Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 51 Allegiance
Tataji's facial muscles twitched, forcing an awkward smile.

Jetta acted quickly.

It recruited ten ratmen, who dug out several huge tires and metal plates from the ruins and made them into a simple trailer.

First, place a metal plate under the mecha and secure it with thick ropes. Then install the motor and battery, and finally stuff the tires into the gaps.

With the combined efforts of ten ratmen, the massive steel behemoth weighing several tons was slowly dragged along.

"Crunch - crunch -"

The group proceeded along the underground tunnels dug by the ratmen. The tunnels were dimly lit, with only some glowing mushrooms providing faint illumination.

Zhuang Fan walked at the back. He could clearly sense a strange misty aura belonging to Tataji following him from a distance.

He snorted coldly.

A thick cloud of black mist surged out from under his cloak, instantly blocking the tunnel behind him.

The fog was as black as ink, carrying a chilling stillness.

This is a warning.

Tataji, who was quietly following behind, stopped abruptly upon seeing this, not daring to take another step.

In fact, Zhuang Fan couldn't do anything if it continued to move forward, as he had exhausted all the strange mist and was nearing exhaustion.

“Jetta, I don’t want Tataji to come along,” Zhuang Fan’s voice rang out from behind.

"Sir, yes!"

Jetta had figured out the tense relationship between the leader and the Demon General, and thus offered a plan:

“I have a secret route that the leader has no idea about; it’s our own hideout.”

"Very good, lead the way."

The convoy quickly veered off the main road and entered a narrower, more secluded side road.

Jetta was meticulous; it used its claws to erase the tires and footprints to avoid being followed.

At each corner, it would knock down the supporting pillars, causing the tunnel to collapse one after another, completely cutting off the escape route.

Jetta, this little mouse, is pretty good.

Zhuang Fan silently made his assessment.

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at a cave.

This is Jetta's secret warehouse, and also its hideout with several trusted confidants.

It was filled with all sorts of corroded equipment, from broken power armor to rusted weapon parts.

To prevent the decaying fog from further corroding the equipment, several fog lights were placed in the warehouse.

"Sir, these are what I've secretly saved up over the years," Jetta said, scratching his head sheepishly.

Zhuang Fan walked up to the ten rat-men, stretched out his hand, and pressed it on their rat heads one by one.

Soon, all the eerie mist was extracted from their bodies.

All the rats trembled with gratitude and wept tears of joy.

"From now on, everything you see and hear must remain a secret. If Tataji questions you, say it was my order, understand?"

"understand!"

The rats spoke in unison, their voices filled with awe.

"The task the Lord has given me is very important. I don't want any of you to betray me. Do you understand?"

"understand!"

Zhuang Fan stared at them one by one, trying to determine whether they were lying by observing the subtle fluctuations in the eerie mist.

He originally intended to make an example of them, but unexpectedly, all the rats passed the loyalty test.

Jetta humbly lowered its head:

"My lord, please rest assured, they are all Black Rat People, my companions and family, and they are absolutely trustworthy."

Are there further subgroups within the Skaven?
Zhuang Fan thought for a moment: "What about Tataji?"

Jetta patiently explained, "The leader is from the Brown Rat Clan, and they've always been at odds with our Black Rat Clan."

"go on."

"My lord, we black rats have heard that our homeland is in the far south, but it's too far away. We stray rats have no choice but to seek refuge with other rat clans in order to survive."

Zhuang Fan recalled the information from the old man's memory.

Most mutant groups have only one leader, who is also known as a "monster king".

However, the rat-people tribe has many branches, with more than a dozen demon kings, and Tataji is one of them. In order to keep these rat-people in check, Zhuang Fan decided to make empty promises and first administer strong drugs to make them unconscious.

"Then be loyal to me."

He said calmly, "From now on, you will be the Eleven Arhats. I can restore the glory of the Black Rat Clan to you."

"Jetta, you will be the Demon King of the Black Rat Clan."

Jetta's body trembled violently, and it knelt on one knee, burying its head deep in the ground.

"Jetta, I swear to serve you to the death, sir!"

The rats shouted in unison, "We swear to serve our lord to the death!"

Zhuang Fan turned around, walked to the "Baron," and extracted all the decaying mist inside the machine, letting it dissipate into the air.

Then came the second, the third...

The piles of decaying fog equipment in the cave were restored to their original appearance one by one.

A group of rat-men stared in disbelief, as if witnessing a miracle.

Jetta has encountered many demon generals, but has never seen them dispel the decaying mist; at most, they can only move some dark mist.

The power of the Demon General before us is evident.

"Jetta, this is your start-up capital."

Zhuang Fan had no interest in the equipment. "Go and win over your Black Rat confidants and develop your business as quickly as possible, but don't get into conflict with Tataji yet."

"As for this Baron, leave it here for now, I'll come back for it later." This was Zhuang Fan's final test of his loyalty.

"Sir, Jetta understands!"

Its loyalty, at this moment, became unbreakable.

……

The two left the ratmen's lair and returned to the surface.

After holding back for a long time, Hua Sheng exclaimed in amazement, "Brother Guangtu, you're amazing!"

"From now on, when you're out in the world, call me Wuya."

Zhuang Fan whispered a few words of advice:

“You need to change your name too. The people at Nuclear Corporation aren’t stupid. Sooner or later, they’ll realize I’m here because of your bizarre prison break.”

"Understood, I will definitely keep it a secret."

The two walked along the ruins and soon arrived at the battlefield graveyard, where there were still many scavengers.

He suddenly slowed his pace; a group of mercenaries were talking around a campfire not far away.

"...That cat meat was so tender. It's a pity we only got one bite, and the leader ate the rest."

"That female catwoman is so beautiful, what a pity."

Female catwoman?
He immediately thought of Hua Xin.

An extremely bad thought exploded in his mind.

He quickened his pace, and after leaving the battlefield graveyard, he sprinted directly towards the underground warehouse.

"Brother Wuya, what's wrong?" Hua Sheng was startled by his sudden action.

"I've found your sister. I've placed her in an underground warehouse, but her condition isn't good."

After hearing the gist of it, Hua Sheng turned pale. He didn't care about anything else and ran desperately after Zhuang Fan.

The closer they got to the underground warehouse, the stronger their unease became.

The fog in that area had thinned and was mixed with many unfamiliar, eerie fog scents.

There was fresh blood on the ground, as well as signs of a battle.

Four corpses dressed in combat suits lay haphazardly at the warehouse entrance, their fatal wounds all in their throats, as if torn open by sharp claws.

The underground warehouse door was violently demolished and twisted into a deformed shape.

The warehouse was in complete disarray; several fog lights he had left behind were smashed to pieces, and darkness completely enveloped the interior.

"Stop, don't move!"

A low, alert shout came from the depths of the darkness.

Half of his body was hidden in the shadows, with the gun pointed at the two men.

Zhuang Fan turned around and saw a pair of cat eyes that shone with an emerald green light.

(End of this chapter)