Beast King Crisis

Song Chen was about to head for the consultation window when someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

"Young man, first time here?"

He turned around and saw a middle-aged man standing behind him. A Second Rank Martial Artist Badge was pinned to the man's chest, and he wore a friendly smile.

Song Chen nodded. "Yes."

The man smiled and lowered his voice. "Since you're new, let me give you a warning. Things haven't been peaceful outside the city lately. If you want to take a mission, it's best to wait a few days."

Song Chen was startled. "Why?"

The man glanced around. "You don't know yet?"

"Know what?"

The man stared at him for several seconds, then suddenly understood.

"You just got your Martial Artist Badge, right?"

"Yes."

The man sighed. "No wonder."

"Garrison Command has blocked the news from ordinary people, afraid it'll cause panic. Only official martial artists are told the truth."

Song Chen frowned. "What exactly happened?"

The man fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly. "Not long ago, something major happened near the Evergreen City ruins."

"Garrison Command's reconnaissance team discovered an incredibly terrifying life aura deep within Evergreen City. At first, they thought it was Third Rank or Fourth Rank, but after sending people in to investigate, they discovered..."

He paused, a flicker of fear passing through his eyes.

"That life aura was actually emitted by a Fifth-Order Beast King at the peak of Fifth Rank, one that was about to break through to Sixth Rank."

Song Chen's breathing stopped for an instant.

Peak Fifth Rank? About to break through to Sixth Rank?

He had seen videos of Third Rank martial artists fighting, and had already felt that kind of power did not belong to humans. Peak Fifth Rank... what kind of concept was that?

That was an existence capable of destroying an entire city by itself.

His voice was somewhat dry. "That can't be possible, can it? How could a peak Fifth Rank Beast King suddenly appear in Evergreen City?"

The middle-aged man gave a bitter smile. "Who knows? Evergreen City has been fallen for so many years. Anything could be hidden inside. Maybe that Beast King had been sleeping all along and only recently awakened. Maybe it migrated from somewhere farther away. In any case, the aura couldn't be wrong."

"When Garrison Command discovered it, they immediately sent an elite squad inside to scout. The squad was led by a Third Rank martial artist and had twelve people in total, all experienced veterans. But the result..."

He shook his head.

"What happened?"

"Only one came back alive, and he was severely injured. They said that when he was carried back, there was a huge hole in his chest. He nearly didn't make it."

An image flashed through Song Chen's mind: those three battered armored vehicles outside the city that day, Researcher Xie lying on the stretcher, the savage wound across her chest.

So it was her. She had escaped from there.

"Although that reconnaissance squad was almost completely wiped out, they brought back one piece of information."

"That Beast King was at the critical point of breaking through in seclusion and couldn't move. The ones who chased them were merely the Beast King's guards—Fourth Rank mutated beasts."

Fourth Rank guards.

Song Chen's palms went cold.

That Beast King had not even acted personally. It had merely sent a few subordinates, yet an entire squad led by a Third Rank martial artist had nearly been wiped out.

If it broke through to Sixth Rank...

The middle-aged man looked at him. "Now you understand what it's like outside the city, right? A Fifth-Order Beast King is in seclusion, Fourth Rank mutated beasts are running all over the place, and First Rank and Second Rank mutated beasts are as numerous as hairs on an ox. At a time like this, if you go outside to hunt, one careless mistake means death."

Song Chen fell silent. He remembered what Zhang Zhenyun had said outside the city that day.

"I know a few of those martial artists. They're all Third Rank or above, the kind who usually swagger through the city sideways. I'd never seen them panic like that."

So that was it. That was what they were terrified of.

A peak Fifth Rank Beast King on the verge of breaking through to Sixth Rank—an existence that could destroy a city alone.

After thinking for a moment, Song Chen asked, "What does Garrison Command plan to do?"

The middle-aged man shrugged. "What can they do? They definitely can't fight it. Anning City only has the Garrison Commander as a Fifth Rank powerhouse. Their only hope is to bring in stronger experts before that Beast King breaks through."

As he spoke, he pointed toward the city walls. "Didn't you see those Spirit Energy Cannons charging? If it really comes to that, every martial artist in the city will have to go up onto the walls and fight for their lives. They'll hold on for as long as they can, until reinforcements arrive."

Song Chen's heart sank. Suddenly, he understood something.

Before, he had worried about Zhao Wei, worried about Zhao Wei's Third Rank martial artist grandfather, worried about this and that. But before an existence like this, what did any of it amount to?

A Third Rank martial artist was nothing more than a single bite before a Beast King.

The entire Anning City, with its population of nearly a million, was merely a city of ants that could be trampled flat at any moment before a Sixth Rank Beast King.

He clenched his fists. He had to grow stronger. More than ever, he needed to grow stronger.

Seeing him remain silent, the middle-aged man patted his shoulder. "Young man, take my advice. Don't leave the city for the next few days. Wait until the situation becomes clear. Your life is your own. Once it's gone, everything is gone."

With that, he turned and left.

Song Chen stood where he was, watching the man's back disappear into the crowd.

The hall was still bustling with voices. The large screen on the wall still scrolled through all kinds of missions. The martial artists passing back and forth—some were laughing, some were cursing, some were haggling.

Did they all know? Did they know there was a Beast King outside the city about to break through to Sixth Rank? Did they know this city could face a calamity of annihilation at any moment?

Maybe they knew. Maybe they didn't.

But whether they knew or not, life had to go on.

Song Chen took a deep breath and turned toward the consultation window. Retreating was impossible. The more he retreated, the easier it would be to die.

"Hello, I'd like to take an outside-city hunting mission."

The staff member behind the window glanced at him and handed over a form.

"Fill this out, then go to the second floor to register."

Song Chen took the form and began filling it out.

Three hours later, Song Chen held the registered mission document, passed through the city gates, and once again stood outside the city.

Compared with the last time he had left the city, he was now an official martial artist with the qualifications to take missions alone. Yet the same as before, he was still assigned to a martial artist squad, rather than being allowed to move freely as he had imagined.

The registration office staff had put it this way: "The danger level outside the city is high right now. Solo operations are too risky. All First Rank martial artists must be assigned to squads and move in a unified manner. Those are the rules."

Song Chen thought about it and felt that was acceptable. Hunting mutated beasts alone was indeed more efficient, but it depended on the situation. With mutated beasts everywhere outside the city now, if one person got surrounded, they would not even be able to run.

Following the instructions on the mission document, he arrived at a gathering point near the edge of the defensive zone.

Several armored vehicles were already parked there, with more than a dozen martial artists waiting beside them. Some were wiping their blades, some were smoking, and some had their eyes closed in rest.

Song Chen walked over and took out the document. "Excuse me, where is the Fierce Tiger Squad?"

A bald, burly man raised his head and gave him a look. He jerked his chin toward a vehicle in the distance. "Fierce Tiger? Over there. The one in black is the captain. His surname is Lei."

Song Chen thanked him and walked over.