Kana listened to Alyris' account, and couldn't help but rub his temples.

Those damn gutter rats are actually holing up and fighting a defensive war now.

Yet, in this situation, this war must be fought.

The other side is clearly stalling for time, just waiting for their highest-ranking Evil Rat to ascend to Godhood.

Once successful, they will have the confidence, as these creatures inherently have the essence of an Evil God, merely "activated" early by those four Evil Gods.

For a moment, Kana was conflicted, unsure whether to be grateful to those four Evil Gods or hate them.

If they succeed, the rats will be able to turn the tide, shifting from defense to offense, and then they will surely show the Night Watchers what they're capable of.

"No worries, I've prepared secret weapons for these damn rats. Once the war breaks out, these secret weapons will hit the battlefield and rip through the rats' defenses," Kana said with a cold laugh.

The enemy is preparing, and of course, he's not been idle either. With more information at his disposal, he's even better prepared.

He chose to temporarily cease fighting and rest after reclaiming half the land because he was confident that time would bring the advantage to his side.

Of course, this timing needs to be controlled well, or the advantage will shift to the other side.

"However, according to the intelligence received, these rats seem to have different deployments in various regions and should have prepared some special tactics to resist our attacks.

And according to eyewitnesses, more modified rats have appeared in the enemy's camp, many deeply influenced by those four Evil Gods, receiving more blessings."

Upon hearing this, Kana waved his hand nonchalantly: "Don't worry about it, it was expected. Just see it as gaining more experience points from rat enemies."

...

At a junction point in a certain battle area, a Light Guardian unit composed entirely of Night Watchers gathered.

This unit consists of only 200 people, but upon closer inspection, nearly half of them are new recruits.

Zahanu is one of these new recruits.

At this moment, he wears the standard armor of the Night Watchers and holds a weapon, following closely beside the Captain.

In the Light Guardian unit, Night Watchers operate in teams of five, with multiple small teams forming a larger force to coordinate in combat.

Zahanu is part of the cavalry unit, riding a fully-armored Land Bird.

Indeed, having joined the cavalry unit, he chose Beast Taming as his Secondary Profession, hoping to quickly improve his skills so his mount could also achieve Datafication like him.

A small eagle stands on his shoulder, serving as his "eyes."

"Make camp here. Squads three, five, and seven, set off in these directions. If nothing goes wrong, there should be enemy patrols there; clear them out,"

"Right now, those guys don't have the guts to stick out, probably all keeping their heads down carefully," the leader ordered.

The various squad leaders nodded, then led their members to quickly depart on their Land Birds in different directions.

Zahanu is in the fifth squad, feeling a bit nervous at the moment.

A nearby teammate approached him, smiling in comfort: "Don't worry, everyone is nervous on their first mission. It'll be fine in a few days."

Zahanu nodded upon hearing this.

Actually, the main reason for his anxiety is that his Level doesn't match the squad's average.

Their Captain is already Level Nine, and word has it that with a few more sessions in the Tower of Trial, he could reach Level Ten.

Other members of the squad are at least Level Eight, while Zahanu isn't even Level Five yet.

He doesn't even qualify to enter the Tower of Trial.

"You're pretty lucky as a new recruit," another colleague said with a smile.

Seeing Zahanu's puzzled expression, the colleague explained: "These rats now mostly give experience points.

"They've drawn in those despicable foreign Evil Gods, and while there are a lot of them, they aren't very strong. We don't have many opportunities to gain experience from them, but it's a great chance for you.

"Perform well in this mission, and it won't be long before you're keeping up with everyone else."

Just after saying this, another colleague chimed in with a smile: "Seriously, don't look at my high Level; I haven't even been here a year."

Their words quickly eased Zahanu's nervousness.

"Enough chatting, I see traces of those rats," the Captain at the front reminded.

As soon as he spoke, everyone fell silent, leaning slightly forward, hands on their weapons, ready for battle at any moment.

Zahanu, following previous training, mimicked the actions.

The Captain's Land Bird flapped its wings, sending an invisible wave spreading to all the Land Birds.

Soon, the sound of the Land Birds running disappeared. Normally, a group of heavily armored riders on Land Birds would make a lot of noise in a forest, but now they were completely silent.

Zahanu's eyes widened, trying to suppress his amazement, silently reminding himself, "Don't act like someone who's never seen the world."

They moved silently, quickly reaching a small hill, where they spotted rats in disguise, cautiously scouting the surroundings from below.

"Let me see, there are a total of three reconnaissance teams, scattered around, but there are quite a few of them, almost a hundred in total," one member said after observing and looked to the Captain for orders.

The Captain barely thought before looking at Zahanu in the team.

"Haha, I knew it," one member chuckled.

Another, who claimed to have joined less than half a year ago, showed a gloating expression.

Zahanu looked at his companions' expressions, sensing an ominous feeling as if some tricky task was about to be thrust upon him.

Sure enough, the Captain said, "There aren't many rats here, about a hundred, with three small reconnaissance leaders, each around Level Four to Five, but rats are generally weaker than humans.

Plus, you've received the Night Watcher's blessing, so go on, handle them all by yourself."

"Ah?" Zahanu couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"Me?" he pointed to himself, in disbelief.

The Captain, expressionless, clearly not joking, nodded: "Yes."

"Can he handle it?" someone whispered.

"He can," the Captain replied firmly.

Since the Captain said so, and Zahanu was a naturally combative person, he nodded solemnly in agreement.

"Then it's settled. Wait here for a moment, then slide down on your Land Bird above them. Don't let your Land Bird join the battle initially; feed it experience only after it's Datafied.

The rest of you, disperse according to the previous formation, surround all these rats. Don't kill them; if they try to run, drive them back for Zahanu to enjoy killing."

"Yes!" the team responded in unison.