Chapter 180: Rat King
“Okay,” Xi Shi nodded, patted Xiong Jie’s arm, and whispered, “I’m fine.”
The outside team began cleaning up the mutated rat corpses. Not only was there a large amount of meat, but Antonio, worried that Dean might be psychologically affected, joked, “Dean, mutated rat meat, want some?”
“Sure,” Dean said, playing along, though he was just an ordinary person and could only sample the mutated meat.
“Eat, eat,” Ning Yuan also chimed in, gathering the rat bodies into a pile. “Fresh meat delivered right to our door, good for replenishing,” he said, then remembered that Lu Weiyi’s space was full and, looking distressed, asked, “Why don’t you toss out some useless items from your space?”
“Just bring out a vehicle,” Lu Weiyi replied, tossing a jeep and a truck outside. “Pack up. We’re not sleeping. We’re leaving now.”
Mutated animals are not scary when they are solitary, but when they gather in groups, and their numbers are unclear, it’s time to escape.
No one questioned him, quickly packing their things. Lu Weiyi collected everything into his space, set Zhuang Mingxu on the jeep, and took the driver’s seat. Tossing several guns to the ordinary people, he instructed, “Lu Xi, Ai Yi, Brother Xi, Dean, and Brother Mu, stay with you. When you can’t fight anymore, raise a mental shield to block for a while. Others will come to rescue.”
“Got it” Lu Xi responded, guiding the others into the truck’s cabin. The remaining B-class ability users took the rest of the seats. The group quickly drove out of the yard.
“Anything happening?” Wu Yue, driving the truck behind, asked through the intercom.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Lu Weiyi replied. It wasn’t surprising that everything seemed quiet in the middle of the night, but the way the rats retreated like a wave made him uneasy.
Lu Weiyi placed a few long-range outdoor lights under the windshield, illuminating the surroundings brightly, but no living creatures appeared. He also scanned with his mental power, but found nothing.
Li Zhuang, in the passenger seat, gave directions. Lu Weiyi sped toward the outskirts of the village.
Before long, Wu Yue’s voice came through the intercom, startled, “They’re catching up, a huge group.”
“We’re surrounded,” Li Zhuang said, his voice much calmer now.
The little green twig reached out, sensing the countless mutated rats approaching them from ahead. The left and right sides were outside Lu Weiyi’s mental range. He was now at the peak of B-class and had previously measured his mental range, which reached about 400 to 500 meters.
The little green twig’s range was now over 800 meters, and with the visual range added, the mutated rats were about 1,000 meters away. Given their speed, they would reach them in just a few minutes.
While thinking, the rats had already entered the detection range. Everyone in the vehicle quickly used their abilities to attack. The mass of rats seemed endless, black and swirling in the darkness. No one knew exactly how many there were.
“Earth and Ice abilities, build walls on both sides. Don’t let the mutated rats get close. Those that slip through, clear them out,” Lu Weiyi ordered. He swung the little green twig forward with force, and the rats on the ground were suddenly struck and flew to the sides. Any that managed to slip through were either crushed by the passing vehicles or dealt with by Antonio’s flying knives.
Walls of ice, water, and earth continuously appeared on both sides of the vehicle, blocking the mutated rats from getting any closer. As the walls alternated, any rats that got near were pinned in place by various abilities. The mutated rats that followed behind the car were burned by Liu Rui’s fire dragon, leaving nothing but ashes.
“Damn, does this thing never end?” Ning Yuan created another ice wall, and as the sound of rats chewing echoed, he glanced back at the car. He saw Liu Rui burn a batch of rats, but then another group jumped over their charred bodies, leaping as high as two meters. If it weren’t for the guardrails on the vehicle, Ning Yuan felt they might have jumped inside.
Inside the vehicle, Lu Xi, Dean, and Lin Yimu were all helping with guns, while Xi Shi tightly held onto Zhuang Ai Yi, sitting as close to Lu Xi as possible to ensure he could protect them if needed. Everyone else stood silently, focusing entirely on defending from the outside.
“I… I… I see…” Liu Rui, who had been guarding the back of the truck, suddenly spoke, but couldn’t get the words out. He anxiously tapped Xu Sa’s shoulder and pointed into the distance.
