Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1360 - 1353: Killing by Borrowing a Knife

Chapter 1360: Chapter 1353: Killing by Borrowing a Knife

"Since Luo’er isn’t an enforcer for the Demon Clan, why the hell is he getting involved in this mess?" Cheng Ziang asked curiously.

"The boss is in charge of the naturalization of Kyushu people. When Kyushu people are in trouble, he’s bound to step in, you know what he’s like," Hu Daoke shrugged helplessly.

"You have to admit the Beast-Ear Race is pretty clever, knowing well that Luo’er doesn’t want to take sides, so they just stir up trouble between the Beast Head Tribe and the Kyushu people to drag him in," Cheng Ziang mused.

"What do you mean ’stir up trouble’? The Beast Head Tribe is a mess that can’t stand on its own. If you leave them be, they’ll immediately make big headlines," Hu Daoke said with another shrug.

"But after all, there’s deep-seated hatred between the Beast Head Tribe and the Kyushu people. We can’t just think rationally about this," Cheng Ziang said.

"The boss said, Kyushu people are Kyushu people, Dongsheng Empire is Dongsheng Empire. There’s a clear debt and a debtor. The Dongsheng Empire waged war, and these people were conscripted labor. Only a part of them were soldiers, it’s not the same thing at all," Hu Daoke explained, spreading his hands.

"Oh, stop your yapping. It looks like your boss has run into trouble. Aren’t you going to help?" Cheng Ziang interrupted, pointing to the increasingly intense dispute in the distance.

"What do you mean ’your boss’? Isn’t he your boss, too?" Hu Daoke glared at him.

"I call Luo’er, or Captain, not boss like you do, making it sound like some gang," Cheng Ziang said unhurriedly.

"Cut the crap, and come down with me now!" Hu Daoke cut him off, forcefully dragging him down from the city wall.

On the street, bystanders watched from a distance, observing the standoff between the Kyushu residents and the Beast Head Tribe, with Luo’er standing in the middle, feeling like a man without a country. His mediation seemed feeble due to his poor command of Chinese, leaving him no choice but to watch the two sides exchange verbal blows.

The Kyushu residents’ confidence stemmed from Luo’er. As long as Luo’er stood in the middle, they dared to curse the Beast-headed people opposite them with the nastiest language. You could maintain order with guns, but mediation was all about language, and on that front, even Luo’er felt rather helpless.

The two made their way through the crowd, heading straight for Luo’er. Seeing them approach, Luo’er smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"You’re really on track to become a police chief," Cheng Ziang teased with a half-smile.

"Enough talk, hurry up and call the Patrol Team," Luo’er replied with a strained smile.

"Go on, what are you waiting for?" Cheng Ziang turned and spoke to Hu Daoke, who was in a daze, after hearing Luo’er’s words.

"You mean send me?" Hu Daoke blinked, pointing to himself in surprise.

"Who else? It’s a task your boss set up," Cheng Ziang shrugged.

"No, I mean, he didn’t specify who should go," Hu Daoke countered.

"Oh come on, your boss assigns a task, and you give me all these excuses. Do you think that’s proper?" Cheng Ziang said with a relaxed smile.

"You..." Hu Daoke pointed at him, his teeth clenched in anger, "Brat, unlike you, I listen to the boss, you damn mutt!"

He turned and stormed off. Watching his retreating figure, Cheng Ziang rubbed his nose, thinking getting scolded was a fair trade for not having to run the errand.

Meanwhile, the Kyushu residents and the Beast Head people continued arguing. Since they had started learning Chinese, Cheng Ziang could understand a bit. The Kyushu residents were probably cursing the Beast-headed people for being unreasonable, while the Beast-headed folks harped on about what the Dongsheng army had done to them.

Luo’er felt rather helpless about it as both sides kept the spat verbal. As long as they didn’t come to blows, Luo’er found no way to intervene.

"Luo’er, it’s not good for you to show favoritism right now," Cheng Ziang said casually, watching Luo’er’s distressed look.

"Stop with the wisecracks, please hurry up and get the Patrol Team," Luo’er said helplessly.

"I reckon the Patrol Team won’t make it in time. You’d better make a decision quickly, whether to side with the people of Kyushu or the Beast-headed people," Cheng Ziang said cross-armed.

