A Hysterical Black Rat Leader

Xilin had always suspected that there was something inside the Black Rat Leader that had caused it to change so dramatically. Mutation was one thing, but there should have been a stable period afterward. Yet this rat had undergone a second mutation not long after completing the first—and done so with such success that its intelligence and combat ability seemed to reflect centuries of evolution. He had never heard of anything like it.

Which was cleverer: a several-hundred-year-old rat that was still strong, or a one-year-old rat? The answer was obvious.

When Xilin had examined the traces this Black Rat left behind, he had already noticed a strange substance inside its cells. Or rather, there might be something in the rat that stimulated cells throughout its body to produce substances that enhanced them.

It was only when this Black Rat appeared that Xilin clearly sensed the unusual signal coming from inside it. The chip in his body reacted excitedly to that signal, as if it had found one of its own.

The enormous Black Rat Leader's two pairs of incisors were like giant scythes, and it made a chittering sound unlike any ordinary rat. It had sensed Xilin earlier but hadn't attacked right away. The human gave it a strange feeling—an underlying sense of danger, but also the temptation of a delicious meal. Perhaps eating him would help it evolve. After holding back for so long, it had finally decided to strike.

The Black Rat vanished from where it stood and appeared in front of Xilin the next instant. Xilin reacted just as quickly. He had already set his gun and backpack aside, and faced it with his bare hands.

His hardened body collided with the Black Rat's, each impact landing with a dull thud. The instant the rat's claws swept past, Xilin sprang up and kicked it in the cervical spine.

Thud!

The Black Rat's neck didn't break, but the force sent its head and upper body smashing sideways into the rock wall. The wall caved in, and pulverized stone crumbled down.

The cave wall was like tofu beneath the Black Rat's claws. Its repeated impacts widened the passage, sending stone chips flying.

After so many exchanges, Xilin knew where the object was inside the Black Rat.

Whoosh—

He flung two rat claws at the Black Rat's blood-red eyes. It closed its eyes and turned its head slightly to the side. The claws struck just below the corners of its eyes, failing even to scratch its hide. But the claws were only a feint. Xilin's next target was its ears.

As the Black Rat closed its eyes, Xilin flung two more rat claws, aiming for its ears on either side. At that speed and force, even if the outer ears were tough, a claw that entered the ear would damage the inner ear and nerves deep inside.

The Big Black Rat knew what would happen if it was hit. As it closed its eyes and turned its head to evade the first two claws, it raised both forelimbs and knocked the incoming projectiles aside with its sharp claws.

Now!

Xilin leaped diagonally beneath the Black Rat's foreclaws. His hardened arm pierced its abdomen, and at the same time, drew the object inside out as if it were a magnet. He yanked his arm free and sprang away. The whole thing took only an instant.

It was a fist-sized, crystal-white orb, glowing faintly in the darkness. Holding the White Ball, Xilin could clearly feel the immense energy radiating from it. But this was no time to study it. He snatched the object and immediately retreated. Only a fool would stand and trade blows with that giant.

The wound Xilin's arm had made in the Black Rat's abdomen barely bled. It began healing at once, but not as well as it had when the White Ball was inside it; the recovery was noticeably slower.

When it realized the White Ball had been taken, the Black Rat went berserk. Its bloodshot eyes turned even redder as it shrieked in fury, its two pairs of scythe-like incisors radiating rage and murderous intent.

It could let go of revenge. It could ignore the deaths of the other Black Rats. But it couldn't lose the White Ball. Everything it relied on, every opportunity it had found, came from that White Ball!

The Black Rat chased Xilin like a mad thing. With every step, its long, sharp claws ripped huge chunks from the cave walls. It didn't bother taking the bends, charging straight through the shortest route in its desperate pursuit. Sections of the cave were smashed apart, and the passage began collapsing behind them as they ran.

The route Xilin had chosen through the caves passed almost none of the other Action Team members. And the Black Rat's rampage was so loud that nearby operatives had gone on alert as well. When they sensed the caves becoming unstable, they began hurrying toward the surface...

A clear, complete map of the cave network had already formed in Xilin's mind. He knew exactly which branch to take at every turn. His route passed through most of the caves, including the place where he had dealt with the hidden assassins. The cave-ins buried the last traces of them.

The longer it went without the White Ball, the weaker the Black Rat felt, and the more anxious it became. Yet the human who had taken its possession was fast, too. As it ran, the Black Rat let out a long, piercing shriek. It sounded less like a rat and more like an ancient beast.

The shriek sent tremors through the entire underground cave network. Even the Action Team members fighting the Black Rats on the surface heard it clearly.

It was like a mournful, piercing howl in a bitter wind, or the demonic cry of an asura returning from hell. Everyone who heard it—operatives and researchers alike—felt a shiver of icy dread.

What kind of creature could make a sound like that? And what state of mind could drive it to howl with such hysteria?

The moment the sound rang out, every Black Rat on the surface stopped what it was doing. Whether it was fighting the Action Team, lurking somewhere in the base and waiting for a chance to attack, or nearly breaking through the last layer of defenses around the base's central zone, every one of them headed underground. They paid no heed even when operatives opened fire on them.

"Notify all operatives still underground to evacuate the caves immediately! Everyone on the surface, stay on high alert!" Huoding shouted into his communicator. He didn't know what had happened, but from the sound of it, the leader was coming.

Somewhere in the underground caves, a group of operatives was walking forward. They had lost contact with the surface earlier, and their communicators had no signal. But the cave was becoming increasingly unstable, so the team leader had decided they should leave first. Being buried down here would be a miserable way to go. Hearing that terrifying shriek only strengthened his resolve to evacuate.

"Leader, we've got a signal!" one team member cried out in delight.

The closer they got to the surface and the farther they moved from the Black Rat Leader's earlier location, the more signal receivers they passed that were still intact. They weren't the only ones; the other operatives making their way up from underground also found that their communicators had regained signal.

"All operatives underground, evacuate to the surface immediately! Evacuate to the surface immediately!"

Huoding's urgent voice came through the communicators.

"Move!"

The team leader gave the order at once.

But before they had taken two steps, they felt vibrations approaching from a distance.

"Stay alert!"

Every team member raised their gun and prepared to fire. But they all knew that, given the sound of those approaching tremors, the Black Rats were far too numerous for their small group to hold off.

Retreat? It wouldn't help much. The cave was long, and running for their lives would only waste their strength and delay the collision.

They hadn't encountered so many Black Rats when they first entered the underground caves. Now it seemed as though the rats were charging together, and the noise of their approach was completely unrestrained, unlike when they had fought the team from the shadows.

Saqi was part of this group, too. He no longer had time to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He thought back over everything he had experienced in his life, and how he had arrived at Seven Lights full of ambition, chasing his dream... Did he regret it? He asked himself.

He didn't know. He really didn't. His mind was empty of everything else; he could only remember how he had felt as a child, looking at the golden medal bearing a military insignia in his dad's study. Perhaps from that moment on, he had carried an obsession in his heart: someday, he would earn one of his own, with his name on it—not his dad's, but Saqi's.

The Black Rats were close now, and the team members could smell their disgusting stench in the air.

"For glory!"

"For glory!"

The team members joined their leader in shouting the words, then tightened their grips on their guns.