Munitions Empire-Chapter 916 - 839 Top 8

Chapter 916: 839 Top 8 Chapter 916: 839 Top 8 After a simple allocation, all the orc captives were placed in a quarantine zone, where they were to live for ten days. Essentially, it was akin to some sort of livestock quarantine process.

During these ten days, they needed to learn to bathe, rid themselves of fleas on their bodies, and generally groom themselves to look more human.

Indeed, even in this world one couldn’t escape vanity; it was still a world that judged by appearance: Orc men’s ugliness was universally acknowledged, while the beauty of orc women was also well-known.

Comparatively, orc females had no problem integrating into human society, who didn’t have a thing for cutesy furries, who didn’t like cat-eared girls?

However, for orc men to make a name for themselves in the human world, well, that was fraught with difficulties.

First off, you had to look decent: sharp teeth should at least be symmetrical, right? They can’t be awry and all rotten, can they? No scars on the face, right? When smiling, they shouldn’t look like a serial killer on a spree, should they?

Whether the eyes are big enough, whether they are symmetrical, having respectable hair, whether they have any bad customs from before… all these could determine the destiny of an orc slave from Tang Country.

...

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have gotten lip rings,” an orc lamented, never having imagined that one day he would be partaking in a “beauty pageant” in the human world.

In the harsh environments where orcs lived, many carried their entire net worth on their bodies, like rings or bracelets, earrings, necklaces, lip rings, nose rings…

While this orc was complaining, elsewhere in a long queue, other literate orcs were also anxious. They were the top students who could read and were potential candidates to be selected for managing orc labor.

These orcs were literate, able to use the human language, and at least capable of simple calculations. This was the second selection criteria: you must have some education.

Alright, if you happened to look pleasing to human aesthetic standards, and happened to know how to write human characters, and had a wife with two kids… congratulations, you were the most promising hopeful among this batch of orc laborers.

Why choose those with wives and children? Because people with families were more stable, easier to train and control. At the same time, by improving the living conditions of their offspring and providing educational benefits, these orcs would be more willing to cooperate with the Great Tang Empire.

Through such selection, those who were suitable for promotion were picked out, and thus, a solid management framework could be established to start utilizing these orcs.

Forced to take deworming medicine, forced to bathe, forced to don new clothes, and forced into new housing, these orcs began to believe that they indeed arrived at the resting place of their souls.

Especially after they tasted their first hot meal, almost none of them wished to return to Iron Fist Fortress to live their old lives.

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They had never dreamt that rice here was freely available, that they could have as much as they wanted. To ensure they had their fill, they were even provided with pickles! Those were salt-pickled vegetables! That was precious salt!

For these orcs who licked stones to savor the saltiness to supplement their rice meals, this meal was truly a divine gift from the Orc God.

Seeing this group touched, almost to the extent of saying “Let me work for my food, otherwise, I can’t eat this meal with peace,” the officials from Tang knew that these orcs were almost subdued.

Soon, they would be thrown into the construction of Fengjiang, and once they became acquainted, they would be scattered and dispatched to other parts of Tang.

They would join the remaining goblin slaves to build railways for the Great Tang Empire, highways, skyscrapers, ports, and docks.

These orcs would witness the prosperity of the Great Tang Empire and help build a powerful empire with their own hands. Of course, what they didn’t know yet was that this empire would also save them, allowing them to live happy days where they could eat meat with every meal.

…

“We lost again! I am so damn…” Crumpling the sports newspaper in his hand, Tang Mo cursed sullenly.

His Great Tang Empire was unmatched in every domain, formidable in every field. Yet there was one thing that always filled him with hope only to lead to continuous disappointment.

Seeing Tang Mo’s irritated demeanor, Yulin, who didn’t even have to look to know what was up, laughed as she ate her breakfast, “Your Majesty, shouldn’t you have been psychologically prepared for this sort of thing?”

That said, Tang Mo still couldn’t help feeling frustrated, “I know that… but, can’t we win just one game?”

“No way, our soccer is just… not up to snuff.” Even Alice, who never cared for sports, knew about last night’s quarterfinal match – the men’s soccer team of the Tang Empire had… returned home.

This was the first Soccer World Cup held after the war’s end, and the hosting country was still the Great Tang Empire—at least in this regard, Tang Mo was a typical representative of those who were not only bad at the game but also loved to play.

To motivate the players and to enlarge the event’s impact, Tang Country put up a reward of two million Gold Coins. After hearing about this, all the countries sent their soccer teams to compete.

