CHAPTER 37: OFFER FROM THE HUMANS

"Move!" Akhil’s voice cut through the air as he shielded his eyes from the blinding light.

He pushed Aria slightly behind him, bracing himself for a possible explosion.

A brilliant white light burst outward—but the explosion he expected never came.

Cautiously, he lowered his hands. From the radiance emerged a hologram of a young boy, his bright green eyes fixed intently on Akhil. His short, bowl-cut golden hair hung just low enough to shade his eyes.

"Good day, leader of the orcs," the boy said with a calm smile. "My name is Langdon, leader of Norclin City, one of the human settlements."

Akhil stared at the hologram, his expression sharp with curiosity. Questions pressed at the edge of his mind, but he kept silent, choosing instead to listen.

Around them, the orcs had begun to gather. Drawn by the flash of light and Akhil’s earlier warning, they formed a loose circle before the glowing projection.

"I apologize for the unannounced visit. But I was hoping to cooperate with the orcs on a mutual project."

The hologram flickered slightly, the voice echoing faintly through the projection’s metallic filter.

"I’ll get straight to the point. I don’t intend to waste your time—or mine. I’m sure you already know this, but the second wave of the horde will be far stronger than the first. With your current forces, it will be difficult to handle it alone... as you did before."

Akhil’s brow furrowed slightly.

’How do they already know this much about the scenarios?’ he thought, keeping his expression composed as Langdon went on.

"I want to offer my forces to assist you," Langdon said evenly. "And to convince the other human factions to work alongside you as well."

Aria crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "What do they want this time?" she muttered under her breath.

It wasn’t hard to guess. The same humans who once tried to kill them—and even hoped to let the orcs exhaust themselves against the horde before swooping in for the final blow—wouldn’t suddenly become allies out of goodwill.

Just as she expected, Langdon continued.

"After much deliberation, I believe cooperation is the best path forward.

It came to my notice that you possess valuable resources that can help us both survive this situation.

That’s why I’m proposing we begin trade between our races. I’m aware that our relationship started poorly, but I hope we can leave that behind and start anew."

While he looked like a young boy, Langdon’s words carried the precision and restraint like that of a seasoned diplomat, giving the true aura of a leader.

Made it easier to believe his words are least.

It also meant he was here for business.

"Energy," he said after a brief pause, "is the lifeblood of our society. For humanity to rebuild to what it once was, we need stable, abundant energy sources. After the Great Transmission, most of the global power grids collapsed. Gathering energy has become... increasingly difficult." He exhaled softly, the weariness in his voice sounding genuine.

"For the benefit of both sides, I ask for your cooperation. If possible, we can establish trade relations. Together, we can rebuild civilization despite this chaos." His tone steadied again.

"I’m certain, that if you share my vision, you’ll find me a very valuable ally. If you refuse...." He paused again, letting out a sigh.

"We’ll still assist you against the horde—but we won’t go beyond that."

Langdon went on to clarify further, explaining that the earlier scuffle with the humans was mainly caused by Samxon and had nothing to do with him.

He claimed he’d been doing his best to keep his city safe and prepare for the trials that the system would bring.

He then explained how the human settlement was divided into three major powerhouses, each led by the strongest mutant in their area — Haven City, Norclin City, and Coast City, which belonged to Samxon.

"If you agree to work with me, I’ll do my best to help the orcs grow into a stable society and support you to the best of my abilities. If you accept, simply crush this ball. But if you don’t wish to, just leave it as it is. I believe you’ll come up with the best reply. Time isn’t on our side—we have barely twenty-four hours before the next horde," Langdon added.

Once his message ended, the bright light flickered and faded into the metallic ball, which folded itself shut.

Akhil stared at the round object before him.

They had all listened to Langdon’s words carefully, and Akhil had watched him closely throughout the projection. The boy didn’t seem to have any bad intentions. In fact, he went out of his way to explain every detail of the offer.

Still, Akhil wasn’t the type to trust his enemies so easily.

He had just faced a conflict with them, and while Langdon insisted that it was entirely Samxon’s doing, Akhil knew better than to believe that completely.

He let out a quiet sigh, letting his thoughts swirl.

"You know, it’s not a bad idea if we accept their offer. I mean, we survived today, but we all saw how difficult it was," Gon said suddenly.

The villagers turned and glared at the old orc, who immediately shivered under their stares. He let out an awkward laugh and was quickly ignored.

"But he isn’t wrong," another orc spoke up. "If they help us, things will be better. They have more numbers, and they’re stronger too, at least to some extent."

And just like that, the discussion turned into a full debate.

Akhil hadn’t said a word yet, but some orcs already saw the humans’ offer as a good opportunity. Gon’s opinion—though mostly disregarded—still carried weight, especially after what they’d all endured together.

But coming from someone who’d once been betrayed and deceived by humans, Aria could only conclude that the old orc must have lost a few brain cells along the way.

She was completely against the idea and didn’t hesitate to make her stance clear.

"They wanted to kill us, do you think it would be wise to work with people like that?"

A few others remained neutral, either unsure what to say or unwilling to pick a side too soon.

In the end, there was only one voice that truly mattered—Akhil’s. Once he spoke, the debate would be settled.

Aria turned to him, her gaze sharp. He had been silent since the argument started, lost deep in thought.

"What do you want to do?" she asked quietly. "Accept their offer?"

Akhil slowly lowered his hand from his chin.

He had run through countless possibilities in his mind before reaching a decision.

Everyone fell silent, waiting.

Finally, his lips parted.

"We’ll..."