Chapter 142
The moment his tail was grabbed, Lang Ze cried out in pain, tears streaming down his face.
Still, he understood the gravity of the situation. Gritting his teeth, he endured the pain. Even as his face flushed red and veins bulged on his forehead, he refused to loosen his grip on A-Yan’s ankle, holding on tightly.
Xue Wei noticed his pain but had no way to reach any other part of his body. Just as she was becoming anxious, a long, slender tail coiled around her waist.
Suddenly lifted off the ground, Xue Wei froze for a moment. Catching sight of the Crimson Flame Tiger, she felt reassured.
In mid-air, she planted her feet on the tiger’s back, reached out with her other hand to grab Lang Ze’s ankle, and pulled him downward. Releasing his tail, she then shifted her grip to A-Yan’s other foot.
With the incredible strength of her Rabbit Dragon lineage, Xue Wei slowly but steadily dragged A-Yan out of the rift.
Below them, the Crimson Flame Tiger, supporting both Xue Wei and Lang Ze, strained its limbs to the limit. The ground beneath it cracked and splintered, the fractures spreading outward in all directions.
“We did it! Brother A-Yan is safe!”
Just as joy lit up the faces of the other younglings—
Another rift appeared beside Xue Wei, and blood mist surged out, attacking her.
Ran Lie noticed it in time and turned his head, breathing out a plume of fire. The crimson flames burned away the resentment in the mist, quickly dispersing it.
Seeing the flames work, Ran Lie felt a flicker of relief. However, the next moment, his body grew lighter.
Looking down, he saw the blood mist wrapping around him. Before he could react, it engulfed all three of them along with the tiger. The rift above them widened, attempting to pull them all in.
“Lang Ze! Weiwei! Lie Lie!”
Su Ci reappeared just in time to see this horrifying scene.
His expression darkened, and blades of purifying light shot from his hands, quickly dissolving the blood mist emerging from the rift.
“Thud—thud—”
Lang Ze was the first to fall to the ground. Pain was etched across his face as his eyes, influenced by the resentment, turned into beast-like pupils. His teeth grew longer and sharper, hinting at the danger of full beastification.
From a corner, Zheng Xing emerged, riding a UFO-like contraption he’d somehow acquired. He was speeding toward the rift when he suddenly made a sharp turn.
“Lang Ze!”
The abrupt maneuver caused Zheng Xing to fall off the flying disc.
Fearless, he landed lightly next to Lang Ze.
The little wolf pup, whom he was so worried about, reached out instinctively to catch him. This gesture seemed to shift Lang Ze’s focus, allowing his rationality to return and halting the process of beastification.
By then, the other younglings had also gathered.
After Lang Ze, Xue Wei was the next to fall.
Rong Heng caught her in his arms and gently set her down on the ground.
Xue Wei was in slightly better shape than Lang Ze, but her face was streaked with tears, and she appeared to be in great pain. It seemed the resentment had dredged up some deeply sad and painful memories for her.
Little Li Hua quickly hugged her, gently patting her back to comfort her. “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Hua Hua is here with you.”
The last to fall was Ran Lie.
He landed hard on the ground but immediately rolled to his feet. Thanks to his Buddhist heart-cultivation techniques and the protective Crimson Flame energy, he wasn’t significantly affected by the resentment.
Although Su Su had managed to save him at the last moment, A-Yan had already been dragged into the rift by the blood mist.
At that moment, after ensuring the safety of the younglings, Su Ci leaped into the rift just before it closed.
“Ran Lie, those monsters are yours to handle!”
“Su Su!”
Ran Lie jumped to his feet, but he could only watch helplessly as the rift closed. Falling back to the ground, he clenched his fists in frustration.
Little Li Hua couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. “Waaah! Su Su and Brother A-Yan got taken away!”
“Don’t worry,” Lu Jiao said calmly. “Su Su went after them. With Su Su there, he’ll definitely bring Brother A-Yan back!”
“Exactly,” Rong Heng agreed, standing up and nodding. “Su Su will return safely. We can’t lose our composure.”
Ran Lie crouched on all fours, his gaze turbulent with frustration and regret. But soon, he began reciting his Buddhist heart-cultivation mantra, forcing himself to calm down.
He looked out at the area beyond the Breeding Facility and recalled Su Ci’s parting words. His expression quickly turned serious.
“Now it’s our turn to protect the base!”
In the past, Ran Lie would never have had such a thought. But now, all he wanted was to safeguard this base and the Nursery Facility.
Not just because Su Su had entrusted it to him, but also because… this was his home. A place he genuinely wanted to protect.
Rong Heng and the others followed the Crimson Flame Tiger’s gaze to the outside.
The swarm of monsters attacking the Nursery Facility had been mostly wiped out by Su Ci, but more than a dozen remained.
Previously, the monsters had been entirely focused on the Nursery Facility. Now, with A-Yan gone, they seemed to have lost their original target.
No longer mindlessly attacking the Nursery Facility, the monsters began turning their attention to the operations team members.
“Hungry… so hungry…”
The scent of blood roused their frenzy, causing their power to surge wildly.
Earlier, Su Ci’s overwhelming suppression had left the monsters too weak to resist, making it almost too easy for the operations team members. But now, the pressure had suddenly skyrocketed.
