The Fat God System

As soon as Hugh parted the worn-down tents, he saw an assortment of men and women all huddling towards a large circular table enough to fit a big party.

Some of them pointed towards the center where there was a miniature map of the whole situation. He could see the Cheroque army enclosed into a barrier where the rest of the opposing army fought them.

Some of them were arguing with each other whether one was right or wrong. They seemed to have different opinions on how to go about fighting the large Cheroque army.

There were all converging together as a one kind in order to defeat a bigger evil. The Cheroque army led by the commander was an invincible force when confronted straight away.

That was why years, months, blood, sweat, and tears were put together just to procure a large enough barrier to enclose the army and prevent them from attacking their relatively small army.

Hugh was interested to see their plans to defeat the Cheroque army. From what he could see, their plans were laid out in large board written in a chalk with plenty of erasures.

Hugh was too far to make out the fine details of the plan, but he could see that it was well thought out and executed. They all waited for ten exact right moment to destroy the commander.

Hugh saw the fire inside their eyes. They were all passionate in trying to defeat the Cheroque army and the commander himslef.

Many have tried and many have been defeated. This was a plan that had many human sacrifices in the making. Hugh could see that most of them—if not all, were not suited to be a soldier.

Many of them were skinny, with just their skin and bones without any shred of muscles. Some of them even wore straw hats—more evidence to their jobs as farmers.

Hugh wondered how the Shark Loan company persuaded these farmers to risk their lives and fight against the Cheroque army.

It must have been the years and years of suffering the farmers have suffered under the commander's rule. The Shark Loan company must have used their hatred to recruit them.

However, Hugh knew the truth. The Shark Loan company was not a generous nor a brave company. They were not he kind of charity that fought the largest army without any ulterior motive.

They must have promised the farmers new rules and new lands, but Hugh knew that the Shark Loan company would not give it to them after the war.

If Hugh did not know any better, he would have also fallen for their marketing. The Cheroque army was such an evil-perceived army that anyone would antagonize them.

"Hey you!" a voice called out to Hugh.

Hugh lingered for too long looking at the situation. It looked like he was a fish out of water. He was not natural, and it was noticed by someone.

"What?" Hugh asked in an annoyed voice.

If he acted shy, then he would have been seen as a weird person. He was supposed to have just come out of a long shift recharging the barrier, so he should be tired and cranky.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting?" A bald large-bodied man approached Hugh and confronted him. He blocked Hugh's vision and he could not see the backboard full of plans anymore.

"I'm not that tired," Hugh said. He looked at the man dead in the eye and made sure that his face was visible to the light.

Hugh did this so that the man would not feel suspicious of Hugh. Someone in this tent was bound to recognize the face, and it would validate Hugh's identity.

The man looked at Hugh within suspicious. He looked at Hugh up and down from head to toe. Then, he looked towards some of the hooded men that had just come out of their shift.

Most of them—if not all, were too tired to even open their eyes. They all slept in the floor with barely usable comforters while they all tried to recover their energy.

In comparison to that, Hugh's voice still had energy to his voice. He still had the vitality and energy like that of a lion as if his energy was not exhausted after hours of work.

Hugh gulped on the inside. Even though he had an irritated face on the outside, he was actually worried. He did not want to fail in this mission this early in the plan.

He still wanted to take a look at their plans and figure out what the Shake Loan company was trying to do. They must have planned something nefarious once they have completed in defeating the Cheroque army.

"Hey! We need help over here!" Another voice interrupted the staring session between Hugh and the man.

Everyone looked towards the man who had just issued an emergency. They all looked towards the center of the round table where the accurate map depicted the real-time reality of the situation.

"The army is trying to dig into the barrier!" the man shouted as he pointed towards the hordes of army soldiers digging their way towards the outside.

The rest of the men inside the tent were in disarray once they saw this happen. Although this was an expected problem, they expected the Cheroque army to figure out the solution only after a few more hours.

The Cheroque army was getting to the outside too fast. This meant that the hooded men were in big trouble once the army broke out.

This was the one thing that they were assigned, and they were failing at it. The Shark Loan company's plans would be ruined if they could not hold their ground.

"We need men to hold off their attack!" the man shouted.

Everyone listened to his words and they all hurried off towards a cabinet where the weapons were stored. Even the tired men on the floor stood up and forced themselves awake to defend against the attack.

"You! Suit up!" the man shouted as he pointed at Hugh, who was the only person who was standing still in the middle of chaos.

Hugh nodded and pretended to scramble to the weapons. However, he still looked towards the board where their plans were hidden.

This was the perfect chance for Hugh to take a look at their plans. He was only a few feet away from it, and it was the perfect timing too.

While everyone was in disarray trying o scramble outside, Hugh was trying to crawl further inside the tents. He waited until the very last person was outside until he started to move.

"What are you doing?" a voice asked.

Hugh turned around and saw the same bald person who had confronted him the last time. This time, Hugh was caught in the act.

He was the only person inside, which made him more suspicious in the eyes of anybody who saw him in this moment.

The bald man walked inside the tent and hovered his hand on the hilt of his sword. Hugh also got ready for a confrontation.

It looked like a fight would be inevitable at this point. He did not want to shed blood, but it looked like he had to just so that he could stay in stealth.

As the man was only a few meters away from Hugh, the man unsheathed his sword. The sword shined under the dim light and targeted Hugh's eyes.

Hugh balled up his fist. As soon as the man charged towards him, he would attack back. His armor crawled through his skin and provided him the the potential for tremendous strength.

"You dare try to sleep at this time?!" the man shouted.

Hugh was taken aback. He thought that the man figured out that Hugh was a spy. However, it looked like it was just a misunderstanding.

However, this misunderstanding was in Hugh's advantage. Hugh did not sense any bloodlust and killing intent from the man.

"I knew something was weird with you! There was no way you did not feel tired after your shift!" the man shouted and reprimanded Hugh.

Hugh went with the flow and looked down with a guilty scent. He also gave a yawn so that the man would truly think that Hugh was just trying to sleep.

"I'm sorry! I can't fight at this rate. I need to sleep!" Hugh said.

Hugh purposefully tripped in place and kneeled down. He made it look like his body had given up on him.

The bald man sighed and sheathed his sword back. He looked at Hugh with pity. He could see that Hugh's face still had the youth and inexperience that he once had.

Back then, he was also tired. However, he did not have the time to rest. His superiors would always work him to the bones.

Now, it felt like he was the one doing it to Hugh. He could not bear to do that to Hugh since he, himself, did not want to experience it.