Star Forge Titan

However, Owen, whose hair was already completely gray at the age of thirty, shook his head helplessly.

In the major city-states of the Silent Desert, a thirty-year-old like him could already be considered an old man.

The continuous payment of blood tax to the Witch King has resulted in the average life expectancy of the desert people being only around 30 to 40 years old, with people over 50 being rare.

The so-called blood tax is actually to extract the magic power flowing in the human body using a special method.

The witch kings would extract the magic power from all residents of the city-state on every dedication day, and merchants who were not in the city during this period would need to pay an additional tax.

Although most creatures in Palladio have adapted to the magical environment and therefore accumulate a certain amount of magic power, ordinary people who have not become extraordinary people will suffer from the loss of vitality and even lifespan if their magic power is frequently extracted.

This is also the reason why the average life expectancy of desert people is low, in addition to the harsh environment.

The nobles claimed that the magic power paid as blood tax would be used by the Witch King to summon rain, so that the city-state and the surrounding oasis would not be swallowed by the desert, and people could continue to live.

Everything is a gift from the Witch King.

The heavy rain that fell on the day of grace is the best proof of this.

"May the Nine Pillars of Heaven bless me, may His Majesty the Witch King bless me. I hope my foolish nephew will wake up soon, farm honestly, and preferably find a good girl to marry, so that I can at least see my nephew's face before he is taken away by the God of the Underworld to have his heart weighed."

Owen was praying mutteringly, and then he suddenly felt the ground mixed with sand under his feet seemed to tremble slightly.

Although his hair was completely white, this middle-aged man with an old face fell to the ground very decisively, with his ears pressed against the ground.

Just as even rabbits become more cunning in a forest with many predators than in other places, in the silent desert full of dangers, even the most ordinary farmers have the minimum ability to protect themselves.

In this respect, it is somewhat similar to the distant northern kingdom of Elrond.

After just a few seconds of listening, Owen's expression turned extremely grim. He could feel the vibrations coming from the ground, which were intermittent and rhythmic, indicating that a group of people on horses or camels were rapidly approaching the Tatooine farm.

Considering the physical strength of camels, merchants in ordinary caravans generally do not choose to let their mounts run fast.

The only people who would do this are usually dangerous creatures in the desert, such as bandits, robbers, and even more terrifying guys.

Although he was still a little uncertain, when Owen stood up and looked into the distance, the figures that suddenly rushed out from the back of the sand dune completely proved his worst guess.

Especially the huge figure who was leading the charge in the front and whose figure was obviously different from that of an ordinary person.

"Ogre..." Owen muttered to himself:

When he was a young man, the farm was attacked by a group of bandits, among whom was an ogre of particularly terrifying height.

It was a terrifying monster that would crush people into minced meat or bite them in half during battle. It had left an indelible and terrifying impression on Owen, so much so that a similar image would appear in his nightmares every time.

But that day, his brother was still there. He stepped forward and led all the young people to fight the bandits. He even tore off one of the ogre's arms himself, and finally saved the farm and the harvest.

But now, who can protect this small oasis farm?

By the farmer who was too fat to swing a hoe? Or by those guards who didn't even have metal weapons?

"Robbers! There are robbers!" Owen, his mind blank, stumbled towards the farm, shouting at the top of his lungs in a hoarse voice that he himself could not imagine.

The originally quiet and peaceful farm suddenly became chaotic. Everyone, including the fat farmer, reacted quickly and ran towards the largest and most sturdy house in the middle with their families.

It was a warehouse used by the farm to store grain, so it was built extremely solidly and was the only house here with tall exterior walls.

But the bandits moved faster than expected, including human bandits riding horses, goblin bandits running fast with short legs, and the most terrifying one, a two-headed ogre with two heads.

The villains and monsters rushed into the oasis where the farm was located, ready to vent their cruelty and plunder everything they could take away, especially the most precious food and water in the desert.

For a moment, the roars of monsters, the grins of madmen, and the cries of the weak, all the chaotic sounds mixed together, and were about to play a painful desert tragedy.

At this moment, Owen's dim old eyes suddenly saw a familiar figure standing in front of the farmers.

Fist of Flowing Stone! Rock Strike!

