Chapter 80: Break Through the Rat Tide! Return!

In the jungle, swarms of iron-chewing rats surged like a tidal wave.

Logically, Xu Jingming and Jiang Chu were a Rank Two Upper and a Rank Two Middle, respectively.

Their sprinting speed far exceeded these barely Rank One iron-chewing rats; they shouldn’t have to worry much.

Yet upon spotting the rat tide, Xu Jingming’s face turned pale, and he immediately grabbed Jiang Chu and began running.

On one hand, iron-chewing rats are small, highly enduring, and can maintain full speed for five to six hours without stopping.

Xu Jingming’s peak burst speed is around 63 meters per second, but he can sustain it for no more than ten minutes before dropping to 45 meters per second.

The longer he runs, the slower his speed becomes!

After two or three hours of continuous sprinting, his speed might drop to 36 meters per second—or even lower!

Meanwhile, the iron-chewing rats’ sprinting speed remains a steady 30 meters per second; the longer the chase, the more likely he’ll be caught.

On the other hand, Xu Jingming didn’t know the full scale of this rat tide.

If the city ruins were also overrun by rats, moving too slowly could trap him—and he’d be doomed.

Xu Jingming dared not gamble.

So he had to flee the wilderness at his maximum speed.

“The beast materials and Dark Cloud Wind Spear are too heavy—I must discard them!”

While sprinting, Xu Jingming’s gaze hardened, ready to drop his tactical backpack and spear.

But Jiang Chu, who was being dragged along, quickly said:

“Senior, my space ring is big enough—I’ll hold them.”

She extended her jade hand, lightly touched the items, and they vanished into thin air.

Instantly, Xu Jingming felt significantly lighter.

“Carrying you while running is too slow—I’ll just carry you on my back instead.”

Without waiting for Jiang Chu’s reply, Xu Jingming acted.

With a soft cry, he hoisted her onto his back.

Jiang Chu’s physique was indeed exceptional.

The moment her slender body pressed against him, he felt two firm, full pressures against his back.

But this wasn’t the time to savor such sensations; Xu Jingming took a deep breath and said sternly:

“Junior, hold tight—I’m accelerating!”

Jiang Chu, still slightly embarrassed, realized this was a matter of life and death.

She wrapped her arms tightly around him.

Xu Jingming then surged forward, moving like a phantom through the jungle, racing toward the town ruins.

And Jiang Chu’s mere 60-kilogram weight imposed no burden on him at all...

Normally, in the wilderness, he’d have to carefully avoid the territories of high-rank beasts.

But now, both beasts and psychics were fleeing for their lives.

Thus, in just over half an hour, Xu Jingming sprinted clear of the mountain forest zone.

Along the way, he encountered numerous beast squads and psychics already swallowed by the rat tide.

“Squeak-squeak-squeak—”

“Squeak-squeak-squeak—”

“...”

The instant he burst out of the forest, Xu Jingming saw that the city ruins were also overrun by iron-chewing rats.

Their numbers were far fewer than in the forest, but stretching as far as the eye could see, there were at least tens of thousands.

Though named “iron-chewing rats,” as beasts, they preferred flesh above all else.

They only chewed metal out of sheer desperation.

Thus, they devoured nearly all living things except plants.

So when Xu Jingming, carrying Jiang Chu, appeared in their line of sight,

the iron-chewing rats, their eyes glowing crimson, charged forward.

“The worst-case scenario has happened—the town ruins are also overrun.”

“Where in the world did all these rats come from?!”

Xu Jingming took a deep breath, and to avoid being surrounded, he shouted: “Thunder Extreme State!”

BOOM!!

He once again transformed into his two-meter-tall enhanced form!!

With lightning swirling around him, his speed surged again, skyrocketing to a terrifying 80 meters per second.

If viewed from above, one would see:

Xu Jingming moved like a bolt of lightning, carving a path straight through the dense rat horde!

Wherever he passed, the iron-chewing rats collapsed, their bodies charred black.

