From Skaven to God of War

Chapter 409, Steel and Steam
The ratmen's development of the Black Iron Star is not even halfway completed, and even the war against the stone-shell monsters, the planet's indigenous inhabitants, has not yet ended. In the last cleanup war, the ratmen only drove these stone-shell monsters deep underground on the Black Iron Star, and did not completely exterminate these hard stone men.

These guys would pop up from time to time and cause some trouble to the rat people.

On the Black Iron Star, there is a ratman city under construction. The city was built to mine an unremarkable mineral, iron ore.

Iron ore can be regarded as the thing with the largest reserves in Black Iron Star, and it is also the most common thing. We can get a glimpse of this from the name that the ratmen engineers give to this planet, Black Iron.

These iron ores brought out from the core of the planet by volcanoes or geological movements do not even exist in the form of alloys with impurities. They are just a large piece of iron. They do not even have time to oxidize and rust. They are just a large piece of iron.

If you suddenly see a spot of darkness in the wilderness of this Black Iron Star, then there is no doubt that the black spot is a line of iron ore, a line of iron ore exposed on the surface.

This is where the name Black Iron comes from.

The extremely abundant metal veins on this planet even spoiled the rat people's appetite. The small veins scattered across the surface of the planet even lost their value of being mined by the rat people.

At this time, a question arises. Since the iron ore on the Black Iron Star is so abundant, what kind of iron ore is worthy of the rats to build a city there?

Several crude benzene steam tracked vehicles were traveling on the wilderness of this black iron planet.

They set out from the super city that served as a node in this area, and this time their mission was to transport the first batch of workers to the newly built city.

Due to cost considerations, it is impossible for the rat people to endlessly transport immigrants to every colonized planet using their star battleships.

After transporting enough people to build the first ratman city and new young ratmen were born, the initial colonization of the ratmen was completed.

Later, after one rat city after another is established, the second and third generation rat people who were born and raised on this planet will take on the main responsibility of exploring and building this colonized planet.

And began to transport the mined resources outside the planet.

In essence, the rat people's colonization practice is almost the same as their establishment of resource cities at resource points, except that now what they regard as resource points is no longer one or two forests or one or two mineral veins, but an entire planet.

This steam track is not new, and is even covered with various marks. It is not surprising, as this is also an old car, a model from eighty years ago. It is possible that the grandfathers of these rat people on the car are not as old as this tracked car.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the car was not very good, it was very quiet, perhaps because outside the city there was a turbid air with a faint stench. The active volcano not only ejected a large amount of resources from deep underground, but also brought this turbid air with a faint stench.

Large amounts of sulfide gases were sent into the atmosphere by active volcanoes. Even the rats, who had excellent tolerance to various harsh environments, could not endure this toxic air for long.

Although this unbearable time scale may have to be pushed to years, anyone who cherishes his own life will at least hang a simple filter device on his face.

For example, the big nose of the rat mercenary driving the car is covered by a full-coverage filter.

But this requires financial support, and those who are sent to work in the wilderness often have no money.

Blood money, some small flakes that are either yellow or copper-green, have officially become the standard currency of the Ratman Empire.

It is a currency circulated among the free ratmen, who make up the largest part of the Skaven Empire.

And it only exists in the form of a small flake.

Of course, the currency in the Skaven Empire is not limited to blood gold, but for these Skaven freemen, blood gold alone is enough, and of course there are higher currencies as well.

For example, the Soul Stone. Yes, these dark blue stones have also become part of the Ratman’s monetary system.

The inferior ones are the green ones taken from living flesh, and the most precious are the azure soul stones scattered by death comets.

These things have actually become a kind of hard currency among the rat people. After all, the normal navigation of the rat people's starry sky warships is inseparable from these stones with either low-quality green or faint blue colors.

It is a hard currency.

Of course, there are more further up.

Take the blood mushrooms for example. After many twists and turns, in fact, until now, the blood mushrooms still have some monetary functions in the Ratman Empire and can still circulate as currency. It's just that because their life essence has been over-sucked by those greedy vampires, the circulation of blood mushrooms has been greatly reduced and can hardly support the intelligence of conventional currency.

These are the things that can currently be used as currency in the Ratman Empire. Of course, barter still exists.

Can you imagine that these guys, who are capable of space travel, retain even the most basic barter when conducting internal transactions?

Relative progress, this description is extremely appropriate for the rat people.

