Though the fireball Hanlanck loosed seemed unremarkable in power, the few Velociraptors it struck immediately exploded in a burst, the resulting spray of flames igniting the area dominated by the Oily Spell. The fire instantly spread outwards, forming a wide, raging wall of flame that billowed thick, black smoke. (For novels, visit Yezi·You~You.)\WW. provides the latest manually typed chapters\This maneuver forced the Velociraptors behind them to either brave the sea of fire or detour around the flanks, buying the hastily assembled team precious moments to regroup.

However, the sheer number of Velociraptors defied any obstacle!

That expanse of fire was trampled out by the sheer, relentless mass of beasts throwing themselves forward—if any metaphor could capture these attacking creatures, it could only be a swarm! A tide, like an ocean of insects!

That short retreat of a few hundred meters had become a gruesome passage of death.

All four machine gunners who had come as reinforcements perished; the team suffered its first attrition here when a Contractor was pinned down by the Velociraptors and instantly engulfed, letting out no cry, like a stone sinking into water without a ripple.

Tulip's Alaskan Giant Bear also met the fate of cannon fodder. Despite the beast capable of crushing a Velociraptor with one paw, being surrounded by such numbers sealed its doom. Flesh and fur were rapidly stripped away by the frenzied tearing of the pack. Only by Tulip using her unique chain weapon to snatch back the item dropped by the bear—the Soul Artifact of the Great Bear—was there any hope of resurrection. It must be noted, however, that she was the first among them to flee into the base.

In this engagement, Fang Senyan’s performance was unremarkable, neither disappointing nor surprising. Morgansah and Joel, conversely, displayed formidable power, especially Joel, whose final covering shot clearly utilized an ability, its destructive force comparable to heavy artillery. It blasted a massive crater spanning several hundred square meters, instantly eliminating nearly a hundred Velociraptors. Without that terrifying shot, the column might have suffered further casualties.

As the two heavy mechanical siege tanks rumbled into the safety of the base, the main gate slowly sealed shut. Several UV units swarmed the vehicles, hastily initiating repairs and extinguishing flames. The harsh screech of welding accompanied showering sparks as all armored gunners simultaneously rushed onto the walls of the steel fortress. The five bunkers powered up to full capacity, relentlessly reaping the lives of the tide-like swarm pouring in.

All Contractors received system prompts: “Hidden Quest: Rescue Complete.” “Survivors of the Bearing Base have safely returned to the Steel Outpost.” “You are rewarded with +2 Commendation Points and +1 Potential Point.”

The Contractors immediately seized this opportunity, surging onto the steel ramparts, shouting and firing wildly to vent their prior frustration. If any slain Zerg dropped Keys or Zerg Cores redeemable for reputation, they were automatically swept into the owner’s Nightmare Imprint space, preventing any loss from being dropped.

For Contractors like Fang Senyan and Reef, who lacked ranged options, they could pick up standard electromagnetic rifles to lay down fire—the dense carpet of bugs below ensured no target would be missed. However, likely because they were using standard human issue weaponry, the Zerg they killed only yielded reputation, not Keys. [Ye*zi] [You~You]

With Fang Senyan's meager Charm value of 2, killing an ordinary Velociraptor yielded a paltry 2 Reputation points, whereas Tulip, with her Charm near 25, gained 7 points—the difference was stark. Fortunately, Fang Senyan was part of a team, allowing him to gain 1 Reputation point from kills made by others, so his progress remained relatively swift.

Suddenly, he saw a rapid sequence of +3, +3 numbers pop up in his reputation display, instantly understanding that Morgansah was sharing half of his earned Zerg Reputation points—this was the maximum sustainable under their current temporary alliance. With Morgansah’s assistance, Fang Senyan's reputation gain soared.

Abruptly, Fang Senyan noticed several +15 figures flash brightly within his reputation count, after which the +3, +3 messages ceased. Clearly, Morgansah had engaged and eliminated several high-reputation targets before taking heavy retaliation. Just as Fang Senyan prepared to drop his weapon and rush over to check, a strange sound echoed from the distance, like something inhaling deeply. He immediately felt a chilling cold wash over the left side of his body and, without hesitation, dove with full force toward the right.

