The Record of Orc Civilization-Chapter 112 The Offering Table
Volx, Tam, and Nerphyl glanced at each other, they decided for Nerphyl to be the spokesperson for the three of them. Nerphyl alighted on Tam's head and began to speak.
"Beforehand Ku, I want to make sure to what extent you know the current condition of the monsters" said Nerphyl with a formal intonation.
Nerphyl is always good at choosing vocabulary and the intonation of the voice that she uses according to the place and time, when Moku is leading as a Ku then Nerphyl always calls him KuMoku or Ku, when Moku is in a state of being her husband Nerphyl always calls him by the name Moku.
Coincidentally Moku chose Kabau as his family name which means buffalo. He wanted to remember where he came from and where his hometown was. Even though Moku can no longer go home, at least he can make a new family in this world.
Moku nodded and started to say whatever Boku had told him. He knew all the trouble this caravan was facing and the dangers of Glittering Meadow. Moku just doesn't know the two routes the search team has found.
Making sure that there wasn't any information that Moku didn't know yet, Nerphyl started to add "The search teams have currently managed to find two routes to get to Wolf Slope Mountain. I'll explain the pros and cons of these two routes.
The first route is a route that passes through the swamps, we will descend along the river and then circle the swamp before turning back and continuing our journey by following the creek until we reach Wolf Slope Mountain.
The main pro of the route is that there are no dangerous mutated animals along the route, there are only a few copper and iron tier dangers that the orcs can defeat without you having to intervene against them. This route also passes through areas that are not covered with snow when winter arrives.
The cons of this route is that the journey will be further because we have to take a detour around the swamp. Even though when we are swamped we already out of Glittering Meadow but as we will still enter it to turn around and follow the creek to Wolf Slope Mountain.
The second route is one that follows the creek that goes straight up Wolf Slope Mountain. The search team managed to find a large river which is the confluence of several tributaries. By following this big river we will get to Wolf Slope Mountain faster.
The pro of this route is that the travel distance is faster. Although we still have to pass Glittering Meadow but we will not linger in this meadow too long because we do not need to go around the swamp.
The cons of this route is that after passing through Glittering Meadow we will immediately encounter snowy and steep roads. Then the number of mutated animals that live in that place is unknown. We don't know if there is a King Territory there or not, but from some mutated animals that the search team can investigate, if there is a King, he is a solitary mutated animal that doesn't live in a colony." 𝑓𝔯𝑒e𝘸e𝘣𝓷𝘰ѵe𝚕.c૦𝙢
Nerphyl steady her hyperventilation after speaking with just two breaths. She didn't want to waste time pausing on each sentence. The problems facing the monster caravan right now were very complicated, they didn't know when the humans would come after them. Even if they could survive human pursuit, The King whose territory the orcs had harass would kill them first.
Nerphyl knows that Moku is able to fight a gold tier danger mutated animal alone and maybe with his current strength Moku can face a platinum tier danger mutated animal. However, the title The King is not only given to gold and platinum tier danger mutated animals, but also to mithril, orichalcum, and admantitie tier danger mutated animals.
And if The King of Glittering Meadow is an orichalcum or admantitie tier danger mutated animal, then it is certain that the monster species will become extinct if they attacking them.
Moku understood their predicament so he worked his brain quickly and thought through all the route options in detail. Moku also activates his inner eye to sharpen his intuition, sometimes the best choice doesn't come from logic but from intuition.
The three monsters were silent and didn't move at all, they didn't want to disturb Moku who was thinking about the life and death decisions of all the monsters. They remained patiently waiting until a few minutes later Moku opened his mouth. 𝙛𝘳𝒆𝒆𝒘e𝗯n𝗼𝘷𝚎𝚕.𝒄૦𝓶
"We will take the second route" replied Moku curtly.
"The route that is faster but dangerous because it has to pass through a snowy road with an unknown number of mutated animals," Nerphyl re-confirmed it.
"That's right" Moku nodded in approval.
