Chapter 99

Mo Fan glanced at He Yu, who was crying so hard she could barely breathe, and let out a quiet sigh.

Xiao Ke was also a Water Element mage, and like He Yu, her only Water Element skill was level-two Water Control. But where Xiao Ke could at least function, He Yu in front of a real Demon-Beast was no different from an ordinary girl — she was completely unable to execute a single skill. If everyone on the squad was like this, the next time they ran into a Demon-Beast, more people would die.

Mo Fan had no idea how many lives would ultimately be lost. All he could do was force himself to keep moving.

"Since Teacher Xue has put me in charge, I need everyone to really hear what I'm about to say. I'm not promising we'll reach the Safety Barrier without problems — but at the very least, we can avoid some deaths that don't need to happen." Mo Fan looked out at the Vanguard Squad. Most of them still had that hollow, dazed look about them.

This squad had badly underestimated the Demon-Beasts. The Field Expedition was just that — an expedition. The Gloom Wolf Beasts, before the frenzy, had never carried any genuine killing intent toward the students. Real Demon-Beasts were nothing like that. They would use every means at their disposal to kill, and even when cornered and certain of their own death, they would spend their last breath dragging someone down with them. Demon-Beasts were born into an environment of constant mutual slaughter — they were natural experts at landing the one strike that ended a fight permanently.

"The two main Demon-Beasts we'll face are Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats and One-Eyed Demon Wolves. The Ape-Rats are manageable. The Demon Wolves are the real threat — far more savage and cunning than the Ape-Rats by a wide margin. If we run into three or more One-Eyed Demon Wolves at once, don't hesitate: scatter and run for your lives. With luck, only three of us die. If we stand and fight, every single one of us dies." Mo Fan's voice was flat and absolute.

The truth was that even two One-Eyed Demon Wolves appearing simultaneously could deal the squad a lethal blow. What Mo Fan wanted — desperately — was for these students to understand that real Demon-Beasts were a hundred times, a thousand times more dangerous than anything their teachers had ever described in a classroom.

*This isn't practice anymore. It isn't a Field Expedition. It's a fight to the death. Win, and you live. Lose, and everyone dies.*

Xu Zhaoting, Wang Sanpang, Zhou Min, Mu Bai, Zhao Kunsan, Zhang Xiaohou, He Yu, Zhang Shuhua, and Xue Musheng all had their eyes on Mo Fan. His repeated warnings had already saved the squad from a catastrophic first engagement, and as they listened, a quiet astonishment passed through the group — why, when they were all seniors in the same year, was Mo Fan so much sharper than the rest of them?

Mo Fan ran through the most common and most lethal mistakes, starting with Wang Sanpang's spectacular blunder: *never approach a Demon-Beast that looks like you've killed it.* It will spend its last breath trying to take you with it.

"Monkey." Mo Fan turned to Zhang Xiaohou. "You're on point. Scout ahead, and stay sharp with everything you do."

Zhang Xiaohou gave a firm nod. Right now, Mo Fan's word was law.

"Mu Bai — keep your Ice Vine under control. Remember, right now it's for protecting the group. Don't try to freeze Demon-Beasts that are moving at that speed."

Mu Bai's brow tightened. He opened his mouth, then swallowed whatever he was going to say.

He had real grievances with Mo Fan — deep ones. But weighed against everyone's lives, including his own, those grievances shrank to nothing. He gave a single nod, showing he understood how to use his Ice Vine.

Mo Fan finished briefing everyone as quickly as he could, then drew a long, slow breath.

*Even I don't know whether any of us will make it through three kilometers of this.* He could only hope their luck held — that they wouldn't meet three One-Eyed Demon Wolves at once.

The squad pressed on.

The main street stretching a full kilometer ahead was clear of Demon-Beasts. What they did find, tucked away inside several residential buildings, were elderly residents who hadn't made it to the Safety Barrier in time.

The Vanguard Squad couldn't escort anyone. All Xue Musheng could do was tell each group of old people to be ready to join the main column when it came through — because staying alone was genuinely dangerous.

Nearly every road was choked with abandoned vehicles. Occasionally they spotted someone still desperately trying to drive to the Safety Barrier, only to find themselves locked in gridlock, forced to leave the car and go on foot.

Whenever they passed anyone on the road, Xue Musheng and Zhou Min gave them the same instruction: find somewhere to hide, wait for the main column, then follow.

They crossed the main street and arrived at the edge of Mingyuan Residential Complex.

Mingyuan was one of Bo City's more upscale developments — a cluster of high-rise elevator buildings dressed up to resemble a small park in the heart of the city. The complex was enormous. Just crossing straight through all four sections — A, B, C, and D — was nearly a kilometer on its own.

No one could say how many residents were still up in those towers, convinced that being high off the ground meant they were safe. If they believed it, then as far as it went, it was safe enough.

The perimeter fencing around Mingyuan was mostly ornamental, and Mo Fan had already spotted several sections that had been smashed through. Proof enough that something had passed this way.

They entered through a side gate. The first thing that greeted them was the ornamental pond — a security guard's body floating face-up on the surface, the water gone dark red around him.

The rain had eased slightly, which only meant the blood on the streets had nothing to wash it away. Walking through that landscape, every member of the Vanguard Squad felt the hair rise along their arms.

"Did you hear that?" Zhou Min pressed close to Mo Fan and kept her voice low. "Something's calling from up in that building."

Mo Fan looked toward one of the towers. Through the glass he could just make out a shadow — something that was not human — drifting past a window.

"Keep moving." He didn't bother with it.

Zhou Min nodded and said no more.

They had barely taken a few steps when Zhang Xiaohou came sprinting back from up ahead.

"Five or more Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats in that direction. We need to go around."

"Right. Other path." Mo Fan nodded, and as Zhang Xiaohou fell back into line, gave him a quiet clap on the shoulder — a small acknowledgment that he'd done well.

Zhang Xiaohou managed a thin smile. In a place like this, you either forced yourself to grow or you became a liability. He was frightened — genuinely frightened — but watching Mo Fan hold steady in the middle of all of it put a sliver of courage back in his chest that he hadn't realized he'd lost.

They detoured around the five Ape-Rats and made it halfway through the complex without a serious incident.

"There's an Ape-Rat by the swimming pool. Drinking water."

"Go around."

"Why? We could kill it and cut straight through." Zhang Shuhua looked genuinely bewildered.

"Don't pick fights that don't need to happen. Right now, magical energy is worth more than water in a desert."

All nine of them made it through Mingyuan Residential Complex without casualties. Bearing in mind that four thousand civilians were following behind them, Mo Fan had deliberately chosen wider, more open routes — the last thing they needed was to be funneled into a narrow street when a horde hit.