Chapter 1080: The Future"s Changing
Yesterday, they were still in the workshops, farms, and arenas of Black-corner City. Threatened by the n.o.ble elders" whips, they kept squeezing out all their blood and sweat. Today, they were filled with anger. The rebel soldiers who fought back in the desperate situation did not lack the courage to face death.
What they lacked the most was a backbone and a calm, wise brain, telling them what to do and how to do it.
Therefore, when someone shouted, "North, north!", everyone looked to the north without thinking twice.
They immediately realized that the north of Black-corner City was indeed different from the other areas.
The fire there was less intense, and the smoke was lighter. There were also no deafening explosions or collapsing sounds.
The chaos in the north seemed to have subsided. It was very likely that the rat militia had completely taken control of the area.
Immediately, everyone shouted at the same time, "North! North!"
The line at the back turned their spearheads and slowly moved toward the north.
At the front, the soldiers of the rebel army who had just fought the barbarian elephant warriors for three hundred rounds were still hesitant at first.
After all, they had paid a terrible price to take down the Broken Rock Clan"s armory and granary.
Seeing that the mountain-like mandala fruits, the glittering sabers, and the armor were all right in front of them, they could not help but feel reluctant to leave now.
However, the "oracles" of the rat people who had been fighting side by side with them and cheering for them along the way had vanished without a trace at some point in time.
They looked at each other in bewilderment.
As more and more soldiers of the rebel army retreated to the north, they could not do anything on their own. Therefore, they had no choice but to follow the main force and break away from the barbarian elephant warriors who were eyeing them covetously.
The barbarian elephant warriors who were guarding the Broken Rock Clan also breathed a sigh of relief.
As the saying went, "enough ants may bite an elephant to death." Although they boasted the strength and courage to fight against a hundred of them at once, the number of the rat subjects was too great.
However, the momentum of the rat subjects was too crazy. Like waves after waves of burning waves, they crashed into their blades, making their arms ache and their hearts tremble.
In addition, the clan"s temple had been invaded, so they did not have the intention to tangle with the ordinary rats. They just watched the soldiers of the volunteer army leave and did not try to stop them.
Just like that, the thousands of soldiers in the volunteer army, who were likely to die there, withdrew from the Broken Rock Clan"s shooting range in less than ten minutes and disappeared behind the flames and smoke in the north.
As a result, the hooded elites, who had "secretly invaded" the Broken Rock Clan"s temple, suffered.
Although they had received extremely harsh professional training, they were ultimately engaged in shady business.
After being discovered and surrounded by the furious barbarian elephant warriors, their morale was greatly reduced.
They immediately suffered a great loss in the b.l.o.o.d.y battle where both sides suffered heavy losses.
If they wanted to escape, there were already many hooded elites carrying specialized tools deep into the temple. They were stuck in the traps, unable to move.
Plus, the tens of thousands of Blood Hoof troops would return to defend at any moment and appear in front of them.
The hooded elites, who were in a sorry state, really wanted to die.
"That rock! That burning rock, where did it come from?"
"Why? Why did it land on our heads?"
"Where"s the main force? Why did the main force that attacked the Broken Rock Clan retreat? Shouldn"t they cover us at all costs?"
Before their heads were smashed by the war hammer of the barbarian elephant warriors and their spines were broken by their long noses, the hooded elites screamed with their eyes wide open.
Meng Chao lay dormant in the darkness.
Like a shadow, he merged into one hundred shadows.
The screams of the hooded rat elites could be heard. Seeing that they could not escape, they could only tear off their disguises and activate their totem armors to fight the barbarian elephant warriors. In turn, they used their own lives to cover the volunteer army"s retreat.
Meng Chao then swung his sleeves and sneaked back to Ice Storm"s side.
Looking down from the water tower, Ice Storm stared at Meng Chao for half a minute before asking, "Have you always been like this?"
Meng Chao asked, "Like what?"
"That"s right, you don"t have to do things yourself. As long as you fan the flames and sow discord, you can guide everyone like your chess pieces and act according to your will," Ice Storm said.
Meng Chao shrugged and spoke noncommittally. "Many times, fighting and harvesting monsters... Well, the materials on the totem beasts are the same thing. You don"t need to use too much strength to chop and smash them. As long as you find a flaw, even if you blow on it lightly, you can separate the most delicate organs."
Ice Storm understood what he meant and could not help but laugh. "These hooded elites have really been ruined by you."
"If they are truly fanatics of the Rat G.o.d and believe that their sacred duty is to save all the rat people and establish the sixth clan, then sacrificing themselves to allow several hundred times more rebel soldiers to escape Black-corner City is their unshirkable mission."
Meng Chao said, "If they have ulterior motives from the beginning and only want to use thousands of rat people to achieve their unspeakable goals, then I"m just returning the favor.
