The Record of Orc Civilization

Chapter 471: The Leverage of Labor

"YOU USELESS HEAPS OF FLESH! I will tear the bones from your bodies and use them as spears to pierce the demon’s chest!" Swa roared.

His aura exploded outward, crushing the gravity around the Hobgoblins until several of them fell to their knees, vomiting black blood.

"Stay your hand, Swa. You are about to turn our problem into a permanent catastrophe."

A cold, firm hand clamped onto Swa’s arm just before his fist could fly and devastate the crowd of Hobgoblins before him. Swa turned with a low growl, finding Mige standing beside him. Mige’s eyes scanned the crowd with sharp, pragmatic calculation.

"Mige! Let go!" Swa jerked his arm away violently. "They are committing an act of defiance at the most crucial moment in our species’ history! In times like these, disobedience is synonymous with treason! Do you intend to protect traitors?"

"And if you slaughter them now, who is going to install the Razor-Vine netting on the eastern cliffs?" Mige asked, his tone flat yet piercing. "Look around you. This isn’t just a brainless riot. This is an organized, mass labor strike. If you kill one layer of them, the rest will either revolt or flee. Without their labor, the defensive facilities of Bitter Maja will be paralyzed by nightfall."

Swa panted, his glowing red eyes fixed on the now-pale Hobgoblins. He truly wanted to incinerate them all to ash; his killing intent was overflowing beyond control.

Swa was well aware of how vital the Hobgoblins were to the kingdom. Aside from the Alraune race, they were the only ones possessing the creativity and talent for construction. Without the Goblins and Hobgoblins, Wilwatikta would never have reached its current grandeur. While they could use the Pandava to duplicate previous work, the precise placement of defenses, trap structures, and barricade locations would never be perfect without the creative minds of these scoundrels.

"Damn it..." Swa forcibly retracted his aura, suppressing his emotions until the veins in his neck bulged. He pulled Mige away from the crowd, whispering with a tone of absolute urgency. "You don’t understand, Mige. We are out of time. We must fortify Bitter Maja immediately. I do not want to fight in the heart of the capital against those Demons. The resulting damage would cripple our kingdom. Even if we managed to repel Furfur’s army, other mana species would scent our weakness and attack simultaneously. I doubt those Demons will keep quiet about our true identity as monsters!"

Mige narrowed his eyes, sensing a desperation rarely heard from Swa. "I understand, Swa. But butchering them is not the answer. Their deaths would only turn them into martyrs and fracture the kingdom. Right now, the Sylphs and Druids may remain quiet under Nerphyl’s watch, but we don’t know how long they will remain obedient. The dissatisfaction of the other races is at its boiling point. If we kill these Hobgoblins, the other races will view us as the enemy. Their numbers are too great to exterminate entirely, and if the survivors flee, they will leak our defensive secrets to the enemy."

"To hell with it! I didn’t think it would come to this. I thought with Leon’s capture, the other Hobgoblins would back down," Swa’s voice was hoarse, remembering Leon’s final words that had made his skin crawl.

"Where is Goku?" Mige asked, noticing the absence of the tall Asura among the ranks emerging from the tunnel.

Swa went silent, only shaking his head slowly. Mige flinched; a flash of deep sorrow crossed his eyes. "And the Elders?" he asked again. Swa’s response remained the same—a heavy shake of the head. Mige’s fists tightened, a sense of loss etched clearly on his face.

"Boku?" Swa asked in return, hoping the General of the New Battlefield hadn’t followed Goku’s path and had prioritized his duty.

"He and the rest of the New Battlefield forces will arrive in three days," Mige answered.

Swa exhaled a sigh of relief. He didn’t want the entirety of the Elders to be wiped out. Though no Asura feared death, loss was still painful. Swa could only hope that when Boku arrived, he wouldn’t impulsively charge Furfur. He hoped the smartest Elder would be able to suppress his feelings for the sake of Bitter Maja’s defense. The sacrifice of Goku and the other Elders had already bought them precious time.

"Then what do we do, Mige? We’re out of time," Swa asked, his heart racing.

Mige nodded calmly. "The Hobgoblins have submitted a formal list of demands to the kingdom. If their requests are met, they will return to work."

"What demands?"

"Read it for yourself," Mige said, handing him a slip of paper from his pocket.

Swa took it and began reading silently. Several points were written there, but they boiled down to three main items:

"A ban on Hobgoblin women marrying Asuras."

"A demand for the R-18 unit to focus research on "Mana Cream Cultivation" to make the evolution process easier and painless."

"A request for two seats on the Kingdom’s High Council, independent of Ez and Nedira’s positions."

Swa’s face soured upon reading the third point. "This is sheer insolence! Do they think the kingdom will grant these idiotic requests? What is this marriage ban? Do they think we force them? Isn’t there already a limit of four wives for every Asura? If there were no limit, perhaps every female Hobgoblin in this kingdom would have married an Asura by now! And the request regarding R-18? Moku has gone through hell to find ways for them to evolve stronger, yet they feel it’s not enough and want the research center to focus solely on their own interests! Selfish! Ridiculous! And Council seats? Have they no shame? Ez and Nedira are there because they are strong! We all lead departments for the same reason. Even most first-generation Asuras don’t have high positions! Now they just want titles handed to them? BASTARDS!!"

Swa glared at Mige. "Mige, we cannot grant these ridiculous demands!"

"I agree. Not just because the content is absurd, but if we surrender now, what’s to stop them from demanding other things in the future with the threat of a strike? If left unchecked, this kingdom will become the slave of the Hobgoblins," Mige replied firmly.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s just slaughter them before they get any more arrogant!"

"Wait, Swa! Before that, I want to resolve this without violence if possible. I have already requested the leaders of this strike to meet for a discussion tomorrow. I expect you to be there."