First, use the 'Hard Rock Configuration' to petrify the skin, then swing out a hard and heavy rock fist at the fastest speed!

Different from the bumpy training in the past.

This time, he succeeded!

Lucas, with his hands covered in the color of grayish-white granite, smashed the head of a human bandit with just one punch!

The splattering blood startled everyone. Although his body was trembling slightly, the brown-skinned young man resolutely stood between the farmers and the robbers.

After seeing the young man's tender face and trembling calves, the robbers who had been frightened just now suddenly burst into laughter.

The ogre, the leader of the bandit group, stepped forward, patted his fat chest hard, then pointed at the young man and roared.

"Humans, weak!" one of the ogre's heads shouted in a thick voice:

"Ogre, strong!" Its other head uttered a shrill voice:

"Come and fight!" the two heads shouted in unison.

Just like watching a play, the other bandits were not in a hurry to attack. After all, the oasis was not big and not close to the city of Ismailia. They could have some fun before robbing.

Besides, anyone who disturbs the leader’s fun will most likely become part of the dinner.

"I...I accept your challenge."

Lucas took a deep breath, suppressed his fear and took a step forward.

"Come back, Lucas, come back!" Owen shouted loudly in the crowd, but he was quickly held down by others.

"Don't worry, uncle. I've learned boxing for two years from a mentor who passed by a farm." Lucas turned around and forced a smile at his uncle who had a sad and angry face.

But when he turned around, he saw a fist that was much bigger than a human head coming towards him.

In a hurry, the young man struggled to strike the "hard rock configuration", covering his hands with a layer of grayish-white granite.

However, the enormous force transmitted from his hands caused the petrified skin to crack. The young man named Lucas felt a black screen before his eyes, and then his entire face twisted in severe pain, and he flew backward nearly ten meters.

Bang! Lucas's body fell heavily in front of the crowd. The ogre who witnessed this scene cheered and raised his right hand like a victorious boxer. The other bandits standing behind him also slapped their thighs and laughed weirdly.

"Pfft hahaha!"

"Boss, well done!"

“该计数了！1！2！3！4！5！6……啊哈哈哈哈，不用数了！那小子绝对完蛋了！啊哈哈哈哈哈！”

Arrogant and mocking voices rose one after another, but the faces of the retreating farmers were full of sadness and pain.

The glimmer of hope that had risen was extinguished so abruptly.

Right now.

"We...aren't...done yet!"

At some point, Lucas, his face covered in blood, had gotten up from the ground.

The young man's body trembled like a newborn fawn, and everything before his eyes was blurred, making it impossible for him to see anything clearly. His mind was in a state of chaos, and his ears were filled with sharp sounds. However, one remaining thought emerged in his mind with uncanny clarity.

I'm a boxer who practices boxing. Even if I'm just a substitute, I will protect everyone!

He slowly raised his arms, once again forming the core configuration of the Flowing Stone Fist - Solid Rock.

Indestructible! I am like a rock! My heart is as strong as a rock!

For some reason, the crumbling figure seemed to have completely transformed into a reef that could not be broken by waves or destroyed by the sea, hard and stubborn.

The robbers' laughter gradually stopped, and the smiles on the two ogres' faces gradually faded, replaced by a ferocious expression like a bloodthirsty beast.

"second!"

"round!"

With two roars one after another, the two-headed ogre's fat and huge body rushed towards Lucas, who was unable to stand steadily, like a tank.

Another heavy punch, the young man's body flew high up and fell heavily again. The solid rock had cracked, but he got up again like a stubborn rock.

Lucas raised his arms, which were almost unable to bend, in front of him to block it.

His movements were as slow as an old tortoise, yet so determined.

“…Continue…Continue!”

"The third round!" a rough voice sounded.

"Again!" the shrill voice roared.

The ogre laughed again, a cruel and bloodthirsty laugh.

The third punch landed, and the sound of broken bones could be clearly heard. Lucas' arms hung in front of him as if they had no bones, and his skin was covered with bloody wounds like cracked stone. He could no longer assume the posture of solid rock.

But at that moment, he seized the opportunity and punched the ogre with all his strength!

