Ashen Dragon

Chapter 303: Chapter 226 Fire Seed
 

“What should we do next?”

“You decide. We all trust you.”

Behind him, a previously silent slave laborer spoke up.

His cheeks were sunken, and he was tall and gaunt. Dressed in tattered, filthy rags, his skin was pale from long periods without sunlight, with veins visible underneath.

Due to the long-term dark environment, he had trachoma, making his eyes particularly murky, yet at this moment his gaze was inexplicably firm, even faintly glowing in the dark mine.

This slave laborer was named Nick. He, too, was born a serf, but had once worked as an attendant student. His parents were trampled to death by the Earl’s youngest son’s horse, and he himself was sold into the mines. Deep in his heart, he harbored deep-seated hatred towards the Northern Nobility.

He was also the earliest acceptor and propagator of new ideas among the slave laborers, and now he had become Spark’s right-hand man, a crucial figure in this long-planned rebellion.

Spark looked around, sweeping over the slave laborers’ eyes—some bewildered, some angry, some fearful.

“Continue.”

“Continue with what?”

Someone in the crowd asked in confusion.

Spark replied resolutely: “Continue to liberate the workers here, make them our strength, and also—kill all the noble lackeys in the Valir Mines!”

He held up the overseer’s head, lifting it high,

“We must show them who the true masters are here!”

“Alright!”

“Kill them all!”

A few slave laborers raised their arms and shouted, and soon more slave laborers were infected with this enthusiasm, joining the frenzied cheer.

But Spark knew that only a few of his familiar people were truly trustworthy; the hearts of the others still harbored deeply ingrained fears. Under such oppression, they could easily become turncoats.

It should be noted that the scale of this mine was much larger; they were merely in one of the subdivided pits. As the Earl’s most treasured asset, the Valir Mines housed over a thousand slave laborers and nearly a hundred overseers, continuously extracting gold and silver for the greedy Earl, producing thousands of Gold Coins every year.

And now, this place was his best source of soldiers.

Following behind Spark, Firewood mustered the courage to ask weakly: “But… we have no weapons, no food, how could we…”

Spark raised the overseer’s head again, shaking it in the air, and smiled, showing his white teeth: “But they have. We just need to rob—no, reclaim what rightfully belongs to us.”

The timid Firewood was so frightened by the bloody head that his legs went weak, and he swallowed nervously.

Spark spoke loudly in the mine: “Anyone with ideas, feel free to speak up! After all, many hands make light work.”

He paused, his gaze turning sharp.

“But let me be clear, now that we’ve killed the overseer, there’s no turning back. Any thoughts of surrender are just dreams!”

“We could steal the Nobles’ golden hoes! That way, they won’t be able to farm!”

“Take away their piglets!”

“…”

Spark smiled helplessly: “Uh… very creative ideas. Anyone else?”

Nick proposed again:

“We should have a name.”

“Those damn Nobles call themselves righteous and just Knights. We should give ourselves a resounding name to spread across Anzeta.”

“Yes.”

“Nick is right.”s

“But what should we call ourselves? We’ve never read any books.”

Everyone waited, with dozens of expectant eyes focused on Spark.

And Spark, looking into the eyes of the slave laborers, seemed to see a multitude of flames—seeds of fire buried deep within, ready to blaze brightly and perhaps change the world.

After a moment of thought, he finally spoke:

“Fire Seed.”

“No matter what they call us, whether they smear us as Devils, Scum, or Beasts, we shall call ourselves Fire Seed. Our organization will have ranks of duties, but no different statuses. Everyone will address each other as ‘comrade,’ representing our shared aspirations.”

Although they did not understand many of the words, the slave laborers could feel the passionate and generous spirit in the speech. They nodded in agreement enthusiastically.

Spark threw the head to the ground, shouldered the bloodstained hoe, and was the first to walk out of the mine, beckoning others:

“Guns in hand, follow me.”

“Liberate the entire mine!”

He wiped the fresh blood off his face randomly, his eyes full of excitement.

As a plot enthusiast, Spark had never felt such immersive passion from any game before; he had always appeared as an observer.

But now, he felt like a creator of history, living truly in this world, with every slave laborer around him being so real and vibrant.

“What are guns?”

“We only have hoes in our hands.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll understand when the time comes.”

As the crowd surrounded him, Spark wiped the blood off his hoe and looked towards the light from outside the cave. In a barely audible voice, he said:

“I’m just an ordinary plot enthusiast…”

“How did I end up becoming a rebel leader out of nowhere?”

…

Days later, the event known among the Northern Nobility as the “Valir Uprising” occurred.

A slave laborer killed their overseer and then incited over a thousand slave laborers in the Valir Mines to launch an unprecedented rebellion. They called themselves “Fire Seed,” killing nearly a hundred overseers sent by the Earl, including an Honorary Baron.

Soon after, pursued by Knights, the rebellious serfs fled into the deep mountains, becoming a violent band of brigands.

According to the Earl of the Carter Duchy, the leading serf was possessed by the Devil and obtained strength by drinking human blood and eating human flesh. This evil force had to be exterminated, and the Nobles of the Northern Countries actively supported this effort, determined to eliminate the slave laborers bewitched by the Devil.

“The Devil’s cult.”

“Man-eating monsters.”

“Roving hyenas.”

These were the “honorary titles” given to them by the Carter Duchy.

It should be known that serfdom in the North was deeply rooted, lasting hundreds of years and almost engraved in everyone’s bones.

While there had been sporadic resistance, there hadn’t been a serf uprising of this scale for decades. The emergence of such a trend filled the Northern Nobles with immense fear, determined to nip it in the bud at any cost.

But the Northern Nobles underestimated the severity of the situation. The twenty thousand players born in the Northern Countries included many troublemakers as well as those who were recruited. Unlike the Ashen Kingdom, which had a military suppression capability, the Nobles of the North saw resistance organizations sprout like mushrooms after the rain.