Human Discrimination Never Changes

In a certain room, King Coreck spoke to Barlock without a hint of shame, "I'm sorry, but I have to change my promise to you. It's not that I'm breaking my word; you know the reasons yourself... Your crazy words in the arena, exaggerated by Duke Delta, have already spread to the ears of the nobles. No one has come to trouble you immediately, which is the result of my suppression. But if you don't pay any price, it's impossible."

Barlock remained calm, showing no emotional fluctuations, simply nodding and saying, "I'm listening, Your Majesty!"

Coreck always felt that there was a hint of sarcasm in Barlock's indifferent tone, and his nonchalant demeanor made him very displeased! He couldn't help but furrow his brow, feeling a deep aversion towards the orcish youth—human nature was despicable; they were always like this. When they needed others, they would speak calmly and make seemingly beautiful promises. But once the value of orcs was gone, they would reveal their true nature. Barlock had already seen through King Coreck; his discrimination against the orcish race, like that of other humans, had never changed. The rumors outside claimed that he was a king who treated orcs kindly, but it was just a show, a display of his image as a benevolent ruler! Perhaps this kindness would be given to human subjects, but never to orcs.

"In the upcoming arena battle, you need to participate with your kin, as long as you deliver a satisfactory performance as guests of the Audria Empire. I will keep my promise, grant you freedom, and provide you with generous rewards." King Coreck said, seemingly feeling that his persuasion was insufficient, and added a few more words, "You can rest assured that I won't arrange for you to participate in fights to the death. Although casualties are unavoidable, the vast majority of your kin will survive."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, your kindness moves me. I have no objections and will fully comply with your will." Barlock bowed and said, a smile spreading across his face, seemingly genuine and mild.

"Very well, you may leave now! As a precaution, come back tomorrow to treat Claire once again, and then go to the arena with your kin to prepare for the performance at the end of next month!" King Coreck waved his hand to dismiss Barlock, feeling a bellyful of anger towards this orc with a face full of mockery. He had almost lost control of his emotions just now, so he quickly let him go to avoid losing control again!

Barlock turned and left gracefully, but suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned back, "Your Majesty, your writ of authority won't expire, will it?"

"Of course not. It remains valid until the end of the arena performance. Moreover, it's not limited to the arena; you are a free man and can come and go as you please in the Padia Royal City."

"Sincere thanks, Your Majesty." Barlock then expressed his gratitude a bit more seriously before turning and leaving!

...

Barlock thought Lady Selene would stay in the palace for a while, but when he came out, she was already sitting in the carriage waiting for him.

Getting into the carriage, they departed slowly. Barlock suddenly noticed that Lady Selene's face still had a lingering blush, as if her excitement hadn't subsided. "Lady Selene, are you alright?"

Barlock asked with concern, but his question earned him a glare from Lady Selene, who huffed, "It's none of your business...!" Then she fell into deep thought. Barlock was left dumbfounded, unsure how he had offended her. After some thought, he attributed it to a woman's hysterics and lay back, closing his eyes and saying no more!

...

Passing by the arena, Barlock got off the carriage and told Lady Selene that he might not be back until late, then walked into the towering building of the arena. Lady Selene hesitated for a moment, then suddenly asked the coachman to take her back to Duke Delta's mansion! That was her nominal home, and even though she had to face the man she detested because of the king's orders, she had no choice but to go back. The thought of what the king had asked her to do filled Lady Selene's heart with despair and shame! There was a moment when she even entertained the crazy idea... almost couldn't resist the temptation to find a **, just to get rid of her first time... anything was better than giving in to that debauched man!

Queen Susan's words in the palace still echoed in her mind: "Selene, my sister, if you want to find an orc to **, that's fine. Which noblewoman hasn't done something scandalous? But remember, don't truly fall in love with an orc. Well... Barlock is indeed a rare handsome orc, so it's not surprising that you're infatuated with him! But his fur determines that he will never be human. You two are destined to have no future, so end this absurd relationship rationally while it's still shallow. If you can't make up your mind, let me do it. I can give him enough money, grant him lifelong freedom, and let him leave Padia...!"

It seemed that everyone misunderstood her relationship with Barlock, and Barlock himself understood it too, but he never bothered to explain. Because this misunderstanding worked to his advantage, allowing him to conceal many things under this identity.

