Chapter 1141: Third Imperial Lord
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Since several tens of thousands of years ago, after the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan had perished together with the Golden Hellhound Clan, all that remained was just a branch in each clan.
The branch managed to survive until today.
However, in order to recuperate from the battle, they had learned to conceal themselves in front of others.
At that time, they had too many enemies. If it was made known that a branch had survived, many people would come and attack them in a flurry.
The Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan managed to conceal their existence during their recuperation period.
Perhaps, the Golden Hellhound Clan was truly the mortal enemy of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan. One branch survived in the latter while the former was also left with one branch.
Ever since then, the two branches from both clans had always fought with each other.
They were well-matched in strength and fought for another 20,000 years.
Until 100 years back, a Monarch powerhouse in the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan obtained a Heavenly Jewel that was filled with Nature Energy. He managed to raise the Nature Profundity he had comprehended a few levels higher with the help of this Heavenly Jewel.
Due to this reason, the precarious balance between the two clans was destroyed. The Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan led by that powerhouse annihilated the Golden Hellhound Clan.
Naturally, they thought they had completely annihilated the Golden Hellhound Clan.
Little did they know, a Golden Hellhound puppy managed to survive while they were busy annihilating the Golden Hellhound Clan.
Moreover, the Golden Hellhound puppy also possessed strength that was in no way inferior to the current two strongest Imperial Lords of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan through sheer hard work.
The estate of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan's branch was situated at a dark swamp.
The rodent-type demon beasts originally did not like light. They preferred to hide in the dark because the darkness gave them a feeling of security.
"Gold Thug, come here."
Currently, there were a few intruders who had appeared in the corner of the vast estate of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan's branch. They came here under the guidance of a golden-robed old man. The person motioning to the golden-robed old man was none other than a purple-clad young man who was following from behind.
"Yes, Master," the golden-robed man replied respectfully to the purple-clad young man.
The intruders in the swamp — that was also the residence of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan — were none other than Duan Ling Tian and the others.
The way Gold Thug moved with ease here as though he was strolling in his own garden surprised Duan Ling Tian and the others.
"Master, it's there." Gold Thug continued to take the lead and flew toward the center of the swamp area, he did not bother to conceal his presence.
"Are you certain we won't rouse and alert the enemy by going in like this?" Duan Ling Tian asked with a frown.
"Relax, Master," Gold Thug replied as he continued on.
"Who are you people?" A moment later, a shout suddenly resonated from the swamp in the distance.
Along with the voice, a few tiny black dots appeared and grew bigger and bigger before Duan Ling Tian and the others.
However, the tiny dots did not get very big even when they arrived before Duan Ling Tian and the others.
What appeared before their eyes were seven mongrel rodent-type demon beasts that were slightly bigger than ordinary rodents. Their eyes gleamed crimson red.
"Berserk Mongrel Rodents." Duan Ling Tian recognized these seven rodent-type demon beasts with just a glance. They were completely identical to the Berserk Mongrel Rodent in the Rebirth Martial Emperor's memory.
At the moment when Duan Ling Tian, Feng Tian Wu, and Xiong Quan became alert and was about to make their move, Gold Thug hissed, "How dare you little things act so unbridled in front of me?!" His voice that contained his might and prestige spread out to the far distance.
Boom!
At the same time, Gold Thug released a strong gust of airwave from his body and sent the seven Berserk Mongrel Rodents flying back.
However, Gold Thug did not continue to pursue victory. He stood at the same spot and lifted a hand that held an Order Token. The Order Token was carved with extremely complex and ancient striations.
Upon closer inspection, one would see the drawing formed by the striations was of a rodent-type demon beast.
Duan Ling Tian and the other two were extremely confused.
"Third Imperial Lord." The eyes of the seven Berserk Mongrel Rodents who were sent flying backward turned redder, and they were about to summon their clansmen. However, all of them kneeled in the sky in a very human-like manner as soon as they saw the Order Token in Gold Thug's hand.
As they kneeled in the sky, their bodies trembled slightly, and their eyes were filled with horror.
"Please forgive us, Third Imperial Lord. We didn't know it was you," one of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent said with a trembling voice.
"Please forgive us, Third Imperial Lord," another two Berserk Mongrel Rodents pleaded for forgiveness as well. They all spoke with trembling voices.
"Scram!" Gold Thug bellowed. With a raise of his hand, a rolling energy swept out and sent the seven Berserk Mongrel Rodents that had not even enter the Void Transformation Stage yet flying again.
The seven Berserk Mongrel Rodents felt relieved as they fled.
For a moment, the swamp area regained its tranquility.
After the seven Berserk Mongrel Rodents left, Gold Thug who looked awe-inspiring just a moment ago respectfully stood to the side and bowed humbly at Duan Ling Tian. He motioned for him to move forward. "Master, over here please."
