The rustling sounds weren't coming from a single direction.
They were coming from all directions.
It was like thousands of sharp nails scraping against a concrete floor, so dense it made one's scalp tingle.
“Something’s wrong,” A Mo gripped his gun tighter.
“Screech—!”
A sharp, piercing shriek, like a signal.
The next second, countless pairs of scarlet little eyes suddenly lit up from the shadows of collapsed shelves, from broken pipes in the ceiling, and from holes in the corners of walls!
There weren't just dozens of them; there were thousands upon thousands of mutated rats!
They converged into a black torrent, emitting an ear-grating squeaking sound, and charged madly towards the four people in the center of the supermarket!
“Holy crap! We’ve poked a rat’s nest!” Xiao Han’s face changed drastically. “No, we’re *in* the rat’s nest!”
Without thinking, he waved his hands, and several sharp Wind Blades slashed towards the leading wave of rats!
Puff, puff, puff!
Wherever the Wind Blades passed, flesh and blood flew, and more than a dozen mutated rats were cut into pieces.
But the rat tide behind them didn't pause for a moment, stepping over the bodies of their companions and continuing to surge forward, fearless of death!
Lu Shiyan’s face was icy cold, and he threw out fireballs one after another from his palms.
In this enclosed underground space, an overly powerful lightning storm could very likely cause structural collapse, burying them alive.
A Mo and Su Wan picked up their submachine guns and began firing.
But the number of rats was simply too great!
An endless tide, wave after wave.
The foul stench mixed with the smell of blood was suffocating.
“No! Too many! We need to break out!” Lu Shiyan roared.
The four of them stood back to back, forming a defensive circle, and slowly began to move towards the staircase.
Although these mutated rats were small, they were extremely cunning.
Just as Xiao Han used a whirlwind to force back a large section of the rat tide in front of them, several exceptionally large mutated rats silently darted out from beneath an overturned freezer.
They were like black lightning, bypassing everyone's attention, and charged directly at Su Wan in the center of the defensive circle!
“Watch out!” Xiao Han was terrified out of his wits, wanting to defend but it was already too late!
Lu Shiyan turned his head sharply, but between him and Su Wan, there was still a surging tide of rats!
In Su Wan’s pupils, the increasingly close, gleaming, sharp fangs were clearly reflected.
At the critical moment, Su Wan’s figure vanished into thin air. She sat down on the familiar grassy ground of her Space, her heart pounding uncontrollably, the mutated rat’s foul breath seemingly still lingering on her face.
Through the one-way vision of her Space, the desperate situation of the three outside clearly entered her eyes, and her heart instantly clenched: What about them…
“Too many! This can’t go on! The bullets are running out!”
Xiao Han kicked one away, and with a backhand Wind Blade, he cut several rats that were pouncing down from the top of a shelf in half, his tone already anxious.
The wound on his arm was still bleeding, and the intense consumption of his ability made it difficult for him to breathe; his vision was even starting to blur.
Lu Shiyan’s face was ashen.
The lightning and flames in his palms leaped with restraint, each attack precisely harvesting a small group of rats.
But for this endless black tide, it was merely a drop in the ocean.
Fine beads of sweat oozed from his temples, his breathing grew more rapid, and the excessive consumption of his ability made him feel dizzy spells.
In this confined underground space, large-scale fire and grenades could not be used, as they would ignite flammable materials and cause a collapse.
The rat swarm trampled over the charred bodies of their companions, advancing relentlessly, their madness chilling to the bone.
The stench and the smell of blood mingled, almost solidifying the air.
Inside her Space, Su Wan’s heart pounded wildly.
She could clearly see everything outside.
She saw a deep, bone-visible gash on Xiao Han’s arm, blood instantly soaking his sleeve, making it difficult for him to breathe; she saw A Mo’s steady movements begin to show urgency, with stragglers constantly breaking through; and she saw Lu Shiyan…
To protect the other two, he had drawn almost half of the rat tide towards himself.
Dense electric snakes and tongues of flame intertwined around him, but he was clearly in a state of overdraft.
They were trapped.
If this continued, all three of them would be exhausted to death here.
