"No, no, ah--"
"Run! Retreat in all directions! Don't worry about anything else..."
"Lord Black Rat, no, no, I promise I'll never do it again, I promise..."
"Lord Black Rat, please don't! I promise I'll mine properly from now on..."
Shouts, cries of panic, and screams of fleeing echoed throughout the forest.
Black Rat, some alone, some in small groups, and some in large packs, scurried through the forest.
Without exception, they all wore a mocking expression.
The look of fear and panic quickly shifted from the Black Rat's face back to the Calamity Beast!
Pleading for mercy echoed everywhere.
A little further away, two large Black Rat were in a slightly open area.
It was suspended a few meters above the ground.
The other one stood on the ground, its forelimbs slightly raised, pressing down on a Third Tier Calamity Beast.
Black Rat Curly Fur, his eyes calmly fixed on the Thick Armor Beast at his feet, asked:
"... I'll ask you one last time, you really don't know where the Rock-Backed Beast that organized this incident is?!"
"Black, Lord Black Rat, I really don't know. I've only heard about this riot. It started with a Tier 2 Rock-Backed Beast organization. I've never actually seen that Rock-Backed Beast!" the Thick Armor Beast at his feet cried out.
"Hey, a Tier 2 beast actually managed to stand out among a bunch of Third Tier Calamity Beast and even lead so many Tier Third Tier Calamity Beast in a rebellion. This Rock-Backed Beast is quite interesting. How come I've never heard of it before?!" A slightly intrigued voice came from Gray Whiskers, who was floating on the side.
Curly Fur furrowed slightly, ignoring the Gray Whiskers, and continued to look at the Thick Armor Beast at his feet, asking:
"Never seen it before? Then how did you organize it?!"
"We just need to listen to those Calamity Beast that incited us before; they will bring over Lord Rock-Backed Beast Rock-Backed Beast's orders!" the Thick Armor Beast explained.
"An order? What for?" Curly Fur continued, frowning as he asked in a deep voice.
"I don't know either, ugh..."
A mouthful of blood spurted from the Thick Armor Beast's mouth. Feeling the increasingly heavy pressure on its chest, it endured the discomfort and said:
"I really don't know. It seems that in order to prevent the plan from being exposed, the Azure Scale Beast that led us didn't tell us the real plan. It just told us to follow it!"
"So, the real plan is only known to the Calamity Beast that led you?!" Black Rat asked, Curly Fur.
"Yes, that's right!" The Thick Armor Beast paused after speaking, then added, "The leaders of the other teams should know as well!"
There was no response. The Black Rat Curly Fur brows even deeper. Of course it knew the answer to this question; the problem was that they didn't know where the other teams were.
Although we could find it if we kept searching, this is the closest one!
It asked:
"In that case, do you know where the Azure Scale Beast ran off to?!"
"I, I..."
The Thick Armor Beast trembled, but did not continue speaking.
"Hmm?" The Black Rat Curly Fur and increased the pressure under its claws, while its voice grew even deeper.
"I... I don't know either!" the Thick Armor Beast stammered.
"Hey, I didn't expect this guy to be so loyal!" Black Rat Gray Whiskers laughed from the side.
"No, it's not that I don't want to talk about it, I really don't know. When the lords came over, we scattered to the side as soon as we found out. I, I, I didn't have time to see where Lord Azure Scale Beast went!" the Thick Armor Beast said hurriedly.
The two Black Rat paused, their gazes fixed on the Thick Armor Beast.
Gray Whiskers was almost amused by the situation.
Curly Fur couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh.
It looked up and glanced around.
All that could be seen nearby were a few clansmen who had already captured the escaped Calamity Beast, but most were still in pursuit, their movements unseen, only the distant sounds of the chase audible.
Turning her gaze away, Curly Fur asked again:
"If that's the case, which direction were you planning to go?!"
"Go, go that way!" The Thick Armor Beast pointed in a direction.
Curly Fur glanced in that direction, then frowned. "Didn't you change direction along the way?"
"No, it only adjusts its direction slightly to attack some patrolling Black Rat... when it sees them. Otherwise, it doesn't change direction. It just generally heads in that direction!" the Thick Armor Beast said.
Without asking any further questions, Curly Fur looked in that direction again.
"What's there? Why are they running that way?" Gray Whiskers asked, floating on the side, somewhat puzzled.
Curly Fur looked in that direction and slowly shook his head.
It wasn't clear either; that particular direction was probably just one Origin Ore.
But how could these Calamity Beast possibly run that way?!
If they were to run, it would certainly be as the chieftain said: try to climb over the outer mountains to get out.
If the goal is to get out by climbing the mountain, then there's absolutely no need to go in the direction of the Origin Ore!
Why not just drive them out of their own mine and get out?
Why would you come all the way from another mine?!
Moreover, the location of the Origin Ore is relatively close to the valley entrance, so it's one of the places that would be searched first!
Under these circumstances, these Calamity Beast are even less likely, and should not, run in that direction!
Is this guy lying to himself?!
With a hint of suspicion, Curly Fur withdrew his gaze and looked at the Thick Armor Beast again.
Seemingly sensing its thoughts, the Thick Armor Beast said in a panic:
"Sir, please believe me, I really didn't lie to you! And I wouldn't dare to lie to you!!"
There was no response; Curly Fur looked at it with a frown.
After a long pause, he spoke again:
"In that case, is there anything else you know?"
"Uh, no, that's all..."
The Thick Armor Beast hesitated for a moment before speaking.
After it finished speaking, as it opened its mouth to say something more, it suddenly felt a tightness in its chest.
Then, the already dim world grew even darker, and finally, it went completely dark.
Gray Whiskers glanced at the dead, Thick Armor Beast, then turned his gaze to Curly Fur and asked:
"Hehe, so, should we believe what this guy says?"
"Do you think we should believe it?" Curly Fur asked.
"Believe it, why wouldn't we believe it? I don't think this guy would dare to lie to us. Besides, even if he did, we can just come back later, it won't waste much time!" Gray Whiskers said with a smile.
There was no response, but Curly Fur nodded, which was taken as agreement.
"In that case, shall we head over there and take a look?" Gray Whiskers asked.
"Well, but..."
"But what?"
"Don't you feel something's strange?" Curly Fur asked.