The Final Boundary Between the Restricted Zone and the Outer Perimeter Was the Lives of These Pioneer Soldiers

With a bang.

Vicious Dog was trapped in the encirclement of five people and on the verge of being worn down to death when it suddenly erupted with a powerful Black Mist.

The Black Mist spread across the sky, blotting out the sun.

"Damn it! Fall back!"

The female officer, Chu Lan, went pale.

The instant the order left her mouth, the other four immediately retreated from Vicious Dog's side. The Black Mist brushed their clothes, corroding and scorching the fabric the moment it touched it.

A foul smell of burning drifted into everyone's noses.

The Black Mist grew larger and denser.

Like a dense spiderweb, it covered the sky over everyone's heads. The Black Mist was like fire, burning and leaping through the air as it blazed ever more fiercely.

Within the Black Mist, a figure slowly grew larger.

Vicious Dog had originally been an ordinary wolfdog, nearly as tall as an adult woman when standing upright. But now, amid the eruption of Black Mist, its body gradually expanded and grew stronger.

Its muscles and bones became more than twice as thick as before. Its fur stood like steel needles along its back, while the horrifying flaming spots across its body pulsed open and shut as though breathing.

The Black Mist was drawn into its body. Gradually, terrifying bone spikes began extending from those spots, snow-white and razor-sharp. Vicious Dog, which had just been like a trapped beast, tore through their formation with a crash the instant the bone spikes emerged.

The barrier formed from spiritual energy shattered like starlight, scattering into countless glowing motes.

The five of them turned pale at the sight.

"It has completed its evolution."

Chu Lan stared fixedly at the changes on Vicious Dog's body.

The Dark Attribute was powerful and tyrannical.

Its absolute corrosiveness made it the Pioneer's greatest nemesis, and the newly grown bone spikes on the Vicious Dog before them were filled with dense Dark Attribute energy.

One touch meant certain death!

The Black Mist gradually dispersed.

Vicious Dog, which had been panting violently moments earlier, rose to its feet. Its four paws planted on the ground, it exhaled scorching vapor from its nostrils, its eyes as black as night.

The bone spikes on its body were both deadly armor and lethal weapons, protecting it within their cover. Any spiritual energy that touched the Black Qi-wreathed spikes was instantly corroded and dissolved.

Ordinary spiritual energy could no longer restrain it.

"This damn thing actually fused with the Dark Attribute."

"The Dark Attribute suppresses us. My spiritual energy melts before it can even get close. I can't hurt it at all."

The soldiers instantly fell into a disadvantageous position.

The terrifying corrosiveness of the Dark Attribute was equivalent to stripping them of their weapons.

Without weapons, the only thing they could use to stop Vicious Dog was their own flesh.

In an instant.

Vicious Dog suddenly moved.

It reared up high, and its bone spikes shot out in an instant, striking toward Wang Liang, who was closest.

It was a bone spike soaked in Dark Attribute venom.

Wang Liang's pupils reflected the venom dripping from the spike. The liquid was black as ink and contained intense Dark Attribute energy. The slightest touch would corrode his entire body, leaving not even bones behind.

Seeing this, Fang Yi frowned slightly as lightning gathered in his palm.

The moment Wang Liang was in danger, he would act immediately.

Fortunately, in the next moment.

Wang Liang dodged with terrifying speed. The bone spike failed to hit him and instead plunged into a nearby rock, which instantly melted into a puddle of liquid.

"Wang Liang!"

Chu Lan cried out sharply. Seeing that he had dodged, she let out a breath of relief.

"Fuck, that nearly one-shot me."

Wang Liang wiped away his sweat, his heart pounding like a drum. The massive surge of adrenaline from that split-second reaction had allowed him to respond in time. Years of physical training had saved his life at that moment.

After narrowly escaping death, Wang Liang looked toward Vicious Dog with an even graver expression.

A Vicious Dog that had successfully evolved with both the Dark Attribute and Fire Attribute.

