Chapter 127: The Gold-Devouring Rat Tide

After dinner, everyone was about to rest. The secret realm at night was undoubtedly dangerous, so someone had to stay on watch.

Zi Shu divided everyone into three groups, four people each, with each person taking a shift. This way, everyone could get enough rest while ensuring no accidents occurred.

Lin Xiao was assigned to the third group, the shift during the early morning hours. He was indifferent about it and could accept any group. Zi Shu’s personnel arrangement was deliberate—he placed Lin Xiao, You Ji, and Si She in three different groups.

Though Si She was not as skilled in reconnaissance as Lin Xiao and You Ji, dispersing her poisonous mist around the perimeter meant she would immediately sense if any spirit beasts appeared at night.

Except for the four people on the first shift, the rest went to rest, Lin Xiao included.

Lin Xiao was the type who was carefree; even in the secret realm, he ate well and slept soundly, quickly falling asleep.

When he woke up, it was already two o’clock in the morning—just the time for the last group to take over.

Yawning, Lin Xiao got up. His group members were Chou Niu, Chen Long, and Xu Gou—covering reconnaissance, offense, control, and defense perfectly.

Outside was pitch black. After the second group left, Lin Xiao began observing the surroundings.

The darkness outside was meaningless to Lin Xiao; with his night vision, it was no different from daytime.

It was unwise to light a fire overnight in the secret realm, as the flames would attract nearby spirit beasts.

The War Wolf Mercenary Group wouldn’t make such a mistake. The four sat quietly, careful not to disturb others.

Chou Niu and the others had poorer eyesight than Lin Xiao and could only barely make out the surroundings. They didn’t seem bored, likely accustomed to it.

Thanks to Lin Xiao’s night vision, the environment was clear at a glance.

Infrared sensing detected no large spirit beasts nearby, only some low-level ones burrowed underground, seemingly asleep.

Around two or three in the morning was when people were most fatigued; Chou Niu and the others were yawning repeatedly but forced themselves not to fall asleep.

Lin Xiao was relatively alert—after all, back at the retirement home, he was used to waking up and studying around this time.

Seeing no spirit beasts nearby, Lin Xiao felt a little bored.

After greeting the three, he decided to take a chance and look around, hoping to find some spirit herbs for missions.

The others didn’t object since he’d stay nearby, and though hesitant to let Lin Xiao go alone, Chou Niu accompanied him; the other two stayed behind to guard the camp.

Lin Xiao and Chou Niu began their search. Remarkably, Lin Xiao’s luck was excellent; soon, they found many spirit herbs.

Among them was a hundred-year-old Guiyuan Ginseng—a spirit herb that, if graded, would be at least level six.

Finding such an aged herb here was a pleasant surprise.

More importantly, Lin Xiao remembered a mercenary system mission requiring finding a hundred-year-old Guiyuan Ginseng, rewarding fifty thousand points and twenty million in cash.

How could his luck be so good? He was thrilled.

With a good start, Lin Xiao’s enthusiasm soared, searching frantically nearby.

Chou Niu didn’t understand this but was tasked with protecting Lin Xiao, walking with him to keep him awake.

Lin Xiao had hoped to find other Guiyuan Ginseng nearby, but it was wishful thinking; besides this one, there were no other valuable spirit herbs.

He realized he had been greedy—only one such herb could survive here. If there were many, they would have been harvested long ago.

Finding even one was sheer luck.

While searching, Lin Xiao kept an eye on the surroundings.

This was a level-five secret realm; if a level-five spirit beast suddenly appeared, his life could end here.

Then, after a while, as he resumed observing the area, his gaze grew alarmed.

About a thousand meters away, countless red dots suddenly appeared.

His night vision had infrared sensing, and these red dots were more conspicuous than during the day.

From what he saw, they were rodent-type spirit beasts, so numerous they couldn’t be counted.

Without hesitation, Lin Xiao shouted loudly, “Enemy attack! Everyone prepare for battle!”

His sudden shout startled Chou Niu, who immediately shielded Lin Xiao behind himself.

“Where’s the enemy? Don’t be afraid, I’m here!”

Seeing Chou Niu’s look of unwavering protection touched Lin Xiao—the damned sense of security!

“Brother Niu, don’t just stand there. Let’s return to camp first. The enemy is still some distance away.”

Chou Niu snapped to attention and returned to camp with Lin Xiao.

When they arrived, everyone else was already awake, looking at Lin Xiao in confusion.

“You said enemy attack? Where are they?”

Lin Xiao knew this wasn’t the time for suspense.

He pointed toward the rat swarm’s direction.

“There are a huge number of rodent spirit beasts over there. If I’m not mistaken, they’re Devouring Gold Rats. Their number is unknown, but definitely vast, and they’re rapidly approaching us.”

The War Wolf Mercenary Group’s expressions darkened.

Though surprised Lin Xiao could detect such distant movement at night, perhaps because Lin Xiao had given them so many surprises before, they found it almost natural.

“Damn it! It’s the Devouring Gold Rat tide!”

“Hope the numbers aren’t too large. Otherwise, even we can’t hold out. Everyone, form a circle and prepare to fight!”

Zi Shu had no intention of fleeing; the rat tide moved fast, and they wouldn’t get far even if they ran. Better to defend in place.

Just then, the noise from the rat tide reached them—continuous squeaking filled the air.

Though they hadn’t seen the tide yet, the sound alone revealed the sheer number of Devouring Gold Rats.

Lin Xiao swallowed hard.

While others could only hear the noise, he could see everything clearly.

The rat tide was slowly closing in, with even more swarms behind, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The number was likely in the hundreds of thousands!