Alien world

Chapter 1855, Section 488: Left for the Rat King of Free City
"A screaming letter?"

Isn't this something fictional from "Annan Porter"? How come it actually exists?

Losi explained that it didn't exist originally, but it appeared after the magical images appeared. Other magical items that existed included brooms and talking paintings.

Annan took the envelope and, sure enough, saw the "Free City Magic House" logo in the lower right corner, along with a small warning: "Absolutely do not activate the screaming letter near your ear."

The ratman elder was clever; to prevent the letter from being found by others, he hid it in Free City and set up alarms to ensure that the letter could only reach Annan.

This made Annan even more curious about the secret that the rat-man elder dared not reveal while alive, but now tried every means to deliver to him after his death.

Opening the third letter, the handwriting was so messy it was almost illegible, and more than half of it was written in rat-man script.

Fortunately, in order to collude with the rat people, Annan was not only proficient in the rat people's language, but also in their script.

We've all been fooled by the High Priest! He's already found the Great Horned Rat and can summon it at any time!

The crooked first line immediately made Annan's gaze sharpen, and the relaxed expressions on the faces of Rossi and the others also disappeared.

Even the McKenna Rat doesn't know that the High Priest intends to monopolize the clues about the Great Horned Rat, and what it's doing... it's trying to replace the Great Horned Rat!

[They've gone mad! They've gone mad! They've gone mad!]

It's gone mad!

【I understand! It knows I understand! I must be loyal!】

Loyalty! Loyalty! Loyalty!

[I am loyal to the High Priest, the High Priest is... the embodiment of the Great Horned Rat... We must... No! Don't interfere with me!]

[Annan bastard! Don't let that mad rat succeed!]

After reading the contents, Annan's expression became much more serious.

So this is the truth behind the ratman elder's control. He knows the secret and must keep his mouth shut. It's either control or death.

Either you're controlled to die...

Even the information Albek received might have been intentionally leaked to him to lower humanity's guard and conceal his true intentions...

Taking a deep breath, Annan looked at the black mole: "I owe your father a favor, or rather, I'm afraid the whole of the Central Plains owes your father a favor."

The black mole asked expectantly, "Is it a hero?"

Annan said earnestly, "Yes, it is a hero."

"Like Mr. Broken Tooth?"

“That’s right, I will also erect a statue for your father next to the broken tooth.”

Annan folded the letter, put it in an envelope, and asked Rossi to personally go to Montreal Hills to deliver the secret letter to the military department.

At this time, the third prince should still be in the garden.

While awaiting the Empire's response, the fel potion was also detected. Just as Annan had suspected, it was contaminated with something else; without fel resistance, drinking it would be almost the same as drinking Green Dragon Acid.

Annan believed in the rat-man elder, but not entirely—he believed it wouldn't harm its own children, but he didn't believe the black mole could actually drink this stuff.

What happens if the black mole drinks it?

“Growth abnormality,” Lilith said.

"Growth or mutation?"

“Growth mutation.” Lilith’s tone remained unchanged from before.

Cathy raised her hand and said, "Does it mean that if Jerry drinks it, he will get bigger, but he will also become deformed?"

Lilith gave her an affirmation. Annan frowned. He had seen the Rat King before; it had grape-like warts, growths, nodules, and appendages—everything that could make one's scalp crawl: "Is it impossible to remove the parts that would cause deformities?"

Lilith said that Liberty City's genetics is a blank slate, making it impossible to determine the specific effects of the drug.

The implication was that Annan should capture more gray-haired rat scholars.

This is a paradox—Annan needs a rat king first to entice the gray-haired rat scholars to join in removing the drug's side effects. But the gray-haired rat scholars need to join first to remove the drug's side effects and cultivate a rat king.

"Have you thought it through?" Annan asked the black mole.

There's another possibility: Jerry is the Rat King left to Liberty City by the Rat Elders, so whether he becomes the Rat King or not isn't that important. As long as he has the identity of a deformed rat, Annan has a chance to use Liberty City's powerful propaganda to promote the Black Mole Rat as king.

The black mole's paws clenched together: "Uncle Annan, will you avenge my father?"

Annan thought for a moment and replied, "I will."

But not for the sake of the rat-man elders, but because the rat-men must die.

It asked timidly, "If I become the Rat King, can I help you?"

“Fine, your father is dead, and our only connection with the Stun ratmen has been severed. Your intervention will allow us to gain further control over the Stun ratmen, but actually—”

"I drink!"

The black mole made a soft but firm sound.

Annan noticed out of the corner of his eye that Losi had appeared outside the corridor. He didn't say anything more: "Lilith, you keep an eye on Jerry. Stop him immediately if anything goes wrong."

“I want to stay with Jerry too…” Cathy pleaded.

"Then let's go together."

This is a good opportunity for the two little ones to bond and develop Cathy's future team.

Lilith's phantom flickered, leading Cathy and the Black Mole back to the Mage Tower.

Annan gestured for Losi to come in, and seeing that he was empty-handed, he was slightly taken aback and asked, "A message?"

"Your Majesty, I met with the Minister of War, gave him the letter, and after reading it, he simply said, 'I understand.'"

understood?
What kind of reaction is that?
"Recount the minister's expression."

Losi did as she was told, holding a piece of air in her hand and pretending to look at it for a dozen seconds. She frowned, took a deep breath, and looked serious. Then she took another deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"So exaggerated?"

Seeing Rossi winking and making faces, Annan was somewhat skeptical.

“Uh… he was just frowning a little and taking slow, deep breaths… should I call Faro over?” Losi chuckled, knowing it was a bit of an exaggeration.

"No need, I think I know."

The Imperial Minister's reaction showed that he was indeed completely unaware of the matter, and his response was merely a facade of composure.

It's likely that he ran to the garden with the letter as soon as Losi left.

Annam is in a hurry, but the Empire will only be more anxious.

If the Great Horned Rat were to revive in the far north—or if the High Priest were to seize the Great Horned Rat's power and create a rat-man god during a turbulent year—the entire Middle-earth would suffer greatly. In fact, the worst off would not be the Middle-earth, but the south, where eleven of the thirteen rat-man clans reside.

Should we inform the demon?
The idea of ​​creating another enemy for Stunn arose, but it was thwarted by Annan.

Forget it, demons are too unstable. Even with a succubus queen ruling, they can only barely suppress their instincts. Telling the demons might not make them turn against the Stoan ratmen, but it will certainly make it known to everyone.

After thinking it over, it seemed that there was nothing else I could do besides telling the Empire.

Annan decided to continue playing the lute, to continue playing his role as a "bard," and to keep playing music and dancing!
(End of this chapter)