By now, the Black Rat King was close to Zhao Yin. When it saw how badly the White Rat King had been wounded, it let out a mournful cry.

Its body became a streak of black lightning, arriving behind Zhao Yin and the White Rat King in an instant.

But the White Rat King had completely lost its mind. The moment it sensed Zhao Yin threatening its life, it activated Extreme Speed and lunged forward.

The White Rat King tried to throw Zhao Yin off, but he seized the chance to wrap his arms around its neck and mount its back.

Pfft!

The ox horn stabbed down again!

A second bloody hole punched through the White Rat King's neck!

Blood gushed like a spring. Pain drove it faster.

"Haha... die!" Zhao Yin laughed like a madman.

The pitiful Black Rat King roared in anguish, but could only eat dust behind them.

It wanted to help the White Rat King, but the White Rat King was digging its own grave. There was nothing it could do.

Little Monkey caught up, witnessing its master's ferocity once again.

Squeak squeak...

"Master is awesome!"

Dragging the Spiked Club with its one remaining arm, it screamed with excitement: "Master is too awesome! Master is the most awesome master in the whole world!"

Then Little Monkey forced its energy higher, pushing both abilities to their limits, and chased after the Black Rat King.

The Black Rat King's Agility was 87 points. Little Monkey's base Agility was 40, but Giantification doubled it, and Berserk doubled it again-enough to surpass this D-rank mutated beast!

In Strength, the Black Rat King was even less of a match!

This was the might of a dual-ability mutated beast!

If they hadn't run into the White Rat King, whose abilities happened to counter Little Monkey, Zhao Yin's group would never have been pushed this far!

When the Black Rat King saw Little Monkey closing in, fear flickered in its eyes. If it used Earth Tunnelling to flee now, no one could stop it.

But its heart was with the White Rat King... so it didn't tunnel.

Ignoring the approaching Little Monkey entirely, it desperately chased after the White Rat King.

Zhao Yin steadied himself on the White Rat King's back. He yanked the ox horn free from its neck and stabbed blindly, over and over.

Pfft, pfft, pfft!

One thrust after another!

In his mind, only killing remained.

When the last sound of bone cracking came, Zhao Yin drove the ox horn straight into the White Rat King's brain...

The White Rat King's body was still hurtling forward, but its movements went rigid!

Then it tumbled and crashed, flattening a wide swath of bushes!

Boom!

Zhao Yin was thrown clear, landing in the undergrowth.

"Haha... haha...!"

Blood still poured from his chest, but he lay on the ground laughing.

His thoughts were chaos. He didn't know what day it was or where he was.

He didn't know why he was laughing, but... he was happy!

While Zhao Yin laughed like a fool, the Black Rat King skidded to a halt. It stared at the White Rat King's corpse, sensing that its mate's life force had vanished.

The Black Rat King froze.

The next instant-bang!

A Spiked Club crashed down on its skull. Its vision went black, and it collapsed.

After knocking out the Black Rat King, Little Monkey wanted to check on its master's wounds, but it stopped short.

The battle wasn't over!

The remaining eleven Giant Rats in the distance sensed the White Rat King's life force vanish. All of them abandoned their assault on the Invisibility Tent and charged this way.

Roar!

Little Monkey, drenched in blood, threw back its head and howled, venting the fury pent up in its chest. Its single arm dragged the Spiked Club as it shot toward the Giant Rats like a gale.

In that moment, the one-armed Little Monkey looked like a god of slaughter.

The eleven Giant Rats moved at different speeds. Maddened by their king's death, they didn't even attempt their usual coordinated attacks. Little Monkey scattered them instantly.

Bang, bang, bang!

One swing, one rat. It smashed them all to the ground in moments!

Then Little Monkey collapsed on its rear, panting hard, and turned its head with effort.

Zhao Yin was still laughing like an idiot.

"Heh...!" Little Monkey bared its teeth and copied the foolish grin.

In the pouring rain, Little Monkey gasped for a long time. The liquid dripping from its fur could have been blood or rain-impossible to tell. It struggled upright, leaning on the Spiked Club, its body shrinking uncontrollably.

Once it relaxed, its abilities couldn't hold.

