Alien world

Chapter 1894, Section 527: The Investigation Team
The Imperial Minister insisted on interfering in Annan and Black Pearl's adventure, so Annan could only introduce them: "This is Miss Black Pearl, who, as you can see, is a black dragon."

"They changed them again so quickly?"

Annan blushed immediately and explained that Russ was just a guard and that his heart still belonged to Illymoas. A cheerful atmosphere filled the air.

"They are gray rats that I corrupted... turned against me."

Then came the introduction of the three gray rats. Annan was about to go into details to show that they were credible when the Imperial Minister interrupted him, saying, "I've heard about your abilities. Let's get straight to the point."

"it is good."

Annan patted the dejected black mole who hadn't been introduced and whispered a word of comfort: "It's his loss that he doesn't know your name."

The Imperial Minister heard it, but didn't care.

It's just a deformed rat, how could it possibly be the king of rats?
"The first batch of ratmen has already taken action. We will find them by following their burrows, blend in with them secretly, and investigate the local situation."

Since the Imperial Minister was going to come along, Annan simply took Jerry with him, and also Lulu.

If we were to categorize the loyalty of the ratmen, Pola would be the most loyal, followed by Kandin and Lulu.

Bringing Lulu along will prevent it and Kandin from using their clever little rat-man brains to snitch on you for some unknown reason.

The plan was well-thought-out, but it got stuck right from the start at the stage of turning into a ratman.

The Imperial Minister refused to become a filthy ratman, and despite Annan's persuasion, he prioritized the greater good.

"Soldiers, war is not child's play!" Annan suddenly shouted, losing his patience.

The Imperial Minister instinctively straightened his legs, just as he had done twenty years ago when facing his instructor.

"There's no time for your sentimentality on the battlefield! Does a nobleman have to wipe his sword with a handkerchief, have afternoon tea, and take a nap on the battlefield? Either obey orders or go back and wait for news!"

After he finished speaking, Annan's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He was worried that the Imperial Minister would say something like, "Are you telling me what to do?" But he stopped talking and let the Black Pearl turn him into a rat-man.

The Imperial Minister is actually resistant to force and won't listen to persuasion?
As they prepared to depart, Pora brought out a basket of felstones.

He said that since Annan and his group were carrying the Evil Stone, even if other gray rats saw them running around, they would only assume they were on a mission and would not question or extort them.

Paula really wants to improve.

Annan praised with satisfaction: "Pora, you're very good, five points added."

Five points?

"To increase your motivation, I will score you based on your performance and contributions. Bonus points will include, but are not limited to, passing on intelligence and developing downlines."

Annan glanced at the other two gray rats who seemed unconcerned and said casually, "Whoever reaches 100 points first, I will do my best to recommend them as an elder or priest of the rat people."

Kandin's eyes immediately turned blood red.

If Pola is valued by Annan, and Lelouch can follow suit and perform at any time, then wouldn't he be left behind?

"Master, I can lead a team too!"

"Kandin, what do you mean?!"

"Are you as loyal to your master as I am?"

"Shut up."

Before the three gray mice started fighting amongst themselves again, Annan interrupted them: "Stop fighting. There are plenty of ways to earn points. I look forward to the surprises you'll bring me."

Kandin was determined to give Annan a big boost.

Seeing this, the Imperial Minister said with a mixture of admiration and sarcasm, "You do have a way of taming the ratmen." "It's just a compromise because I'm too weak. If I had the strength of the Empire, I would have mobilized a hundred million people to sweep across the north."

The Imperial Minister remained silent; he simply had nothing in common with someone as illiterate as Annan.

But Annan had no intention of letting him off the hook. After everyone turned into ratmen, pulled a cart full of fel stones, and set off with Lulu, Annan still had the nerve to pull him aside and ask what he thought of the idea.

"You mean, mobilize almost all of the Empire's able-bodied men to fight?"

"Look at you, you've fallen into dogmatism! Who said all 100 million people are soldiers?"

The Imperial Minister's sarcasm remained undiminished: "So you want them to buy a hundred million muskets from Liberty City and go to the front lines to kill the enemy?"

"Wrong. How long would it take to manufacture so many guns? You might as well be bolder."

The Imperial Minister couldn't fathom what Annan meant by "boldness."

Annan revealed the answer: "Send 100 million people to colonize the north."

"colonial?"

Annan and the Imperial Minister walked side by side, while Black Pearl followed quietly behind, staring at Annan's back as he spoke eloquently.

"The ratmen didn't just spring out of thin air. Without land or resources, how do they reproduce? If ten square kilometers of land can support one hundred thousand ratmen, then one square kilometer of land can only support ten thousand ratmen. Isn't that a very basic principle?"

“You made a mistake from the very beginning. You shouldn’t have let the Macken ratmen into the North. Forget it, there’s no use complaining. So if you want to deal with the Chaos forces now, beheading is one way, and squeezing out the ratmen’s living space is another.”

"Isn't this exactly what you did when you left Wilhelm? It's just a repeat of the Great Expedition."

The Imperial Minister pondered.

There are many ways to get rid of the ratmen, such as forming patrol teams or having scavengers stationed there...

The simplest and most direct method is to buy rat ears, but when the ratmen discovered the potential for profit, they started cutting off their own rat ears and selling them to humans. In addition, some rebels among the humans cooperated with the ratmen, harvesting rat ears and selling them to bounty hunters...

"Why do you look at me like that?"

Annan looked down at himself, wondering if there was something wrong with his appearance.

The Imperial Minister looked away: "No need, the warriors will bring news of victory."

“This is the best possible outcome.”

But the devil won't stand idly by...

So far, their enemies are said to be the Chaos forces of the North, but in reality, they are only fighting the Macken Skaven.

The main force of the demons is concentrated in the northern part of the old Kingdom of Rikan'er. It would be good if the demons could just watch their allies be defeated one by one, but if they wanted to do something... the Imperial army in the north might not be able to succeed in decapitating them.

No, I need to go back and pester the Six-Armed Serpent Demon more, and squeeze every last drop out of her!

The Imperial Minister and Annan had the same idea. He asked Annan to capture and interrogate the Six-Armed Serpent Demon as soon as possible, and the Empire could send an executive officer to help.

"That would be too rude. I need to use love to influence her."

"Be careful not to play with fire and get burned." Annan's style of doing things had long been on the table, and the Imperial Minister only gave a warning.

Black Pearl wanted to say something, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. The overwhelming sense of threat emanating from the Imperial Minister, like a dragon-hunting spear nail pressed against her forehead, made her want to hide in the shadows and lick her wounds.

It shouldn't be like this... Shouldn't it be that I and Anan go through a series of adventures, develop feelings for each other, and then I lie on the mountain of gold coins in Liberty City, whipping Anan to make money?

(End of this chapter)