Chapter 95: Covering the Retreat

Rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat.

A burst of intense gunfire echoed through the pitch-black underground passage. Zhang Wei, holding a shield in one hand and a submachine gun in the other, walked at the rear of the group, flames erupting from the dark muzzle as he fended off the lunging rat-men.

"Keep moving forward! I can't hold them much longer!"

Zhang Wei's eyes were bloodshot as he let out a bestial roar. His protective suit was splattered with the blood of rat-men, his vision was blurring, and his breathing grew increasingly labored.

Facing the endless tide of rat-men, Zhang Wei had carved a bloody path through the swarm. Both his physical strength and mental state were on the verge of collapse, yet he stubbornly refused to fall. If he were to collapse now, he would be picked clean to the bone by the terrifying horde in the next second, and his teammates ahead would be plunged into mortal danger.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several sounds of air being pierced rang out, striking down the rat-men that had pounced on Zhang Wei to tear at him.

The cold-looking boy’s face grew increasingly grim. The number of these rat-men was simply too high; they were a dense, swarming mass, so many that they were impossible to kill off. If things continued like this, they would be dead the moment their ammunition ran out.

"Are you sure this is the right way? Where the hell is the exit?"

Thor, leading the charge, swung his warhammer with devastating force, instantly pulverizing the lunging rat-men into piles of gore. He looked as if he had rolled through a pool of blood, his bright silver knight's armor stained the color of carnage.

Trapped in the quagmire of the endless rat tide, these players had spent over ten minutes covering a mere few hundred meters.

"The destination on the extraction map is just around the corner ahead. Follow me."

Su Cheng took a step forward, an astonishing murderous aura erupting from his body.

He slashed his blade, and the air pressure generated by the cutting edge transformed into a violent gale of blades, sweeping toward the swarm in front.

"Face the wind!"

The rat-men blocking their path were swept into the storm, screaming as they were torn into fragments by the terrifying blades of air.

In an instant, a large area of the passage in front of Su Cheng was cleared, the ground littered with gore and severed limbs.

Thor, having hammered a rat-man into the ground, glanced at Su Cheng in surprise. He hadn't expected him to possess such a large-scale area-of-effect skill. Furthermore, it appeared to be a high-level skill, capable of clearing out so many rat-men in one go.

"Forget the rat-men; let's charge through." Su Cheng signaled for Zhang Wei, who was covering the rear, to keep up, then flickered and instantly appeared dozens of meters ahead.

Passing through the underground tunnel, they followed the guidance on the extraction map and rounded a corner.

However, what appeared before them was a solid black wall.

"It's a dead end! How can this be!" Kojima, seeing the dead end, felt despair wash over him. He slumped to the ground, muttering incessantly about how he didn't want to die.

"Did we take the wrong path?"

Thor’s mood was equally terrible. No one had expected this to be a dead end. If they couldn't find an exit to safely leave this area, they would surely all die here.

Su Cheng re-examined the extraction map sent by the Rat Extermination Squad and said with certainty, "We aren't wrong. This is exactly where it’s marked on the map."

"Damn it, is the Rat Extermination Squad trying to kill us?" Zhang Wei gasped for air, soaked in sweat, and discarded his heavy firearms.

Their ammunition was completely exhausted, and keeping the guns only added to their burden.

"That seems unlikely. Everyone, look around; there might be a hidden exit here."

The underground passage was pitch black, and finding hidden clues was no easy task. Xu Xiaolong and the others searched everywhere with their flashlights, but found nothing.

"Careful, the rat-men are catching up!"

At that moment, a chilling squeaking sound echoed through the air as the black mass of the rat horde surged toward them like a dark tide.

"I’ll hold the swarm; you keep looking for the exit!" Zhang Wei took a gulp of energy drink to replenish his stamina, then charged forward with his shield, using his own flesh and blood to withstand the fierce onslaught.

Dull thuds rang out repeatedly as rat-men rushed forward one after another, only to be swatted away by the shield and disappear back into the swarm.

A cold, icy blade-light pierced the darkness.

