The flea nest destroyed by the fire was in a mess. The devastated ground was littered with the burnt corpses of rats and refugees. Wisps of green smoke slowly rose from the ruined plain. It was impossible to tell whether it was cooking smoke or corpse smoke from burning corpses.
The farmer's market has been completely burned down, and the roof and beams of the wooden structure have all collapsed and shattered. Only some brick and concrete walls are still left on the ground, scorched black, like a withered giant with its remaining limbs.
Broken arms were scattered on the ground.
Homeless people re-erected tents on the abandoned land, and children rummaged through the garbage piles looking for things that could be sold or materials that could be reused. But usually as soon as they found something, other children around them would
Swarming over to snatch...
Men go out to look for work, while women wait for food relief at home. Occasionally, generous passers-by pass by the ruined shanty towns. At this time, many women will come out of their tents and look at these fully clothed men with pitiful eyes.
. What are you longing for... Yes, with just a copper penny, these outsiders can do whatever they want in the shanty town... If they are more generous and take out a bag of black bread or something, then the men in the family can even spend three days.
Don't dare to come back...
In the early morning, under the dazzling sunlight, Rhodes wore a black one-piece cloak and rode in black through the desolate and dilapidated slums. The sight he saw was like a sharp knife constantly stabbing Rhodes' heart. Before the fire,
This is the largest slum in Oerengrad. Countless wooden and earthen simple houses are stacked on top of each other to accommodate more poor people. After the disaster, although the number of people was reduced by half, there were still a large number of tents set up by the survivors.
, densely covered with this land, looking from a distance, it looks like a mushroom plain.
Rhodes was not even in the mood to ask about the situation of the refugees. Every step he took, there would be scattered women in ragged clothes begging on the street. They had long been accustomed to paid begging, and their eyes were numb and dull, as if
It just became a living empty shell.
With a loud shout, Rhodes clamped his horse and galloped past.
Dust was flying, and when they arrived at the Civic Square, tens of thousands of people had gathered here. Rhodes knew that they were not only here to hear the results of the fire investigation, but more importantly, they wanted to hear the next official policy from his side.
Measures, especially disaster relief policies and measures. How much rationed food is distributed, are there any work arrangements, etc...
Alves walked up to the podium first and gave a brief speech and report. Then Rhodes walked onto the stone platform under the spotlight. The crowd below was a little commotion, maybe because of excitement, or because they wanted to get closer to the front and listen.
I heard some important news. There was a commotion in the crowd and was immediately suppressed by Rhodes' loud voice——
"Citizens of Erengrad and people of Kislev, be quiet. Today, I have something very important that I must announce to everyone here."
Rhodes cleared his voice and continued——
"Regarding the investigation results of this rare large fire, as well as the aftermath of the fire."
A burst of cheers erupted from the crowd. This obvious wave of spontaneous cheers could be felt. Especially when people heard the second half of the sentence about the government's follow-up relief measures, a glimmer of hope once again appeared in people's originally painful and numb eyes.
"Let me talk about the latter first, relief policies and measures."
Rhodes is so serious——
"The fourth batch of supplies from all over the kingdom is on the way. The city has been lifted from the blockade. By then, supplies and food will enter the city at a faster speed. At the same time, all outer port terminals have been opened, and merchant ships from all over the Old Continent will also come in.
Keep driving in. Compatriots, brothers and sisters, I, Rod Lawn, make a promise to you here. I and all the officials of Erengrad will do our best to save this city. You can still be here
Survive and live.”
"Praise be to the great lord! The dragon conqueror! The great builder!"
The crowd burst into cheers.
Looking at the dark crowd, Rhodes made a quiet gesture and continued -
"We must face this disaster together and overcome it together. The city will restore order, and production and life must get back on track. To this end, the city will organize large-scale post-disaster reconstruction and recovery work. We need a large number of migrant workers to dig underground sewers again.
