22: Chapter 22 Rock Armor Beast

To save time, Wu Feng decided to stop completely avoiding fierce beasts and instead chose to force a breakthrough via the shortest path.

Wu Feng and two veterans cleared the way ahead; the flashes of blades and shadows of spears almost never stopped, leaving over twenty more fierce beast corpses along the way.

Lin Mo still had no opportunity to take action.

But he wasn't in a hurry. These were all unranked fierce beasts that provided a pitifully small amount of slaughter value; it was more cost-effective to kill ranked fierce beasts.

Along the way, the remaining students were very nervous, fearing they would be ambushed by a fierce beast suddenly pouncing out and becoming the next Sun Yueming.

After all, they had already lost two companions before even reaching the mission location, so they were naturally very tense.

Lin Mo was quite relaxed. His perception was even sharper than Captain Wu Feng's; almost no fierce beast could escape his detection, so he wasn't worried at all about being ambushed.

Having nothing to do, Lin Mo occasionally observed Zhao Fansheng. This guy would always inadvertently adjust his position while traveling to keep himself in the middle of the group, with people both in front and behind him.

Moreover, he was clearly conserving his physical strength, avoiding fierce beasts whenever possible and only reluctantly drawing his blade when he absolutely couldn't avoid them.

"Guarding against me?"

Lin Mo sneered in his heart.

It was right for him to be afraid.

...

An hour later, they finally arrived at the outskirts of the 16th Defense Zone marked on the map.

But the sight before them caused everyone's hearts to sink to the bottom.

It was a cliff about thirty meters wide. The bottom of the cliff was filled with grayish-white miasma, but a group of Rock Armor Beasts could still be seen resting on the rocks.

The military iron bridge that originally connected the two sides was now broken into two sections.

It wasn't natural decay; it had been torn apart from the middle by some kind of massive force. Charred burn marks and deep claw gashes remained at the fracture.

"These are traces of a Rock-Armored Earth Dragon."

Wu Feng crouched at the edge of the cliff, holding a palm-sized scale, his face ashen.

"This kind of fierce beast is at least a peak Rank 3. Its strength is greater than many Rank 4 beasts, and it can spit magma from its mouth. Damn it, it destroyed the bridge."

"Then... how do we get across?"

The boy named Zhang Hao asked with a trembling voice.

Wu Feng took a military climbing rope from his backpack; the head of the rope was a specially made alloy grappling hook.

"Use this. I'll go across first and secure the rope on the other side, then you guys climb over one by one."

He took a few steps back, took a running start, and fiercely threw the grappling hook toward the opposite bank!

Clang—!

The grappling hook accurately caught onto the rebar of the broken bridge pier on the other side.

Wu Feng gave it a hard tug. After confirming it was secure, he tied this end of the rope to a thick Black Needle Tree at the edge of the cliff.

"I'm going over first. You guys wait!"

"Remember, only one person can cross at a time. Maintain a steady speed while climbing, don't look down, and definitely don't shake the rope."

After saying that, he grabbed the rope with both hands, kicked off the cliff wall, and climbed toward the opposite bank as nimbly as an ape.

He took less than a minute to safely cover the thirty-meter distance.

Wu Feng secured the rope on the other side and signaled to Lin Mo and the others.

"I'll go first. Old Hei, you're next!"

The vice-captain, Old Yu, climbed directly onto the rope and soon reached the other side.

Old Hei's movements were slightly slower, but he still passed through smoothly.

All three veterans had crossed, leaving only Lin Mo and the other recruits.

Lin Mo glanced at the bottom of the cliff and stepped behind the others.

"I'm at the bait post. According to the rules, I'm the last one. You guys go across first!"

"I... I have a fear of heights. I want to take a moment to compose myself..."

Zhao Fansheng's face was terrifyingly pale. It didn't look fake; he might really have a fear of heights.

"Then... let me try first. Wait until I reach the other side before you get on the rope. Don't rush; this rope can only bear the weight of one person..."

The speaker was Zhang Hao. Although this kid was scared, he had some courage. Gritting his teeth, he climbed across with his eyes closed, though his legs were weak by the time he reached the other side.

The fifth one to go up was the remaining male student. His movements were very slow, and he dawdled for a long time after getting on the rope, but fortunately, he also managed to climb across in the end.

Now, only Zhao Fansheng, Lin Mo, and the only girl, Yi Xiaoyu, remained on this side of the cliff.

Just as Yi Xiaoyu was about to get on the rope, Zhao Fansheng, who was standing by the edge, suddenly grabbed the rope.

