Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

"Ah! Huitu, this guy, is still alive... However, looking at him, he’s not far from returning to the embrace of the Earth Mother."

Red-haired Mique pursed his lips and stepped forward to see Huitu Puapu more clearly. This sturdy boar-like fellow had lost a lot of weight, covered now with swelling pustules all over his body. Like a porous sponge in the Caribbean Sea, a gentle touch would likely make pus ooze out. Despite such severe illness, this thick-skinned guy hadn’t died. Beside Huitu lay two other gravely ill warriors, unable to even cry out, only capable of gasping for breath.

"Ana! It’s me, it’s me! I, the lizard, have returned alive!!"

"Ah Xi? You... you are still alive! And the others?!"

Beside Huitu stood a rare and courageous Taino woman, with fresh red sores on her face. She wore the Kingdom’s leather armor and held wet cloth strips torn from war clothes to wipe her body. She was Ana, the daughter of the Chief of the Earth Tribe, the first to ally with the Kingdom’s Vanguard Warriors!

"Praise the Warrior of the Chief Divine! They really went to the den of evil demons and rescued you back!"

Seeing the ten or so youths rescued from the Earth Tribe, Ana trembled in disbelief, carefully identifying familiar faces among the pockmarked ones. Excited, she stepped forward to hug Ah Xi tightly. Then, trembling with expectation, yet somewhat fearful, she spoke softly.

"What about the rest of the tribe? In that previous battle, the evil demons captured four or five hundred, even more of the tribe... Are they still behind?..."

"..."

Upon hearing this question, the excitement and joy on Ah Xi’s face faded instantly as if touched by a cold hand. He lowered his head sorrowfully, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke sadly.

"The Ancestors guide their spirits... the rest of the tribe, those hundreds of tribesmen... all perished in the den of evil demons. They are all dead, scattered in the wind, turned to ashes! Only we survived, only us eighteen ultimately survived..."

"Ah... all dead..."

Ana shuddered violently, the brightness on her face instantly vanished. She felt dizzy and the back pain and headache she had barely endured erupted like a volcano. After swaying twice, she fell backward against the wall of thatch, slumping unconscious...

"Ana!!"

Chief Ah Xi rushed forward, embracing Ana in a fit of tears. Red-haired Mique, witnessing this scene, couldn’t hold back any longer, angrily waving the shaft of his long spear and swearing.

"Crying! All you know is crying! She’s just fainted, not dead. She has pox on her face, certainly infected with the plague... Assign someone to care for her, whether she lives or dies, we’ll see with the Chief Divine’s blessing!..."

"Hurry up! Stop crying! Give me a look at Apu, check on these two infected warriors! Whether it’s bloodletting and pus-drainage or covering with ash, save them by any possible means! He’s tough-skinned like a West Wild Boar, he must survive!"

"Quick!!"

Red-haired Mique swung the spear shaft, evoking a terrifying memory of swift action, immediately gripping Ah Xi’s heart. Quickly, he wiped away tears and carefully placed Ana on a grass bed, only then did he carefully examine Huitu Puapu. Puapu’s eyes rolled, following the motion of the pockmarked person, softly calling out from his mouth, tears streaming down his eyes.

"Mi...que... I...I..."

"Woo...woo..."

Tai Giant Eagle wiped away tears, disregarding the terrifying plague, leaned his ear closer, hoping to hear the last words of this brave Vanguard Warrior who first landed on the island. Unexpectedly, after listening closely to two sentences, his eyes widened.

"I... hurt... so... much!... Woo... woo!"

"Ah?..."

"...Tai Giant Eagle! Stay away from him!"

Red-haired Mique strode forward, pulling Tai Giant Eagle away from Huitu Puapu’s bed. Then, he looked deeply at Huitu Puapu for a while, red-eyed, and asked Chief Ah Xi.

"Ah Xi, is he still saveable? If not, give him a swift end..."

"No... no! Save me... save... save... me!..."

Upon hearing this, the bedridden Huitu Puapu moved slightly, his voice louder, barely audible to those around him. Chief Ah Xi hesitated, looking at the pustule-covered, still moving, and still speaking Huitu Puapu, incredulously murmuring.

"West Wild Boar Warrior?... I’ve never seen anyone this gravely ill yet still speaking... He has so many pustules yet hasn’t released pus; logically, he should be nearing death! But looking at him now, perhaps, maybe, a chance to save him? If he can endure another six or seven days, maybe he might survive..."

"Ah! Can he be saved? Then let’s save him! Now, immediately, bloodletting!" I’ll go outside to burn grass ashes! If there’s a chance to save him, then at any cost, save him!"

Red-haired Mique decisively acted, taking Chief Ah Xi outside, firmly giving orders. Soon, outside the thatch hut, fires rose, cooking food and boiling water, heating up the obsidian dagger. Then, Red-haired Mique handed the dagger to Chief Ah Xi. Chief Ah Xi trembled, stepping forward, dagger raised, approaching Huitu Puapu.

"Woo... woo... no! Do not send me... to the Divine Kingdom... I... can still live... plea... plea...ugh!..."

Seeing the glaring sacrificial obsidian blade, bedridden Huitu Puapu once again shed tears. Then, in his helpless and despairing pleas, the heated obsidian dagger sliced through his pus-filled skin, releasing yellow-greenish, blood-tinged pus...

"Chief Divine! Ah... I, Huitu Puapu... like an eagle leaving its homeland... I... am about to crash on this... this terrifying... island of death... woo woo... Please guide my spirit... to the Divine Kingdom... my dozens of wives and children... woo woo..."

The bloodletting took away the smallpox pustules, brought dizziness from low blood pressure. The grass bed was filled with spilled blood and tears, more feverish ash scattered, covering the "brave" Kingdom Warrior Captain. At this moment, Huitu Puapu, in heart-wrenching pain, sang his dying verses in the throes of fever and dizziness. Then, his head tilted, falling into complete unconsciousness, unknown whether he will awaken again...

This scene of plague and death is spreading across Puerto Rico Island. The invisible death plague, centered from evil demons’ landing points, gradually spreads outward, centered from villages they once slaughtered. This process is usually slow, lasting several years. However, if accelerated by human cruelty and malice, this Brave Island of tens of thousands, even a hundred thousand inhabitants, will soon face the most brutal apocalypse!

Nine hundred miles from Puerto Rico Island on the Kingdom’s base in West Haiti, former Scholar Martin and Kingdom Priest Adin suddenly widened their eyes. He stared intently at the tall, bruised, bare-fisted man in front of him, bound by hand and foot, with sunburned face and swollen, green features, golden hair and pale green eyes, in disbelief.

"Herrjemine! You are Bavarian? A Shenluo Mercenary?! How did you end up on these Atlantic Ocean islands?"

"Ach du meine Güte! Almighty! You’re... you’re an esteemed noble lord?! One residing in the Native Kingdom, a noble from Nuremberg?"

Shenluo Mercenary Fritz first showed shock and dismay, then overjoyed! He looked around, observed the surrounding barbarian natives’ respectful attitude toward this noble lord. Then he decisively knelt down with a thud, crawled forward on his knees, and embraced the noble’s legs!

"Sir! Noble sir! I am your Bavarian compatriot! We were deceived by the Castilians, sent to die as Shenluo Mercenaries, our captain is a Bavarian-born knight too!..."

"Holy Mother! Noble Sir! For the sake of our compatriots, I beg of you, save me! I will do anything for you, fight and cut for you! Yes, our mercenary group is skilled at cutting people!..."

Hearing this, Priest Adin’s expression changed, while beside him, Xiu Maoying raised his brows, thoughtfully listening to the incomprehensible Low German.