Calamity Rat

Biodata

Appearance

• Ordinary rats: Approximately the size of an adult tabby cat, with pitch-black skin that conceals them in darkness 3.
• Eyes: Normally pitch-black, but can turn blood-red when agitated or attacking 3.
• Natural weapons: Sharp claws and teeth capable of tearing flesh from an adult human 3.
• Leaders: Much larger than ordinary rats. The Desolate Town swarm’s leader is as large as a wolfhound, with needle-like fur and exposed, fist-sized fangs 15 20.

Habitat & Behavior

• Concealment: Calamity Rats hide in darkness, beneath rubble, and among rocks. In ruined terrain, they can remain unseen until they attack at close range 3 13.
• Hunting pattern: They favor ambushes and generally flee if their sneak attacks fail, making them difficult to finish off 4 6.
• Group attacks: Several rats can attack from different directions. Larger packs follow a leader’s cries to charge, pursue, or retreat 3 15 20.
• Blood-induced aggression: During Cao Fengqi’s attack on the Desolate Town swarm, blood stimulates the rats into continuing their assault with little fear of death 20.
• Dens: The Desolate Town swarm occupies an existing underground safe house, reached through a narrow opening and staircase; the rats did not dig the entrance 21.
• Availability: Although present in the Lost Land year-round, they can be difficult to locate. Hunters may search for days without encountering one 6.
• Alert cries: On Cao Fengqi’s return to the Desolate Town swarm’s territory, an ordinary rat stands on two legs and cries out before the other rats emerge from their den 20.

Abilities & Skills

Stealth and Ambush

Their black coloration and use of cover make Calamity Rats dangerous despite their low standing among evil beasts 3 4.

• Three rats ambush Cao Fengqi from the front, rear, and right while he approaches a spirit herb 3.
• A rat hidden beneath rubble bites his thigh before he can evade, even though his script cheat warns him as it attacks 13.
• Their ambushes have killed countless people, including costing Cao Fengqi’s predecessor one of his five lives 3.

Speed and Evasion

Calamity Rats move quickly enough to overwhelm an unprepared human’s reactions and escape retaliation 3 4.

• A wounded rat evades Cao Fengqi’s saber by burrowing into the rocks 13.
• Their small size gives them an advantage when pursuing prey through rubble-strewn terrain 15.
• Cao Fengqi, at 21 constitution, outruns a swarm with his cheat identifying tripping hazards. The rats pursue him for over two kilometers before their leader orders a retreat 15.

Claws and Teeth

Even an ordinary Calamity Rat is strong enough to kill a human from before the great disaster 6.

• A bite nearly tears a chunk of flesh from Cao Fengqi’s thigh; he treats the wound with Living Spirit Liquid 13.
• Their attacks cannot penetrate an activated Crude Arcane Necklace’s shield. The necklace lasts five minutes before requiring a 24-hour recharge 18 20.
• Cao Fengqi notes that even armor capable of withstanding their attacks would not necessarily prevent their collisions from throwing its wearer off balance; the necklace’s shield protects him from this problem 20.
• Fighters wielding level 3 weapons can kill ordinary Calamity Rats in a single blow 36.

Leader Capabilities

Swarm leaders combine greater size with command over ordinary rats 15 20.

• The Desolate Town leader directs both a prolonged pursuit and the pack’s eventual withdrawal 15.
• It partially evades an Arcane Musket shot aimed at its head, taking the hit to its body instead. Cao Fengqi kills it with two further shots 20.
• Marketgoers warn that protection effective against ordinary rats is not necessarily sufficient against swarm leaders 18.
• Even a Calamity Rat leader is weaker than an ordinary Mystic Devouring Beast 28.

Relative Threat and Countermeasures

• Rotten Crows: These common flying evil beasts attack more fiercely than Calamity Rats and are several times harder to handle because they can fly 9.
• Beast Traps: Cao Fengqi considers placing a Beast Trap in Desolate Town to catch Calamity Rats, but does not purchase one because a single trap would be of limited use to him 19.
• Cao Fengqi’s growth: At 32 constitution, he judges ordinary Calamity Rats to be no threat to him. With the Blue-Patterned Robe’s protection, he also believes he can face a leader barehanded 27.
• Experienced hunters: During the migration attack, most older survivors with ten years of Lost Land experience are considered capable of killing an ordinary rat individually 35.
• Color-Changing Skeletal Centipedes: These concealed beasts are much stronger than Calamity Rats, and many defenders confident of fighting the rats are unable to handle the centipedes 35.

Power Progression

Harvested Resources

The Gathering Technique extracts meat and hides from Calamity Rat corpses 4 20.

• Soul: Harvesting the defeated Desolate Town swarm also yields one soul 20.
• Food: The meat is firm and, to Cao Fengqi, more fragrant than beef. Three rats provide enough meat to feed a family for a week if carefully rationed 6.
• Clothing material: The hides from the defeated swarm are sufficient for five or six rat-hide coats 20.
• Furnishings: Liu Chunying uses Calamity Rat hides in remodeling the Cao family home, including a fur-covered sofa 27.
• Gifts: Wang Zhiyan and Wang Zhixue bring Calamity Rat meat obtained in the Lost Land to the Cao family as a token of gratitude for their help 86.

Story Role / Major Encounters

Early Hunts

Before transmigration, Cao Fengqi’s body had killed only nine Calamity Rats in three years of exploring the Lost Land 4.

During his first documented encounter, Cao Fengqi uses his script cheat and Dark Iron Staff to defeat three rats near Night Soul Grass. Their meat becomes an early substantial meal for his family 3 4 6.

Desolate Town Swarm

A lone rat wounds Cao Fengqi in the ruins and escapes his retaliation. Later, a leader and more than twenty rats force him to flee, prompting him to seek defensive equipment before returning 13 15.

After buying the Crude Arcane Necklace, he kills the leader with his Arcane Musket and slaughters the ordinary rats with the Three Spirits Saber while protected by the necklace’s shield. Exploring their den afterward leads him to an underground safe house containing human remains and a map of Cangxuan Town 19 20 21.

The meat from the swarm contributes to a lavish family dinner alongside Xiao Gallbladder Wine. The meal draws the envy of neighbors and marks another improvement in the Cao family’s circumstances 22.

Migration Attack

A massive swarm attacks the Liangmin County migration procession. Six Color-Changing Skeletal Centipedes hide among the rats, posing a greater threat than the swarm itself; Cao Fengqi detects and shoots them before they reach the defenders 35 36.

Team 55’s three to four hundred people then swiftly dispatch over a thousand Calamity Rats 36.

The team’s organizers allow each fighter to keep the rats they kill, and many defenders regard the attack as an opportunity to obtain meat 35.

Later References

Cao Fengqi later recalls fleeing from Calamity Rats, Mystic Devouring Beasts, and Nightmares as experiences that tempered his mental fortitude. While confronting hostility from the Wang family, he privately resolves to make them follow the fate of his former beast enemies once he becomes strong enough 79.

During a later migration stop, Wang Zhiyan and Wang Zhixue bring the Cao family Calamity Rat meat as thanks for their assistance. Liu Xiuxiu initially urges them to keep the hard-earned meat for themselves before welcoming them inside 86.