"Damn Barlock, don't you know how much damage this has caused to my reputation?" Lady Selene complained all the way, venting all the messy things on Barlock. She herself didn't realize... when a woman complained about everything to a man, her emotions were already very subtle...!

Barlock appeared once again in the arena, where the orcs had already begun their training. None of the gladiator instructors came over to guide them; instead, they gathered all the human gladiators together for training. Selt, who had been injured recently, had instructed them not to let the human gladiators slack off in training... Once his injuries healed, he would select elite gladiators from among them to face the orcs in a life-and-death duel!

Eighty-nine orcs were isolated in a secluded corner of the arena, never having received combat or team training. They swung wooden swords clumsily, their movements stiff and awkward, prompting occasional bursts of laughter from the human gladiators in the distance. The orcs felt frustrated and despondent; even if they wanted to train seriously, they didn't know where to start.

"Clap, clap, clap," Barlock walked over, clapping his hands loudly and shouted, "My fellow kin, listen up!" Holding his battle axe in his right hand and a medium-sized shield in his left, he waited until all the orcs had gathered around before speaking, "Don't try to learn the human martial arts; those may not necessarily be suitable for us. Have you ever seriously considered that we are orcs? If we only consider physical strength without magic or Qi, orcs are undoubtedly the strongest."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Barlock was right; orcish strength far surpassed that of humans, which was their advantage.

"Moreover, you should know that this is the arena, where the use of magic and Qi is not allowed. So this is basically the realm of orcs. Facing humans who are half as strong as us, what reason do we have to be afraid?"

"But, Barlock..." Barotan raised a question, hesitating, "Human martial arts are very powerful; their speed and techniques can compensate for our shortcomings. In the arena, many times we haven't even approached them, and yet we've been struck in vital spots by them. If it were on the battlefield, we would have died many times over."

Barlock didn't speak but instead threw the shield in his hand at Barotan, "Barotan, pick up the shield and hold it properly."

Barotan picked up the shield, puzzled, and was about to ask what Barlock was up to when he saw Barlock raise his battle axe and roar, then viciously chop down! Before Barotan could react, the sharp battle axe had already split the shield in half.

"Crack, creak," with a layer of iron skin and a coil of oil-soaked wild vines, the hard shield was split in half by Barlock's swing. If he hadn't pulled back his strength in time, Barotan might have been split in half as well. Even so, it still left Barotan pale with fright! The other orcs were also uncertain about what Barlock was doing, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Barotan, tell me, if I asked you to chop this shield, could you break it?" Barlock asked.

"I could... but not as powerfully as you!" Barotan replied after a moment of thought, feeling that with all his strength, he could achieve a similar effect as Barlock just did.

"Very well, everyone saw that, right? This is the strength of us orcs. If a human were to chop, at most they would leave a deep mark on the shield," Barlock looked at everyone, almost with a fierce grin on his face, and shouted, "We may not have the agility of humans, or their exquisite martial arts, but we have our own formidable strength. Perhaps when we fight alone, we may not even have the chance to chop a human's shield. But when ninety of us stand together swinging our battle axes, human martial arts and agility become a laughable joke. They may be able to dodge one axe, but can they dodge ninety axes?"

The eyes of the orcs lit up, and Barlock continued to incite, "To hell with their combat techniques, to hell with their human martial arts! We are orcs, with boundless strength. Everything in our way just needs to be chopped, chopped, chopped...! We don't need to train for anything; we just need to trust our brothers and protect our backs. We only charge forward, killing everything in front of us, to fight for our freedom! Human discrimination against us orcs has never changed; let them go to hell. We'll use our battle axes to fight for freedom! Orcs... Freedom... Orcs... Freedom!"

Barlock didn't know why, but those last words came out completely unplanned, perhaps because he had been repressed for too long and needed to vent! But the effect was surprisingly good; the orcs were all fired up, and even the old orc Zyad, enduring the pain in his shoulder wound, raised his hands and roared along with Barlock!

...

A fat figure watched Barlock and the orcs from a corner of the arena. Seth's small eyes gleamed as he muttered to himself, "This orc can't be allowed to live; otherwise, he will inevitably cause trouble for humans. But... he can still be used to do some things! Before that... let's maximize the benefits!"