Skaven Ratmen
Steam City where everything seems to be progressing normally.
However, it conceals a hidden crisis.
With the application of Magic Energy, there appears to be no pollution on the surface.
People living in Steam City might not feel it, but Shen Hui, as the creator, clearly sensed a corrosive force that had spread throughout all the cities.
Don't forget, this power comes from Cthulhu.
Use comes at a cost.
Or rather... this is a power that should never be used.
Pollution, decay, mutation... these factors have become one with the air, drifting in every corner of the city.
It slowly merges into all living bodies.
Like an apple worm-eaten, it looks perfectly fine on the outside.
You might find worms inside when you cut it open, and more than one at that.
Instead, there was no flesh at all; the apple peel was just a clump of wriggling worms wrapped around it!
In the city, some people have already contracted strange diseases due to corrosion and pollution.
But humans didn't notice anything unusual at all.
At first, no one paid attention to the strange illnesses that had appeared...
Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day.
If it has a greater impact on humanity, then it will be a long process.
As for what will happen, Shen Hui doesn't know; this is the uncertainty of independent development.
But life in the Steam City isn't limited to humans.
Shen Hui had already noticed that there were some remaining lives in these cities.
Because pollution has caused very noticeable changes, uncertainty has gradually become certain.
Shen Hui's consciousness gathered in a tavern in the city and manifested as an Common- looking middle-aged man who walked in.
This is a mixed bag of people; not only are the people chaotic, but the hygiene is also appalling.
People from the lower class, wearing tattered leather jackets, toss in coins, sour beer flows from the pipes, and loudly discuss the unpleasantness of their day's work.
They were cursing the bosses for constantly exploiting them.
Some well-dressed middle-aged men, clearly from the elite class, were also sitting in the tavern, ordering a rather expensive drink by themselves.
He walked up to the women who were alone and started chatting with them; tonight was another night he planned to cheat on his wife.
Mercenaries, some with tattoos and even limbs replaced by steam-powered prosthetics, are discussing hiring with various factions.
They plan to launch a surprise attack on another organization at some point to seize more territory.
Wherever there are people, there is a social dynamic, and the Steam City is no exception.
Empty wine bottles were piled up on the ground, along with trampled vomit and bits of food scattered everywhere.
The wooden planks on the ground were long since blackened and worn, and there were quite a few holes in the corners.
The air was filled with a mixture of stench, fragrance, sweat, alcohol, and sourness.
Inside, a cacophony of noise rose and fell, creating a lively and bustling atmosphere.
However, a few high-decibel screams quickly drowned out all the noise, bringing a brief moment of silence.
"Ah! A mouse!"
"That scared me to death! How could that rat look like that?"
All eyes turned to where the screaming women were looking.
Several large, glossy-furred rats crawled out of a hole in the wooden plank in the corner.
Undeterred by the stares of so many people, he openly ate the vomit and food scraps on the ground.
However, compared to the mice's plumpness and fearlessness, what attracted their attention most was...
Or rather, the bodies of these rats are very strange.
One of the rats had a pointed snout and a twisted head, making it look like two heads were pinched together.
The other one had many round blisters growing on its body.
In any case, these rats are abnormal compared to normal rats.
However, these people didn't care at all.
"Another one of those peculiar giant rats, Siweike. You'd better clean up this tavern; you might spoil our fun."
"Exactly! These rats are just like those bosses—disgusting, ugly, and unlucky! Siweike, you have to give me a discount today!"
"My little beauty, don't be afraid. Hold me tight, I'll protect you."
"Hehe, free meat, anyone want some extra?"
Amidst the murmurs and discussions of the crowd.
The incident ended when someone pulled out a sharp knife, strangled the rats, killed them, and threw them into a trash can.
The tavern returned to its previous lively state.
Shen Hui, who had just tried to take a sip of the sour beer, spat it out along with his saliva.
Then he looked at the dead rats and smiled.
Shen Hui's consciousness began to spread, extending along the broken wooden plank in the corner.
Beneath the wooden plank were holes of various sizes, dug by rats.
These holes connect to the sewer pipes in this undisturbed underground world.
It is a beautiful home for mice.
Mice of all sizes swarmed together, some leaving through the sewers to search for food.
Some also came back from outside.
Most of these rats had become abnormal.
The body has various degrees of deformity.
This is caused by the pollution and corrosion resulting from Magic Energy.
These rats were the first creatures to show obvious changes.
Although deformity has a significant impact on most mice, causing them to be unable to move or eat...
However, there are also some distortions that don't seem to be so bad.
For example, some mice are larger, some have longer limbs, or are more robust.
Some even grew extra limbs.
Shen Hui's gaze fell upon these mutated rats.
Pollutants will always exist; isn't this distortion, in a sense, a form of evolution to adapt to pollutants?
Under normal circumstances, such an adverse mutation would very likely lead to the extinction of a species.
However, with Shen Hui around, that's not a normal situation.
When Shen Hui thought about the mutations and evolution of mice, he already had a brilliant idea in mind.
The Death World needs a large number of races to expand.
As for rats, they have already met the target in terms of numbers.
Common mice wouldn't do, but these mutated, evolved mice...
This reminded Shen Hui of a race of rats, the Skaven Ratmen.