A simple filtering device actually doesn't cost much blood gold, only three to five blood gold coins, which is not expensive in this category.

But if you look closely at the situation of these ratmen freemen, you will find that almost none of them has purchased such a set of protective equipment for themselves.

Three to five blood gold coins, this is not an expensive price, probably only two to three days' salary for a ratman freeman.

But this is a price that is not difficult to afford, only three to five blood gold coins, then the simple filtering device foundation can greatly reduce the inhaled toxic gases, in exchange for health and longer life.

But still none of these guys were willing to make the exchange, which could only mean one thing: either these guys were so poor that they couldn't even afford three to five blood gold pieces, or these guys felt that their lives and health were simply not worth exchanging for those small golden discs.

So which one is it? Actually, it's both.

In fact, the newly-born bureaucrats and new power holders in the Ratman Empire soon discovered something very interesting.

That is, the cost-effectiveness of the ratmen free people.

These guys absorbed the theory that was born in the Waste City and pushed it forward a step further. They found something very interesting. If you drive slave rats, you have to pay for the purchase, the food you consume, the pills you may need, and the shelter.

However, the minimum amount of money you need to pay to drive these ratmen freemen, who seem to have more say and are not so easy to control, is just enough to keep them from starving to death.

Moreover, compared to those slave rats that riot from time to time, these free ratmen are more active and proactive. They even work harder than those slave rats in nodding and bowing to please you.

All they had to pay was a tiny amount of money, enough to keep them from starving to death.

This is really a good deal, isn't it?

This is why the rat-breeding house eventually disappeared completely in the history of the rat-men.

Those bureaucrats, the ratmen who hold power, discovered that they only needed to invest the most basic food relief into the city, and then no matter what kind of ratmen they wanted or what kind of tools they wanted, they would grow among these free ratmen.

At most, you'll just have to pay a few more shiny copper pieces.

Could it be cheaper than this?
It’s gone, it’s gone, and it won’t be there anymore.

A gust of wind blew over, bringing up the dark sand, and a sandstorm arrived in the wilderness.

The gravel hitting the metal shell of the tracked vehicle finally brought some spirit back to the numb ratmen on the vehicle.

In fact, these guys were far from the worst among the ratmen free people, at least before they failed.

Trainee engineer, businessman, engraver, apprentice, yes, yes!

And there are those bureaucrats.

The sources are varied, and the reasons for being sent to this tracked vehicle are also varied.

A loser who risked everything and even borrowed money to pass the assessment to become a real rat engineer, but ended up buying inferior materials.

A small businessman whose goods were burned in a fire.

An engraver who made an error in his engraving.

An apprentice without grades.

And the petty official who lost the power struggle. Damn it, wasn't this guy's former boss just a security guard in charge of a small street? Can this also be called a power struggle? It's crazy!
There are many guys who have to board this tracked vehicle heading into the wilderness for various reasons.

The only thing these guys have in common is probably that they all belong to the same group of free ratmen.

That imperial code was far from banning the ratmen's fighting and various crimes, nor did it intend to ban the ratmen's various fights and crimes.

The only advantage of these free ratmen over the slave rats is that at least they still have choices on the surface.

For example, at this moment, even though everyone understands what the most likely outcome is, they still hold out some hope.

Maybe, maybe what I'm facing is going to be even more different.

Until the sudden crash and violent shaking sounded in the dancing sand.

This group of guys was transported by a rather large convoy, which had more than a hundred tracked transport vehicles, capable of transporting tens of thousands of ratmen at a time. These guys who were forced to embark on the journey were stuffed into the rear half of the tracked vehicle's carriage like sardines in a can.

Leaving the city and stepping into the wilderness is indeed not an easy thing to do, and it involves danger. However, in the past, the danger in the wilderness would gradually decrease as the size of the convoy increased.

These one hundred or so tracked transport vehicles were enough to eliminate most of the dangers in the wilderness, but unexpectedly, an accident still happened.

The transport vehicle at the head of the team was paralyzed and the convoy stopped. The raging sand blocked most of the view. Looking out through the glass grille windows, all that could be seen was the black sand.

The rat mercenaries in the transport vehicle's cab clenched their steam rifles.

This is the weapon that the ratmen used to replace the magic rifles after they stepped into the starry sky. The relative progress can also be felt in these steam rifles.

As soul gems became increasingly expensive and rare due to the construction of the star fleet, the weapons in the hands of the ratmen had to be downgraded.

