"Captain, I'm getting ready to attack!"
"Go ahead!" Wang Hai replied.
With his permission, Han Ling gripped her custom firearm in both hands, her gaze sharp as a falcon's, and lined up the target in her scope again.
Her finger rested lightly on the trigger, its pad feeling the cold texture of the metal.
Bang!
A crisp gunshot rang out, immediately followed by a thunderous boom. A violent explosion erupted, its powerful impact instantly distorting the surrounding air as currents surged outward like raging ocean waves.
"Squeak, squeak-!"
The rat beast let out an angry cry and swayed violently twice on the spot. A bloody hole had been blasted into its previously intact head.
Clearly, having never experienced the power of human firearms, it had suffered a heavy loss.
It fixed its eyes on the three of them, ferocity gleaming in its gaze, and charged madly toward them again.
This time, however, it no longer charged in a straight line as before, instead constantly changing its position.
Han Ling slowly adjusted her aim, but whenever her muzzle was about to line up with the rat beast, it swiftly shifted position.
The distance between them rapidly closed. Three hundred meters, two hundred meters...
Bang! Bang!
Two more gunshots rang out.
Bullets shot from the barrel, aimed straight at the rat beast as it tried to change position.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out again, but Han Ling's brows drew together slightly.
Calamity Beasts generally possessed considerable intelligence and knew how to use their strengths to counter an enemy's attacks.
This rat beast had just used the tough hide on its claws to withstand her attacks head-on.
The key was that her tier was one below its own, and her ability was only B-rank. One or two shots simply could not break through the defenses on its claws.
While she was thinking, the rat beast had already come within fifty meters of them.
Wu Cheng stood some distance away, having raised a massive shield-like weapon at some point. A metallic sheen glimmered across its surface, as though silently proclaiming its sturdiness.
As for Wang Hai, he had no weapon, nor did he need one.
He himself was the best weapon!
Origin Power surged rapidly throughout Wang Hai's body. His skin, which had not exactly been smooth but had certainly not been rough, rapidly hardened, a faint matte finish appearing across it.
This was the A-rank ability, Body of Steel!
Wang Hai lowered his body slightly, his gaze sharp as a hawk's as he locked onto the charging rat beast.
The rat beast moved incredibly fast, stirring up a rush of wind.
Thirty meters, twenty meters, ten meters!
Just then, a fierce shout suddenly rang through the underground passage.
"Tiger Piercing!"
Bam!
Like a cannonball fired with tremendous force, Wang Hai hurtled forward with unstoppable momentum and slammed head-on into the rat beast.
In an instant, an invisible yet powerful shock wave surged outward from the point of impact, shaking dust loose throughout the passage.
At the same time, she swiftly leaped backward and steadily raised her gun, aiming its muzzle straight at the Calamity Beast's eyes. Just as her two fingers were about to pull the trigger, the sight before her made her hands tremble slightly.
The rat beast opened its cavernous, blood-red maw, its sharp fangs gleaming coldly as it viciously bit toward Wang Hai's head.
With no time to think further, Han Ling instinctively pulled the trigger, trying to stop what was unfolding before her.
Boom!
The bullet struck.
"Damn it!" Han Ling could not help muttering a curse.
The explosive round, originally aimed at the rat beast's eye, merely grazed the tip of its ear and exploded because of that tremor in her hands.
Clang!
A sound like colliding metal rang through the passage.
The rat beast had taken Wang Hai's head and part of his upper body into its mouth, but the result was not what he had expected. He could not bite through!
Body of Steel could harden any part of the body!
Enduring the foul stench inside the rat beast's mouth, Wang Hai knitted his brows tightly.
The rat beast before him was no ordinary Third Tier. It was even somewhat stronger than he was. He absolutely could not let it reach Han Ling and Wu Cheng, or they would not last more than a few blows.
With that thought, Wang Hai ignored the teeth constantly gnawing at his head and swiftly raised his hands, hammering the rat beast's head with one while gripping it tightly with the other to keep it from breaking free.
Nearby, Han Ling and Wu Cheng took advantage of Wang Hai's hold on the rat beast to swiftly put some distance between themselves and it, then launched their attacks.
Han Ling gripped her firearm in both hands, bullets spewing from its barrel one after another and whistling toward the rat beast with lethal power.
