Lord of Rot

Lacy only remembered the boy because the Lord had specifically mentioned him last night. The Lord wanted the boy to participate in the selection. Otherwise, based on past experience, a youth so scrawny he looked like a gust of wind could blow him over would never have been allowed to take part.

”One at a time!” The veteran Soldier’s selection method was similar to Radish’s; he tested them all himself.

”You first!”

The first slave boy who was called rushed forward.

The veteran punched the slave boy in the face, and the boy immediately collapsed, motionless.

He was knocked out cold with a single punch!

His methods were far crueler than Radish’s. The fallen slave boy’s nose was broken, a miserable sight.

”You!” The veteran pointed to a second slave boy.

The boy glanced fearfully at the figure on the ground, unsure if he was dead or alive. He swallowed nervously, then charged.

The veteran caught the boy’s fist with one hand, twisted it sharply, and bent his arm behind his back, pressing it against the back of his head.

Then he gave a hard shove.

”THUD!”

The slave boy was slammed to the ground.

The veteran immediately pinned the boy’s head with his knee, raised his fist, and landed two consecutive punches to his ribs.

”I give up! Help me!” the slave boy screamed in pain.

The veteran spat. ”You can’t even handle a little pain, and you want to be a Soldier?”

He stood up, ignoring the whimpering slave boy on the ground, and addressed the rest of them. ”If you’re afraid of pain, afraid of suffering, afraid of hardship, you can crawl back to being slaves right now! Fall into my hands, and I’ll beat you until you’re spitting blood, qualified or not.”

He licked his lips and said, ”I fucking hate you worthless slaves! What makes you think you can be Soldiers? Being a Soldier is a chance to change your fate. Afraid of pain, afraid of death, and afraid of hardship? You all deserve to rot in the mines for the rest of your lives!”

Hearing these words, the eyes of the remaining slave boys reddened.

”Come on!” The moment the veteran gave the signal, another slave boy lunged.

He had only taken two steps before the veteran lifted a leg and kicked him in the chest. He flew backward for three feet before crashing heavily to the ground.

But the veteran’s insults had clearly ignited the boy’s youthful spirit and anger. Ignoring the pain and the blood on his lips, he scrambled up and charged the veteran again!

”THUD!”

”THUD! THUD! THUD...”

More than ten times in a row, he got up, was kicked away, and got up again.

Until he couldn’t move at all.

”You’ve got some stubborn bones.”

The veteran grinned, then looked to the next one. ”You, the skeleton. It’s your turn.”

Luca, having been called out, stepped forward.

From the last few fights, Luca had noticed the veteran was fond of kicking people in the chest, so as he charged, he crossed his arms to block it.

’Brainless. Only knows how to charge forward?’ The veteran scoffed and raised his foot, but remembering his orders, he held back. He was genuinely afraid a full-strength kick would kill the kid who was built like a beanpole.

His restrained kick landed on Luca’s crossed arms, but the expected scene of Luca flying backward didn’t occur.

’He blocked it!’ The veteran was startled.

A tremendous force traveled back up from his foot, surging through his body.

Then, the veteran found himself flying into the air.

’I was actually sent flying!’

”THUD!”

Landing hard on his rear, the veteran quickly came to his senses. Just as he was about to get up and counterattack, he saw Luca leap through the air, pounce, and straddle his chest. Luca then swung his skinny little arms, raining down punch after punch.

Though the arms were slender, the explosive power they unleashed shocked the veteran.

He blocked one punch with his forearm and felt as if his arm was about to break!

The veteran frantically twisted his head away. The fist grazed his cheek and slammed into the ground, THUDDING as it punched a small crater in the dirt.

’Shit, he could actually kill me!’

The veteran dodged frantically but still took several punches, blood spurting from his mouth.

Luca’s punches were too ferocious, and his stamina was gradually failing.

The veteran seized the opportunity, put all his strength into his legs, and bucked his hips upward!

Luca, who was straddling him, was thrown forward and sent flying.

