"What do we do? They can't possibly take down so many mutated beasts with just their numbers, unless they escape now."

"Run! ...Run!" Old Chen shouted at the top of his lungs, and without hesitation, dashed towards the city's outskirts. He chose an angle free from the surrounding mutated beasts and quickly vanished from everyone's sight.

Zhuo Hao narrowed his eyes, growing even more suspicious of him. It wasn't his fear in the face of danger, but his strange behavior throughout the day. Earlier, he was insistent on leaving the city for reinforcements. Could he have foreseen these events?

Long Gan rallied everyone to form a circle, standing back-to-back with their teammates. This way, even if the mutated beasts attacked simultaneously, they couldn't easily harm them.

"Captains, we can't keep this up. We... we're about to be overrun," gasped a warrior. While Long Gan and Zhuo Hao were holding their ground, the others, less skilled in combat, were being overwhelmed by the waves of beasts. Their terror began to overrule their judgment, and they felt their doom was imminent.

Long Gan turned to Zhuo Hao, "What do you think? Maybe we should lure these creatures away. It's unclear what's happening inside, but I refuse to believe they're all dead. We might genuinely need backup."

As Zhuo Hao decapitated a mutated beast, he retorted with a cold smirk, "Call for help? We don't even know if we'll make it out alive. Look around, can we break through? It might be better to fall back than press on. As long as there are survivors inside, we still have a chance."

Long Gan sighed, "You're probably right. I heard noises inside earlier. I was planning to check, but these creatures swarmed so quickly and in increasing numbers. How can just a few of us be enough prey for them all?"

"Save your energy. Every minute we last counts."

The number of beast corpses grew, as did their own injuries. A small mutated rat dashed from beneath the feet of its kind, jumping onto a warrior's leg. Caught off guard, he froze in horror as the rat climbed up and stared him down. In a split second, other beasts pounced, tearing him apart.

The brutal scene stunned everyone momentarily. The rat, furious at being denied its meal, aimed for another, but Long Gan and Zhuo Hao acted in unison, slaughtering it. As they continued to fight, blood soaked them, and their armor lay in tatters, wondering who would be the next to fall.

In the end, only Zhuo Hao and Long Gan remained standing, back to back, panting heavily. Their hands were nearly too weak to lift. Some beasts gnawed on the fallen, while others circled them. Even a single low-level mutated creature would be too much for them to handle.

"Brother, any regrets before death?" Zhuo Hao rasped.

"Of course."

"Regret coming with us?"

"Humph. If I feared death, I would never have left the base."

Zhuo Hao closed his eyes momentarily, sweat dripping from his lashes. Before him stood a mutated raccoon, once cute, now vicious. He recalled a saying, how could the mutation change an herbivore's nature? Was it now reliant on flesh to survive?

Perhaps it was. In its eyes, he saw not hunger, but a craving for flesh. Only a genetic mutation at its very core could explain such a change.

As death approached, Zhuo Hao, with immense effort, lifted his hand, now cracked and clawed. Deflecting an incoming attack with the back of his blade, he crumpled to the ground. As beasts lunged, he shut his eyes.

But the anticipated pain never came. He expected to thank Long Gan for saving him but instead saw a flash of white. A silhouette weaved through the beasts, taking down several in a matter of moments.

The encircling creatures fled. The smaller ones scrambled into ruins, while the majority ran into the distance.

In shock, Zhuo Hao exclaimed, "Is that... Zhou You's white tiger?"

Sitting with a thud, Long Gan, hand clutching a wound, propped himself up with the other, laughing breathlessly, "Never thought we'd be saved by a beast. From now on, that creature is my deity!"

This was the first time Zhuo Hao had witnessed the prowess of the aerial white tiger. Its reputation as the top-tier mutated creature was well-deserved. Though still young, its roar alone could overturn a horde. After surveying the area, the tiger retrieved a device from some debris and brought it over.

Recognizing the item, Zhuo Hao's eyes narrowed in anger, "An ultrasonic device! No wonder so many beasts were drawn here and our communication devices failed. Dammit!"

"Is this a trap?" Long Qian watched as Zhuo Hao slashed the object in two. A faint electrical surge passed through his earpiece, then the sound returned.

"The earphones are working," he said excitedly. "Let’s see if we can reach Zhou You and the others."

Zhuo Hao was already on it, but his gaze inadvertently landed on Bai Hu, watching it swish its tail towards the ruins. It sniffed around and glanced here and there, occasionally smashing rocks with its paw, pacing restlessly.

"What's it doing?" Long Qian's gaze followed.