<h4>Chapter 270: Rat Men</h4>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio <strong>Editor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio


    In the abandoned temple in the darkness, torches were flickering. All of the people felt panic filling their hearts, but didn’t know why.


    All of the people present were either the Browns or loyalists to the Browns. All of them were Jonathan’s most trusted people. That’s why Jonathan hade here with them.


    Jonathan looked at every mural very carefully. He felt that what he was looking for must be here. Surely, the truth that he and all of the alchemists had been pursuing was only a step away...


    “Where is it?” Jonathan murmured.


    When he arrived at the copsed statue, the mural on the wall ended abruptly, as if it had quickly been erased, leaving only a few lines of Sofawk. This was the oldest Sofawknguage, which was very different from today’s Sofawk.


    However, Jonathan could read thisnguage. As he shone his torch on the wall, he read out the words:”Look for the eternal stars... Bad consequencese atst!”


    Suddenly, he felt a st of cold air invade the ruined temple in an instant. In that same moment, an intense despair surged up from the bottom of his heart.


    “Bad consequences!” As Jonathan repeated these two words, behind him, the middle-aged schr’s face was cloudy.


    The schr then said, “Rat men are the most mysterious people. The birth of their race seems to have a mysterious meaning. They are the earliest race and the first civilization, but they declined so soon. Nobody knows the reason for their sudden decline.”


    “This is a curse! A curse of God. What on earth did they do?” Jonathan looked at the opening line, then murmured, “Look for the eternal stars! Stars, in Sofawk, also refer to gods and the kingdom of God! What could be more terrifying to gods than exploring the realm of the gods and their authority?”


    Suddenly, everyone felt an awareness explode in their minds. A young man who was behind Jonathan looked at him and asked, “They? They want to be gods?”


    Instead of responding, Jonathan knocked on the stone wall, trying to figure out how to take it away. He seemed to touch on something, when suddenly, the stone wall moved abruptly. Jonathan stepped back and saw the back of the stone wall! It had turned via a secret button!


    What he saw before him now was a huge figure who was holding a huge world model in his arms. Within the model was a huge world tree. The world tree supported and maintained the stability of the whole world.


    Upon the great tree were a number of figures, each with a round wheel that represented their titles and responsibilities. Jonathan recognized at a nce that this was the model of the world tree that he had been looking for!


    Its seventeen round wheels were linked to each other and formed a stable world! There were also the seventeen rules, which enabled the world’s stable operation and structure.


    “Seventeen! Ha ha ha ha ha! Seventeen! That’s what it means!” Jonathan felt his whole body go cold.


    He had never been so clear yet so numb before. He instantly realized that his body could not move an inch!


    “Seventeen thrones and seventeen gods! This is a tree that holds up the rules of the world. Each round wheel represents the authority of a god. The Creator of the world left seventeen thrones!” Jonathan was almost babbling like a madman now, as he was so excited.


    “This is the greatest gift that the great Creator left to the world! He used this to select the world’s administrators. In this way, every god manages the operation of part of world and is able to maintain order. This is god’s authority and the truth of the world!” As Jonathan spoke, he waved his arms like a madman and shouted loudly, as if he had just uncovered the mystery of the world.


    Jonathan leaned on the stone wall, looked up at the world model, and burst into happy tears. He then shouted, “Look for the eternal stars! Hahaha, the rat men are the greatest and most amazing creatures in the world. They are the pioneers of the world! Even if they failed, even if they are dead, even if they annihted themselves in the dust of history, they have still earned my respect today!”


    He pumped his fist in the air and concluded his impassioned speech. “Neither alchemists nor wizards are as great as rat men. They are the first to look for the truth!”


    Besides Jonathan, all of the others began to look at the world model in excitement. Jonathan then squatted down to find that the recently turned wall te had uncovered a hidden corpse behind it!


    As he took it out to examine it, he saw that it was a small body and had beautiful patterns on its bones. Its rotted skeletal hand-bones were grabbing an ancient leather scroll tightly. The scroll was made of a rat man’s skin!


    Jonathan stretched out his hand to touch the scroll. The moment he touched it, Jonathan felt that the whole world was gazing at him. He was so awestruck, he could hardly move.


    “Everyone, get out of here!” Jonathan shouted and rushed out, followed by all of the others.


    In the sky, a sh of light came from the bitwall, travelled thousands of miles in an instant, then fell down on the relics. As the fierce light covered everything on the ground, dust flew everywhere.


    Above the castle, dark clouds amassed. It almost felt as if the gods were angry with them. All of the people in the city looked up and felt that some drastic changes were taking ce.


    “What’s wrong with the sky?”


    “How could this suddenly happen?”


    “Look at the sky!”


    “How could this be possible?”


    “What is that?”


    No one knew what had happened. Suddenly, sixteen stars and a silver moon appeared in the sky at the same time, causing everyone to look up. The sixteen stars and the silver moon seemed so close to the earth, as if they were directly above everyone’s heads!


    All of the people were so close to the Divine Kingdom at this moment. Everyone was appreciating the beauty of the stars above them.


    However, there was still confusion lingering. After all, no one understood what was happening in the world.


    Astrologers were trying to find out what was going on via the changes in the stars, and the king and the nobles, as well as the wizards and religious believers were all panicking.