, a large number of migrant workers are needed to build new residences. You will have jobs again and live a normal life again!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a deafening burst of cheers erupted in the square. This kind of cheers was stronger and more exciting than when the legionnaires set out to conquer foreign lands. It was the desire for survival.
"You will have bread and honey! I promise!"
"The Shepherd Textile Mill will reopen and resume production! When the pig iron from Blackhammer Castle arrives at the outer port, the Black Steel Smelter will also restart! Brothers and sisters, people of Kislev, people of Oerengrad
Refugees, we will regain our jobs, regain the power to live and survive! Put into production and take back everything that originally belonged to us! Let us use our actions to tell the world that Elengrad is undefeated! Kisri
The lady is invincible!"
Rhodes gave a speech as if he was fanning the flames, and the scene was once out of control. The crowd's emotions reached their climax, which was the release after months of suppression. Everyone was refreshed. In the extreme ecstasy, they temporarily forgot about the pain.
Seeing that the scene was already heated and people were almost excited and happy, Rhodes immediately changed the subject, his face became extremely gloomy, and he motioned for everyone to be quiet again.
He waved his hand and shouted——
"But don't be too happy too early. Our enemies are still alive! Listen to me, fellow citizens of Elengrad, the enemy still exists! The terrible enemy that caused this great destruction is still watching us in secret! We
We must wake up, the crisis has not completely passed, and this city is not completely safe yet!"
The alarmist words made the crowd suddenly fall silent. As if someone was trying to snatch something from a tiger's mouth, everyone stopped attentively and listened carefully to what the great lord was going to say next. They wanted to know what this so-called enemy, the great enemy, was like.
Where! Who are they? No matter what, they cannot let this enemy take away the jobs and relief they have received, and they cannot let this foreign enemy take away their lives and livelihoods again.
"The culprit of this big fire has been found."
Rhodes paused, and the crowd became even quieter. They stood there, all listening attentively to what the great lord and savior on the stage had to say.
With that said, Rhodes nodded to the guard on the side, and saw the guard of the great lord next to him wearing snow-white armor walking down the stage and bringing up several strange creatures that were dirty and smelly.
A whole team of elite guards escorted these stooped monsters with dirty fur. Yes, they are indeed monsters to most civilians in Elengrad!
Several fur creatures of various sizes were shorter than normal humans, and their fur was completely black. They seemed to be able to walk on all fours, or on two legs like humans. They were dragged along by several large lord guards.
He was brought to the stone platform and his head was grabbed in fear while trembling.
The crowd immediately let out bursts of exclamations.
They saw a strange and terrifying creature! A terrifying creature with a rat tail but could stand on two legs.
The guards roughly pulled up the heads of these creatures. The tiny faces looked like enlarged versions of mice. They had small blood-red eyes, huge noses protruding from the facial bones, and broad ears like mice. One of them was still there.
Sniffing the air in front of him, his huge nose twitched in the air, causing bursts of sighs.
"This is Rat Man!"
Rhodes shouted——
"You may have never seen them before, but they are real! Right under the city we live in! When the plague comes, they pour pots of pus filled with germs into our water sources,
Polluting our cities and poisoning our people! It is these monsters that have caused the death of thousands of innocent people! And, in order to eliminate us faster, they created this unprecedented fire! The reason is to occupy
Our home, transform this city into a dungeon suitable for them to live in!"
fool……
The crowd let out even stronger exclamations. Not only because of the terrifying and ferocious appearance of the Rat Man, but also because of the shocking inside story told by Lord Rhodes. It turns out that there have always been such monsters hidden under their city, and there are so many of them.
There are so many that you can’t imagine. Plague and death are all brought by these terrible creatures!
For a moment, the crowd was filled with complex emotions, including fear, anger, and contempt.
"But please rest assured, the Northern Allied Forces have cleared the underground and killed all these evil alien creatures. When the sewer construction is resumed, we will not encounter these terrible monsters again."
Rhodes continued, his voice slightly higher-pitched...