The Roar, Harbinger of Power (2)

Have you ever experienced the sensation of a rapidly plummeting elevator suddenly jolting to a halt? That split second when your entire body seizes up, your heart and lungs clench with a sickening lurch, followed by dizziness and cold sweat streaming down your back?

In his previous life, Du Chen had experienced that very feeling. Now, amidst the world-shattering rumble that seemed to make the heavens and earth tremble, he felt it once more. Was it an earthquake? It didn't feel quite right. Was it thunder? No, the sky was clear for a thousand miles, bathed in brilliant sunshine! So what was that sound? Du Chen gazed around in confusion. Yet, aside from the official road, the distant rolling hills, and the present bandits and mercenaries, he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

The mercenaries, newly arrived in Livik Province, were equally bewildered, each turning to Du Chen, awaiting orders. Suddenly, the bandit leader, who moments ago had been fiercely menacing, appearing to fear neither heaven nor earth, turned deathly pale after the roar and shrieked, "The devils are back! Run for your lives!"

A wave of panic instantly swept through the bandits. Only our Aliza remained utterly unafraid, still striding forward. With a speed utterly disproportionate to his bulk, he charged before the bald bandit leader, his hammer-like fist flashing out. *THWACK!* From below, the punch slammed into the leader's jaw. A crimson spray erupted, and the leader flew upward, but upon closer inspection, several teeth tumbled from the bloody mist. As the leader reached the apex of his flight, Aliza leapt, delivering an uppercut that shot him skyward anew. *POW!* The pitiable leader's aerial trajectory was once again elevated, contributing even more blood and teeth to the scene.

As Aliza landed, a few teeth clinked against his bald head. *CLINK, CLINK...* The sound was surprisingly melodious. Our Aliza's sharp eyes immediately spotted a large gold tooth among them. "Master, we're rich!" He picked up the gold tooth from the ground, rubbed it on his trousers, and carefully tucked it into his pocket. "Heh heh!" Aliza chuckled innocently, as if he’d just finished a fun game, then swung his unusually thick arms and charged toward his next target. "Hey, whose teeth are made of gold?"

"Woah! What a true warrior!" The mercenaries roared with praise, while the Saint Sigurd Cain family's Guardian Fighters bowed their heads in shame. They recalled the times Aliza had ‘mangled’ them, grateful that he had shown restraint back then. Like a tiger among sheep, Aliza, relying on his superhuman strength and astonishing speed, felled over a dozen bandits in the blink of an eye. He simply extended a long arm, grabbed a bandit by the collar, delivered a punch straight to the face, then pried open the poor wretch's mouth, searching for opportunities to get rich.

Watching Aliza earnestly search for gold teeth, his simple, childlike demeanor, Du Chen couldn't help but crack a smile. At that moment, Steve disembarked from the carriage. He observed Aliza's 'performance' with keen amusement, patting Du Chen’s shoulder playfully. "From now on, Aliza will handle battlefield cleanup! He won't miss a thing!" He then turned and roared at the mercenaries, "Brave gentlemen, I pay you in gold, not to stand idly by! Get to it, capture a few alive! I need to know what that sound was!"

Finishing his command, Steve summoned his sacred artifact—Sigurd's Gauntlets—and grinned. "It's been a while since I've gotten 'exercised' on a man. Today, we'll have some fun! Let's make it a truly satisfying workout..." Du Chen rolled his eyes beside him. "Brother, what are you even saying? 'Satisfying workout'?" He raised both hands high, and a rain of meteor flames pursued the fleeing bandits, turning them into Aliza's favorite roasted pork!

Once the mercenaries joined the fray, the scene immediately turned bloody. These hardened mercenaries, who lived and died by the blade, were men who slew without blinking. Every swing of their sabers and thrust of their swords aimed for vital points. In almost another blink of an eye, dozens more corpses littered the ground. Was this the true reality of the Battle God world? Yesterday, these same mercenaries had been laughing and drinking together, yet now they reaped human lives as casually as a farmer culling chickens, even sporting smiles on their faces!?

A wave of discomfort washed over Du Chen. As a man from a civilized world, encountering such a bloody scene, with the perpetrators so utterly at ease, he found it deeply unsettling. "Aliza, grab me a live one!" Du Chen shouted. "Aye, Young Master, this one then!" Without even looking, he casually snatched a bandit from nearby, ran back to Du Chen, threw the bandit to the ground, and was about to go 'get rich' again.

"Don't go. Help me interrogate this fellow!" Du Chen truly couldn't stomach it any longer and called Aliza back. He didn't want a boy of barely fifteen to participate in such brutal acts. Turning his back to the cruel spectacle, Du Chen glanced at the captive Aliza had just brought back and couldn't help but stare. "Are you... a Dwarf? A Gnome? Or some other mixed-up race?" As it turned out, the captive Aliza had casually grabbed was not human.

His skin was a sickly, ashen white, utterly devoid of blood. He was also incredibly fat, his girth matching his height, making him look like a large snowball that barely reached Du Chen's waist. Despite this, his facial features and limbs were no different from a human's. The captive trembled, his flabby flesh jiggling uncontrollably as he knelt, or rather, sprawled on the ground – his corpulent frame remained stubbornly spherical no matter how he shifted. He pleaded, "Noble Young Master, please, please forgive my transgressions! I, I am Harri, a Shieb."

"A Shieb? Kill him!" Aliza raised his massive fist. "Aliza, stop!" Du Chen commanded, though without a hint of blame. Shiebs, it was said, were a subordinate race of Fiendkind during the ancient wars between humans and Fiendkind, becoming enemies of humanity. They were treacherous, lazy, and insidious, yet possessed no true abilities, relying on schemes and flattery to survive—a race universally despised and scorned. However, precisely because of their weakness, humanity did not exterminate them after the fall of Fiendkind, merely suppressing them and strictly limiting their living conditions.

"Oh, handsome Young Master, praise your benevolence, your friend is so valiant, he nearly scared me senseless! Please allow me to kiss your feet to thank you for stopping this warrior!" Harri's fat face was a mask of fawning smiles, and he actually tried to kiss Du Chen's toes. "Get the hell away from me!" Du Chen felt a wave of goosebumps and kicked him away. No wonder humans despised Shiebs!

Du Chen secretly shook his head and demanded menacingly, "Now, I'll ask, and you'll answer. Otherwise, Aliza, knock out all his teeth and see if any are gold!" Harri immediately clammed up, meekly looking at Du Chen. "What was that sound just now? Why did your leader say the devils were here?" "First, please allow me to praise your courage, I almost wet myself just now, while you..." Seeing Du Chen's displeased expression, he quickly changed his tune, speaking with remarkable agility. "Recently, this sound has occurred several times in this vicinity, and each time it rings out, it brings a great disaster!"

"Disasters? What kind of disasters?" "Please allow me to explain in detail!" Harri sprawled on the ground, stealing glances at Du Chen's expression, his thin lips moving with remarkable agility. "In September, this sound rang out, and an earthquake along the Newin River caused a flood unprecedented in fifty years. In October, the blocked river channels had just been partially cleared when the sound occurred again. As a result, two great mountains by the river collapsed due to earthquakes, once again blocking the river channel..." "Are you saying that every time this sound rings out, an earthquake accompanies it?" Du Chen asked in surprise.