Nerphyl frowned, while Tam and Volx glanced at each other.
Nerphyl then lowered her head and said "Ku, I don't want to question your decision, but I'm just wondering why you chose that route?"
Moku smiled and said softly "Nerphyl you don't have to hesitate, I will explain" Moku took a shell filled with water and drank it to moisten his throat. After that Moku started to speak in a more serious tone.
"Ever since I first discovered Glittering Meadow I've started to feel strange. Animals living and grazing happily without the slightest bit of wariness of predators that will eat them is an unusual sight.
Then the growth of grass that becomes their food and a clear river without crocodiles lurking in it will be a heavenly sight for the herbivorous animals. At first I wanted to move the Dawnmist Tribe to this place, but my hunch was that this place wasn't heaven but a cattle pen prepared for harvest.
I've been looking for who rules this place from end to end, but I can't find any mutated animals or predatory animals. It was only in the swamp where I found a giant gorilla that I named Stugo. However, Stugo also doesn't seem to dare to enter Glittering Meadow and just stays in his swamp.
After hearing about The King Territory from Boku I confirmed that Glittering Meadow has a colony of mutated animals ruling it. However, this raises several questions.
Who are they?
Glittering Meadow is very wide, even the half area of this place is wider than the territory of each of the monster races combined. So that it can be said that any colony that controls this place has a large number as well.
Why do they leave this place alone and let herbivores gather in here?
The number of animal colonies that live in this place is sufficient to meet the orc's food needs for the whole years. Coupled with their rapid growth if left unchecked will make the vast Glittering Meadow overpopulated. So it would be strange if the rulers of this region did not carry out regular harvests, not only would they allow the Glittering Meadow ecosystem to be damaged they also squandered the opportunity to gather meat because the animals will migrated when food shortages happen.
How did they get to this place?
Glittering Meadow is a large place but the ground is so flat that there is no place to hide except in the underground or flying in the sky. But if they were indeed capable of flying or diving into the ground then they should still be on regular hunts, so the other orcs and I must have seen their form. Consequently, that they are not from the air or underground but they can not come to this place because something is hindered.
The only thing that could prevent the countless colonies of mutated animals from coming to this place was the same thing that split Glittering Meadow in two, namely The Great River. With a width and depth that we cannot measure, The Great River is like the sea that separates two islands.
When the barrier disappear so they can begin the harvest?
The answer is winter.
Although Glittering Meadow will not be covered in heavy snow and make The Great River freeze, it is a different story if the main channel of The Great River freezes. As we know, every river in Glittering Meadow comes from The Great River, while The Great River itself comes from the headwater in Wolf Slope Mountain. If the headwater in Wolf Slope Mountain freeze, the water level in The Great River will decrease and the rivers in Glittering Meadow will dry up. That's when they will do the harvest.
What makes mutated animals and other predators so afraid to hunt in Glittering Meadow?
If we look at the number of animal colonies that live in Glittering Meadow, their numbers will not decrease too much if they are preyed on by other predators before harvest time comes. For the example, the orcs who knew nothing about The King Territory would go on a massive hunt every day.
However, in reality there are no mutated animals or any predatory animals that dare to approach Glittering Meadow. Even Stugo who is a gold tier danger mutated animal only dares to live in a swamp which is quite far from this place.
This oddity led me to conclude that the animals living in Glittering Meadow were never touched because they were a barrier. Barriers that prevent the mutated animal colony from looking for prey outside of Glittering Meadow.
Their fear of this mutated animal colony led me to conclude that The King of Glittering Meadow was mithril or orichalcum with gold and silver tier danger mutated animals in large numbers in their colony.
That's why I chose the second route because what we have to prioritize right now is to get away from Glittering Meadow as soon as possible before the winter arrives.
Because Glittering Meadow is a table full of offerings for The King and unfortunately we have already eaten some of those offerings" Moku's voice was filled with gloom.
The faces of the three monsters who heard it turned deathly pale.