The veteran immediately seized the chance to scramble to his feet.

Seeing Luca get up again, he hurriedly said, ”Alright, you pass!”

’If I don’t pass him, I’m going to get beaten to death.’

Lacy Sith, who was watching this scene, was shocked. ’A Transcendent?’

’No,’ he immediately refuted his own guess. ’Although Luca unleashed power far beyond a normal person’s, he isn’t a Transcendent yet. At the very least, a Transcendent wouldn’t be sent flying by a kick from that veteran.’

Even the weakest Transcendent has a body much stronger than an ordinary person’s, so Luca must be on the verge of awakening as a Transcendent.

The selections were nearing their end.

Not a single person under the amiable Radish managed to pass.

In contrast, the veteran, who sat in the shade of a tree watching the slave boys beat each other up, passed three of them.

In Luca’s group, he was the only one who passed.

Looking at the hundreds of bruised and battered youths before him, Lacy said, ”Stay behind for registration. Once you get your new identification tags, you can return to your dorms. We will assemble here again this afternoon.”

”Yes, sir!”

...

「At noon.」

Lacy took the files and went to find the Lord.

Leech was standing by the river.

Beside him, a male servant held an umbrella to shield him from the sun, while a female servant stood quietly by, holding a tray of drinks.

”Come on, little guy.” Leech took a fish from a nearby bucket, dangled it for a moment, and then tossed it into the river.

A small, furry creature with soaking wet fur emerged from the water, grabbed the fish with its two front paws, and immediately began to gnaw on it.

Its appearance, squinting as it nibbled on the fish, was incredibly cute. One look at the smiles on the young female servants’ faces was enough to know their hearts had been completely melted.

”Lacy.” Leech beckoned to him, then pointed at the little creature nibbling the fish in the water. ”What do you think of when you see this little guy?”

Lacy looked at the little creature, thought for a long moment, then shook his head. ”My apologies, Lord. I can’t think of anything.”

”This cute little fellow is an otter,” Leech said. ”They are excellent at catching fish. What do you think? If we could tame a group of them, could we improve our fishing efficiency?”

’Using fishing nets and having the otters drive the fish into them would definitely boost our fishing efficiency tremendously.’

’Especially since he was unwilling to commit too much manpower to fishing. An industrious little worker like an otter, who takes fish as its wages, couldn’t be more perfect.’

”We can!” Lacy nodded.

”We’ll have to wait for Pitz to return. I have no way of making these little guys obey me.” Leech wiped his hands and asked, ”How did the selections go?”

”320 passed.”

Lacy said, ”Also, that boy, Luca. He’s very strong. It’s highly likely he’ll become a Transcendent.”

Leech nodded and instructed, ”Keep a close eye on all the slaves. With over four thousand of them, it’s impossible that only one potential Transcendent will appear.”

”Yes, my Lord!”

”Bring me Luca’s file tonight,” Leech said.

Transcendants generally arise from natural talent; they are the chosen ones.

But more often, it comes from bloodline inheritance. The children of Transcendants have a much higher chance of becoming Transcendants themselves.

Or, they could use potions, like Leech.

You could say that every Transcendent is a treasure in themselves, or they possess a great fortune.

”Training will begin the day after tomorrow,” Leech said. ”Select the most outstanding group, have them eat silkworm pupae to improve their physique, and let’s see the final results. If it’s effective, we’ll expand our sericulture and add pupae directly to the Soldiers’ rations in the future.”

”Yes, sir!” Lacy nodded solemnly.

Lacy was well aware of the value of the pupae and crabs. Although they had little effect on Transcendants, an ordinary person who ate them would grow stronger and stronger.

For Porcupine Territory, the giant silkworms and Giant Crabs were both extremely low-cost farmed products. As long as there was a sufficient food supply, they could be cultivated on a large scale in a short amount of time.

Especially the silkworms.

Their spit silk could be made into silk fabric, and the protein-rich pupae were a treasure trove of uses.

The only problem was this dense forest. He wasn’t sure if it could sustain such an operation.