Chapter 101 A plan is needed
"This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether we can solve the harm caused by the rat plague."
Standing in front of the secret passage of the Cave Village, Charles said something repetitive.
The rat plague seriously harmed the food production of the Cave Village. The moss and mushrooms were eaten too much by groups of rats, and it was unlikely to restore the normal production of moss fields and mushroom fields in a short period of time.
But the huge number of rats undoubtedly provided a lot of meat for the villagers.
In a dark and humid place like the Cave Village, it is not easy to eat delicious meat. Even the ranger cannot guarantee that he can catch snakes, rats, and even various small insects from the cramped caves every day.
"The cave is more of a paradise for snakes, rats, insects and ants than a paradise for the untouchables. There are many secret passages that are too narrow, and only these small things can get in and out." Charles muttered softly beside Russell.
He continued, "I came to Dikutun for an investigation a few days ago. They took me to a secret passage. When I shone a torch inside, I could see a bone fragment stuck inside... It was said that someone wanted to catch a snake, but was stuck inside and suffocated to death. Even the body could not be pulled out."
Along the way, he passed several cold springs and patios.
Russell saw a lot of terrible scenes after being eaten by rats. Originally there were neat moss fields and mushroom fields, but now there was only bare soil.
The serfs guarding the moss fields and mushroom fields squatted on the ground and cried.
When they saw Russell and his party coming, they immediately knelt down and kowtowed, asking the lord to save them and give them a way to live.
There were also many serfs with injuries on their bodies, which were bitten by rats.
"Send someone to the Fluorescent Castle to order a batch of detoxifying magic potions. After being bitten by rats, you may be infected with the plague." Russell frowned, "Don't worry about the money. Pay from my lord's account."
There are many kinds of magic potions, some of which can cure diseases. Although they can't bring people back to life, they can easily kill the plague.
"Magic potions are too expensive, sir. Just buy a few and add some water to let the serfs drink a little." Charles was determined to save money for Russell.
"Don't lose the big picture for the small, Charles!" Russell scolded harshly.
Charles immediately responded embarrassedly: "Of course, of course, everything is based on your will, sir. I will send someone to buy detoxifying magic potions."
"I will take care of the money. What you have to do is to eradicate this rat plague, ensure that there will be no outbreak of plague, and properly arrange the lives of the serfs in the cave." Russell looked at Charles seriously, "If you do these well, you will be a qualified clerk in my place."
Hearing this,
Charles was shocked and immediately responded in a deep voice: "As you wish, sir!"
Continuing to walk forward along the secret passage, after arriving at the Wolf Head Courtyard, Russell saw what a real rat plague looked like.
Most of the serfs in the entire Cave Village were crowded near the Wolf Head Courtyard. The newly established Cave Rangers, Cave Patrols, and Wolf Head Courtyard Cordyceps Guards were doing their best to extinguish the rats rushing towards the Wolf Head Courtyard.
Because the passage is very narrow, it is far less convenient for people to be in the passage than for rats.
So the rats can always break through the guard of the passage and rush into the Wolf Head Courtyard, and then be killed one by one by Catherine, Howls, Barr and other rangers. There are also dozens of cats, following behind the rangers, constantly biting these rats.
Those rats, not to say that they are as big as cats, are not much different.
Some fierce rats even dare to bite cats, biting several cats and making them injured, with blood staining their fur red.
"Jack, James, go help!" Russell rushed into the Wolf Head Courtyard, immediately drew his sword and joined the battle.
Eric also nodded to Kevin, the golden and silver wolfhound, and joined the battle.
In a flash, the rats were effectively controlled and driven out of the wolf head patio and back to the other end of the passage.
Especially Eric and Kevin, their lethality was outstanding.
Eric could fight with his sword, and a long sword flew around in the passage, and every attack could accurately kill a big rat.
Kevin was even simpler, guarding the entrance of a small passage alone. If a rat came, he would bite it to death with a bite, then throw it aside and bite another one. The rats rushed fast, and he bit faster.
"How many rats did you kill?" Russell asked after stabbing a rat with a sword.
Catherine grabbed the long dagger with both hands and answered without looking back: "At least a thousand rats were killed, sir!"
The rat corpses piled up into a small hill in the wolf head patio.
Charles was also panting as he killed the rats, and he still had time to joke: "With so much rat meat, we can definitely survive this period of famine. Haha, as long as we put an end to the rat plague, we can exchange rat meat for bread."
Eric frowned and said, "My lord, something is wrong."
"What?"
"Why do these rats only attack the Wolf Head Courtyard?" Eric asked.
Katie explained: "Because all the other moss fields and mushroom fields have been robbed, leaving only the magic potion field here."
"Not necessarily." Eric said calmly, "I have seen two rat plagues. The rat plague has no clear purpose. It eats wherever it goes. It will not be so fearless and unwilling to retreat for the magic potion field of the Wolf Head Courtyard."
After saying this, Russell also reacted: "Are you saying that there is someone behind the rat plague, or a rat king is controlling it?"
This world has extraordinary power. Wild beasts can be promoted to fantasy beasts, and naturally the existence of beast kings will evolve.
Beast kings are usually fantasy beasts.
For example, the black-waisted snake king, one of the three contracted fantasy beasts of Baron Roman, was the king of all the black-waisted snakes in the former Black-waisted Snake Manor and could drive any black-waisted snake.
Nowadays, there are almost no traces of black-waisted snakes in the Black-waisted Snake Manor. One reason is that farmland reclamation has destroyed the habitat of black-waisted snakes; the other reason is that after Baron Roman contracted the black-waisted snake king, he took away a large number of black-waisted snakes and built a new "snake garden" near the fluorescent castle.
I hope that the second fantasy beast black-waisted snake king can be born from the snake garden.
"It's just a possibility." Eric replied. He was just guessing and didn't dare to be sure that the rat king really existed.
Although it was just a guess, it still made Russell excited.
Jack and James, the two knights, were so excited that they couldn't suppress their mouths. If there really is a rat king, doesn't it mean that they will have the opportunity to contract fantasy beasts in the future and become extremely powerful fantasy beast knights.
While the rats were being beaten back, Russell quickly called everyone together for a small meeting.
"The current signs show that there is a high probability that a rat king has been born in the rat group. That's why the rats in the Xiangshui River Cave and even several surrounding caves were driven here, which led to this rat disaster."
He glanced at everyone with a burning gaze: "If this is true, there is no doubt that the rat king has set his sights on this mushroom field in the Wolf Head Courtyard."
"It is very likely!" Charles' eyes lit up, "My lord, this is an opportunity, a great opportunity!"
Although Russell was excited, he was still clear-headed: "Whether it is an opportunity or not depends on how we respond... Everyone, we must first formulate a plan to capture the rat king!"