Just as Bruce had said.
After Charles released the news, the Ratmen were so excited they could barely contain themselves.
All Ratmen, regardless of age or gender, eagerly enlisted in the army.
If Bruce had not kept their numbers in check, the Ratmen might have all joined the military.
Even with restrictions in place, some Ratmen secretly formed slave-hunting squads and wandered the surrounding areas, trying to grow stronger through battle.
For these Ratmen, Charles also provided a Ratman version of the Knight Breathing Technique.
This gave the Ratmen two ways to increase their strength.
One was through improving their bloodline, while the other was through cultivating the Knight Breathing Technique.
After the new policy was implemented, the Ratmen's numbers dropped considerably in the short term.
After all, battle inevitably brought casualties.
Even Lesser Demons were a combat race of the Abyss. Among those of the same rank, they were by no means weak.
Those at the imp level were savage by nature as well.
But while batches of Ratmen died, Ratman warriors also reproduced, giving birth to litter after litter of Ratman pups.
These pups often needed only a few months to reach adulthood.
As a result, after the initial decline, the Ratmen's population was still able to maintain a certain scale.
Though there were deaths, the Ratmen's overall strength was improving.
On one side were the Flame Ratmen Charles had modified for them; on the other were scattered Flame Ratmen who had evolved on their own.
There were also other types of Ratmen.
Such as Horned Ratmen, Insect-Carapace Ratmen, and Specialized Giant Rats.
Specialized Giant Rats were those enormous rats with low intelligence, some of which could not even walk upright.
Some of them absorbed large numbers of demon souls in battle and devoured flesh and blood, stimulating