Chapter 405: The Rat King's Decree

The military factory is the Rat King's most central, most profitable facility! It's not just a business; it's the foundation for his foothold on this land and the support for his massive intelligence network.

This human, as soon as he opened his mouth, wants his lifeline!

"Does Rat King think I'm joking?"

Cheng Shuili's expression remained unchanged, her tone still steady, as if the request she just made were a trivial matter. "The plague rages, countless lives are scorched; of course I feel some compassion. But I made it clear: the Eternal Life Bottle's effect is limited. If the beasts use it, what can we humans use?"

She gently caressed the Abyssal Ring on her finger, looking at the Rat King with composure: "Compared to the one‑time resources you expend, I naturally prefer my generosity to be exchanged for something lasting. Your military factory is clearly the best choice."

Having reached this point, the Rat King no longer intended to continue the false pleasantries.

He let out a cold snort from his throat, leaned his body slightly forward, and the sharp glint in his small eyes, squeezed by layers of wrinkles, seemed ready to pierce Cheng Shuili.

"Little girl," his voice was low but heavy, spreading across the vast road, "Do you know how the two characters for 'greed' are written?"

Greed?

Cheng Shuili was about to burst into laughter.

She and the Rat King both knew that one day they would inevitably clash.

If Cheng Shuili doesn't become greedy now, doesn't improve her strength, is she just waiting to beg for mercy later?

So she bluntly admitted, "Lord Rat King is right; I indeed am not good at writing those two characters. After all…"

Cheng Shuili leaned slightly forward, exuding unhurried confidence, "When you monopolize weapon trade with your military factory, no one ever taught you how to write the characters for 'fairness', did they?"

The Rat King's complexion instantly turned ice‑cold.

This is sheer nonsense.

When the Rat King first rose among the beasts, those humans were still in the womb, right?

Now, this greedy human, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant, even dares to think they can surpass the successor.

The Rat King furrowed his brows tightly, scanning Cheng Shuili's face up and down, trying to detect even the slightest hint of fear.

When this human first established the safe zone, the Rat King already sensed the threat from this swarm of tiny insects.

It was only that this shrewd little insect bought protection, so he couldn't act.

What now astonished the Rat King was that this ant, who had to spend a huge amount of Game Coin for protection, actually had the nerve to challenge him!

He thought he was already generous enough.

At least now he hasn't openly caused any trouble for this human, hasn't he?

In this moment, he finally realized how useless his generosity was.

As he assessed Cheng Shuili, she was also observing him.

The fact that the Rat King didn't flip his face immediately after she made such a request indicates what?

It shows that the Rat King's current situation is far more difficult than it appears, and that the Eternal Life Bottle's function is more crucial than the military factory he holds.

Cheng Shuili seized the opportunity, saying, "How about we rephrase: we trade 51% of your military factory's revenue and the right to handle half of the goods for the restoration of health to all the beasts under your rule within two days."

Cheng Shuili was being deliberate.

She was indeed greedy, but she knew the Rat King would never accept that figure; she mentioned it merely to disgust him.

She smiled viciously, retorting as if taking advantage, "That number should be enough for me to copy greed accurately, right?"

The Rat King's beard twitched violently.

He was old, unable to match those youngsters, who could vent anger with a couple of curses.

He was cultured, accustomed to a life of ease, and few things dared to confront him, so for a moment he truly didn't know how to react.

The air was filled with suffocating silence, broken only by occasional crows cawing in the distance.

The Rat King's chest heaved violently, and his sharp eyes swirled with murderous intent and struggle.

Just as Cheng Shuili thought he would explode, the Rat King suddenly laughed.

The laugh was dry and hoarse, like an old bellows being pulled.

"Good… very good…" he slowly straightened up, the gentleman's staff in his hand thudding heavily on the ground, "Little girl, you're harsher than I imagined, truly worthy of a human."

He took a step forward, his voice pressed down to a whisper, delivering an icy warning: "But remember, some things you cannot swallow."

Cheng Shuili met his gaze without flinching: "Then I won't trouble the Rat King any further."

"40% of the revenue, and the right to handle thirty percent of the goods."

