Wait for my good news.

The situation quickly spiraled out of control...

Cook’s eyes suddenly went vacant, and his body slowly leaned backward, collapsing heavily onto the ground. The ratfolk instantly sobered up. They had thought their opponents only meant to frighten them—a show of force, nothing more. But to their shock, the enemy had revealed a true intent to kill.

Those gathered at the riverbank scattered in all directions. One ratfolk, who had just raised a stone to throw, immediately dropped it, spun around, and fled as fast as his legs could carry him.

Along the banks of the Tam River, a crowd of ratfolk ran for their lives, shouting and crying out as they sprinted:

“We’re done for!”

“Outsiders! Outsiders are here! Run!”

Wu Fan, too, was caught up in the moment. Arrow after arrow flew, but all missed their mark. The ratfolk were small and agile, and Wu Fan lacked any real archery talent. He stamped his foot in frustration on the deck.

“All units, build a bridge and disembark!”

At Wu Fan’s command, the entire fleet sprang into action. Over a thousand human warriors leapt from their ships into the river, weapons in hand, and in no time swam to the shore.

“Kill them all! Leave no one alive!”

Wu Fan charged at the head of his force, his staff felling an elderly ratfolk farmer who couldn’t run fast enough. The rest of his people surged forward, beating the unlucky ratfolk to death with their cudgels.

Scenes like this played out all along the riverbank. Wu Fan’s men had already acted with impunity and arrogance on the Parando Plateau; now, facing unarmed ratfolk farmers and laborers, they were even more ruthless and unrestrained.

The farmland surrounding Horseshoe Mountain was cultivated entirely by ratfolk. The grand court atop the mountain was less than two kilometers from the Tam River. Overwhelmed, the ratfolk who survived the onslaught fled in a desperate stream toward the mountain.

Meanwhile, Yang Jie lay resting by the riverbank, unaware that invaders had struck and the settlement was in chaos. He noticed the growing commotion but thought little of it at first, simply brushing aside the leaf covering his face and rising to his feet.

Within sight, his people were in a complete panic. The ratfolk farmers from the riverbank were fleeing toward the grand court.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Yang Jie, confused, grabbed a fleeing clansman to ask.

“Run for your life! Outsiders are attacking!”

No sooner had he spoken than the ratfolk took off again at full speed.

Yang Jie was stunned—outsiders? Where had outsiders come from?

Suddenly, he realized something and looked toward the riverbank. There, a vast horde of human warriors was relentlessly hunting down his clansmen. The mass of black-armored figures numbered over a thousand; any ratfolk they caught were executed on the spot.

Watching his people slaughtered before him, a burning fury surged in Yang Jie’s heart!

He stared at these uninvited guests from upstream, piecing together the situation in his mind. Without hesitation, he began running toward the grand court.

On the grand court,

Within the Black Banner Army’s main camp,

One-Eye was, as usual, leading his troops in training on the parade ground. Suddenly, a group of ratfolk came running up. They were about to enter the camp when the guards at the gate stopped them.

“Who goes there? Why are you trespassing in the Black Banner camp?”

The sentry barked the challenge.

“There are outsiders attacking! Notify your commander at once!” the lead ratfolk said, his anxious face betraying no hint of deceit.

“Outsiders? Attacking?” The guard, gripping his spear, realized the gravity of the situation and rushed to report.

Three minutes later...

One-Eye strode up to the podium in the center of the training ground.

“All ratfolk, assemble where you are!”

The Black Banner soldiers stopped their training and relayed the order to one another.

“Form up! Quickly, quickly!”

Soon, all one thousand Black Banner soldiers were assembled and ready.

Outside the grand court,

Wu Fan and his men pursued the fleeing ratfolk all the way to the city walls. When the ratfolk had all escaped inside, he signaled his troops to begin clearing the battlefield, carting away the piles of grain and timber.

At that moment, a system notification chimed:

[Honored lord, you have discovered another lord player's city-state—Grand Court. Conquering another lord's city-state will grant additional rewards and achievements.]

“A city-state?”

“These ratfolk actually have a city-state!”

Wu Fan was ecstatic; he hadn’t expected such a surprise. Staring up at the grand court on Horseshoe Mountain, it looked to him like a fat lamb awaiting slaughter.

“Bring up the siege engines and prepare to attack!”

“Yes, sir!”

After issuing an order to his adjutant, Wu Fan opened the guild chat.

Wu Fan: Guess what I just found! (funny face)

Below the emoji, he attached a screenshot of the grand court.

Zhang Wenyuan: What’s this? A city-state?

Wu Fan: That’s right, a city-state of ratfolk.

Feng Wanqing: Why are you so happy? If there’s a city-state, it means this whole area’s been taken. Move on to another place.

Wu Fan: You don’t get it. The farmland around this city-state is incredibly fertile—there are so many resources, we couldn’t haul them all if we tried.

Feng Wanqing: So you brought two thousand men to attack someone else’s city-state? You must be mad!

Wu Fan: You don’t understand. These ratfolk only know how to farm—they’re ridiculously weak. I’ve slaughtered over two hundred of them, and they haven’t even responded, just cowering inside the city, too scared to come out!

Feng Wanqing: Are you stupid or just pretending? They’re definitely calling for reinforcements. You’d better run! If they have any allies, none of your two thousand men will get out alive.

Wu Fan: You’re not here, so you don’t get it. These ratfolk are tiny and pathetically weak. I’ve followed the river upstream and haven’t seen any other species. Clearly, they lucked into this territory and have never fought a war.

Feng Wanqing: Fine, if you want to die, I’m not stopping you. But I want the three warships I invested in returned immediately! If you want to get yourself killed, leave me out of it. Only know how to farm? If that were true, could they build a city-state in a year?

Wu Fan: Clearly, I can’t explain it to you. Forget it. Where’s the boss?

Fang Wenyuan: The boss is getting married today, probably won’t see system messages. Brother, take it easy—doesn’t matter how much you loot, just don’t mess this up. This isn’t Parando, after all.

Wu Fan: Don’t worry about me! Just wait for good news!

With that, he closed the system interface.

“Chief, we’re ready—siege teams are in position!”

“Good! Where’s Dago?”

“Right here.”

A white-bearded old man, staff in hand, rode up on a white horse. This was none other than the legendary human hero: the Grand Mage from Dalaran, the Spell-Singer Antonidas.

“Dago! Glad you made it!”

“Hm...” Antonidas seemed a bit uneasy. As the supreme mage of the Dalaran Academy, he found himself constantly dragged into undignified affairs by this lord.

On the city wall of the grand court, Yang Jie had just finished a brief meeting with his officers.

“Old Sha, take some people and comfort the victims’ families.”

“Understood!”

“One-Eye, Shuke, have the Black Banner Army and the Linked Battalion take over city defense.”

“Understood!”

“Johnny, send two men outside the city to scout enemy numbers.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Now, let’s set out our battle plan... First, we’ll do this... Then this... And then this... Finally, this... If all else fails, we’ll do that... Understood?”

“Understood!”

“Got it.”

“Proceed as planned. Everyone to their posts!”

After Yang Jie finished his assignments, the officers returned to their duties.

Below the slopes of Horseshoe Mountain, over two thousand human soldiers stood ready, awaiting Wu Fan’s order to begin the assault.