"No matter what, it can"t be said that I"m harming them. At most, they are harming themselves and others."
There was no perfect proverb in the Turan language that could be exactly translated into, "Give them a taste of their own medicine." Meng Chao stumbled.
It was precisely because of this that Earth"s deep cultural heritage was revealed. It allowed Ice Storm to vaguely sense a civilization that was different from the Turan and Holy Light civilization but was equally powerful and ancient.
Ice Storm looked at Meng Chao deeply and asked, "How do you know that the north is the only way to survive?"
"Because a large number of well-organized volunteer troops composed of miners and foundry workers have gathered in the north."
"The best cannon fodder," Meng Chao explained. "No matter who the mastermind behind the Rat G.o.d"s arrival is, as long as he wants to cause more trouble on a larger scale, he will need the best cannon fodder.
"As long as the rat population of the city can march northward, the well-organized and well-armed volunteer army will not leave them to die.
"When both parties are involved, it will be impossible to save a certain part of them and leave the rest of them here to die.
"In the end, the mastermind can only brace himself and help the rat population volunteer army, which is much more than expected, escape Black-corner City.
"Otherwise, the temple was not plundered entirely, and the cannon fodder was barely recruited. He put in a lot of effort and invested an astronomical amount of resources into this earth-shaking operation, and it was all for naught!"
"A bigger mess?"
Ice Storm clicked her tongue in surprise. She looked around and felt that it was unreal. "Do you think that there is a bigger mess than blowing up almost half of Black-corner City?"
"Of course." Meng Chao grinned.
He knew that no one would believe him.
For thousands of years, none of the people in Picturesque Orchid Lake, whether they were the clan warriors or the self-belittling rat people, had realized the power hidden deep inside the rat people"s humble bloodlines.
Only Meng Chao knew very well that in his previous life, this power had gathered into a rat rebellion that swept across Picturesque Orchid Lake and destroyed the thousand-year rule of the Gold Clan, Lion Clan, and Tiger Clan!
Compared with the collapse of the Lion and Tiger Clan"s rule, a mere Black-corner City was nothing.
"Alright. Although the issue concerning Broken Rock Clan has been resolved, there are still many places where the rats are still hot-blooded and obsessed. We must guide them to calm down as soon as possible so that they can leave the battle and escape Black-corner City!"
Meng Chao narrowed his eyes and looked far into the distance in the Blood Hoof temple"s direction outside the city.
He saw that on the horizon, there was an extremely faint, extremely thin pillar of smoke that seemed as if it could be broken by a gentle breeze.
However, every time he blinked, the pillar of smoke would become thicker and thicker.
It was the Blood Hoof Clan"s army. The dust that their iron hooves stirred up intertwined with the flames of revenge and rising flames of war.
"There is no time."
Meng Chao said to Ice Storm, "You should have looked carefully just now. Where is the next target that the hooded elites will most likely choose?"
"There."
Ice Storm pointed southwest, about seven hundred or eight hundred steps away, toward a burning neighborhood. "It is the residence of the Copper Hammer Clan, which is second only to the Ironhide Clan in strength among the wild boar people. It also has a long history, while its members are said to worship countless secret medicines and artifacts in their temple.
"A fierce battle is going on in that area. A lot of rat soldiers are still there. If we don"t find a way to calm them down, when the Blood Hoof Army returns to Black-corner City, they will definitely be trampled into minced meat!"
"Alright."
Brilliance flashed in Meng Chao"s eyes. "Then, let"s go there and see what kind of "surprises" we will encounter in the Copper Hammer Clan"s temple!"
The facts proved that Meng Chao was not wrong.
The mastermind had invested an immeasurable amount of resources in the operation to subvert Black-corner City.
More than ten elite teams made up of hooded individuals took advantage of the surging tide of rats and attracted most of the clan warriors and the guards of the temple. Under the cover of the raging flames and thick smoke, they climbed over the collapsed walls and secretly sneaked into Black-corner City. They had existed in the temple long before the military n.o.bles who had been pa.s.sed down for thousands of years had made a name for themselves.
If everything went smoothly, the ancient weapons, totem armors, and ancient formulas that were enshrined in the temple, as well as the unique secret medicines, would all be plundered by them.
Then, these things would fall into the hands of the ambitious.
They would not be of any help to the cause of the millions of rats fighting for freedom and dignity.
The soldiers of the rebel army, who were facing death with the hottest blood and the hardest bones as they attacked the clan warriors" sharpest blades, still did not realize that they were only the "cost" in "at all costs."
This was what had happened in the b.l.o.o.d.y future in Meng Chao"s previous life.
And now, this d*mned future was quietly changing bit by bit!