Chapter 619: Rebellion? We Just Want Your Life!
Sparta's heart jolted in terror. He instinctively reached for his weapon, ready to resist.
But a terrifying force pressed down on his shoulder, pinning him so hard he couldn't move.
He could only stop struggling, turning his head to glare at Matthew, who was smiling, and after calming down, asked:
"Are you the legendary Lord Matthew? Do you really think we can succeed?"
Matthew gently shook his head and, under Sparta's startled gaze, replied calmly:
"I believe the people of our territory can succeed."
"As for you all, you're just saving yourselves."
Save ourselves?
Sparta blinked, feeling the overwhelming confidence in Matthew's tone. Staring at his imposing figure, Sparta said without hesitation:
"I agree, but I hope to discuss the battle plan again."
"Because I know the Cole Elf garrison very well."
Seeing Sparta so cooperative, Matthew couldn't help but sigh inwardly:
"As expected of the unlucky guy with '-5 Luck,' he sure is bold."
Matthew knew the King of Slaves, Sparta, very well—he had once worked with him before.
Back then, in order to eliminate the last of the Cole Elves, when founding his kingdom in the north of the Cole Elf Kingdom, Matthew had fought side by side with Sparta.
The only thing Matthew regretted was—
At that time, Sparta was already a lingering soul wandering in the ruins, unable to leave.
After Matthew helped him complete his mission and cleared a city of Cole Elves—
Sparta's wish was fulfilled, and he faded away.
Back then, Sparta could provide accurate information and excellent battle advice.
Unfortunately, at that time Matthew had not advanced to Grand Arcanist or mastered the technique of lich transformation.
So he couldn't save Sparta. Fate really is mysterious—now, here he was seeing Sparta alive again.
And now, the King of Slaves' powerful attributes were all revealed to Matthew.
Sparta
Age: 45
Race: Half-Elf/Half-Giant
Class: Level 18 Gladiator Champion
Challenge Rating: 20+ (Commander)
Personality: Resolute, Calm
Height: 2.1m (Medium)
Weight: 125kg
Talents:
Legendary—Protean Form LV2: All stats +4, Max HP +40. Can freely change body size and appearance, up to 20% variation.
Extraordinary—Half-Giant Bloodline LV1: Max HP +10, Strength and Constitution +4.
Feats:
Extraordinary Feat—Dominion Aura LV2: All allied units within 1 km gain +6 Attack, +6 Defense, +10% Movement Speed.
Extraordinary Feat—Gladiator Master LV2: Max HP +10, +6 to all weapon proficiencies, +4 to melee attack rolls.
Extraordinary Feat—Inspiring Command LV4: +50 persuasion success when rallying or persuading friendly targets/units.
Stats:
Strength: 24
Agility: 18
Constitution: 24
Intelligence: 9
Perception: 12
Charisma: 18
Max HP: 48+18+60=126
Attack: 12
Defense: 12
Mobility: High
Luck: -5 (Calamity)
Evaluation: Hesitate and you will lose!
"Legendary bloodline? That's a real surprise!"
Matthew carefully checked the Protean Form data, discovering Sparta had never used it to its full potential.
Such a powerful bloodline talent—Sparta only used it to change size and appearance.
Of course, that was because Sparta was constantly hunted by the Cole Elves.
The other feats and talents also made Matthew pleasantly surprised.
Especially the new class attributes and extraordinary feats, which could give Bay Territory's enhanced warriors more options.
Matthew was pretty satisfied with Sparta's strength.
He simply lacked a strong enough foundation and legacy to break through the extraordinary barrier to become a legend.
Which put him just within the recruitment and control range of Matthew and Bay Territory.
Matthew had already started looking forward—
When this half-giant, half-grey-elf donned the thunder armor crafted just for him, what a mighty display that would be.
Why was Matthew so sure Sparta would join Bay Territory?
Would he ever let any talent slip away?
"If you're confident, then let's talk in detail."
Matthew was naturally happy for Sparta to get more involved, since the more he invested, the more he'd care about the plan.
Soon, the night passed quietly.
Fully armed Cole Elf soldiers, practiced and efficient, dragged out a batch of stiff corpses.
Some of the bodies were already badly mutilated—evidence of chilling crimes.
Such horrors seemed all too familiar to the half-elf slaves around them.
Their feelings were complicated—some pondering, some tempted, some fearful, some disgusted.
But regardless of their feelings, the ragged half-elf slaves all started making their way to the mines on the hillside.
If they wanted to survive and get food, they had to work.
The overseers, faces plastered with fawning smiles, constantly tried to curry favor with the Cole Elf commanders.
The latter swept an impatient glance at them, speaking with a grave, serious tone:
"No matter how you arrange things, you must get enough ore. Otherwise, you'll be the ones in trouble!"
The overseers nodded without hesitation, having made up their minds to teach a lesson to all those lazy miners who hadn't met their quotas yesterday.
With this in mind, the overseers soon led their teams to the mines.
Smelling the thick, foul stench in the air, the overseer's face twisted in distaste and anger. He shouted sharply:
"I want to see which fools dare to slack off today!"
This was the overseer's trick for intimidating slaves.
As long as his voice went ahead of him, it would keep the cowardly miners terrified and make them less likely to rebel.
But today was different.
The overseer led three or four dozen strong gnoll enforcers into the mine, expecting to hear cries of fear or sycophantic greetings—but he heard none of that.
All he saw were eyes blazing with fury.
The overseer instinctively raised his brows, his heart suddenly thudding. Without thinking, he shouted:
"Are you trying to rebel? Get to work! Do you want your whole family to starve?"
