The Source

"... Chieftain, shall we proceed now?"

A hesitant question came from the side.

The Black Rat Chief raised his eyes and looked around at his clansmen.

Anger, shock, hesitation...

Even now, many Black Rat still cannot accept that even Curly Fur and Gray Whiskers died at the hands of those domesticated livestock.

How dare they?!

"Alright, leave some clansmen to guard this area, the rest of you head into the valley!" The Black Rat Chief looked calmly at the Black Rat gathered around him.

"Remember, all the beasts should head towards the high mountains on the outskirts."

"For Fourth Tier Calamity Beast, search along the mountains. If you encounter any that try to escape by climbing the mountain walls, simply shoot them down."

"The rest should search together, group by group, from the mountains into the valley. If you encounter any captive Calamity Beast, ask them if they want to return on their own. If they do, let them go; if not, kill them!"

"Yes!" A loud response rang out from the surroundings, and the Black Rat Black Rat echoed back, not one of them showing any fear.

In fact, they really didn't need to be intimidated. The highest- Calamity Beast that were fleeing were only at the Third Tier. They only needed to be careful about one thing, and they would be fine.

Just as the Black Rat Chief was about to continue giving instructions, his gaze suddenly fell on one of the Black Rat.

The Black Rat's eyes darted left and right, looking preoccupied.

"Broken Tooth, do you have anything to say?" the Black Rat Chief asked in a deep voice.

Black Rat Broken Tooth paused for a moment, instinctively wanting to say it was nothing, to avoid a repeat of the previous situation where he had offered the wrong advice, but after hesitating for a moment, he still spoke:

"Chieftain, should we... transfer some of Lord Rotten Claw and the others from the valley entrance over here?"

"Why?" the Black Rat Chief asked in a deep voice.

The surrounding Black Rat also looked at Broken Tooth with some confusion.

"Because the Calamity Beast in the enclosure have also been released, there are at least tens of thousands of Calamity Beast trying to escape from the valley, while we only have a few thousand of our own people in the valley right now," Black Rat Broken Tooth explained.

"Then, they'll try to escape by crossing the outer ring of mountains, which will further reduce the number of our tribesmen!"

"After all, even if we rush over there right now, most of them will probably already be climbing the mountain."

"In this situation, to stop them, you'd need to be able to fly at least. If you can't fly, catching up to them is already difficult enough, and you might even face the possibility of those creatures being too strong and crashing down with our entire tribe."

"In other words, the main force behind this will be our clansmen at the Fourth Tier."

"And we only have twenty or thirty of our tribesmen still alive in the valley, and that includes the dozen or so guarding the valley entrance!"

"Tens of thousands! Twenty or thirty!"

"This gap is just too big!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding Black Rat fell into deep thought, and many of them even gasped in shock.

Before they heard Broken Tooth say that, they didn't really understand, but now that it's been mentioned, they've realized the problem.

The difference in quantity is indeed quite large!

Nearby, a Black Rat tried to speak up, saying he could go too.

But after thinking about what Broken Tooth had just said—that they might be dragged down by the Calamity Beast that the Calamity Beast couldn't defeat—they wisely shut their mouths.

Those guys got away, fine, but if I die, I'm really dead!

"So, you think that bringing back Rotten Claw and the others will completely stop those Calamity Beast from escaping?"

A deep, questioning voice came from the side.

The Black Rat were taken aback and looked at their chief.

"Can't... it be done?" Black Rat Broken Tooth asked hesitantly.

"It's impossible!" the Black Rat Chief said calmly. "Adding them would only slightly reduce the number of escaped Calamity Beast; it wouldn't make much difference to the current situation! Or rather, given how things have developed, nothing else really matters!"

"Well..."

Broken Tooth opened his mouth in surprise, but before he could speak, the clan leader interrupted him directly:

"You want to ask why, compared to before, just because Gray Whiskers and the others who disappeared in the explosion are gone, the situation is completely different?" the Black Rat Chief asked in a deep voice.

Broken Tooth paused for a moment, then nodded. "Mm!"

"Because the message that we sent out to inform Black Spine and Gray Whiskers's people was definitely not relayed to them immediately!" said the Black Rat Chief.

"Uh, Chieftain... how did you know?" Broken Tooth asked, somewhat taken aback.

When the news of the enclosure being breached was received, the clan leader ordered the clansmen to go and inform Lord Black Spine and the others, so that they could deal with the Calamity Beast that had escaped from the enclosure.

But to this day, they have not received the corresponding message.

Logically speaking, the clan leader shouldn't know either, right?!

"Because you haven't realized what kind of being the Calamity Beast that organized this riot and commanded those guys really is!" the Black Rat Chief said in a deep voice.

What kind of being is the Calamity Beast that commands those guys?... The Black Rat blinked, unsure of what to say for a moment.

This was the first time the clan leader had used such language towards a Calamity Beast they had enslaved.

"When do you think things started to turn out this way?" The Black Rat Chief looked at them with a deep gaze.

After a moment's hesitation, the Black Rat looked at each other.

"Started from when those guys started rioting today?" one of the Black Rat asked tentatively.

"No, it started from the very beginning, when the clan decided to increase the punishment for those Calamity Beast that went out to explore, and make them hand over 20% more ore every day!" said the Black Rat Chief.

Upon hearing this, the Black Rat ' eyes widened instantly.

"No, Chieftain, so early?"

"That was more than ten days ago, wasn't it? How could those guys possibly...?"

"Chieftain, you're exaggerating..."

Exclamations of surprise echoed across the open space as one Black Rat after another couldn't help but share their opinions.

The Black Rat Chief looked at them with a serious expression, then suddenly interrupted, saying:

"This incident broke out when we sent many of our people out to capture the Calamity Beast; and then we were able to organize so many Calamity Beast from various mines."

"At first, they let these Calamity Beast hide, prioritizing the killing of our Fourth Tier clansmen stationed in various mines;"

"Then release the Calamity Beast from the enclosure;"

"Then kill Gray Whiskers and Curly Fur, who were sent in after receiving the initial news of the Calamity Beast uprising..."