Originally, after escaping from the Kingdom, the Black Wolf Tribe relied entirely on hunting to survive. However, with this way of life, the surrounding magical beasts were simply not enough to feed over ten thousand clansmen. Hunting in distant places meant that the prey caught in a round trip wasn’t even enough to replenish the warriors’ stamina.
Only the annual migration tide of magical beasts allowed them to temporarily eat their fill.
At other times, to avoid starvation, the assets the Black Wolf Tribe brought with them were basically used to trade for food with the Red Grass Tribe and human merchant caravans. Coupled with the constant harassment from the Kingdom, the Black Wolf Tribe simply couldn’t live as well as the Ox-Head Tribe.
But the Black Wolf people couldn’t live scattered like other beastmen.
Firstly, they were accustomed to the whole tribe living together, which provided greater power, and the patriarch of the Black Wolf Tribe didn’t want to lose this authority. Secondly, they were also worried that the Kingdom’s beastmen would take the opportunity to wipe them out one by one.
Constantly moving territories, coupled with the increasingly excessive harassment and provocation from the Kingdom’s beastmen, finally culminated some time ago when Doan led thousands of warriors to attack the Black Wolf Tribe.
The Black Wolf Tribe had both old and young, while facing them were warriors carefully selected from various tribes. After several battles, the Black Wolf Tribe had lost countless clansmen. Under Nathan’s leadership, they had fled to the Land of Extreme Cold, unexpectedly being discovered by Doan before they could have a few days of peace.
Hearing Doan’s words at this moment, besides anger, Nathan sneered: "So that’s how it is. You follow the Black Wolf Tribe like a mad dog without letting go, just to treat us as goods. Let me guess, the Beast King certainly doesn’t know about this."
Doan laughed arrogantly and said: "Au is already old, just like your father. As long as we give him the gold coins sold from the little beastmen, then isn’t the gold coins exchanged from the Black Wolf people all ours?"
He raised his hand and shouted, and countless beastman warriors behind him cheered.
On the cliff, Max frowned.
It was like this again... He looked closely; among these warriors were the Tiger Tribe and Leopard Tribe, not just the Golden Lion Tribe. It seemed many beastmen were involved in this matter. The Golden Kingdom was like an empty shell being hollowed out by termites.
Beast King Au was just a puppet. Whether he truly didn’t know or pretended not to know about the Black Wolf Tribe’s affairs, it showed his incompetence.
"Your most loyal subordinates are almost all dead. Do you still want to continue resisting? Sigh, the more I kill, the more it hurts my heart. Living is what has value."
Doan stretched out his hand in a weird tone, pretending to count the number of Black Wolf people in the middle, as if these were not beastmen, but chests full of gold coins.
Kaluo only had one arm that could move; the other was severely deformed. He wiped the thick blood from his face and said to Nathan: "Young Patriarch, you and the Patriarch and the clansmen run quickly. I will hold them off for a while."
Nathan shook his head silently: "The encirclement has formed; we have no way out. I abandoned too many clansmen on the way, including Sahra. Since it has come to this, I cannot leave anyone else behind."
The warriors of the Black Wolf Tribe were all exhausted, almost everyone bearing bloodstains. They surrounded their clansmen in the middle, confronting the surrounding beastman warriors tensely.
Nathan’s voice was not quiet, and the Black Wolf clansmen couldn’t help but sob, then wiped their tears, revealing desperate but determined expressions.
"We are with the Young Patriarch! Even if the whole tribe dies in battle here, we don’t want to let them treat us as slaves!"
A Black Wolf warrior shouted loudly.
The other Black Wolf people didn’t speak, but they all assumed fighting stances, clearly showing their attitude.
Behind Nathan, a mournful voice rang out:
"Doan, have you forgotten what you promised back then? I followed your words and betrayed the Snow Wolf Tribe, but you didn’t do what you said! What does our Black Wolf Tribe lack that we can’t be equal to you?! Now you turn back to harm us!"
Doan tilted his head to look inside and saw a gray-haired Black Wolf man. He sneered:
"Balu, you’re not dead yet? I heard your loyal subordinates disappeared without a trace? Sigh, when you’re old, don’t cling to the power in your hands. Hand it over to your son early on; maybe your subordinates wouldn’t have disappeared."
It was clearly an instigation. Balu was so angry he coughed repeatedly: "You don’t need to care about our Black Wolf Tribe’s affairs. I ask you, you really want to lay a cruel hand on us? Aren’t you afraid that you will have the same ending as us in the future!"
Doan withdrew his smile, his face returning to its previous gloominess: "Power is in the hands of smart people. Whether a fool like you dies or lives makes no difference."
After speaking, he raised a hand. The surrounding beastman warriors transformed into beast forms - huge golden lions, tigers, and leopards, like small mountains, lowered their bodies, growling deep in their throats.
The warriors of the Black Wolf Tribe refused to show weakness. Hundreds of black wolves protected the other clansmen behind them, surrounding them and growling in response.
On the cliff, Max stood up. Even without hiding, these beastmen didn’t have the time to discover his existence.
The Black Wolf Tribe had only so many warriors, while the Kingdom’s warriors numbered several thousand and had already surrounded them. Running was impossible, and fighting meant death. It seemed to be a battle with a clear outcome.
Moreover, he saw that the fur of the Black Wolf people was covered in wet blood, the metallic smell of blood so strong it was suffocating. The Kingdom’s warriors, on the other hand, were almost uninjured, not to mention the old, weak, and sick of the Black Wolf Tribe.
While he was thinking about what to do, the battle below had already begun.
War between beastmen, after transforming into beast forms, consisted of the most primal biting and clawing. The sound of flesh colliding rang out, making one’s teeth ache.
The number of Kingdom beastman warriors was nearly ten times that of the Black Wolf people; naturally, it was a one-sided battle. If it weren’t for wanting the Black Wolf people alive to sell for a good price, fear the whole lot would have died long ago.
Even so, not long after, some Black Wolf people lost the ability to move. Those who fainted were thrown aside, covered in blood, piled up there like objects.
Doan didn’t make a move. He looked at the thrown-out Black Wolf people, a cruel smile blooming at the corner of his mouth, and signaled to a trusted subordinate beside him.
It was also a member of the Golden Lion Tribe. He took out large shackles from a bag, the two ends sharp and shining. Grinning, he walked towards the Black Wolf people lying on the ground, their life or death uncertain.
The other Black Wolf people, in order to protect the children and the elderly, had almost all transformed into beast forms to fight and had no time to pay attention to this side.
Max suddenly remembered what Sunflower had said. Doan, in order to threaten the little beastmen, had specifically commissioned blacksmiths to make shackles. Now it seemed Doan’s purpose was basically not for the little beastmen, but for the Black Wolf people.
He had felt something was wrong when he heard it. Adult beastmen were still carnivores; they were a powerful suppression to little beastmen. Making shackles, apart from cruelty, basically served no other purpose. As for threats, the threat of slaughtering children earlier was enough for the beastmen.
It turned out it was to be used on the Black Wolf people. Max looked at the Black Wolf people below whose shoulders were pierced and whose necks were locked by heavy iron chains, and a flame of rage rose in his heart.
Looking again at the children running away in panic not far away, even the old and weak beastmen transformed into beast forms to protect the children, using their own bodies to exchange for a path for the children.
Old and weak beastmen naturally had no value. The Kingdom’s warriors attacked without hesitation. In just a moment, they impatiently killed two people directly and were about to attack other old beastmen.
As for the crying little black wolves, they couldn’t run far either. Doan had predicted this early on and sent a team of beastmen to guard the corners, using nets to catch the children one by one.