Gnawbone, a name that sounds rather crude to humans. Anyone with a bit of culture or a cultured family member would never agree to give themselves this name. However, in the history of the continent, this is not a simple name, especially for Transians.


    After all, 110 years ago, during the 4th ck Disaster, the gnoll king who conquered half the continent and nearly destroyed human civilization was called “Gnawbone”.


    When Murphy uttered the “true name” of the small gnoll before him, not only Tris but even little Ashina, who only knew a bit of history, widened their eyes.


    But she was truly clever, so she quickly understood what her Murphy was nning to do.


    Goodness!


    This is about fostering forces for internal disintegration and “peaceful evolution”!


    “Exin yourself clearly!”


    Tris, who also understood, questioned:


    “In your thinking, is it surnamed ‘Gnawbone’? Or is it from the ‘Gnawbone n’? These are two different concepts. The Gnawbone n is still in the Dark Mountain range, one of thergest ns among gnolls.I’ve heard they are very cruel to their own kind. If you let this fellow falsely im kinship, the oue definitely won’t be good.”


    “But this is in Transia, not actually in the Dark Mountain range. No matter how powerful the Gnawbone n is, they can’t interfere with Transia’s internal affairs, at least not yet!”


    Murphy waved his hand, maintaining a mysterious smile as he said:


    “I’ve been thinking, relying solely on my soldiers and warriors to clear out one den after another is too slow. Perhaps we can use a smarter method to end Transia’s gnoll gue more quickly.


    Even solve this hidden danger once and for all.


    If the ck Disaster is indeed certain toe, rather than waiting for Transia’s first warlord to be killed before a second appears, we might as well be decisive and grasp the power to choose the warlord in our own hands.


    Tris, even if my warriors kill all the gnolls, thisnd with its vast number of kobolds is still a problem. But I’ve heard kobolds are excellent at mining and digging holes.


    If I dere that Transia wees all homeless beings, then I must fulfill the promise I made to thisnd.


    Do you understand my meaning?”


    Murphy pointed at the skinny but already dazed gnoll in front of him and said:


    “It, they, the gnolls and kobolds, are they not residents of thisnd? I once told my regent that our Transia would not discriminate against any race, that no one would be pushed out of thisnd because of their ethnicity or appearance.


    This is an opportunity.


    Not just for it, but for me as well. Each race has its own talents and strengths, each race has its own value, and whether a lord can properly utilize the value of his subjects is a very important assessment criterion.


    So, it is Gnawbone.


    The son left behind in Transia after the Gnawbone King was defeated and died here 110 years ago.”


    “Grandson,”


    Tris corrected:


    “Gnolls don’t live that long. In the harsh environment of the Dark Mountain range, their average lifespan is 35 years. Even in conditions where survival pressure isn’t as great as in the outside world, gnolls can’t live past 70 years.”


    “Oh, right, grandson! This fits its supposed background even better.”


    Murphy took a few steps, circling around the trembling small gnoll in front of him.


    He stroked his chin and said in a drawn-out voice:


    “Legend has it that the Gnawbone King died on the way back to the Dark Mountain range while retreating from the Foul Swamp, but neither humans nor other races have been able to find the exact ce where that barbaric king fell. So when he was defeated, one of his offspring who had always followed him became separated from the Gnawbone n and had to stay in Transia.


    It knew it should inherit its father’s ambition to conquer the continent, butcking strength and fortune’s favor, it could only do its utmost to rally the local gnolls.


    But the suppression from the Blood Vulture n ultimately led to its dejected demise.


    Interbreeding with local gnolls allowed it to have offspring before death. The mixing of noble blood withmon blood caused the Gnawbone King’s grandson to lose the distinctive noble fur patterns of Moss Valley, even blending in with themon gnolls.


    The poor Gnawbone descendant inherited neither its grandfather’s strength nor its father’s will, but its innate cleverness and cunning allowed it to have its own small n in Transia.


    It originally thought its life would just pass like this.


    But fortunately or unfortunately, the ever-changing fate gave it an opportunity!


    Like other chosen ones, after a failed messenger job, it was finally pushed to the forefront of the era through the shame of being captured


    It has already sensed the call of destiny.


    It is very afraid.


    It doesn’t know whether to ept the goodwill from the Count of Kadman, but there’s a voice in its heart telling it this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”


    Murphy put his hand on the small gnoll’s shoulder and said in a low voice:


    “Why can that big-headed, brainless fool Kenport be a warlord? By what right can it rudely seize the n you’ve worked so hard to maintain? By what right can it upy your two favorite females? That self-proimed warlord in Anderma Hills is neither as cunning as you, nor can it understand at all what disaster its actions will bring to the local gnolls.


