In the 721st year of the Northern Emerald New Calendar, in May, the dense forest of Andoha.

It was the last night of spring, and the longest period of miasma and fog in the eastern part of the continent had just ended, and few living creatures were willing to come out of their nests.

Because of the exceptionally quiet environment, the movement in the depths of the jungle seemed particularly abrupt.

It was a lion digging mud.

It looks a little thinner than an ordinary lion, and seems to be underage, with its shoulders bent and pouted, with scratches all over its body, some of which have festered, and the carrion mixed with pus and blood, exuding an indescribable smell.

However, it didn't care, it only used its muddy tail to sweep away the mosquitoes and flies that were close to it from time to time, and its two weak front paws flew up and down, and soon it dug a big hole in the mud.

It purred from the bottom of its throat, looking excited and looking forward to the food in the mud, after all, it had been hungry for too long...

Just when it couldn't even lift its tail to the sky, the front paws digging into the wet mud suddenly touched something.

Hearing a metallic sound of "ding", its claws trembled and shrank back suddenly.

lion:"……"

This is by no means the sound that meat would make!

The lion stared at the mud puddle with a bewildered face, and its tail raised to the sky fell to the ground with a clatter.

It hesitated for a long time, but finally succumbed to its appetite, and continued to plan with courage.

After a while, the full picture of what was buried in the pit was revealed—

That's a humanoid monster!

The reason why it is called a monster is because he has two big heads, and his head can't even be separated from the front and the back, like a round and heavy melon. He couldn't find any white spots all over his body, and everywhere was covered with three layers of old mud...except for the hands that overlapped on his chest.

Half of the metal armor was buckled on the hands, covering from the wrist to the base of the fingers, mottled with rust, covered with wet mud, so black that the original color could not be seen. The front half of Du Du's fingers were neither stained with dirt nor showed a trace of blood, so pale and clean that it was a little sick.

Real sick, fake sick, fresh, stale, etc., the lion can't take care of it anymore, just eat it!

It jumped to the monster's chest and lowered its head to bite!

A soft sound of metal friction suddenly sounded, and the seemingly thin and sickly hands twitched violently, one hand pressed against its sharp teeth, and the other hand quickly touched behind it, without saying a word, according to its respectful buttocks Just a slap.

The lion screamed "Ow", and was as stupid as he was humiliated: "..."

Before he could fight back, it was slammed aside by the monster's tail.

With a sharp claws, it got up and tried to bow and lunge again, but the monster grabbed its throat and pressed it to the ground.

The monster breathed heavily, raised his free hand and pressed it around his neck. After a rough metallic fricative sound, the crumbling "head" was rudely lifted off by him, and he casually lifted it off. Dropped on the ground—it was an old-fashioned headplate covered in mud.

As the first armor was taken off, the rough edge hooked out a string that the freak was tucked under the collar, and a dark silver sheet of metal hung from it. The sheet was engraved with the freak's full name - Kevin Fassbender.

The rope between the heavy armor pieces had long since been torn apart. Kevin took off the burden with little effort, leaving only a set of clothes and trousers that were no longer in their original shape, and one was buckled around his waist. , and a cowhide bag that fell to the ground.

The lion pinched under his left hand has completely recovered at this time, struggling desperately, although he is not an adult, his strength should not be underestimated. Steel-blade-like claws made several deep cuts on Kevin's arm, dripping with blood.

Kevin sighed in pain, frowned and said "tsk", unbuttoned the short knife, and raised his hand to stroke its neck.

As a result, the lion was in a hurry, and the sudden burst of force was amazing, making Kevin's hand numb, causing it to roll over and slip.

He probably understood that the man in front of him was also a ferocious master. The lion didn't intend to continue to fight hard, and his figure nimbly took advantage of the hole and ran away. It's just that the immature little beast escaped and took Kevin away. under the cowhide bag.

Kevin: "..."

He just crawled out of the mud, and the series of fights were almost all out of survival instinct. His limbs kept up, but his mind was still a little behind. He was stunned for two seconds before he remembered what was in the cowhide bag. He rolled his eyes immediately, rubbed the back of the dagger with his thumb, raised his foot and chased after him.

The lion screamed "Ow" and flew with its four claws in front of it, wishing it could go straight to the sky.

However, it is of no use... After all, it has been hungry for too long, and there are countless poisonous wounds on its body.

After a while, Kevin buckled the short knife back to his waist in one hand, carried the lion tied with the cane in the other hand, and found a relatively safe river and sat down. Along the way, also touched a few sour fruits and picked up a handful of dry branches, as if wanted to roast meat on a rack.

