Chapter 366: Taking Over the Orc Camp

Having just endured a fierce battle, everyone was utterly exhausted. Without caring about appearances, they sat on the ground, each using their own secret methods of cultivation to recover as quickly as possible. Ironically, Tumisan, who had been seriously injured and missed the second half of the fight, was the only one still capable of some degree of vigilance. He stood to the side, keeping watch for the group.

Charlot’s right arm trembled slightly—he knew exactly what was happening. He strode boldly toward the corpse of Amisfida, a chain emerging from his arm and piercing into the Lion King's body. Everyone knew Charlot practiced Blood Glory, so no one paid attention to him claiming the “spoils.” After all, the dead lion was of no further use.

On the back of Amisfida, a grotesque face suddenly displayed a look of horror. It struggled desperately, but as it had not yet gained control of Amisfida’s body, its efforts were futile. The face twisted in silent agony, incapable of making a sound as it had not yet seized the lion’s throat.

...

More than half an hour passed, and Charlot began to feel uneasy. “This lion is surprisingly tough! Why hasn’t the Blood Rhinoceros made any progress devouring it?” he mused.

Curious, Charlot pressed his hand slightly against the chain. A segment of the Blood Rhinoceros chain emerged, pierced his right arm, and flooded his mind with an unusual will. This will was peculiar, continuously posing bizarre, almost nonsensical questions. At first, Charlot attempted to answer a few, but he soon realized they were either unsolvable riddles, questions requiring knowledge he lacked, or philosophical quandaries.

Feeling his head spinning, Charlot sensed the magnitude of the danger. Recognizing this, he counterattacked by sending back a few basic math problems. Starting with simple arithmetic, he escalated to high school geometry and algebra, then moved on to college-level mathematics.

As a former mathematics teacher, Charlot was a master at crafting exams. Each time he sent over a test, the will quieted momentarily. Emboldened, Charlot began producing one test after another without concern for difficulty, piling on challenges even he couldn’t solve.

After sending over a hundred tests, Charlot sensed the will collapsing. Following its trail, he entered a strange space where a grotesque creature composed of countless human faces howled in fury.

A thought occurred to him: if the creature stumped him with its questions, he would be annihilated, but if he outwitted it, he would reap tremendous rewards. Driven by this realization, Charlot transformed into an unyielding question machine. One complex problem after another rained down. For each unsolvable question, a face would disintegrate.

Eventually, Charlot unleashed his “ultimate weapon,” dumping renowned mathematical conjectures onto the creature. The mass of faces barely resisted, disintegrating one by one until its core consciousness was obliterated.

...

As the will collapsed, Amisfida’s body rapidly decayed, leaving behind only a sense of closeness between the Blood Rhinoceros and Charlot.

Sweating profusely, Charlot finally understood how perilous the situation had been. “It wasn’t Amisfida or the Blood Rhinoceros,” he realized in alarm. “It was the Eye of Fate! That thing tried to invade my soul!”

“What a sinister artifact!” he thought. “Luckily, it didn’t know math, and fortunately, I used to be a math teacher.”

Now, the Blood Rhinoceros, though fundamentally changed, seemed utterly dependent on Charlot. The artifact, previously resistant and independent, had been thoroughly “formatted” by the Eye of Fate and Charlot’s math barrage.

...

Red Hawk, regaining some strength, noticed Charlot working alone and asked, “Mr. Mecklenburg, where is my brother?”

Charlot pulled out a mirror, releasing Red Hawk’s brother from the Infinite Mirror World. “I hid him there because I feared I couldn’t protect him in the orc camp. You can take him now—he’s a fine young man,” Charlot said.

Relieved, Red Hawk thanked Charlot. “If not for you, Mr. Mecklenburg, I wouldn’t have been reunited with my brother. If there’s ever anything you need, as long as it’s within my power, I won’t refuse.”

Charlot smiled gently. “It was the right thing to do, Ms. Red Hawk. No need to dwell on it.” Still, he felt a pang of regret; her gratitude made it clear she would not pledge allegiance to him. Charlot had hoped to recruit another Saint-rank ally, even though he already had three.

“Top-tier power is never excessive,” Charlot thought wistfully as Red Hawk departed with her brother.

...

Antonio and his knights, having mostly recovered, bid farewell. Antonio planned to bring Anne Mecklenburg back to Strasbourg, accompanied by Grandma Saint Karen. Tumisan and Sabastine, aware Charlot could handle the orc camp without Saint-rank assistance, also prepared to leave. Menielman urgently needed reinforcements, so the two Saints offered their aid.

Though reluctant to part with their strength, Charlot agreed. Before Sabastine left, he gifted her all the warships under his command, reasoning they would be more effective in her hands than lying idle. Charlot had no interest in crossing the Red Dragon Strait to wage war on the southern orcs.

Nine Saint-rank allies had departed, yet Charlot remained confident in taking over the orc camp. After all, he still had three formidable allies: the Golden Ram Herolf, Black Dragon, and Silverback Gorilla Choudrou.

(Well, Herolf wasn’t technically an orc.)

Charlot, ever patient, waited three days for his three Saint-rank followers to recover fully before advancing on the camp.

His goal wasn’t conquest—it was integration.

...

The orc camp, housing tens of thousands from various tribes, was a rough coalition with no unified leadership. They followed Amisfida solely due to his overwhelming strength, not because of any legal or ritualistic authority.

With Amisfida dead, the Black Dragon and Choudrou naturally became the camp’s most authoritative figures. Though many orcs had witnessed them teaming up with others to bring down Amisfida, the camp’s inhabitants didn’t resist. To them, following Amisfida or the Black Dragon made little difference.

Unexpectedly, Charlot found himself effortlessly taking control of the camp. His first task was to secure all cities north of the Red Dragon Strait.

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