Strong Reinforcements

"Pull some people to guard the Cold Storage Warehouse."

"No, forget it. I'll lead the team myself."

Wang Jinyin suddenly changed his mind.

Right now, the Secret Realm needed manpower, and so did the Cold Storage Warehouse—he was stretched thin.

"I knew it—my brow's been twitching nonstop, like I'd overlooked something. I completely forgot that the outer suburbs of Jiaying City had built a large cold storage facility for frozen meat."

"But how did the burrowing rats slip past our focused search and escape onto that smuggling freighter?"

A sharp pain stabbed through Wang Jinyin's brain; he felt his mind couldn't keep up.

"I think I know the reason."

The secretary pushed up her black-rimmed glasses.

"I checked the smuggling freighter's voyage records. It once passed through the waters where the Secret Realm Rift is located."

"That must have been when some of the escaped burrowing rats climbed aboard."

"Although burrowing rats are Earth Attribute strange beasts, they can swim."

"Our drones use thermal detection systems. Those burrowing rats hid inside refrigerated containers, naturally evading the drones' scans."

"In an environment with ample food, a burrowing rat's reproductive capacity multiplies several times over."

The secretary answered the Guild Leader's doubts.

"Most of our people have been dispatched. Right now, I'm worried about a sudden emergency."

Wang Jinyin let out a long sigh. He felt he'd sighed more in these past few days than in his entire life.

A Beast Tide—that was a Beast Tide.

Anyone who had experienced a Beast Tide knew how terrifying it was.

Ten years ago, a Fourth Order Beast Tide erupted in Jiaying City. The then-Guild Leader of the Jiaying City Pet Beast Guild, to stop the Beast Tide, Self-Destructed his main pet, the Exploding Rock, sacrificing himself to hold it back.

"Xiao Wang, what are you sighing about? I could hear you from way over here."

A booming voice rang out from outside the door. Hearing it, Wang Jinyin's face lit up.

Reinforcements had arrived.

Principal Zhang pushed the door open: "What's the situation now? I heard something else happened."

"Even Sacred Mountain Middle School was attacked by a batch of burrowing rats. We've killed them all."

Zhang Dashan loathed Beast Tides. His main battle pets had all died resisting one.

Heartbroken and severely injured, Zhang Dashan had then stepped down as Guild Leader of the Yandong Pet Beast Guild and came to Sacred Mountain Middle School to cultivate talent for the Yan Country Alliance.

"The Secret Realm Rift is under control, but the escaped burrowing rats climbed aboard a smuggling freighter carrying frozen goods and bred wildly."

"First Order burrowing rats, after being nourished by large amounts of flesh and blood, will directly advance to Second Order Berserk Blood Rats."

"What we're worried about now is whether this will trigger another Beast Tide."

Wang Jinyin quickly stood up to explain.

"No matter. Second Order Berserk Blood Rats—the risk is still manageable."

"We need to focus on inspecting places like slaughterhouses to ensure the citizens' safety."

"We'll suppress this Beast Tide completely."

"I and some of the teachers from Sacred Mountain Middle School will lend a hand."

With Principal Zhang's help, Wang Jinyin's pressure eased considerably.

He personally led the team to the large cold storage, hoping to annihilate this group of burrowing rats.

Not long after Wang Jinyin's departure, at the guild's entrance stood a stone lion statue—a ferocious, snarling stone lion carved from a massive block of marble.

At that moment, the stone lion's shadow suddenly stretched and elongated, and a Black Robed Man emerged from the shadow.

"Finally gone. My plan is proceeding quite smoothly."

"Even though they discovered the Secret Realm Rift early on, the outcome is still going according to my plan."

"I hope what I want is in the Pet Beast Guild's Secret Vault."

"Otherwise, I'll have wasted all this effort. The legendary Seven-Orifice Exquisite Jade—the one that can replicate talents."

"If it falls into my hands, my standing in the organization is sure to rise."

The Black Robed Man muttered to himself.

After Wang Jinyin left, the Black Robed Man felt that no one left in the Pet Beast Guild could stop him.

He could come and go as he pleased.

The Black Robed Man's body then dissolved into countless Dark Shadows, dispersing onto the ground.

At this moment, Ye Bai had arrived at one side of Jiaying City's Central Park.

The burrowing rats that appeared along the way were all easily dealt with by the Thousand Changes Silkworm.

Steelize + Roll Attack turned the Thousand Changes Silkworm into a high-speed steamroller.

Everywhere it passed, Burrowing Rats were crushed into meat patties.

The Thousand Changes Silkworm's level was also rising rapidly, soon reaching the peak of First Order.

But at this point, no matter how much energy it absorbed, it was hard to break through the First Order bottleneck and enter Second Order.

Because when a pet beast advances from First Order to Second Order, a Crystal Core condenses in its Sea of Consciousness—the area of the brain.

This process was extremely dangerous. It either required Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to help the pet beast break through First Order, or various Awakening Potions.

Due to the Thousand Changes Silkworm's special Evolution Path, Ye Bai was terrified it might eat the wrong thing and evolve directly into a Gray Poison Moth—he'd cry himself to death.

(The Thousand Changes Silkworm is a variant of the Chameleon Silkworm. Its genes are more complex, and there's a certain probability it could evolve into a Gray Poison Moth.)

Right now, Ye Bai was just waiting for the Divine Phoenix Group to publicly conduct clinical trials, using that opportunity to let the Thousand Changes Silkworm break through to Second Order with a hundred percent success rate.

Just then, a sound of tearing air came from above: "Ye Bai? Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to take shelter at the school?"

Zhang Lingxue sat atop a massive purple moth, descending from the sky.

This moth was enormous. On its wings were patterns like two giant eyes, and with every flap, countless purple powder flakes drifted down from the heavens.

Its huge tentacles were like sharp scythes, and its massive purple Compound Eyes stared fixedly at Ye Bai.

"Teacher, that's a Gray Poison Moth!!!"

Ye Bai studied the enormous pet beast curiously. He could feel a terrifying pressure from it, like a vast, bottomless abyss.

Da Hui's pupils had turned Azure Blue, and pale blue arcs of electricity began to crackle across its body.

"Little Purple, first retract your pressure. This is my Personal Disciple, Ye Bai."

"Ye Bai, this is Little Purple. Her species is Gray Poison Moth. She's my first pet beast. She evolved into a Gray Poison Moth due to a failed experiment."

"But she's different from ordinary Gray Poison Moths. Under my careful training, she's very, very strong."

Ye Bai immediately understood—this was Zhang Lingxue's Fifth Order pet beast. At that moment, he noticed the purple on the Gray Poison Moth and fell into deep thought.

The Information System had once hinted that some Gray Poison Moths had the ability to evolve, and their characteristic was purple-tinted wings.

Zhang Lingxue seemed to have an excellent bond with the Gray Poison Moth. The moth danced gracefully in midair, purple scale powder falling like snowflakes from the sky.