Rifle charge in Ark, but without a mount

Alina smiled and said, "Okay, Mr. Claude, thank you very much for your generosity."

Claude raised his eyebrows, knowing that it was Xinteleia who told her. He didn't expect that in just such a short time, the two of them had become friends.

"Come on then, young lady, I will help you."

As he spoke, Claude tucked the fur under his armpits and began to dismantle the beast's flesh with his dagger.

A New Beginning: Chapter 17: Tallulah's Revolt

The sharp blade pierced the joint, untied the fascia, cut the muscles, and removed the huge front claw. Then he followed the same method to remove all four legs, and the other three people helped to move the leg meat inside.

Then he cut open its stomach and chopped open its breastbone with an axe. He took out the internal organs. The internal organs of this beast were very smelly and most of them were inedible. What was reassuring was that there was no sign of Originium infection in its stomach. This was a very rare healthy beast.

Most of the meat of the beast was cut off, leaving only a huge skeleton and a head, which were piled up outside. There was no room for so much meat in the hut. But fortunately, the weather here was very cold, so if the meat was left outside, there was no need to worry about it spoiling, except for the possibility of wild animals coming to eat it.

Just as Claude was worrying about where to put the meat, a noise in the distance attracted his attention.

A few more shadows came from a distance, walking very fast, as if they were in a hurry. It didn't take long, 10 minutes later they had arrived at the village.

The one walking in front was a girl wearing a well-tailored military uniform and short gray hair. She had a big sword hanging from her waist that didn't match her height. She had a pair of twisted horns on her head and a long tail covered with scales behind her.

Claude stood up and looked at the people who came to him. The beautiful girl in front of him looked him up and down carefully with her bright eyes.

"Sir, what are you doing here?"

Claude looked at the people who were surrounding him. They were all wearing very poor equipment, shabby clothes, and were wrapped up so tightly that even their hands were not exposed.

"He still has some basic combat skills."

After commenting in his mind, Claude replied: "This guy is my prey. Our car broke down, so I chased it here."

"Are you referring to this guy as the prey?" Tallulah had already noticed the huge beast next to her. Although only a skeleton and a bloody head were left, it was still clear that it was a very powerful creature.

“Never seen such a fellow here before.”

"Tallulah!" A crisp call came from the side, and Alina came out at some point with a happy expression on her face.

"Alina! Are you okay?" As soon as Tallulah saw Alina coming out, she immediately walked past Claude and grabbed Alina's hand.

"I'm fine, Tallulah. Thanks to this Mr. Claude and his companions for saving us."

Hearing this, Tallulah turned to Claude and said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Claude. You and your companions have helped us a lot." As she spoke, she bowed deeply to him.

"No, you don't have to be so polite. This guy's original target was us. We injured it and it rushed over here. To be honest, we are the ones who are holding you back."

"No, it's not." Alina said firmly.

"If it weren't for this beast, we would have been taken away by the patrol team. And if it weren't for you, Mr. Knight, we would have been killed by this beast."

"Then I will accept your thanks, Miss Alina and Miss Tallulah." Claude was not a pretentious person.

With this incident, Claude and the other man got along very well with them and quickly became familiar with them.

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Claude raised the axe with both hands and chopped the beast's head hard. Once, twice. Soon the skull was opened, and then he took out the beast's brain.

Next to him was a support made from the trunk of a small tree, on which the hide was stretched. He first used a knife to scrape off the remaining grease and flesh. Next, he prepared to use the brain in his hand to knead the hide.

He learned this method from a colonel of the Third Legion of the Empire. He was a hunter before he became a member of the Third Legion's Iron Guard. He told Claude that if there were no better potions, this was the simplest way to knead fur. And the fur produced by this method was acceptable, but not as soft as the ones made with fine craftsmanship.

The process certainly didn't taste good, and the pungent smell made everyone stay away. It took him more than an hour to finish processing the fur. Then he went to the side and wiped his hands clean with snow, and then walked towards the fire.

