Now, Ice Storm had three hundred rat people under her command.
Once their numbers increased by leaps and bounds, the food, medicine, and weapons used by so many slave soldiers were clearly not something a gladiator could provide for.
Not even an ace.
Most gladiators would join a rich family at this stage, and the family would bear most of the consumption of the slave soldiers.
Naturally, the family would have some control over the slave soldiers. The so-called commander could not get the slave soldiers' 100% loyalty.
Due to her own reasons, Ice Storm was either unwilling or unable to join the Blood Hoof Family.
She had limited control over the slave soldiers, so she decided to let them do as they pleased in the training field according to the method Meng Chao taught them.
Meng Chao did not have the time nor the ability to train the three hundred rat people into elite soldiers who had been through hundreds of battles.
He decided to accept his fate. The thirty rat people who followed him in the beginning, including Leaf, became the instructors for the three hundred rat people.
He did not think that they would be able to teach the other new recruits well.
But if they became instructors, they could legitimately distribute more resources to the thirty rat people, such as Mandala Fruits and medicine.
Besides, the process of teaching others skills would also deepen their impression. Without them realizing it, they would fuse fighting skills into their blood, and it would become a conditioned reflex process.
Meng Chao placed a lot of importance on the first batch of thirty rat people servant soldiers.
After all, there were around twenty of them, and he had personally chosen them from the depths of the dungeon and taught them step by step!
Especially Leaf.
He had helped him a lot when he was half-dead.
The little guy was talented and smart.
If it was possible, Meng Chao hoped that he could continue living … until the end of the war in the Other World and go to a better tomorrow.
Some seeds grew on barren land, and it might take three to five years for a small sprout to grow.
But if it was given a bit of sunlight, rain, and sweet nutrients, it would soon grow into a sturdy, towering tree.
Leaf was like that.
Once he obtained a sufficient amount of Mandala Fruits, Golden Fruits, and even totem beast flesh, he swallowed them along with the secret medicine. Then, he followed the method Meng Chao taught him and moved his stomach at a high frequency to increase the secretion of digestive juices so that he could digest and absorb all of them.
The young and tender rat people were undergoing a complete transformation almost every day.
Even when he was sleeping at night, he could hear the crackling sounds of his bones growing, just like bamboo shoots after the rain.
Right then, Leaf was already half a head taller than when Meng Chao first saw him. His shoulders were as wide as a palm, and his chest was as thick as three fingers. Muscles that were as sturdy as steel were stuffed between his new bones. He was filled with eagerness to fight, and he looked like a beast with shiny fur.
What changed even more was his expression and temperament.
Ever since he had arrived at Blackhorn City, he had been filled with fear, unease, and bewilderment.
Now, he was full of confidence, even overconfident.
It was as if he had completely seen where his journey would lead to, and he firmly believed that he would be able to overcome this journey and seize the final victory.
Meng Chao was stunned by his question for a long time. Then, he gestured for him to rest in a corner so that he could get some medicine and high-calorie food.
Meng Chao looked around and made sure that no one could hear their conversation. Then, he said, "Horned Rat … I think he's a rat people hero from a long time ago?"
"No, Horned Rat God isn't just an ancient hero. He's the ancestral spirit of all the rat people!"
Leaf trusted Meng Chao a lot. He was like a child who had obtained a new toy and could not help but want to show it to an adult. He waved his arms and talked nonstop about the legend of Horned Rat God.
Naturally, it was the story Meng Chao had heard in his previous life.
The rat people hero known as Horned Rat had fought bravely in the ancient war and faced death with equanimity, so he became a member of the ancestral spirit. Thousands of years later, he protected all the rat people.
When the rat people used their endurance, hard work, blood, and even their lives to atone for the sins their ancestors had committed thousands of years ago, it meant that their blood was no longer tainted. Instead, it was as glorious, holy, and pure as all warriors. It was the crystallization of the purest courage.
At that time, the incarnation of Horned Rat God would descend to the world and lead all the rat people to build their own clan. Then, they would seize the throne of war chief. For the first time in thousands of years, the rat people would rule over all of Turanze.
Leaf spoke in an extravagant manner.
When Meng Chao saw that his face was red, his eyes were sparkling, and he was about to foam at the mouth, Meng Chao handed him cold water mixed with honey so that the boy could calm down. Then, he deliberated over his words and reminded him, "Horned Rat God … Interesting … Unbelievable … Is this real?"
"Of course it's real, harvester! Of course it's real!"
Leaf swung his fists, and with the spirit unique to a teenager, he gritted his teeth and said, "This world isn't fair, harvester. Haven't you noticed that this world isn't fair?
