108: Chapter 91: Revived from the Fragnts 108: Chapter 91: Revived from the Fragnts Rumbles echoed from within the dark crevice, as a giant rat pushed its head through the gap in the rocks.
A large group of Ratn lay on the back of the giant rat, moving through the tunnel and erging on the inside of the cavern.
The space was quite narrow, shaped like a crescent moon; the giant rat ca out and was very close to the shuttle machine, the rest of the Ratn jumped off its back, surrounding the shuttle, making fine, chirping noises.
“What do you want to do?” Xu Yang sent a ssage outside.
“To save the Saint,” a decrepit voice echoed in the dark, “I have heard you have the ability to bring her back.”
It must be the Ratn’s new Leader or interim Leader, Xu Yang thought.
And he had no idea where this new Rat King stood now.
“Make the Ratn back off and put down your weapons,” Xu Yang ordered.
“Unlike our four-legged kin, we are no longer accustod to the sensation of being empty-handed.”
“You know those primitive things can’t harm this shuttle machine; they will only increase the distrust between us.”
“Ratn have never dared trust humans; weapons help embolden us.”
“If you waste any more ti, Sally will only decay further, and the nearby companies will co sniffing around too.
Neither of us wants to see that happen,” Xu Yang said.
“We know our limits; all we want is an attitude.
To us, you are just another arrogant human who calls the shots, monopolizing resources we cannot access, and attempting to manipulate us with this power.”
“Then keep your weapons,” Xu Yang activated the armor’s combat mode, and with his gun, he stepped out of the hatch.
He saw among the Ratn a particularly old, composed white-haired rat—he guessed it was their new Leader, filling Sally’s void, possibly living longer than most humans.
The white-haired rat gestured to the Ratn, and at the signal, the Ratn got busy, untying a large bundle from the back of the giant rat and carefully lifting it in front of Xu Yang, laying the package flat on the ground.
In the light of the shuttle, Xu Yang saw that it was a body bag woven from radiation-proof material, thoroughly cleaned by the Ratn but covered in drag wrinkles, with a tag at the zipper bearing a human na, unknown who it contained previously.
“Be careful.”
“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp…”
“Open it slowly.” The Ratn were cautious, extending their claws.
“No need,” Xu Yang knew the inside must be ghastly; what he had seen of Sally’s remains at the base of Shenkong Tower had been horrific enough.
“Most of the Saint’s body is already…
torn apart,” the white-haired rat said.
“We have exhausted all our efforts to retrieve these parts, returning to the scene several tis, risking discovery by humans, and many of our kin return with their bodies festering.
I hope all this is worth it; you said you could revive the Saint, and now, we have brought her.”
“Are you the new leader now?” Xu Yang needed confirmation.
“I’ve just seen too much, and my kin trust my judgnt,” the white-haired rat said cautiously.
“She must be extrely important to you,” Xu Yang mused.
“She doesn’t look like a Ratman at all.”
“You don’t understand; Sally is the only, the last hope,” the eyes of the white-haired rat rested on the body bag.
Farosa also opened the shuttle’s hatch and ca down; she rembered the Ratn well.
“You still trust her?
Want to save her?” Farosa was curious.
“Didn’t this one send your whole clan to the battlefield?
How many of you died, half?
Two-thirds?
She must be the worst ruler, causing harm to her subjects without achieving anything.”
“…” The white-haired rat’s eyes darkened, “…
Who has the right to judge?
Do you have that right?”
“No one has the right,” Farosa was taken aback, sowhat unconvinced but forced to admit, “Only the gods have the right.”
“Yes,” the white-haired rat took a deep breath, “Only the gods have the right to judge; what people do can only be called moral judgnts.”
“You’ve killed too many, the companies won’t let you go,” Xu Yang said.
“It couldn’t be more realistic,” the white-haired rat shook its head, “so uphold humanity; who upholds the Rat Paths?
In the past 50 years, tens of millions of Ratn died from chemical poisons and gene viruses, never heard anyone say: Companies are so cruel, Ratn won’t let you off.”
“It is indeed a matter of power disparity,” Xu Yang said, “the essence of this conflict is Black Fire Innovation’s exploitation of you.”
“That woman’s words hold true, a whole generation of young Ratn died in the cities, and we got nothing.
But this isn’t the first ti; we once took over Anjiu City during the Rat Tide, yet it was all fleeting.
We know most of our efforts end in failure, but that’s no reason to give up.”
“You know Matteo is using Sally.”
“But the Saint’s will is above my judgnt.”
“From what I can see, your wisdom seems stronger than Sally’s.”
“Sally is our pride, and I dare not compare myself to her; I’m just an old rat.
You said it yourself; Sally has very few rat-like traits, which actually lets us know that she is different, chosen, a mutation destined to lead us.”
“Farosa.” Xu Yang looked back.