Although it couldn't cause much damage, the configuration power of the Flowing Stone Fist left a clear petrification mark on the opponent's belly. This might be a method that the person who originally created the fist had not thought of, that the power generated by the configuration could actually be applied to places other than oneself!

Only many advanced boxing techniques can barely achieve this, and for common boxing techniques like the Flowing Stone Fist, no practitioner has ever accomplished such a feat.

But even this sole achievement quickly began to fade due to the user's limited abilities.

This is the only thing Lucas can do now.

Although in terms of the result, it will probably only anger the other party.

"..."

Without the fourth punch, Lucas, who was already speechless, got up again, but soon fell face down on the sand again.

Unable to exert any strength with his hands, he had to use his head to support the ground, and like a maggot, he struggled to arch his body and then climbed up bit by bit.

At this moment, the bandits fell into dead silence, and even the two heads of the ogre could no longer laugh.

The huge monster raised his fist silently. Such a person cannot be left here. He must die here today.

Suddenly, a fire appeared behind him. The houses around the bandits were set on fire. The thatched roofs emitted thick smoke and flames, making the horses ridden by the bandits neigh.

"Run! Lucas! Run!" Owen, who had somehow gotten behind the robber, shouted at the top of his lungs, holding up a torch.

The situation suddenly became extremely chaotic, and the crowd that had been secretly retreating just now dispersed without hesitation.

As long as they rushed into the farm warehouse, with the help of the high outer walls and thick gates, the farmers could at least hold on for a while longer. If they were lucky, they might be able to wait for the arrival of the city guards.

But Lucas, covered in blood, still lay on the ground, and no one turned back to help him. Just when Owen was about to despair, several young men suddenly rushed over. Without caring about anything else, these young men suppressed their fear, hurriedly lifted up the almost completely unconscious Lucas, and turned around and ran away.

"Good boy, good boy..."

However, tears welled up in the eyes of Owen, who looked particularly old in his middle age. He didn't care about the sword that was about to chop down in front of him. He just stared at Lucas who disappeared behind the warehouse door with his cloudy but emotion-filled eyes.

The next moment, a gray-haired head flew high into the sky.

Amid the robbers' angry roars, the warehouse door was slammed shut from the inside.

Among them, the leading ogre was the most angry. He felt hungry more easily than others, so he was most eager for the food in the farm warehouse.

The ogre picked up his mace and kept pounding on the warehouse door. As wood chips flew, the screams and cries of the people inside could be faintly heard.

Although people tried their best to hold the door open, the ogre's terrifying power still made the crack in the door grow bigger and bigger.

At this moment, there was a sudden and violent tremor from the solid courtyard wall.

Then, people unexpectedly discovered that the attack outside the door had stopped.

How is this going?

"You're not dead?"

A loud and sunny voice sounded outside.

"That's right, it's really hard to exert force while riding a horse."

Looking at the monster that began to struggle to pull its head out after being unconscious for a while, Alvin couldn't help but admire the vitality of the two-headed ogre.

As for the goblins who were shouting "become slaves" and the frightened human bandits, they were very discerning and kept a distance from this place. Afterwards, they were taken into custody by the rest of the tracker team.

Monsters like ogres have amazing vitality to begin with, but could having an extra head not only increase their intelligence, but also enhance their physical strength and vitality?

Just when Alvin was about to crush the ugly monster to death, the voice of the orc Gaoshan suddenly came from behind him.

"Newcomer, please give this guy to me."

The orc archer and reserve fist fighter, who had been very enthusiastic all the way, now had a very ugly expression on his face.

Looking at the bloodstains on the ogre's hands and the almost invisible petrification marks on his belly, he vaguely guessed something and couldn't help feeling a strong sense of anger.

Those petrification marks were most likely left on this monster by a practitioner of the Flowing Stone Fist. What a genius creation it is to release the power of configuration.

But judging from the current situation, the other party may be in great danger.

This also made the orc Gaoshan understand one thing.

Why didn't the robbers who launched the sneak attack catch the villagers before they took refuge in the warehouse?

You know, this is a rare incident of this kind. Cunning bandits often launch raids when people are out farming, leaving farmers no chance to hide or close their doors.