Hi, Good Evening~

The orphanage was located at the northernmost edge of Dry City, close to the city walls. It was an extremely remote place, and few people were willing to live there.

Mostly poor families chose to live in this area. Some of the houses were still small single-story homes, because no developers were interested in the place.

Who knew when a beast tide might break out? When that happened, this place would be the first to be flattened.

The tunnel Su Wuming had smashed open with one kick happened to lead directly outside the city.

After climbing down, Su Wuming understood why Tutu had been able to hear sounds from below.

Below them was Dry City's main underground water pipeline, specially renovated decades ago. Since most water sources near the Dark Forest had been occupied by demon beasts, extremely precious metal had been used to build this underground water pipeline system.

Above it were the foundations of the orphanage buildings, except they had now been hollowed out.

No wonder Tutu could hear the sounds. Normally, if demon beasts intended to sneak into the city, they naturally would not make too much noise.

Moreover, this tunnel branched into several passageways. Starting from the orphanage buildings, they led to various parts of the city. The tunnel in the courtyard was relatively close to the surface, less than two meters deep, and formed a slope leading down.

The passage was around thirty feet high and twenty feet wide, enough for Nunu Beasts to pass through.

After using his flashlight to get a rough look around, Su Wuming returned to the surface. He looked around the courtyard, and his gaze finally settled on a steel pipe supporting a clothesline.

Without another word, he pulled out one of the steel pipes and laid it horizontally across the tunnel entrance he had smashed open.

"Pangpang, notify the Monster Hunters' Office to send people over. I'll go deeper in first and check things out."

"Wuming, no. Wait for the Monster Hunters' Office people to arrive and let them investigate. Why take this risk?"

Lin Pangpang did not want Su Wuming taking this risk. The moment he saw the tunnel, he understood everything.

A sense of foreboding crept into his heart. Su Wuming felt the same way.

But Su Wuming could not help wanting to investigate. Otherwise, he would never be at ease; it would always remain a knot in his heart.

"Don't worry. It's not like I came unprepared. If anything happens, I guarantee I'll run at the first opportunity."

After saying that, Su Wuming gripped the steel pipe stretched across the tunnel entrance tightly with his right hand, then leaped down once more.

As he moved forward, his arm extended along with him. This was an emergency escape measure—if anything happened, he could snap back at top speed.

With Rubber Gear One unlocked, theoretically, his body could keep stretching indefinitely.

It was just that in battle, he rarely had the chance to brace himself and stretch out. Most of the time, he relied on his own strength to rapidly extend his arm dozens of meters, then snap it back for a powerful strike.

Otherwise, when he fought Ji Boxiao earlier, if he had been given enough time to extend his arm, he could have beaten the shit out of Ji Boxiao without even using [Front Lotus].

As he slowly went deeper, the steel pipe on the ground began scraping against the edges before finally wedging itself tightly against the entrance.

Lin Pangpang had also notified the Monster Hunters' Office as a spirit warrior.

Afraid that they would brush it off again, he directly recorded a video, added text, and posted it online and in the class group chat, tagging their instructor, Mo Lan.

The class group chat quickly exploded:

Zhao Qiansun: [Holy shit! Demon beasts know tunnel warfare now?]

Li Wencai: [It's not just foreigners stealing what our ancestors left behind—now even demon beasts are learning it?]

Fang Mingxiao: [Shouldn't the focus be this tunnel? A tunnel for demon beasts to pass through—its exit might be right outside our own front doors.]

Li Chuang: [What's there to fear? Can't the Monster Hunters' Office just fill it in? What can a bunch of Black Iron like us do after learning about it? Help haul dirt?]

Clearly, these students had not realized how serious the situation was. Filling in the tunnel was nowhere near enough to solve the problem.

Fortunately, Instructor Mo Lan spoke up at that moment.

Instructor Mo Lan: [@Qin Ming—have your family's Monster Hunters' Office sound the alarm.]

Qin Ming: [Received!]

Instructor Mo Lan: [@Everyone—everyone, gather immediately and head to the South City Safe Zone for shelter. I'll say it again: this is not a drill!]

After sending that message, Mo Lan posted footage of intelligence she had just received in the group chat.

She had only just finished watching it when Lin Pangpang's video of the underground passage arrived.

In the footage posted by Instructor Mo Lan, somewhere in the Dark Forest that had nearly been buried beneath the relentless snow—

Countless demon beasts were densely gathered together. At first glance, it was impossible to tell that they were demon beasts, but as the camera zoomed in, it clearly captured Nunu Beasts crawling forward through the snow.

The person recording the video was about to film the scene farther away when a spray of blood suddenly burst across the screen. The video ended there.

As for the person who recorded it, there was no need to think about the outcome.

Naturally, they were one of the people previously sent out to investigate the Snow Demon's attacks on the city.

For a time, the class group chat fell silent. It was not just Class One's group chat; the other class group chats were the same.

[...]

Instructor Mo Lan: [@Lin Pangpang—tell Su Wuming to retreat immediately.]

Lin Pangpang: [Received!!]

After putting away his phone, Lin Pangpang's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and his breathing became rapid.

"D-Director! Quickly, take the children and leave this place!"

"What is it, Pangpang?" Lin Pangpang panicked for a moment and did not know how to explain it, so he showed the video to the director.

He himself rushed into the house and began urging the children to put on warm clothes.

Then he hurried back outside. The director had just finished watching the video, but she was calmer than Lin Pangpang.

Though she was already elderly, after all these years, her mindset had long since become steady. Having lived this long, she had already taken life and death lightly. Her only concern was who would take over caring for these children after she was gone.

At that moment, Lin Pangpang rushed over, snatched the phone from the director's hand, and called Su Wuming.

However, there was no signal!!!

That completely threw Lin Pangpang into a panic. He was about to pull on Su Wuming's arm to warn him when the director stopped him.

"Though I don't understand spirit warriors' abilities, you'd be harming him by doing that. Without support, he really won't be able to come back."

With that reminder, Lin Pangpang immediately came to his senses.

"Director, take the children and leave first. Go down New Forest Road. I'll go down and call him, then catch up with you."

Just as he finished speaking, an alarm suddenly sounded from an iron tower in the city. Red signal lights lit up next, shining in every direction across the city.

It was the alarm sounded by Qin Ming's family's Monster Hunters' Office. Then the other three iron towers followed suit, their alarms blaring as well.

The north city wall was a step slower. Just as a signal flare was fired, many members of the guard unit jointly formed by the city's major families, instead of activating the barrier, chose to flee in the direction of the South City Safe Zone.

At the same time, after seeing the alarm signal, Lin Pangpang hurriedly gave one more instruction before jumping directly into the tunnel.

He shouted Su Wuming's name as he ran down in the direction of his arm.