"It's simple. If we don't do it today, it'll be too late."
Meng Chao shrugged. "Once the Blood Hooves Army goes to war, regardless of whether it's the warriors or the rat people's servant soldiers, they will lose most of their freedom. They will have to be strictly managed, and if they set up camp in the wild, they will send their scouts dozens of kilometers away. It'll be very difficult for them to do anything.
"But today, most of the Blood Hoof Clan's troops have been pulled out of the city and are scattered during the practical drills. Black Horn City is only left with a large number of rat people who are filled with fear and anger and will definitely die. When the defense is really weak, it's the perfect time to take action.
"But I originally thought that they just wanted to set up a fire and burn half of Black Horn City so that they could help a large number of rat people escape from the city during the chaos.
"I didn't expect that they would cause such a huge ruckus!"
"Them?" Ye asked.
"The real Big-horned Rat God's messenger," Meng Chao answered.
"The real messenger?"
Ye said in shock. "Could it be that the one captured by the Blood Hoof Clan and the Iron Skin Clan is an imposter?"
"He's not an imposter. There's no such thing as a spy from the Golden Clan. Even if there was a spy, he wasn't captured by the Blood Hoof Clan and the Iron Skin Clan."
Meng Chao grinned. "That's just a lie the rulers of Black Corner City came up with to put on airs!"
"So, there really is a Big-horned Rat God?" Ye asked in disbelief.
"Based on the evidence I gathered, there should be one. But Big-horned Rat God is the same as Zhang San, Li Si, and Wang Mazi. It's just a name. It doesn't mean that it's a real god just because it has the word 'god' in it!"
Meng Chao said. "I can only say that there's a force of power that believes in the Big-horned Rat God, or at least a force of power that claims to believe in the Big-horned Rat God, and they're eyeing Black Horn City. That's all."
Ye thought about it for a long time before he understood.
"So, this really isn't a miracle?"
He asked while pointing at the burning city outside the window.
"It's not a miracle. This is just one, oh, maybe one hundred powerful methane explosions," Meng Chao said.
"Methane … explosions?" Ye did not understand.
"That is —"
Meng Chao thought about it and explained in detail, "Don't high-grade orcs like to eat Mandala Fruits and totem beasts' flesh? They're food that contains a lot of spirit energy, right?
"Then, I discovered that the digestive system of high-level beastmen seemed to have undergone special genetic modifications as well, causing their appetite to be far more astonishing than that of other humanoid carbon-based intelligent lifeforms. It was common for them to eat thirty to fifty kilograms of food in a single meal.
"With such a shocking appetite, it's only natural that the amount of excretion is also shocking.
"Originally, the underground of Blackhorn City had an extremely advanced fully automated pipeline processing system that could handle millions of tons of trash and excrement.
"But in the passage of millions of years, just like all the facilities and technology left behind by the Ancestral Souls for the high-grade beastmen, this garbage disposal and excrement purification system buried deep under Black Horn City was gradually damaged, blocked, and collapsed.
"Hence, a large amount of excrement filled with high-energy substances kept accumulating, gathering together, and fermenting under Black Horn City. All sorts of reactions that no one can describe clearly happened, and they released dozens of flammable and explosive gases and liquids, including methane.
"It's as if there are more than one hundred ticking bombs buried under Black Horn City. Ye, do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes … I understand a little."
Ye nodded and said, "There was a huge cesspool in our village in the past, and there were often green fireflies floating above the cesspool. When we were young and ignorant, we thought that the green flames were really pretty, and we liked playing around them. But when we grew older, we learned that they were the most disgusting things."
"More or less. But the cesspool under Black Horn City is much stronger than the cesspool in your village," Meng Chao said with a gasp.
Meng Chao gasped in amazement. "In truth, I didn't think in this direction in the beginning. After all, it's only a theoretical possibility to ignite the methane in Black Corner City. Even though it sounds simple, you have to dig tunnels and place explosives at critical spots. You have to ensure that the methane and other flammable and explosive gases are sealed and stable. You have to ensure that all the spots with a lot of methane in the city will explode at the same time. Most importantly, you have to ensure that the methane explosion will only happen in the areas where the warriors of the clans live and not the slums where the rat people live.
"The technology involved in this is too high, and the amount of work involved is too great. It's definitely not something that a group of people who gathered together at the last minute can think of and complete.
"By the looks of it, the true face of the rat people's revolutionary army is different from what I expected. Just what sort of power is pushing for the descent of the Horned Rat God?"
Meng Chao's mind raced.
After a moment, his gaze landed on the rat person boy again.
"Ye, didn't you say that you want to escape Black Horn City? This is your best chance! "
Meng Chao said quickly. "Do you know that there's a rather large rat people market at the intersection of Iron Axe Street and Steel Tooth Street? There's also a Red Head Tavern that serves the rat people there?"
"I do."
Ye nodded.
