The Abandoned Hub, Capital of Wilwatikta Kingdom

In a damp basement reeking of rust, right on the fringes of the Bitter Maja industrial district, the atmosphere felt as bone-chillingly cold as a tomb. Once, this place had served as the nerve center for the tunnel construction project that interconnected nearly every underground passage in the capital. However, upon the project’s completion, the site was utterly abandoned. Its sheer distance from the royal palace made it isolated and inconvenient. Furthermore, with the rapid breakthroughs in Mana Organ technology, the monsters now preferred to cluster near the palace—the cradle where that technological innovation had first been unveiled.

The faint glow of a mana lamp cast dim illumination over the faces of a dozen fierce-looking young Hobgoblins. Their torsos were cross-hatched with the rugged marks of battle scars. Dangling from their necks were necklaces strung with the claws or teeth of fallen brethren who had perished in the theater of war.

Even though their stances seemed relaxed, their rigid spines and hands hovering alertly at their hips—ever ready to unsheathe a weapon—betrayed that they were prepared to pounce at a fraction of a second’s notice. Upon a slab of stone, a logistics route map lay unfurled, aggressively scrawled over with thick, crimson ink.

"Grak is dead! Ez killed him with his own hands! He is no longer one of us. He is a coward and a traitor! He is a sycophant and the asuran lapdog!" snarled a young Hobgoblin with a scarred face, his hand gripping a makeshift dagger. "We will wait no longer. Speaking with asuras was a mistake. Grak is the proof!"

A few of the young hobgoblins nodded in agreement, while the rest remained utterly silent, their countenances growing increasingly grim.

"Leon allied with the Demons, so he could be called a traitor. But the reason he sought them out was to find a way out for the Hobgoblin race. If Leon was wrong, then what of Grak? Did he not simply wish to speak? Yet the kingdom and those Asuras didn’t care! They don’t care about us! They don’t consider Hobgoblins part of Wilwatikta!!"

"Next, they will force us to work like slaves who live in fear of the lash!" another Hobgoblin continued. "Are we to just stand by and let the Asuras do as they please?" His fist slammed into the table with a sound like an explosion.

BOOM.

"Exactly! We may not be able to defeat them, but who among us fears death? Living like a slave is far worse than dying!" another Hobgoblin added, nodding with tightly clenched fists.

The countenances of the hobgoblins were no longer merely grim; their faces contorted with a buried rage that burned furiously, stoking the rising heat in their hearts.

"Tonight, we strike! We might not kill many Asuras, but if we sabotage their logistics and defenses, it will cause a catastrophic loss! They will pay dearly for our deaths!" the first Hobgoblin cheered with a heart full of vengeance.

However, not everyone in the room was a hothead. Some still thought with cold logic and understood the consequences of their actions. "But... if we attack the kingdom now and paralyze the defense systems, the Demon legion will obliterate every monster inside..."

A few Hobgoblins wavered upon hearing this. They were the ones who still had families or close friends who were entirely uninvolved in this dispute. If their actions caused those people to be killed, it would be a tragedy.

"WHO CARES ABOUT THEM!" the second Hobgoblin screamed with pure vitriol.

"Why should we care about those who don’t care about us? You think they truly give a damn? If they cared, they would help us! If they cared, they would be here joining us in this place! But what happens? They just sit idly by, watching our suffering like innocent spectators! They enjoy our misery and find it entertaining! FUCK THEM! FUCK THEM ALL!!!"

His voice echoed, saturated with pain. Every Hobgoblin in the room was instantly reminded of the indifference of the other monsters. The Hobgoblins who chose to be construction workers and avoided the front lines didn’t know their pain. The Goblins who chose not to evolve for fear of the Mana Cream Cultivation didn’t know their torture. The cowardly Sylphs who could do nothing under Nerphyl’s watch didn’t know their despair. The Alraunes protected behind the walls of R-18 didn’t care about their fate. The Valkyries and Asuras, the masterminds behind their suffering, enjoyed it all.