Less than a second after Fang Senyan lunged clear, the spot he had occupied erupted with a "hissing" sound, as if rain were pouring from the sky. Immediately following, a large splattering of deep-green liquid shot down from the air. This liquid appeared highly corrosive; even where it touched the metal railings, dense bubbling erupted. The previously smooth, hard steel railing quickly turned into something resembling rotten twigs before crumbling to dust, scattering away with a mere puff of wind.

"Damn it!" Although Fang Senyan had sensed the danger preemptively, a few drops of the deep-green acid still splashed him, causing his skin to rot. His Nightmare Imprint immediately flashed a notification: sustained damage from Acidic Venom, losing 3 Health points every 5 seconds for 15 seconds.

Simultaneously, continuous screams began echoing from the surrounding base defenses; the machine gunners were taking casualties. Fang Senyan glanced toward the outer swarm and spotted several visibly larger Zerg creatures stirring at the perimeter. Their hides were brownish, and they stood semi-bipedal, using the symmetrical gray-white anchor spurs on their trailing tails to contract rhythmically, generating forward momentum. Distinct gill-like structures marked the sides of their heads; these muscular gills produced the suction and expulsion force that projected the acid over long distances.

"That must be the Hydralisk," Fang Senyan recalled seeing its profile in the base's central monitor. It was a higher-tier Zerg lifeform than the Velociraptor, and its secreted acid was nasty and quite lethal. If a group of Hydralisks focused fire, even bunkers constructed of reinforced steel could not withstand the assault, easily catching fire and exploding.

More critically, the addition of Hydralisks meant sustained fire suppressing the outer defenses, allowing the Velociraptors to relentlessly assault the base's metal walls. If a breach occurred, the fall of the entire base would be imminent.

At this crucial moment, Joel’s sniper rifle proved its immense value again. Every time the gun cracked, a Hydralisk was struck—either vaporizing instantly or being blasted violently far out of range, unable to continue the fight. Yet, the number of Zerg seemed infinite; the sniper rifle's rate of fire could never match that of machine guns.

After another few minutes of grim endurance, a metal bunker positioned against the left wall finally buckled under the combined assault of Hydralisks and Velociraptors, catching fire before exploding with a deafening roar. The machine gunners inside, still reeling from the blast, were instantly swarmed, overwhelmed, and torn to shreds by the vicious Velociraptors!

Next, a section of the steel wall on the west side shuddered, emitting a teeth-grinding screech, followed by the furious, drumbeat-like sound of claws scraping intensely! Even the sound alone sent chills down the spine!

Hanlanck happened to be standing atop that section of the wall. Before he could react, the entire steel barricade buckled and collapsed! A mass of tearing, scrambling Velociraptors surged through, followed by an overwhelming flood of their comrades, signaling an imminent full-scale breach.

Hanlanck roared, and a ring of crimson flame erupted centered on his body, raging like a tempest. The nearby Velociraptors were simultaneously blown away, turning to ash mid-air without a sound.

But this spell clearly exhausted him, causing him to drop to his knees, spent. The tidal wave of Velociraptors rushing in from afar showed no hesitation or fear, sweeping forward with their crazy, bloodthirsty savagery!

At that knife-edge moment, a massive figure materialized atop the nearby metal supply station. This figure gripped a silver-gleaming greatshield in his left hand—the shield’s shape was distinctly bizarre, resembling a long, flattened creature's skull. In his right hand, he held a short sword wreathed in black mist: it was Reef! His entire body was overlaid with an indescribable, shimmering light, as if an invisible layer of armor flowed over his skin.

He then leaped straight down. In the area where his feet landed, an explosive shockwave immediately propagated outward. Though the supply station was only about four meters high, the impact of Reef’s landing rivaled that of a Transformer jumping from a skyscraper: a powerful shockwave centered on his feet sent several airborne Velociraptors, claws extended, flying seven or eight meters back upon direct collision.

"Go!" Reef bellowed at Hanlanck, his eyes blazing red.

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