The Fire Attribute alone had already made things extremely difficult for them. Now it had fused with the most troublesome Dark Attribute and successfully evolved.

Could they still stop it?

"Li Yu, Zhang Mi, both of you fall back. Everyone move back. Shift to open ground and use your mobility to limit its bone spikes," Chu Lan ordered.

"Received."

The two retreated in unison, and their formation shifted instantly.

Wang Liang and the other person adjusted their positions as well. Their entire squad seemed like a single body—when one side moved, all sides moved—forming an airtight, all-encompassing encirclement around Vicious Dog.

Awooo—

Vicious Dog stomped its thick limbs and roared in Chu Lan's direction. Its intelligence was not high, but it still understood that the woman before it was the most troublesome among them all.

It kept stamping its paws, snorting heavily through its nose.

Chu Lan needed to adjust their tactics immediately. Their previous close-quarters combat was no longer viable with the Black Mist blocking them. They could only use spiritual energy to harass it from a distance, but spiritual energy was just as fragile as a cicada's wing before that Black Mist.

Before she could think of anything, Vicious Dog moved first.

Dense Black Mist suddenly sprayed from its body, rushing at everyone like poisonous miasma.

It was like a rabid dog, its scarlet eyes fixed on the female officer as it panted viciously.

"Not good! It's going to force its way out!"

Chu Lan's pupils suddenly contracted.

The moment the vast open ground in her sight was tainted by the Black Mist, it was corroded away, leaving a deep pit in the earth.

Vicious Dog planted its claws on the pit and charged toward Chu Lan.

Whoosh—

A snow-white bone spike carved an arc through the air.

Everywhere the spike passed was corroded, leaving trail after trail of damage.

Within only a few breaths, Vicious Dog had reached Chu Lan.

Chu Lan's face was pale. During the earlier fierce battle, she had fought this Vicious Dog for nearly an hour. The extreme strain on both her mind and body had pushed her to the brink.

But she could not retreat. This was the last line of defense for Restricted Zone 019. Behind her lay the outer perimeter of the Restricted Zone.

"Restricted Zone 019, Class C Aberrant [Vicious Dog] has successfully evolved. It is now reclassified as Tier B. Battle plan updated..."

Chu Lan took a deep breath. The moment she spoke, her voice echoed throughout the Restricted Zone.

This command reached the ears of every soldier behind her.

"All Pioneers of Divine Axe First Star and above in Restricted Zone 019, join me in battle."

"Under no circumstances can we let this Tier B Aberration leave the Restricted Zone!"

"Received!"

"Received!"

Orderly, low roars rang out one after another, thunderous enough to echo endlessly through the valley.

This was a true army.

Upon receiving the order, the soldiers swiftly put aside what they were doing and gathered behind Chu Lan at top speed. They took positions to her left and right, filling the reserve positions of the five-person formation.

This meant that whenever anyone at the front left the formation, they would immediately step up to replace them. This tight encirclement surrounding Vicious Dog would never collapse, because it was built from the soldiers' lives.

As long as even one person remained standing, he would give everything he had to stop Vicious Dog.

The final boundary between Restricted Zone 019 and the outer perimeter was the lives of these Pioneer soldiers.

Fang Yi watched the entire scene from the side.

In the eyes of these soldiers, he could not see even the slightest trace of hesitation.

Not a single one retreated.

Facing this mutated Tier B Aberration, they were fearless and heroic, as though they were willingly walking toward their own deaths.

Chu Lan stood at the very center of the formation.

Like every other soldier, her gaze burned fiercely, as though golden blades were condensing in her eyes.

It was the flame of a resolve to perish alongside the enemy. If all of them failed to keep this Tier B Aberration within Restricted Zone 019, then they would be destroyed together with Restricted Zone 019.

They would never let this Tier B Aberration leave Restricted Zone 019.

"Prepare..."

Chu Lan spoke, but before her voice had fully left her mouth—

A fierce gust of wind swept past her side.

A figure none of them had expected charged out before any of them could.