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In the deep mountains of the Primitive Forest, there exists such a cave.

Inside are many rats, the largest being a meter long, with smaller ones—about a dozen—resting on the backs of the larger rats, and even newborn tiny ones.

They gnaw on the body of a dead giant wild boar, with the stench permeating the cave and countless bones of animals scattered everywhere.

The squeaking noise is enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

Gu Xiaoxi and the others continued to press deeper into the mountains; after a day’s travel, they arrived at the boundary of the deep forest, beyond which lay the Primitive Forest that no one dared to enter.

"Captain, do you see if that’s a cave up ahead?" a team member called out urgently, setting down his binoculars.

Everyone followed his gaze and, indeed, there was a cave, not very large.

Kate, without hesitation, commanded two elites from the International Alliance, "You two go and check it out, see if there’s any problem."

Following that, the two left, and the rest stood resting in place.

As the sun was setting, the best option was to rest for now and plan for the next day when daylight returned.

Soon, the two elite team members came back to report: "The cave is safe; there’s enough space inside for a hundred people to stay temporarily."

"Then let’s quickly enter the cave; we’ll rest here for the night and set out early in the morning," Kate immediately instructed.

Without hesitation, everyone headed towards the cave, and before nightfall, Kate led everyone inside.

In the dim twilight, flashlights illuminated the cave.

The space inside was not very large after all, and a hundred people inside seemed a bit crowded; still, it was a secure place to land.

After everyone got organized, they sat down to rest.

This day’s travel had worn everyone out.

"We’ll rest here tonight. If you need to go outside, move in groups," Kate announced the order.

Fortunately, there were several women present, in case someone needed to go somewhere, they would have companions.

Night fell, and the cave was enveloped in darkness.

Kate held a flashlight while also spreading out a map.

The flashlight cast its beam on the map as several men pointed to their current location and explained, "Captain! We’ve now entered the edge of the Primitive Forest; it would be dangerous to continue further."

"We’ll use this cave as a base, send a squad to stand guard outside, then deploy two other squads to scout. If they can attract a Giant Rat, that’s when we’ll commence the mission."

"Those partaking in the assessment, come forward. Now’s the time to show your skills. Take up your weapons, eat well and in one hour, be ready to depart."

Gu Xiaoxi and her people hastily ate, then checked their equipment, ready to embark on their mission.

"For safety, the furthest you should venture is within a kilometer around this cave. If you encounter a Giant Rat, shoot to kill if you can; if you can’t, immediately signal for help," Kate said sternly. Such arrangements had been decided after her careful deliberation.

Before finding the nesting site of the Giant Rats, they could not move forward blindly.

Having come this far, they were now in danger.

Moving further in could mean encountering animals even more terrifying than the Giant Rats.

The forty members from the World Alliance who were participating in the assessment were still split into four smaller teams.

With Kate’s command, Gu Xiaoxi led her team members and those from the Southern State Country to set out.

At eight o’clock in the evening, the moon emerged from the horizon.

Its pale light spread over the forest, making the surroundings luminously clear.

Gu Xiaoxi cradled a weapon, a new type of combat armament, extremely lethal and convenient to use; likely a special issue from the International Alliance.

"The International Alliance really outdoes itself with these weapons!" Tang Yisheng couldn’t wait to give it a try, reaching out eagerly.

Jing Haoran, excited, fired at a tree not far away. The explosive bullet, which fired three shots at a time, cut a tree that was already as thick as a basin cleanly into two halves.

The others saw this and couldn’t help but click their tongues, then took their weapons carefully, hoping they wouldn’t misfire.

"The International Alliance really invested heavily this time! We should thank these Giant Rats, letting us use such high-tech weapons ahead of time," Willy said, apparently also very pleased with the equipment in his hands.

However, Gu Xiaoxi said seriously, "Don’t celebrate too early, everyone. Good weapons are useless if you can’t hit the Giant Rat. Never let your guard down."

"Yes!" everyone responded with smiles and laughter.

Just at that moment, Gu Xiaoxi’s communicator suddenly went off.

