Chapter 5

In the story told by the snake woman, she was originally named "Green Snake Spirit," a powerful leader of a humanoid monster race, residing in an underground palace far more magnificent than this cave. Countless low- and mid-level monsters and humanoid monsters sought her protection and served her.

However, later on, to vie for a resource-rich territory known as the "Land of Flowers and Fruits," Green Snake Spirit engaged in a prolonged and devastating war with another monkey monster king who was very fond of vanity. Initially, both sides had their victories and losses. The personal strength of the two great demon kings and the strength of their monster armies were evenly matched, neither able to completely defeat the other. To end the war as soon as possible and secure the final victory, both sides sought to enhance their own strength to deliver a fatal blow to the other.

The monkey monster king infiltrated the ocean and obtained a myth-level weapon, a powerful metal staff that could grow or shrink, and a full set of legendary enchanted armor from the powerful Eastern Sea Dragon Clan. These equipment made the already formidable monkey monster king even stronger, invincible, and unbeatable, even by the "Dragon Clan," a symbol of power, and the "Nether Clan" of the world of death.

Green Snake Spirit, on the other hand, found seven children, each with powerful abilities, said to have been born from magical vines created by the Earth Mother Goddess. These plant-type humanoid monsters had various abilities: some could transform into immensely powerful Titan giants, some were born with the highest-level "Eagle Eye" and "Listening" magic, some had the innate "Metal Skin" ability, making them immune to any weapon attacks, some could breathe fire and frost like the Dragon Clan, some knew the highest-level invisibility magic, and some could cast the most mysterious space-sealing magic...

Green Snake Spirit used dark magic to transform these seven humanoid monsters into her servants and even merged them into a single being with all seven abilities to counter the invincible monkey monster king.

However, the battle ultimately ended with Green Snake Spirit's defeat. Her cruel enslavement of the seven children of the earth seemed to anger the heavenly forces, which had been observing from the sidelines. The heavenly forces joined forces with the monkey king, sending a large army and war gods to ambush Green Snake Spirit and her humanoid monster army, leading to her complete defeat.

Almost losing everything, Green Snake Spirit used her last strength to tear through the void, opening a rift in space-time. She fled into the rift without hesitation. Although she was not killed by the monkey monster king's staff, when she finally regained her senses from the torment of the dimensional magic storm, she found herself stripped of all her divine powers and in a completely unknown and unfamiliar world...

"Are these stories all true?" Gulong opened his eyes wide, asking curiously. Although he knew that stories often deviated greatly from reality and some were entirely fabricated, the story told by the old snake woman was so vivid and real, as if it had happened to her personally.

"…What do you think?" The snake woman, who was cooking something in the large orc pot, looked up and smiled gently at the young orc. Her face was very old, her skin wrinkled, her gray and dirty hair disheveled, and her stirring of the pot and her low, hoarse voice made her almost identical to the evil witch described in the story.

"How long have you been listening to my story..." The old snake woman suddenly laughed in a strange and sinister way, then slowly continued.

"You only tell a little bit each day, and today is exactly the one thousandth day." Gulong listened to many stories from the prisoners every day, but the only story he had listened to for a thousand consecutive days, nearly three years, was this old snake woman's. Of course, besides the story being particularly captivating, it was also related to the old snake woman deliberately delaying the story's progress. Gulong was well aware of this, or rather, every prisoner was doing the same. However, Gulong had good patience and believed that a good story was worth looking forward to and listening to every day.

Sometimes, waiting is also a kind of happiness.

"Then... my story is almost over..." The old snake woman turned her head and said softly, continuing to stir the thick soup in the large iron pot in front of her. It was unclear where she found the ingredients, but she stirred constantly, not like cooking food. Gulong always provided her with food, which she would eat completely, and sometimes the old snake woman would even invite Gulong to drink a colorful, refreshing, and sweet soup. Since orcs' digestive abilities were second only to slime creatures, Gulong was not afraid that the imprisoned snake woman would poison him, so he always accepted the old snake woman's hospitality.

"Next time... I will tell you... the final outcome of this story..."

"After this story ends, do you have any new... new stories?" Gulong suddenly felt a bit uneasy. After all, some things could not be avoided. Every story has an ending.

"No... there are no more... this is my only story..."

The old snake woman's tone revealed no emotion. Although Gulong loved stories and was passionate about them, he was still an orc. The fate of a prisoner without a story was clear to everyone in the cave.

Gulong fell silent for a long time, then suddenly said, "Tell me the ending of the story, and then I will set you free and give you your freedom."

This was another of Gulong's little secrets... He was not a rigid and inflexible orc but someone who could adapt and take advantage of his position as a "cook" and "warehouse manager" to do some unconventional things, such as... privately releasing the "food" in storage.

And this was not the first time. Gulong had secretly let a few people go before. It was not that he sympathized with these "foods," but rather that he judged by his own standards that some "foods" being simply eaten was a waste. The loss of those wonderful stories would be a great regret.

Although these "foods" belonged to the entire tribe and were captured by other orcs with great effort, privately releasing them would cause the tribe to suffer a loss. However, the Black Hand tribe always had an abundance of food, sometimes even filling the entire cave. After Gulong took over the orc cafeteria, ordinary meals like fruits, vegetables, and grains already made up a large proportion, so a few fewer humanoid foods were not a big deal and would not be noticed by other orcs, especially since forgetfulness and carelessness were also important traits of the orc race.

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ps: Though I feel a bit embarrassed, I still have to ask for votes.

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