[Warsaw City, Downtown]
The tall malls and buildings sank into darkness. People who were still shopping let out startled cries, and right after that, they saw figures wearing gray-black cloaks, "rats", climbing up from underground.
This was the wealthiest commercial street in all of Warsaw City. The people who could walk here casually wore clothes that alone cost more than a rat could earn in ten years.
On normal days, they wouldn't even spare these failures a glance, not even disdain or contempt, just like looking at a speck of dust.
In the world of the rich, creatures like rats simply did not exist.
But on this night, when the lights had gone out, the rats standing on the streets made the rich feel an indescribable sense of pressure. It was like… staring at a pack of red-eyed, crazed beasts.
"Guards! Security!"
A woman shouted loudly. She couldn't accept being in the same space as a group of rats, much less feeling fear toward them. She just wanted to drive them away immediately.
Her voice was shrill and piercing in the night.
The next second, a kunai pierced her throat.
Her body fell to the ground with a dull thud.
The rat leader, Kurosaki, withdrew his throwing hand and said coldly, "Those who exploit the bottom, those who suck the blood of others, they all deserve to die."
Behind him, the rats' eyes began to burn with fire.
Within that fire was hope, hatred, excitement… countless tangled emotions fused together into an overwhelming killing intent.
"We have waited too long. Today, our great leader, Ryosuke, has arrived in Warsaw City. This will be our only chance."
Kurosaki spread his arms.
"The Land of Wind has rotted. Warsaw City has rotted. As for the Daimyo, Tokugawa Shingen, he's rotted down to the bones."
"In front of us are only two roads, one of death, one of victory. And death..."
He pointed to the richly dressed nobles standing on the streets.
"...belongs to them!"
"To those damn parasites!"
"Those who die today will be heroes."
"Those who live will witness history."
The rats' breathing grew heavy.
Looking closely, not all of them were actual "rats."
Many had fair skin, delicate fingers, and scholarly air, clearly students still in school.
Kurosaki looked at those eyes full of resolve and smiled faintly.
"Everyone, armor up."
They each took a puppet armor set from their backs and put it on.
Kurosaki waved his hand, and his voice came through every earpiece of their wireless communicators, echoing across the entire city, "Move out!"
"The old curtain falls, let the new world rise."
"Tonight, we wash the Daimyo in blood!"
This armor was Kurosaki's custom creation. They didn't know the principle behind it, only that once they wore it, boundless strength surged within them endlessly. Eyes turned crimson, and they drew the blades from their waists, charging forward in madness.
At that moment, the samurai guards finally arrived, and both sides clashed in brutal combat.
But the samurai quickly realized something was wrong. Their enemies' moves were stiff and mechanical, yet their strength was monstrous, and they fought like madmen, fearless of death.
"What… what's going on?"
Similar questions echoed all across Warsaw City.
On one side were salary-bound samurai. On the other, the blood-boiling, unnaturally frenzied rebels.
The battle quickly turned one-sided. The rebels, shouting and roaring, surged toward the central Daimyo mansion from all directions.
Click!
Kurosaki turned off his communicator.
"No need for further commands."
"The tide has already turned. They'll keep charging toward the Daimyo mansion and fight Tokugawa Shingen's private soldiers until their last breath."
"And Ryosuke…"
Mukade sneered.
"He'll have no choice but to act."
That was the plan of Kurosaki, Mukade, and Monk Faichi.
Kurosaki was a man unwilling to stay ordinary. That was why, in his youth, he had left his hometown and come to Warsaw City, capital of the Land of Wind, hoping to make a name for himself.
But soon, he realized the cold truth, with his power, intelligence, and background, the chance of reaching the top and becoming a "dragon" who overlooked all beings was close to zero.
Until Kurosaki heard of the Awakening Movement.
He instantly saw it for what it was, a chance.
A chance to overthrow the old order and build a new one. If he could join first, he could ride the wave and become one of the new rule-makers.
Yes, Kurosaki was a firm believer in Ryosuke.
Until the day Tokugawa Shingen decided to surrender and cede territory.
Because on the very night that news leaked, the financiers came to Kurosaki and offered him another path, one safer, yet far more tempting.
Once Ryosuke arrived in Warsaw City, they wanted him to launch a rebellion against Tokugawa Shingen.
"This uprising is destined to fail," Kurosaki said. "With this ragtag group, even with your puppet armor, they can't possibly defeat Tokugawa Shingen's samurai army."
"But it doesn't matter. Humans are like pigeons, once one flies right, the rest follow."
"The Rat Legion will become the vanguard of rebellion. Their slaughter will spark the oppressed people across the city, who already have rebellious thoughts, to rise up too."
"When chaos engulfs the city, Ryosuke will face only two choices..."
"To suppress the rebellion."
"Or to kill the Daimyo."
If Ryosuke chose to help the Daimyo suppress the lower class, his halo of righteousness would shatter overnight, a win for the financiers.
But if Ryosuke killed the Daimyo…
That too, would be a win.
Tokugawa Shingen wanted to stall Ryosuke, to buy time, so he surrendered, conceded, and ceded land.
But where would that land come from?
From the financiers, naturally.
So, was there another way to buy time?
Yes.
Kill the Daimyo.
In the highly centralized Land of Wind, this would plunge the nation into chaos within days. And unlike other countries, the Land of Wind's chaos would be catastrophic.
Other nations could still self-sustain without leadership.
But here?
It was the desert.
The Land of Wind's industries were specialized across regions under corporate control. Once the central coordination was gone, it wouldn't take long for countless towns to riot from lack of water and supplies.
People would die.
A lot of people.
And with Ryosuke's personality, since he killed the Daimyo, he'd take responsibility and spend enormous time dealing with the aftermath.
That time would be enough for the financiers to quietly move their assets and resources elsewhere.
As long as they had money, resources, and manpower, the world was vast; they could go anywhere.
Most importantly, they would have bought enough time.
Everyone could see it, Ryosuke's conflict with Akatsuki was escalating. The financiers, Daimyo, and all major powers were waiting for that war.
Once Ryosuke died, all problems would be solved.
Tonight was the opportunity.
Mukade chuckled, his bulging, hyperthyroid-like eyes spinning rapidly.
"You really are ruthless. They trust you so much, yet you heartlessly betrayed your own followers, those who treat you as their faith, and turned them into expendables."
For ordinary people without swordsmanship or ninja training to fight samurai after putting on puppet armor, it was an impossible miracle. And such miracles always came with equal cost.
Mukade had loaded the puppet armors with large amounts of forbidden drugs. Once worn, the drugs injected directly into the user's body, boosting their strength at the cost of burning their life force.
Kurosaki chuckled softly. "I didn't betray them. They followed me because I promised that one day, I'd let these rats stand upon the land as humans."
"And now, I've fulfilled that promise."
Mukade shook his head.
Humans?
Driven by the drugs in their puppet armor, they had long lost all human reason.
Rather than people standing tall, it was more like a horde of monsters crawling up from the depths of the earth…
"Ghosts."
But whether human or ghost,
Kurosaki didn't care.
All he knew was that their corpses,
Would help him climb to the top.
"Just one last step," Kurosaki said. "It's almost time. Go help Monk Faichi, I still have a bad feeling."
Mukade slapped the dust off his pants and stood up.
"Alright."
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