Alien world

Chapter 1690, Section 323: Utterly Useless

Do you have any enemies in the North?

Annan found the rat-man elder, who looked very reluctant.

"a lot of……"

Startled by Annan's ambition, the rat-man elder, who hadn't slept all day, stared at Annan with bloodshot eyes, as if to say, "Including you too."

"Only for the Ratman clan."

Annan didn't care about the rat-man elder's attitude, but he felt it necessary to remind him to show some respect: "I'm bringing you benefits, so please correct your attitude."

The rat-man elder emerged with an ominous air; it had already witnessed the "good thing" Annan spoke of yesterday... but what if there really was something good?

"The council of elders just gave me a dressing down, you Annan bastard, you better really have something good to say." The ratman elder lowered his guard a bit.

"First, tell me if there are any enemies in your clan."

The rat-man elder pondered for a moment, then whispered a name: the Gray-Spotted Clan.

"What did they do to offend you?"

It's actually quite simple. The Skaven's main base is in the south, and the North only sent a few clans to operate in secret.

The Grayspot Clan was its rival, and the battle was evenly matched. It was only through the achievements of the Broken Mountains that the Ratman Elder was able to maintain a slight advantage.

The ratman elder was probably not telling the truth. For example, he said there was a back-and-forth, but in reality, he was probably being suppressed by the other side all along.

But it doesn't matter; the more the rat elders hate the other side, the deeper they get involved.

Annan finally spoke of the benefit of the rat-man elder's anxiety: "The Red-Eyed Clan was destroyed, but my men rescued the Rat King and put him on our side."

The rat-man elder's crimson eyes lit up: "You're going to hand it over to me?"

“What kind of benefit is this?” Annan shook his head. Even if there were benefits, they would only benefit the Stunn clan. He didn’t get any benefit at all.

"Then what do you want?"

“It’s not that I want anything, it’s that we have another use for this Rat King,” Annan said slowly. “The Grayspot Clan has been causing you trouble. What do you think… how about we get a different Rat King?”

"Are you crazy!?"

The rat-man elder cried out in alarm, at that moment even believing that the human creatures before him were the ones in the chaotic camp.

"Don't you think this is a great opportunity? You've eliminated a major threat, I've achieved my goal, and most importantly, our cooperation will be strengthened from now on..."

The rat-man elder spoke with unwavering resolve, like a holy knight filled with faith: "The Holy Race will never harm the Holy Race!"

"You think I'd believe that?" Annan chuckled, like a cunning succubus bewitching a paladin. "I know you're worried about things being exposed. Don't worry, no one but us will know, not even the Grayspot Clan, and even the High Priest would never suspect it was you."

"No, you Annamese bastards, I will not cooperate with you!"

How come it never noticed before? This human is absolutely insane!
"It's alright if you don't want to, but you already know that if our operation fails, it might implicate you... Elder Ratman, you don't want the High Priest to find out that you've dared to conspire with humans to harm your own kind, do you?"

"Who would believe that?!"

The rat-man elder clenched his teeth, trembling all over. Annan was speaking... their words!

The Holy Race first lured human nobles in the south, then used coercion and inducement to control the human elites, and then gradually eroded human territory. Now, they are being threatened by humans instead!

"Annan bastard, aren't you afraid of being discovered by humans for colluding with the rat people?"

"You rat-man brat, aren't you afraid the Holy Race will discover your affair with a human?"

When a human is truly unafraid of having an affair with a ratman... the Stoan ratmen lose their means to corrupt him. Like a paladin, but far beyond a paladin... at least they can trap a paladin in a self-incriminating trap by smearing him, and then have an insider frame him. After this whole process, the paladin will either lose faith and loyalty and fall into depravity, or commit suicide to prove his innocence.

But Annan... no longer has any room for false accusations.

You say he dared to collude with the rat people, and he says, so what?

It is aboveboard and irrefutable.

The rat-man elders couldn't do anything to Annan, but Annan couldn't do anything to them either.

With the Broken Mountains in place, neither of them could betray the other. In fact, if either of them showed any inclination to undermine the alliance, the Blue Dragon would be the first to swat them with its wing.

No one can break the unbreakable alliance between Annan, the Ratman Elders, and the Blue Dragonflight, not even Annan.

The Ratman elders also realized this and resolutely refused to join forces with Annam.

"So, you want all the benefits but not the responsibility?"

When the rat-man elder refused to cooperate, Annan's tone immediately turned cold.

"You Annamese bastard, I didn't ask you to do that!"

Regardless, the rat-man elder rejected Annan's insane plan, even trying to appease him: "The high priest went to the rodent clan; he may know something. The matter in the far north is the most important!"

"So, do you have any idea?"

"The council of elders told me it might be related to a secret."

Annan's expression turned slightly serious: "A secret?"

"Not many people in the Holy Race know the truth. They're still asking, but they're probably not after us..."

“How could you take such a chance?” Annan said with displeasure. “Perhaps, we should take a look at these uncertain words. That’s the High Priest. We can’t be too cautious.”

The rat-man elder roared, "Who was it that just now tried to assassinate the clan's rat king in front of the high priest and then usurp his place? How dare you say such things to me?!"
“I know what to do, but you…” the rat-man elder shrieked sharply, “Annan bastard, I’m warning you not to overstep your bounds. The High Priest’s power is far beyond your imagination. If things go wrong, you and I will both be finished!”

"understood."

The conversation ended unhappily; the rat-man elder looked at Annam like a madman, while Annam looked at the rat-man elder like a fool.

An irreparable rift has appeared between them.

Annan originally envisioned the Ratman Elders as the overt agents and the Rat King as the covert agents, working together to allow him to successfully extend his reach to the Stuun Ratmen.

However, the rat-man elders were uncooperative and lacked inside help, making it impossible to replace the rat king of the Grayspotted Clan.

It seems we have to abandon the first option.

The rat-man elders are no longer of any use, Annan thought.

It is too timid, and as a rat-person, it cannot shake off the stereotypical assessment that it is "forgets righteousness for profit and is afraid of its own life when doing things".

In other words, it is willing to cooperate for mutual benefit, but it will not abandon its principles—such as betraying the Stunn clan. From this perspective, it is not so much a "ratman".

Annan withdrew his gaze. In short, the second option was to let the Rat King return to the Mackenn clan and regain his position as Rat King.

This saves them the trouble of trying to persuade the Rat King; their immediate priority is to find an inside agent from the McKenne clan.

Annan entrusted this matter to Maria and Gale—after Maria's persuasion, Gale was no longer confused about himself—he was a Stoun ratman and also a Free City ratman.

It will protect Liberty City in the same way it protects the Stunn clan, though generally speaking, Liberty City is a bit more important.

(End of this chapter)