Chapter 23: Rat Camp

Deep in the forest.

There was a camp where the surrounding trees had been felled. Using branches, planks, leaves, and various scraps of refuse, several dilapidated wooden shacks had been constructed.

Nearby, several excavated burrows dotted the ground.

One ratman after another scurried to and fro throughout the camp.

Beside a large tree, a wooden cage hung suspended. Inside the cage was a single rat and a little girl.

A large rat came running quickly from outside.

"Boss, there's a human thing! The human thing saw me!"

"Humans! Humans! They're breaking in!"

"Run, we have to run!"

"Shut up, shut up!"

A ratman, noticeably a size larger than the others, shrieked.

As his words fell, the other ratmen fell silent.

"One? Only one?"

"Yes, yes, Boss!"

"Haha, kill him, eat his meat! Delicious, delicious!" the large rat bellowed.

The other rats instantly erupted in cheers.

They danced and shrieked wildly.

"Human meat, human meat!"

"Delicious, delicious, yes! Yes!"

In an instant, the ratman who had just brought the news dashed out, leading several others. They brandished weapons, filled with excitement.

Some other rats attempted to follow.

"Enough, enough! The rest of you, get back!"

The boiling frenzy of the rat camp made the little girl in the cage even more terrified. She covered her mouth, stifling her urge to cry out loud.

A rat nearby tried to comfort her: "Don't worry, it must be your kin coming to save you. When they arrive, Bobot can be saved too."

But the little girl clearly did not take comfort in this, shrinking into a corner of the cage.

"Hey, why are you acting like this? Bobot is different from them."

"Bobot is much more civilized than these bastards, and much smarter too."

The large rat who had just been shouting was clearly the leader of the camp.

He turned and shouted toward Bobot, who was inside the hanging cage: "Shut up, white rat, or I'll bite your neck off!"

"Ha? Then do it! You stupid fool who can't even speak clearly! If you have the guts, try biting Bobot to death!"

As he spoke, the rat named Bobot roared and thrashed about inside the cage.

He looked so impatient that it seemed as if he were wishing for his own death.

"Come on then, you idiot! Look at that tail of yours, and that rotten, notched ear! You're hideous!"

The rat leader was visibly enraged, but helpless to do anything about it. He simply covered his ears and walked away.

Seeing that he was being ignored, the white rat began cursing the other rats.

...

On the other side.

The group that had just entered the forest spread out, weapons in hand, advancing cautiously.

"I hear something," George said hurriedly.

The group listened intently and indeed heard the rustling sound of grass rubbing together.

Several ratmen suddenly scurried out for some reason, colliding directly with Blake, who was walking at the front.

For a moment, they froze in place.

"It's a human! It's a human!"

"Iron human! Run! An iron human is here!"

"Not food! Run! Run!"

The rats that had collided with Blake seemed to have poor eyesight; upon realizing Blake was wearing full plate armor, they were instantly terrified.

They shrieked and attempted to flee.

"What are you standing around for? Get them!" Karna shouted from behind.

"Don't let a single one escape! Run and surround them!"

As he spoke, Karna tapped Aliris.

Aliris understood instantly and ran around the side, positioning herself behind the rats.

Following Karna's prompt, they finally realized the large rat that had been shouting was the leader.

By then, Blake had already drawn his sword and killed one.

Looking at the rat, whose body was nearly severed by his casual strike, Blake confirmed that these rats were indeed very weak.

He charged forward in a few strides.

The rats were very agile; once they realized their retreat was cut off, they began to scatter frantically.

Fortunately, they were widely dispersed.

George drew his bow and struck one of the scurrying rats with an arrow.

The arrow even pierced through the rat's torso.

"One is trying to escape over there!" a soldier shouted. His spear had missed; the rats were moving too fast.

The rat was near George.

George quickly drew his bow, but the arrow landed in front of the rat.

Startled, the rat scrambled to turn away.

"Give it to me."

Karna snatched the bow directly from George's hands and pulled an arrow from his back.

Aiming toward the rat's direction.

The arrow whistled through the air.

It struck the rat's head with precision, pinning it to the ground on the spot.

The last rat was also taken down.

Only then did Karna return the bow to George. "Not a bad shot, but you need more practice."

George took the bow blankly, staring at the shot rat in the distance.

Only those who truly practiced archery knew how difficult it was to quickly draw a bow in a forest and hit the head of such an agile target.

He truly hadn't expected this lord's archery to be so superb.

Seeing Karna's expression, George tried to offer a compliment, struggling for a long time before finally squeezing out: "My Lord is impressive."

Karna smiled slightly but said nothing.

He thought to himself: *If it were an Elven bow, I could be even better.*

*If you're playing a Hunter or Ranger, you have to use Elven gear; it raises the experience by several levels.*

Blake and Aliris came to Karna's side, while the soldiers dragged over the carcasses of the rats.

Everyone present observed the rat corpses.

"They really are like standing rats."

"Huge rats. They can actually talk."

The尖耳 (Point-eared) Ratmen were just as their name suggested, possessing pointed rat ears.

They were covered in black fur; the only difference between them was the shade of black.

Karna poked at the corpses with his foot.

However, he saw no markings on their tails.

Point-eared Ratmen belonged to clans, and typically, clan markings would be carved onto their tails.

But these rats had none, which was very strange.

Could they be independent operators?

"Why did they suddenly charge at us, only to run away in terror?" Blake asked, somewhat confused.

When he saw the rats charging toward him, he thought they were coming to swarm him to take him down first.

Yet, as soon as they got close, they had shrieked in panic and fled.

"Their eyesight isn't great, and they are cowardly yet impulsive. One of them must have gone back to report after seeing George, bringing others to try and capture him for food," Karna explained casually.

"Eat... eat him?!" George's voice jumped an octave in shock.

The other soldiers were also surprised. Do these rats actually eat humans?

"What are you all surprised about? Otherwise, why would they kidnap that child? Do you think they're taking her back to raise her?"

George swallowed hard. He hadn't expected these rats to be so ferocious, though their strength was quite low.

He felt like he could go up and hack one or two to death with just a knife.

There were five rat corpses in total before them.

Blake had killed two, Aliris had caught one from behind, and George had killed one with an arrow and another himself.

None of the four soldiers had landed a successful hit, but Karna understood that it was unavoidable.

Karna looked at the rat that Aliris had kicked away.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and stepped down hard on its tail.

However, the rat remained motionless, as if it were dead.

"You're quite enduring."

Saying this, he pressed down harder, even twisting his foot.

The rat instantly reached its limit of pain, snapping its eyes open and screaming: "It hurts! It hurts! Let go! Spare me!"

Karna loosened his foot slightly.

"Now, I ask, and you answer. Otherwise, I'll skin you alive."