When floodwaters surge, the best solution isn't building dams to block them—it's digging channels to guide the flow.

The same principle applied to the beast tide. Elite fighters held the front lines against the Wasteland Beasts, buying time for civilians to evacuate. Once everyone sheltered inside buildings, they'd redirect the beasts down main roads, away from safe zones. This minimized casualties.

Now that the evacuation was complete—it was Elder Hong's turn.

Elder Hong sat in an intricately crafted armchair, eyes closed in deep concentration. Complex spirit arrays were carved across its frame; a dish-like antenna adorned the backrest. Those with experience would recognize this chair itself was a low-grade treasure artifact.

"You're not young anymore... Are you sure about this, Elder Hong?"

"Less talk. Do it!"

Sinan Yuan sighed softly. She brought over two stands, each holding two bottles of unknown material filled with pale green liquid—clearly high-grade Spiritual Medicine. She attached four thin tubes to the bottles, their hollow needles poised over Elder Hong's arm. After a brief hesitation, she plunged all four needles in.

"Done."

"Hmph. Then..."

*Begin.*

………………………………………………………

"All combat personnel, retreat immediately! Repeat: all combat personnel, retreat now!"

Rui Feng, battle fury consuming him, froze at the sudden broadcast. He knew exactly what it meant.

"Fall back! No lingering! Elder Hong is making his move!"

His roar snapped the fighters out of their frenzy. They disengaged instantly, leaving only savage beasts surging toward the city.

The beasts didn't understand why their prey had fled. Nor did they care. One truth remained: *nothing stood in their way anymore.*

A pack of Azure Wolves led the charge into downtown. The streets were empty. Instinct drove them to hunt the humans hiding in shops along the roadside.

*Run. Howl. Pounce!*

*THUD.*

The lead wolf slammed headfirst into an invisible barrier, bloodied and dazed. In that instant, a massive amber light curtain descended from the sky, sealing off shops and streets like a wall. Not just shops—hotels, stadiums, restaurants—every building sheltering civilians now glowed with this faint yellow shield.

Fragile as it seemed, the barrier held firm against repeated wolf charges. After several failed attempts, the wolves gave up, turning to follow the main roads deeper into the city.

Later beasts repeated the cycle: *lunge for prey → crash into barrier → test it futilely → retreat down the road.* Eventually, instinct took over. They followed the pack ahead. Like floodwaters channeled through canals, the beast tide flowed harmlessly down the arteries of the city. No further casualties.

Downtown was saved.

———————————————————————————————————

"Elder Hong! Elder Hong!"

As the last beasts cleared downtown, the amber barriers vanished. On the rooftop of Winter's Arrival Hotel, Elder Hong slumped lifeless in his armchair. The IV bags of high-purity spirit energy hung empty. The spirit arrays on his chair dimmed. Even with Spiritual Medicine and a spirit-amplifying treasure artifact, this feat had pushed his aged body too far.

Sinan Yuan cradled his unconscious form. Attendants rushed forward with medical gear. Slowly, under their care, Elder Hong stabilized. Sinan Yuan finally exhaled.

Now... they waited for Li Cha's report.

Her senses had already located the Second Young Miss and Ye in the city's south sector. She'd sent Li Cha—the flyer—to retrieve them. At his speed, he should reach them before the beasts did.

*Bzzzt—bzzzt—*

Speak of the devil.

"Li Cha? Did you get them?"

"Big trouble, Chief!" His voice crackled over the comms, drowned by screeching avian beasts. "I'm tangled with a flock of feathered bastards! Damn it—I won't make it in time!"

"*What did you say?!*"

—————————————————————————————————————

Crimson blood coalesced into countless blades. Spinning around me like a top, the Blood Blade storm carved through wave after wave of Burrowing Worms. Their shredded corpses and slime coated the ground like a thick, gory carpet. I'd slain over a hundred, yet rest was impossible—

"*Shit! They just keep coming!*"

Worms surged relentlessly, embodying the old verse: *wildfires can't burn out weeds; spring breezes bring them back anew.* Worse, each new wave grew stronger. Where one strike once killed, now it took two or three. My spirit energy absorption couldn't keep pace.

Last time against a Wasteland Beast, I'd carried spirit stones and beast cores to replenish myself. This time? No supplies. My trusty Energy Blade lay kilometers away at Winter's Arrival Hotel. And worse—these low-level worms dropped no cores! I couldn't fight and recharge. For the first time, I truly grasped a healer's value to a team.

But that wasn't the only problem.

Alone, I could probably break out of this warehouse. But Sinan Ying...

Behind me, she dodged worm-spit globs, frantically blowing bubbles that *blasted back* the beasts—not *killed* them. Her Anomaly Power's flaw struck again: her bubbles were either too weak to kill or so strong they'd blow us both to bits. I had to slaughter worms near me *while* shielding her. Chaos. I nearly lost ground several times.

This couldn't continue. Escape was urgent. I needed a plan...

*Got it.*

"Xiao Ying! Simple plan!"

"W-what is it?" she gasped between dodges.

"Can you blow the roof off?"

"Should... should work!"

"*Do it! Now!*"

She understood instantly. A dark-hued bubble formed in her hands, radiating palpable danger. I whipped my blood into a dozen thick tendrils, sweeping a clear space around us. Seizing the moment, Xiao Ying launched her bubble—straight upward.

It floated deceptively slow yet magnetically fast. Unassuming, yet impossible to ignore. Under our gaze—and the worms' scattered attention—it gently kissed the ceiling.

***BOOM!***

A crushing shockwave hit us. Then came the rain of rubble. I threw up a thick blood shield, enveloping us both. Inside the crimson dome, I heard only the thunderous impacts shaking my bones, mixed with the worms' dying shrieks. They'd taken heavy losses too.

When the crashing stopped, I dropped the shield—and choked on dust. Most worms lay buried under debris. New ones hadn't surfaced yet.

*Now's our chance to escape.*