"Still running? Huh?" Kevin asked, patting the lion's head.

He had probably not spoken in too long, his voice low and hoarse. Because it was too lazy to work hard, it was almost inaudible, but unexpectedly there was a more frightening sense of threat.

lion:"……"

Kevin turned over the fur on its body, and said while checking, "You don't have any marks on your body, right? If you don't, I'll be welcome... After all, I've been hungry for a long time."

There are two kinds of beasts on this continent. One is without special marks, that is, serious beasts, which are edible - you are their prey, and of course, if they are fierce enough, they can also be your prey.

The other type with the tribal symbol is not very serious. It is a giant orc. If you look closely, it is probably the same ancestor as Kevin thousands of years ago. One of the races, it is not very convenient to talk.

"There is really no mark, so you can only admit that you are unlucky." Kevin said hoarsely and brutally comforted.

The lion looked horrified: "!!!"

Kevin piled up the dry branches and leaves, took out the flint from the cowhide bag he grabbed, and glanced at the bag with a worried look. After confirming that everything inside was still intact, he breathed a sigh of relief. .

"Fortunately it's not broken..." He muttered, putting the cowhide bag aside, as if he was afraid that he would accidentally press it, and then lowered his head and rubbed the flint, intending to ignite the dry branch.

After a short while, the lion, who had already confessed his fate and pretended to be dead, came alive again for some reason.

as if it could escape...

For fear that he would roll around and press the cowhide bag, Kevin couldn't help raising his head to scare him, but was taken aback by the scene in front of him.

saw that the lion tied with the cane had disappeared in the blink of an eye, and was replaced by a brown-haired boy about seven or eight years old. He was about to break free from the loosened cane, his expression savage, his eyes full of hostility at Kevin.

Kevin: "..." What about the serious beast? How can you become a person if you don't agree?

He had a slight stomachache.

In the end, before he could recover from his surprise and stomach pain, the boy grabbed his weakness one step earlier, slammed onto the ground, and grabbed the cowhide bag!

"Don't touch!" Kevin shouted!

Too bad it's too late...

The boy's ferocity is full of momentum, and his desire to find a threat is also very beautiful, but his hands are a little short.

I couldn't catch it all, and finally I slapped it on it, making a crisp "pop" sound.

Kevin: "..."

He lifted the boy's claws, and with his left hand he pulled the cane's slipknot and tied the little bastard tightly; he grabbed the cowhide bag with his right hand, hurriedly opened the mouth of the bag, and pulled it inside, and then pinched it out. A black round pellet.

That thing was about the size of a bean. At first glance, it looked like a beetle, but it was accidentally crushed, and there was a little smoky-gold trace on the side, as if it had died very wrongly.

"..." Kevin's thin face was expressionless, and the veins on his forehead jumped up.

This inconspicuous "beetle" is called letter sand. It is often used in wartime, and everyone in the army has it. When sneaking and attacking, it is often used to convey azimuth information, and if necessary, it can also call for help.

In order to distinguish, different armies use different colors of letter sand, and ordinary soldiers and officers are also different. As for the commander's level, one color only represents a specific person.

This thing can take effect when you squeeze it, and the operation is close to the people, which is very foolish.

Under normal circumstances, soldiers are generally as happy to see Xinsha as their own mother...except for Kevin at this time.

He was holding this crooked letter sand, let alone joy, he just wanted to hang up and beat that cheap bastard. Not only that, he guessed that the one who received the letter sand would also not have any joy, maybe he was scared to death...

have to say that, to a certain extent, he guessed quite accurately——

In the Ugin Hanging Palace, which is located deep in the Great Rift Valley at the northern end, there was a "bang" on the observation platform.

The remaining two young priests couldn't react in time, and still stared at the clump of light blooming in the pool water.

"I didn't dream?! Letter sand?! Smoke gold?!" One of the priests shouted, with a ghostly expression, "No, no, no, I must have misremembered, the smoke gold represents more than one person, right? !"

The other was in a daze, and said with a dazed expression: "You remember right, the smoky gold color only represents one person. It's that bronze commander, Kevin Fassbender..."

"But...but he died many years ago!"

Half an hour later, in the depths of Ugin Hanging Palace, the new emperor who had just succeeded him rolled over from the bed and sat up, his eyelids jumping as he heard the inner attendant shout: "Your Majesty! There's a corpse all over the place!"

New Emperor: "………………………………”