For a long time, deep within Gory's heart, there lay a profound confusion.

Why was he willing to stay in this Barbaric Land, willing to fight alongside the Dragon Nest Tribe, rather than returning to the Human World?

Was it for status, power?

No, in this deserted Barbaric Land where even humans are scarce, the so-called lofty power, leading a group of Beastmen, becoming a Commander among them, is a joke.

Nobility, power, status, honor... these things only hold meaning in front of one's kin, only in the Central Earth Human World.

Even if he commanded an army of Beastmen, what difference was it from claiming kingship before monkeys?

All along, Gory was self-hypnotizing.

If he returned to the Human World, he would lose everything he currently possessed, continuing his life as a drifting Mercenary.

Even if he relied on extraordinary strength, fortunately achieving merit on the battlefield, and was luckily noticed by a higher-level noble, if his merits were not completely stripped away, he might retain a small part to become a petty noble in a remote area, ultimately establishing a family lineage using the secret techniques learned from the Dragon Nest Tribe.

Compared to now, with authority in hand and a position of leading an army, he didn't want to go back to that life of harsh struggle with an unknown future.

He believed that was what he truly wanted, so he stayed with the Dragon Nest Tribe, not seeking an opportunity to escape, but striving for the growth and development of the tribe.

Yet at this moment, as life was reaching its end.

Gory finally saw through all appearances and saw his true heart.

Because of fairness and equality!

Within the Dragon Nest Tribe, he experienced a fairness and equality of personhood that he had never felt before, which did not exist in the continent's mainstream!

...

As a child, in tattered clothes, Gory knelt by the roadside, his head pressed into the dirt, waiting respectfully as the high and mighty noble was escorted by servants and passed through the center of the road with his grand horse-drawn carriage.

It was then that a seed was planted in his heart.

Later, he learned the Breathing Technique from a retired old man in the village, and during conversations, learned that the old man had once been a minor civilian officer in a Duchy, who had made significant contributions in war.

But eventually, because he was a civilian without any backing, his merits were directly stolen by a noble officer, and he was instead accused of greedily seeking personal glory, stripped of his officer position, and demoted to an ordinary soldier.

Furious, the old man left the army, later becoming a Mercenary to make a living, and finally retiring to his hometown to live out his final years.

At that time, young Gory once again felt that suffocating power on his shoulders.

Unknowingly, the seed planted within him began to sprout.

Later on,

Gory accepted the old man's letter of recommendation and went to the city to make a living, becoming a Mercenary himself.

During his mercenary career, his horizons broadened, and he saw more of the world.

A noble youth, on a bad day, galloping horse down the street, accidentally killing a child on the roadside.

An old farmer, who worked diligently all his life but, in the end, lost everything because he could not pay taxes, forced to beg at the street corner.

A former mercenary companion, fortunate enough to be recruited as a servant by a noble lord, yet beaten to death with clubs as the family pillar because the young master accidentally injured his hand during play.

From childhood to adulthood, all these experiences gave Gory an innate ambition.

He wanted to become a noble, to be part of the ruling class, to be above the common people!

But this path was too difficult.

So, when Gory was captured by the Dragon Nest Tribe, when he saw the powerful secret techniques within the tribe, he was willing to stay, hoping to acquire those powerful secret techniques as a stepping stone to becoming a noble in the future.

However, amidst his constant efforts and struggles.

Some things had unknowingly begun to impact Gory's heart.

Different Beastmen might have different talents.

Within the Dragon Nest Tribe, Beastmen also respected the strong.

But within this tribe, each Beastman was equal in terms of personhood!

No one would oppress you because you were born a Goblin, nor would anyone allow you to kill others with impunity because you were a Black Bear person of strong lineage.

Your achievements, no matter how humble your origins, would be recognized and praised by all.

Your mistakes, even if you were one of the founders, would be met with the same punishment.

In the Dragon Nest Tribe, Beastmen might differ in talent, strength, and position, but every Beastman living in this tribe was equal in terms of personhood!

"So, this is my true heart, unknowingly, I have completely integrated and identified with the Dragon Nest Tribe...."

Only those who have experienced hunger understand the importance of being well-fed.

Only a beast bound by chains knows the value of freedom.

And only someone who grew up in a world of "born inequality", constantly seeing nobles and privileged classes above the commoners, in a world full of cruelty and oppression,

Upon first encountering that deep-rooted fairness and equality would have Gory's heart and soul completely captured, making him genuinely stay in the Dragon Nest Tribe, dedicating all his strength to its rise.

Austin would never have thought that some unconscious concepts cultivated during his previous life in a civilized modern world would have such a profound impact on Gory.

To him, fairness and equality.

In the training reconstruction before the Beastmen integrated into the Dragon Nest Tribe, these were concepts never deliberately nurtured, yet they were constantly penetrating into their daily training, deeply rooted in aspects of everyday life among the Beastmen of the Dragon's Nest Tribe.

In Austin's view, officers and soldiers eating and living together, clear rewards and punishments in the military, were very commonplace.

Yet, these modern thoughts unconsciously implemented throughout the tribe provided Gory with a world-shaking shock,

Also making Gory genuinely recognize the Dragon Nest Tribe he fought for.

These things, invisible even to Austin, inadvertently changed Gory's entire life.

"I truly hope that one day the Dragon Nest flag could be planted in my homeland... Your Highness, I won't be able to help you... achieve the grand mission..."

In a blur, time seemed to slow down.

Gory seemed to see that enormous Blue Dragon flag flying high in the sky.

Under that enormous flag, countless people gathered like a sea, wearing heartfelt smiles of happiness.

Covered in ice, Gory closed his eyes.

Accompanied by the roar of the Frost Giant leader Albuda, the massive Bone Hammer came crashing down!

At that moment,

Whoosh!

A circle of thunder suddenly appeared in the void behind the Frost Giant leader Albuda,

Initially the size of a basketball, it suddenly expanded and spread out in all directions with force.

A radiant brilliance rippled, a thunder-surrounded claw, as if probing from the Alternate Void, came crashing down from above!

"You speak well, dare an ant punch at a Sky Dragon? But who gave you the courage to provoke me?!"

Accompanied by a thunderous roar that echoed across the heavens, that sky-covering dragon claw seemed to come crossing realms from the Alternate Void and, while Albuda was caught off guard, grabbed his head and smashed it to the ground like a meteor!

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