He, Zhou Mo, Was No Longer Unknown

"."

Chen Fan quickly swept his gaze over the few stragglers that had crossed the City Wall and rapidly passed through the camp's western side. After these Meatworm Wraiths rushed into the gray mist, the agony on their human faces immediately vanished, replaced by the cheerful expressions they had worn at the beginning.

But it was not over!

Meatworm Wraiths were still pouring into the camp in an endless stream. Countless more rolled about within the gray mist, while even more flooded out of Eternal Night and into the black fog. No one knew how many there were.

Standing beside the Level-3 Arrow Tower whose ballista was covered in runes, he did not pause for even a moment. He stuffed another Eerie Stone into the slot and waited patiently for several seconds. Only when enough Meatworm Wraiths had entered the arrow rain's range did he activate the skill again.

"Arrow Rain Storm"!

The runes on the ballista bolts lit up once more, floating into the air and circling the Arrow Tower.

Countless arrows of light shot into the sky, then rained down amid the raging wind and torrential rain, blasting every Meatworm Wraith within range to pieces!

Eighteen Eerie Stones remained.

He quickly glanced at his remaining Eerie Stones. At most, he could activate Arrow Rain Storm eighteen more times.

Activating "Arrow Rain Storm" required one complete Eerie Stone. The Eerie Stone in this Arrow Tower had already been partially consumed and could no longer activate its active skill, so he had removed it and placed it on the stone-brick walkway atop the City Wall.

One.

Two.

Three.

This rather crude-looking camp displayed astonishing resilience amid the raging wind and torrential rain. One Arrow Rain Storm after another slaughtered the Meatworm Wraiths that invaded the camp like wolves tearing through sheep!

The sight was deeply shocking.

Yet not one of Chen Fan's group wore a smile. Every face was grim, because they all knew the Eerie Stones were running out.

Only six Eerie Stones remained.

They could trigger Arrow Rain Storm six more times.

Yet the "Meatworm Wraiths" continued to pour endlessly from Eternal Night into the gray mist, then from the gray mist into the camp!

Thirty-seven years ago, the Rainy Season had arrived early, and the Strange Tide had run rampant.

The camps scattered across the Wasteland had been utterly wiped out.

Northbank City had fallen, its people slaughtered until fewer than one in a thousand remained.

Everyone present knew this piece of history, and had even etched it into their hearts. If their families had elders who had survived by sheer luck, they could learn from them about the cruelty and despair of that Rainy Season thirty-seven years ago.

But.

Hearing about it was one thing.

Seeing it with their own eyes was another.

At this moment.

Everyone present finally understood what a "Strange Tide" was. Like the tide itself, it stretched beyond sight, feared neither death nor danger, and launched wave after wave of attacks until the camp was destroyed.

And at this moment, they also finally understood that even with a Builder to rely on, surviving the Rainy Season—let alone one that had arrived early—was still nearly an impossible dream.

This was a dead end.

Death was certain.

"Bang."

A faint impact sounded. A Meatworm Wraith that had slipped through had slammed into the City Wall. The green viscous fluid formed from its shattered flesh ball was continuously corroding the wall.

No one could count how many stragglers had already slipped through.

The fifth, or the sixth?

Even with "Arrow Rain Storm," stragglers would occasionally pass through the arrow rain and slam into the City Wall.

They had held out long enough.

But hope had not arrived. What came instead was utter despair.

At first, there had not been too many "Meatworm Wraiths." But before long, the insect wraith tide's numbers and breadth expanded drastically. They could only kill the Meatworm Wraiths charging toward the City Wall, while on the western side, even more Meatworm Wraiths passed through the camp and rolled toward the darkness.

This was also the side from which the female wraith had launched her attack earlier.

They were located at the edge of this Strange Tide. A careful look would reveal it.

The entire expanse of gray mist to the west was already filled with "Meatworm Wraiths." No other Strange Entities could be seen. Like locusts sweeping through the land, they surged across the entire camp.

Only a few isolated ones appeared in the east.

This horde of Meatworm Wraiths was not targeting the camp.

More Meatworm Wraiths crossed over the camp from the gray-mist darkness outside and pressed deeper into Eternal Night. The camp had merely been caught in the spillover. These Meatworm Wraiths had not even intended to kill them, yet even so, they had already been forced into a near-certain death trap.

"Could we hide by digging a hole?"

Chen Fan stuffed another Eerie Stone into the Arrow Tower, his tone quickening slightly. "Abandon the whole camp. These Meatworm Wraiths don't seem like they'll attack us, and other Strange Entities won't approach while they're passing through. We can hide underground, wait for them to pass, then build another Eerie Fire."

"No."

Wang Kui immediately rejected the plan. "A Builder can't create an Eerie Fire in Eternal Night."

He did not know why the stationmaster seemed unaware of this, but now was not the time to think about it.

"I'll go!"

Little Qiu stepped forward once again. Raising his head to look at the arrow rain shooting into the sky for who knew how many times, he clenched the corners of his clothes so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He spoke rapidly, "A lot of Meatworm Wraiths died. There are many Eerie Stones on the ground below."

"After I go out, I'll throw the Eerie Stones back into the City Wall as hard as I can."

"During our talk last night, I didn't say what my wish was. I want to go home and take a look. Brother Wang knows where my home is. If you get the chance later, take my ashes home and bury them beneath the big locust tree at the village entrance."

Little Qiu stepped forward once again.

This time was different from before.

There were an enormous number of "Meatworm Wraiths." When "Arrow Rain Storm" fell, there was indeed a brief gap, but it would quickly be filled by the Meatworm Wraiths behind it.

There was only an instant.

There was not enough time to return to the City Wall. He would be swallowed by the Meatworm Wraiths behind him.

And in that instant, Little Qiu would only have enough time to swiftly pick up a dozen or so Eerie Stones, stuff them into a sack, and then hurl it into the City Wall.

The Eerie Stones could get inside.

A person definitely could not.

If the previous mission had merely been extremely dangerous, then this mission was ten deaths and no life.

The moment his words fell.

Zhou Mo, who had been standing silently nearby, suddenly patted Little Qiu on the shoulder. He stuffed the Great Knife that had never left his hand into Little Qiu's arms and calmly said, "You're still young. Keep this knife safe. It's been with me for many years."

Then, before anyone else could react, he flipped over the battlement in the torrential rain and landed steadily on the wasteland outside the City Wall.

At that moment, Arrow Rain Storm happened to fall.

A brief gap opened in front of the City Wall. Zhou Mo did not waste a second. Stepping through vast amounts of green viscous fluid, heedless of the burning pain, he staggered as he rapidly stuffed Eerie Stones one after another into a cloth sack. He raised his head and looked at the large number of Meatworm Wraiths rushing toward him.

A trace of fear uncontrollably rose in his eyes.

He took a deep breath, gathered all his strength, and roared as he hurled the sack in his hand toward the inside of the City Wall.

Only then did he seem to lose all strength. He stood where he was, raised his head toward the unceasing downpour overhead, lifted his chin high, spread his arms, closed his eyes, and began waiting for death. A smile crept uncontrollably onto his lips.

He had not smiled like this in a long time.

"Not bad. I fulfilled my dream before dying."

"I finally got to be a hero."

"That felt good."

(End of Chapter)