"Have you encountered a Giant Rat over there?" It was Kate’s voice.

Gu Xiaoxi hurriedly responded, "Not yet!"

"Not yet! Then how come I heard gunfire?" Kate’s voice carried a hint of displeasure.

Gu Xiaoxi was embarrassed, apologizing with a look of remorse, "I’m sorry, we were just curious about the power of the weapons and wanted to try them out."

"Testing is fine, but don’t waste ammunition.

And don’t cause panic. Your noise made everyone think you’ve encountered a Giant Rat.

It’s wise to be cautious and continue with the mission.

" Kate was holding binoculars, having found a high vantage point from which to observe the movements of each team.

Don’t underestimate her binoculars.

They could see a heat source a kilometer away and could precisely track each person’s location through the electronic signal devices they were wearing.

After receiving instructions from Kate, Gu Xiaoxi ordered the team behind her, "You heard the lady. Don’t waste your bullets."

With that, everyone continued to advance.

The distance from the headquarters’ cave was getting farther and farther, gradually reaching a range of about a kilometer.

The forest was quiet at night, occasionally a bird flew over their heads, startling numerous insects.

"I don’t understand, this mountain isn’t that big, so how can there be so many rats?" asked Che Junqing curiously. "Logically, the biosphere of this world shouldn’t be so easily unbalanced."

"Who knows!" Jing Haoran looked around seriously, "I don’t think the rats will come at night. Xiao Xi, let’s sit in the trees and lie in wait."

"Works for me! From now on, everyone camouflage yourselves, stay alert," said Gu Xiaoxi, and she was the first to leap onto a large tree.

The others also jumped onto trees to find a suitable spot for an ambush.

After all, as long as they didn’t exceed a range of one kilometer, they would not venture out.

"I think, these rats are not ordinary rats. Think about it, even for ordinary Giant Rats, their claws are not sharp enough to rip open a car, much less to a degree where they can eat a person," one of them said.

"Indeed, we shouldn’t just look at the surface of this issue. The few Giant Rats that died earlier have been sent for research. The results will be out soon," Gu Xiaoxi said.

She wondered, if the danger wasn’t here, would it actually come?

After all, this range was always within communication reach with the outer areas.

The mayor had mentioned earlier that the people he sent out suddenly lost signal contact, with their last known location inside the Primitive Forest.

While Gu Xiaoxi’s thoughts were all over the place, she suddenly heard a rustling sound from afar with her sharp hearing.

The sound was too familiar to her, so the moment those Giant Rats approached, she spotted them.

"Be on guard!"

At the same time, Kate, through her surveillance glasses, also spotted a group of heat sources moving towards the team’s location.

Simultaneously, she briskly gave out an order, "Xiao Xiao, something’s coming."

She was also shocked by the movement speed of these Giant Rats.

In just the space of a single sentence, they had already neared the large tree where Gu Xiaoxi was stationed.

At the same time, other team members were also approached by Giant Rats.

However, they only knew about it because of Kate’s warning.

Over on Gu Xiaoxi’s side, everyone had put on their night-vision goggles and were ready to commence battle.

When gunfire broke out, hundreds of Giant Rats stormed in like an army across the border, breaking bushes and trees, leaving devastation on the ground.

Luckily, Gu Xiaoxi and her team had climbed the trees beforehand, so when the Giant Rats pounced, they were up high, and the rats could only circle the base of the tree, attempting to scale it with their sharp claws.

Giant Rats a meter long had incredible jumping ability; they could leap three feet high off the ground and were so fast that an ordinary person could be instantly killed by their bite.

On Gu Xiaoxi’s side, they had already opened fire.

With advantageous fighting positions, as long as a Giant Rat dared to pounce upwards, it was sure to die upon being shot.

Soon, about a dozen or so lay dead on the ground.

But others weren’t as fortunate.

Many, due to insufficient defense, were ambushed by the Giant Rats. Some were bitten on the leg, others on the arm, and a few who were too slow to react were bitten clean through the neck.