53: Chapter 53 has appeared! A mini-dungeon has opened!

The white beams from the headlamps barely pierced the thick, boundless darkness, carving out several flickering paths of light on the forest floor.

Aside from the sounds made by the rescue team itself, the entire mountain forest had fallen into a deathly silence; even the usual chirping of insects and roars of beasts had vanished, leaving only the low howl of the night wind blowing through the high treetops.

Tap, tap, tap...

The heavy, muffled sound of footsteps was the only background noise in this eerie silence.

The search and rescue team, temporarily formed by the Qingyang Town Beast Control Bureau, maintained a high-alert formation.

At the very front was the Qinglan Hunting Dog, which had the keenest sense of smell, along with several other pets specialized in tracking and reconnaissance.

They lowered their bodies, their nostrils twitching rapidly, not letting a single unusual scent or sound escape them.

In the low sky, two sharp-eyed nocturnal pets circled silently, their keen gazes piercing through the gaps in the branches to keep watch over a larger area.

Following behind the scout pets were the temporary guide Zhao Siwen, the experienced Zhang Zhi, and several outstanding young staff members from the Beast Control Bureau.

In the middle of the team were the older staff members with less stamina, as well as Lin Chen, whom Director Li Haotian had specifically placed there.

Li Haotian walked half a step ahead and to the side of Lin Chen. He tilted his head slightly and spoke in a volume only the two of them could hear: "Reasonably speaking, this kind of emergency mission carries high potential risks; a temporary assistant like you shouldn't be participating."

"But the situation this time is different."

"Communications have been cut off on a large scale, abnormal wild pet riots have occurred in the incident area, and a group of Beast Tamers has gone missing. The situation escalated too quickly and the scope is very broad. The city, the bureau, and the Patrol Teams are all short-handed, so every available force must step up."

Lin Chen smiled. "It's alright, Uncle Li. I understand."

Li Haotian nodded slightly and lowered his voice again: "Remember, if we really run into trouble later, don't try to be a hero and don't run off. Try to stay next to me or Zhang Zhi. Safety first, understand?"

Lin Chen nodded first, then spoke: "Uncle Li, the Flame Claw Beast has broken through to Rank 2."

"Hmm, breaking through is a good thing. Slow and steady..."

Li Haotian responded subconsciously. Halfway through his sentence, his footsteps came to a sudden halt, and he turned his head, the beam from his headlamp momentarily blinding Lin Chen.

In that instant, Lin Chen clearly saw a look of pure astonishment on Li Haotian’s habitually calm face.

The astonishment lasted only for a fleeting moment.

Li Haotian quickly regained control of his expression, as if his lapse just now had been a mere illusion caused by the light.

He resumed his pace, his rhythm not even changing, though a hint of indescribable complexity colored his voice: "Oh? When did this happen?"

"Today."

"Oh."

Li Haotian grunted in response, his gaze returning to the path ahead as he said in a tone that was almost like talking to himself:

"If I had known your progress was this fast, I should have had you sign up for the Young Eagle Cup. If I had, you could have brought a championship back to our bureau."

Lin Chen smiled.

After walking a bit further, the silence in the forest seemed to deepen, and even the sound of the wind quieted down significantly.

Li Haotian spoke again:

"Xiao Chen, I've been in this business for over twenty years. I've seen hundreds, if not thousands, of Beast Tamers, but I've never seen a rookie Beast Tamer like you."

He paused, seemingly recalling everything since Lin Chen arrived at the bureau, or perhaps weighing his words, before finally letting out a nearly inaudible sigh:

"That kid of mine grew up playing with you; looking at it now, it really is his good fortune."

"When you become a Primary Beastmaster, I'll give you a gift."

As the two spoke in low voices, the Qinglan Hunting Dog, which had been on high alert, suddenly stopped. Its limbs tensed, its fur stood on end, and it barked sharply into the pitch-black depths of the forest ahead: "Awoo!"

The other pets following closely behind also stopped, one after another taking up combat stances, with threatening growls rolling in their throats.

"Stop!"

Zhang Zhi, at the very front, immediately raised his hand. The entire team came to a halt as if someone had pressed a pause button. They turned off most of their headlamps, leaving only a few beams to alertly illuminate the front and flanks.

At this moment, the sound of breathing became clearly audible.

Li Haotian's eyes sharpened. He rushed to the front of the team in a few strides and asked quickly, "What's the situation?"

Zhang Zhi’s expression was grave as he shook his head. "Zhuifeng is acting very uneasy, and there's a strong scent of blood up ahead."

"Roar—!!"

Suddenly, roars and the distinct sound of fighting erupted from deep within the dense forest, startling a flock of birds into flight.