Meat was already being roasted by the fire. They put the meat on sticks and roasted it directly over the fire. Of course, there were no seasonings or anything like that. If it weren't for Claude hunting this beast this time, they would have rarely eaten meat.

And their barbecue skills were also average, some of the meat was burnt and looked black. Tallulah and Hinterea sat by the fire, both of them seemed a little silent, as if they didn't know what to say. Alina wanted to say something between them, but she didn't know where to start.

Claude looked around and suddenly seemed to have discovered something. He walked to the woods behind the village and picked up a slab of stone from the pile of rocks. Then he walked to their SUV, opened the door, stuck his head in and searched for a while before finding a bag of simple seasoning.

"How can you be so depressed after a hunting victory? And the food you eat is too poor." Claude said as he placed the stone slab on the fire. He had already cleaned it with snow before.

"Oh, Mr. Claude, you can actually cook?" Tallulah looked surprised. In her opinion, an elite knight like Claude should have servants to cook for him, and they only need to be responsible for the war. He originally thought that it was the girl Xinteleya who cooked for him.

"In times of war, you have to know everything. No one can stop you when a real fight breaks out."

Claude waited for the slab to heat up, then took the fat that he had peeled off the beast and placed it on the slab, letting the heat from the slab fry it to release the oil.

When the fat covered the entire stone slab, he separated the ribs of the beast into individual pieces, cut them into patterns, and marinated them with seasoning. When the stone slab began to smoke, he put the marinated ribs on it.

"Sizzle..."

A very clear sound came from the stone slab. It seemed that the sound had some magic power. People who were looking down could not help but look up at the stone slab. Their depressed mood also began to rise.

"Add more wood and make the fire bigger." Claude said to an infected person next to him.

The infected person seemed surprised that Claude would speak to him, but he still couldn't help but add firewood as Claude instructed.

The ribs were fried until they sizzled and the oil was bubbling. Gradually, an alluring aroma was emitted, making the people around them drool. After one side was fried, it was turned over, and the color of the meat gradually changed from bright red to a beautiful brown. A wonderful Maillard reaction occurred.

"Come and try it." Claude called out after it was finished roasting.

The teeth tore off the tender meat. Because of the high temperature, most of the moisture inside had not been lost. With one bite, you could feel the delicious juice overflowing. Tasting the delicious barbecue, everyone's depressed mood gradually improved.

"Mr. Claude, I'm still very curious about you. I don't know what you are doing here. There is nothing here except snow, Originium mines and infected people..." Tallulah asked Claude.

Claude bit the meat in his hand. After thinking for a while, he said, "I don't know yet. I don't know what I want to do yet, but I came here to prepare."

"prepare for?"

"Yes, I think one day I will find what I want to do, but before that I need enough strength."

"Do you want to hone yourself in the harsh natural environment here?"

"Yes, but mainly because my Originium skills have some special requirements."

"What about you? Miss Tallulah, your military uniform doesn't fit in with the people here. You should be an official of Ursus, why are you mixing with the infected?" Claude said, staring at her bare thighs.

"Young people are really hot-tempered." In such a snowy and icy weather, this kind of clothes can't help but attract other people's attention.

Tallulah's expression was somewhat hesitant.

"Is it hard to say?"

"No, there's nothing I can't say." Tallulah's expression suddenly became firm, and her eyes seemed to be shining.

"I escaped from my adoptive father. He was a vicious and despicable man. He had been instilling terrible ideas in me."

"Are you doing this to fight against your father?"

"No, I did this to prove my ideals. I believe that the infected are not born lowly and they should not be treated like this, so I came to help them and let them survive. Whoever wants to stop us is the enemy."

"At the same time, I will not agree with my adoptive father's vicious ideas. I will not agree with his statement that people live on hatred."

