Later I understood the Beast King's proposal. The so-called marriage alliance was just a cover-up. By choosing the marriage alliance, I was essentially showing weakness and avoiding war. The Beast King would neither marry his daughter to me, nor agree to ally with someone like me, a weakling.

Choosing to duel with the Beast King's son was like gambling with my life. First, if I was lying, there was no way to prove a lie with my life. So the news of the kingdom going to war must be true. Second, the ferocity of the beast people indicated that they were not a race that would retreat in the face of a strong enemy. To gain their recognition, I needed to be like them.

In the end, I won the gamble. The Beast King didn't expect that I would shoot him in the head.

The reasoning was simple. Since I couldn't harm you, I would threaten your family instead.

It was shameless and despicable, a low-level trick, but very effective.

And the fact that I pointed a gun at the leader of a tribe during the duel also proved my bravery from another perspective.

"Raul, you are the first human to dare to point a gun at the Beast King."

"Don't mention it, I don't even know how I did it."

"Now that we have the support of the beast people, what's your next move?"

"My next move? I need to go back and find my wife as soon as possible."

"Huh?"

"She's alone, and I still worry about her."

Unloading together with everyone, Simmon admired my impressive performance in the duel. It was now 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and according to the plan, we should spend the night in the land of the beast people. Once the beast people recognized you, they would treat you as their own, much like people from Shandong province.

I followed Urum to visit the infrastructure of the beast people. I made some suggestions, but my heart wasn't in it. Every second away from Medusa was counting, and I was anxious, worried, and afraid that she would disappear.

Having a clone would be great, but for a man to satisfy himself, he must personally take care of a lot of troublesome things. Then, he would neglect the woman standing behind him.

Moreover, I am a very superstitious person, and there is a saying that "a man's luck is determined by a woman".

"Raul, this is our mine."

"Oh, what kind of minerals do you mine?"

"Explosive stones, crystalline rocks, and iron ore."

Urum mentioned the three types of minerals. Park had introduced them to me before. Explosive stones are dangerous minerals that can cause explosions with strong impacts, and they cannot be mined in the usual way. The beast people use the method of water infusion, as the texture of the explosive stones is loose. After pouring water on it, they can scrape them off bit by bit with a shovel without causing explosions. The mined explosive stones are stored in large barrels, mixed with some water to keep them stable, and are commonly known as water explosive sand.

Crystalline rocks, on the other hand, are rocks with long crystals embedded in them. Those crystals are definitely related to magic, but neither the beast people nor the black market have the technology to separate the crystals from the rocks. So they can only secretly sell them to the kingdom, and the price is 400 dollars per unit (each unit weighs about two kilograms).

For the black market, crystalline rocks are purely merchandise, while water explosive sand has many uses. By mixing charcoal powder and water explosive sand in a certain ratio, it can be made into fuel or explosives. The entire production process needs to be kept moist, which is quite troublesome. Later, when making explosives, I also participated. I filled the sticky water explosive sand and charcoal mixture into square molds, and after air-drying, they became solid blocks of black ink. They were very stable.

These two minerals are mainly used in exchange for alcohol, meat, and vegetables. The beast people also need to spend several hundred gold coins to purchase some cold weapons made by Park. Park's relationship with the beast people is like that of a mentor and student. The extraction of iron ore and the forging of iron weapons were all taught by Park, including the Beast King's throne, which was also a result of Park's work.

"How much of these minerals can be mined each day?"

"Um... not much. Today, we only have this pot of water explosive sand. We haven't found any crystalline rocks, and the iron ore is over there."

Following Urum's finger, there was a small pile of iron ore.

"Starting from today, we won't mine the crystalline rocks anymore. We only need iron ore and explosive stones."

"Heh heh, are we going to war?"

"Yes, we don't need the crystalline rocks."

"Urum understands. We all support you, Raul!"

"Urum, have you thought about the fact that many of your people will die during the war?"

"The beast people, we are not afraid of death. The beast people, we will die on the battlefield. Ha ha!"

Urum patted his chest confidently, and I could only respond with a bitter smile.

"By the way, Raul, who is that monster?"

"You mean, Sasha?"

"Yes, yes, the big-tailed monster."

"That is my wife."

"What?"

"You heard me right, that monster is my wife."

"Raul, are you joking with me?"

"I have known her for almost a year now..."

The orc beside me restrained himself from saying what he wanted to say. We found a clean spot and sat down to rest.

"Actually, everything I have done is for the sake of a better life for me and her..."

"Um..."

"What do you think? Isn't it a selfish thought?"