The host country still got a bit of favoritism; after the draw, the Great Tang Empire soccer team was placed in Group 3, perfectly avoiding the strong teams from before the war.

For instance, the champion of the year before last was Dorne’s team, while the Great Tang Empire team was eliminated in the group stage that year. The champion from two years ago was the Poplar team whose elegant and versatile cooperation shone brilliantly that year, and unsurprisingly, the Tang Empire team was also eliminated in the group stage.

Every year, Tang Country would hold a World Cup, which was four times more frequent than the World Cup on Earth. Yet, after five World Cups, Tang Country never made it past the group stage.

Left with no other alternative, this time Tang Country played a little trick: The result of Group 3’s draw was Tang Country, Mirage Country, and the Ice Cold Empire together.

These three teams were always sent home after the first round of group games in previous years, but this time they were finally grouped together.

As a result, in the opening game, Tang Country defeated Mirage Country’s team with ease. A bunch of sturdy men averaging 1.8 meters tall bullying goblins averaging less than 1.5 meters tall—scoring 5 to 0 wasn’t anything to boast about.

Then problems arose; the Tang team still played steadily, but in the match for the group’s first place, they lost to the Ice Cold Empire—although the Dwarf team was not so tall and weak at heading, their stable lower body movement and exceptional skills posed no problem in pinning down the Great Tang Empire team.

And then the tragedy was complete. The second place from Group 3 faced the first place from Group 4 in the quarterfinals, and the Tang soccer team was beaten 3 to 0 by the formidable Poplar Empire team, ending their journey with regret in the quarterfinals.

The Chu Country team, originally deemed an easy opponent for Great Tang to squash, was also sent home with a 2 to 0 defeat by the dwarves, as the Ice Cold Empire team historically broke through to the semifinals…

“If things don’t work out, let Marquis of Bailu coach the team…” Yulin offered his suggestion: After all, the strength of Marquis of Bailu’s club team was there for all to see.

“Sigh…” Tang Mo felt that hiring someone to coach his team was quite embarrassing: They had the best trainers, the best nutritionists, and even ate ginseng for every meal, yet they were still a bunch of soft-footed shrimps on the field.

“If all else fails… how about we put some orcs on the field?” Yue’er, who had been busy dealing with orc laborers, suddenly blurted out.

After all, among the burly laborers, there must be some who could play soccer, and training for a few days might yield better results than the current Tang Country players.

Isn’t it just about a win? Back in the day without muskets, the orc troopers with an average height close to 1.9 meters, formed into heavy infantry, were also world-renowned for their strong combat capabilities.

When it came to physical strength, the beastmen had at least some advantage. At least those orc muscles were robust, and they wouldn’t lift their jerseys to reveal a chubby belly.

Frankly, forming an orc soccer team would be a dimensional attack against other countries, especially the dwarves and goblins… The orcs’ physique was simply their nightmare.

Unfortunately, Tang Mo still declined Yue’er’s goodwill: “What’s the point of looking for orc players? If we really do that, then we would be utterly disgracing ourselves.”

He didn’t want to win the World Cup with a Great Tang men’s soccer team composed of eleven green-faced and fanged orcs… No matter how unwilling he was to be at the bottom, he couldn’t emulate the White Flag Empire!

Compared to finding a group of orc mercenaries, Tang Mo was more inclined to seek out the Marquis of Bailu as the coach for his national team.

“I hope Sir Bailu can bring something different to my team.” Having made up his mind to look for the Marquis of Bailu, Tang Mo murmured to himself and put down the wrinkled newspaper in his hand, picking up the water glass in front of him.

It had been almost a month since he quit smoking, and the old smoker Tang Mo was truly miserable. Standing beside him, Wes also looked as dejected as someone who had lost money.

The inventor of cigarettes not being allowed to smoke was nothing short of a tragedy for Tang Mo. Every time he subconsciously reached into his pocket, it felt like he was losing a part of his soul.

Every time the three Imperial Concubines saw Tang Mo subconsciously touch his pocket, they had to hold back their laughter. Seeing the man they loved change for them was a happy thing for a woman.

But wise women knew how to exercise restraint; they understood such change was precious and not to be demanded lightly.

“Sigh…” Tang Mo deliberately showed his frustration when he couldn’t find his pack of cigarettes, which was also a way for him to flirt with the three women. It was a form of indulgence that increased the family’s happiness.

His eldest son, Tang Yu, was very understanding. He took out a lollipop from his pocket and handed it to Tang Mo. Everyone followed with laughter, creating a warmth that made bystanders envious.