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Gu Xiaoxi leaned into Quan Shaoqing’s embrace, only then starting to feel a bit at ease.

Ever since they had encountered the Giant Rats, they had been caught in tense combat for an entire day.

While Gu Xiaoxi felt exhausted, Kate and the others were already on the brink of collapse.

Prior to this, everyone had been forcing themselves to keep going, but now that the Giant Rats had been dealt with, they too let out a sigh of relief.

However, they hadn’t fully relaxed just yet.

The side of the hill that had just been destroyed by bombs suddenly began to shake, followed by the ground under everyone’s feet trembling.

None knew what was happening, as Gu Xiaoxi and Quan Shaoqing held each other tightly, barely able to stand upright.

Gu Xiaoxi, leaning into Quan Shaoqing’s embrace, instinctively looked up towards the point of the incident.

The mountain was falling apart as if something inside was trying to break out.

"Roar!" An enormous sound echoed, causing their eardrums to throb with pain.

Soon after, they saw a dense swarm of Giant Rats and Black-furred Rats emerging from underground.

Within the collapsing mountain, two ten-meter-tall monsters burst forth.

It was then that they found themselves surrounded by Giant Rats and Black-furred Rats.

Gu Xiaoxi, with her strong eyesight, could see the immense creatures from far away—they were enlarged versions of the Giant Rats and Black-furred Rats.

As the two Rat Kings screeched, everyone felt the danger and threat.

"My God! What’s happening, shouldn’t they all be dead?" exclaimed Kate, horrified.

"So many!" Everyone’s voices were involuntarily trembling.

Because of the recent explosion, the nearby mountains and forests had been flattened. And now, countless Giant Rats and Black-furred Rats were burrowing up from the ground.

Overtaking the bare battlefield completely.

"A thousand, no, ten thousand... And more keep pouring out from underground! How many of these damned creatures are there?" Jing Rui felt a chill run down his spine at the sight.

How could they go on like this?

Gu Xiaoxi felt her palms sweating. Were they all going to die here today?

"Roar!" Another hoarse roar rang out.

At that moment, everyone saw the two Rat Kings standing on two legs like humans, then striding towards them.

The immense sense of threat that followed made everyone involuntarily take a step back.

But even the space behind them was now filled with Giant Rats.

"Gurgle!"

Gu Xiaoxi could hear everyone’s nervous swallowing.

With so many Giant Rats, even an immortal arriving on the scene couldn’t possibly survive, let alone escape from this place.

"Squeak, squeak!"

The Giant Rats emitted deafening squeals, and immediately after, battle was on the brink of erupting.

Gu Xiaoxi instinctively threw all her daggers, starting to slash and kill.

Jing Rui and the rest readied their remaining weapons, but some were decapitated by Black-furred Rats before they could even pull their triggers.

"Aah! Aah!" Screams of agony filled the air for a time.

In that moment, no one had time to care for each other.

Only Gu Xiaoxi and Quan Shaoqing, back to back, continuously slashed at the attacking Giant Rats and Black-furred Rats.

In just three minutes, the group of originally forty survivors, plus the twenty that Jing Rui had brought, had quickly dwindled from sixty to just thirty people.

Members kept getting injured.

At this moment, Gu Xiaoxi wanted to protect everyone, but she couldn’t even ensure her own safety, let alone protect others.

The threat of death loomed like a tide, and those who were still alive didn’t know how much longer they could hold on.

But, without a doubt, everyone was a master of their craft.

In such perilous times, a moment of negligence, a drop in physical strength, or a lapse in concentration could mean leaving one’s life behind.

The blood flowed more and more, and although Quan Shaoqing and Gu Xiaoxi were fighting, they were, of course, also attentive to their own people.

Jing Rui and Kate, as well as the other team members, were cooperating with each other.

Meanwhile, Yun Xiao, Che Junqing, Jing Haoran, and Tang Yisheng were not far away.

As their numbers dwindled and the Giant Rats and Black-furred Rats continued to multiply, their side started to falter.

Seeing this, Quan Shaoqing, while fighting, said to Gu Xiaoxi, "Get ready! We’re going to withdraw and join the others."

"Okay!" Gu Xiaoxi had been thinking the same thing. Although the situation was very dangerous, with Quan Shaoqing there, she wouldn’t be in danger. But what about the others?

No matter what, they had to fight together with everyone until the last moment.

"Everyone, gather up and form a circle to prevent being ambushed," Jing Rui also instructed from his position.

All of a sudden, Quan Shaoqing, holding Gu Xiaoxi’s waist, disappeared from their original spot.

They appeared suddenly next to Yun Xiao and Tang Yisheng, helping them kill four Giant Rats that had approached them.

"Thank you!" Yun Xiao and Tang Yisheng expressed their gratitude in unison.

They knew very well that if they were attacked by a Giant Rat, they would inevitably get injured.

Luckily, Quan Shaoqing and Gu Xiaoxi arrived just in time.

Meanwhile, everyone fought while moving closer to Jing Rui and the others.

Even with high vigilance, there were times when one couldn’t guard against everything.

Tang Yisheng’s fire was relatively weak in this situation. Suddenly, a Giant Rat found an opening, leaped towards him, and aimed for his neck.

Quan Shaoqing, with his quick reflexes, pulled out his gun and shot the Giant Rat in the head.

But the moment he shifted his focus, he was scratched on the leg by another sneaky Giant Rat beside him.

Gu Xiaoxi was quick to react, immediately wielding a dagger to help him kill that Giant Rat.

However, she didn’t expect a Giant Rat in front of her to seize the opportunity and lunge, biting into her shoulder.

She could almost hear the sound of her bones cracking and blood gushing out.

The pain caused her face to contort momentarily, but still, she swung her dagger swiftly, killing the Giant Rat and continuing the fight.

"Xiao Xi! Are you okay?" Quan Shaoqing really wanted to check on her wounds, but if he stopped now, everyone would face even greater danger. It was possible that someone might die instantly.

Gu Xiaoxi’s face turned pale, but she still said spiritedly, "Don’t worry about me, it’s just a minor injury. Watch out for the Giant Rats and hold on a little longer. Hopefully, help will arrive soon."

Hearing this, Quan Shaoqing gripped his bayonet even more fiercely.

Gu Xiaoxi had never seen Quan Shaoqing use a long bayonet before; this was also her first time witnessing it.

Yet, he handled it with no sense of incongruity, and the bayonet in his hand was even faster than her five daggers controlled by telekinesis.

With each rise and fall of his knife, many Giant Rat corpses would appear before him, mostly with their heads split open from his slash.

And the wounds on each Giant Rat were identical.

After seeing this, Gu Xiaoxi also felt it was very eerie; it was undoubtedly the skill of a bayonet expert.

She couldn’t help but count and found that each time he swung his bayonet, he could kill six or seven Giant Rats. Judging from the extent of the injuries, with a single swing, he struck at least seven times.

Yet, to the naked eye, it appeared as only one slash, which sufficiently demonstrated the speed of his hands.