The two most troublesome aspects of rats are their sheer numbers.
Let Juanjuan handle it.
A cat can handle ten thousand rats, but what about a hundred thousand?
Even Juanjuan would be exhausted to death.
The second is the bacteria they carry.
You never know how dirty they are.
Burning them is also a good idea, but the smell would carry toxins.
As An Nuan was fretting, Chen Hao came online.
"Let us handle this," he said. "I have many good methods for dealing with rats from my hometown."
"Then you take it," An Nuan said readily.
After all, she didn't want to face these big rats.
The vanguard of the rat swarm advanced at an extremely high speed. While the main force was still more than four hundred kilometers away, the vanguard had already reached a distance of one hundred kilometers.
Night was precisely the time for the rat swarm to move at high speed.
The ground split open into several deep chasms, and the rat swarm poured down like a waterfall.
Some stepped on the bodies of their companions to move forward, fortunately avoiding the first three gorges.
Just as they were congratulating themselves on being able to cross, a hundred-meter-high earthen wall rose before them, covered with electric fences.
The rat swarm crashed into it, emitting a sizzling sound that smelled of barbecue.
Chen Hao commanded thirty earth-elemental ability users: "Prepare to heal the first gorge, inject mud!"
The first chasm quickly sealed.
Mudslides churned within, carrying a pungent and fishy substance that drowned all the rats inside.
The second and third gorges gradually closed.
Tens of thousands of rats were killed.
Burning them would release toxic gas, so burying them alive was the best method.
But these things might have evolved now; simply covering them with earth might allow them to burrow out.
Mixing the mud with water made it difficult to struggle once submerged.
This was true for humans, and it was the same for rats.
Chen Hao laughed, "Mudslides mixed with chili water, plus a bit of electromagnetic cannon to blast their brains. They can't escape now!"
Even Juanjuan had to admit it was impressive.
"You can start pushing the earth."
The hundred-meter earthen wall pressed down from above the gorges, fitting perfectly.
The scene was reminiscent of squeezing fruit during juicing.
"Little Chen, most of them are dead. Do you need me to do anything?"
Hammer Brother hadn't had a mission yet.
Chen Hao said, "Why don't you take the trouble to go two hundred kilometers ahead and smash the road to delay their march?"
"I'm good at that!"
Hammer Brother whistled, and a meter-eight tall swallow landed beside him.
"I'm off!"
He climbed onto the swallow's back and reached his destination in about twenty minutes.
"Ten Thousand Catty Drop!"
Hammer Brother accelerated straight down from the air, and the moment he landed, the ground exploded with a deafening roar.
The earth split into pieces and became rugged.
He laughed heartily, "Haha, I thought it would take some time. It seems my abilities have improved; I don't need to do a second pass."
Hammer Brother looked at the area with satisfaction and flew away on the swallow's back.
Haozi felt something was wrong that night. He led a group and advanced in the middle of the night.
Hammer Brother had just left.
He saw the road ahead and was stunned.
A three-kilometer stretch had been completely destroyed. It was difficult for humans to crawl across, let alone oxen.
They had no flying beasts and could only rely on land-dwelling beasts for transportation.
Haozi cursed, "Damn it, you sneaky bastards! Come out! Come out!"
"Hehe, you asked for it!"
Haozi turned around and received a solid claw to the face.
Bare white bone was exposed to the air, and his vision was a blur of blood.
He let out a hoarse scream.
In the blink of an eye, half of the dozen or so brothers he brought with him were devoured.
The attackers ran off after their meal, giving them no chance to retaliate.
When Haozi struggled to his feet from the pain, apart from a few injured brothers, the rest had either disappeared or were headless.
"Who did it? Who! Come out, I'll kill you, kill you!"
"Hehehe, he says he'll kill us. Boss, should we go and kill them?"
Zhai Quan sidled up to Zhai Yan.
They were hiding in the dark, with over fifty high-level zombies behind them.
The zombies, who preyed on the weak, instantly submitted upon seeing the eighth and seventh-tier zombies.
Although they didn't understand why they had to help humans, they also got to eat meat.
As long as there was meat to eat, why should they care about anything else!
Zhai Yan shook his head, "Fu Shao doesn't want Nuan Zong to know we followed."
"Alas, a man who silently sacrifices himself? Just like on TV!"
Zhai Quan whispered, "Our boss is amazing, taking him down with just one claw!"
"Eat it. The crystal is good for you."
Zhai Yan tossed a complete head to Zhai Quan.
Having reached the eighth tier, ordinary crystals were of little use to him.
However, Zhai Quan had just upgraded to the seventh tier, and eating more crystals would help stabilize his cultivation.
Zhai Quan squatted beside him and crunched noisily as he ate.
Nothing was left except the fur; it was all consumed.
Zhai Yan said, "We strike and run. Don't let the humans discover our tracks."
"You must listen to me and follow my plan, and I guarantee you all will have meat to eat."
"Anyone who disobeys and causes trouble, don't blame me for being ruthless."
The group of fifth and sixth-tier zombies below bowed their heads and stood obediently behind him.
After dawn, Haozi was sent back to the main force for treatment, still cursing and roaring.
Tang Qing, seeing the purplish-red color surging from his wound, said with concern,
"It looks like he was scratched by a zombie. Will he be infected?"
There were no healers in the group, and even if there were, they wouldn't be able to cure someone infected by a zombie.
Another team leader was also worried.
"A seventh-tier ability user, subdued by a zombie in one move. How strong was that zombie?"
"Wu Min, what did you say?"
"I said, how strong was that zombie! Haozi didn't even see the other party's face. If we encountered it, would we also be affected?"
Wu Min was a fire-elemental ability user. Although he looked down on Haozi,
he was still a seventh-tier after all.
How could he be so severely injured in one move?
What worried Wu Min even more was that Haozi was showing signs of infection.
"If he does get infected, a high-level zombie appearing out of nowhere would be a major threat to us."
Tang Qing exchanged glances with several other leaders.
Every base had strict screening procedures for returning members.
Anyone with wounds was better to be killed by mistake than let go.
Haozi and his group were all scratched by zombies, which meant...
The twins narrowed their eyes.
"For the safety of the team, we have no choice but to sacrifice them, but who will act?"
Tang Qing said, "Haozi is from Dongchen Base. If someone is to act, it should be someone from Dongchen Base."
The long-haired man, who had been silent, rolled his eyes disdainfully.
"You people are just afraid of taking responsibility. It doesn't matter to me; I'm not afraid!"
Chen Dong drew a lightning sword and walked towards Haozi's location.