Red Head Tavern was one of the few places in Black Horn City where the rat people could temporarily forget their lowly statuses and drink to their heart's content. They could also go there to gamble and lose so much that even their parents would not recognize them.
After the laborers in Blood Skull Coliseum received rewards from the warriors, they loved going to Red Head Tavern to lose all their money.
If the rat people's servant soldiers performed outstandingly in the arena and helped their masters win, their masters would usually wave their hands and reward the servant soldiers with a few melons so that they could go and vent their frustrations to their heart's content.
However, Red Head Tavern seemed to be the same as many of the facilities that served the rat people in Black Horn City. They were all destroyed by the warriors of the clan who had become excited from killing in the Game of the Brave.
"It's not important whether it's destroyed or not. It's good that you know the place," Meng Chao said.
"That place isn't far from Blood Skull Coliseum. Later, I'll create a chance. You and the rat people who are unwilling to stay in Blood Skull Coliseum to be cannon fodder will think of a way to rush out. I believe that the area outside is filled with smoke and chaos. You won't run into too many obstacles.
"There's a huge tunnel that leads straight out of the city next to Red Head Tavern. I reckon that the messenger of the Horned Rat God will definitely receive the rat people in Black Horn City there. Then, they'll use the tunnel to escape the city.
"Judging from the fact that they were able to plan such a large-scale and technologically sophisticated serial explosion of biogas, they must've arranged everything outside of the city to make sure that at least half of the rats that escaped would be able to join their main troops and embark on their own journey!"
"This is …"
There was too much information in Meng Chao's words, and Ye did not understand them immediately. "Harvester, are you saying that someone will help us escape?"
"That's right. The messenger of the Horned Rat God has been lurking in Black Horn City for a long time. His goal is to help the rat people who are unwilling to be cannon fodder escape!"
Meng Chao paused for a moment before he said, "Of course, by the looks of it now, their appetite is far greater than I imagined. They won't be satisfied with just taking away a large number of rat people. But that has nothing to do with you."
"But we don't know the messenger of the Horned Rat God. Will he help us?"
Ye felt a little diffident. He could hear the underlying meaning in Meng Chao's words. "Harvester, aren't you coming with us?"
"Don't worry. The messenger of the Horned Rat God will bring you along," Meng Chao explained patiently.
"They took a huge risk and poured in a lot of resources to plan and execute all of this. One of their main goals is to take away a large number of rat people from Black Horn City. Right now, in Black Horn City, the rat people who survived the selection of the recruitment team, the torture of the long journey, and the torment of the arduous work are all outstanding among the rat people. Besides, they have a deep hatred for the warriors of the human clans. They're the best source of soldiers.
"And you're the servant soldiers who have gone through the trials of life and death in the coliseums. You're powerful soldiers who are one in a hundred. If you come to them on your own accord, they'll be more than happy to accept you. There's no way they won't accept you.
"As for me, I won't be going with you for the time being. I have more important things to do. At the very least, I have to help you get rid of Savage Hammer. Only then will you have the chance to rush out of Blood Skull Coliseum!"
"But …"
Ye panicked.
Ever since someone covered his head and sent him to Blood Skull Coliseum, he had been receiving guidance from Meng Chao and drawing strength from him.
From a certain point of view, Meng Chao was more trustworthy than the Great Horned Rat God.
He had thought about it before. The mysterious harvester with black hair and black eyes definitely had an incredible mission and had his own battles to fight. It was impossible for him to always be his babysitter.
But he did not expect that the day of their separation would come so suddenly, and it would be so … intense.
"This is as far as I can help you. There are certain things that you can only obtain with your own hands. No one can give you freedom and dignity for free."
Meng Chao patted the rat man's shoulder and said with a smile, "Besides, we won't be separated for too long. Once I'm done dealing with the 'problem' in Black Corner City, I'll catch up to you."
"Liar!"
Ye grumbled. "Since you're not with the real Great Horned Rat God's messenger, how would you know where they'll take us and where to find us?"
"That's why you have to take this and this."
Meng Chao brought out a dirty pendant from his bosom and an old beast skin bag he bought from the rat man's market. He handed it to Ye.
"This is …"
Ye lifted the pendant curiously and noticed that it was a colorful conch that was the size of a thumb.
However, after a long period of friction, the conch shell had lost its bright luster. It was so gray that it was not eye-catching at all.
The inside was filled with a brown substance. It looked like cork, but it was covered in dense holes. When Ye brought it under his nose and sniffed it carefully, he could smell a very faint fragrance.
The animal skin pouch was filled with another kind of greasy white powder, which also carried a faint fragrance.
"Once we're separated, look for a chance to secretly sprinkle this white powder somewhere when you're a few kilometers away from us. If you don't have a chance, throw it on yourself and use your body temperature to release it. It can help me find the general direction in which you're heading," Meng Chao explained.
"As for this pendant, just hang it around your neck. As long as you're within five hundred arm's length, it can help me find your location."
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