"I don't know, I'm an orc, I don't understand human emotions..."

"Heh, forget what I just said."

I shouldn't have said these things in front of an orc, but I couldn't control my emotions when my wife wasn't around.

One thing that I needed to admit was that our relationship as a couple had become strange, very strange. I have a hundred reasons to love her, but none of them are the key. Has the betrayal on both sides of the body become an insurmountable gap? Some things are better off being explained clearly.

"Can I smoke?"

"Oh, sure."

"The kingdom will gradually clear the monster's territory. I hope all the monsters in the southern plains can gather together to resist the kingdom."

"That's not an easy task. We orcs are fine with it."

"It's the only option we have."

"But Raul, I don't understand, why do the monsters need to gather?"

"The kingdom's intention is to obtain the entire southern plains and won't allow a single monster to exist."

"..."

"In other words, it is only a matter of time before they reach your territory. If you have a way to ensure the safe retreat of all your people, I won't force it."

"Orcs will never give up even the smallest piece of land!"

"So it's better to unite and have a chance of winning rather than being individually defeated."

"Understood, I will convey your message to the orc king."

"Well, then I'll leave now and go find Simmon."

"You're leaving already?"

"Yeah, don't worry, our supplies are the best. Hoho~"

I punched Urum's chest and turned to find Wolfrang.

The orcs had started to pry open the barrels of alcohol and were drinking heartily. Alcohol was a luxury for orcs because they didn't have the skill of brewing and the same applied to vegetables. They raised a large number of horned wild boars and could only grow not so tasty taros on the barren land, which were used as pig food. However, orcs liked to snack on fresh vegetables and considered pork as their staple food.

Park helped to forge weapons and tools, Wolfrang chatted with a few orcs, and Simmon sat on the carriage, busy with his own minerals and coins.

"Wolfrang, I borrowed your horse."

"Okay... Hey, wait, Raul, where are you going?"

"I'm going to find my wife."

"Are you still going with us?"

"No."

"Be careful then!"

"Okay!"

I released Wolfrang's horse from the carriage, threw two bags of horse feed on it, checked the stirrups and saddle, and urged the fierce horse towards my wife's direction.

The canine-toothed horse had strong carrying capacity. Excluding my small eighty-kilogram weight, it could still carry a lot of miscellaneous items.

The hilly terrain didn't affect the speed of the canine-toothed horse. I still slowed down the pace, struggling against the bumps while bringing out a cigarette and lighting it. Nicotine was truly a magical substance. It made people's heart race, yet it acted as a "sedative". If everyone had their own flaws, my flaw was the hand holding the cigarette.

When you see the hand holding the cigarette start to tremble, that means I am in my most vulnerable state.

However, perhaps because I was riding a horse, the cigarette butt fell on my pants, did a backflip, and disappeared from sight.

I hate this feeling.

I took out my pocket watch to check the time. It was five minutes past five. My wife and I had been apart for nearly eight hours.

Sigh... Tsk.

I moved the muscles in my mouth to rub against the walls of my mouth and teeth. Yes, with just a little movement, I could push the annoying emotions up by ten limit-up boards. Is today the relisting of "Frustration Company"?

Dragging my feet, I finally saw that little tent from afar. Lonely Medusa was waiting for me.

"I'm back."

"Where are they..."

"They will stay for a few more days."

"Shall we go home then?"

"No, just the two of us."

"Okay."

My wife clumsily packed up the tent. She didn't know how to roll the tent cloth or bind the support rods together. I got off the horse to help, and the two of us were silent, but the more we tried, the worse it got.

"I'll do it."

"Okay."

I quickly packed up the tent myself, while she stood by with a smile on her face. Her thin lips curved downwards, overflowing with infinite gentleness and compliance, like a perfect wife and mother.

"Wife, lie down."

"Okay."

"Wife, stand up."

"Hmm, stand up."

"..."

For whatever reason, my wife unconditionally obeyed my requests.

This isn't what I wanted. I'm not raising a dog.

She always has the look of owing me something. Ever since I came back, it seems like she has regarded me as some kind of master in her heart. Despite being a shut-in for seven or eight years, I'm not into maidservants at all, especially black and white maid outfits, which make them look like old virgins from a monastery.

Please, my goddess of luck, don't be so foolish...

"I'm riding a horse, can you keep up?"

"Of course~"

I tightened the reins, and the horse's hooves hit the ground. I paused and forced a smile at her.

My wife tilted her head, and that silly smile was filled with the same unnaturalness.

In the end, Xiaao still followed behind us, walking in completely different footsteps from me and my wife.