I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 146 Sowing Discord and Drow

"Tick!"

In the southern prison of Horseshoe City, Galil, with two thick anti-magic nails driven into his collarbone and his body chained to the wall, slowly opened his eyes as he heard the sound of water.

Compared to before, his scarlet eyes now appeared somewhat dull and lifeless, and his left hand was severed from his forearm, covered in bandages with a dark red tinge.

His body, which had been torn apart due to the overextension of the technique, had not yet healed. Instead, spiderweb-like cracks remained on his skin, constantly sending tearing pains to his brain.

But compared to the severe injuries he had suffered, Galil's heart was filled with bitterness and resentment.

As the commander and instructor of the Shadow Orcs, Galil never imagined that he had reached near-peak in assassination, and that he would have a 50% chance of succeeding even in assassinating a Grand-rank mage.

One day, I was defeated by an Imperial mage. If it weren't for the enemy's superior ordering me to be taken prisoner, I would probably have died last night from that terrifying slash.

What a humiliation!

"Squeak."

"Hmm? He's already awake. It seems the Dark Assassin Orcs' recovery ability is higher than I expected."

Just then, a surprised voice suddenly rang out from outside the prison door. As the cell door was slowly opened, two figures, one tall and one short, came into Galil's view.

The slightly shorter young man on the left has naturally curly brown hair; he is Igonila, who fought Galil last night.

However, compared to before, there was now a bright red, stitched scar on the right side of his cheek, the last blow he delivered yesterday at the cost of losing his left hand.

He intended to decapitate the other party, but the other party dodged in time, and he only grazed Igonila's right cheek.

However, compared to Ignila, whose eyes were filled with murderous intent, Galil was more concerned about the black-haired youth standing next to Dofang.

The other person was tall, with short, choppy hair, a handsome face, and a faint smile that was always on his face.

This is completely different from the imposter from yesterday, whose demeanor was sleazy and whose words and actions were full of despicable shamelessness.

The other party is clearly more cunning and dangerous than the counterfeiter from yesterday!

Therefore, upon seeing the other person for the first time, Galil knew that this person was his true target for this assassination:
"John Maslow!"

Galil practically uttered the name through his clenched teeth, and his previously calm emotions began to fluctuate violently after recognizing the other person.

He tried with almost all his might to break free of the chains binding him, his movements so intense that the taut chains began to rattle and clang.

However, under the influence of the two thick anti-magic nails and the magic suppressant, Galil, who was now so weak that he had no more than one percent of his previous combat strength, was destined to be unable to break free from the restraints that the Black Hawk Special Forces members had specially set up for him.

"Hmm? It seems that Colonel Galil is quite hostile towards me? That's unexpected. I thought we might have some common topics to talk about. After all, before the Drow family officially joined the Saga Kingdom, their relationship with the descendants of Xianqin was quite good."

John couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he watched Galil struggle violently, the cracks on his body that had just healed reopening and gushing out crimson blood.

He then raised his hand to stop Igonila, who was grinning and trying to teach the other a lesson. He then pulled over a chair and sat down at the cell door, five meters away from Galil.

He then slowly crossed his legs, ignoring the other person's furious expression, and instead smiled and slowly said:

“I remember that the husband of your thirteenth queen of the Drow family, Elise Drow, was a descendant of the Immortal Qin, just like me.”

"Although the Dark Elf Kingdom was completely destroyed due to the outbreak of the demonization tide underground, the Drow family also became what they are now, neither human nor ghost, due to the mutation of magic."

"But in my opinion, the members of the Zhuoer family who have left the underground world and come to the surface to survive should treat the descendants of Xianqin better out of consideration for past relationships."

"But your performance today is somewhat disappointing. From this, I can infer that although the descendants of the drow elves have inherited the dark elf combat techniques during the thousands of years that the drow family has lived on the surface world, there has been a break in their education on humanities and history."

"To the point that you have all forgotten your true family name, chosen to join the orcs, willingly bowed down to your former mortal enemies, and even took pride in abandoning your true family name and creating a completely new history."

"If your ancestors knew about these things, they would probably be so angry that they would jump right out of their graves!"

Looking at Galil, who had stopped struggling at some point and was staring at him with disbelief, John immediately realized that the information he had given about the drow elves had successfully caught their attention.

