34: Chapter 34 Killing the Bloodthirsty Rat

"It's almost dark..." the youth muttered to himself as he walked alone down the street. The people around him were rushing by, but as the youth continued walking, the crowd grew thinner and thinner.

Due to the Spiritual Energy Revival and official warnings, very few people went out at night; most stayed in their homes.

It was better to be safe than sorry.

When there was no one left around, the youth seemed to suddenly realize his situation. Memories of recent events flashed through his mind, causing his body to tremble with nervousness.

He looked around blankly. There was no movement, so he quickly walked away.

Perhaps it was because the youth was too nervous, but he took the wrong direction. The surroundings became increasingly desolate, and even the streetlights grew sparse.

Yet the youth didn't seem to notice; he showed no intention of stopping.

Suddenly, a massive, foul-smelling black shadow came charging from another direction. By the moonlight, this huge shadow was revealed to be a Giant Rat the size of an adult human.

It crouched on the ground, much like a lion.

Half of the Giant Rat's sharp fangs were broken, and its needle-like fur appeared as if it had been through a fire, with much of it singed away.

Its body was covered in numerous injuries, and it was bleeding continuously.

Its blood-red eyes were filled with bloodlust and rage. Upon seeing the youth who had suddenly appeared, the terrifying Giant Rat was stunned for a moment, but then a glimmer of excitement appeared in its eyes.

It was a craving for flesh and blood.

Having endured several encirclements and suffering injuries, it was in desperate need of energy. It hadn't expected to encounter a human in this desolate place.

It had tasted the delicious flavor of a human once and could never forget it.

Those hateful humans had forced it into that remote area where it had nowhere to hide. It had barely managed to escape with its life, temporarily shaking off the pursuit.

As long as it ate this human, it could replenish its energy and recover its strength. It knew there was an underground entrance not far away; if it could just get inside, it would be able to find a place to hide.

It would not be so easy for those humans to find it again.

The underground entrance the Giant Rat was thinking of was a sewer entrance. Once it entered the sewer again, it would be like a Dragon returning to the sea.

The charging Giant Rat did not hesitate in the slightest. Its speed did not decrease; instead, it bared its broken fangs and lunged at the youth, who stood frozen in place.

At this moment, the youth was trembling all over.

He stared fixedly at the Giant Rat lunging toward him.

His expression fluctuated violently, and his eyes revealed a look of intense excitement as he spoke slowly.

"It seems my luck is really quite good."

"I didn't expect to actually run into one!"

Lu Zheng watched the lunging Giant Rat and said, trembling with excitement.

The youth was none other than Lu Zheng. He had spent the entire afternoon wandering around just to encounter this Evolved Beast. He had visited many desolate places, and just when he was about to give up, the heavens finally gave him a surprise.

The attributes of the Giant Rat immediately appeared in Lu Zheng's eyes.

[Blood-thirsty Rat] (Evolving)

[Rank]: First-order High-stage

[Combat Power]: 8 (Injured)

The charging Blood-thirsty Rat suddenly realized something was wrong. A sense of immense danger surged in its heart, and a chill washed over it—this crisis was even stronger than that posed by the humans hunting it.

It saw the trembling youth lift his head.

It was shocked to see a familiar look in his eyes—the same look it wore when devouring flesh and blood.

"Sss!"

Finally realizing something was wrong with the youth, the Blood-thirsty Rat wanted to flee. It wanted to get away from him and twisted its body in mid-air, but it was already too late.

Lu Zheng's body vanished instantly, leaving two craters in the ground as terrifying power erupted directly from his body.

Facing the Blood-thirsty Rat, Lu Zheng's attack was very simple.

A slap...

In the terrified eyes of the Blood-thirsty Rat, the youth's palm was like the Buddha's Five-Finger Mountain, descending fiercely with an unstoppable Aura.

"Bang!"

"Crack!"

The head of the Blood-thirsty Rat exploded like a watermelon. At the same time, the Evolution Mission updated.

It changed from 3/5 to 4/5.

Having prepared in advance, Lu Zheng controlled his body to avoid the splattering blood, then, without any hesitation, left the scene at an extremely high speed.

His goal had been achieved.

Not long after Lu Zheng left, the group tracking the Blood-thirsty Rat by its scent arrived and saw the undeniably dead Blood-thirsty Rat.

For a moment, everyone stood there in a daze.

Among them, many were still carrying some injuries.

"It's dead?"

Bai Chengyan stepped forward. He hadn't suffered any injuries, though he looked disheveled. He looked at the Blood-thirsty Rat with its shattered head and confirmed it was the one they had been hunting.

A hint of astonishment and confusion appeared in his eyes. He looked around, but found nothing at all.

They had successfully surrounded the Blood-thirsty Rat and forced it out of the sewers. However, during the encirclement, because he hadn't arrived in time, it had found a gap and escaped.

They had chased it the whole way, but he hadn't expected it to die here.

Furthermore, looking at the injuries, the attacker had only struck once, and the Blood-thirsty Rat had no power to resist. Such terrifying force—even he couldn't match it.

"Captain, what should we do?"

"It seems this Blood-thirsty Rat encountered an Evolver, and this Evolver killed it."

A team member said slowly. Regardless, the Blood-thirsty Rat was dead, so they could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Shan Ling, take a sniff. Did this Evolver leave any scent behind?"

Bai Chengyan asked. Shan Ling twitched his nose, but then shook his head and said, "This Evolver didn't stay here long enough; they didn't leave any scent behind."

"Take the corpse of the Blood-thirsty Rat back."

"The person who attacked is suspected to be an unregistered rogue Evolver, with strength at the Second-order, no weaker than me."

"Check the surrounding surveillance to see who the attacker was and whether they are registered. Notify me immediately if there is any news. Remember..."

"Do not offend them!"

Bai Chengyan said slowly, then issued further orders.

"Send more men. I will report to the higher-ups. We will begin a massive search of all sewers in Jianghai City soon. There is definitely more than one of these evolved rats."

"In the area we are responsible for, we have only found ten of the missing persons; five are still unaccounted for. Do not overlook any corner. Even if they are dead, we must find their remains."

"Yes, Captain."

The group took the Blood-thirsty Rat's corpse back. The area they were responsible for was only a small part of Jianghai City, and the area they had enclosed was only a small fraction of Jianghai City's underground pipes.

In other areas, who knew what dangers were still hiding?

Soon, a team member reported to Bai Chengyan, "Captain, this area is too remote. There are no surveillance cameras, so we don't know who has been here."

Although Bai Chengyan didn't want to admit it, he had already guessed this.

"Mm, I see."

"Go get back to work."

Bai Chengyan said. It was very easy for a Captain-level Evolver to avoid being found. However, so far, this unknown Captain-level Evolver hadn't shown any malice; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them a good citizen.

Bai Chengyan, having temporarily resolved the trouble of the Blood-thirsty Rat, did not look relieved. It wasn't just because of the crisis in the sewers of Jianghai City, but more so because of the five people whose whereabouts were still unknown.

If those five people hadn't gone missing because of the Blood-thirsty Rat, then there was another troublesome matter within the area he was responsible for.

"This is going to be difficult..."