69: Chapter 69 A Man's Dignity! Worthless scraps of paper!

"Now, it's your turn."

Qin Yu's voice was like a demonic sound from the deepest hell, icy and detached.

"Kneel, or..."

His gaze swept over Jack and the seven pale-faced men behind him, a cruel curve lifting the corner of his mouth.

"...die?"

That final word struck the hearts of the eight men like a heavy hammer!

The air was deathly still.

Only the crackling of the bonfire and the distant, suppressed sobs of the slaves, born of fear, could be heard.

Jack's body trembled violently.

Not from the cold.

But from extreme fury, humiliation, and... uncontrollable terror!

Kneel?

To a savage?

To a murderous tyrant?

He, Jack Anderson, son of a California senator, a top graduate of Stanford University, an elite destined to stand at the pinnacle of the world!

How could he possibly kneel before a yellow-skinned monkey like a dog?!

"You... you wish!"

The hot-tempered white youth who had shouted earlier, Brian, flushed red again, letting out a roar of humiliated fury.

"We are Americans! We have our dignity! Kill us if you want! We will never kneel to a demon like you!"

He spoke passionately, like a hero who would rather die than submit.

However, his companions subtly took a step away from him.

Hearing this, Qin Yu didn't even bat an eyelid.

He merely glanced at Brian with a look one might give an idiot.

Then, he gently tilted his head towards Chen Xiao beside him.

Chen Xiao understood.

Expressionlessly, she raised the crossbow in her hand.

The armor-piercing bolt, glinting with a cold light, was aimed at Brian.

*Thrum—!*

A faint vibration of the bowstring sounded!

Brian hadn't even processed it!

*Whoosh!*

A black blur flashed past his ear!

*Thud!*

The massive wooden post behind him, used for tying captives, shuddered violently!

A steel arrow was deeply embedded in the hard wood, its tail still vibrating intensely!

It was less than three centimeters from Brian's temple!

In that instant, Brian felt his entire scalp go numb!

A cold, deathly chill shot up his spine and exploded at the crown of his head!

The anger and defiance on his face instantly froze.

Replaced by a pallid, bloodless terror!

Stiffly, bit by bit, he turned his head.

Looking at the arrow half-buried in the post, he could even smell the cold, metallic scent coming from it.

If... if that shot had been a few centimeters off...

He didn't dare to think further!

"Dignity?"

Qin Yu's mocking voice rang out again.

"In a place like this, dignity is the most useless thing."

"I'll ask one more time."

Qin Yu's eyes grew extremely dangerous.

"Kneel, or die?"

This time, no one dared to voice a rebuttal.

Time passed, second by second.

Each second was like a blunt knife, sawing away at the eight men's laughable self-respect.

A fierce war raged in Jack's heart.

Reason told him that only by surviving was there hope!

His father was powerful. As long as he lived, rescue would come someday!

Then, he would make this man pay a hundredfold, a thousandfold!

But emotionally, he couldn't accept it!

Making him kneel was worse than killing him!

In this deathly silence.

While Jack was still struggling in agony.

A change occurred once more.

*Thump.*

A soft, yet crystal-clear sound of knees hitting the ground.

It wasn't Brian.

Nor was it Jack.

It was the Asian youth who had been huddled in the corner, wearing black-rimmed glasses, looking scholarly and refined!

His name was Li Mo.

A doctoral student at MIT, obsessed with physics and machinery.

Now, he adjusted his glasses and, under everyone's astonished gazes, was the first to slowly kneel down.

His movements were slow, even a bit clumsy.

But his kneeling posture was impeccable.

Utterly complete.

"You... Li! What are you doing?!"

Jack stared at Li Mo in disbelief, letting out a furious growl. "Are you insane?! Get up! We can't submit to him!"

Li Mo ignored Jack.

He simply lowered his head and spoke in a tone so calm it was almost cold.

He, too, spoke fluent Chinese.

"Chieftain."

Kneeling on the ground, he looked up at Qin Yu. His eyes held no fear, no anger, only an... extraordinary rationality and calmness.

"I have observed."

"Your Tribe possesses weapons, armor, tactics, and organizational capabilities that surpass this era."

"You personally possess superhuman, god-like power."

"In the face of such absolute power, so-called 'civilization,' 'dignity,' and 'human rights' are just meaningless, self-comforting words."

"The result of resistance is only death."

"But submission, at the very least, allows one to live on."

He paused. Behind his lenses, his eyes flickered with a strange light.

It was the fervent light of someone who had discovered a brand new research subject.

"I am deeply interested in your power and your Tribe's technology."

"I am willing to serve you with my knowledge."

"All I ask... is to live."

Li Mo's words exploded in the minds of the remaining seven men like a heavy bomb!

None of them had expected this usually quiet bookworm to be the first to choose submission so rationally, so realistically!

And his words were like the sharpest blade, utterly piercing the last shred of their laughable delusions!

Yes!

Resist?

With what?

Empty words?

That laughable 'American citizen' status?

Li Mo's kneeling was like pushing over the first domino.

*Thump!*

A thin, weak man, after hesitating for less than three seconds, went limp in the legs and knelt down as well.

He didn't want to die.

He was just an ordinary programmer. He had a wife and child waiting for him.

*Thump!*

*Thump!*

With the second, came the third, the fourth!

In the blink of an eye, aside from Jack and the still-stunned Brian, the remaining six men had all knelt down!

They were like dogs with their backbones removed, heads bowed, bodies trembling violently.

Jack's face turned from livid to flushed, and finally, to ashen gray.

He looked at those 'companions' who had stood with him just a moment ago, now all kneeling on the ground.

He was left alone.

A laughable, lonely, clown.

"Heh... hehe..."

Jack suddenly laughed.

It was uglier than crying.

Slowly, slowly, he bent his once-proud knees.

*Thump.*

When his knees slammed heavily onto the cold, hard ground.

He felt something inside him shatter completely.

It was his dignity.

His pride.

Everything he had built over the past twenty-plus years.

Thus, all eight men had knelt!

Qin Yu looked at the sea of dark heads kneeling before him.

Survivors. Savages.

Men. Women.

His face held no expression.

As if all of this was only natural.

He didn't immediately issue orders to this newly 'recruited' labor force.

Instead, he turned and looked towards Lin Waner, who had just finished tallying the spoils.

In a calm tone, as if asking about the weather, he spoke.

"Lin Waner."

"Take a tally."

"How many women and children of the Bloodfang Tribe remain?"