Su Cheng’s blade flashed repeatedly, decapitating a dozen mutant rat-men that had pounced on him. Their hideous heads slid from their necks, their carcasses consumed by the frenzied swarm.

For a time, Su Cheng fought in and out of the horde, leaving a trail of rolling heads in his wake.

However, there were over ten thousand mutant rat-men in their vicinity; even if Su Cheng worked himself to death, he couldn't kill them all.

"Found it!"

Just as Zhang Wei was about to collapse, a joyful shout came from behind.

Beneath their feet lay a massive metal manhole cover. Beneath it was the underground passage leading to the Rat Extermination Squad's branch.

"We’re saved..."

A sense of relief washed over Zhang Wei’s face. Given the chance to live, who would want to die, especially at the hands of these ugly, disgusting mutant rat-men?

But the next moment, his voice was cut short.

A sharp iron hook shot out from the darkness like a viper, piercing deep into Zhang Wei's neck.

A torrent of blood bubbled from the wound, instantly staining his clothes red.

With the iron hook piercing his neck, Zhang Wei’s eyes widened in horror. His face was twisted with unwillingness, his mouth agape but unable to emit a sound. Then, as if all his strength had been drained, he was dragged into the swarm by the hook.

"Wei-ge has been grabbed!"

Xu Xiaolong’s heart sank. He shattered the skull of a mutant rat-man with his club, but by the time he tried to pull Zhang Wei back, it was already too late.

"I’m going to save him."

Seeing Zhang Wei captured, Su Cheng’s gaze turned icy, and a terrifying murderous aura erupted.

He noticed a short rat-man within the swarm. Unlike the others, this variant was wrapped in tattered human clothing and held a long black wooden staff in its hand, tipped with a sharp iron hook.

Watching Zhang Wei being dragged away, Su Cheng stomped on the ground, a burst of spiritual power jetting from behind him as he lunged into the swarm.

The dark blade pierced the air, instantly hacking the group of rat-men frantically tearing at Zhang Wei into a pile of gore.

Su Cheng slashed the hook to pieces with lightning speed and roughly yanked the fragment embedded in Zhang Wei's neck out.

*Squelch!*

A fountain of blood erupted from the wound.

Zhang Wei desperately clutched the gruesome gash on his neck, a look of struggle deep in his eyes.

His will to survive was incredibly strong.

For an ordinary person, having their neck pierced by a blade would be fatal, but these players possessed much greater vitality than normal humans; such a wound was not necessarily lethal.

Su Cheng pulled a fast-acting hemostatic bandage from his inventory and wrapped the wound, quickly stopping the bleeding.

Although Zhang Wei’s life was saved, he was severely injured and could no longer fight, so Su Cheng tossed him over to Xu Xiaolong.

Suddenly, Su Cheng’s heart skipped a beat as he sensed a dangerous aura.

In the darkness, an iron hook flashed toward his neck like lightning.

"Got you!"

Su Cheng dodged the attack with a side-step, then turned and charged in the direction the hook had emerged from.

Seconds later, the "Hook-Rat" that had been lurking in the swarm to ambush them had its abdomen pierced by Su Cheng’s blade, and it was tossed into the restless horde like a dead dog.

"Is the passage still not open?"

After slaying dozens of mutant rat-men, Su Cheng noticed that the passage to the branch was still shut, and he frowned, sensing something was wrong.

"This damn manhole cover is too heavy; it’s going to take a moment to open."

Thor was a strength-based melee player with astonishing raw power. But even he couldn't open the heavy metal cover alone; it required help from the other players, which spoke volumes about its weight.

Su Cheng took responsibility for blocking the swarm's onslaught. After a bitter struggle, Thor and the others finally managed to open a narrow entrance just large enough for one person to pass through.

"It’s open!"

Just as Thor was covering his teammates as they scrambled into the tunnel, a strange, eerie whisper sounded in his ear.

The space behind him distorted, and a ghostly shadow flickered behind his back.

Then, a claw gleaming with blood-red light, sharp as a dagger, pierced through his back and shattered his kidney.