Let go of that monster girl!

In this weather, repairing a regular road would probably require explosives.

However, if it's a railway, and the only goal is to open it to traffic, then that's a different story.

Chapter 152 Railway and Rat Girl

North of Aishan Market, in the wilderness.

The worker mouse swung its little shovel with a huff and puff, scraping away the snow to reveal the grayish-white icy road underneath.

He crouched down, stretched out his small shovel, and slapped the ice surface hard. With two loud thuds, the ice didn't budge.

She stood up and looked around. The fluorescent lights of the Armed Rat Girl Train illuminated a white world shrouded in a yellowish glow, with tiny snowflakes swirling and dancing in the beams of light. Further away, there was an endless expanse of darkness.

The snow continued to fall, though not heavily, with no sign of stopping.

Caravans continued to arrive at the Aishan market. The road leading to the Bright Zone was not completely buried under the snow; instead, the ruts and footprints had compressed the snow into a large, dirty clump of ice.

Meanwhile, a large group of worker rats are working hard to break through the ice on the road.

The heavy snowfall did not affect the mice, because the worker mice wore round hats made of mushroom cloth on their heads, mushroom cloth coats on their bodies, frostbite masks on their small faces, and goggles on their eyes.

Only the round ears were still sticking out; each mouse had completely become a mouse bucket.

Another rat, also wrapped up like a barrel, gently nudged her shoulder.

"Stop spacing out, it's so cold! Let's shovel the snow and go hide in the car for a while."

Behind the worker rats, the snow cow women were wielding large pickaxes, breaking up the ice on the road piece by piece and pushing it to both sides of the road.

As for digging further down?

Although the soil mixed with snow water was not completely frozen, it was already so wet that it vibrated when tapped, but fortunately the rats didn't need to dig at all.

Many barrel rats lined up, carrying sleepers out of the freight cars at the rear of the train. Their short legs moved step by step, and they neatly laid the sleepers on the ground after the snow had been cleared.

The mice behind unloaded the rails from the train carriages a little further away. Several mice carried one rail, wading shakily through the snow, and carefully placed the rails onto the sleepers to align them.

The blacksmith rats immediately swarmed around, raised their hammers, and hammered the rail spikes into the sleepers, securing the rails firmly.

"Don't nail it too tight. The Baron said the rails will expand when the snow melts, and then we'll have to repair them again."

The Armed Rat Girl Train followed behind the rats, reversing very slowly. Several rat girls stood on the gravel bed at the rear of the train, waving their little shovels and constantly filling the gaps between the newly laid sleepers with gravel.

The faster the mouse train runs, the faster the snow is shoveled, the faster the ice is broken, the faster the sleepers are laid, and the faster the rails are installed.

After installing many train tracks, the mice became very skilled at coordinating. Even when it was snowing, they could lay the tracks as fast as the train could go.

The worker mouse stood still, looking at the section of track that had just been laid, then looked up at the snow cow girls' perfectly positioned huge fat, its little head lost in memories.

Rats don't have the same natural insulation as snow cows. The smaller the creature, the more afraid it is of the cold. She had been captured by the old lord to repair roads before, and it was only late autumn. Before that hard labor, she had three older sisters.

At that time...

"Squeak! Shift change! What are you daydreaming about? Let's get going!"

The worker mouse next to her interrupted her flashback, laughing and pushing her towards the train.

The next batch of mouse girls, having rested, were emerging from the rest carriage, a large group of pink cylinders with round ears crowding the doorway.

One of them lost her footing because her down jacket was too thick, and slipped, falling face down in the snow. A mouse next to her pushed her to the side and then slowly helped her up.

The foreman mouse took a small broom and swept away the snow from the female mice who were about to rest, one by one.

"The snow will melt and it will be all wet, making these clothes hard to take off and they'll creak."

The rest compartment was warm and cozy, and the temperature was even more comfortable after the addition of insulation panels.

In the corner of the carriage, a group of cats, wrapped in a large tarpaulin blanket with only their heads sticking out, were meowing and guarding a small electric stove for boiling water, looking extremely content.

The cats wanted to help when the road was being repaired, but they were afraid of the cold, so they were assigned to guard the pot.

"Hehehe, dried fish, hehehe, Baron, meow."

Seeing the mice crowding in, the cat, who was still awake, quickly woke up its dozing companion.