Soon it was that scrawny little monkey again.

Only now, blood covered its entire body, and the wound where its left arm had been showed stark white bone.

It trudged toward Zhao Yin.

"Wuwu...!"

Song Xiaodao's crying came from behind: "Zhao Yin, Zhao Yin... so many big rats! Zhao Yin, where are you? I'm so scared... wuwu...!"

Then she stopped crying.

She saw the one-armed Little Monkey and the ground littered with rat corpses.

Even the cold air reeked of blood.

Song Xiaodao caught up to Little Monkey. She was about to speak when she spotted Old Bull lying on the ground, barely breathing.

"Bull, what happened to you? Where's... Zhao Yin?" Her face went white. She grabbed Little Monkey's single arm.

Little Monkey pointed at the distant bushes.

Only then did Song Xiaodao hear Zhao Yin's laughter mixed with the rain.

"Haha... haha...!"

He was still laughing. Torrential rain washed over his face, carrying away the blood.

Rainwater had filled his chest cavity, but an Evolver's stubborn vitality kept him alive.

His laughter had grown much weaker.

Song Xiaodao sprinted over. When she saw the fatal wound on his chest, her face crumpled and she burst into tears: "Wuwuwu... Zhao Yin, you can't die! What's wrong with you? Why aren't you treating your wounds?"

"Hehe...!" Zhao Yin seemed capable of nothing but that vacant laugh.

Squeak squeak...

Little Monkey staggered over and pointed at the Spatial Ring on Zhao Yin's finger. It couldn't speak mind-to-mind with Song Xiaodao, so it could only gesture.

All the healing supplies were inside the Spatial Ring.

Normally, Zhao Yin wouldn't even let Song Xiaodao touch his Spatial Ring.

But now she couldn't care about that. She could tell something was wrong with his mind. Only what was inside the ring could save him.

She pulled the Spatial Ring off his finger, but had no idea how to use it.

"Little Monkey, do you know how?" she asked.

Squeak squeak...

Little Monkey shook its head. In truth, all spatial equipment from Star Crystals could only be used by humans.

With no other choice, Song Xiaodao imitated Zhao Yin and slipped the ring onto her finger. Instantly, she sensed everything inside.

A large pile of Chestnuts, Chestnut Leaves, and 48 ears of corn!

A heap of Zombie Cores!

Three bottles of Nongfu Spring remained! One bottle had been used each day over the past week to protect the Chestnut Tree's roots.

One Beef Can, two packs of Instant Noodles, two Tuna Cans.

The rest was the pile of guns, ammunition, and bows, along with the ordinary supplies Zhao Yin valued...

Finally, Song Xiaodao found the D-rank Healing Potion!

She pulled it out and moved to pour it into Zhao Yin's mouth.

Squeak-

Little Monkey grabbed her hand, gesturing frantically with its single arm. Song Xiaodao understood-it wanted her to feed Zhao Yin Chestnut Leaves instead.

Then Little Monkey pointed at Old Bull in the distance, rolling its eyes and sticking out its tongue. Song Xiaodao understood that too-Old Bull was about to die and needed the only D-rank Healing Potion to survive.

"Zhao Yin is hurt this badly. This potion was his to begin with. What if the Chestnut Leaves can't heal him?" Song Xiaodao's small face darkened.

In her eyes, nothing mattered more than Zhao Yin's life.

She wouldn't let him bear even the slightest unnecessary risk!

Little Monkey made the dying-Old-Bull face again, then imitated how sad Zhao Yin would look.

Song Xiaodao thought it over. She didn't dare delay too long. Finally, she agreed to feed Zhao Yin Chestnut Leaves first-but only after his condition stabilized would she let the Healing Potion go to Old Bull.

She pulled out a pile of Chestnut Leaves. She and Little Monkey each grabbed a handful and stuffed them into their mouths.

Little Monkey chewed first, pried open Zhao Yin's mouth, and was about to spit the mush in. Song Xiaodao grabbed it and rolled her eyes: "You treat your own wounds. I'll handle Zhao Yin!"

Little Monkey didn't understand why humans would be squeamish about this.

But after a moment's thought, it still... ptooey, spat into Zhao Yin's mouth.