On the other side, Wu Cheng swiftly raised his hands as well. Fireballs gathered in them before hurtling toward the rat beast.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
Violent explosions rang out in succession, blasting deep craters of various sizes into the rat beast's back.
"Squeak, squeak-!"
The rat beast shrieked in pain, gnawing even harder while frantically raising its claws to rake Wang Hai's body. All it received in response, however, was a series of ear-piercing metallic scrapes.
Seeing that this was useless, the rat beast swiftly opened its mouth and released Wang Hai's head, then tried to turn and charge toward Han Ling and Wu Cheng.
But Wang Hai stopped his attempt before it even began.
Wang Hai gripped the rat beast's body tightly with both hands, his legs planted deep into the ground as though rooted there. Like an anchor cast from steel, he held the rat beast fast, making it difficult for it to move an inch.
"Squeak, squeak-!"
Sharp arrows and fireballs continued to slam into the rat beast, and its cries grew even more frenzied.
Suddenly.
Rip-!
Wang Hai's pupils dilated slightly. His body seemed to be shoved hard by an invisible force, and he fell backward without warning.
Wang Hai's gaze swiftly dropped to his hands, to the mass of bloody flesh in them. At that moment, the rat beast...
Had broken free of his grasp!
Wang Hai could only watch as the rat beast streaked toward the two ahead like a bolt of black lightning. He shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Watch out! That Calamity Beast is coming for you!"
The two knew without Wang Hai's warning. After all, who could miss such a huge Calamity Beast charging at them?
They were not particularly worried, though. Although they could not defeat this Tier 3 Calamity Beast, they could still hold out for a moment, and that would be enough for their captain to reach them!
In just two or three seconds, the rat beast was already in front of Han Ling. It raised a claw, drops of blood dripping from it-the result of taking two bullets head-on during its earlier charge.
Facing the oncoming claw, Han Ling reacted swiftly, raising her custom firearm without hesitation and holding it crosswise in front of her.
Clang!
The claw struck the firearm heavily, its tremendous force instantly traveling along the gun into Han Ling's arms.
She felt an impact like toppling mountains and overturning seas spread from her arms throughout her body. As though struck by lightning, she could not fully withstand it and could only be forced downward by the claw.
It's fine. With the gun blocking it, this claw can only scratch me at worst.
Under Han Ling's gaze, the claw descended swiftly, and then...
Crack!
Her headlamp shattered!
Han Ling felt the pressure on her hands ease. Before she could react, the rat beast raced toward Wu Cheng like a black phantom.
"Watch out! It's trying to destroy all our headlamps!" Han Ling shouted anxiously.
Hearing Han Ling's shout, Wu Cheng's heart instantly leaped into his throat.
There were no lights in this passage to begin with. Han Ling's headlamp had just been smashed, and the captain's had shattered into fragments on the ground back when the rat beast had taken his head into its mouth.
So the only light source left in the passage was the headlamp he wore.
I have to protect it!... Wu Cheng stared fixedly at the rat beast charging toward him, beads of sweat rolling constantly down his forehead.
The same sequence, the same movements.
The rat beast swiftly reached Wu Cheng, raised its claw, and swung down.
Bam!
The claw struck the shield.
Although the impact forced Wu Cheng back several steps, at least his headlamp had been saved.
"I chose the right shield!"
The corners of Wu Cheng's mouth lifted slightly, and he could not help feeling a surge of relief.
Yet in the next instant, his pupils widened uncontrollably.
A whip-like blur swept around the shield and lashed straight toward his head.
Was that... its tail?!!
Bam!
Before Wang Hai's eyes, the rat beast's tail slammed hard into Wu Cheng's head.
The next instant, the already dim underground passage plunged into pitch darkness, so black that an outstretched hand was invisible.
"Han Ling, Wu Cheng, get over here!" Wang Hai roared.
Although he could not see either, he had no other choice now. He could only gather the two to his side this way, hoping he could protect them.
Almost as soon as Wang Hai finished shouting, running footsteps sounded in the darkness, rapidly approaching him.
Why was only one person running over? Where was the other? Was it Han Ling or Wu Cheng coming toward him?
These thoughts had barely flashed through Wang Hai's mind when another sound rang out. It, too, was coming toward him, only...
Rather than approaching him, that sound seemed more like something pursuing the person running over!
Was this...