“A giant rat…” Xu Sa, who looked in the direction, stammered in shock, “About a meter high, with red eyes. It’s… Oh my god…” Xu Sa watched as a fireball flew toward them, clashing with Liu Rui’s fire dragon and overpowering it. The fireball came right at them again. “It’s fire-type, stronger than Liu Rui…”
Liu Rui quickly conjured another fireball, launching it at the incoming fireball. They collided, falling to the ground, burning a few mutated rats, who squealed in pain.
“It’s coming, it’s really fast and jumps high,” Xu Sa reported in real-time, leaving the others speechless.
Lu Weiyi, looking through the rearview mirror, saw the enormous rat. It could leap at least two or three meters, and with the mutated rats in front of them showing no signs of retreating, it seemed they weren’t planning to let them leave. He said, “I’ll go kill it. You keep driving forward.”
“Xiao Yi!” Zhuang Mingxu shouted from the backseat.
“Don’t worry. Even if I can’t kill it, I’ll buy you some time. I can escape myself,” Lu Weiyi said, opening the car door and jumping out as the car continued its momentum. Li Zhuang quickly moved to the driver’s seat, and as Lu Weiyi stood firm, he said, “Be careful.”
He then radioed, “Liu Rui, Xu Sa, Antonio, go cover Lu Weiyi.”
“We’re on it,” Lu Xi replied from the truck bed.
Antonio nimbly jumped out of the car and stood not far from Lu Weiyi, while Xu Sa and Liu Rui were slower. The car’s speed sent them tumbling into the pile of mutated rats, but Xu Sa quickly unleashed his lightning ability, electrocuting the surrounding rats and saving them from becoming rat food.
Lu Weiyi initially planned to rely on his mental barrier to approach and deal with the leader of the mutated rats, but seeing the three of them act so quickly, the car had already driven away. He realized he couldn’t go back and shouted, “You three block the rats. I’ll handle the big one.”
As he spoke, the lead rat jumped over, its body small but impactful. When it opened its mouth, the teeth were as thick as an adult’s finger, and its claws shimmered with cold light. Lu Weiyi controlled the little green twig, hitting the rat.
“Use your abilities on its eyes!” Lu Weiyi directed, seeing how chaotic their attacks were. The others, fighting under the dim light from the car, found their vision improved, and they began working together to form a circle around the leader rat.
Li Zhuang had called for them because their abilities were very strong. Even though Xu Sa was below B-level, his lightning ability was still highly effective against living creatures.
With their combined effort, the rats could no longer break through the circle. But the leader rat only fired one fireball at a time, which was hot enough to burn a person to ashes. Lu Weiyi realized this was similar to Liu Rui’s compressed fireball, but since his wooden twig was weak against fire, he could only assist.
He tried to get close with a knife, but the leader rat kept leaping away. Frustrated, Lu Weiyi used his mental blades, but the rat was too quick, dodging most of them. Occasionally, a blade would graze its skin, but it wasn’t enough to cause serious harm.
“Lu Weiyi, my abilities are running out,” Xu Sa said, his powers nearly depleted.
With the mutated rat bodies piling up around them, more rats continued to climb over them from afar. The others were in better condition, but it wouldn’t last long.
“Understood,” Lu Weiyi quickly assessed the situation. They couldn’t leave anymore. If the three of them ran out of abilities, they would become rat food.
Suddenly, he withdrew all his mental energy, focusing on the leader rat. As he trapped it with a mental barrier, he struck its brain with an invisible mental attack. The rat froze for a moment, and Lu Weiyi threw his energy-infused knife at it. With a powerful slash, the rat’s head fell, blood spraying into the air.
Lu Weiyi’s powers, now at the peak of B-level, could only slightly affect lower-level creatures. He had directly controlled the leader rat, whose level was also at B-peak, depleting all his energy. As the rat died, Lu Weiyi collapsed to the ground.
The surrounding mutated rats paused, as if someone had pressed a pause button. After a moment, they began retreating and quickly disappeared.
Xu Sa panted heavily and collapsed onto the ground, while Liu Rui, covered in bruises, rushed over to check his injuries. Antonio, keeping alert, scanned the surroundings and moved closer to Lu Weiyi. Noticing the burns all over his clothes and his hair singed, releasing a faint burnt smell, he looked far from his usual composed and strong self. “How are you?”