"We rat people live in our own villages. We didn't provoke anyone, and we're so far away from Black Corner City!
"Why can those high and mighty warriors rush into our villages to burn, kill, and loot? Why can they tie us up like pigs and bring us to Black Corner City to be their slave soldiers and slaves?
"Our families have all been killed by them, and our homes have been destroyed by them, but we still have to listen to them obediently. If we're not fighting against other rat people on the arena, we're dying of heat and exhaustion in the weapon refinement factories. If we're careless, we fall into the furnace and are burned alive!
"I admit that when I swing my saber on the arena and cut down other rat people's slave soldiers, it feels really good!
"But when I get off the arena, I calm down and think about it carefully. It's not like other rat people's slave soldiers destroyed my home, so why should I fight to the death against them? And why can the masters of the clans, who burn, kill, and do all sorts of evil things, sit high up in the audience seats and watch the rat people kill each other until they're bleeding, but they can still laugh?
"In fact, I think that when I'm fighting against the other rat people and rolling around in pools of blood, the Minotaur Warrior with the broken horn who killed my older brother is sitting among the audience seats and watching my 'performance' with a smile!
"When I think of this, I feel as if a fire has been shoved into my chest. I'm so angry that I feel like my chest is about to explode!"
Meng Chao nodded.
He was very happy for the rat person teenager's resolution.
If Leaf was the kind of person who was addicted to strength and the pleasure of killing, he would forget the goal of fighting and the meaning of killing.
But no matter how talented he was, Meng Chao would not waste even half a second on him.
"You're right, harvester. The so-called superior masters are just a bunch of buzzing flies. No, they're not flies, they're mosquitoes. They're huge mosquitoes that can suck the rat people's blood dry!"
Leaf could see the light of encouragement in Meng Chao's praising gaze. He clenched his fists and continued speaking. "Why is it that the warriors of the clans can step into the most glorious battlefield in a dazzling manner, while the rat people are either squeezed to death in the factories and mines or have to serve as cannon fodder to waste the enemy's magic and arrows? Even if we win, most of us will either die in obscurity or continue being squeezed to death by the warriors of the clans until we die!
"When will these damned days come to an end?
"The masters of the clans told us that it's because of the filthy blood flowing in our veins. Our ancestors committed all sorts of mistakes and even crimes, but the main reason is because of the sin of cowardice. They were all deserters from the Glorious Battles over the past thousands of years. It's because of their cowardice that the entire battlefront crumbled and led to the defeat of the entire war. It's also why the incredibly strong and brave warriors of Turan were unable to conquer the Land of the Holy Light.
"That's why we have to atone for what our ancestors did.
"But I suspect that it's all a lie.
"Because I've observed carefully. I've also asked Spider and the others, along with the rat people labourers who have been living in Black Horn City for more than twenty years.
"They told me that regardless of whether it's in the countryside or in Black Horn City, the number of rat people is more than ten times or even dozens of times greater than the number of warriors in the clans!
"That's not right, Reaper. Think about it. The masters said that our ancestors became rat people because they became deserters. However, the number of rat people is more than ten times that of clan warriors. Doesn't it mean that in the previous Battle of Glory, nine out of ten warriors in the vast army of Tulan would become deserters?"
"…"
At that moment, even Meng Chao was shocked by the rat boy's sharp instincts and clear thoughts. He could not help but exclaim in surprise, "Congratulations, Leaf. You discovered a blind spot!"
"It's all thanks to you, harvester."
The rat boy's face turned red. Then, he wagged his tail and said rather proudly, "You're the one who taught me how to use tools other than my fingers to count, how to do the simplest addition and multiplication, and how to think about … the problems that no one in our village has ever thought about.
"Do you know? I originally didn't know that there was any meaning in thinking about all these random problems. When I was in the village, all I thought about was how to pluck the most Mandala Fruits in the shortest amount of time, or how to climb the tallest Mandala Tree to pluck the most beautiful Golden Fruit.
"When I went to Black Horn City and entered Blood Skull Coliseum, all I thought about was how to become stronger, kill all my enemies, take revenge for my mother and brother, and find An Jia.
"Mandala Fruits are delicious.
"Becoming stronger is also very important.
"But when I listened to them talk about the story of the Big-horned Bull Warrior and used the method you taught me to think about it, I vaguely realized that my enemy wasn't just the Bull Warrior with the broken horns. In fact, it wasn't even the Blood Hoof Family who sent the Bull Warrior with the broken horns. Instead, it was something even more powerful, huge, and indescribable.
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