Chapter 268, Moving Forward

In a short time, another human province fell. The ratmen's pace was much faster than humans expected.

It may also be that the turmoil that occurred in the entire rat empire really affected too many ratmen.

A huge run for survival appeared.

In order to survive, desperate guys are rushing from all over the rat empire to the main continent, to the front line of the war.

Dark, solemn, guarded by the temple guards, the metal pass connecting the two continents.

Countless gray-black ratmen gathered here.

This large-scale migration is also one of the reasons why the crisis was able to subside so quickly. Countless ratmen left their hometowns and staggered in the endless wilderness.

A lot of space was freed up for those rat cities.

With the rapid death and loss of population, the famine was also rapidly alleviated.

However, it takes more than determination to embark on a long journey. Countless ratmen died in the wilderness. Most of the ratmen who made this decision died on the road, and almost piled up a road of bones that runs through all the cities in the rat kingdom.

Those who survived all gathered at the location of the metal pass.

This pass is not open all day. It is not only a fortress, but also a church.

Every day, when the huge skeleton bell hanging on the top of the fortress rings, the fortress will be closed, and the temple guards will perform religious ceremonies during this time.

Bowing is a must, and then offering sacrifices and devout prayers, you can shout loudly or bow silently. A small hourglass will be turned upside down on the side, and everything must be completed before the sand in the hourglass falls completely.

This is a somewhat complicated and messy ritual.

Until now, no canon that truly belongs to Du Yuan has been published, and it is estimated that there will be no one for a long time.

The rats are undoubtedly pious, but the power of the cults in the Rat Empire is too scattered and internally consumed. No one can really convince everyone, so naturally no one is qualified to compile the rituals of the gods.

This leads to the unexpectedly simple rituals of the rats.

Often, a carved pillar and a few piled stones with some scribbled patterns are the altars, and killing something on these altars is a sacrifice.

For such a situation, many rats expressed their dissatisfaction.

It's just that the problem is still that no one can convince everyone, so no one can come up with a set of standardized rituals.

The Knights of the Temple are not satisfied with this, and they are still groping.

It's just that no matter how they deduce this set of rituals, the situation is always the same. The cumbersome rituals seem to be like that, and the simple rituals seem to be like that.

If the great gods are willing to lower their eyes, even if the rituals are simple, the gaze will still fall.

If the great god is unwilling to cast his gaze, even if the ritual is complicated, it will not attract the great god's attention.

However, the temple guards did not give up. They are still perfecting their somewhat chaotic and complicated rituals and strictly abiding by them.

The last drop of sand in the hourglass fell, and a struggling human was beheaded by the temple guard holding a strange ritual knife at this moment. The terrified look on the rolling head did not dissipate.

The temple guards who swung the knife did not look at the rolling head, but straightened their waists and tried to straighten their waists. In front of him, a bright yellow metal column stood quietly.

Complex patterns spread on this metal column.

The rat priests who bought the blood gold mine in advance made a lot of money. Regardless of whether the blood gold was favored by the gods, the temple guards really liked this bright and shining metal.

The head rolled into the bright red blood pool, splashing waves, and then slowly floated up.

The last grain of sand fell, and the temple guards in front of the altar withdrew their eyes from the dazzling pillars. Today's sacrificial ceremony was over.

The thick gears turned, and the heavy doors in the dark fortress on both sides began to be slowly pulled up.

In the fortress on the side of the vast grassland, the rats poured in along the pulled-up gate. There were really a lot of these guys.

On the other side, in the fortress on the other side, there were also some guys watching the opening of the heavy door.

There were also some rats, some rat priests, but these guys' movements were particularly cautious.

Some rats began to pour out of the open gate. These guys who came here for various reasons were not all chasing wars. Many of them just wanted to survive. They were thin, uneasy, with alert faces, and their desire to attack was clearly revealed.

Walking along the Skeleton Avenue was not safe.

They were all humble guys.

These humble guys ran into those weird rat priests head-on.

At this moment, these humble guys were frightened. No matter what, they would understand and should understand how they should behave in front of these real big shots.

Fear appeared on their faces almost instantly, but these rat priests who were hit by them were not angry, and even had a pleasant expression, with a hint of flattery and envy.

A group of weird guys.

In fact, it is true. They are not born in the Desolate Mountains, and they are not even born in the subcontinent where the Rat Empire was established.

They are from the rat people of the main continent.

The construction of the fortresses on both sides of the continent has been a great help for these rat people. Because they have helped so much and so well, even after the two fortresses fell, the temple guards still bought them in large quantities.

And these weird rat priests are the lucky ones born from this group of people on the main continent.

The suffering and torture that the rats can bring are absolutely shocking and can be deeply remembered, especially when you are a slave.

But it is not that there is no chance to change your fate.

If you can believe in the great god devoutly, devoutly and seriously, and become a glorious priest, then everything will be very different.

But what kind of guy can still worship devoutly after suddenly becoming a slave?

You must know that these guys are different from real slave rats. Slave rats have been facing such a situation since they were born. They have enough time to slowly adapt and have been struggling in hell.

And these captured guys are different.

