Alien world

Chapter 1890, Section 523: Aerial Cavalry
The air in the office was as thick and sticky as swamp.

Olmedo looked at the intelligence his assistant brought him, his face grave, and he didn't exhale for a long time.

The identity of the mad girl is on the parchment, but anyone who sees it will gasp, doubt what they are seeing, and find it hard to believe.

Because she...He is a saint.

Isn't it said that no deity can descend to the mortal realm? Could it be a deity who was walking on the continent of Allen as a saint when the turmoil occurred?
If it's the King of Elva... then that makes sense.

As for the madness He displayed, it was probably related to the turbulent years.

Saints, Sons of God, Tower Knights... What's going on with this battle?

Putting aside the intelligence report, Olmedo asked, "Where's Annan? Hasn't he returned yet?"

Upon learning that Annan had run off again and had just opened a portal to send back a few elite rats, Olmedo felt helpless.

No wonder the other Supreme Kings thought Annam posed no threat; he indeed appeared harmless and uninterested in the Supreme Kings.

Come to think of it, I haven't properly asked Annam whether he coveted the Supreme King.

……

"You persistent rats, die! Die!"

The black dragon's roar echoed through the valley as it attacked a horde of ratmen pouring out of the cave.

However, there were too many ratmen, and the black dragon was seriously injured. After a moment of impotent rage, it spread its wings and flew away from the place.

The rat people on the ground were celebrating their triumphant drive away of the black dragon, completely unaware that one of them had become a slave rat.

Before long, another slave rat appeared next to the slave rat.

Annan and Black Pearl, who had secretly returned as a rat-man, followed the rat swarm back to the cave, quite naturally following the rats back to the cave.

The echoing sound of digging came from the depths of the dark cave. The ratmen were excavating a cave that led to an unknown destination, and these slave rats were responsible for carrying the rubble out.

The sounds of digging were everywhere. Annan determined the direction and led Black Pearl south along the cave.

The underground caves are interconnected, with countless branching paths. The deeper Annam went, the more he could see rat-man craftsmen maintaining and widening the caves. Just from this, he could tell that the rat-men were plotting something in secret.

As they ventured deeper into the cave, the two slave rats, who should have gone unnoticed by any other rats, wandered around aimlessly. However, perhaps due to accidentally entering the core area, an elite rat called out to them.

"You, come here."

Annan, holding Black Pearl's hand, followed the elite rats into a closed cave, posing as a slave rat.

Several piles of leftover rat-man remains lay in the corner, next to the stinking rat droppings.

Fortunately, it wasn't that the elite rats discovered anything; they just wanted to eat Annam.

In this respect, ratmen and demons are the same—low-tier units are both cannon fodder and food.

Two minutes later, an elite rat and a slave rat emerged from their burrow and then disappeared into the adjacent burrow. Soon after, the two elite rats resumed their exploration.

There are countless slave rats, and equally countless elite rats—no rat cares if there are a few more or fewer.

Annam and the Black Pearl did indeed stumble upon the core area by accident.

In a vast underground beehive filled with caves in the rock wall, another gray-haired rat listens to the elite rat's report.

They drove away the black dragon, but one of the gray-haired rats was killed by it. The gray-haired rat hissed, "The good news is over, now for the bad news!"

The bad thing is that the black dragon returned and colluded with humans, hiding nearby and spying.

However, Annan's goal was not to hunt more gray rats. He weighed the chances of capturing and interrogating a gray rat, and finally gave up on alerting them. Instead, he followed the other rat people, sneaking into the underground hive and continuing south.

To find out what the rat people are up to, just keep walking along the rat hole.

The cave was much, much longer than they had imagined... A day passed, and there was still no sign of reaching the end. The only certainty was that as they went deeper into the cave, their depth had already exceeded one hundred meters.

People like Anan and Black Pearl, who travel around everywhere, will inevitably encounter meddlesome ratmen. But that's okay; as long as they deal with all the ratmen they witness, who says they're not qualified infiltrators?
During this time, we encountered several underground beehives that served as hubs, as well as a few gray rats.

If Annan remembered correctly, the fleeing gray rat that the reconnaissance airship was watching had hidden in a nest... Could it be here too?

As they continued forward along the cave, if it weren't for Black Pearl guiding them and preventing them from going in circles, Annan would have thought he had been wandering underground the whole time.

The ratmen have nearly hollowed out the Greymount Mountains... What are they trying to do?
As Annan's curiosity and unease grew, another underground beehive appeared ahead.

Several gray mice were arguing in the middle.

Listen intently, and fragmented snippets drift over, as if telling stories of Old Vale.

……

The reconnaissance airship spotted the enormous creature rising and falling amidst the swarm of rats in the distance and quickly reported it to the Kingdom's army below.

Who would have thought that, in order to lure the Kingdom's army, the gray-haired rats of Old Val Town would bring out their mother rat?

Upon learning the news, Marshal Galkin believed the time was right and ordered the Free Army to prepare kerosene.

But before Annan returned, Marshal Galkin took over command and ordered the Free Army to cooperate with his operations.

Evelyn also rushed back to Liberty City before the deadline for the next issue of "Voice of Liberty." The next day, an article titled "Lord Visits Soldiers at the Front Lines" was published in the Liberty City news section.

Besides the new fire oil that showed off its prowess, there is also a passage in the middle that says: When the soldiers were so engrossed in Annan's speech that they couldn't contain themselves, an evil black dragon suddenly swooped down on them. The Annan lord decisively picked up his gun and pointed it at the sky. The black dragon screamed and fell into the mountains.

Even if there are images that prove that the black dot in the sky fell down immediately after Annan fired the shot, there are still many people who do not believe it.

The thing called new fire oil was popular, but during the war, it was as rare and expensive as the golem.

More detailed information was then sent to Olmedo's desk.

In the battles of the Northern Wall and Old Vale, the magical airships combined with fire oil demonstrated astonishing effects, no less impressive than the new troop type: cavalry, a combination of warriors and horses.

If they had an air fleet, they could be just as capable as the Imperial Guard, truly standing on their own.

Although its weaknesses are also fatal—it's slow and fragile—it's enough to control the ratmen.

With Annan absent, Olmedo decisively ordered the airship workshop to expand its workforce and operate 24 hours a day. The production rate was increased from one airship every three days to one airship per day, and research and development efforts were intensified to produce larger airships with greater carrying capacity.

……

Has the Kingdom's army already begun its operations?

Meanwhile, Annan, who had overheard the argument, was eager to return to the ground and participate in the bombing of Old Val.

(End of this chapter)