“Slain one Rank One Lower iron-chewing rat. Psychic points +2.”

“Slain one Rank One Middle iron-chewing rat. Psychic points +3.”

“...”

A continuous stream of system alerts rang in his mind, darkening his expression.

Iron-chewing rats were pathetically weak!

The psychic points gained from killing them were less than those from ordinary Peak Non-Rank beasts!

“Need to speed up more—Thunder Flash!”

Facing the endless waves of charging rats, Xu Jingming had no time to complain about their pitiful strength.

A flash of electricity beneath his feet propelled him dozens of meters forward in an instant!

Thus, maintaining Thunder Extreme State and occasionally using “Thunder Flash,”

Xu Jingming sprinted toward the supply base, Jiang Chu still on his back...

“All units, form squads of 100 and defend outward!”

“All psychic squads—prepare for battle!!”

“This rat tide is unprecedented—we must hold the line!”

“...”

The Supply Base had been monitoring beast movements in the wilderness.

So the moment the rat tide erupted in the wilderness,

the military stationed beside the Supply Base immediately mobilized.

Rows of fully armed soldiers, wielding submachine guns, stood in disciplined formation before the base.

Meanwhile, psychic squads also stood ready, prepared to act at any moment.

The iron-chewing rats seemed to sense the human stronghold was too dangerous; they only roamed within the wilderness.

Even when small waves surged toward the base, psychic squads swiftly eliminated them.

“This rat tide is enormous—surely over three hundred thousand iron-chewing rats?”

At the base’s main building, Chief Supervisor Wang Chuang was stunned.

In past years, rat tides had occurred, but never more than fifty to sixty thousand rats.

Now, the number had nearly quintupled!

As far as the eye could see, the entire Source Water Wilderness was filled with iron-chewing rats.

“This will plunge the Source Water Wilderness into a months-long slump.”

Chief Supervisor Wang Chuang sighed.

After a rat tide, at least 70% of the wilderness beasts would be wiped out.

Of course,

given the beasts’ terrifying reproduction rate, their density would recover within two or three months.

But during those two or three months, the number of psychics coming to train in the Source Water Wilderness would plummet.

The base’s profits for this year would drop significantly.

“It’s a pity for those psychics who ventured deep into the wilderness—they’ll likely be devoured.”

Wang Chuang shook his head, then remembered Xu Jingming, who had entered the wilderness not long ago.

“I hope he didn’t go too deep—if he did, only his teacher Yang Zhentian could save him.”

As he thought this, the stationed soldiers and psychic squads ahead suddenly erupted in shouts:

“Look over there—what is that?!”

“Such terrifying lightning! Is it a lightning beast?!”

“Prepare for battle! Don’t let it reach the base city!”

“...”

Within sight, amid the dense rat tide, a blue-purple spherical lightning bolt

radiated terrifying energy, electrocuting every iron-chewing rat in its path into charred husks as it surged toward the base at incredible speed.

As the soldiers and psychics assumed it was a powerful lightning beast,

they noticed a faint human silhouette inside—and froze momentarily.

At that instant, the spherical lightning shattered through the rat tide.

He leapt up, covering over twenty meters in a single bound, crashing down onto the square of the supply base!

BOOM!!

With a deafening roar, the spherical lightning struck the square, before the eyes of the stunned psychics surrounding it.

The ground trembled slightly, leaving a deep crater where it had landed.

The blue-violet lightning gradually faded, revealing the figure within.

It was a young man over two meters tall, his bulging muscles crackling with arcs of thunder, like a towering iron pillar.

His eyes differed from ordinary humans—they were reptilian pupils, filled entirely with lightning, devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

On his broad back, he carried a relatively petite, breathtakingly beautiful girl.

The fierce, savage aura swirling around the young man caused every psychic on the square to hold their breath.

This man was Xu Jingming, who had raced back here with Jiang Chu.

Gazing at the familiar square of the supply base, surrounded by stunned onlookers, Xu Jingming let out a long breath:

“Phew… we’re finally back.”