It turned out that the Rat King Boliu'er, like Atai'ya, had been restraining his tribesmen out of consideration for their past relationship.
Furthermore, he felt that the situation was developing slightly unnaturally, suspecting a potential conspiracy.
The rat tribesmen harbored strong resentment towards the cat people of Deadmouse Village.
When they first migrated here, they had been very friendly towards these cat people, but the cat people's attitude had always been condescending, as if the rat tribesmen were some kind of filthy creatures.
The rat tribesmen's minor habits, physical characteristics, speech quirks, and so on, could all provoke ridicule from the cat people.
Some rat tribesmen became self-conscious and wanted to change themselves to accommodate the cat people's customs, while others developed a deep-seated animosity towards the cat people, feeling looked down upon even when the cat people made no specific moves.
Although their leader had been telling them to wait, suggesting it might be a conspiracy, they always felt that the cat people were responsible for everything.
Consequently, the calls to attack Deadmouse Village grew louder, but Boliu'er suppressed them all.
Originally, Boliu'er could have maintained control for a while longer, but a few hours prior, while leading a patrol, he personally witnessed a cat person gnawing on the corpse of one of his tribesmen.
It was that Wei Da Ju!
He immediately intended to kill Wei Da Ju, but Wei Da Ju's strength surprised Boliu'er, and the cat person easily escaped his grasp.
Wei Da Ju's appearance confirmed that Deadmouse Village had indeed been targeting their rat tribe.
At this point, a mysterious figure appeared and, through their instigation, Boliu'er furiously initiated this war.
Atai'ya's white fur bristled, and she was ready for battle.
Wei Da Ju was no longer at Deadmouse Village; he had been captured by these rats. Now, they were using Wei Da Ju to provoke the summer retreat village. In Atai'ya's view, this was already a declaration of war.
Boliu'er, on the other hand, was less patient. Seeing that Atai'ya had no intention of handing over Wei Da Ju, he lunged forward and skillfully threw a straight left punch towards Atai'ya's cheek.
Atai'ya tilted her head slightly and dodged it, but Boliu'er followed up with a right hook and then an uppercut.
The Rat King was proficient in one hundred and twenty-seven martial arts, his close-quarters combat skills were considered peak, and every punch and kick was superb.
Wen Wen sat on the wall of Deadmouse Village, a mysterious symbol manifesting behind him. He had activated the 'Mystery' ability of his Containment Officer badge.
He was also recording the Rat King's moves. The latter's martial arts level was high, which could provide some enhancement to his詭武道 (Guǐ Wǔ Dào - likely a unique combat style).
Although the Rat King possessed a significant advantage in close-quarters combat, Queen Atai'ya was no pushover. She managed to dodge all the punches solely through her abnormal reaction speed and exceptionally high body flexibility.
Cat people's reaction speed was seven times that of ordinary cats, and Atai'ya's reflexes were more than seven times more developed than those of an ordinary cat person. Therefore, even without any advanced martial arts techniques, it was not easy for the Rat King to catch her.
The Linqing Lion Cat was a breed that possessed both beauty and strength.
In addition to her reflexes, Atai'ya's claws were extremely sharp and could be retracted and extended freely, their length entirely controlled by her will. She could even project them tens of meters in zero point one second and retract them in the same amount of time.
These two abilities, combined with her fundamental 'up-sequence' capabilities, endowed Atai'ya with extremely high combat prowess.
Furthermore, Atai'ya possessed another ability that seemed useless, even comical, but was actually incredibly potent. This ability was called 'Stable Landing'.
No matter from what height or in what posture Atai'ya fell, she could instantly land on her feet.
This ensured that Atai'ya would not be injured by a fall, and the ability was executed instantaneously. When combined with Atai'ya's abnormal reaction abilities, it transformed into a peculiar teleportation combat style.
The two Upper Sequence powerhouses fought to a standstill, their battle fiercely dangerous, while Wen Wen merely observed Boliu'er's movements from the wall, showing no inclination to assist.
Before the leaders' battle could conclude, the Disaster-level powerhouses from both sides had already separated from their teams and engaged in a fierce fight.
Every cat person and rat tribesman attacked with expressions of fury, their moves aimed directly at vital points.
Tao Qingqing, holding the box of infected blood, felt a pang of sympathy, but without Wen Wen's command, she could not intervene to aid either side.
As this was the cat people's home ground, in the midst of the intense struggle, all the Upper Sequence fighters of the rat tribe were killed or wounded, while three or four cat people remained.
At this point, Atai'ya was at a disadvantage. Boliu'er, having refined the one hundred and twenty-seven martial arts to their extreme, gradually gained the upper hand after familiarizing himself with Atai'ya's fighting style.
However, his joy was short-lived. The remaining cat people joined the fray, and Boliu'er, despite his strength, was outnumbered. In the end, he perished along with Atai'ya and the other cat people.
The remaining less powerful cat people and rat tribesmen were stunned.
Some wept, some wanted to retreat, but no one dared to make a move.
This was because, before the formal commencement of hostilities at both Deadmouse Village and Rat Canyon, the higher-ups had specifically instructed that individuals with power below the Disaster level were forbidden to engage, no matter what happened.
At the time, they had assumed this was just a normal dispute and never anticipated the intensity of the battle, which resulted in the decimation of all the高手 (gāoshǒu - experts) from both tribes in a single engagement.
Even both leaders had fallen in a mutual demise.
Wen Wen looked at the devastated battlefield with an indifferent expression. These were alien races; their survival or demise did not conflict with his duties. All he needed to do was complete his mission.
"Now, the scene you've been anticipating has unfolded. Will you emerge... Xiao Jiang!"
After the battle concluded, the remaining leaders from both sides stared at each other with eyes full of hatred, then, with tacit understanding, began to collect the remains of their fallen comrades.
They all understood that engaging in further combat at this juncture might lead to the annihilation of both tribes. They would seek revenge for this grievance only when they were strong enough.
After the remains were collected, the rat tribesmen prepared to leave. But at that moment, an orange-yellow figure flashed by, dragging two rat tribesmen out of the formation.
This orange-yellow figure was none other than Wei Da Ju, the focal point of the conflict between the two tribes and the culprit responsible for the attack on Rat Canyon!
Wei Da Ju bit through the necks of the two rat tribesmen and then cried out with a tearful voice, "Your Majesty, I was too late! Otherwise, we would have surely defeated these mice."
Despite crying, Wei Da Ju's feline face bore a peculiar smile, and something red seemed to be writhing deep within his mouth.