The Eruption

Outside Closed Town, in a large building not far away, Wang Heng and the officers were in a conference room. When the Rat Tide appeared, their faces changed dramatically, and they all stood up.

In the courtyard of a quiet little building in the military camp, Zhuge Tao's teacup shook in his hand, spilling water. But he seemed not to notice. He stared gravely at the big screen, a trace of shock in his eyes, and drew a deep breath. "A Rat Tide..."

Shrill alarms rang across the Northern Military Region camp. The whole base sprang into action like a war machine roaring to life. The sounds of countless soldiers rushing about filled the air. Before long, two dark-blue disc-shaped fighter aircraft rose into the night sky.

"S-so many rats!" When the Quasi-Martial Artists still inside Closed Town saw the swarms pouring in from every direction, they were terrified.

"There are too many! Run!"

"Where did all these rats come from? The military isn't doing anything? They're going to get us killed!"

"Is this a Rat Tide?"

The Quasi-Martial Artists couldn't think of anything else. They fled wildly. Closed Town had been completely overrun by the swarms, and they were trapped inside. Many were swallowed up by the surging rats, their anguished screams ringing out.

Rats covered the ground as far as the eye could see.

Outside the barbed-wire fence, the military had already opened fire. Tanks, missiles, and rockets launched without pause, while machine guns spat streams of fire, wiping out countless rats that charged toward the perimeter. The earth shook, and the roar of gunfire and artillery carried from far away.

But there were simply too many rats. The military could hold them back, but couldn't break through to rescue the people inside—not yet.

Many Quasi-Martial Artists watched in despair as countless gray-furred rats surged toward them, fighting desperately.

Zhuge Qing and Han Lei were stunned, too. At the sight of the swarms, Han Lei was the first to react. He shuddered, grabbed Zhuge Qing, and ran.

The Quasi-Martial Artists near the edge still had a chance to escape. Those trapped in the center were doomed. One after another, they were surrounded and killed by hundreds or thousands of Gray Fur Giant Rats, then devoured. Only scraps of combat suits and broken weapons remained.

Chen Daolin happened to be deep inside the town. When he saw countless gray-furred rats pouring out, he was startled, then immediately turned and charged toward the outskirts. Ordinary martial artists had no chance of defeating such a vast swarm. If they stayed, they would only die.

"Ah! No!"

"Help me!"

The Quasi-Martial Artists' screams rang throughout the town, turning it into a living hell.

Crack! Crack! Chen Daolin sprinted forward, swinging his spear wildly. One gray-furred rat after another was swept aside and sent flying.

"Squeak! Squeak!" Gray rats covered the town. When countless rat beasts surged over the hills and plains, the sight was so terrifying that the fainthearted would have gone weak in the knees.

"Die! Die! Just die!" The dense swarms attacked Chen Daolin from every direction. He went wild, no longer caring about hiding his strength under the pressure of death. King Kai Fist, Two Times! Chen Daolin's strength, speed, defense, and reflexes surged dramatically. The H-Level beasts that had once been able to cause him some trouble became helpless before him. Even the G-Level beasts that had made him feel threatened before—equivalent to Intermediate Warriors—and the F-Level beasts, equivalent to Advanced Warriors, could now be easily suppressed and thrown aside.

The problem was that there were too many of them. Even though G-Level and F-Level beasts were relatively rare, tens of thousands of H-Level Gray Fur Giant Rats could still easily overwhelm him.

Forget him—even a Warlord-level martial artist, surrounded by a large number of Beast Soldier-level monsters with no way to break through, would meet the same fate.

"Ah..." Chen Daolin heard a terrified scream. The voice sounded familiar. He looked toward it and saw a Gray Fur Giant Rat the size of a large dog standing in the road, a person clamped in its jaws. Not far ahead of it, Han Lei was fleeing in panic.

"Lei Ge, save me..." Zhuge Qing cried desperately. She was afraid of dying—truly afraid. She was still young and didn't want to die like this. But Han Lei's body stiffened at her words, and then he kept running without looking back. As Zhuge Qing watched him flee, her eyes dimmed. The Gray Fur Rat King regarded its prey with interest. When Zhuge Qing felt its gaze, her face went white and her body trembled uncontrollably. She even wet herself, the stench of urine rising around her.

The Gray Fur Rat King didn't seem eager to kill Zhuge Qing. Instead, it toyed with her like a cat playing with a mouse, running its claws over her again and again until she screamed. She no longer had any regard for her image as a young lady; she was utterly humiliated.

Chen Daolin stood not far away, batting aside the gray-furred rats that leapt at him, his face conflicted.

His mind was a mess, filled with anxiety and turmoil.

Should he save her?

Should he save her?

Should he save her?

Chen Daolin closed his eyes, then opened them again. His gaze had turned resolute. Cursing, he abruptly spun around and charged at the Gray Fur Giant Rat.

The Gray Fur Rat King immediately noticed the human rushing toward it. A cruel glint appeared in its eyes. Chen Daolin was only displaying the strength of King Kai Fist at twice its normal power—equivalent to the upper end of the Advanced Warrior Level. That posed no threat to it. Instead, it found the human rather interesting. Beast General-level monsters had some intelligence, as the Rat King clearly showed. Ordinary monsters weren't nearly so "cunning."