The Rat King squeezed the words out between his teeth, "This is my bottom line. If you disagree…"

Suddenly, dozens of crimson eyes lit up behind him, and a faint scent of blood spread through the air.

Cheng Shuili knew this was the final price.

She pretended to ponder for a moment, then finally nodded: "Deal."

The moment Cheng Shuili finished speaking, the crimson eyes behind the Rat King receded like a tide.

The Rat King drew a contract glowing with a cold light from his coat, brushed his fingertips over it, and opened it.

Cheng Shuili caught a glimpse of blood‑red script winding across the parchment.

And the moment it was handed to her, it turned into the familiar system transaction contract she knew.

"Sign it." The Rat King flung the scroll before Cheng Shuili, "Use your true name."

Cheng Shuili's eyes scanned the flowing text, finding a clause: "If Party B fails to fulfill the treatment obligation, they will become a slave of the beasts! Eternal life, never to betray."

The other side was rather cautious.

Unfortunately, Cheng Shuili is absolutely faithful to contracts.

After the name was set, the Rat King's tense expression finally relaxed a bit; leaning on his staff, he turned, "Follow me, and I'll show you the gift that will soon be yours."

He tapped the ground with the tip of his staff, and the air ahead on the road suddenly twisted into a vortex.

Before entering, he turned and asked Cheng Shuili, "Do you dare to follow?"

Cheng Shuili naturally dared.

She wouldn't have dared before signing the contract, but after signing this… Cheng Shuili's courage grew considerably.

Before it was just her and the Rat King, now the system is involved as well; can Cheng Shuili not be worried?

Following the Rat King through the portal, after the blinding white light, a massive factory built against the mountain suddenly appeared before Cheng Shuili.

Rusted pipes coiled on the rock wall like a giant python, and the towering smokestacks belched thick smoke.

On the assembly line, countless monster laborers that looked like monster merchants were mechanically assembling various weapons, and the clanging of metal rang throughout the workshop.

After circling with the Rat King, Cheng Shuili grew more and more satisfied with what she saw.

The Rat King's expression was still sour at first, but after thinking that his old companions who followed him would be safe, he felt the deal was worth it.

He didn't care about much: the collectible counted as one, and the lives of his old companions counted as another.

He had been toiling all morning for this, and now his wish was fulfilled.

The human beside him was just infuriating no matter how he looked at her; after touring two workshops, when the Rat King saw that the human still intended to keep browsing, he decided not to accompany her any longer.

"The rest is up to you." The Rat King said irritably, waving his hand, pulling out a metal token engraved with a fierce mouse totem and tossing it to Cheng Shuili, "With this, you can access most areas of the factory."

He paused, tapping his staff, then added, "Remember our agreement: I want results within two days."

The token bore a snarling, clawed mouse head; if you admired its expression without seeing the outline, some might even think it was a tiger.

Cheng Shuili took the token; it was ice‑cold to the touch.

She gave a slight smile, "Fear not, Rat King; I have always kept my word."

As she watched the Rat King's figure vanish into the portal, Cheng Shuili's smile gradually faded.

The Rat King's teleportation ability was indeed convenient, but from himself to others, Cheng Shuili also understood what kind of ability it was.

Just as she could return to her own domain at any time, for the Rat King these places were his domain.

Bringing along a single human was no trouble.

Cheng Shuili caressed the token in her hand, her gaze sweeping over the massive military‑industrial complex.

Although she didn't know the weekly output or profit here, with the system in place, from now on forty percent of the factory's revenue and thirty percent of its firearms would automatically be credited to Cheng Shuili's account, and that was enough.

Cheng Shuili withdrew her gaze and examined the token the Rat King had just given her.

【Rat King's Hand Token】

【Description: A metal token engraved with a mouse‑head totem, representing the supreme authority of the beast‑folk! With this token one can swiftly travel to Shou Ren Xiao Zhen, the trade station, the black market, the Abyss Factory and other territories owned by the Rat King, and also enjoy senior management privileges within the military factory. Possessing this token makes you an eternal friend of the Rat King's beast‑folk faction!】

This…

Cheng Shuili had just wondered why the Rat King left so abruptly, but now seeing the token's function, she was no longer puzzled at all.

