Chapter 5: A Desperate Situation?

The super A-rank beast tide almost made Xia Lixing curse out loud, and what made him despair even more was that this horde of beasts was blocking his only way forward!

Based on the scale he was seeing now, even if the horde didn’t move, it would probably take him a day or two to bypass it without being discovered.
As for charging straight through the middle, Xia Lixing didn’t even consider it.
He had seen that there was more than one prominent target within the horde.
Even though they were just black dots from this distance, he could see the abnormal emptiness around them, and the churning black aura.

Those were A-rank Aberrant Beasts, powerful beings among the beasts that could use abilities.

If it were a one-on-one encounter with an A-rank beast, Xia Lixing was confident he could annihilate it.
Even against two, his chances of winning were high.
But now it wasn’t one or two; there were already five A-rank beasts visible to Xia Lixing, not to mention the tens of thousands of low-rank beasts whose attacks he couldn’t completely ignore.

“Damn it! Is my only option to take a detour? A detour that will take several days and nights?”

Xia Lixing angrily punched the concrete slab under his feet.
He wasn’t afraid of death; he would dare to charge into this exaggerated horde.
But right now, he needed to report the unusual movement of the beasts to his superiors.
If he died here, the central city, having already recalled its search teams, would have no way of discovering this horde in advance.
An unprepared super A-rank beast tide, while not enough to conquer the central city directly, would be enough to inflict heavy damage.
Moreover, who could guarantee that this was the only wave of beasts?

“B*stards! Since when did these brainless things learn to use tactics!”

No amount of anger would help.
They were still far from the central city, and the beasts, while gathering and advancing, were also uncharacteristically quiet.
If it weren’t for that faint roar just now, Xia Lixing would have had to get even closer to discover them.

Just then, the roar came again.
This time it was different from the last, clearly the sound of multiple beasts.
At the same time, Xia Lixing’s armband suddenly vibrated, and the originally golden sword on the insignia had turned blood-red.

‘A distress signal? There are “Guardians” nearby?’

The “Guardian’s” chest emblem was like an ID card, while the armband was a “black tech product” utilizing “Aberrant Core” and “short-range spatial teleportation” technology.
Not only could it teleport one’s own weapon from up to a thousand meters away, but it could also send and receive distress signals.
This distress signal could be received by other armbands within a radius of tens of thousands of meters, its purpose naturally being to call for help.

Right now, there were obvious beast roars on the edge of the super A-rank beast tide, and he had just received a distress signal.
Needless to say, some “Guardians” must have been discovered by the beasts and were now surrounded.

To save or not to save?

Under any other circumstances, Xia Lixing would definitely choose to save them.
But in this situation, even if he went to save them, he might not succeed, and he would have to sacrifice himself as well.
If he died, the message would never reach the central city…

“Tsk, forget it. I can’t get through even if I don’t save them.”

After hesitating for only a few seconds, Xia Lixing made his decision: save them!

Following the sound of the beasts’ roars, Xia Lixing began to approach that direction.
Since he had decided to save them, he first needed to find their exact location.

The armband could only provide a general direction, not a precise location.

Fortunately, Xia Lixing’s luck wasn’t bad.
After some searching, he saw the people he was supposed to rescue.

On the edge of the beast horde, a few hundred beasts had broken away from the main force and were surrounding five humans.
The five of them were all wearing uniform clothing, and four of them were holding two-meter-long giant blades.

‘There’s a chance, maybe I can get them out!’

Seeing the five people’s position and the besieging beasts, Xia Lixing’s eyes lit up.
These five had already moved far away from the main horde, and only a few hundred beasts were surrounding them.
He estimated there were only a few B-rank beasts among them.
Maybe he could really save them.

Suddenly accelerating, Xia Lixing held the giant blade in his hand and charged towards the group of beasts.
Since he was charging down from a high place, Xia Lixing quickly joined the fray, felling several beasts with a swing of his blade.

Seeing someone come to their rescue, the five of them also rallied their spirits and moved closer to Xia Lixing.

A hundred or so low-rank beasts were nothing to Xia Lixing, and he quickly reached the side of the five people.
Without time for pleasantries, seeing the somewhat restless main horde not far away, Xia Lixing turned around and began to fight his way back.

“Follow me!”

The other five understood and followed Xia Lixing’s lead.
With the help of a pseudo A-rank ability user, they quickly pulled away from the main horde, with only the hundred or so low-rank beasts in hot pursuit.