“You better make sure there’s nothing in this pile of rags except for Sally,” Farosa stepped out of the Shuttle Machine and stood beside the body bag, “otherwise I don’t know what I might end up resurrecting.” She liked little Sally, so she was willing to help.
“Can Sally be brought back even if she’s not intact?” The old white-haired rat asked, “We couldn’t find half a leg, too many humans were flooding in, and we could only bring these parts back.”
“There’s a high probability,” Farosa thought for a mont, “I have never tested it, but I once brought back a whole person using just a head.”
The powers of a witch were actually quite ambiguous, and Xu Yang felt that they needed to properly test their magic power when ti allowed.
Thinking of this, he felt troubled.
Regrettably, there was still no reliable base or hiding place, whatever he wanted to do was restricted, and he had to be vigilant against surveillance from all directions.
Farosa began to cast her spell, and the Ratn stared at her intently, then looked at Sally’s body.
“The Law of Recovery.” Farosa murmured softly.
Red light filled Xu Yang’s field of vision, and by the ti he ca to his senses, there was movent inside the body bag.
The Ratn hurriedly unzipped it, and Sally opened her eyes wide, unhard; she gasped for air and stretched out her hands to crawl out, stumbling to her feet.
To resurrect the dead, to renew all things.
“Ah—” Sally let out a hoarse shout, wavering and almost falling over.
Xu Yang observed her body, intact, not impaired by the partial remains, and the tattered clothes also restored to whole garnts.
“We did it!”
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”
“Yay!”
After Sally’s return, the old white-haired rat bent down swiftly and scurried away, disappearing from the Ratn’s sight.
“I still rember…” Sally looked around and finally her gaze settled on Xu Yang and Farosa, “I rember you, I died in the parking lot of the tower building before.”
“Magic power brought you back to life,” Xu Yang explained, “Now, you owe us a huge favor.”
“Yes.” Sally nodded indifferently, “However, I’ve lost too many of my kind, those you cannot resurrect, only to be washed into Aizu City’s sewers and salvaged by us to eat.”
Bax peeked out to look around, noticing her.
“Oh, I recognize you, too,” Sally assessed Bax, “You ca to the Rat Village with Matteo.”
“Yes.” Bax nodded, “But we were just pawns under Matteo’s command, he is a fighter for Black Fire Innovation, and we were the kind of rcenaries summoned and dismissed at will.”
“What are your plans for the future?” Xu Yang asked, “The Rat Clan has gained nothing out of this chaos.”
“The TV station said they’d give a job.” Sally recalled.
“Don’t be naive, the ground companies will just ruthlessly exploit you,” Xu Yang said, “Your situation will be a thousand tis more miserable than staying with your own kind.
If you really sign their contract, you will be exploited at your desk for life and on every cold night regret your decision.”
“Although I know you’re exaggerating the danger,” Sally sighed, “I really must return to the Rat Village, to my people, where only the old, weak, won, and children are left.”
“Rat people…
are they really degenerated from humans?” Xu Yang couldn’t help but ask.
“Wan Cang knows.” Sally looked back, “Wan Cang?
You were just here.”
“Yes.” The old white-haired rat crawled out when called.
It hunched over first, but under the watchful eyes of everyone and the Ratn, it gradually straightened up and stood erect, eye-to-eye with Xu Yang.
Now Xu Yang realized it was especially tall, not any shorter than a human.
“The geography of the Archipelago Continent is fragnted,” Xu Yang said, “Cities are scattered across different islands, the origin of Ratn must be even more complex.”
“It’s all the sa,” the old white-haired rat said, “My na is Wan Cang, Guan Wancang…
I was once a laborer.”
“Laborer…” A flicker of historical awareness crossed Xu Yang’s mind.
“Of course, I am history to you, I still rember the mories of working in the factory 60 years ago, but they’re getting fuzzy.
I rember working very hard with many other people, laboring day and night.
Even now in the Rat Village, I have nightmares every night, dreaming of returning to the factory, hearing the clangor of the huge industrial equipnt, then waking up in a cold sweat,” Guan Wancang recalled.
“Now many sweatshops are replaced with machines,” Xu Yang said.
Due to uneven developnt, a few conglorates’ jurisdictions still hold labor-intensive industries and traditional assembly lines, but the proportion is continuously decreasing.
“The nature hasn’t changed, I think people just swapped one place of suffering for another, one form for another,” Guan Wancang said, “I wanted to exchange honest labor for survival but only received ager wages.
With the rent constantly rising, I couldn’t find a place to live, had to grovel to keep my job, living a life where the end was always in sight.
I got weaker, poorer, and along with other fellows, caught a severe strange illness, often dreaming of becoming skinny rats.
The factory laid off many, I was let go, and with others in similar situations, we started living in the sewers of Anjiu City.
Then one day, the dreams beca more frequent, and upon waking up…
the dream beca reality, we truly turned into rats.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)