The Rat King staying behind, aside from being angry at her expression, served no other purpose; it was better not to see and not to worry.

However, one sentence in the token's description caught her attention—"Rat King faction beast‑folk".

Perhaps she could judge which races belong to the Rat King's faction based on how some beast‑folk treated her.

Having obtained what she wanted, Cheng Shuili relaxed completely.

She observed the firearms production line in the workshop for a while longer, and after confirming she could now equip each Black Feather member with a rifle, she contentedly used the token.

The token has no usage limit; after activation one can freely choose the destination.

This time Cheng Shuili naturally chose Shou Ren Xiao Zhen, keeping her promise to the Rat King to act quickly.

Holding the token, she felt the scenery blur instantly, as if thrown into a high‑speed vortex; after a brief weightless sensation, her feet landed on solid, familiar ground.

The unique air of Shou Ren Xiao Zhen filled her nostrils; unlike the usual bustling market cries, the surrounding noise was a clamor of chaos.

The painful moans, rapid coughs, the police's shouts to maintain order, and an uncontainable atmosphere of panic.

She stood near the town's entrance; looking up, her heart sank.

The once relatively spacious street was now packed with all manner of beast‑folk, most bearing sickly faces and listless spirits.

Coughs rose and fell; many beast‑folk slumped on the roadside or on crude stretchers, their fur dulled and eyes vacant.

Leopard clan, Bear clan, Fox clan…

It seemed that all beast‑folk staying in the territory had come for treatment; here one could see patients of almost every race, except the Wolf clan.

In this moment, Cheng Shuili was acutely aware that she had first brought the Wolf clan beast‑folk into her domain.

The Wolf clan beast‑folk's treatment during this disaster was identical to that of the Black Feather members; it could be said they weathered it very smoothly.

And in Shou Ren Xiao Zhen, even the air was suffused with despair.

A few Bear‑clan doctors in white coats hurried back and forth, their faces grim and movements frantic, yet they seemed somewhat helpless.

Cheng Shuili even saw a pair of police‑uniformed beast‑folk carrying several stretchers covered with white cloth, hurrying toward the town's outskirts; no matter how one looked, the plague here was far worse than that among humans.

The previous famine was similar; Cheng Shuili recalled carefully that humans only suffered famine, whereas here the beast‑folk were starving due to an infectious disease.

"Indeed… life isn't easy."

Cheng Shuili sighed, turned, and headed toward the town's central hospital.

The road from the entrance to the central hospital was packed with beast‑folk wailing in pain.

Relying on the token and the aura of the Supreme King, Cheng Shuili trudged through the chaotic streets; the closer she got to the hospital, the stronger the smell of medicine and the sense of despair became.

The hospital entrance was even more crowded— not with people, but with a mountain of beasts.

As Cheng Shuili stepped into the hospital, a strong odor mingling blood and bitter medicine hit her, making her involuntarily frown.

The lobby was strewn with patients lying in every direction; painful moans and coughs filled the air.

A rabbit nurse was frantically feeding medicine, but the effect was negligible.

Cheng Shuili's gaze swept the room and quickly fixed on a familiar figure: the Wolf‑clan doctor Lang Yu, known for his penchant for petty theft!

When distributing mineral water mixed with a drop of Eternal Life Bottle elixir to the Wolf‑clan beast‑folk, many took extra portions, claiming they were for family members working elsewhere.

Now, watching Lang Yu's robust body, Cheng Shuili knew he had likely already taken his share.

Cheng Shuili was contemplating whether to approach when Lang Yu's ears twitched, as if noticing the unusual gaze, and he suddenly turned his head toward her.

Realizing who was staring, Lang Yu's entire wolf head flushed from the base of his neck to the top, as if it would burst into smoke any second.

To prevent the guy from doing something embarrassing, Cheng Shuili got the drop on him first, pressed his shoulder, and whispered, "Come with me."

Lang Yu's expression was excited; he pressed his lips together, making no sound, merely his excited face flushed red as he struggled to restrain himself and nodded, closely following behind the king.

This appearance was just like a fan from a previous life finally meeting the celebrity they had long admired.

Really strange.

Cheng Shuili has become king, not debuted!