And that's exactly what he wanted to see.

He intends to use the intelligence he possesses to try and undermine the Shadow Orcs' loyalty to the Kingdom of Saga, and then, by offering them irresistible terms, to persuade them to willingly join the Empire.

This would completely eliminate the threat posed by the Shadow Orc forces, and there's a high probability they could even be developed into allies.

They then used the identities of the local natives to obtain more intelligence in order to launch a counterattack and even march into the Saga Kingdom.

In John's view, being able to solve the immediate problem as a commander only qualifies one as competent.

A commander who can anticipate the enemy's movements and counter them is considered excellent.

A commander who possesses the former qualities, and who can rely on tactics to achieve victory with fewer troops and maximize the effectiveness of their own forces while significantly reducing their own casualties, deserves an outstanding evaluation.

Only a commander who can foresee the development of the situation ten or even dozens of steps ahead, and guide it into a favorable position with minimal cost, thus subduing the enemy without bloodshed, can be called unparalleled.

It was for this purpose that John, after completing a heart-to-heart meeting with the five regimental commanders of the 1st Division and issuing the operational plan for this battle, took time out of his busy schedule to come and inspect the orc colonel who had been captured by Ignila.

He intends to carry out this plan of sowing discord by fabricating false intelligence.

Looking at Galil Darkstab, who was shocked and questioning his existence after hearing the unfamiliar 'family history', John couldn't help but slowly curl a playful smile at the corner of his mouth.

That's right, the information he just gave was false.

Of course, it can't be entirely fake. After all, in the game's lore, drow elves do exist, and as he said, after the underground demonization tide appeared, the drow elf civilization began its path to destruction.

However, unlike what he had said before, the drow elves did not escape the demonic tide but were completely buried in the underground world. And these shadow orcs of Galil were not descendants of the drow elves who had been corrupted by the demonic influence.

In the game's lore, these shadow orcs were originally death row inmates of the Saga Kingdom, who were assigned by the Orc King to mine for magic stones.

However, by sheer coincidence, they dug a tunnel through which the drow elves, or dark elves, led to the surface, and during subsequent explorations, they were contaminated by the accumulating demonic tide.

During the investigation, most of the death row inmates died from the corruption of the demonic tide, while only a portion of them were fortunate enough to survive.

But the price was being entangled in the curse of corruption, turning him into this inhuman, ghostly state he is now.

The news of the Shadow Orcs' strange behavior reached the Orc King's ears, and he ordered his troops to bring the orcs back.

After witnessing the true nature of these freaks, the Orc King at the time intended to execute these poor slaves directly. However, the Great Sage at the time tested and studied the Shadow Orcs and discovered that the magic within these mutated orcs had changed.

After becoming completely different from ordinary orcs and being able to learn the spells of the drow elves, they were able to recreate the glory of the dark elves' 'Silvermoon Legion'.

The Great Sage used this to persuade the Orc King, and dispatched a large number of Orc slaves and death row inmates to explore the Dark Elf kingdom, which was shrouded in a corruption curse. While further expanding the number of Shadow Orcs, they also successfully acquired most of the Drow Elf's spellbook through this method of constantly sacrificing lives.

This led to the creation of the Shadow Orc army, whose spell strength remained among the top three in the assassination spell rankings even nearly a thousand years after the Great Sage's death.

This is the origin of the Shadow Orcs. Although they have some connection with the extinct Drow Elves, they can only be considered as inheritors of the Drow Elves. In essence, they are still Orcs, and there is absolutely no family connection between the two.

But John knew that the various orc tribes in the Saga Kingdom had always maintained a state of rejection towards the Shadow Orcs due to historical reasons and appearance factors.

Furthermore, the royal family of Saga deliberately spread the news that the last Great Sage of the kingdom, Gerdan, was killed by the Shadow Orcs. This led to these freakish orcs, who were already ostracized by various orc tribes, being branded as traitors and becoming objects of shame for all tribes for thousands of years.

As a result, the Shadow Orcs' situation became increasingly difficult. All the Shadow Orcs desperately tried to demonstrate their value in order to cleanse their 'sins' and gain the opportunity to be accepted by other tribes.