"Um, let me go across first..."

Yi Xiaoyu looked at Zhao Fansheng in confusion and asked:

"Aren't you afraid of heights?"

"Yes, I am... but I want to push my limits..."

Zhao Fansheng guiltily wiped his forehead and forced himself onto the rope.

He wasn't trying to push his limits; he had suddenly realized that if he didn't climb now, only he and Lin Mo would be left on this side...

Zhao Fansheng wasn't sure if Lin Mo had noticed his little stunt in the Black Needle Forest earlier, but he was certain of one thing...

Compared to climbing the rope, being alone with Lin Mo seemed even more dangerous...

"Fine, whatever!"

Yi Xiaoyu—

Yi Xiaoyu seemed to have a very poor impression of Zhao Fansheng.

Lin Mo had noticed long ago that while the other students in the team were all buttering up Zhao Fansheng, Yi Xiaoyu never gave him the time of day.

"Classmate Lin Mo!"

Zhao Fansheng, already on the rope, suddenly spoke up. His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for the people on the other side to hear.

"About what happened in the Black Needle Forest just now... I really didn't do it on purpose. When the mission is over, I'll treat you to a meal to apologize."

This sounded like an apology, but Lin Mo heard another layer of meaning.

He was testing him!

Zhao Fansheng wasn't sure if Lin Mo had seen his little trick in the Black Needle Forest!

Clever.

But not clever enough.

Lin Mo nodded without saying a word.

Only then did Zhao Fansheng grip the rope and begin to climb.

Although his body was shaking violently, he was an Enhancement-type Awakener after all. The blue-grade entry, Black Rock Armament, gave Zhao Fansheng greater strength and control than an ordinary person.

Soon, Zhao Fansheng reached the other side.

Just as he rolled over to step onto the wreckage of the broken bridge—

"Ah! My hand slipped!"

Zhao Fansheng suddenly let out a "cry of alarm," his body "stumbling" as he crashed into the rope's anchor point on the bridge pier!

He "scrambled" to grab onto something, but "accidentally" kicked the connection of the grappling hook!

Click!

The grappling hook came halfway loose!

More fatally, his collision and kick caused the entire rope to sway violently, slamming against the cliff wall with loud thuds!

The massive sound echoed through the silent chasm.

Then, the grayish-white miasma at the bottom of the cliff suddenly surged!

Roar—!!!

Low growls came from the bottom of the abyss. It wasn't just one, but a pack! A group of Rock Armor Beasts covered in grayish-black rock plating were climbing up the cliff wall!

Rock Armor Beasts! Late Rank 1 gregarious fierce beasts; omnivorous, irritable, and they hated being disturbed most of all!

"Zhao Fansheng, what are you doing?!"

Wu Feng, on the opposite bank, let out a furious roar.

But it was already too late.

Amidst the vibrations of the Rock Armor Beasts hitting the cliff wall, the grappling hook came completely loose! The entire rope fell down the cliff, disappearing into the miasma!

Now, Lin Mo and Yi Xiaoyu were trapped on the other side of the cliff.

Below, over a dozen Rock Armor Beasts had already climbed to a position less than five meters from the top of the cliff. These brutes' climbing speed on the rock face was absurdly fast.

In the valley bottom below, even more Rock Armor Beasts were growling and climbing up!

"Lin Mo! Yi Xiaoyu! Retreat, get back!!"

Wu Feng's eyes were bloodshot with anxiety on the other bank, but he couldn't get across. Without a rope, even a Rank 2 Awakener couldn't jump across a thirty-meter-wide chasm!

The two veterans had already begun firing their rifles from a distance, but the back plates of the Rock Armor Beasts were too thick; bullets struck them with showers of sparks, only barely managing to slow their climbing speed.

Yi Xiaoyu's face turned pale instantly, her dark eyes filled with panic.

Lin Mo, however, slowly drew his blade.

He watched the approaching Rock Armor Beasts and then looked toward the opposite bank.

Zhao Fansheng was shouting "anxiously," "Lin Mo, hang in there! We'll find a way to save you!"

But Lin Mo clearly saw a barely perceptible curve at the corner of that guy's mouth.

It was intentional.

The rope was kicked loose on purpose; the noise was made on purpose.

This time, Zhao Fansheng was no longer hiding it.

He wanted Lin Mo to die here, to die under the claws of fierce beasts, to die in a "reasonable" "accident" in front of everyone.

Lin Mo took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade.

Fine.

Since you chose this place...

Then I'll bury you here!