"Ah!!" Suddenly, a panicked scream came.
Dudian was startled and quickly looked back. He saw Mekin being surrounded by two Bone-eating Rats from both sides and knocked down to the ground. Zach and Sham didn't just stand by and watch. They stepped forward and punched and kicked the two Bone-eating Rats. They didn't dare to attack with their short swords for fear of accidentally hurting Mekin who was underneath.
Dudian's face changed. He quickly pulled out his short sword and rushed back.
"Get out of here!!" Dudian roared. He kicked one of the Bone-eating Rats on the head with his metal boot. With a bang, the body of this Bone-eating Rat leaned backward and fell down. Zach seized the opportunity and quickly pounced on it, pressing the Bone-eating Rat under him and raising his fist to pound its head fiercely.
Sham grabbed the tail of the other Bone-eating Rat tightly, preventing it from crawling onto Mekin's face.
Dudian had already gained experience in dealing with them. He bent down, grabbed the hind leg of this Bone-eating Rat, lifted it up with all his strength, and directly pulled its body up. He swung it forcefully and smashed it hard on the ground. Its small and sharp head hit the ground, and the struggling strength weakened immediately.
Dudian growled and swung it down continuously. Taking advantage of the momentum, he smashed it repeatedly, not allowing the Bone-eating Rat to find a point to break free from his grasp.
After swinging and smashing it more than a dozen times in a row, the Bone-eating Rat gradually stopped moving. Its body twitched slightly reflexively, and blood seeped out from its fur, staining the ground red.
At this time, Mekin, who had gotten up from the ground, had already cooperated with Zach to stab the other Bone-eating Rat to death.
Dudian looked at the motionless Bone-eating Rat in his hand. After stabbing it a few more times with the short sword, he let out a sigh of relief and plopped down on the ground. He felt as if his arm was broken, extremely sore. He had exhausted all his physical strength and was gasping for breath. The air filtered by the mask came in very slowly, making him feel a suffocating heat and dizziness as if he was short of oxygen.
Mekin also sat beside him, leaning his back against Dudian's back and gasping for breath.
Zach and Sham were in a slightly better state. They still had a lot of physical strength left, but looking at the corpses of the several Bone-eating Rats on the ground, they were still a bit still badly shaken,with pale faces.
After resting for a while, Mekin flapped his hands to shake off the fur caught in the gaps of his gloves and gasped, "It was so fucking dangerous. It almost scratched my throat. These damned things."
Dudian's breathing had gradually become smoother. He looked back at him and said, "Thanks to you this time."
Mekin said unhappily, "What are you talking about?"
Dudian smiled and didn't say anything more.
Zach said with lingering fear, "There are actually so many Bone-eating Rats here. Didn't those hunters see them? Is this what they call 'cleaning'?"
Sham said thankfully, "Fortunately, the soft armor we're wearing has good toughness and wasn't torn open. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Dudian looked at the rat corpse in front of his feet and recalled his previous battle. He couldn't help but clench his fists. It was too bad. His performance was too bad. If Mekin hadn't called out in time, he would have been attacked from behind by this Bone-eating Rat.
"You've already done very well. After all, this is the first time you've encountered such a battle. Even an adult would be scared and flustered when seeing an ordinary vicious dog pounce," While blaming himself, another voice in his heart comforted him. But soon, Dudian suppressed this weak voice. He bit his lips tightly, and the pain invaded his mind. He wanted to make his weakness remember that life was only once!
In the face of death, being excellent or failing didn't mean anything. The only thing that could save himself was the strength to survive!
He suddenly understood why scavengers were only selected from the residential areas and the slums, not from the colleges in the commercial area. Because the mortality rate of this job was too high! Although the danger they encountered this time was mainly because they had come to Area 8, which had just been "cleaned". If they had gone to Area 9, which had been scavenged more than ten times, the probability of encountering these monsters would have been much lower.
However, a lower probability of danger also meant a lower scavenging harvest!
This was a profession where the danger and value were equivalent!
This was fair.
After the previous battle experience, Dudian still had some fear of death in his heart. This time, they encountered Bone-eating Rats. Would they encounter even more terrifying monsters next time? Should he just follow the main group and safely wait until the end of the mission and then go back?
He looked at the broken glass door of the supermarket and felt a sense of retreat in his heart. But soon, he thought of his right arm and the scar on it. His eyes immediately became firm. He propped himself up with his hands on the ground and stood up. He said to Mekin and the other two, "Let's go in. The commotion just now was so loud that the few inside should have all come out. However, there might still be some hiding in the dark. Everyone, be careful."
Mekin, Zach, and Sham didn't expect that Dudian would still dare to enter this ruined building. They were a bit surprised. When they saw his determined gaze from the side, the three of them hesitated slightly and then stood up, gripping their short swords tightly, ready to resist any attack at any time.
Just then -
"Ah ah!!" Suddenly, a shrill scream came from the nearby street. In this decayed ruin, it was particularly loud.
Dudian and the other three were taken aback. They immediately thought of the Bone-eating Rat demonic creatures they had just encountered. Hearing this shrill scream, there was no doubt that the other party was also encountering something. For a moment, the few of them hesitated, not knowing whether they should go and help.
Dudian noticed the hesitation in his heart and was suddenly alarmed. His mind quickly thought for a moment and then said, "Let's go and take a look. Be careful. Retreat immediately if there's any situation!"
Mekin and the other two had been hesitant. Hearing his words, they immediately nodded, and it was as if a weight had been lifted off their hearts.
The few of them ran in the direction of the scream. At this time, they saw that other scavengers who had come along also rushed out from other buildings and ran towards the place where the scream came from.
Soon, they were getting closer and closer to the scream. It was a street corner. Dudian immediately slowed down and made a slight gesture. Mekin, Zach, and Sham behind immediately understood and also slowed down their steps, following Dudian and approaching slowly.
They rounded the corner, and Dudian peeked around. Suddenly, his pupils shrank, and his face was filled with horror.
In the middle of this street covered with green vegetation, in front of a dilapidated store, two figures were rolling on the ground, embracing each other. One was a man, and the other was a woman. However, the figure on top had a tattered upper garment, revealing grayish-white and skinny skin. Her hair was disheveled, and her fingers had turned into sharp claws. It was actually a walking corpse!!
A living, walking corpse!!!
At this moment, this female walking corpse was lying on the young man who was struggling in pain, biting into the flesh on his chest. With Dudian's vision, he could see it extremely clearly. He could even see that when she bit, she tore out some vein-like tissues. The blood gushing out continuously from the young man's chest had stained her mouth and neck red.
Behind the young man's feet, there was also a figure in black standard soft armor, a woman. Her body didn't move at all, and she seemed to be dead.
And about ten meters away from the young man, another young man was standing. At this moment, he was stepping back one step at a time, with his hands tightly covering his mouth, as if he didn't dare to let out his fear.