It wasn't until the current Orc King, perhaps having a change of heart, that the Shadow Orcs were transformed from temporary workers into a legitimate, officially recognized army of the Saga Kingdom, and given an official designation.

They probably felt that constantly promising the Shadow Orcs the moon would make them lack the motivation to work hard.

It's also possible that they felt the other tribes were struggling to resist the Empire's attack, and wanted to use the establishment of the Shadow Orcs to greatly expand the number of Shadow Orc soldiers in order to carry out an efficient decapitation plan, thereby improving the Saga Kingdom's status within the allied forces.

While the current Orc King's move greatly boosted the motivation of the Shadow Orcs, it also drew considerable discontent from many Orc tribes.

Therefore, the Shadow Orcs are in a much more difficult situation now than before they were recognized.

It was precisely this state of being manipulated by his superiors and ostracized and disliked by his colleagues that gave John an opportunity to take advantage of.

He didn't know what Galil's group of shadow orcs were really thinking, but he knew very well that these shadow orcs, caught in the middle and not being accepted by anyone, definitely needed a reason to break out of this situation.

The Orc King gave them the reason of family honor.

John could also use family honor as a lie to offer the other party a completely new path.

Furthermore, compared to the Orc King's identity as a perpetrator who washes away his sins, the victim identity he fabricated should resonate more with the Shadow Orcs.

After all, in orc culture, revenge is the most sacred thing.

Once the Shadow Orcs accept the 'fact' that they are not Orcs, but descendants of the vanished Drow Elves, then John probably won't even need to actively induce them to launch a counterattack against the Kingdom of Saga. These Shadow Orcs, who have suffered unequal treatment for nearly a thousand years, will have their unwavering faith in the Kingdom of Saga, accumulated and passed down from their ancestors, and their desire to wash away their sins.

It will then completely transform into extreme hatred.

That was hellfire powerful enough to devour the entire Saga Kingdom.

Of course, John understood that to achieve this, he had to make his argument more plausible.

For him right now, persuading the colonel of the Shadow Orcs in front of him is the beginning of the entire plan to sow discord.

John collected his jumbled thoughts, then looked at Galil, who stood before him in astonishment, as if he couldn't believe he wasn't an orc but a descendant of a drow elf. He feigned regret and said:

"Judging from your performance, it seems that you are truly unaware of your family history. However, it's not entirely your fault. After all, wherever the demonic tide of the underground world passes, any powerful mage among the drow elves will eventually be devoured by the massive amount of magic within their bodies and uncontrollably head towards death."

"Except for the weaker drow elves who can barely survive because of their lower magical power and the weaker effect of the corruption curse, the price is that they will become like you now. But no matter what, they are still alive, which is a blessing in disguise."

"And most of the weak drow elves do not have independent lineages or family names, so it is understandable that your cultural heritage has been interrupted."

"Furthermore, in order to explore the Dark Elf Kingdom, the Orc King sent a group of Orc slaves to investigate it. Under the influence of the corruption curse, these Orcs also turned into beings that look just like you."

"Given the mixed nature of the situation, and with the passage of time and the mutual reproduction of offspring, it's quite normal that you might not know that you are descendants of the drow elves."

"Although I was unable to witness firsthand the Drow elves' assassination dance, which is known by many as the most gorgeous and dangerous in the world, called the 'Silver Moon Dance,' it is truly a bit of a regret for me."

After saying that, John deliberately let out a long sigh, his expression full of regret.

However, he secretly activated his own demonic eye, and kept his peripheral vision fixed on Galil in front of him, silently monitoring the other's every move.

Under the unparalleled observation of the Demon Eye, no subtle expression or change in the other party could escape his keen eye.

He needed to confirm whether the half-truth, half-lie he had told had truly moved the other person's heart.

Only in this way can he know what his next step should be.

And through the feedback given by the Magic Eye, through Galil's unconsciously heavier breathing, and the frequency of his pupils expanding and contracting.

At that moment, John clearly realized that his plan had succeeded.
As if to confirm John's guess, the next second, Galil's hoarse voice, hesitant yet tinged with anticipation, slowly echoed from the cell:
"Where did you hear about the drow elves you just mentioned?"

……

(End of this chapter)