"What do you mean?" Luo’er asked, startled.

"Can’t you see? There are soldiers from the Beast-Ear Race on the city walls," Cheng Ziang pointed at the distant ramparts and said, "The Beast-Ear Race has made it clear they want you to choose a side this time, and a poor choice could be disadvantageous to everyone."

"It’s just a minor squabble," Luo’er said.

"It’s no longer just a simple squabble," Cheng Ziang said, "In fact, there is no right or wrong among them; whoever you decide is right, you’ll stand by them."

"So, what should I do?" After a moment of contemplation, Luo’er asked with a grave expression.

"What else can you do? Make a choice quickly," Cheng Ziang shrugged and said, "You shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place."

"But not getting involved could have cost lives," Luo’er said, frowning.

"Ah... indeed..." Cheng Ziang held his forehead and couldn’t help but sigh.

He knew Luo’er all too well. By his standards, Luo’er was a very typical Confucian general: decisive and ruthless towards enemies but kind and generous towards his own people.

Political struggles like these are bound to be fatal; otherwise, nothing would be accomplished. But for Luo’er, even if it were a trap, he would jump in without hesitation if it meant saving lives.

Cheng Ziang had no intention of criticizing Luo’er’s naïveté. Or perhaps, he should say that it was the very aura of benevolence exuding from Luo’er that deserved to be learned from.

Luo’er must have known it was a trap; otherwise, he would not have been recognized by everyone on the Advance Team as their legitimate Captain. Yet, he still leaped in without looking back, which was what Cheng Ziang admired the most.

Because the two were conversing in Chinese, neither group understood their dialogue and continued to confront each other.

"How about this, we have two people here, one for each group. We’ll spank each side thirty times, and consider it as if nothing happened," Cheng Ziang suggested after some thought.

"Wouldn’t that be unfair to the victims?" Luo’er asked hesitantly.

"What do you care about fairness?" Cheng Ziang shrugged and said, "The situation now is that as soon as you make a decision, you have to pick a side. The best thing to do is to muddy the waters. Don’t underestimate this method; muddying the waters is one of the most effective tactics in political struggles."

"Alright then, my Kyushu language is not bad. I’ll calm these Kyushu folk, and you take care of the Beast-headed people," Luo’er said after a moment of thought, nodding.

"You should have just let them go right from the start, instead of firing shots to stop them all," Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but complain as he walked over to Luo’er.

So, with the mediation of the two, the two groups finally stopped cursing, but the grudge between them had been set.

With Luo’er’s help, these Kyushu people were not the least bit afraid of the Beast-headed people, because to some extent, the Beast Head Tribe were also outsiders in Ziye Ning, just like them. And the local people had long since accepted them, even many having a wife from the Beast-Ear Race waiting for them at home.

The effects of Luo’er’s assimilation campaign were very striking. Under the relentless promotion of his publicity team, Kyushu people quickly integrated into Demon Clan society, and the land and partners provided by the Demon Clan expedited their integration into production and construction, caring little about the difference between humans and demons anymore.

Though the taxes levied by Abisien were still heavy, compared with the alternating exploitation by Kyushu’s three great mountains, such taxes seemed much lighter to these Kyushu folk.

The reason for imposing heavy taxes was simple: the Demon Clan army needed to mount another southern campaign until they had chased every last force of the Dongsheng Empire out of West Outer Heaven.

The crisis ended in a relatively compromising manner. In the end, Hu Daoke failed to find the Patrol Team and had to return empty-handed. The situation was as Cheng Ziang had predicted: the Beast-Ear Race was obviously intent on inciting conflict between the Kyushu folk and the Beast Head Tribe so that they could justifiably ostracize the entire Beast Head Tribe.

When they first campaigned south, the Beast Head Tribe was the main force of the Demon Clan army. But as military technology advanced by leaps and bounds, the equipment of the Beast-Ear Race saw significant improvement. The combat effectiveness of the Beast Head Tribe within the Demon Clan army became increasingly marginal. In the later battles, it was almost always the linear infantry of the Beast-Ear Race that won the day, with the Beast Head Tribe having little to do with it.