In fact, many ratmen from the main continent who have become slaves often start to actively look for ways to kill themselves after working for a period of time.

These guys are indeed excellent.

They are cowardly, dare not resist, and even have better obedience than those real slave rats who have always been like this.

But they can't bear such suffering.

But these guys become pious and fanatical in such an environment.

These guys are more fanatical than ordinary rat priests.

After becoming rat priests, the temple guards will not force them too much, and they have become free in essence.

But these guys' mentality seems to have a few more problems.

Real rat priests will not give a good face to the lowly guys, but they will.

To a certain extent, the rat empire behind the metal fortress, that twisted and deformed country, has become a kind of longing for them.

A very morbid longing.

These guys can whip their compatriots without hesitation, and those poor guys who were also captured can also show a kind expression to the humble guys who came here from the rat empire.

But it doesn't seem to be a big problem, there are not many normal rat priests.

Such twisted emotions are not a big problem.

Anyway, they are indeed pious and fanatical.

These rats that continue to flow along the pass have become the best help for Rat War, and also serve as the backup force.

The land resources and even the sacrifices in the Golden Province were swept away early, and these guys didn't have many choices after coming here.

This land is not as beautiful as they thought, at least in the Golden Province.

Those who are going to starve to death will still starve to death, and there is no room for those who want to show their ambitions. It seems that nothing has changed much.

Unless they surge spontaneously and join the war.

Everything they want can be obtained in the war.

What to do is clear at a glance. When Rat War waved the flag again, the first batch of rats who joined the war and the first batch of fearless charge were not the Eastern Expeditionary Force in Rat War's hands, but these poor guys.

Of course, compared to the Eastern Expeditionary Force of the Rat War, or even compared to the armies in the hands of the rat warlords, this group of guys is really too much of a mob.

They are skinny, with no uniform equipment, and even in most cases, they have no equipment at all.

But they filled up the wilderness of the fallen province as soon as possible.

The skinny guys ran in the dark, picking up the remaining ears of wheat in the fields, tearing up scattered goblin settlements, catching dying fish in the water, and even ferocious beasts were their hunting targets.

Of course, they would also attack villages.

Their eyes shrunk deeply into their eye sockets, skinny, but endless, these noisy, sneaky, and hungry ratmen.

Their arrival as the vanguard made the situation in this province worse.

These guys are not strong, but there are too many of them, and they are too violent in hunger.

After gathering enough numbers, they even dared to attack the central city of this province.

After occupying the Golden Province, Rat War had three choices.

This corrupt and huge human empire has a total of 14 land provinces, one sea province, and three provinces bordering the Golden Province.

The terrain of the main continent is mostly complex, especially in the area close to the subcontinent, which is mainly hilly plains, and there are some sparse mountains in some corners.

The terrain of this area is like this.

Rat War's three choices correspond to the three human provinces bordering the Golden Province.

In fact, the purpose of this area can be seen from the Golden Province.

Including the Golden Province, three of the four provinces in this area are standard grain producing areas.

Suitable climate, terrain without too much ups and downs, roads with heavy investment, and the alien race that has been in a slump since the pioneering era, these are all excellent conditions, and even give the dangerous area on the border the name of gold.

But now it is different. The rats are here. For the first time in so many years, humans are facing an attack from another empire. At this time, the former advantage has instantly become a problem.

Smooth roads and terrain without too much ups and downs represent one thing, unimpeded.

When Rat Zhan arrived with the Eastern Expeditionary Force, the situation was unexpectedly similar.

These guys are even worse than the nobles of the Golden Province.

Just the humble guys who swarmed in made these guys miserable. A large number of towns and villages were completely broken before Rat Zhan arrived. Large areas of land fell and huddled in the city.

But there is a problem. Their city is far inferior to the extremely large and solid Jilang City.

The city is not so solid, but Rat Zhan has more cannon fodder.

On the sixth day of the siege, Rat Zhan personally climbed the city wall. He became stronger with the power of killing. The climbing process was particularly simple and almost invincible.

One by one, the magic knights fell in front of Rat War, and the spells summoned by the accompanying wizards were all eliminated by a black flag.

The morale of the defenders on the city wall collapsed, and the city was undoubtedly occupied.

What happened in the Wave City was repeated again in this city.

War can indeed bring a lot of things to the rats, especially a war that is won.

Those humble guys who are pioneers can finally settle down temporarily.

At least a large part of them can be settled.

Those resources, minerals, and glory, of course, will not be theirs, but the land can be imagined.

All kinds of spoils, those vertical pupils, have become wealth in their hands.

The economic shock has not completely subsided. In the process of recovery and stabilization, barter has become the current way of trading.

The cave mushrooms that are usually not valued are purchased in large quantities, and various armors and weapons have also become objects of consideration.

Plundering has made these guys taste the sweetness, so naturally many of them have become restless.

Becoming a rat warlord, becoming a rat priest, these are things that most humble guys would not consider.

But accumulating a lot of blood mushrooms to get a piece of land from the temple guards and becoming a rat farmer, such a thing is at least possible.

Especially now, when they are standing at the forefront of the war.