Claude held the remaining bone in his hand and tapped the stone slab with it. His sharp eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, as if he was thinking about something.

"Let me ask you one more question, miss. What is your ultimate goal? Do you want to take the infected away? Or do you want to help them conquer a piece of land where they can live? Or do you want others to stop discriminating against them and let them live equally?"

"Of course, we want to create a world where infected people can live with normal people."

"So how are you going to do it?"

"Of course, we should unite all the infected people, lead them to fight, and fight for the land to live on."

"Miss, are you more powerful than the Ursus Empire?"

"Of course we are weak now, but as long as the oppressed infected people unite, we will achieve the final victory one day..."

"No, no, no, Miss, you misunderstood me. What I meant was that since you are not stronger than the Ursus Empire, why should you give up those powers that you can fight for?"

"What kind of power can be gained?"

"Of course it's the civilians of Ursus. Why not seek their support? Aren't they also oppressed by this empire?"

"But the civilians of Ursus are discriminating against the infected. How can we seek their support?"

"Really? Why would they discriminate against the infected? Who told them to discriminate against the infected?"

"Of course..." Tallulah was suddenly stunned.

"It seems that you also know that the civilians of Ursus are being exploited just like you. As far as I know, as long as the infected do not have close contact, there will be no problem of infection. Even if the severely infected will spread a large number of infections at this time, as long as the infected are isolated, there is no absolute contradiction for ordinary people, because ordinary people in this world also have a high probability of becoming infected."

"So the suffering you and the common people endured was not caused by the other party, but by the emperors, nobles, and bureaucrats who were high above. In order to prevent you from rebelling against them, they told you that your suffering was caused by the other party, so that you would hate each other and persecute each other, in order to maintain their rights."

"So, Ms. Tallulah, please tell me, if you want to fight against all this injustice, why do you, as the weaker party, abandon those civilians who are persecuted like you, and abandon this powerful force? As the weaker party, if you want to achieve your wish, don't you have to unite all the forces that can be united?"

Tallulah was stunned.

"So." Claude stood up, his armor rustling. "Ms. Tallulah, identify your true enemies and figure out your true friends."

"What you are about to do is a great cause, a cause of resisting oppression and injustice, but it is also an extremely dangerous cause. If you are not careful, you will be crushed to pieces. So unite all the forces that can be united and make your comrades and friends more. Only in this way can you have the possibility of success. Don't be paranoid or narrow-minded."

"Of course, even if your ideas are a little naive, you are still an amazing person because you have already started to fight bravely when others dared not to do it." Claude smiled. "But you are not enough now. You still need to learn and think, and then you can really find a way out."

Tallulah's shocked expression eased. She looked at Claude and asked, "Mr. Claude, who are you?"

Claude walked towards his SUV and waved behind him. "Just a knight, go to sleep."

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As Claude walked, he thought of the emperor before him. Although that emperor ruled everything and controlled everything, no one in the entire empire would hate him. His decisions were always correct, and time would always prove it. He never had his own desires and enjoyments, and he didn't even marry a wife. But the palace where he lived, that magnificent palace, was the absolute center of the empire.

Even Claude, who was a modern man before, could not find any faults in this emperor. He completed all his duties perfectly. Before him, humans were just a pathetic race that was oppressed, preyed on, and abused. After him, humans have occupied the richest areas of the entire continent.

Orc heads piled up like mountains in the north, and elf corpses hung like forests in the south. Goblins and dwarves knelt and bowed before his seat. Of course, if that was all he did, he could only be said to be good at war. But what really impressed Claude was that he could ensure that no one in the entire empire went hungry, and that every resident of the empire could enjoy all the benefits of the war. Even if one looked at him with the most critical eyes, he could be called a saint.

This emperor was so perfect that he didn't look like a human being. Claude once doubted him, wondering if he was a machine or AI. But later he gave up his doubts because he knew that it didn't matter whether he was a machine or AI.