Wanting to toy with its prey, the Gray Fur Rat King didn't call over its minions to stop the human. Instead, it leisurely released Zhuge Qing and turned toward Chen Daolin. The human had decent strength. The Rat King would kill him itself. As for Zhuge Qing, she was nothing but a pitifully weak, insignificant ant. The Gray Fur Rat King couldn't even be bothered to pay her any attention.

Having escaped death for the moment, Zhuge Qing collapsed limply onto the ground, tears streaming down her face. She hadn't expected Han Lei—the man she admired and liked—to abandon her in a moment of danger. Instead, Chen Daolin, whom she had met only twice, had risked his life to save her. She didn't even know what she felt.

Chen Daolin saw the Gray Fur Rat King's movements, too, and his expression grew solemn. Now that he had decided to save her, he wouldn't regret it. The power within him surged again.

King Kai Fist, Three Times!

Boom! A fresh wave of power filled his limbs and body. It rushed through him like an electric current, making his bones, muscles, and nerves tingle faintly.

Chen Daolin's spirits lifted. With a thud, he stomped hard on the ground, cracking the solid concrete into a dense web of fractures. His speed instantly surged. Like an arrow loosed from a bow, he shot toward the Gray Fur Rat King.

At a Warlord's speed of at least ninety meters per second, the short distance vanished in an instant. His spear became a poisonous dragon of afterimages, tearing through the air with a sharp whistle as it thrust toward the Gray Fur Rat King.

Chen Daolin had put all his strength into that thrust. His power now exceeded ten thousand kilograms!

"Squeak!"

The Gray Fur Rat King, which had been calmly waiting for Chen Daolin, jumped in alarm. His spear thrust made it feel a tremendous threat. With a flash, the Rat King's body turned into a gray blur as it dodged to the side. At the same time, its long tail whipped toward Chen Daolin, moving twice as fast as it had when dodging.

The two were so close that Chen Daolin had no time to think. He pulled his spear back to block. Crack! The air burst with a sharp report. A tremendous force traveled from the Gray Fur Rat King's tail into the spear. Chen Daolin's palm went numb, and he grunted as he was sent flying more than ten meters. After landing, he skidded and rolled a long way before stopping. The places where his body scraped the ground burned fiercely.

"Squeak, squeak!" The Gray Fur Rat King cried out smugly, but when it saw the human across from it get up without a scratch, it froze.

What the hell? This human was about as strong as it was. How could his body be so tough? Weren't human bodies supposed to be fragile?

"Good thing King Kai Fist also boosts my defense threefold." Chen Daolin moved his arms and legs, quietly relieved.

Then he looked back at the Gray Fur Rat King, his eyes turning cold.

"There's no time. I have to end this quickly and take down the Gray Fur Rat King."

Chen Daolin charged at it again without hesitation.

The Gray Fur Rat King shrieked angrily and lunged at him as well.

A man and a rat, both with Warlord-level strength, clashed in an instant.

Thud! Chen Daolin's spear slammed into the Gray Fur Rat King, making it squeal in pain.

Smack! The Gray Fur Rat King's tail struck Chen Daolin, making him grit his teeth.

They fought fiercely in the open space, exchanging blows. For a time, they seemed evenly matched.

Zhuge Qing watched from nearby, stunned. She had worried that Chen Daolin wouldn't be strong enough to save her. After all, this was the Gray Fur Rat King, a Beast General-level monster—not something an ordinary martial artist could face. But Chen Daolin wasn't just unharmed; he was fighting the Rat King with astonishing strength. Zhuge Qing's mouth fell open. She remembered her father saying that he had recruited two eighteen-year-old martial arts prodigies, but she hadn't known Chen Daolin was this strong. At only eighteen, he already had Warlord-level strength—he was far stronger than Han Lei, whom she had once been so fond of.

Even then, Zhuge Qing still didn't understand what it truly meant to reach the Elementary Warlord Level at eighteen.

Rustle, rustle. Zhuge Qing was so distracted that she didn't notice the Gray Fur Giant Rat that had appeared behind her. Death crept silently closer as the rat sneaked up and bared its fangs...

Pfft!

Blood sprayed.

Zhuge Qing turned around in surprise and saw the corpse of a Gray Fur Giant Rat, its head lying on the ground. Remembering what had just happened, she shuddered.

"Th-thank you."

Zhuge Qing spoke gratefully as she looked up. The person before her was Ji Xuan, a tall, slender woman with short black hair, delicate features, and a black combat suit. Ji Xuan had appeared behind Zhuge Qing at some point, holding a War Blade and a shield. Her clothes were stained with blood, but her face was calm and composed.

Zhuge Qing opened her mouth, then looked past Ji Xuan and saw something even more shocking: the street behind her was covered in countless Gray Fur Giant Rat corpses. They stretched almost all the way down the road. Zhuge Qing couldn't imagine how the girl, who was barely older than her, had fought her way there.

Ji Xuan ignored Zhuge Qing and looked toward the fierce battle between the man and the beast, her eyes narrowing slightly.