Though they had the 2.0 version of the garlic spray, each team member carried only a single bottle, and their supplies were running low. While the spray continued to work on the remaining monsters, it no longer had the power to incapacitate them.
“Yan Ping, this isn’t going to work!” Yun Zixu shouted as he was flung backward, spitting a mouthful of blood.
The scent of blood sent the monsters into an even greater frenzy, and they began converging on Yun Zixu.
Yun Zixu dodged and weaved under Yan Ping’s command, continuously releasing lightning strikes to exploit the monsters’ weaknesses—his unique ability. His attacks were powerful, the very reason he held the position of squad captain.
However, dealing with more than ten monsters at once was overwhelming even for him.
Yan Ping, while using his Eye of Truth to guide his team, analyzed the data being relayed by the AI.
He knew they couldn’t keep this up. Base 24’s defenses were far too weak. If not for Caretaker Su eliminating most of the monsters, the base might already have fallen.
Yet, the situation remained dire.
This blood mist invasion wasn’t just an isolated extreme weather event as he initially thought. It was akin to what happened more than twenty years ago—the blood mist had returned to attack all human bases!
At this moment, aside from the Plantation, there was likely no truly safe area left in the base.
If they retreated to the Plantation now, they might escape the immediate battle. But the Plantation could become surrounded by increasingly stronger monsters, leaving them with no way out.
The best option for now was to eliminate the remaining monsters and resolve this first wave of the crisis before planning further.
But it was clear that relying on their current team to take down over ten monsters at once wasn’t realistic.
Caretaker Su was nowhere to be seen. He might have been delayed by other monsters, leaving them to fend for themselves.
“Spread out! We’ll lure the monsters away!” Yan Ping ordered.
Since the monsters were drawn to the scent of blood, they could use an old tactic—luring them away and defeating them one by one!
“Ahh!”
Just as the command was issued, a scream pierced the air.
Qin Lai, one of the team members, was ensnared by a slimy tentacled monster. The tentacle tightened its grip, forcing blood from Qin Lai’s mouth, and lifted him into the air, preparing to devour him.
Xun Xiaoyu leaped high into the air, gripping her blade tightly. As she struck, her eyes turned violet, and a glowing purple light enveloped the blade.
The glowing sword severed the tentacle, freeing her teammate.
She quickly evaded the monster’s retaliation, dodging twice before falling on the third attempt. She hit the ground hard, her blade slipping from her grasp.
“Captain Yan, take Qin Lai and the others and leave!”
Coughing blood and preparing for her final stand, Xun Xiaoyu braced herself. But before the tentacled monster could attack again, a crimson flame shot out from the side and struck it.
The tentacled monster recoiled with a shriek, retreating as if it feared the flame even more than the garlic spray.
Stunned, Xun Xiaoyu watched as a young Crimson Flame Tiger positioned itself between her and the monster, spewing fire to keep the creature at bay.
“Number Two!” She stared in disbelief, her wide eyes filled with shock.
Never had she imagined that one day she would be saved by Number Two—the same tiger that had now fully beastified!
“Big Sister, here’s your sword,” a childlike voice called out nearby.
Xun Xiaoyu turned and saw Number Six, the mischievous and temperamental little monkey, holding out her blade handle.
“You’re injured. Come with me to the Nursery Facility for treatment,” Number Six suggested.
Xun Xiaoyu was just about to refuse, but before she could, the young boy had already hoisted her onto his back.
Although Lu Li’s strength couldn’t compare to Xue Wei’s, his physical condition was impressive. After practicing the Body Tempering Method diligently every day for the past few weeks—up to 100 times a day—he had significantly strengthened his frame.
Carrying Xun Xiaoyu now was effortless for him.
Xun Xiaoyu was bewildered. She didn’t want to leave, but as she turned her head, she saw something astonishing—a monster that had just been pushing Yun Zixu to his limits was now frozen in place.
Next to the towering monster, over ten meters tall, stood a small silver-haired boy, barely over a meter tall. He calmly lowered his hands.
What shocked Xun Xiaoyu even more—
A delicate, fragile-looking bunny-eared girl, who looked especially pink and adorable, was lifting a hover bus with one hand and smashing it down onto a monster.
Another monster, covered in hard bone armor that even laser guns couldn’t penetrate, was effortlessly struck by her small fist—and it… shattered completely?
And then there were things she couldn’t even begin to comprehend—
For instance, the metal flooring beneath a monster suddenly turned to liquid, engulfing it entirely.
Or the tiny, timid Number Five, who pointed at three monsters and shouted, “You, you, you, stop moving!” Miraculously, all three monsters froze in place.
Another monster, which had been chasing Yun Zixu and the others, inexplicably came to a halt. And as for the remaining monsters…
A wolf-eared, wolf-tailed boy wasn’t even fighting. Instead, he stood in front of the monsters, playing a flute. Incredibly, the monsters began to dance on the spot!
Xun Xiaoyu felt like she must have fallen into some kind of illusion. Otherwise, how could the world suddenly become so… fantastical?
Everything she was seeing now—surely it was just a dream!
aaaaah i love seeing the babies in action ??