Published: March 11, 2025
Chapter 10: Hope
Zhao Hai waited until the sun fully emerged from the ground before his emotions calmed down. Yes, this was the first sunrise he had seen in this other world. The magnificent sight made him feel refreshed and filled with emotion, which was why he couldn't help but say those words.
When Zhao Hai turned around, he discovered that Galen and the others were standing beneath the city wall, with a hundred slaves behind them. It was clear that these slaves had been carefully selected, half male and half female, all strong and healthy. They were also neatly groomed, wearing clean clothes. However, the male slaves bore a mark on their faces; a fierce dragon, the emblem of the budah family, which was crafted according to the name of their family’s fighting spirit.
As soon as Galen noticed that Zhao Hai saw them, he quickly bowed and loudly said, “Young master, the glory of the budah family will surely shine over the entire land. Please give us a speech.” After he finished speaking, all the slaves behind him immediately knelt down, their heads touching the ground, not one of them daring to raise their heads to look at Zhao Hai.
Zhao Hai had been an ordinary otaku in his previous life and had never witnessed such a scene, leaving him momentarily stunned and at a loss for words.
After a while, his emotions gradually settled. Noticing that Galen and the others were still bowing, he hurriedly said, “Grandpa Galen, you all can rise. Everyone else, please stand up as well. We have arrived at such a place where there is nothing—no farmland to cultivate, no mines in the mountains. We only have this abandoned castle as our shelter. And you all now share a common surname, budah. Whether you like it or not, you have already been branded with the mark of the budah family. You are now part of the budah family. As long as the budah family exists, you have a reason to exist. If the budah family disappears, you will also vanish. This is an unchangeable fact. Yes, we have nothing now, but we have our hands. Everything in this world is created by human hands. Each of us has hands, so we will not starve. We will make our lives better. Many of you are slaves, and you may think that the goodness of life has nothing to do with you, because no matter how good life is, you are still slaves. But what I want to say today is that as long as you work hard, as long as you contribute to the budah family, I can grant you freedom from your slavery and allow you to become commoners. Your children will no longer be slaves; perhaps one day they can join the budah family’s army and become honorable warriors. If they perform well, they might even become knights, nobles. I ask you to do your best, and I will give you the best in return. I, Adam Buddha, swear here on my family’s honor that I will fulfill my promise today!”
A slight commotion arose among the slaves. It should be noted that these slaves had been professionally trained before being sold; they were not allowed to move during their master’s speeches, not even to pass gas, so such an uproar should not have occurred.
However, Zhao Hai’s words were truly shocking. No noble on the continent had ever turned a slave into a commoner. Once you became a slave, you were a slave for life, and your descendants would also be slaves. This was unchangeable.
If Zhao Hai were merely speaking empty words, the slaves would not believe him. But Zhao Hai swore on the honor of the budah family. Noblemen in the Ark Continent do not swear lightly. Even when they do swear, they rarely use their family’s honor; that is the most important thing to all nobles. Once they swear by the family’s honor, they will definitely fulfill it, meaning that everything Zhao Hai said was true!
What is the greatest wish of a slave? It is to one day become a commoner, to regain their freedom, to ensure that their descendants will no longer suffer the plight of slavery. For this, many slaves have fought back; they revolted and rebelled, but they were quickly suppressed by the nobles, as they were merely slaves without weapons or armor, and they did not know fighting spirit. In such a situation, they could not possibly win against the well-armed noble armies.