A flash of light, and the arrow turned into stardust, dispersing as if it had never existed. All that was left was a giant rat with its brain pierced, lying in a pool of blood, its limbs twitching in a nervous spasm, clearly having just breathed its last.
Old Jin froze for a moment, then suddenly looked toward the trajectory of the incoming arrow. He saw a flicker of golden light rapidly approaching in his line of sight, growing infinitely larger. In the blink of an eye, it brushed past his temple and pierced the second giant rat behind him!
When the sharp “squeak” echoed, Old Jin immediately snapped back into battle mode.
Whoever the attacker was, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they had saved him twice, so they were definitely on the same side! Though his body had aged, his mind was still sharp. A strong ally should be put to use on the battlefield, not as a “bodyguard” for his old bones.
He would prove with his actions that he didn’t need protection, and would show his opponent with his sword skills that they should go help other soldiers.
As a seasoned veteran, Old Jin’s expertise wasn’t in firearms, but in wielding a massive steel blade that spanned two fingers’ width and the palm of his hand.
Rats were quick and unpredictable, jumping up and down in erratic patterns, but bullets moved in straight lines, and if they missed, they could easily hurt their own side. The cleaver’s killing power wasn’t as great as a firearm, but its maneuverability made up for that.
Thus, the soldiers fighting on the front lines were all elite marksmen and swordsmen, while those stationed at fixed points with heavy weapons were the backbone of the gunmen. As long as the formation held, they could fight a prolonged battle!
Old Jin twisted his wrist, chopping down the giant rat, and caught sight of several arrows rapidly shooting toward them, saving seven or eight soldiers. As the soldiers stood stunned for a moment, Old Jin shouted sharply, “Hold the line!”
His words instantly snapped everyone out of their daze. They no longer cared who the newcomer was, only that their weapons should be pointed at the rats.
With the continuous barrage of arrows helping them, the soldiers began to gain the upper hand.
However, the aura of the awakened one eventually attracted the attention of the rats. The black tide of rats began to stir restlessly, their crimson eyes scanning the surroundings as if searching for something.
One arrow shot through and took down the largest of the rats.
Seeing this, the sensitive soldiers bristled with alarm, and the rat swarm immediately locked onto the target! They quickly formed a rat wall, stacking on top of one another, charging toward a large tree. The fastest among them leaped into the air—
“Cover him!” someone roared, and nearby soldiers immediately rushed to defend.
However, before their rifles could lock onto the rats, they saw a shadow pass across the branches, grab an old vine, and leap high into the air, gracefully ascending.
The figure skillfully flipped in mid-air, facing the towering rat wall. His hands quickly crossed in front of him. Then, countless faint golden threads spread from his body, forming into handles, energy storage devices, barrels… finally solidifying into a perfect golden Gatling gun!
It was—
The soldiers’ minds went blank.
The next second, the mechanical “clack” of the heavy gun sounded, and countless golden bullets poured out, tearing through the rat wall several meters high, obliterating the rats’ flesh and brains, but the relentless assault continued.
Before they could blink again, the Gatling gun transformed into countless golden threads wrapping around the person’s arm, suddenly reshaping into a longbow.
The person held the longbow across his body, five arrows nocked. With a sharp “clang,” the arrows whizzed past the soldiers, efficiently piercing through the rats that had tried to ambush them.
After a few movements, Si Nuocheng disappeared into the treetops.
As he twisted and turned, arrows shot from every angle into the rat swarm. This overwhelming offensive was swift, fluid, and efficient, not only boosting morale but igniting the fighting spirit of all the soldiers!
No matter whether it was scientific or not, the soldiers simply thought, Let our military’s power be known!
“Kill—” They would never fail such a powerful ally.
In the bloody battle, the third line of defense held firm against the rats’ assault. However, their numbers were just too vast. Even though infighting had taken out many, there was still a steady supply of reinforcements, surging like underground sewage.
The rat swarm concentrated its firepower and relentlessly attacked, but still couldn’t break through Si Nuocheng’s line of defense. Meanwhile, the piles of rat corpses on the ground kept growing.
