Chapter 19

The news brought by Iron Anvil was like a drop of water into hot oil, instantly making the depression boil with tense foam. The contaminated beast tide! A swarm of monsters, utterly twisted by radiation from the stinking marshes! They had no reason, only the instinct to devour and destroy—mobile natural disasters!

The rumor that Lame Wolf was temporarily held back by the broken bridge offered a fleeting breath of relief—but this breath was brief and deadly. Once the beast tide reached the depression, or Lame Wolf broke through, Hope Outpost would be caught between two fires!

Time had become the most luxurious thing.

“Reinforce! Light it!” Ali’s voice carried unshakable resolve. She pointed to the newly erected thorn walls, “Pour oil! Burn!”

Lin Mo instantly understood Ali’s intent—the fire wall! Using the animal fat they had boiled down, turn the thorn walls into a blazing barrier! This would not only block the beast tide but also create massive obstacles against any enemy assault!

He acted at once, working with Lingna to haul out all the animal fat they had collected, including the reserves meant for fire bottles. Lingna used small buckets and rags to forcefully splash the thick, stinking grease onto the outermost thorns and branches of the wall. Lin Mo focused on spreading the grease as evenly as possible, especially over the dry, flammable dead branches.

The air reeked of nauseating grease, but no one cared now.

Meanwhile, Ali was not idle. Though her left arm was useless, her right arm’s strength and precision remained astonishing. She picked up the small spare crossbow and walked to Lingna, whose face had turned pale with fear.

“Take it.” Ali shoved the crossbow into Lingna’s hands, her movements stiff. “I’ll teach you… how to use it.”

Lingna froze, staring at the cold weapon in her hands, then at Ali’s tightly wrapped arm, utterly lost.

“Aim… pull here.” Ali used her right hand to steady Lingna’s arm, adjusting her stance, pointing to a distant scrap of iron as a target. “Breathe… steady… pull!”

“Shh!” The bolt struck the edge of the iron, far from the center.

“Again.” Ali’s voice was flat, yet carried an undeniable force. She guided Lingna repeatedly—adjusting posture, controlling breath, aiming. Time was short; she couldn’t train Lingna into a master archer—only that, in the critical moment, she could fire this bolt, even if only to distract the enemy for an instant!

Lingna bit her lip, tears in her eyes, but more than that—stubbornness forced by circumstance. She drew the bowstring again and again, aimed again and again, fired again and again. Her accuracy remained poor, but her movements grew less frantic.

Lin Mo watched this scene, his heart filled with mixed emotions. Ali was, in her own way, adding a sliver of survival odds—for Lingna, and for this outpost.

The greasing was soon complete. Lin Mo carefully saved the last bit of fat for the three fire bottles. Looking at the thorn barrier now soaked in grease, radiating danger, he felt a slight easing of tension. All that remained was for the beast tide or enemies to approach—then one spark would ignite a wall of fire that devoured life!

“Uuuuu… Aaaoooh…”

At that moment, a low, chaotic, vicious roar rolled across the western horizon like distant thunder! The sound drew nearer, clearer, denser! The ground itself trembled faintly!

They were coming! The contaminated beast tide!

Lin Mo and Lingna’s faces turned instantly pale! Ali snapped her head up, her cold gaze fixed on the hazy, gray horizon to the west!

Through the churning yellow-brown dust, countless twisted, grotesque figures surged toward the depression like a black tide! Their forms varied: some resembled giant, oozing, rotting dogs; others were mutated boars with insect-like limbs; still others were nothing but writhing masses of flesh, studded with eyes and teeth! Their common traits: madness, bloodlust, and a thick stench of radiation!

The number of beasts far exceeded imagination! As far as the eye could see, they were dense as a ruptured flood of filth!

“Light it!” Ali barked, her voice cutting through the beast roars!

Lin Mo was already ready. He seized a burning stick left over from burning wood ash and hurled it with all his strength toward the grease-soaked thorn wall!

“Whoosh—!”

Flames, like ravenous demons, instantly licked up the grease! The dry thorns and oil erupted into fire! A towering wall of flame, two meters high, blazed into existence along the depression’s edge! The searing heat washed over them, the firelight painting all three faces a deep red!

The first few beasts, resembling irradiated hyenas, crashed headlong into the fire wall!

“Aaaooouuugh—!!” Their agonized screams were swallowed by flames! The stench of burning fur spread! The following beast tide halted, blocked by the sudden barrier. Fire’s primal terror suppressed their frenzy; the tide grew chaotic at the wall’s edge, shoving and trampling each other, emitting agitated roars!

The fire wall worked! It temporarily blocked the beast tide’s frontal assault!

Yet the beast tide was too numerous! The fire wall, though fierce, was limited in scope. Soon, large groups of irradiated beasts began circling around both ends of the wall, attempting to attack from other directions of the depression! Especially swift, giant lizard-like monsters were rapidly climbing toward the weak flanks!

Worse still, Lin Mo saw massive, armored-rhino-like beasts in the tide, heads lowered, charging straight through the flames! Their thick hides resisted fire for now; if they broke through a gap…

“Fire bottles! Flanks!” Ali’s voice rang out again. Her short crossbow was raised, its blue-tipped bolt locking onto a giant irradiated lizard attempting to circle the wall!

Lin Mo instantly grabbed a fire bottle. Lingna fumbled with a torch, igniting the cloth wrapped around the bottle’s mouth! Flames burst forth!

“Throw!” Ali ordered.

Lin Mo hurled the burning bottle with all his strength toward the densest cluster of beasts on the flank!

“Boom!” The glass shattered against the back of a boar-like beast! Thick, burning grease splattered, clinging to several nearby monsters and igniting them!

“Aaaooouuugh!!” The burning beasts screamed, turning into frantic fireballs that crashed into the tide, triggering greater chaos and spreading fire!

Effective! Lin Mo’s spirits lifted! He grabbed a second fire bottle, lit it, and hurled it toward another advancing group!

Lingna summoned courage, imitating Lin Mo, and threw her lit fire bottle with all her might at a nearby clawed monster attempting to scale the cover!

“Boom!” The bottle exploded beneath the clawed monster’s feet, flames instantly consuming it!

Firelight, smoke, beast roars and screams, the stench of burning fur—the outer edge of the depression became a chaotic hell! The burning wall and flying fire bottles temporarily halted the beast tide, splitting, igniting, and scattering them!

Ali’s short crossbow was like Death’s roll call—each blue-tipped arrow flew true, precisely taking out elite beasts trying to breach the flames or climb the defenses! Her figure stood like a rock amid the firelight, one-armed, crossbow raised, chillingly calm!

Hope Outpost, amid flame and beastly howls, stood firm as a reef in a raging storm!

Yet the burning grease would run out; the thorns would turn to ash. The beast tide was endless; the chaos was temporary. Lin Mo had only one fire bottle left. Ali’s crossbow bolts were half spent!

Worse still, Lin Mo spotted, beyond the chaos of the tide, on the western ridge line, several figures riding modified iron steeds. They halted at a safe distance, coldly observing the battle in the depression—like vultures waiting for prey to exhaust itself.

Bloodclaw! Lame Wolf’s men! Had they broken through the beast tide? Or were they merely scouts?

The leader, not tall, even somewhat gaunt, seemed to have a limp—Lame Wolf? But in his hands, he held not a chainsaw blade, but a sniper rifle fitted with a scope, gleaming with cold metallic luster. The barrel slowly shifted, as if searching for the most valuable target.

A cold killing intent pierced through flame and roar, locking onto the depression!

Lin Mo felt a chill rise from his spine. The real threat had finally bared its fangs.