    And you’ve already witnessed the valor and ruthlessness of my warriors firsthand, that was just the vanguard I sent out!”


    The vampire pointed at the bewildered little Ashina and said:


    “I have a full 10,000 warriors like her! You have no chance of victory, but before facing death, you can still get an opportunity.


    I’m not asking you to be a traitor, Nash


    Uh, that name is too terrible, it has no distinctiveness at all!


    From today on, you’re called ‘Hog’!


    Hog Gnawbone!”


    Murphy patted the gnoll’s shoulder, using his Power of Desire to listen to this fellow’s inner voice.


    This wasn’t the first time the vampire had done this, he was already quite Proficient, like the best musician rhythmically plucking strings.


    He said:


    “Look, Hog, I’m not asking you to be a traitor!


    I’m just inviting you and your n to join us as the Governor of Transia, to be members who aren’t hated by thisnd. You’re not selling out your people’s interests or seeking personal gain.


    This is just an invitation, a different concept from betrayal.


    Of course, you also know that gnolls are full of violent individuals, wisdom hasn’t blessed them, leaving them ignorant and savage, satisfied with living like beasts.


    But is there even a shred of dignity in such a life?


    You can change all this.


    In previous eras, the entire continent gave you no choice, but now, Transia opens its arms to you. We wee gnolls like you who are intelligent, rational, and willing to ept order.


    New gnolls!


    That will be gnolls who bid farewell to barbarism and move towards civilization!


    You will be a pioneer, even entering the annals of history like your ancestor, the great Gnawbone King.


    I can even allocate territory to you!


    How about Smuggler’s Woods?


    Have you been there? Do you know it’s very fertile and upies key transport routes? Just nod, and it will be the territory for you and your n. No one will hunt you, and no one will even disturb you.


    I am the lord of thisnd, my word isw here. I can give you everything you want.”


    Murphy smiled.


    He had already captured that strange emotion floating in the heart of the skinny gnoll before him.


    It was indeed very clever, perhaps the blessing from Moss Valley truly awakened its wisdom. Not every gnoll could learn the Transiannguage, this fellow before them was an “oddity” among its kind.


    Murphy liked oddities!


    Oddities meant not being epted by their original environment.


    They would be more eager for recognition than others, more eager to see change and embrace it with a more positive attitude. Murphy was like this, Maxim was like this, Tris was like this.


    Even the youngdy, Adele, and Miriam were the same.


    Transia would be and ruled by oddities, destined to be out of ce with the rest of the continent.


    But that didn’t matter.


    Murphy knew that this gnoll, which he had just given a new name and “background story”, could also be one of their “oddities”.


    The prerequisite was that it had to convince itself.


    Well, the seed of desire had been nted, now he just needed to wait patiently for it to bloom and bear fruit. Murphy felt it wouldn’t take much time.


    “It seems you need some time to convince yourself.”


    Murphy waved his hand and said:


    “I’ve arranged a quiet enough cage for you, it’s in the darkness, and I’ve prepared clean water and food for you. You have 7 hours before dawn arrives.


    Go.


    Convince yourself.


    This isn’t something hard to ept, gnoll culture doesn’t have things like ‘dignity’ or ‘backbone’.


    Don’t always think about what you’ll lose, change your mindset, think more about what you can gain?


    That’s the winner’s mentality.”


    He gave little Ashina a meaningful look.


    She snapped to attention and escorted the skinny gnoll towards the detention area of the Blood Vulture Halls. After they left, Tris, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke:


    “It’s not that no one has tried tomunicate with gnolls before. After the first ck Disaster ended, there were insightful humans who attempted to sign contracts with gnolls, but it was useless, Murphy.


    With the gnolls’ terrible living environment and their overly barbaric inheritance methods, you simply can’t find a leader who can live long enough. Even if a contract is signed, there’s no guarantee their sessors will honor it.


    More importantly, the ck Disaster from the Dark Mountain range is a kind of naturalw.


    You can’t constrain it with civilized methods. Gnolls never have enough food, and they have to attack outwards if they don’t want to starve to death.”


    “That’s not a problem,”


    Murphy shook his head and said:


    “And it’s too far off to think about how topletely solve the ck Disaster now, Tris. I’m just making an attempt. Even if Hog can only bring me a small n of less than 100 people, it’s an absolute victory for me.


