Chapter 172: The Swarm of Ratmen

Squeak!!!

The moment the chieftain Bigfoot Rat issued its war cry, the ratmen warriors below the throne erupted in frenzy, raising their crude weapons and roaring.

"War!"

"Devour the weak humans!"

"Hail Bigfoot Rat!"

The ratmen warriors were towering and muscular, with grotesque green eyeballs covering their heads and bodies.

Technically speaking, they were all offspring of Bigfoot Rat.

Bigfoot Rat had been born in the Chaos Gene Engineering Laboratory of Yosef Hoffman, bearing prominent Chaos characteristics.

The most striking feature was the horrifying eyeballs scattered across its body—a trait passed down to its offspring.

As the cheers echoed through the "palace," the entire Trash Mountain district of the Underhive came alive.

Ratmen swarmed out of their burrows, gathering en masse.

Most ratmen warriors were hideous mutants, with many of their eyeballs rotting away. Some were missing limbs due to extensive inbreeding, resulting in severe genetic defects.

Yet, none of this diminished their vitality.

The ratmen warriors donned crude, rusted armor and carried mismatched shields, swords, and spears as they assembled in a disorganized but menacing formation.

Among the horde, various specialized warriors stood out:

Ratling Gunners, armed with large makeshift machine guns fashioned from scrap.

Flamethrower Rats, equipped with fuel tanks and gas masks.

Psyker Rats, shrouded in black robes, radiating psychic energy.

Suicide Rats, small and wiry, their bodies covered in explosives.

Even squadrons of Rat Knights riding grotesque mutated rats were present.

The army also included improvised war machines:

Radiation Bomb Launchers, hauled by smaller mutant rats.

Armored Rat Tanks, spewing black smoke as they lumbered forward.

These weapons, cobbled together from the refuse of Trash Mountain, were crude and prone to malfunction.

During their assembly, a mutated rat ridden by a Rat Knight gnawed through the fuel tank of a nearby Flamethrower Rat.

The leaking fuel ignited, turning the unfortunate rat into a living fireball.

Squeak!

The flaming rat ran frantically, spreading fire to other ratmen before detonating a cluster of nearby Suicide Rats.

Boom!

The explosion obliterated dozens of ratmen, showering the area with scorched limbs.

An armored rat tank's driver, peeking out from the hatch, was splattered with the gore.

Instead of being perturbed, the driver licked the blood off its face, savoring the "delicacy."

The chaos barely fazed the ratmen. To them, such accidents were as routine as eating rotten flesh and sleeping.

They simply mocked the misfortune of the victims.

Despite these setbacks, the ratmen horde soon gathered in full force.

Dozens of Rat Guards carried Bigfoot Rat's throne from the underground palace, and the chieftain proudly surveyed its army, ignoring the occasional explosions and mishaps.

Squeak! Attack!

Bigfoot Rat roared the command.

The vanguard units had already achieved significant success, and now was the time for a full-scale assault.

The ratmen swarm would trample everything in the human world!

The horde surged forward like a black tide, flooding toward the exit of the Underhive.

Seated on the throne at the center of the army, Bigfoot Rat's eyes burned with deep hatred.

"Feeble human world, remember this day.

The great Bigfoot Rat has descended and will rule this planet.

You weaklings shall grovel at my feet in terror!"

The Mutant Tribe

In a mutant camp, grotesque figures gathered around a fire, tearing apart the flesh of their latest prey—a group of scavengers.

These poor humans had eked out a meager existence in the Underhive, only to become food for the mutants.

The mutants ripped and devoured the flesh while the scavengers' screams echoed. Their leader, gnawing on a skull, suddenly sensed something amiss.

The ground was trembling!

Roaring, the leader threw the skull aside and grabbed a massive spiked club.

The other mutants followed suit, arming themselves and preparing to defend their territory.

This was the largest and most powerful tribe in the area—any enemy foolish enough to challenge them would end up in their bellies.

As hundreds of mutants rushed to the camp's gates, howling with bloodlust, they froze in shock.

Stretching to the horizon was an endless swarm of ratmen.

The cacophony of their high-pitched squeaks pierced the mutants' ears like knives.

It was the ratmen!

Terror gripped the mutants as they realized escape was impossible.

The ratmen horde surged forward like a tidal wave, overwhelming the camp in moments.

When the swarm passed, nothing remained but blood-streaked bones.

The ratmen army didn't pause, pressing onward toward their ultimate target—the human world.

Underhive – Loyalist Academy Outpost

The Loyalist Academy's temporary supply station stood against a towering metal wall, one of millions of support pillars holding up the Hive City's vast superstructure.

The outpost was a vital lifeline for cadets undergoing training in the Underhive, providing supplies and protection to ensure their safety.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Autocannons blazed, spitting fire as they mowed down dozens of charging ratmen, reducing them to bloody chunks.

Squeak!

But more ratmen swarmed forward, their sheer numbers overwhelming the defenses.

The autocannons overheated from prolonged use, their barrels glowing red-hot before finally jamming. Seizing the opportunity, ratmen artillery destroyed the cannons.

In truth, the cannons were already nearly useless. The outpost had exhausted its ammunition, and the last rounds had just been fired.

"Hold the line! Don't let these damn rats through!"

At the perimeter, dozens of Tribunal-enhanced warriors and Loyalist Academy guards fought desperately to repel the invaders.

Despite their efforts, some ratmen breached the defenses, charging toward the heart of the outpost.

They were swiftly cut down.

High-energy laser beams left smoldering holes in their bodies.

The figure responsible was a tall man clad in black robes and heavy Inquisitorial power armor—Deville, the Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal.

Deville wielded a plasma gun with deadly precision, slaughtering any ratmen that broke through the line.

Standing as a shield before the cadets, he protected them with his life.

Days earlier, while investigating the Underhive, Deville had received word from this outpost.

The cadets of the Biogene Academy had encountered mutants during their training.

Deville had rushed to the outpost to investigate, only to find it under siege by a swarm of intelligent and organized ratmen mutants.

Recognizing the immense threat, he had immediately reported the situation and requested reinforcements.

Yet even he hadn't anticipated the sheer scale of the invasion.

Wave after wave of ratmen assailed the outpost, giving the defenders no respite.

Now, the outpost was nearly out of supplies and ammunition.

Deville's expression was grim as he stared at the endless horde outside.

At this rate, the defenses would fall within ten minutes, and every human inside would be slaughtered.

(End of Chapter)

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