However, Duan Ling Tian had no intention of moving forward at all.
"Gold Thug, what happened earlier? Why did they call you 'Third Imperial Lord'?" Duan Ling Tian asked curiously.
He found the scene earlier strange.
As a Golden Hellhound, Gold Thug should be the mortal enemy of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan, right?
Why did the seven Berserk Mongrel Rodents kneel down immediately and respectfully address Gold Thug as 'Third Imperial Lord' as soon as they saw the Order Token in Gold Thug's hand?
Duan Ling Tian was puzzled.
It was not only him, even Feng Tian Wu and Xiong Quan looked puzzled. Xiong Quan, in particular, was confused, even the shocked expression on his face had not dissipated yet.
The scene of the seven Berserk Mongrel Rodents bowing respectfully at Gold Thug gave him a big shock. He had no idea what was happening at all.
"Didn't Young Master say the Golden Hellhounds and the Berserk Mongrel Rodents are mortal enemies?" Xiong Quan was completely lost.
"Master, in the eyes of all the Berserk Mongrel Rodents in the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan's branch, Golden Hellhounds are a thing of the past. We're history, something that no longer exists," Gold Thug explained slowly in response to Duan Ling Tian's question.
"Are you saying they're unaware of your identity?" Duan Ling Tian was not stupid. He understood the underlying meaning in Gold Thug's words.
"You're smart, Master." Gold Thug nodded and proceeded to flatter Duan Ling Tian.
"Don't mention that. Explain! Why did the seven Berserk Mongrel Rodents kneel down and call you 'Third Imperial Lord' or something when they saw you holding the Order Token?" Duan Ling Tian looked at Gold Thug weirdly. "Don't tell me you actually stole that token from one of the Royal family members of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan?"
The Imperial family was revered in the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan.
The next in line after the Imperial family was the Royal family.
The Royal family was closely related to the Imperial family and was usually born from the union between an Imperial family member and a non-Imperial family member. Nonetheless, they still retained quite a high position in the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan's branch.
Some of the Royal family members were also the siblings of the leader of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan's branch from the same mother.
Due to this reason, it was pretty normal for the Royal family members to be called the Third Imperial Lord or something.
"Of course not." Gold Thug shook his head and held the Order Token in his hand. "Master, this Order Token in my hand is my own. To be more precise, it was given to me by the two Imperial Lords of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan."
"What?" Duan Ling Tian had to admit that Gold Thug's answer had thoroughly shocked him. Feng Tian Wu and Xiong Quan were shocked as well.
"Aren't they your enemy? Why would they give you such a thing?" Xiong Quan asked, baffled.
"I know they're my enemy, but it doesn't mean they know I'm their enemy." There was a glint in Gold Thug's eyes as he explained to Duan Ling Tian and the other two who looked at him skeptically, "Previously, I created an opportunity and entered the estate of the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan. At that time, I helped them solved a problem. And because the strength I demonstrated was in no way inferior to the two Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan's Imperial family members, I gained their acceptance. It was pretty funny actually. At that time, I was forcibly dragged by them to pledge an oath of brotherhood to become their sworn brother. Due to the fact that I can't defeat them when they go into Berserk mode, I became the Third Brother. The two of them have a strength that's on par with each other so for the time being, they're both 'Big Brother'. Later, when one of them becomes the leader of the Berserk Mongrel Rodents, he'll become the one and only Big Brother, and the other one will be the Second Brother." A sneer crept up on the corner of Gold Thug's mouth when he reached the end of his sentence.
"Y-You became sworn brothers with them?" Xiong Quan was utterly shocked.
"Hurmph! It's just a formality. In the end, I found out the reason why they wanted to pledge brotherhood with me. It was because they wanted me to help them with something. Initially, they told me it wouldn't be dangerous. However, I almost lost my life because of that," Gold Thug bellowed angrily when he reached this part of the sentence. "Indeed, the Berserk Mongrel Rodents are all despicable, shameless things, just like it was recorded in the journals in our clan. They still wanted to use me after that so I left without saying a word in the end. The reason I came here, in the beginning, was to learn more about them. Once I found out what I needed, I chose to leave."
Looking at the Order Token in his hand, Gold Thug continued, "This Order Token was given to me after I almost lost my life because of them. It's merely a nice-sounding title that was given to me, a position that's just below them in the Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan."
Upon hearing Gold Thug's words, Duan Ling Tian and the other two were hit by a pang of realization. So that was what happened.
"So with the help of this Order Token, we can meet the two Berserk Mongrel Rodent Clan's Imperial family members in no time then." Xiong Quan's eyes lit up instantly.
"Yes." Gold Thug nodded as his eyes gleamed coldly. "They'll be very happy if they know I'm back. In their eyes, I'm a powerful pawn, and I can help them with many things that their clansmen cannot help them with." A hint of killing intent could be heard in Gold Thug's words.