The sleepy cats meowed as they lifted the kettle, took out salt and sugar from the jar, added them in, and even stuck out their tongues to lick their little hands that had added the sugar.

The steaming hot sugar-salt water was poured into small cups and distributed to each mouse, warming their hands and little bellies.

Soon, a bunch of mouse heads appeared in the blanket, each holding a cup of hot sugar and salt water, its little hands cupped to its face, huddled together in a ball.

"It's so warm."

"After adding insulation, the carriage became more cramped, but it also became warmer."

"It's even warmer if you squeeze in."

"Even when it's warm, it's best not to sleep, meow."

Amidst the swirling snowflakes, the Armed Rat Girl Train traveled along the newly laid tracks, its rooftop ballistae pointing towards the dark wilderness, as the entire train slowly advanced northward through the snow curtain.

The caravan coming from the north saw this scene from afar, and they stared wide-eyed at the small, cylindrical creatures and the giant iron monster that was gradually advancing, their hearts filled with astonishment:

The inexplicable Baron Morren is approaching from the north!

-----------------

The Aishan Market is operating smoothly.

The city walls have been closed, so there's no longer a need for so many worker rats or beast girls, and they've all been sent to technical schools.

Moren stood at the entrance of the Dwarf Mountain Market Technical School, arms crossed, watching lines of rat girls and other beast girls pass by.

The mouse girls waved their little hands excitedly and squeaked as they saw him.

"Greetings, Your Excellency!"

The other beast girls were generally still somewhat reserved, only daring to bow their heads in greeting from afar, with the occasional bolder one secretly glancing at him.

Jimmy, holding a stack of reports, stood beside Moran and gave a methodical report:

"The shop taxes have all been paid, meow. The new caravans are all very well-behaved, meow."

"Everything is running smoothly, meow. The number of students at the technical school is growing rapidly; it's almost doubled this month, meow."

Morren nodded in satisfaction and said:

“Well done. I’ll have the foreman rat expand the school and dormitories later, so the refugees won’t be idle. We’ll find a reason to use them and distribute the sugar coupons.”

Jimmy put away the report, his cat ears wiggled playfully, and he brought his little face close to Moren, squinting his cat eyes with a look that said he wanted to be praised.

Lyme peeked out from behind Morren, pouted, and glared at Jimmy.

In the market.

The area was filled with lively shouts and footsteps. The rat girls ran back and forth carrying goods on their heads, while the merchant beast girls bargained in front of their stalls, creating a bustling and joyous scene.

The wholesale market for bulk trade was separated out; it consisted of spacious and sturdy buildings, with large carts and wooden crates everywhere. Horsewomen and cowwomen, the porters, moved back and forth, and sugar coupons circulated constantly among the merchants.

The retail market was much more bustling, resembling clusters of bungalows, many of which were built by the caravans themselves and thus each had its own unique character.

This area was further divided into several smaller sections; the food section was filled with enticing aromas, while the fabric section was adorned with beautiful, colorful cloths.

The mice, clutching their candy coupons, scurried happily through the market. Even the merchants who were least respectful of the mouse girls, even those whose mice had once been slaves, would automatically soften their tone and speak gently to them upon seeing these adorable little candy coupons:

"Thank you for your patronage, cute little thing."

The cats quickly spotted the business opportunity and occupied an entire stall tent, filling the shelves with all sorts of cheap trinkets that the mouse girls liked.

From large bars of soap to pretty little trinkets, and even handy tools made and sold directly by Aishan.

Identical small items are grouped together, and similar small items are grouped together again. Each group of small items is marked with a candy coupon number. The mouse girls only need to put the goods into the small basket and then go to the cat counter to pay.

"What a huge store, meow! I'm the big boss, meow!"

In order to shop at the catgirl shop, many mice learned addition and subtraction within 100 in just one night (dark night in the dark zone), which was very efficient.

The cat merchant's assistant stood behind the counter, tapping away on the abacus beads and recording the goods in a small notebook.

"This mushroom-shaped fabric hair tie with little flowers is the best-selling item, but no one bought that copper bookmark."

"I'll report this to Boss Jimmy later and have the cats in the dwarf hills make more hair ties, meow."

Jimmy led Morren and Lime to stroll around the catgirl shop, casually picking up a small basket and putting in his favorite wooden comb and yarn.

