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Of course, military affairs are a matter of great importance to the state, the ground of death and life, the path of survival and extinction, and must not be ignored.
Civilizations with similar strengths would not recklessly wage war.
When the sides meet, they send their strongest warriors for small-scale battles; as long as the situation is not one-sided, war would not break out.
And for the winning side, some wagers would serve as compensation.
It’s similar to how in human civilization, the cost of war is simply too great, and countries can hardly afford it, hence, sports meetings have evolved into wars without gunpowder.
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However, the Shu Mi Dam Civilization is already a thing of the past, they do not count as a true civilization anymore.
Or rather, they have been eradicated at the root...
When the Epoch Catastrophe occurred, only a small fraction of elites, roughly over two thousand, survived till now by erasing most of their memories and fusing with anomalies.
The vast majority of the clan, having lost their sanity, degenerated into beasts.
These ratmen wearing blue, purple, and gold clothes, although they retain their intelligence, have lost the ability to reproduce.
They are irreplaceable elites, with each death, one less remains; each one is extremely precious.
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Seeing that the humans had only kidnapped the Blue Silk Rat, these ratmen leaders also let out a long sigh of relief.
"This environment is really friendly... The other side is indeed a native civilization of the Ninth Epoch, and they even have some sense of morality."
"Just in these years... It will soon become chaotic."
"Quiet!"
The golden-clothed ratman sitting on the turtle’s back said, "Since we lost the first round, we must win the second one!"
"There’s no need for a third round... How about we trade fairly, instead?"
"The Mouse King is considerate!" The crowd of ratmen shouted one after another.
They now only aimed to draw the match, as long as they don’t have to pay the one hundred Spirit Essences.
...
After a while, the Stone-carrying turtle let out a thunderous roar: "We, the Shu Mi Dam Civilization, acknowledge defeat in the bet and never break our promises."
"You have won the first battle."
"Choose your warrior for the second battle! Limited to cold weapons combat!"
"This time, we will send a stronger warrior, equipped with superior gear. Be careful!"
A purple-clothed ratman leapt from the turtle’s back.
They still had that same pointy-mouthed, pinched-face appearance.
But just by looking at the splendid equipment, one could tell that the fighting ability of the purple-clothed ratman was indeed much stronger than that of the blue-clothed ratman.
Jin Dongliang removed his armor and frowned, "This equipment, it must at least be of Superior Level, right...?"
"These ratmen are quite wealthy."
"We don’t have high-level weapons on our side, we can’t break through their defense."
People couldn’t help but get a bit impatient.
Sky City is after all one hundred and fifty kilometers away from here; even with great speed, it would take up to twenty minutes to arrive.
And the battle involving Jin Dongliang had just ended in minutes.
Suddenly, Old Cat had a thought: "Winning one battle and losing another, we’d be blameless. Who should fight this surely lost battle?"
It turned its head and patted the turtle shell: "Mr. Turtle, it’s up to you this time, win it!"
"Wahahaha!" The Undying Giant Turtle was shocked at heart, why me?
Then it gleefully said, "Now you remember Mr. Turtle?"
"Just you watch my performance."
The Undying Giant Turtle, with its head raised and walking proudly, stepped forward.
Old Cat sent it out to buy some time; after all, the turtle wouldn’t die.
As long as they could delay until Lu Yuan arrived, the mission would be smoothly completed.
"You rat descendants, upon seeing Mr. Turtle, should you not surrender promptly?"
The Undying Giant Turtle’s offensive power was actually quite ordinary,
It activated the defensive engravings on its shell and began to taunt: "Come on, I’ll eat you in one bite!"
...
An intelligent... Anomaly?
The golden-clothed ratman was a bit perplexed, wasn’t it always members of our own civilization who went into battle?
What’s the point of sending an anomaly?
The turtle puffed out its chest: "Mr. Turtle is indeed a part of humankind, you disagree? Send someone down quickly!"
"Mouse King, what should we do? These guys are not playing by the rules."
An intelligent anomaly serving for a civilization actually falls into a gray area— even in the Eighth Epoch, if you could send a Demon to the battlefield, that would also be your ability.
Of course, unintelligent anomalies wouldn’t work.
"What’s the ability of this anomaly?"
"The engravings on its shell have hidden its attributes... But it doesn’t look very strong."
"Forget it, arguing about this kind of thing will only make us lose face," said the golden-clothed ratman with a wave of his hand, "Purple Brocade Fur, it’s your turn, we can’t lose this fight."
...
The purple-clothed ratman narrowed his eyes and twirled his Boning knife twice, then steeled himself and jumped into the battlefield.
For a while, he was really cautious and dared not make any rash moves.
"I am Purple Brocade Fur of the Shu Mi Dam Civilization, be careful!"
```
"Undying Giant Turtle!" the turtle announced its name, initially wanting to curse a bit more, but suddenly it widened its eyes, unable to locate the other’s presence.
"Swoosh!" The opponent burrowed into the ground, moving swiftly, and struck upward at high speed!
