1 Becoming Spoils of War

A formation of griffins circled above Talantum.

The golden sunlight shone through the triumphal arch below them, and the fanatical crowd waved flowers and ribbons to welcome the returning army.

Squeak...

The wooden carriage shook like a bed on a wedding night. Seated within the carriage as a trophy, Lin Lei watched all this with utter boredom.

'Goodbye, my Earth.'

He was a young man in the 21st century, but he woke up in this foreign world where slavery was still in existence.

A society where slavery still existed was not that scary. What was scary was that he became a slave.

He was not able to stay in his own tribe for long before Talantum's army charged in. Faced with the gleaming short swords, Lin Lei wisely chose to surrender.

There was no helping it. Even when confronting the swords, he still had his rationality.

The body he had transmigrated to was the tribe's sacrifice, which was quite rare.

Just like how people liked to catch rare Pokemons, he could save himself from the fate of being killed by the murderous Tanlantum people. 

But that was all.

In a foreign world where the Geneva Convention had not been signed, he almost starved to death after being a prisoner for half a month.

Only when the army had entered the city to hold the triumphant ceremony did the commander think of Lin Lei, a reserve-duty slave. This was how Lin Lei, who had barely survived by eating insects, was able to welcome a limited ray of hope.

Right now, Lin Lei's malnourished body was extremely weak. His skin, which had been forcefully washed with lime water, was sickly pale. However, his orc face of the Fox Clan pleased the commander.

Although the appearance of orcs was generally not in line with human aesthetics, the fox orcs were an exception.

There was an old phrase in Talantum, which was 'moon face'. It meant that a person was good-looking. The origin of the phrase was to describe fox orcs.

In terms of appearance, the fox orcs were on par with the Balhu elves.

Thus, Lin Lei was able to enjoy VIP treatment as a prisoner.

The other slaves could only be dragged forward by horses with their hands tied, while he could sit high on the prisoner carriage and be watched by the people.

In the crowd, some of the young women were still rather shy, only daring to sneak peeks at him. However, some married women were much bolder, and their hungry gazes seemed to be able to pierce a hole through Lin Lei.

Occasionally, a few wreaths were thrown into the carriage, and the faces of the regimental commanders in the front who were making their triumphant return turned green.

The only emotion they felt was regret.

"Motherf*cker! An orc has stolen our limelight!"

However, this parade finally came to an end.

The gorgeous purple flag was raised high, and the long spears shining with a cold light spread out along the way. The royal guards appeared on both sides of the road.

As the three-meter-long bone horn of an unknown giant beast rang, the army commander rode on an eight-legged white horse and slowly advanced to the cheers of the crowd.

Olive branches and petals fell from the sky, pushing the celebration to a climax.

Lin Lei's fate had reached a turning point.

Lin Lei did not care about the self-glorification of the victors, but the way they dealt with slaves made his heart turn cold.

In order to celebrate the annihilation of all the orc clans in the Talantum Kingdom, His Majesty decided to extend the celebration by a month.

All the orc slaves would be thrown into the coliseum, and their blood would be used to please the people and gods of Talantum.

How could Lin Lei have expected this to happen? He thought that with his face, the worst possible outcome would be to become a sex slave to some noble.

Beast fighting was a blind spot in his knowledge. He had never even killed a chicken in his two lifetimes, let alone a wild beast.

This decision made the girls in the crowd extremely sad, and some of them could not control their emotions and even cried.

On the other hand, the soldiers were secretly pleased.

Just now, they even had the thought of stabbing this pretty boy to death with their own hands. Now, they could only gloat at his misfortune.

Dying in the mouth of a wild beast was the only ending worthy of this pretty boy.

In fact, not to mention the soldiers, even the slaves present were secretly happy.

No matter how much he showed off, he was still going to die just like them. 

After the ceremony ended, Lin Lei and his fellow tribesmen were thrown into the underground prison in the coliseum.

A basket of fragrant baked bread was carried to the cell and fell to the ground with a dull sound.

A thick soup made from some kind of block-shaped rhizome was distributed to the prisoners. This was their first full meal after being hungry for a long time. 

The fragrant food triggered some of the prisoners' sentimentality, and as they ate, their tears and snot flowed uncontrollably into the bowl.

At first, it was just a soft sobbing, but then the sadness started to spread.

"What are you crying for?!"

As the crying became louder and louder, the guards became impatient and pulled out the person who was crying the most.

The long whip made of cow leather was dipped in salt water, and the whipping only stopped after the fierce jailer broke it.

The prisoners only stopped the commotion after the badly mutilated body was thrown into the cell.

In the air, the smell of blood mixed with the smell of excrement mixed together into an unbearable stench that made Lin Lei feel rather nauseated.

A bear orc looked at the nauseated Lin Lei with a look of ridicule on his face.

"Why, it turns out that even the noble priest would live to see such a day!" 

Lin Lei glanced at him, then said, "As a warrior who surrendered, you're only fit to bring shame to the Ancestral God."

Once the orcs of the Bear Clan grew up, their height would be no less than three meters, so they were natural warriors of the orc clans.

On the battlefield, these bear warriors could directly charge at the cavalry, showing their ferocity.

In the culture of the bear orcs, dying in battle was something to be proud of. Having been a priest for a while, Lin Lei did not mind saying the most unpleasant things.

The bear orc wanted to roll his eyes at Lin Lei's words, but after a while, he finally came to a realization with his limited brain capacity.

"Didn't you f*cking surrender as well?!"

"What the hell do you know? I did it as a stop-gap measure. I'll now start preparing to make a comeback." Lin Lei had also grown quite thick-skinned.

"This is the Ancestral God's divine decree. You won't understand unless you're blessed by them."

The bear orc's face was red even through his black hair. He opened his mouth and said, "What bullsh*t Ancestral God! Where were they when our tribe was destroyed?"

"If you're really the oracle, ask the Ancestral God to come and save us!"

The roar was so loud that the warden walked to the door of the cell with special shoes made of wooden soles.

"Oh, you're quite strong. Very good."

The head warden cracked the leather whip in his hand. "You're so energetic. I choose you.

"It's the first fight in the coliseum today, and we're just lacking someone that would add to the program.

"Get him out. He'll be the one to perform today."

The bear orc's face turned ashen.

A moment later, he looked helplessly at Lin Lei."Um, can I be blessed by the Ancestral God?"

"Go on. The Ancestral God will bless you with invincibility."

It was not clear whether the bear orc had accepted his fate or if he truly believed Lin Lei's nonsense, but he walked out on his own with a look of relief on his face.

Then, the news of his death was quickly sent back.

Upon hearing this news, Lin Lei's eyes almost popped out of his head.

He had seen the bear warriors of the tribe before. They could break the neck of a buck with their bare hands and wrestle with the ogres.

What the hell did those damn people of Talantum put in the arena?