Lyme picked up a small copper wire headdress from the shelf and stared at its owner intently for a while, wondering if he would like the little thing.

Jimmy put a set of rune sword maintenance supplies into the small basket.

Lem immediately turned around and began stuffing things into his basket: dried meat strips that his master loved to eat, charcoal pencils that his master often used, he stuffed them all in.

Moren watched with a smile as the little slime girl busied herself, and Jimmy smiled too, reaching into the basket to put a small, light green hair clip.

Lyme stopped and looked at the little things Jimmy had picked out for him in his basket, then looked down at his own basket, which was full of items for Morren, and lowered his head in bewilderment.

The cat vendors were exceptionally enthusiastic, waving their little hands from behind:

"Boss Jimmy, Baron, Miss Lime, thank you for your patronage, meow."

At the entrance of the catgirl shop, several former refugee beast girls stood there, looking at the colorful candy coupons in their hands, then at the dazzling array of goods on the shelves inside, hesitating whether or not to go in.

When they saw Morren come out, they all looked at him with admiration and bowed their heads in respect.

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

The surroundings were filled with joy; the mice chattered and compared the little trinkets they had bought, while the merchant beast girls hawked their wares.

Lyme followed Morren sullenly, carrying a small basket.

So many people are so happy, but why can't I be happy?

The master is amazing, and Miss Jimmy is amazing too.

Lime thinks she's useful, but only because she's a slime girl. Miss Jimmy couldn't do as well with any other cat, but if she were any other slime girl…

Moren stopped, turned around, and placed the jerky on the head of the dazed slime girl.

"Silly girl, everyone starts at a different level. When Jimmy first started as a businessman, he often made mistakes in his calculations. Little Lime is a very powerful slime girl now, and she will become a very powerful slime in the future."

Molen has plenty of time, enough to wait for a cat to grow up.

Molen's heart is also very broad, broad enough to accommodate all the lolis in the world.

-----------------

At a roadside stall, a female dog-woman merchant rested her chin on her hand, watching the crowds come and go, her tongue lolling out and her tail swishing back and forth.

"This is the first time we've encountered a place like this. So many refugees, yet not a single beggar. Woof."

The snake-woman merchant next to her was placing a few rather perfunctory packets of dry rations on her stall, seemingly without any regard for whether they would sell.

"Uh, why do you care about this?"

"How strange, where did so many refugees come from? We didn't encounter many refugees on our way to the market."

The snake-woman merchant's eyes darted around, and she said guiltily:

"I don't know, maybe it just suddenly grew out of the box."

As Morren walked past the stall, the snake-woman merchant immediately put down what she was holding, slid over, and greeted him warmly:

"Your Excellency, you've arrived! The Kingdom's specialty rat biscuits you ordered have all been delivered smoothly. Let me show you around."

Under the puzzled gaze of the dog-girl merchant, the snake-girl merchant quickly rolled up the stall cloth in front of her and led Moren toward the caravan camp.

The caravan camp had several tarpaulin tents set up, with an astonishing number of large cargo crates neatly stacked between the tents.

The snake girl's companion was opening a large wooden box to put food and water inside when she saw Moren approaching. She quickly closed the box lid and swam away nonchalantly.

Before she could swim far, the side panel of the wooden box fell down with a clatter. Inside, several small, thin escaped slave rat girls huddled together. They glanced at Morren fearfully, then stretched out their little hands and slowly, slowly, pulled the fallen box panel back to cover themselves.

The snake-woman merchant, with a terrible acting style, spread her hands and said:

"What a pity! Your Excellency, you know that these rat cakes are very attractive to rats. Alas, there are just too many rats lately, and it's impossible to guard against them all. All my rat cakes have been eaten."

Morren nodded in agreement, deeply agreeing, and said:

"Without a doubt, this is clearly due to inadequate hygiene and safety measures in the new market, and Aishan will pay you a generous compensation."

Soon, the world lost more than forty escaped slave rat girls, and gained more than forty dwarf mountain rat girls from ancient times.

The snake-woman merchant's eyes narrowed into slits as she smiled, her tail tip slapping the ground happily as she counted the candy coupons in her hand.

The "Short Mountain Mouse Girls" stood aside, clutching their new clothes, their little faces full of confusion, looking at each other helplessly.

Molen crouched down, looking them in the eye.