Comparing him with the current Emperor of Ursus, Claude was deeply touched. He didn't know what the current Emperor of Ursus was doing, but he knew that this empire had been afflicted with a stubborn disease, a disease that went deep into the bones. It was running all the way towards self-destruction.

A New Beginning: Chapter 18: Guerrillas on the Icefield

Claude and his companions stayed in the village for several days, and gave the remaining meat of the beast to the villagers. The fur was finally kneaded.

In the past few days, Tallulah and Alina have been staying in the village and have not left. Especially Tallulah, she seems to be thinking all the time and always in a daze.

Now Claude was a little worried. He had a piece of excellent fur that was warm and soft, but he didn't have the skills to make it into a cloak. This was when he wanted to make it himself. He was discovered by Alina, who volunteered to take the fur and help him sew and cut it.

"Wait a minute, use this as a lining." Claude stopped Alina who was about to leave and handed her a roll of red silk.

"Boss, you didn't buy this just for this day, did you?" Xinteleya next to him looked at him with a helpless look.

"Of course! I'm prepared." Claude said with a slightly proud expression.

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Tallulah had been absent-minded for the past few days. She didn't even eat much, nor did she do anything else. She just sat in a daze in her room. Before hearing what Claude said, she was pessimistic about her future. She knew that the infected could not defeat the powerful army of Ursus, but she wanted to open up a way for future generations. She wanted to ignite the flame of resistance for future infected people.

In her opinion, even if they failed, the infected people would follow their example and bravely resist oppression, but she was always pessimistic about her future. She always had a kind of pessimism of a martyr in her heart. The Patriots and Froststar, who belonged to the Integration Movement, were very opposed to her strategy of going south. Because in their opinion, going south now would be a death wish, which would make their newly developed organization disappear into thin air.

The reason she tried to use to convince the other party was that there would be more infected people in the southern cities, and they could unite more strength to raise the banner of resistance on the continent of Terra.

She had never thought of this before. She had never thought that she could mobilize the civilians of the Ursus Empire and let the civilians of Ursus join them, so that they would have endless reserve forces.

How could Mr. Claude, who looked as young as she was, think of this? How could he understand so much?

While Tallulah was thinking, she suddenly stood up, startling Alina who was doing needlework next to her.

Alina sucked on her pricked finger. "What's wrong with you, Tallulah?"

"I'm going to ask Mr. Claude and ask him to explain it to me." Tallulah said as she rushed out. When the words came, she had already rushed out for a long distance.

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"Mr. Claude! Please teach me."

Claude looked at the girl who suddenly rushed into the room, and realized that it was about time for her to come find him.

"Please sit down, Tallulah, sit down and take a breath."

Claude waited until Tallulah's excitement calmed down before he prepared to speak.

As a modern time traveler, he wanted to show his talents in the first world, but the existence of the emperor made his ideas useless. In this world, they have very advanced technology in some aspects, but their political system is indeed chaotic and inferior in his opinion.

Now that he had met Tallulah, he did have something to say to this idealistic young person.

So next, Claude talked to Tallulah for a long time and told her some things he knew before.

He basically told her about things like productivity and means of production, militaristic system, etc. Claude didn't know how far this young man could go, but he still hoped to bring something different to this desperate land.

The conversation took a long time, and the two were still talking until the night. And they didn't seem tired at all. Tallulah kept asking questions with an excited expression, and Claude answered her one by one.

Suddenly there were two knocks on the door. Then Alina opened the door and walked in, holding a thick cloak in her arms. She looked at the two people with a gentle smile.

"Is it not disturbing you? Mr. Claude, I have sewed your cloak for you."

"Of course not, Miss Alina, thank you very much." Claude couldn't help but smile. He stood up and walked towards Alina.

"And Mr. Claude, there are still a lot of furs and silks left." Alina wanted to hand the remaining half of the fur and half of the silk roll in her arms to Claude.