Victory seemed within reach, but the soldiers barely had time to catch their breath when a violent beastly roar echoed from the devil’s cave, shaking the Ningyuan Mountain Range!
They looked up in horror and saw the rat swarm, as if obeying an order, suddenly retreat. They gave up their assault on this line and split into two groups, charging in different directions. The Ningyuan Mountain Range was vast, and there was no need for them to force their way through a stronghold when there were other places with less secure defenses.
Old Jin raised his cleaver, shouting furiously, “Main force, fall back! Side wings, provide support!”
The elite troops immediately split into three groups, two groups pursuing the rats, while one group returned to defend.
Without thinking, the soldiers looked up toward the dark tree clusters, but they saw the figure still standing motionless at the highest point, seemingly choosing to stay rooted at their defense line, showing no intention of rushing to help.
“Old Jin, that person…”
“Not one of our soldiers,” Old Jin said with a grave tone. “Don’t disturb him.”
Helping was a matter of kindness, but not helping was a matter of duty. However, the fact that this powerful young man wasn’t providing assistance made Old Jin uneasy. He pressed his bleeding arm and furrowed his brow. “Can the defenses hold?”
“Yes.” A strange yet confident voice replied.
Old Jin turned around and found the mysterious figure from the treetops standing right behind him. If the person hadn’t spoken, he wouldn’t have noticed.
At the same moment, flares shot up in the sky at both the eastern and western defense lines, casting bright white light. Under the illumination, the soldiers saw an impossibly young, handsome face.
Si Nuocheng brushed the fallen leaves from his windbreaker and said, “My friend is guarding over there.”
He looked up at Old Jin and added, “The rats will never break through!”
As if to verify his words, a blue scroll of ancient scripture suddenly spun up at the eastern defense line. It formed a flexible, wall-like barrier, expanding and stretching, keeping the rats at bay.
The scripture solidified into a defensive wall, layer upon layer. Any missing offensive power was filled by the soldiers. As long as Qi Xinli had enough strength to continue, the soldiers could fight back fiercely.
The blue scripture flickered in the night, both gorgeous and mysterious, reliable yet unpredictable. The soldiers left behind at the defense line only felt their minds sway as if their long-held views were collapsing. They stood there, one more dazed than the other.
“What is that?” someone murmured. “A miracle?”
“Are they really human?”
Gazes came from all directions, and Old Jin’s expression became even more serious. He was about to ask something when Si Nuocheng suddenly made a hush gesture: “Shh…”
The sound immediately disappeared.
“Hold your positions. Something is coming out of the devil’s cave!”
Meanwhile, at the western defense line, Laki had started to regain the feeling he had when he fought the flying zombies that day.
To force himself to grow, he had personally rejected Si Nuocheng’s proposal for a joint mission. Since he had made that choice, he had to show that he could hold the line.
As a tough guy, Laki’s strength was proportional to his looks. His courage had always surpassed others, and his solitary bravery was unmatched. Even as an ordinary person, he dared challenge the giant whale snake in Jing Du Port and fight against the zombies in Juwang City, so how much more after awakening?
Even if there were countless rats, always on the verge of being gnawed to the bone, Laki still chose to fight on the front lines.
If a person doesn’t push themselves to their limits, they’ll never know how much potential they truly have. When Laki threw himself fully into the battle, he felt his blood boiling with intensity!
His pores expanded, his muscles solidified, and his body seemed to stretch out branches in all directions, drawing in power from every angle. An invisible, flowing warmth moved through him like a gentle stream, continuously pouring into every cell, making him feel so good that he just wanted to howl with joy.
Compared to the first time he exploded with power, clueless about what was happening, Laki was now able to maintain his rationality after the resonance training. He didn’t lose himself in the wash of strength.
Compared to Si Nuocheng’s “natural” power and Qi Xinli’s “compassionate” strength, his own power was brutal and dangerous. A single misstep could pull him into a whirlpool of raw, wild force.
Laki didn’t understand what was happening, only that after awakening, he couldn’t allow the rats to be reckless in front of him!
His dignity couldn’t tolerate provocation, and his territory couldn’t be invaded. This overwhelming sense of possessiveness filled his mind. In that fleeting moment, Laki felt that this mountain, this forest, this body of water, and even a single grain of sand should belong to him. Even those behind him, they were his “property.”
