Chapter 212: Striking Allies, Surrender (2)
Wasn’t that an easy victory?
Unknowingly, the power of the Crown of the Ocean had grown to such an extent that it easily overwhelmed tens of thousands of lizardmen soldiers.
With these thoughts in mind, Ji Chen nonchalantly walked up to the lizardmen soldiers who had surrendered.
Thousands of lizardmen soldiers kneeled on the ground, not daring to look him in the eye.
Their instincts told them that this man was the most powerful being who could easily decide their life and death.
The half-orc hero, Daro, returned with a proud look after scouring the surroundings for surrendered soldiers.
This time, it had achieved great merit, breaking through the enemy’s defense line and even killing the enemy’s leader.
It was sure that its Lord would reward it handsomely.
However, when it came back, it saw a few friendly lizardmen talking to its Lord with expressions of indignation and sorrow.
Suddenly, it felt something ominous.
Ji Chen saw Daro approaching, and his face darkened.
“You, come here.”
Hearing the displeasure in Ji Chen s tone, Daro couldn’t help but tremble and swallowed his saliva, wearing a pleasing expression as he walked over.
“Lord, haven’t 1 performed well this time?”
“True, you did well…”
“Then why are you glaring at me like that?”
“You not only killed enemy soldiers but also killed your own lizardmen soldiers!?”
“While inspecting the battlefield just now, I noticed that many of our lizardmen soldiers were killed by your hands! ”
Daro looked at the lizardmen corpses that were brought over.
The injuries on them could only have been caused by the weapons of the half-orc warriors.
Realizing this, Daro felt embarra.s.sed.
At this moment, it also remembered that when they broke through the enemy’s defense line, they seemed to have killed quite a few lizardmen who looked similar to their allies.
It thought of a way to plead its innocence.
“Lord, it’s a misunderstanding! These lizardmen all looked so alike, and we were fighting in the heat of the moment. How could we distinguish them?”
“If you want to blame someone, blame them for blocking us!”
Saying this, Daro provocatively glanced at the lizardmen leader standing nearby, with an expression of “I did it, so what?”
The half-orc tribe only respects the strong. You weaklings can just go aside!
This look made the allied lizardmen general feel furious, but they dared not speak out in anger.
Their enemies tremble before them, and even their allies cower in fear.
Seeing this scene, Ji Chen’s expression grew even darker.
Regardless, your achievements and mistakes balance each other out, but I’ll still impose a punishment by forbidding meat for a week.
Upon hearing this, Dare’s face immediately fell.
A week without meat, how would they survive?
Then it seemed to remember something and anxiously asked, “Can we still continue to partic.i.p.ate in the battles afterward?”
“Uh… yes.”
“Understood! I have no objections!” Daro became happy again, grinning stupidly.
Giving up meat for a week was bearable, but not being able to fight would be like taking away their lives.
Seeing its silly appearance, Ji Chen couldn’t help but laugh and scolded, “Hurry up and get some rest. Afterwards, I’ll have you lead as the vanguard to attack the three lizardmen kingdoms.”
“Yes!” Daro immediately straightened its posture and saluted, then happily led its subordinates away.
After a day of counting and statistics, the casualties and outcomes of the battle became clear.
In this battle, over four thousand lizardmen soldiers were killed, more than five thousand were captured, and only less than two thousand managed to escape.
As for the losses:
The Dork Kingdom suffered about one thousand five hundred lizardmen soldiers killed.
The Alchemy Guardians lost over seventy Ruins Guardians, and two hundred more were injured to varying degrees.
However, the Sky Guardians had no casualties, only a few of them were hit by crossbow arrows, but they could be easily repaired and used again with the s.p.a.ce Storage Spheres.
On the other hand, the half-orc forces, thanks to their full-body armor protection, had less than thirty fatalities and about a hundred injuries.
The half-orcs were truly resilient due to their naturally robust physique, which allowed them to continue fighting even after enduring injuries that would incapacitate humans.