The overseer was very experienced, and these lines had been tested over time.
Usually, as mining quotas increased, these situations would arise.
Most just wanted to follow the crowd and score some small benefit.
At such moments, you had to be ruthless and fast!
Take down a few ringleaders first—they were always the fiercest and already unafraid of death.
Then remind the rest—their families still needed food, or they'd starve to death.
This way, the overseer could easily divide and conquer the slaves.
In short, act fast!
"Take them out!"
The overseer roared at the gnoll enforcers, his face as savage as possible.
The strong gnoll enforcers charged in, grinning cruelly.
But instead of felling weak, helpless slaves as usual, the clash of steel soon left only a pile of broken corpses.
Sparta sniffed the blood in the air, watching the fear dawn in the overseer's eyes.
Deep-buried memories surged in Sparta's mind.
Face twisted in pain, tears filled Sparta's eyes.
The overseer snapped out of his fear, spun around and tried to flee, ready to shout for help.
Sparta took two strides to catch up and struck with his blade!
Crack!
The overseer's legs were severed; his bloated body crashed to the ground. He howled in agony, rolling around.
Listening to the screams, Sparta recalled his own inaction during times of despair.
Overcome with grief, Sparta grabbed the overseer by the hair, and amid his howls and curses, lifted him up.
The overseer, wildly struggling and surrounded by fear and pain, pleaded desperately:
"It wasn't my choice—the Cole Elves forced me! If I failed, they'd kill me!"
"Don't rebel! If you do, we'll all die!"
"The Cole Elves never spare rebels. If even one appears, tens of thousands in the mine will be doomed…"
But before he could finish, a cold blade bit into his neck. Staring in disbelief, Sparta said firmly:
"Rebellion? We just want your lives!"
The overseer's vision spun.
The last thing he saw—
Was a crowd of gaunt miner slaves, donning armor and picking up weapons under Sparta's command.
"These idiots have gone mad?"
The last thought faded away.
The overseer died unnoticed, his life snuffed out lightly.
The mine filled with furious miner slaves.
Especially after hearing what the overseer had yelled.
Every miner slave understood—if one rebelled, the rest had to join in.
Because the Cole Elves would kill them all anyway!
Handing out weapons and gear, Sparta didn't bother to clean the blood from his blade. Instead, he shouted:
"Under Cole Elf slavery, we'll all starve sooner or later."
"I've never seen a half-elf slave survive more than ten years in these mines."
"They die of exhaustion, or are beaten to death— even the corpses become food!"
"Rather than die in disgrace like worms, let's rise up and resist!"
...…
The stirring, persuasive words instantly fired up the miner slaves.
Suppressed anger and humiliation exploded as they all roared together.
"Kill…!"
Following the plan, Sparta quickly organized a group of three to four hundred professionals.
After giving them food and letting them recover, and arming them, they launched a surprise attack on the mine's guards and overseers.
They didn't hesitate to kill the patrolling Cole Elf guards and any overseers encountered, handing out weapons to any professionals who joined in.
In just ten minutes—
Sparta, thoroughly familiar with the terrain and long-prepared, took full control of Mine No. 2.
Behind him, nearly a thousand professionals ate, recovered, and suited up.
To gain control of the nearby mines as quickly as possible—
Sparta decisively sent out teams to strike other mines before the Cole Elf army could react.
He wasn't worried his teams would be surrounded or fail to seize the mines.
Among them, powerful grey elf augmented warriors would deal with any troubles and dangers.
With no more than 200 Cole Elf guards at each mine, they were no match for the grey elf warriors.
When the miner slaves saw the Cole Elf guards slain and the overseers taken out,
They were easily incited to join the uprising.
They'd suffered under the Cole Elves for too long!
Soon, most mines near Glory Fortress were plunged into chaos.
Cole Elf guards were quickly killed, and the hated overseers were skinned and torn apart by enraged slaves.
Miner slaves vented their fury, clashing with fleeing guards and plunging the mines into chaos.
News of the rebellion reached the Cole Elf army at Glory Fortress.
They urgently discussed countermeasures, quickly deciding to send troops to suppress it.
The lord of Glory Fortress, Lark, solemnly glanced at the others, blaming them while shouting:
"The metal production task must not fail—none of us can bear that responsibility…"
"I told you not to push them so hard, now look what's happened!"
"We must quickly suppress these slaves, give in to some of their demands, and get them back to mining."
"As usual, pick some to be overseers and have them monitor the work."
"When trouble comes, kill the overseers first and then meet some of their demands."
"What are you waiting for? Get moving!"
Hearing this, the Cole Elf commanders casually led their teams out.
Ten thousand Cole Elf soldiers marched in force toward the mines.
The Cole Elf troops near Glory Fortress stopped outside the slave district, not daring to rush in.
After all, they still wanted the miner slaves to keep working.
Sparta watched the Cole Elf army approach and shouted to all the miner slaves:
"Don't rush out—let them in!"
The miner slaves obeyed. They still didn't dare to face the Cole Elf regulars head-on.
Seeing the slaves shrink back, the Cole Elf commanders relaxed.
Miner slaves were, after all, just a rabble.
If they all gathered together, there'd be over a hundred thousand—each with a pickaxe could be dangerous.
But now that they were hiding in the mines, it was easier to wipe them out one by one.
Confident in their assessment, the Cole Elf commanders ordered their soldiers in.
From afar, Matthew saw this and pointed to the now-empty Glory Fortress and the scattered ten-thousand-strong enemy unit:
"Now we can destroy them piecemeal. Move out!"