Suddenly, a shout erupted from the Hobgoblin who had previously been level-headed.

"FUCK THEM! FUCK THEM ALL!!"

The cry was met by the other Hobgoblins, whose cheeks were now stained with tears.

"FUCK THEM! FUCK THEM ALL!!"

"FUCK THEM! FUCK THEM ALL!!"

"FUCK THEM! FUCK THEM ALL!!"

The room filled with vengeful screams and agonizing sobs. Every Hobgoblin present unified their hearts. They no longer cared what would happen to the Wilwatikta Kingdom. They no longer cared about the Demon army approaching to destroy them. They didn’t even care about their own fates.

All they knew was that if they were to fall, they would drag the kingdom down with them into the same destiny.

The first Hobgoblin, who had screamed until his voice was hoarse, stopped and slammed his hand onto the stone table with immense force. The sound silenced the others, and all eyes turned to him.

"Now is our best chance. Tonight, we will dismantle every defense system and trap. We will burn the logistics and the meat storage. We will shatter the kingdom’s structure from within. After that, we only need to wait for death to claim us. We will do it quickly and silently. They will never know what hit them. They are too arrogant, thinking we are useless and capable of nothing! Fuck them! Fuck them all!"

Cheers of "Fuck them! Fuck them all!" filled the room again. But this time, they didn’t just cheer; they began selecting their weapons. The armory in this basement was enough to arm them all and then some. This was Leon’s basement, prepared long ago. It was clear that the end of Leon’s rebellion wasn’t meant to stop at an ideological war, but a physical one that would cost many lives.

But as the Hobgoblins prepared, their voices were suddenly cut short. Not by a physical explosion, but by a voice that pierced through the walls and the darkness of the room, surging directly into their hearts.

[To all monsters of the Wilwatikta Kingdom. I am KU Moku, the strongest monster.]

Every Hobgoblin froze. Their bodies trembled instinctively—a primal, ancestral reaction etched into their very genetics when confronted by a peak predator.

That voice. It was a voice they had previously only heard in bedtime fables. It was the voice of the person who should have been the monster they hated most, yet whom they secretly worshipped in the depths of their hearts.

Moku.

There wasn’t a single child in Wilwatikta who didn’t idolize Moku. He was the light, he was the guide, he was the way. He was the light that pierced the darkness surrounding the lives of monsters who once hid in stinking tree holes like vermin. He was the guide who showed them a better way to live, leading them toward a life beyond their wildest imaginations. And he was the way upon which every monster set their feet, striving to follow so they might one day gaze upon his back.

Though these were all young Hobgoblins who knew of the unification of the scattered monster species only through history books, they had all seen Moku in person. Their leader would always find time in his busy schedule to deliver a speech during the opening of the new academic year at the church school. He would look into their eyes with such hope, as if they were the very monsters who would one day lighten the heavy burden upon his shoulders.

Because of that, they had all chosen to march to the battlefield and serve as bait. They believed this was their way of easing the weight pressing down on their leader’s back. But then...

"He... he’s back," one of them whispered, his voice shaking violently. "Half a year... he’s been hiding for half a year..."

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Bonus Chapter Event: Let’s Finish TROC This Year!

It looks like sticking to just one Chapter a day won’t be enough to hit my goal of completing TROC by the end of the year. But here is the good news: I currently have a stockpile of over 20 Chapters locked and loaded!

To speed up the releases and show my appreciation for your incredible support, I am officially opening a Bonus Chapter System!

You can unlock additional Chapters instantly by hitting any of these milestones:

- 10 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter

- 5 Golden Tickets = +1 Bonus Chapter

- 1 "Ice Cola" Gift (or any gift worth 10 Coins) = +1 Bonus Chapter

Let’s break the limits and reach the climax of the story together! Drop your stones, tickets, and gifts, and I will unleash the stockpiled Chapters. Thank you for reading and for your massive support!