Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 74 The Secret That the Lord and His Dog Cannot Speak Of
Knowledge sharing, it seems to be related to history?

Lu Ran's eyes lit up.

He had always been quite curious about the historical background of this world, even the heroic legends and stories. He thought that by learning more about them, he might gain a better understanding of those extraordinary beings.

I was originally planning to take some time to talk about "Detective Mouse Number One's" departure, but it seems like I can stay a little longer.

"Squeak~"

Lu Ran suddenly pounced and landed on the invitation with a thud.

Afra was startled, thinking the little mouse was going to ruin the invitation. But when she saw the little guy just rolling around on the invitation, she exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, you traitorous mouse, what are you doing? You don't want to go too, do you?"

"Squeak~"

Lu Ran tilted his head and then nodded.

“Hmm…” Afra rested her chin on her hand in distress. “That salon is for knowledge sharing, and the atmosphere is very quiet. You won’t run around or make noise if you go there, will you? I would be very embarrassed if I disturbed Professor El’s lecture.”

Lu Ran was taken aback, then quickly sat up straight, looking very obedient.

Snapped.

Afra snapped her fingers: "Great, let's go together then. Next month on the 12th, don't wander off then."

……

Stone house.

As soon as Lu Ran returned, he felt something was off. He felt that the rats were looking at him with a strange gaze.

The foodie approached with a smile as usual, but there was something slightly guilty about the smile.

Lu Ran glanced at the guy suspiciously: "What bad things did you do while I was away?"

"Huh?" The foodie jumped in surprise and quickly waved his hand sheepishly. "No."

Lu Ran squinted as he circled the foodie, pondering all the things this guy could be involved in, and suddenly said uncertainly.

"You...you won't corrupt the novel mouse, will you?"

Everything else is on track, except for the cultural aspect, which Lu Ran only recently arranged. The novel rat is incredibly naive and a newcomer; I'm afraid this guy might lead it astray.

"No, no way... ah." The foodie suddenly started stammering, his hands behind his back, his eyes darting around.

"Depend on."

Lu Ran cursed under his breath and hurriedly burrowed into the underground territory. Seeing that the glutton was about to say something, he pinched the boy's mouth shut.

"Don't say a word. Let me see for myself. Once I catch you in the act, you're finished."

"Woooo..."

Following the passage downwards, Lu Ran quickly arrived at the first level of the underground territory. The scene before him made his expression freeze.

The simple bulletin board, originally used for posting notices and assigning tasks, was now completely covered by a brightly colored, exaggeratedly drawn poster. The poster bore a glaring title in bold font:
[Breaking News!] Sherlock Holmes Mouse (Chapter 1: The Secret That the Lord and the Big Dog Cannot Tell)
The accompanying image made Lu Ran's vision go black: an extremely cartoonish gray mouse wearing a detective hat was riding on the back of an equally exaggerated, baring-toothed, running dog, with several flashing gold coin symbols and a huge question mark in the background.

What made his blood pressure spike even higher was the sight of a dozen or so gray squirrels huddled together around the poster, excitedly pointing at it with their tiny paws and spitting everywhere.
"Look! The first chapter has been updated!"

"Squeak~ Lord and dog, attack together!"

"Is this what the lord usually does?"

"Detective! Gold coins! Squeak! Good!"

"Squeak~ This gold coin is called the Balance Coin. I, this little mouse, was lucky enough to touch it once." A mouse said with a smug face.

"Wow, you're one of the earliest mice to arrive!" said a neighboring mouse enviously.

The gray mice were having a lively discussion when two mice huddled in the corner stood out—one was a glutton who had almost buried his head in his stomach, and the other was a novel mouse clutching a small notebook, looking quite excited.

"Come here, everyone."

With a forced smile, Lu Ran reached out and hooked his claws around the necks of the Novel Rat and the Glutton Rat, then led them outside.

"Come, come, tell me what this is."

The novel mouse said excitedly, "This is a quick publicity method that Foodie Bro came up with. It's all thanks to Foodie Bro! Lord, please praise him if you want."

"He deserves a good compliment." Lu Ran nodded, his hand subtly grabbing the foodie's ear.

"Now you can speak, tell me, my foodie brother."

"Boss, you're joking." The foodie shrank back. "The main problem is that all those made-up mouse hero stories are too far-fetched. It's better to just use your story, Boss. Your story elements are perfect for setting a good example..."

What is my story?

Lu Ran frowned, then suddenly noticed the small notebook in the novel mouse's hand.

"Show it to me."

As Lu Ran read, the foodie's explanation echoed in his ears.

"Using you, our leader, as a pillar of heroism will greatly enhance the cohesion among the mice. Moreover, although the names of these stories we designed may not seem very plausible, their core message is very positive, encouraging the mice to explore the unknown, learn, and cooperate..."

Hearing the explanation from the gluttonous rat, Lu Ran's expression softened slightly.

As for the stories written in the novel "The Mouse's Notebook," most of them are based on the foodie's own observations and experiences, with some exaggerated embellishments. Overall, it's quite...

It seems pretty good.

I was even a little embarrassed.

Lu Ran closed the notebook, feeling somewhat exasperated by some of the descriptions inside.

Lu Ran coughed lightly, but still warned, "You can write about me, but you're not allowed to smear me, and you're not allowed to use such strange titles again."

The gluttonous mouse smiled with relief and quickly said, "No, no, the first phase was just to get the mice's attention. It was their first time encountering these things, but they'll be fine after that."

"That's fine."

Lu Ran then looked at the novel mouse, who was looking expectant, and happily rubbed the guy's head.

"Well done, it's pretty good. Just don't listen to your foodie brother too much. If you don't understand something, you can ask me or One-Ear. They're both more reliable than him."

The novel's mouse scratched its head and chuckled, but secretly exchanged a glance with the foodie without saying a word.

"Alright, you guys."

Lu Ran was both amused and exasperated.

Although the two rats were up to some tricks behind his back, he wasn't worried about the loyalty of the rat pack. In the end, without the system buff, they were just a bunch of ordinary rats who were completely clueless. And he could give them those things and then take them away.

Not to mention, the moment the system enlightened and bestowed wisdom upon them, all the mice were already aware of a lord who had granted them wisdom, a supreme figure, similar to a creator god.

Although they might not see Lu Ran immediately, they would definitely know that he exists.

Lu Ran was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, those paintings on the posters are quite abstract, who painted them?"

The foodie paused for a moment, then quickly said, "It's a newly discovered mouse. Should we call it over to take a look?"

Lu Ran was considering whether to develop the novel and comics together, and while hesitating—

"Shh..."

Suddenly, a gray shadow flashed from the corner of the shadows and abruptly appeared in front of Lu Ran.

One-Ear swayed slightly, adjusted its position a bit, and then looked up at Lu Ran with surprise.

"Boss, did you see my magic just now?"

"This...wait...you..."

Lu Ran stared blankly at One-Ear, organizing his thoughts for a long time before finally showing some surprise.

"That move was so cool!"

"Quickly, explain the principles of runes!"

[The normal update time is during the day, but the first subscription was released early at midnight. It seems difficult to adjust now, otherwise the interval between the two updates would be more than 30 hours, and you guys would definitely complain. I'll try to adjust it again when I have a chance.]

　Thank you to Anime Maple Rain Night and Hastur1 for the 100-coin donation! Thank you to the Supreme God Who Beats All Heavens for the 10000-coin donation, thank you bro!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)