Li Haotian's eyes narrowed, and he spoke in a low voice, "Maintain formation, advance with caution. Watch the sides and above!"

The team set off again, but their speed was much slower. Everyone's nerves were stretched to the limit, and the pets were poised to strike.

As the distance closed, the sounds of fighting became clearer, and the scent of blood permeating the air grew thicker.

The headlamp beams pierced the darkness ahead, faintly illuminating the edge of the battlefield.

It was a forest clearing that had been crudely leveled; several trees as thick as bowls had been snapped in half, their jagged wooden splinters looking menacing.

In the clearing, two figures were locked in a frantic struggle.

The pet on the left was in a bizarre state, roughly possessing the silhouette of a bipedal lizard. It was nearly two meters tall, its entire body covered in a shell of some black, horny substance that glinted with an oily, cold luster under the lights.

Its head was twisted, its snout protruding and filled with jagged, interlocking teeth. Its pair of crescent-shaped eyes were blood-red, filled with pure madness and a desire for destruction.

Most striking were the two bone scythes extending from the ends of its arms, shimmering with black light and shaped like crescent moons.

Lin Chen recognized the identity of this pet.

Species Name: Shadow Scythe Lizard

Attribute: Dark

Racial Rank: High-level Transcendent

This was an extremely rare Dark Attribute pet that usually inhabited dimly lit environments and only came out at night.

Right now, this bizarre Shadow Scythe Lizard was swinging the scythes in front of it, frantically hacking at its opponent. Its movements were swift and frenzied, each swing accompanied by a shrill whistling sound and trails of residual black light.

"A Dark Species..." Lin Chen's heart sank.

Blood-red eyes, black light swirling around it when using skills, plus the bizarre state—all of this matched the characteristics of the Dark Species he had summarized.

This mountain forest riot really was related to the Dark Species!

The Shadow Scythe Lizard's opponent was a relatively normal pet.

It was a creature shaped like a pangolin but as large as a calf, its entire body covered in a heavy shell—an Ice Armor Armadillo.

The Ice Armor Armadillo was in a terrible state; its originally crystalline ice armor was shattered and peeling off in large patches, revealing mangled, bloody wounds beneath.

One of its hind legs was broken, twisted at a bizarre angle. Blood constantly welled from its mouth, and its aura had withered to the extreme.

Seemingly sensing its prey's complete exhaustion, the Shadow Scythe Lizard let out a cry that sounded like a cackle. Its eyes glowed intensely red, and the black energy on its arm scythes surged as it slashed out in a cross!

A cross-shaped black blade-glow tore through the air, violently slashing into the Ice Armor Armadillo's already battered chest armor!

Riiip—!

A tooth-gritting cutting sound rang out.

The Ice Armor Armadillo let out an agonizing wail. Its entire body was thrown backward by the cross-shaped blade-glow, slamming hard into a large tree before sliding down limply.

A moment later, its limbs twitched a few times, and the life in its eyes, like a flickering candle in the wind, quickly went out.

It was dead.

Within the rescue team, many people subconsciously held their breath.

"Just what kind of monster is that?" someone whispered.

The Shadow Scythe Lizard's state was different from that of ordinary pets. Combined with such a bloody and horrific scene, everyone immediately realized something was wrong.

This was by no means a normal Shadow Scythe Lizard!

Zhang Zhi stared fixedly at the Shadow Scythe Lizard, feeling as though he had seen this bizarre state somewhere before. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

Right!

It was that Gale Weasel!

He quickly turned back to look at Lin Chen, only to find that Lin Chen's gaze held none of the fear or terror of the others; instead, his eyes were exceptionally fervent, as if he had seen a rare treasure.

This kind of gaze did not seem human.

At the same time, a sudden change occurred.

A thick black mist rolled and writhed from the Ice Armor Armadillo's corpse, quickly spreading across its entire body.

Sizzle, sizzle...

A sound like cold water dripping into hot oil rang out, and the Ice Armor Armadillo's corpse began to twitch and swell violently.

The shattered ice-crystal armor plates were dyed pitch-black at a visible rate. The broken hind leg made a tooth-gritting sound of bone misalignment as it was forcibly straightened and covered in the same black substance.

The dead Ice Armor Armadillo suddenly snapped its eyes open, and two points of blood-red light lit up.

It stood up unsteadily in the pool of blood and turned around. Its blood-red eyes pierced through the gaps in the trees, locking onto the crowd who had witnessed this horrifying scene.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Everyone's faces turned deathly pale.

At that same moment, the system's voice rang out in Lin Chen's mind:

[A dark crisis lurks in every corner. A Small-Scale Dungeon has officially opened.]

[Players, please kill Dark Species within the allotted time. The more you kill, the richer the rewards.]

[Dungeon settlement countdown: 12:00:00]