard. “Young man, you need to study dialectical materialism more and figure out what primary and secondary contradictions are. Our contradiction with the Scorpion Yakan tribe is only a secondary contradiction. The contradiction between the entire tribe and the Brown Pool tribe is the primary contradiction. We just need to keep this direction in mind.”

Gray looked at me, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

The last rays of the setting sun had disappeared below the horizon, and the aroma of food from the campfire wafted through the air, intoxicating the hungry people around the tents.

Their faces were relaxed and comfortable, as if the fear from day to night had been swept away by the wonderful air, and as long as their noses, chests and lungs had enjoyed the dew, they could stagger around drunkenly.

I sighed softly and said quietly, "In this gamble, everyone knows that betting big doesn't guarantee a win, and betting small doesn't guarantee a loss; only the house can win everything. But what they don't know is that the dice are actually in my hands..."

Chapter 505 Situation Map

Filled with doubt, I wandered through the vast cluster of camps, searching for clues amidst the mess left by the tribal holy mountain recapture battle.

I spent an entire day, carrying a bag of dried meat I'd swindled from Delvas town, finding the chiefs of various small tribes and trying to reconstruct the true story of this months-long war from their accounts.

Fortunately, no matter where I went, no matter which tribe's vassals I visited, and no matter how much or how little they knew, they would all become singing, dancing, and talking freely under the influence of the food in my hands.

These hungry and dizzy tribal chiefs, too weak to fight, put down their rice topped with Guanyin clay and wild grass root noodles and described in detail the cause of the great battle.

In summary, this matter can be traced back to the major defeat I heard about last time.