Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 102 The Unruly Local Rats
"Don't even mention a talking crow, even if it were a crow that could flip tables, you'd still have to hand over the camera now." Lu Ran paused, his black bean eyes sweeping over the heavy camera that Janna was desperately protecting to her chest, a hint of impatience flashing across his face.

After all, this camera must have taken some photos that shouldn't have been taken, and it absolutely cannot be kept.

Janna instinctively tightened her arms, about to speak—

But Lu Ran didn't give her any room to defend herself!
With a muffled thud, Lu Ran's hind legs slammed into the ground, and in the next instant, his round body transformed into a gray lightning bolt, crashing heavily into Jenny's arms!
"Ugh!" Janna felt an unimaginable force slam into her arms and camera, as if her chest had been struck by an anvil. She cried out in pain, and the numbness and soreness in her arms made it impossible for her to hold on any longer.

In that instant of relaxation, Lu Ran's nimble little paws darted into the gap and precisely hooked onto the camera strap. Then, a rough tug—"Screech!"

The screeching sound of leather scraping rang out!
"My camera!" Jenna exclaimed.

Under her wide-eyed gaze, the heavy camera was roughly snatched from her arms as if it were nothing. Then, with a dull thud, the camera was carelessly tossed onto the nearby concrete ground like a rag doll, rolling twice before coming to a stop, clearly broken.

Janna felt heartbroken and instinctively wanted to rush over to check on her baby.

"okay."

Lu Ran's voice was like a bucket of cold water poured over her, freezing her in place.

“Now we can talk. First of all… you mentioned the talking crow? Be more specific, and why did you come here to take pictures? Was someone instructing you, or did you come on your own? And what is your purpose?”

Hearing Lu Ran's voice, Janna finally came to her senses and realized her current situation.

But looking at the shattered camera, she couldn't help but wonder... Was the force that had just crashed into her arms really just from a gray squirrel?
Listening to the fluent voice uttered by Lu Ran, the fear in my heart was slowly suppressed by professional instinct and a glimmer of hope.

She took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound steady, though it still trembled almost imperceptibly:
“…Yes, I was talking about crows.” She licked her dry lips.

“I…I have a pet crow. His name is Bobo, and he's quite special. I found him after a storm; he was injured. I rescued him. He's so smart; he understands a lot of what I say and can hide things…”

Her gaze turned to Lu Ran with a complex mix of emotions, tinged with the bitterness of accepting reality. "I even thought... that his ability to speak was unique... until now..."

Lu Ran listened quietly without interrupting.

Jenna took a deep breath and composed herself: "Then I came to the Morse factory... mainly to investigate the cannibal rats... but looking at you all, you seem a little different from what I imagined."

"Man-eating rats?" Lu Ran, who had been silent, suddenly froze.

"What the hell? There are man-eating rats in Baker City? Where did you get that news? Let me tell you, my rat is very well-behaved. You reporters shouldn't spread rumors."

Seeing Lu Ran's bewildered and completely unaware expression, Jenny was also a little puzzled. After calming down a bit, she organized her thoughts and spoke faster:
"It's in Blackstone Alley, about five blocks from here. A few days ago, people started reporting that... very ferocious gray rats had appeared in the alley, specifically targeting lone people at night."

The person who reported the incident said that the gray rats were frighteningly fast and ridiculously strong, with teeth like knives that could easily bite through leather boots and even thin wooden boards! Several people were seriously injured, with cuts on their legs so deep that the bone was visible... Some even said that a homeless person had gone missing deep in the alley...

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the numerous but seemingly civilized swarm of rats around her, her tone carrying a hint of ambiguity:
"The police investigated several times, but only caught a few particularly large, but still ordinary-sized, gray rats. They were not as terrifying as described, and then the matter was dropped."

But the more inconclusive the official investigation became, the more outlandish the rumors grew, claiming that cannibalistic rats had appeared... and that they were lurking throughout the entire industrial area of ​​Baker City.

She shrugged helplessly. "If you're asking where the most gray rats are, the least afraid of people, and the most famous, it's definitely your MOS factory with its rat head logo! You can see swarms of gray rats outside the factory... I'm worried it's because you're a major taxpayer, so the authorities don't dare to investigate, so..."

"So that's why you came here to see if you could find any big news?" Lu Ran was speechless, but even more puzzled.

How come this rat leader didn't know that there were other rat groups besides them?

Could it be some local scoundrel who doesn't know the rules is framing us?

This won't do. If we let these so-called man-eating rats from who-knows-where continue to cause trouble, this time it was reporters, but who knows what will come next?

Lu Ran thought for a few seconds and made a decision: "The man-eating rats have nothing to do with us, but since it concerns the issue of our rats injuring people, I will investigate this matter thoroughly when I get back."

Just as Janna was about to nod, she heard Lu Ran's voice suddenly turn cold.

"As for you..." Lu Ran's eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a cold glint, "You know our biggest secret. Tell me, what do you think we should do with you?"

A chill instantly ran down Janna's spine.

Lu Ran noticed her sudden change in expression. Before she could explain, he suddenly smiled and stopped threatening the reporter: "Alright, tell us where you live. Let me meet that crow; maybe we really do know each other..."

He gave him a slight lesson and that was it; he really didn't want to take his life and was still hesitating about how to handle the situation.

However, upon hearing that this female reporter could keep a talking crow on her own and yet remain tight-lipped, it seemed sufficient to prove that she was not entirely outspoken on certain sensitive issues.

More importantly, she came for the man-eating rats, not for the talking rats, or to cause trouble for the Morse factory.

“Until then,” Lu Ran turned and left, making his decision, “you should just stay in the factory.”

As Lu Ran walked, he suddenly felt increasingly hot and his head was spinning. It must be the strengthening potion taking effect.

Looking at the greedy rat that had been following behind and guarding him.

"You're in charge of that female reporter. Find out her location, go and call her crow over, and then..."

Lu Ran shook his head.

"I'm going to take a nap. When I wake up, I'll talk to that crow... Until then, don't let that guy go. In any other unexpected situations, you can handle them as you see fit."

"Also, learn from this incident... deploy more sentinel rats around the plantation..."

Lu Ran quickened his pace, feeling increasingly sleepy, and finally, the moment he reached the office, he plopped down on the sofa.

Fall down and go to sleep.

(End of this chapter)