Estimating that the distance was safe enough, Xia Lixing turned back and charged into the hundred or so beasts, slaughtering them like cutting vegetables, leaving the five people dumbfounded.
Although they hadn’t dared to attack freely before because they were too close to the main horde, even now, their five-person team couldn’t guarantee they could wipe out this group of beasts so easily, let alone fight them alone.

Could this “Guardian” who came to their rescue be an A-rank ability user?

But then, one of them recognized Xia Lixing’s identity.
There were very few people who didn’t know the only pseudo A-rank ability user.

“Senior Xia, thank you so much for your rescue this time!”

Xia Lixing, who had just finished clearing out the beasts, hadn’t even had a chance to ask the search team anything before he was struck dumb by the title the man who looked like the captain used.

‘You look like you’re in your thirties, who are you calling Senior?’

“Uh, just call me by my name. ‘Senior’ and all that, it sounds a bit uncomfortable.”

“Understood! Lord Xia Lixing!”

“…You’re a search team, right? Why were you in danger outside at this time?”

Somewhat speechless, Xia Lixing finally decided to ignore the issue of titles for now.

As the topic turned to serious matters, the man’s tone immediately became solemn. “Lord Xia Lixing, we know we are too weak and have no chance of returning to the central city. But we implore you to bring the news of the beasts’ unusual movements back to the central city!”

The man’s tragic words stunned Xia Lixing for a moment.
Although the only path to the central city was blocked by a super A-rank beast tide, as long as they stayed away from the main horde and were careful not to be discovered, they shouldn’t be in mortal danger, right?
Could it be…

“Which direction did you come from? Did you encounter other beast tides?”

“The north. We decided to take a detour from this side precisely because we discovered a super A-rank beast tide, but we didn’t expect there to be another super A-rank beast tide here as well.”

“And the beast tide over there is heading in this direction,” the only healer in the search team, who was unarmed, added.

Xia Lixing fell silent.
The central city was to their southeast.
The beast tide in front of them had already sealed off the eastern and southern routes, and now there was another beast tide moving this way from the north.
The idea of taking a detour was completely dashed.
If they tried to go around from the north, they would probably run right into that beast tide.

“We only accidentally discovered an unknown beast gathering ground, and we didn’t expect to be delayed in our return to the city and to find such an abnormal situation.”
The captain shook his head with a bitter smile.
“I really don’t know if we’re lucky or unlucky.”

“Lord Xia Lixing, this abnormal information must be reported to the higher-ups.
We cannot escape the convergence of these two beast tides, but we believe you can!
Please be sure to report our findings.
This is very important for all of humanity!”

As he spoke, the captain took off his chest emblem and armband and handed them to Xia Lixing.
The armband undoubtedly contained the coordinates of the newly discovered beast gathering ground they had recorded.
It seemed they had no intention of returning alive.

Xia Lixing didn’t immediately take them.
The captain was right; he could go around from the south, but even at his speed, it would take more than three days to detour from the south, and that was a best-case scenario.
However, three days would probably be enough time for the beast tide here to reach the central city.

Xia Lixing didn’t answer, and the captain grew anxious. “Lord Xia Lixing! This is a matter of life and death for all of humanity! If you are still a ‘Guardian,’ I implore you to agree and bring this information back!”

Xia Lixing still didn’t speak, instead turning around and standing on a high place to survey the scene.

“Lord Xia Lixing!”

“Captain! You…”

“Captain, what are you doing? Get up quickly!”

“Captain!”

The captain’s shout and his team members’ cries of alarm made Xia Lixing turn around.
The captain had actually knelt down before him, ignoring the attempts of his team members to stop and pull him up, and bowed low, holding the chest emblem and armband high in his hands.

Xia Lixing flashed to the captain’s side and, without another word, pulled him to his feet. “There’s no need for this. I will definitely bring this information back. But have you thought about it? Even if I can take a detour, how can I report this information before the beast tide reaches the central city?”

“This…”

The captain’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
He indeed hadn’t thought about it.
Rescued from a nearly hopeless situation, Xia Lixing’s power had made him subconsciously ignore the time factor.
Beast tides also move, and trying to bypass a beast tide of this scale and reach the central city before it was almost impossible.

Could it be that they could only watch helplessly as this terrifying beast tide launched an attack on the unprepared central city?

“However, I have an idea.”
Xia Lixing suddenly smiled.
“Are you willing to go crazy with me for a bit?”