The rats wanted to fight for a piece of the meat? Impossible!
“Ura—!” Suddenly, a roar like a tiger’s growl and a wolf’s howl echoed across the Ningyuan Mountain Range, startling all the birds in the area, which took off in panic, flying frantically away.
The trees swayed, releasing explosive waves of energy. Startled, Si Nuocheng turned his eyes toward the source, while Qi Xinli was momentarily distracted, and even the creatures in the devil’s cave fell silent.
The roots of the trees intertwined, carrying their emotions. Si Nuocheng, moved by some instinct, reached out and touched the centuries-old towering tree. As the faint golden power seeped in, he miraculously sensed the whisper of the forest.
Everything has a spirit, and their language was akin to a resonance of energy waves being transmitted, now subtly harmonizing with his magnetic field.
In that moment, Si Nuocheng felt himself merging with the world.
The trees were singing a name, that was…
The Beast King?
At that moment, the rat swarm froze in place, trembling as if facing a natural enemy. They tucked their tails between their legs and instinctively retreated several steps toward the devil’s cave.
Not only the rats but even the soldiers at the western defense line were stunned by the “Ura” roar. Luckily, they weren’t ordinary humans, so they snapped back to their senses in three seconds and seized the opportunity to launch a powerful counterattack.
What they didn’t expect was that the young man who had been at the forefront all along took a wide stance and crouched down. The ground beneath him cracked open. Suddenly, with an inhuman speed, he vanished from his spot, leaving only a trail of dust and the earth that had split apart!
“Bang—!” A huge crash followed, and he had leaped right into the middle of the rat swarm. As his fist slammed into the ground, the powerful punch split the bodies of the rats, sending a spray of blood mist into the air.
Immediately, he vanished once more, hurtling with immense force toward the eighteenth point of the devil’s cave.
In the blink of an eye, the rat swarm stopped fighting and retreated like a rising tide, quickly gathering toward the devil’s cave!
This… this is…
Suddenly, the camp’s horn blared, and Old Jin’s voice rang out loud and clear, “Counterattack!”
For the first time! Humans weren’t simply enduring the monsters’ attacks anymore. In this absolute disadvantage, they had gained the upper hand! Since the start of the year, they had endured countless frustrations from the monsters, but now the opportunity to counterattack had arrived, and no one would let it slip away.
In an instant, the battle lines closed, and the heavy weapons of the human forces came into play. The sound of the rotating Gatling gun pierced through the rat swarm, and the deadly firepower wiped out countless rats.
With the enemy retreating, they couldn’t care about the mountain range’s capacity to withstand anymore. They only knew victory was within reach, and they had to seize the opportunity!
Si Nuocheng zipped through the forest like the wind but saw Laki, without hesitation, dive into the devil’s cave following the retreating rats.
His thin lips tightened, and his brow furrowed. Even from a distance, he could feel the storm-like energy emanating from Laki. His instincts told him that it was better not to get too close. Maybe leaving the battlefield to his friend would yield different results.
He paused for a moment, then decisively climbed a tree to get a better view.
With his excellent eyesight, he saw the soldiers converging from all directions, teammates rushing in, and Laki climbing up the edge of the devil’s cave with one hand. His other hand seemed to be holding something thick and dangerous, radiating the aura of death.
The rats tried to overwhelm Laki, but for some reason, they couldn’t bite through his flesh. Meanwhile, Laki used one arm to easily leap up, bracing himself against the cracks in the cave with his legs spread wide. His hands grasped tightly onto a pitch-black tail, pulling it upwards.
“Ura—!”
The air became even more violent, and a gust of wind blew through. Laki’s body swelled, and his upper muscles tore through his clothes. His feet sank deep into the cave wall, veins bulging on his skin, blood turning it red. A storm of power raged through the area.
Inches… two inches… three inches!
Laki forcibly pulled the long tail up—his hands shredded the monster’s skin and flesh, lifting it bit by bit!
The rock walls on both sides of the cave only expanded wide enough to fit an adult male, and so, by lifting the monster upside down, the rocks scraped off its bones and muscles.
