Chapter 1015: A Rat Youth’s Awareness
The number of rat soldiers under Ice Storm had increased to three hundred.
After the number of soldiers increased, the daily consumption of food, medicine, weapons, and equipment for so many soldiers became something a gladiator could not afford.
Even an ace would not be able to afford it.
Most gladiators would seek refuge with a wealthy clan at this stage, and the clan would bear the majority of the soldiers’ consumption.
Naturally, the clan would gain some control over these servants. The so-called commander would not be able to obtain 100% of the servants’ loyalty.
Due to her own reasons, Ice Storm was unwilling or unable to join the Blood Hoof Clan.
Her control over these servants was very limited, so she simply let them be. They could train however they wanted on the large training ground, according to the method Meng Chao had taught them.
Meng Chao did not have the mood or ability to train a total of three hundred civilian rat soldiers into battle-hardened elite soldiers.
He just accepted the thirty civilian rat soldiers who had followed him in the beginning, including Leaf, as the instructor of the three hundred civilian rat soldiers.
He did not think that he would be able to teach other recruits so well.
Instead, as an instructor, he could rightfully allocate more resources to the thirty soldiers, such as mandrake fruits and secret medicines.
Moreover, the process of imparting skills to others would also deepen his impression. Unknowingly, he would merge his combat skills into his blood, forming a conditioned reflex.
Meng Chao still valued the first batch of thirty rat soldiers.
After all, there were more than ten to twenty people there. He had personally selected them from the depths of the dungeon and coached them closely, especially Leaf!
He had helped him so much when he was half-dead.
The little guy was gifted and smart.
If possible, Meng Chao still hoped that he could live well until the war between worlds ended. Then he would walk into an even better tomorrow.
When a seed was sown on barren land, it might take three to five years for a small bud to grow.
However, as long as it was given a little sunshine, rain, and sweet nutrients, it could quickly grow into a towering tree as hard as iron.
Leaf was like that.
After getting enough mandrake fruits, golden fruits, and even the flesh of totem beasts, they swallowed them together with the secret medicine. Following the method Meng Chao taught, they wriggled their intestines and stomach at a high frequency, speeding up the secretion of digestive juices. After he had digested and absorbed all of them…
The originally young and tender rat peasant youth underwent a transformation almost every day.
Even when he slept at night, he could hear the “crackling” sounds of his own bones growing, just like bamboo shoots sprouting after a rain.
Leaf now were more than half a head taller than when Meng Chao had first met him. His shoulders had increased by the width of a palm, and his chest had increased by the thickness of three fingers. Muscles as firm as steel also filled the s.p.a.ce between his new bones. It gave him a sense of power, and he was eager to give it a try. He was like a beast with shiny fur.
What had changed even more was his expression and temperament.
When he had just arrived in Black-corner City, he possessed fear, as well as unease, and he was filled with confusion.
Now, he was filled with confidence, even overconfidence.
It was as if he had completely seen where his journey would lead to. Moreover, he firmly believed that he would definitely make it through this journey and win the final victory.
Meng Chao was stunned by his question for a long time. He gestured for him to go to a corner to rest and replenish some secret medicine and high-energy food.
After looking around and making sure that no one could hear their conversation, Meng Chao said, “The Big-horned Rat… seems to be a rat hero from a long time ago?”
“No, the Big-horned Rat G.o.d is not just a simple ancient hero. He is also the ancestral spirit of all the rat people!”
Leaf trusted Meng Chao very much. He was like a child who had just gotten a new toy. He could not help but want to present the treasure to the adults. He danced and talked about the legend of the Rat G.o.d.
Naturally, it was the same story that Meng Chao had heard in his previous life.
The rat hero named, Rat Rat had become a member of the ancestral spirit because he had fought bravely in the ancient war and was unafraid of death. He had protected all the rat people for thousands of years.
When the rat people used their forbearance, hard work, blood, and even life to redeem the sins their ancestors had committed thousands of years ago, it meant that their blood was no longer dirty. Instead, it was as glorious and holy as all the warriors of the clan. It was the crystallization of the purest courage.
At this time, the incarnation of the Big-horned Rat G.o.d would come to the human world and lead all the rat people to establish their own clan and seize the throne of the War Chief for the first time in thousands of years. The rat people would then rule the entire Picturesque Orchid Lake.
Leaf talked so much.
Seeing that his face was red, his eyes were shining, and his saliva was flying to the point that he was about to foam at the mouth, Meng Chao once again handed over the cold water mixed with honey to let the youth calm down. Then, he carefully reminded, “The Rat G.o.d… is really interesting… unbelievable… Is this true?”