The sharp boning knife collided with the belly armor, emitting a dull thud.
A red glow of ’Spark’ burst forth from the belly of the Undying Giant Turtle.
This boning knife was genuinely a "Superior Level," capable of slicing through iron like mud, with the blade’s temperature reaching five thousand degrees, truly a blade of flames.
The scene looked like a turtle being charcoal-grilled, causing Old Cat to feel both amused and frustrated: "Mr. Turtle, the enemy is close to you, fight back!"
The Undying Giant Turtle felt an increasing heat at its belly, and it took half a second to realize it had been sneak-attacked.
"Waga!"
A chill ran through the Undying Giant Turtle’s heart. With such a nimble mouse continuously burrowing and launching sneak attacks, what can I use to fight back!
Is this mouse going to eat me alive?
But verbally, it was unrelenting, "Haven’t you eaten? It feels like a mosquito bite."
"Even if I stand here and let you hit me, you still can’t win!"
Seeing its imposing manner, the purple-clothed ratman thought it was about to unleash a powerful move, hurriedly retreated over ten meters, and once again burrowed into the ground.
The Undying Giant Turtle roared, "Myriad Phenomena Furnace, activate!"
Engravings on the turtle shell lit up instantly, forming barriers of divine anomalies.
Gravity! Solidity! Toughness! Protection!
Petrification! Stability! High Temperature Resistance! Low Temperature Resistance!
A myriad of defensive engravings dazzled the onlooker’s eyes.
The Undying Giant Turtle turned its tail and limbs into stone, leaving only its head partially retracted, ready to burst forth and attack at any moment.
"This time, the one getting hurt won’t be the turtle!" the Undying Giant Turtle inwardly admonished itself. As long as I don’t attack, I will never get hurt.
It now had a goal: to grow even more gigantic than this creature before it, the "Stone-carrying turtle."
The key was not getting hurt!
...
Meanwhile, the purple-clothed ratman, staring at the turtle that had turned into a lump of stone, was momentarily confused. Agile warriors were being restrained by such defensive types!
He rotated the boning knife in his hand, feeling much like a rat facing a stone, not knowing where to start.
He gritted his teeth and lunged with a stab.
The metal contacting stone sent out a ringing "clang."
Sparks flew in all directions!
Not a single mark was left on that turtle shell; instead, the boning knife now had a notch!
"This is a Superior Level weapon…" he lamented inwardly.
Exerting all his strength, he tried to lift and throw the Undying Giant Turtle from high above... to no avail. The turtle’s engravings put a force of gravity on him, making it impossible to move!
He then attempted to throw two large rocks at the turtle—still useless. The ordinary rocks compared to that turtle shell were like tofu.
The surrounding ratmen suddenly became noisy, these irrational creatures seemingly dissatisfied with the current battle, each emitting sharp cries.
"Great King, how can we fight this? It’s actually playing dirty. I can’t break its defense!"
"You hit its head; it’s leaving its head exposed!" The Mouse King was extremely annoyed, aware that fighting anomalies often resulted in unexpected events. If only he had made a rule against this.
The purple-clothed Ratman was also seething with anger, slashing at the head of the Undying Giant Turtle. "Clang!" He found, to his dismay, that the turtle’s neck was also made of stone, and not a scratch was made.
As he readied for a second strike, the turtle suddenly opened its massive jaw and bit down!
A scorching and foul breeze rushed over!
The Undying Giant Turtle, having waited for so long, was truly intent on killing!
"Crack!"
The purple-clothed Ratman was fiercely bitten into the mouth, as if about to snapped in half the next second!
This sudden scene caused the Mouse King on the turtle’s back to stand up, looking serious.
And on the human side, there was immense tension; everyone held their breath. Could Mr. Turtle truly win?!
At the critical moment, the purple-clothed Ratman’s pupils contracted, activating his life-saving divine ability. A haze of grayish light emanated from all around his body.
This was clearly—a Field!!
[Field·Shifting Flower and Wood: Swaps spatial positions with any non-living matter within the field.]
"Crack!" The Undying Giant Turtle bit into a ratman-shaped piece of stone.
Its teeth were exceedingly sharp, the only weapon for attack, and even the teeth were covered with dense engravings.
In a moment, the stone was crushed!
But the purple-clothed Ratman, through the "Field" shifting positions like transferring flowers to wood, managed to escape, hopping back more than ten steps before coming to a shaken halt.
"Bad luck, I almost fell asleep, only to wake up and find a piece of meat in my mouth," the Undying Giant Turtle huffed, ready to ambush once again, "To dare come at me like this, completely unaware of death."
At a distance of more than ten meters, the purple-clothed Ratman was panting heavily.
The recent crisis had him petrified.
He had almost been bitten to death!
He didn’t believe that his equipment could withstand a full-force bite from the turtle.
The single weak point of the turtle, its head, turned out to be a trap—how could he continue to fight?!
Of course, he also realized that as long as he didn’t approach, the turtle had no way to get to him.
...