High Anthropoids, or rather, the original anthropoids number few.
The anthropoid society was separated into four levels. The highest level anthropoids were those nobles who acted as administrators. They were the eldest anthropoids. They were most useful during the big change in the North, and even paid a big price. They were the administrators of the North. They were brilliant; not only did they possess sturdy bodies, they were also very pretty.
The second level was the officials beneath them. They were those who stood above the average anthropoids. They weren’t the administrators, but they were relatively intelligent and competent. They were considered brilliant individuals despite having significantly inferior bloodlines and genes compared to the elite tribes.
The third level was the ordinary anthropoids, which were similar to the commoners outside. Their beast blood was more prominent, so they weren’t as smart as the superior anthropoids that were closer to humans, and their appearance was inferior. Further, their bloodline and genes were messy, so it was impossible to determine which race they belonged to. Before the change in the North, they were the lowest on the hierarchy.
The fourth level was the low anthropoids that were created with magic. They had no intelligence and only knew how to fight. Though they had sturdy bodies, they were all brawn. They were incapable of speech and lacked emotion all together. They only obeyed orders from high anthropoids and were the lowest slaves in anthropoid society.
The low anthropoids handled all of the laborious work, but had no means of completing technical work. They were usually responsible for hunting, planting crops, breaking ice and fishing. They were also tasked with simple, yet dangerous, tasks such as transporting rocks. Even the strongest animal would be nothing but prey with their numbers and fearless characters. Plus, they didn’t need to rest. If one died, they just had to replace them with another one, which made it possible for the higher level anthropoids living in the North, where all of that was hard to do, to survive.
They would even sometimes be used as backup food. They would be killed and boned. While the texture of their flesh wasn’t nice and the taste was bad, they could act as preserved food.
How did they identify each other? They did so using their belly buttons, because they were creatures created through magic. The low anthropoids didn’t have a belly button, while commoners had lots of fur. The officials were born as commoners, but they shaved their fur to display their identity. Ling Yue didn’t have any fur on her belly. Hers was smooth and flat, exactly the same way a human’s looked.
Anthropoids similar to Ling Yue had most of their fur concentrated around their ears. For example, the fur on the sides of her face; actually, that’s probably a fox’s fur… She also had lots of fur on her tail. I didn’t know what the others are like, but Ling Yue only had fur around those places.
Ling Yue noticed me looking at her the entire time; hence, she turned her head over to look at me, unhappily, “Why do you keep staring at me?”
“Nothing. I’m just thinking what sort of anthropoid is considered an innocent anthropoid.”
“I already explained that to you last night.”
“No, what I meant was, going by their hierarchy system, what sort of anthropoid is an innocent anthropoid?” I turned to look at the soldiers entering the North via eight simply constructed timber bridges and went on, “I won’t spare the low level anthropoids. They’re deformed creations, and the main group that invaded us. I’ll kill all of the remaining four tribes. What about the officials beneath them? I feel that they’re accomplices, so the only ones I can forgive are the ordinary anthropoids. That’s my bottom line. Ling Yue, I initially intended to kill every single anthropoid, but I’m sparing a number of them, because you pleaded me.”
“… Some is better than none.”
Ling Yue seemed to want to say something, but gave up the thought after noticed my gaze.
I didn’t need the anthropoids. However, if I didn’t have any anthropoids to perform labour work, the North would never be able to carry out development goals. I needed to bring some humans to the North, but then, the North would be no different to humanity’s lands…
‘Let’s leave some to work for me.’
‘If I find the Brilliant Moon Stone, then population won’t be the most important factor, in regards to the factory production endeavour. As such, a small number of people will be fine.’
“Oh, right, Ling Yue, do you know of the Brilliant Moon Stone?”
I suddenly remembered it. We were always speaking of the war previously. I, therefore, forgot to ask Ling Yue about it. She nodded, “I do. It’s not hard to find it in the North. What if I was to tell you that it was a stone that could replenish mana with moonlight? It’s a source of light in the North. It absorbs sunlight during the day so that it can provide light at night. I don’t know what you need it for.”
“What about you, then?”
“Ah, yeah, our tribe was responsible for mining it back then. It was our tribe’s business. I assume it’s been occupied by someone now.”
“That’s great, then. Ling Yue, I suddenly want to ask you if you want to go home.”
I smashed the ground hard with my sword. Ling Yue dawdled for a moment before looking at me. She bit down on her lip and shook her head firmly. She replied, “No. Before I get my revenge, I can’t return in peace. I can’t return. I have no family left. All that’s left there for me to see are ruins. I don’t want to rub salt on my wounds.”
“I’ll help you return. I’ll make it so that you can return in peace, as it’s purposeful to both you and me.”
“You want the Brilliant Moon Stone? I don’t know what you want them for; they’re just things that can be used as lighting.”
“They’re just stones that emit light, but that’s the light that can allow me to see the future.”
I looked down at my soldiers below. Over half of them had crossed. They orderly transported the equipment and resources, as well. Nobody stopped us. As a matter of fact, nobody came to check on us. We had to throw away the ammunition for the cannons I intended to use to put pressure on the enemy into the ice, because nobody came to put up a resistance.
“Keep it up! Soldiers! It appears that nobody is stopping our advance!! Let’s set up camp here and plant our seeds of vengeance. After that, we’ll turn them into large threes that’ll pierce the skies. Give the anthropoids a taste of their own medicine!!”
The soldiers advanced as if they were an enraged snake slithering forward, toward their target of revenge indomitably, with nobody to stop them. If somebody did want to attack us, the cannons behind me would immerse the land in a sea of fire. However, regardless of where they approached us from, they were bound to face repeated-firing guns and our overwhelming cannons.
‘Bring it. Attack us on our way to our destination!!’
==============
“Reporting. Lord Marvel, humanity’s army has crossed the large canyon and is currently setting up camp. Shall we strike them before they can gain their footing?”
Humanity thought that there wasn’t a single anthropoid around. Little did they expect for a large group of white silhouettes to come down from above the snowy mountains in the distance.
“Hmm…”
The hunting panther looked at the army that was akin to a closely collected group of ants. Logically speaking, it was a good opportunity to attack. Striking an enemy when they were in the middle of their travel is common knowledge in war. However, the same applied for the commander in front.
Marvel shook his head, “No. The opposition is not foolish. I heard that humanity has weapons that can attack from long distances. We cannot rashly attack the opposition when we do not know the situation clearly. Wait until nightfall. I am sure that they crossed the Grand Canyon in a rush. They cannot aim at night. They will dismantle them and prepare to transport them here. That is a better time for us to attack. They cannot match our vision and ferocity at night.”
“Roger!”
Previous Chapter l Next Chapter