Their recovery speed after being injured was astonishingly fast; in just two days, they would be up and about as if nothing happened.
Upon seeing this, Ji Chen began contemplating whether to find another opportunity to head to King Kong Island and attempt to subdue another group of half-orcs.
After this battle, the military strength of the three major lizardmen kingdoms had been greatly weakened, and they were unable to organize effective resistance.
The remaining soldiers could only cower in their capital cities, living in fear and trembling.
Meanwhile, Ji Chen and his forces were enjoying the spoils of war.
The battlefield was strewn with a large number of military supplies, including a considerable amount of armor, expertly crafted strong bows and crossbows, as well as various swords and halberds.
Additionally, they seized over a hundred bed-mounted crossbows. If it hadn’t been for the Sky Guardians restraining them, these formidable weapons would have caused much greater harm.
Furthermore, they also confiscated a large quant.i.ty of fluorescent mushrooms that the enemy had used for provisions.
These were all stored in a cave designated for food storage, estimated to number in the millions.
This amount was enough to sustain the Crown of the Ocean for nearly half a month in terms of food consumption, not counting the captured lizardmen soldiers.
All these caves and resources would be claimed as spoils of war by the Crown of the Ocean.
Despite suffering significant losses in soldiers, with nearly half of their forces remaining and most of them being injured, the Dork Kingdom surprisingly witnessed an overwhelming outpouring of praise for this great victory.
The reason behind this enthusiasm was the realization that they had received a.s.sistance from powerful beings from the surface, which ignited hope within the Dork Kingdom that they could potentially a.s.sert dominion over the underground lizardmen world.
Long ago, this place had only one lizardmen kingdom, but due to certain circ.u.mstances, it split into four, evolving into the four major kingdoms as they are today.
Therefore, regardless of which kingdom it was, the idea of unification was buried deep within.
However, none of the kingdoms had absolute power to conquer the other three, resulting in a delicate balance that maintained their current status quo.
And now, this war has directly wiped out the majority of the military strength of the other three lizardmen kingdoms, leading to such a prevailing public opinion in the Dork Kingdom.
When the lizard elders of the Dork Kingdom received the frontline battle reports, they were shocked.
They never expected Ji Chen to achieve a victorious and thorough triumph in the war.
Mixed feelings of joy and frustration overwhelmed them.
The joy came from seeing the hope of unifying the four kingdoms.
I’he frustration stemmed from the fact that this victory was not achieved by the Dork Kingdom itself but was handed to them by outsiders.
Once the four kingdoms were unified and Ji Chen controlled them all, the lizard elders would lose their usefulness.
On the day of unification, their fate would be sealed.
However, the lizard elders quickly came up with a solution.
Resistance was definitely futile.
So, since they couldn’t resist, they chose to enjoy it.
If they submitted to Ji Chen, there was still a possibility of becoming deputy administrators to help manage the unified lizardmen kingdoms.
This way, in a roundabout manner, it would still be an honor for their lizardmen race.
After all, it was unlikely that the beings from the surface would personally manage the region, so they would need some lizardmen to a.s.sist.
Therefore, when Ji Chen returned to Dork City with a part of his army, he saw the lizard elders, each leaning on a cane with most of their teeth missing, waiting at the city gate.
“Great Lord, we are willing to submit to you and become your subjects. We hope you can lead us to conquer the enemy’s territories and spread your glory across the four kingdoms’ lands.”
Looking at these lizard elders, whose expressions were now extremely respectful, a far cry from their previous opposition, Ji Chen smiled disdainfully in his heart but didn’t pursue it further. He had already guessed most of their hidden thoughts.
Anyway, as long as all the lizardmen kingdoms submitted and produced what he desired, letting them manage on his behalf was not entirely out of the question.
Ji Chen didn’t invest too much energy into this matter. As long as his fist was powerful enough, he had no fear of these lizardmen rebelling..