Chapter 128: Besieged on All Sides

Lin Xiao found himself at a loss for words to describe his current feelings.

A swarm of gold-devouring rats on this scale was hardly something they could handle easily.

He was certain that the twelve of them didn’t even qualify to be a mere nuisance to these creatures.

Even with Lin Xiao’s keen eyesight, he couldn’t accurately gauge the true number of the rat horde at this moment.

Besides the overwhelming multitude making counting impossible, more rats kept flowing toward them both within and beyond his line of sight.

Lin Xiao himself was unclear about the full extent; the others, shrouded in darkness, were even more clueless.

At this moment, the rest of the Wolf Mercenary Company could only rely on sound to assess the situation.

Most hadn’t yet grasped the severity of their predicament.

“Piglet, don’t be too anxious. These gold-devouring rats are pack beasts and prefer to move collectively. It’s normal for their numbers to be high, but they have their weaknesses. Most are only level one, with just a few reaching level two. Against absolute strength, sheer numbers don’t mean much.”

Lin Xiao knew Ratling was trying to comfort him, and he could only smile wryly.

He admitted Ratling had a point: sometimes, against overwhelming power, numbers truly counted for little.

But it also depended on the circumstances. When numbers reached a certain threshold, even ants could bring down an elephant.

Lin Xiao chose not to reveal what he had seen, not wanting to dampen everyone’s morale.

While Ratling spoke, the swarm of gold-devouring rats finally came into view.

Dawn was just breaking, so although others’ vision wasn’t as sharp as Lin Xiao’s, they could not fail to see the approaching threat at such close range.

Ratling immediately began commanding the battle.

“Ugly Ox, build several earthen walls ahead of us. Let’s see if we can divert the rat swarm to other directions!”

Lin Xiao recalled what he knew about the gold-devouring rats.

They were peculiar spirit beasts—low in level, but few dared to confront them.

Omnivorous by nature, in Lin Xiao’s memory, there was hardly anything they wouldn’t eat.

When food was scarce, they could survive by gnawing on soil itself.

Moreover, gold-devouring rats rarely dropped spirit pearls, carrying nothing of real value.

Hence, no one wanted to encounter a swarm of them unless absolutely necessary.

Ugly Ox hesitated for no second, erecting several earthen walls at the camp’s front. Hopefully, the swarm would detour around their base.

But Lin Xiao knew it wouldn’t be that simple.

The reason? The sheer number of rats.

Diverting such a massive swarm depended on many factors.

Just as Lin Xiao expected, when the rats first met the earthen walls, those at the front were forced to change direction.

However, the vast multitude behind paid no heed to the front line’s slowdown, maintaining their previous speed.

In an instant, a huge pileup of rats formed at the walls.

Within moments, the pile reached several meters high—surpassing the wall’s height—and many rats clambered over, falling on the other side.

Those below were crushed by their comrades, surrounded on all sides, unable to change course.

To push forward, they had no choice but to gnaw at the earthen walls.

In their minds, if something blocked their path, eating it was the solution.

The rats below bared their sharp teeth and began gnawing at the walls.

Though the walls were fifth-level SS-grade earthworks—not easy to break—the overwhelming numbers wore them down.

Eventually, the walls collapsed with a thunderous crash, killing many rats beneath the rubble.

Yet none halted their advance.

Ratling’s expression darkened as he realized the gravity of the situation.

This swarm far exceeded his expectations of a few thousand; the numbers were excessive.

“All units, attack freely! Don’t let them close in!”

Previously, the Wolf Mercenary Company had held back, hoping to avoid this battle.

Now that fighting was inevitable, each soldier unleashed their spirit skills.

“Wind Sweeps the Clouds!”

“Wildfire Engulfs the Plains!”

“Thunderous Might!”

…

Against a swarm of these rats, the most effective tactic was unleashing area-of-effect spirit skills.

Under the combined assaults, vast numbers of rats were killed.

Yinhu and Chenlong’s abilities were fire and lightning-based; the bursts of flame and electric light finally revealed the full scale of the scene to everyone.

Wherever their eyes reached, the field was dense with the tiny beasts.

Though many were slain in the initial attacks, it was but a drop in the ocean compared to the swarm’s true size.

Ratling’s face turned grim; how could this be? A mere fifth-level secret realm, yet a swarm of this magnitude?

“All ranged units, take turns releasing your abilities. Don’t let the swarm break through! There are too many enemies; we don’t know how long this fight will last. Conserve your spirit energy! Snake, you start!”

Snake nodded and immediately began releasing toxic mist.

The poisonous cloud spread directly toward the rat swarm.

The toxin from a fifth-level poison specialist was far beyond what the level one or two rats could endure.

Rats at the front dropped in large numbers, yet the swarm behind pressed on relentlessly.

Perhaps hindered by the corpses ahead, many rats began devouring their fallen comrades.

The poisoned corpses passed on the toxin, as if contagion, causing even greater casualties.

Under Snake’s continuous poisoning, the pile of dead rats at the front soon exceeded a meter in height.

The rats killed by her toxin numbered in the tens of thousands, at the very least.

The cost of slaying so many was visible—Snake’s face grew pale as her spirit energy neared depletion.

“Boss, it’s no use! There are too many rats!”

“Withdraw first and restore your spirit energy as much as possible. Leave the rest to us! Others with area attacks, take your turns! I’ll go next!”

Ratling took over from Snake, unleashing vast wind-based spirit abilities into the rat swarm.

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