She couldn't just watch them die.
A familiar yet strange power surged forth from the depths of her bloodline once again, clearer and more majestic than ever before.
The next instant, Su Wan’s figure appeared out of thin air in the center of the battle.
“Su Wan?!”
“Are you out of your mind! Get back!”
Lu Shiyan and Xiao Han roared simultaneously.
More than a dozen mutated rats closest to her pounced on her at the same time!
Lu Shiyan’s eyes were bloodshot, and he tried to rush over desperately, but he was tightly entangled by the rat tide in front of him.
Just at this critical moment, a bizarre scene occurred.
The mutated rats that pounced within a meter of Su Wan seemed to hit an invisible wall.
Their bodies paused strangely in mid-air, and then their entire bodies were flung back by the invisible barrier!
Space Barrier!
This was another form of her Space Ability, an ultimate defense!
“Holy… crap…” Xiao Han stared, forgetting to throw the Wind Blade in his hand. “This… what is this again? The Golden Bell Shield?”
“Stand still!”
Su Wan’s voice carried a hint of imperceptible tremor.
She gritted her teeth, fine beads of sweat oozing from her temples; this extreme defense was a huge drain on her.
Under the urging of her will, the Space Barrier expanded outwards sharply!
“Go! I can’t hold on for long!” Su Wan’s face had already begun to turn pale.
Lu Shiyan had wanted to shove her back into that safe Space!
But when he saw Su Wan’s pale face and swaying body, all his anger got stuck in his throat.
This fool! She had no idea what she was doing!
“Retreat!” Lu Shiyan grabbed her swaying body, and with his other hand unleashed his Wood-Type Ability, frantically clearing the rat swarm outside the barrier to reduce the obstruction to their advance!
They began to break through with difficulty towards the staircase!
The rat tide chased them like mad, constantly hitting the invisible barrier, making a grating “thump, thump” sound.
With every impact, Su Wan’s body would tremble imperceptibly.
Finally, they rushed out of the supermarket, out of that gloomy building, and back to the open parking lot outside.
The moment she saw the light of day again, Su Wan stumbled, almost collapsing to the ground.
The invisible barrier around her, as her energy was depleted, instantly dissipated into nothingness like shattered glass.
Losing the obstruction of the barrier, the relentlessly pursuing rat tide let out a piercing shriek and surged forward like a tide again!
“Damn it! This is endless!”
Su Wan raised her hand, and the next second, cold, heavy metallic crashing sounds suddenly exploded in the open space!
Clatter—!
Two set-up heavy machine guns, boxes of gleaming yellow bullet belts, four or five brand-new assault rifles and submachine guns, and even two black-barreled single-soldier rocket launchers appeared out of thin air in front of everyone!
“What are you still standing around for!”
Lu Shiyan grabbed the grip of a heavy machine gun, pulled the bolt, and aimed the barrel directly at the black tide!
A Mo immediately lunged over, while Xiao Han, covering his bleeding arm with one hand, gritted his teeth and used his other hand to firmly grasp the heavy machine gun’s grip, leaning his body weight onto it.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!
Boom!
A furious tongue of flame instantly ripped through the air!
A metal storm composed of bullets and rocket-propelled grenades poured into the rat swarm with an overwhelming force!
The rat tide that had just been making them run ragged and almost pushed them to despair was as fragile as paper under the absolute firepower.
Mutated rats were torn into pieces in large swaths, their flesh and soil lifted into the air by the explosion’s blast, then falling like rain.
This was no longer a battle, but a one-sided slaughter.
In just a few minutes, the surging black tide was largely cleared, and the few remaining scattered ones had long been scared out of their wits, letting out terrified squeaks and fleeing in all directions without looking back.
Su Wan’s face suddenly changed, and she clutched her stomach.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Shiyan immediately noticed her abnormality and asked anxiously.
Fine beads of sweat oozed from Su Wan’s forehead, and her face became even paler. She tightly clutched her lower abdomen, her delicate brows furrowed, seemingly enduring immense pain.
“My… my stomach hurts a little…” she said intermittently, her voice carrying a hint of imperceptible tremor.