Chapter 2: My Name is Leo Mondo

After steadying his emotions, Li Ao shook his head slightly. Amidst the intense dizziness, the last remnants of this body's consciousness recounted a few more fragments of background.

The original inhabitant of this body lived in a world that was a classic Western fantasy realm.

Countless gods reigned, myriad races flourished, and the Orlantis Empire, where he found himself, was situated in the eastern part of the Dawn Continent, bordering the northern snowfields inhabited by beastfolk.

Several centuries ago, the Orlantis Empire rose from the southeastern corner of the Dawn Continent, uniting the southern nations with its advanced technology, formidable military might, and mature army system.

Later, the empire joined forces with the northern tribes to drive out all beastfolk, trolls, and other humanoid races from the northern provinces, banishing them deep into the northern snowfields.

Much like the transition from the classical era to the medieval period in his previous life, over the course of centuries, the glorious and vast Orlantis Empire gradually fell into decline, slipping into an era of feudal fragmentation.

The northern province was now ruled by Grand Duke Mitchell of the Odalov family. In their struggle for imperial supremacy, both economic and military priorities of the north had begun shifting southward.

With the north loosening its grip, small bands of beastfolk troops and troll scouts started appearing near the Northern Ice River, raiding human villages and towns on the southern bank.

The village where the original owner lived was among the first to suffer. Had it not been for Uncle Ulyan, a retired soldier who returned home, expanded, and rigorously trained the nearly defunct militia, and withstood several waves of beastfolk raids, Li Ao's village would have already been reduced to ruins, just like the surrounding settlements.

But this could not go on forever. After a year of holding out, Uncle Ulyan made a bold decision.

He would lead the entire village southwest, crossing a thousand miles from the northernmost edge of Count Furelov’s lands to its southernmost tip!

They would establish a new home at a bend in the river beneath the Grand Barrier!

That was the place where Uncle Ulyan had once been stationed for years; he was familiar with the local powers. Only a few small non-human tribes resided there, and no high-level magical beasts roamed the area.

Through his military comrades, Uncle Ulyan had obtained an authorization letter from the Furelov family to pioneer the land.

As long as they could secure territory unclaimed by the nobility, cultivate enough wasteland, and pay sufficient taxes, they could be granted the title of Pioneering Knight by the Furelov family.

In his younger days, he had served the Furelovs, garrisoning a watchtower dozens of miles downstream from the river bend, defending their westernmost town against potential dragon attacks from beyond the Grand Barrier.

Of course, as for the so-called dragons or legendary high-level magical beasts, Uncle Ulyan had never encountered any in his five years of stationing there.

Nor had they appeared in a hundred years of recorded history.

As for more detailed background—don't ask. There's simply no room in Mondo's mind for that much knowledge!

The original Li Ao Mondo was a typical hardheaded, reckless, born battle maniac.

His mother died in childbirth, his father drank himself to death in grief, leaving him all alone—no one to teach him, no one to raise him.

One day he would steal buns from the east house, the next he'd beg thin wheat porridge from the west. In winter, he'd snatch bath water from widows; in summer, he'd trick children out of their sour plum soup.

Whenever he met a dog on the road, he'd always give it a kick or two.

He once dragged home a half-grown snow bear cub from the mountains bare-handed, treating the whole village to meat, only to force everyone to stand guard at night in case the mother bear came down for revenge.

As it happened, the mother bear never got the chance—he buried it alive during its winter sleep.

Three days later, he dug it up and it was still barely clinging to life.

By age fifteen, he was undefeated in village brawls and was subsequently beaten single-handedly by the retired Uncle Ulyan.

Afterwards, he was conscripted into the militia, trained in martial prowess, and charged into battle—wilder than any barbarian.

Now seventeen, he had matured somewhat, though not by much.

Feeling Li Ao stirring in her arms, the golden-haired girl shifted her ample chest, gazing at him to observe his condition.

"Olivia?" Li Ao pondered, then spoke. He found his voice hoarse as sandpaper, the taste of blood overwhelming. He wasn't sure whether it was from the kobold chief or himself.

His left hand was bound by wooden strips, propped to the side—he didn't know if it was ruined.

His chest had taken a blow from a flail; several ribs were surely broken, and if he kept coughing blood, his internal organs must be injured.

His shoulder was a minor wound, protected by a bear-hide pauldron reinforced with iron strips. Though the kobold chief had bitten deep, the wounds had already scabbed over—so long as he avoided rabies.

"I'm here," Olivia replied softly, extending delicate fingers to gently smooth the sweat-soaked blonde hair from his forehead.

"Where are the kobolds?"

"You drove them off," she answered, her body giving a slight tremor at the mention.

Li Ao only remembered biting the kobold chief to death.

But as a bystander, Olivia, hiding behind the wagon, had seen it all: the burly, muscular kobold chief thrashing, biting, clawing, shredding Li Ao’s armor to pieces, blood spraying everywhere.

Yet its neck was held fast, as if trapped by a giant beast clamp, never escaping until it suffocated.

Who would have thought such a handsome, sunny, golden-haired youth could be so stubborn?

As for the other kobolds, after witnessing their chief's fate, they lasted less than a minute before leaving a field of corpses and fleeing in madness.

"That's good," Li Ao nodded, recalling the original's memories, though worry lingered.

Kobolds are instinctively cowardly, only attacking when their numbers far exceed their prey.

The fact that this band dared ambush a convoy with nearly fifty armed militia and three hundred people was surprising, and could easily lead to complacency.

But the main issue was the convoy itself.

At the outset, the combined survivors from the village and nearby settlements formed a caravan of nearly a thousand people.

The daily patrols and vanguard included over a hundred militia, with many retired veterans like Uncle Ulyan.

Even beyond the militia, the convoy members were not entirely helpless; they simply lacked proper weapons. In a crisis, two or three hundred strong men could be mustered.

But the migration spanned a thousand miles and more than a month, passing through several prosperous towns. Those with means, skills, or wealth gradually left.

In the end, only this small group of three hundred remained—the ones who trusted Uncle Ulyan most, mostly the elderly, women, and children. Only about a hundred were able-bodied.

This was the flaw of pioneers outside the nobility—not only did they lack resources and military support, but they had no official authority.

The people were not their serfs—if they wanted to leave, they left.

Unlike noble lords, who could punish them for it.

According to Uncle Ulyan’s earlier accounts, several other non-human tribes around the river bend possessed strength comparable to the kobold band.

Could this severely diminished pioneering group hold out?

"Li Ao, don’t worry, just focus on recovering. With father here, you’ll be safe!" Olivia seemed to see through his worries, stroking his forehead and soothing him in a gentle voice.

In her eyes, her father Ulyan was all-powerful, capable of anything.

Li Ao felt the same.

He nodded with a smile, then fell silent.

From now on, Li Ao was gone.

Only I, Leo Mondo, remain.

Transmigrator. Kobold Bane. Militia Captain. Leo Mondo!