Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?

Zhen Liu's ambition of wanting to overthrow the [Mines of Malevolence] from the inside out was...lofty, at best.

As an indulger of fantasy and historical stories, Zhen Liu(Thomas Lee) was more than familiar that on a technical and economic level the necessity of slavery...or from his time, "minimum wage labor".

It wouldn't be until the advent of automation would the need for human labor go down dramatically, but the world of Valresta wasn't entirely ready for that...mostly.

Regardless, it was from these stories that Zhen Liu knew that a successful revolution, regardless of its scale and societal strcuture, could never succeed if it doesn't have the support of the people who are the most abused by it.

Toppling a tyrant sounds like a good way to overhaul an injustice society, but it simply creates a gap for someone else to take advantage of the chaos created from such an act.

Perhaps that person maybe just and kind, but if the person who takes advantage just so happened to be someone who was just like the previous administration, then you have nothing more than a changing of figureheads, or simply the removal of a weed's overgrown head.

In order to exact a meaningful change, one that might benefit all, or destroy something in its entirety, one has to change it from the very roots.

A world of cultivation like Valresta was a world where might made right, a world of heroes and monsters.

But sometimes, those heroes had to be found and then reforged by monsters.

...

"Alright, I'm confused."

"Hmm?"

"You and your cousin, are clearly able to lead and organize people in a way that would make most military groups jealous, you have another cousin who is somehow a master-class aether puppeteer that can put even the Puppet Pavilion to shame, and you're members of the increasingly infamous Zhen Clan of Stampeding Bison. Why the fuck are you wasting time to look for a nobody slave to act as your proxy?"

"Ah, well..."

At this moment in time, Zhen Xing was working alongside another Aether Master from his troop, a young man named Sazira from the Soaring Griffin continent.

To be more precise, the two of them were pretending to be mining out [Malevolent Gold] while keeping a close eye on all of the other slave groups.

Sazira had apparently been there during the Prison Riot of Willow Scale City, aka, the day the Zhen Clan and the Fallen clashed for the second to last time in a public setting, so he knew what he was talking about when it came Zhen Xing and his family.

It was because of this firsthand knowledge that he was one of the first people in that slave convoy who was willing to follow the Zhen Clan scions lead.

This was also the reason why he found. Their plan to find an internal collaborator to be incredibly stupid.

Granted, this was technically a plan concocted by the Kaijin as they needed mortal hosts to also help cover their tracks, but that wasn't exactly relevant right now.

Zhen Xing's argument as to why neither he nor his cousin were taking lead, was incredibly relevant, though.

"Alright, you remember how last night, Alefa and Joseph ended up fighting with a bunch of people who had literally no reason to fight them other than some mildly vague ancestral beef?"

"Kind of hard not to remember that," Sazira answered. "They were incredibly loud and they came back with multiple injuries. How the hell did you guys manage to fix them so easily?"

"Family secret," Zhen Xing answered with a speed that suggested the answer was practically rehearsed...which it was.

"Okay..."

"Either way," Zhen Xing continued, "a majority of the slaves down here are either hollow shells of themselves, too defiant to listen to anybody but themselves, have a bone to pick with literally anybody else in this shit show, or have been cut off from the outside world long enough that all they know is this shitty cave and it's shittier monsters. Realistically, what do you think would happen if my cousins or I attempt to rile them up into a revolutionary frenzy?"

"They would...oh."

Sazira was an Aether Master, as such, he was considerably more learned than the average mortal and knew damn well that politics could get messy and downright violent.

"If you attempted to organize these people into working with you, there's a very good chance that might just betray you or use the opportunity to reap some kind of benefit," Sazira answered. "And the fact that you're technically an 'outsider', makes it harder for the people who have been here the longest to actually give your words any meaningful thoughts."

"Exactly," Zhen Xing concurred with Sazira's assessment. "We need someone a majority of the slaves would be open to listening to. After that, they would be able to convince the rest to assist via peer pressure. Or at the very least, they'll be cowed into not doing shit."

"Okay, that makes sense," Sazira nodded. "But how the hell are you going to find someone qualified enough to do that?"

"Honestly? Luck."

At this answer, Sazira shot a flat look in Zhen Xing's direction.

"Seriously?"

Instead of verbally responding, Zhen Xing simply held up three fingers and began to count down to zero.

Once he was holding up a fist, a voice echoed throughout the cavern.

[Gah! You stupid little shit! How did you do that?!]

^FUCK YOU, THAT'S HOW!^

"And there's our hero."

The moment that cry rang out, Sazira directed a shocked gaze in Zhen Xing's direction.

"How the fuck..."

...Rewinding the clock and focusing elsewhere...

[It appears our visitors is having trouble finding an appropriate host.]

[Shall we lend them a hand?]

[The day we've been waiting for is rapidly approaching... so why not?]

...

[Alright, how come none of these slaves have a spine worth a damn?] Nepherage complained. [The movies always depict slave colonies as hotspots for revolutionary hero types.]

At this moment in time, Nepeherage and Blazejudicator were hiding in the upper portions of the mines, watching over the slaves as they went about their day while being monitored by the enemy Kaijin.

Their purpose for doing so: finding a hero that could be the figurehead for this revolution.

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

[Nepeherage, you know that those films are exaggerated, yes?] Blazejudicator admonished his counterpart. [I think we should just settle for someone who can fight and lead without too many questions.]

[Spoken like a true judge,] Blazejudicator retorted with the barest hint of sarcasm. [I don't know about you but if we're going to empowering some random schmuck, I want them to at least have...wait a minute, do you see that?]

[See what?]

[That,] Nepeherage repeated while pointing to her left. [I think I see...a fox?]

[A fox?]

Following Nepeherage's finger, Blazejudicator did indeed see a strange-looking fox standing on a ledge overlooking a group of slaves.

If this was anywhere other than a horribly cursed mine, the appearance of a fox would be odd but not uncommon.

Seeing a fox here, especially one that was radiating an energy that was similar to [Chaos], was enough to warrant attention.

[Wait a minute...why is it radiating a similar feeling to that weird box-sheep thing from yesterday?] Nepeherage asked.

[I don't know,] Blazejudicator admitted. [But I get the feeling we should keep an eye on it.]

From the hiding spot, they watched as the fox leapt from their perch and towards a group of slaves and their kaijin overseer.

The strange fox was somehow imperceivable by the slaves and kaijin, to the point that it was able to walk right up next to a fully loaded minecart and knock it over.

Shouts and curses echoed out through the mines after the spilled ores of metal settled on to the ground.

[Who did this? Who caused this mess?!]the kaijin overseeing the slaves howled indignantly.

The kaijin in question looked a cerberus that was the result of a dog, a wolf and fox being forced to share a single body and neck.

The three-faced canine looked over the panicking slaves before settling his sights on a particularly small one.

One that appeared to be malnourished little girl no older than eight.

[Was it you, little bitch? Were you the one to spill this gold? Were you the one to force Mange to go on to overtime?]

"I...I—!"

The children's stutters of fear did not endear herself to Mange. It actually did the opposite.

[Well then, little bitch,] Mange snarled while manifesting a whip made of his hair and strengthened with [Chaos] and thorny vines. [It's time to show you how a dog who makes a mess, gets punished!]

"No!"

Before Mange could lash out at the girl, an older woman who appeared to be her mother moved in to shield her child with their body.

The blows would've been fatal regardless of size, so this was an act of self-sacrifice and not protection.

At least, it would've been...