    Because I haven’t paid any cost at all.


    All the risks of choosing this path are borne by itself. In the initial stage of this n, I don’t even need to make any promises to it. Since there’s no loss, why not give it a try?


    If we killed it, all we’d get are a few teeth and ws.


    We may be poor, but we’re not short of such small things.”


    “That’s true,”


    Tris nodded, raising her hand somewhat dejectedly. She sighed and said:


    “So this is how the Power of Desire is used? I thought it was just a small means to listen to others’ inner voices, but after witnessing your technique of plucking heartstrings, I realize this thing has more radical uses.


    I’m starting to understand why I was so fanatical about wanting to see the seed of life take root and sprout back then, even willing to sacrifice my power and future for it.


    It turns out I was also one of the victims of the Power of Desire.”


    “I’m also exploring,”


    Murphy waved his hand and said:


    “If you praise me like this, I’ll be arrogant. Let’s talk about the main issue. Hog has brought us definite news about Kenport, the gnoll warlord in Anderma Hills.


    That fellow has already gathered an army of 17,000 gnolls, and it’s still continuously recruiting more gnolls. This has clearly exceeded the limit of what conventional tactics can handle. Even if I exhausted myself summoning otherworld spirits, I couldn’t solve it in a short time.


    But the good news is, we now know the specific location of thatrge bandit group.


    This means we might be able to use some ‘unconventional’ tactics, tactics that can turn the tide of battle in an instant.”


    “Hm?”


    Tris blinked her eyes. She heard a hint of ominousness in Murphy’s tone.


    She asked:


    “What do you n to do?”


    Murphy didn’t answer immediately.


    He looked up at the dome of the Blood Vulture Halls, but his gaze seemed to pierce through the bricks above to the starry sky above the earth.


    After a few seconds, he lowered his head, leaned close to Tris, and asked in a low voice:


    “The Astral Realm rending grand ritual, can you use it? Just like how the Circle Tower used it to destroy Kadman City, we can also replicate this tactic. I’ve even found someone who can guest star for precise positioning.


    If we time it right, forget about 17,000, even 100,000 gnolls could be annihted in one battle.


    The best part is, we don’t need to initiate a ritual asrge-scale as the Circle Tower’s.


    Just a third or even a quarter of the scale would be more than enough.”


    Tris held her breath.


    Her bewitching eyes danced with contemtive light, apanied by the calctions and deliberations of a Spirit Sovereign’s expertise in this professional field. After fifteen seconds of thought, she said:


    “The principle of Astral Realm rending isn’t difficult, and Transia already has the existence of the Astral Realm Rift. That thing makes the separation between the material world and the Astral Realm near thisnd unstable. In the current situation, initiating that kind of ritual would indeed be easier.


    But this is risky, little Murphy.


    We still can’t understand what changes therge-scale entry of wild and foul Astral Realm spirit energy into the material world would bring here. And precisely because the separation between the two dimensions is unstable, I can’t guarantee that once the spell seeds, it won’t produce worse results.


    For example—”


    “A second Astral Realm Rift?”


    Murphy stroked his chin and said:


    “Indeed, this risk is quite high. What if we reduced the ritual scale to a safe threshold?”


    “Then the destructive power wouldn’t be enough,”


    Tris shook her head and said:


    “Under the premise of ensuring absolute safety, the Astral Realm rending I could induce wouldn’t even be one-tenth the scale of Kadman City’s doomsday. If they stand densely enough, it might be able to take out a few hundred at once.


    But that would be the limit.”


    “That’s fine, it’s enough!”


    Murphy waved his hand and said:


    “The true power of this thing isn’t actually in its killing power, but in the interference with ordinary life’s thinking and the intimidation it brings to emotions and minds after the Astral Realm rift is opened. For gnolls with theirpletely unguarded savage minds, they’d probably go mad the instant they’re hit by the Astral Realm Spirit st.


    And dealing with a group of terrified barbarians is definitely easier than dealing with tens of thousands of rampaging pigs.


    Let’s go with this n.


    Femis can just be your assistant, and those ck Iron Rank Spirit Mages among my warriors can also guest star.


    They’ve been here for so long, it’s time to give them something truly powerful, to let them truly experience the majesty of being Spirit Mages. We can’t really satisfy them with just being the most ordinary foot soldiers.


    Power can bring dignity and satisfaction, and this is exactly what they need most in this otherworld.


    Don’t you agree?”