Without the soul gem, even those inferior green stones would be useless, so what would be used as a replacement?

At that time, the Big Claw Priests, who had just stepped into the starry sky and had not yet changed their names to become Rat Engineers, all turned their attention to something they were using more and more proficiently.

steam.

The steam boiler was miniaturized, covered with rubber pipes, connected to an ordinary iron pipe, and a valve and a pressurizing device were added. That's it, it's done.

This is how steam guns came into being.

During these years of development, steam firearms have made great progress in the hands of the ratmen.

For example, the styles worn by these rat mercenaries.

Equipped with a small steam boiler, a rapid-fire valve, and a double-chamber pressurizing device, it can spray armor-piercing steel needle bullets carrying scalding steam at the enemy in a very short time.

Don't underestimate this strange thing. The bullets it fires can easily penetrate the bones of most creatures.

Moreover, this is not a true military model, but a stability maintenance model specially provided to ratmen security guards. It is also an old model that has been eliminated forty years ago. It is only loved by ratmen mercenaries because of its simple structure and excellent portability.

These rat mercenaries did not leave the armored vehicles rashly.

The fear from the unknown made them even more nervous. They couldn't help but tighten their grip on the steam rifles. Suddenly, a scream came from the communicator on their waists, followed by a desperate wail.

"Death worm!"

All of a sudden, the communicator was in complete chaos.

"Death worm! How could there be a death worm here?!"

"It's those damned stone-shell beasts! They've escaped again!"

Listening to the messy words in the communicator, a look of fear appeared on the face of the rat mercenary.

It came from the death worm and also from those stone shell beasts.

Don’t look at the fact that these guys have been defeated miserably since the ratmen arrived on this planet. They were even beaten so hard that they retreated deeper into the earth’s crust to escape. They seem like a group of insignificant guys.

But that depends on who you compare with.

The group that could beat these guys and make them flee in panic were the regular troops led by the rat warlord, the group of arrogant storm rat warriors who looked down on others, but not these rat mercenaries who were busy running around in the wilderness for a few blood gold coins!
There was no better way. They simply could not deal with the stone man carrying the death worm.

The only thing I could do was curl up in the car and pray that I wouldn't become the target of the stone man.

In despair, the young rat mercenary with a hideous scar on his face could not help but mutter in a low voice.

"Great God, please bless me and keep me alive!"

Du Yuan's belief has not disappeared among the rat people. Even though the rat people today are not as fanatical about gods, they still can't help but call out to the great gods when they are in danger or excited. It has become something like a proverb.

This is a relic from a once-fanatic era.

In fear, he whispered softly.

Of course, even he who was holding the steam gun was so panicked, not to mention the goods he was transporting.

Some of the crowded ratmen freemen in the carriage were already shouting in fear.

It seemed as if he saw something in the howling black sand.

But this angered the young rat mercenary. He stood on tiptoe, holding the steam gun in his hand, and stuck his head into the carriage behind him, shouting sharply.

"You damn idiots! If you want to live, shut up!"

It was quite effective. Amid the black muzzle of the gun and the hideous scar on the young rat mercenary's face, these guys quickly quieted down.

After doing all this, the young rat mercenary seemed to remember something.

He hurriedly picked up a black iron box from under the seat in the corner, which was about the size of his head.

He fumbled for the pick and pulled it to the far right without hesitation. In an instant, a sharp buzzing sound was heard.

The iron box he used as a stepping stone was the portable boiler of the steam rifle in his hand. Now, he had increased the power of this portable boiler to the maximum, and that was where the sharp buzzing sound came from.

He hoped it would save his life.

The death worm noticed him, and seemed to notice his tracked transporter, or maybe not.

The young rat mercenary only saw a huge shadow flashing through the dark sand.

His eyes turned red. The poor guy couldn't stand such pressure. His eyes turned red. He raised the steam rifle high in his hand and began to shoot wildly in a frenzy, thinking about the place where the black shadow flashed by, until he could no longer hold the steam rifle in his hand due to the burning of the boiling steam.

The loaded armor-piercing needles had already been shot out by him.

There was no movement. In the dark sandstorm, he didn't know whether he hit the target or not. He was even unsure whether he really saw the black shadow that flashed by.

The courage that I had summoned up in the frenzy was completely gone in a very short time, and now only fear was left.

The steam rifle in his hand was thrown aside, and he curled up in panic in fear.

A timid fellow.

(End of this chapter)