It struggled with all its might, shrieking, but it couldn’t stop Laki’s strength.
When another “Ura” echoed, Laki viciously ripped out the monster’s entire spine, roaring in victory amid the gushing blood and exploded flesh. He even swung the spine around, spinning it wildly!
Before long, he casually tossed the spine aside.
Suddenly, he looked up and locked eyes with Si Nuocheng. His mind was consumed by raw danger: “Ura!”
Si Nuocheng:…
Wait, are you planning to give your ally a proper burial?
In the blink of an eye, Laki disappeared, and Si Nuocheng leaped from the treetop. In that instant, the tree where he had been standing was split open by Laki’s powerful strike. Among the flying wood chips, Laki, indistinguishable from a wild beast, was intent on fighting another “dominant male” on his territory to the death!
“Laki! Vladimir!” Si Nuocheng shouted his name while trying to pull him away from the others.
The out-of-control Laki was just too dangerous! This wasn’t a beast; this was a human-shaped killing machine!
“Boom!”
Laki uprooted a willow tree and threw the giant trunk at Si Nuocheng. Si Nuocheng dodged it in a series of flips, his golden aura flickering as he gathered and dispersed his energy. If possible, he didn’t want to hurt his teammate, but he hadn’t yet mastered how to control his strength.
What if he hurt him…?
Before he could think further, the fully beastified Laki grabbed his ankle. Si Nuocheng couldn’t kick him away in time, and just as he was about to react, a very familiar staff slashed across Laki’s skull.
“Bang!” A critical blow.
Laki’s eyes rolled back as he passed out.
Si Nuocheng sighed in relief.
At that moment, Ji Si’s cold voice echoed in his ear, “Awakening changes their temperament. Looking for death?” Then, his gaze shifted downward, locking onto Si Nuocheng’s ankle. “To think you got caught by his foot. So useless, maybe you should just chop off the new one you’ve grown.”
Si Nuocheng:…
Compared to the walking nuclear weapons by his side, a rampaging Laki seemed like nothing more than a Hello Kitty.
…
The second wave of the rat infestation in Ningyuan Mountain didn’t cause much damage. However, the berserk Laki did wreak havoc on a large portion of the terrain. The soldiers guarding the front line were busy cleaning up the battlefield, the returning researchers were calculating data, and Old Jin, along with his assistants and soldiers, kept a long-distance watch on the “superpowered” people camped in the center.
If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, who would believe that such people really existed in the world?
They lifted guns and cannons, recited scriptures, and wiped out monsters as if it were child’s play. There was even one who could shake the rats into retreat and rip out a giant rat’s spine with his bare hands. Such incredible power was something they had never heard of, never seen.
Is this really… something a human can do?
Are they really human?
Curiosity, awe, and caution mixed together, forming the distance that ordinary people felt when it came to the awakened ones, “can be admired from afar but not approached.” Facing awakened ones who could take on a hundred enemies at once, the military wasn’t rushing to ally with them. Instead, they were carefully releasing goodwill, gradually building a relationship.
Although they had shared life-and-death battles the previous night, it was clear that Laki’s berserk state made people wary. At the very least, before talking about cooperation or joint operations, they needed to confirm the danger level of this one!
But as they observed for a while, they began to feel that this group of young people… seemed safe, though a little bit unreliable?
For example, right now, Qi Xinli was sitting cross-legged next to Laki, his hands pressed together as he chanted a Buddhist mantra, “Amitabha! Donor, I see your complexion is rosy, your kidney energy is high. To prevent you from going into madness, how about I recite a sutra for you?”
Jiang Qining crouched beside Laki, pointing to the messy area around them, “See that? That’s the empire you built last night! Honestly, you really live up to the name ‘Chi Niuzhuang’, truly a man of your name! First time I’ve seen a bull that doesn’t get tired, as long as the field isn’t ruined.”
Laki:…
Yu Mingyang added with a chuckle, “Your kidneys are really good, huh?”
“Enough already…” Laki covered his face, “Just consider me trash!”
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PS:
Laki: I, the trash maker, live up to my name. But I will remember to sort the trash.
Si Nuocheng: Hmm, good self-management.
Laki:…
