The Next Move

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak!!"

"Squeak squeak squeak!!"

Zhang Shuhui watched countless gray figures rise and fall amid the black tide of insects. Like a tiny boat caught in towering waves, they were quickly torn apart into splintered bones and scraps of flesh, leaving only bloodied fur rolling through the swarm.

Rats were clever—truly clever.

They knew that charging out meant certain death, yet none of them retreated. Instead, they threw themselves toward death one after another.

The gray rat stood beside Zhang Shuhui, directing the other rats. Even standing upright, it was only a little over a meter tall, about the size of a three- or four-year-old child.

Yet its exquisite armor was already riddled with wounds, and its gray fur was drenched in blood. It was impossible to tell whether the blood was its own or someone else's. It looked like a battle-hardened general.

Its spear was planted on the ground. The red cloth tied to its tip was soaked through and dripped blood steadily, making it look as though it had just rushed over from somewhere else.

Zhang Shuhui also rejoined the effort.

Her butcher's knife was very sharp. It had been useless before, and it was useless now.

She could only use her bare hands to tear the mechanical beetles clinging to the man-eating tree down one by one.

The beetles' target was clear. They had come for A-Qing.

Outside, the black beetles desperately tried to enter the light shield, piling up layer after layer until they nearly submerged it.

But Zhang Shuhui had no time to pay attention to that. Her only thought was that every beetle she caught meant one less beetle on A-Qing, and one fewer rat sacrificed.

The gray rat's scarlet eyes calmly watched Zhang Shuhui's frantic movements. Although it was intelligent, it