Apocalypse Forecast-Chapter 638 - 533 Eternal Friendship_1
Unknowingly, the situation had begun to spiral out of control.
The Alchemists who had come specially to help were panicked to find that Huai Shi was already surrounded by a group of Rat-men, being jostled through the crowd, staggering backward.
Upon hearing their leader’s voice, the other Rat-men also started to clamor chaotically.
"We’re done! We’re done! No, no meat to eat!"
"It’s not fair, fair!"
"We want an explan, explan, explanation!"
"The bastards at the Ivory Tower are all liars! Liars, liars!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
In the midst of the shouting, hundreds of Rat-men were agitated and screaming. The leader, seeing that the Snake-man Undead Army remained indifferent and did not intervene, shouted even louder.
"We, we came for the Ivory... Ivory Tower!"
The leader, grabbing at Huai Shi’s clothes and towering nearly a head taller than him, was in full rage. It was quite conspicuous because it was the only white one in the rat mob.
No one knew whether out of anger or what, its eyes turned red and even its stammer lessened as it said, "Your conscience is rotten, utterly rotten! The Ivy League offers a price that is twice what you do! You bunch of heartless merchants! To think you don’t even give us a break! We protest! Protest!!!"
The last shout of "protest" was so impassioned it hurt everyone’s eardrums.
The rest of the Rat-men roared in chorus, "Protest!!!"
"Rat-men have human rights too!!!"
The leader raised its claws, leading its followers to chant together, "We want the eight-hour work day!"
"Eight-hour work day!!!"
"We want reasonable holidays!!!"
"We want personal insurance!!!"
"We, we will fight against exploitation!!!"
The leader roared at the top of its lungs, "We will strike! Strike!!!"
"—Strike!!!"
The echo from the Rat-men almost toppled the entire ceiling.
The crowd of Rat-men haphazardly waved the weapons in their hands. Having dug out a pile of dirty yellow cloth from somewhere, they draped it over themselves, agitatedly roaring along with their leader.
Behind the outer garrison, within the Iron Crystal Throne, all those in charge stood before the screen, their faces so grim they looked as if they might drip water.
Above the Iron Crystal Throne, the massive cannon silently turned, already aimed at this group of good-for-nothings who only caused trouble. Yet, for the moment, everyone remained silent, no commands issued.
The situation had not yet gotten out of control.
It was not yet their turn to intervene...
But now, the one actually in charge was acting so submissively before those wretches, not daring to speak up. This deeply disappointed those in command who had, in recent days, developed some expectations of Huai Shi.
Even as he was pushed and cursed, Huai Shi couldn’t stand up to the Abyssal Tribes. He could only offer a sheepish smile, waving his hands around to try to calm them down, to get them to lower their voices. But nobody was paying any attention to him.
Aside from the emotionless Gargoyles resting with closed eyes, even the Snake-man Cavalry, who had just been at odds with the Abyssal Rat-men, stood by with cold smiles. They watched the spectacle with no intention of intervening.
It was as though they were planning to take this opportunity to make a big score...
The Rat-men were not afraid to cause a big scene.
They naturally had the confidence here.
Although individually they were no match for the Gargoyles and Snake-man Cavalry, their numbers were undoubtedly the greatest. Moreover, this time, there were as many as four Naming Givers among them. The one leading them was the Clothed—the unequivocal Owner of the Great Mob, bestowed with a decree from the Abyss.
They weren’t afraid of making a big scene. If it came down to it, they could just split and throw their support behind the Ivy League.
Whichever side offered more money, they would work for that side.
These kinds of mercenary tactics on the battlefield weren’t new to them; why would they care about some effeminate soothing and persuading?
The leading Clothed had never intended to cause such a huge disturbance but hadn’t expected this time’s commander to be such an incompetent pushover... If I don’t seize this chance to make a killing, how will I go back home, marry lots of dirty wives, and father many stinking brats!
"Everyone, please don’t be anxious."
Huai Shi’s clothing had been torn in several places from the jostling, his hair in disarray, as he anxiously tried to reassure them, "We can talk, all of this is up for discussion. Leader, leader, could you please say something, ask everyone to wait a bit, wouldn’t that be better?"
"Negotiate?"
The leader sneered, "And how do you propose we negotiate?"
"Uh—"
Huai Shi was taken aback, looking awkwardly around before finally turning to the imposing Rat-man in front of him. "Leader, may I ask... what should I call you?"
"Alec."
The burly white Rat-man stroked the hair on top of its head, glanced at Huai Shi, and said, "Call me Lord Alec!"
"Then, Lord Alec... might it be possible to discuss this... in a different location?"
Huai Shi edged closer, raising his hand and stealthily slipped a Source Crystal to Alec, whispering, "It’s not really convenient here... Don’t you think some things would be better talked over in private?"
Alec was about to lose his temper and explode in anger, but right then, he felt Huai Shi stuff another Source Crystal into his hand, and his expression hardened.
Noticing Huai Shi’s occasional guilty glances towards the camera in the corner, Alec seemed to understand something, tugged at his whiskers, and huffed, "We can negotiate, everything’s negotiable. The key is whether you have the sincerity."
"Of course, of course, there is plenty of sincerity!" exclaimed Huai Shi, nodding fervently as he handed over another Source Crystal.
