Cthulhu America, I can see the kill line.

Inside the fortress’s dimly lit interior, Eller huddled in a large chair, his pale fingertips digging deep into the velvet of the armrests, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

When he was a child, his grandfather, who was over four hundred years old, told him a story in a trembling voice.

That happened when even my grandfather himself was still a child.

Long, long ago, in the realm of the Stuart family, "the Land of Europa," a terrifying plague, unprecedented in its mortality rate, spread, and speed of transmission, suddenly broke out.

The infected person initially develops a high fever, and within a short day, the dull pain in the limbs or head rapidly worsens into a severe cough, with strange bumps and lumps appearing on the skin, causing excruciating pain.

If anyone manages to survive to the next day, bluish-black marks will appear on their body, gradually spreading and deepening into bruises.

Then, within three days at most, whether it is a lump, swelling or dark spot, it will rupture and ulcerate, oozing gushing black blood, and eventually die.

Countless people who were laughing and chatting as usual yesterday, after a night of agonizing high fever, turned into corpses dripping with black blood by dawn.

In those dark times, this strange plague claimed more than half the lives of people on that land, and also left an indelible fear in the heart of Grandfather Eller.

When this bloodline was still young, he witnessed firsthand the mountains of corpses being pushed out of the city by cartloads.

Countless rats, like crows, perched on the high walls, their green eyes coldly watching the living carry away the dead.

"Plague! That's plague!"

Whenever Ellery's grandfather spoke of this, his voice would tremble uncontrollably, as if the ghosts of the past still haunted him.

"It was humanity's excessive exploitation of its fellow humans, with farmers toiling for ten years yet still unable to redeem their freedom, that angered the Squich Rat God, who then unleashed divine punishment!"

He held a statue in his hand, his expression solemn and terrifying, and repeated the legend to the young Eller.

The statue was exquisite; it was a miniature mouse with finely detailed fur and lifelike whiskers.

Most importantly, the statue's eyes, set with a pair of emeralds, glow faintly in the dim light, as if watching him as if they were alive.

When Eller fled and packed his belongings, he took this emerald statue with him and brought it to Amerigo.

Now, the statue sits on the table, its quiet, eerie green glow emanating from the dim light inside the fortress.

Beside the statue on the table stood a rat with gleaming green eyes, dressed in a sharp suit, silently gazing at Eller.

Eller was momentarily dazed, as if his grandfather's face, contorted with horror, flashed before him.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak."

The suit-wearing mouse twitched its nose slightly, emitting a faint chirping sound, and a thought entered Ailer's mind directly:

"Let me introduce myself. I am Squich's envoy. If you do not know Squich, I would be happy to give you a brief introduction..."

"No, no! Of course I recognize the Rat God, the Squich Rat God, the lord of plague! The embodiment of the Black Death!"

Eller, a blood descendant over two hundred years old, looked as terrified as a child who had done something wrong.

He hurriedly bent down, his posture so humble that he almost touched the ground, as if he wanted to kiss the front paws of the mouse peacock.

Kong Jiu was so frightened that he jumped back, his fur standing on end, as alert as a real mouse.

"What the hell is this reaction?"

Why was Kong Jiu able to identify Eller from the crowd, determine that he was the lord of the castle, and take the initiative to meet him?

Ten minutes earlier, Kong Jiu was perched atop the outer wall of the fortress, watching the nobles below dancing and feasting.

"Where should we infiltrate from?"

Looking at the countless entrances and doors, he felt a headache coming on.

This fortress is very large, extremely large; it can be described as a small, enclosed city.

If he were to search door by door and room by room for the so-called "existence of the Iron Curtain in the subspace," he probably wouldn't be able to complete it even if his four short legs, in his rat form, broke.

After much deliberation, Kong Jiu decided—

Let's roll the dice.

As the thirteen dice were rolled, an unexpected choice emerged in his eyes:

[Talk to the castle lord →]

[98% success rate, entering indoor discussion. 2% chance of fainting from fright, causing a riot among the guards.]

Following the direction indicated by the arrow, a pale-faced man came into view.

The man appeared to be around forty years old, with fair, paper-white skin. He was surveying the dancing guests below the stage with a pleased gaze, behaving like the host.

"Squeak squeak squeak (Lord of the Fortress? What do you think about negotiating with him?)"

"I have no objection." Squich's voice rang in his mind first. "Remember not to reveal your real name. Make good use of your current status as a rat to hide. Just use my name."

"However, he appears to be of bloodline."

Neos's voice echoed softly, "How strange, there is a Blood Lord in the warp node of Amerigo... No wonder this place is full of adrenaline and blood wine."

After a brief exchange, the three parties decided to negotiate with the pale-faced man. Kong Jiu quietly slid down the high wall.

Sure enough, the negotiations went exceptionally smoothly. As soon as the name Squich was mentioned, the man's expression hardened, and he respectfully picked up the kongjiu and quietly moved from the bustling ballroom to a secluded reception room inside.

However, the way the man addressed Squich sounded ominous.

"The Plague Lord?"

"The embodiment of the Black Death?"

The questions from Squich and Neos simultaneously echoed in Kong Jiu's mind.

"What's wrong with this bloodline? How dare he insult my name the moment he opens his mouth?"

Squiche's discontented complaints flooded Congo's mind.

"Squeak squeak squeak,

Please don't get agitated. Present your name, your identity, your bloodline.

With prompting from the other two people in his mind, Kongjiu transmitted his thoughts to Ailer.

The latter dared not be negligent in the slightest, recounting his identity and family history in detail, speaking rapidly as if afraid of omitting a single word.

Kong Jiu's whiskers trembled slightly. Although he knew that the existence of psychic energy in this world was already bizarre, he was still somewhat surprised to see a living bloodline with his own eyes.

Could there even be lizard people?

However, Kong Jiu had no time to marvel. After learning about Eller's identity, he went straight to the purpose of his trip:

"Squeak squeak squeak".

"Eller, since you claim to be the lord of this fortress, what exactly is guarded beneath this sturdy fortress?"

"Guardians?" Eller paused, scratching his temple. "There shouldn't be... one?"

Eller has been the lord of this fortress for over a century and knows every brick and every patch of moss like the back of his hand.

"Red Rain Fortress has a huge underground warehouse, but apart from the loop array that maintains the subspace node, it contains nothing."

"If you would like to see it, I can show you the way."

At Eller's bowed invitation, Kong Jiu leaped onto the bloodline's shoulder and arrived at a heavy stone door in the underground.

As Eller stretched out his hand, a crimson emblem resembling a blood vial appeared in his palm, and the stone door slowly opened.

A blinding blue light burst forth from the crack in the door, and a vast, complex, integrated circuit-like spiritual energy circuit shimmered with a ghostly blue glow, catching Kong Jiu's eye.

"Messenger of the Rat God, this is the source of spiritual power for the Red Rain Fortress node."

Ailer pointed to a pile of dull-colored gems beside him, his tone almost defensive: "I admit that when I was poor, I used human sacrifices to provide energy. But later, when I became wealthy, I switched to using gems as a source of magic... I will never again exploit the weak. I implore the Rat God to see this clearly!"

Kong Jiu's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

This bloodline seems to be very afraid of Squich?