Alien world

Chapter 1857, Section 490: The Black Mole's Evolution

Ingrid returned with new insights.

Who cares if it's a monster or not? Aren't dragons also divided into good and evil dragons? Whether this monster is dangerous depends on who is holding the reins.

The monster in Liberty City definitely doesn't bite.

However, now is not the time to bring it up. For example, we need to ensure that depositors will repay their money and prevent imitators like those in Liberty City from copying it. So we'll put it on hold for now.

……

Meanwhile, Lilith brought good news: the black mole rat had successfully evolved.

They were teleported back, and Cathy was holding a... large black mole in her arms.

Jerry has grown from over 30 centimeters tall when standing upright to over 70 centimeters tall, but otherwise there are no changes; it's simply a proportional enlargement.

"Does this count as a successful evolution?"

Jerry was exhausted and fell asleep while still being held up by Cathy.

Since you can fall asleep, it means you're really okay.

It did not grow any extra organs, nor did it become strange.

Lilith said, "It will continue to grow as it eats, and if it continues to take a bottle of fel potion every thirteen days for a full thirteen months, it will become the Rat King."

That means in another thirteen months, Liberty City will have its second Rat King.

Annan's two evil tentacles reached out, one toward the Stoun ratman, the other toward the McKenne ratman...

Unfortunately, the Rat Elder's death was ultimately a lie, and he himself was the murderer. What if the Black Mole Rat wanted to investigate and find his father's killer...?

To avoid the tragedy of turning against each other, I need to figure out how to explain and apologize to the black mole...

Wait a minute, the letter said that the Ratman Elder was controlled and killed by the High Priest, so why should I apologize?
……

Old Ware town.

After rampaging across the plains for days, the Silverwing Storm Legion and the Ash Bone Corps seemed to need to regroup and retreated entirely to the town held by the Crimson Guard Legion.

The cavities pierced by the two legions on the plains were quickly filled by the subsequent waves, which continuously crashed against Old Vale.

The Empire and the Mackenzie are still locked in a stalemate in the north, with no new developments in sight. In addition, the Empire has begun to send troops from the rear to support Oldval, seemingly determined to use Oldval as a fortress for its invasion of the North.

Three days have passed since the Ratman Elder's letter was sent to the Empire. Annan, who had not received any news, asked when the Empire would launch its attack, but the military ministry's message remained unchanged—if holding onto Old Val could be considered a proactive attack.

Annan couldn't understand it; surely it couldn't be another case of all talk and no action?

Comments have begun to emerge in Middle-earth mocking the Empire's reluctance to take action...

Unable to urge them or rush them, Annam could only continue to stockpile supplies, especially grain and wrought iron.

The city lord's mansion then issued an important directive from His Majesty the Annamese: the granaries must be filled with grain!
In addition, there is the preparation of speeches for the Holy Council.

Annan asked Lilith to write a speech for him on "seeking peace through war." He had a good plan: he just needed to memorize it so he could read it eloquently in parliament—but the dense text made Annan dizzy just looking at it, let alone memorizing it.

Especially since the Holy Council's schedule is unpredictable, just in case, he should memorize it every night before bed.

While Annan was struggling with his speech, his elder sister said, "We can't just stand by and do nothing. Why don't we announce the acquisition of rat ears in the Middle Kingdom under the pretext of dealing with the rat people?"

If the empire doesn't encourage it, they will.

Annan readily agreed, and Free City then issued a decree: each rat ear would be purchased for two copper coins, which could be exchanged for a bounty in the commercial streets of Middle-earth, in order to boost the enthusiasm of the people of Middle-earth to exterminate the ratmen.

As the news spread, the two allies also began acquiring mouse ears.

The Kingdom of Dimon and Free City offered similar prices, and even delivered the rat ears to Annan for free after purchasing them. The Empire, however, offered a more generous price, three copper coins per rat ear. This was exactly what Annan had been waiting for. He sent all the millions of rat ears he had previously acquired from the Kingdom of Dimon, along with the rat ears he was still collecting, to the Empire.

Francois went in person, and it is said that after he explained his purpose to the Imperial Military Ministry, the officials looked speechless.

Even after the shameless baron brazenly offered to trade resources like arcane cores, orogen, and mithril, the Imperial military tacitly approved of its ally's scheme.

Battle reports can be deceiving, but mouse ears won't. Regardless of how they came to be, every single mouse ear represents the death of a Macken ratman.

However, the military drew a line for Liberty City: they only wanted McKinney Mouse Ears.

Although each rat ear was sold for two copper coins and then resold for three copper coins, making a net profit of half, it was actually a one-off deal. From then on, Free City would have to rely on its own skills to hunt rats and earn bounties.

The Hellfire Legion is on the front lines, the Kingdom of Dimon is on the front lines, and the Empire is also on the front lines, but this is not an approaching storm, but rather a low-intensity tug-of-war like a persistent, gloomy rainy season, which is wearing down everyone's morale.

If this continues, when everyone's willpower is nearly exhausted, perhaps the thought of "maintaining the status quo" will resurface in their minds.
Mid-June, a peaceful day.

Anan, who was dozing under the otherworldly tree in his own garden, heard the metallic clanging of the Losi plate armor from afar.

The sound was loud and urgent; Losi had run over.

Annan opened his eyes and saw Losi rushing to him.

"As the commander of the Royal Guard, you must cultivate the habit of remaining calm in the face of adversity." Annan raised his eyelids and lazily lectured, "Why are you in such a hurry? Have the ratmen made any unusual moves?"

Losi shook her head.

"Did Biros run away?"

Losi continued to shake her head.

"Then why are you in such a hurry?" Annan closed his eyes and continued to enjoy the summer sea breeze, tranquility, and leisure.

"The Empire has sent a message instructing us to guard the Central Plains."

Annan sat up abruptly: "What did you say?"

“The Empire has instructed us to guard the Central Plains,” Losi repeated.

"Translate this: what does it mean to safeguard the Central Plains?"

"Your Majesty, this is the original text of the Empire..."

"I asked you to translate this."

"No translation needed, the Empire simply wants us to protect the Central Plains."

"I'm asking you to translate for me what it means to 'protect the Central Plains'!"

There are only a few possibilities.

Lilith's projection suddenly appeared in front of the recliner, rescuing Losi from the predicament, and calmly said, "First, the Empire believes that the Northern Chaos will make some unusual moves in the near future."

Annan asked in surprise, "Really?"

Lilith said that there was no news of any unusual activity from the Chaos forces at the outpost, in Philos, or in the Kingdom of Dimon.

"Second, the Empire warned us not to do anything unnecessary."

Annan was completely bewildered: "What have we done recently?"

"Aside from buying rat ears at low prices and selling them to the Empire, there's nothing else."

The Dimon Kingdom only brought a few million rat ears in total, which is equivalent to tens of thousands of gold nars. The total amount is not the profit... The Empire wouldn't be so upset about a few tens of thousands of gold nars, would it?
(End of this chapter)