“Of course it’s true, Reaper. Of course it’s true!”
Leaf waved his fists and gritted his teeth with the unique sharpness of a young man. “This world is unfair. Reaper, don’t you realize that this world is very unfair?
“We, the rat people live in our own villages and don’t provoke anyone. We are so far away from Black-corner City!
“Why are the clan warriors, who are so high and mighty, able to rush into our village and burn, kill, and plunder us? Why are we tied up like pigs and brought to Black-corner City to be their servants and slaves?
“Our relatives have been killed by them, and our homes have been destroyed by them. But we still have to listen to them obediently. We will either fight with the other rat people in the arena or die of heat and exhaustion in the workshop where weapons are forged. We will accidentally fall into the furnace and burn to death!
“I admit that it was quite enjoyable when I waved my saber in the arena and chopped down other rat subjects!
“However, after I got out of the arena and calmed down, I thought about it carefully. It was not other rat subjects who destroyed my home. Why should I fight them to the death while the clan elders who committed all kinds of crimes, such as burning, killing, and plundering, can sit high in the audience and watch the rat subjects kill each other and beat each other until their heads are bleeding, while they laugh out loud?
“I was even thinking that, when I was rolling around in the pool of blood with the other rats, the Minotaur warrior who killed my brother was sitting in the audience and watching my ‘performance’ with a smile!
“When I thought of that, it was as if a fire had been stuffed into my chest. I was so angry that my entire chest was about to explode!”
Meng Chao nodded.
He was very happy about the rat youth’s awareness.
If Leaf was the kind of person who was obsessed with power and the thrill of killing and had forgotten the purpose of battle and the meaning of killing.
No matter how talented he was, Meng Chao would not have wasted half a second on him.
“You’re right. Reaper, the so-called high and mighty clan elders, are just a bunch of buzzing flies. No, they are not flies. They are mosquitoes. They are humongous mosquitoes that can suck the blood of the rat nation dry!”
Leaf saw the encouraging look in Meng Chao’s eyes. He clenched his fists and continued, “Why are the clan warriors able to step onto the most glorious battlefield in a glorious manner and the rat people are either being squeezed to death in the workshops and mines, or being used as cannon fodder to consume the enemy’s magic and arrows? “Even if we win the war, most of us will either die in obscurity, or continue to be squeezed to death by the warriors of the clans!
“When will these d*mn days come to an end?
“The clan master told us that it was because of the dirty blood flowing in our bodies. Our ancestors committed all kinds of mistakes and even crimes, mainly because of the sin of cowardice. They were deserters from the previous Battles of Glory in the past thousands of years. It was because of their cowardice that the entire battle line collapsed and led to the failure of the entire war. It was because of that that the extremely valiant and brave warriors of Turan were never able to conquer the land of Holy Light.
“Therefore, we have to atone for our ancestors’ actions.
“But I suspect that they are all lies.
“Because I have observed them carefully and asked Spider and the rest of them, as well as the rats and handymen who have lived in Black-corner City for more than twenty years.
“They told me that the rat population in the countryside and in Black-corner City is more than ten times or even dozens of times more than that of the clan elders!
“This is not right, Reaper. Think about it. The elders said that our ancestors became rat people because they were deserters, but the number of rat people is more than ten times that of the clan warriors. Doesn’t that mean that nine out of ten warriors in the Grand Turan Army would become deserters?”
This time, even Meng Chao was surprised by the rat youth’s sharp intuition and clear thinking. He could not help but exclaim, “Congratulations, Leaf, you’ve discovered a blind spot!”
“This is all thanks to you, Reaper.”
The rat youth’s face turned red for a moment, then he wagged his tail and proudly said, “It was you who taught me how to count with tools other than my fingers, how to calculate the simplest addition and multiplication, how to think about those problems that no one in our village has ever thought about.
“You know, I didn’t know the significance of thinking about these messy problems at first. In the village, all I thought about was how to pick the most mandrake fruits in the shortest time possible, or how to climb the highest mandrake tree and pick the most beautiful golden fruits.
“When I arrived in Black-corner City and the Blood Skull Arena, all I could think about was how to become stronger, kill all my enemies, avenge my mother and brother, and also find Anjia.
“The mandrake fruit is delicious.
“Becoming stronger is also very important.
“However, after hearing the Rat G.o.d’s story and using the method you taught me to think, I vaguely realized that my enemy was not the single broken-horned Minotaur warrior. It wasn’t even the Blood Hoof Clan that sent out the broken-horned Minotaur warrior. It was… It was something even more powerful, much larger, and inexplicable.”