Chapter 117: "Comic Adaptation" Overlimit Combat Technique

Everyone had been stunned by the two over-the-top, cringe-inducing performances. But what none of them expected was that the "combo technique" the pair had inadvertently unleashed would prove so powerful!

The arcs of electricity dancing across the wire mesh struck every mutant rat in range, making them leap with a sharp squeal before twitching a couple of times and dying in droves. The problem, however, was that the heavy fog was as thick as cotton, the air so damp it could be wrung out, and the grass underfoot was soaked through.

When Bai Yuxi slammed down his electrified fist, most of the current was drawn away by the iron spikes scattered across the ground, yet a fair amount still spread through the wet earth and mist. As a result, disaster struck.

Suddenly, screams and wails erupted from behind them. Bai Yuxi himself felt a jolt of numbness, and instinctively turned around. Aside from Drumstick, whose bald head was still steaming, the rest—Jason, Willy, and several of the girls—were glaring back at him, hair frizzed and standing on end like angry hens.

"Bai!"

"Xiao Bai!"

The girls' furious shouts made Bai Yuxi break out in a cold sweat. All he could do was force a sheepish laugh and apologize. "Sorry! Sorry! I didn't expect the electricity to conduct…"

"Xiao Bai! Xiao Bai! What was that move you just used?"

"Why haven't we seen you do that before?"

The one who had been shocked the worst, Xia Youyou—who was also the closest—wasn't angry at all. Instead, she bounced over in high spirits. "So you’ve developed a combo technique now?"

"Uh… I just thought of it on the spot," Bai Yuxi replied, glancing at the dense carpet of iron spikes on the ground. After the two of them had gone on a rampage, the mutant rats had thinned out considerably. The survivors seemed so intimidated by the electric grid that for the moment, the frenzied tide of rats was held at bay.

"You two!" Loffy scolded sternly, "No more using untested techniques on a whim!"

Bai Yuxi and Xia Youyou exchanged guilty glances, both sticking out their tongues in embarrassment. Over the past few weeks, Bai Yuxi and these self-styled anime fans, disguised as casual cosplayers, had spent ample time researching all sorts of "manga-adapted" over-the-top battle skills. It had become a habit to name their moves on the fly, shouting made-up attack names in the heat of the moment, and occasionally inventing some bizarre new technique.

Just now, their "Combo Technique: Thousand Needle Lightning Flash" had been born in exactly this way. When Bai Yuxi saw the carpet of spikes on the ground, inspiration struck—he remembered metal conducts electricity. On a whim, he channeled his electrical power into his right arm and slammed his fist down.

After wiping out the scattered mutant rats, the rest of the group closed in, glaring at the troublemakers. Bai Yuxi and the girl could only duck their heads and offer awkward grins. Perhaps the electric grid had raised the ground temperature, for the thick fog around them thinned slightly, revealing the heaps of rat corpses strewn across the earth.

"Good grief, how many rats are there?" Willy gave a disgusted kick to a corpse at his feet. "Just how big a burrow must they have dug to swarm out like this?"

"How about we go take a look?" Drumstick eyed the heat signatures clustered behind the bushes. Clearly, many mutant rats were still cowering there, too frightened to emerge.

"Alright. It’s not as if guarding this spot is doing much good," Loffy agreed after a moment’s thought. With a horde of this scale, their crossbow snipers simply couldn’t hold the line. Any rats that slipped through would have to be dealt with by the defenders at the rear.

"Maya! Take point!"

The group packed up their gear and began advancing toward the thicket. Maya, who had been too entranced by the earlier spectacle to show off herself, perked up at Loffy’s command. Drawing her main sword, she strode to the front and called out with glee, "Lionheart Sword: Whirling Blade!"

With a flash of steel, an arcing blade of light shot from Maya’s one-handed knight’s sword, slicing through the bushes in the direction she swung. Without pausing, Maya pivoted on her leading foot and sent another blade of energy slashing the other way. Left and right, she carved a path through the dense undergrowth with a flurry of dazzling sword strokes.

As twigs, leaves, and startled insects flew everywhere, Loffy couldn’t help but cover her face in exasperation. Maya had once been such an honest, simple-minded girl, but now she’d been utterly led astray by the mischief-makers of Squad Seven.

Sword light after sword light flashed by as Maya hacked a path through the untamed forest, wide enough for the group to pass. Unlucky mutant rats caught in her attacks squealed miserably from the hidden grass.

Perhaps their intrusion had begun to agitate the rat horde, or perhaps the memory of the electric grid was fading. Soon, the rats lurking in the grass could hold back no longer and surged forward to attack.

But these mutant rats were simply not dangerous enough—unlike the energy-wielding plasma toads, they had no special abilities. They were no threat even to the likes of Su Xiaoke, who had little fighting skill. The group hacked and slashed their way through the forest, carving a bloody trail straight to the source of the infestation.

"Is this… an ancient tomb?"

They stared, dumbfounded, at a section of mountain wall hidden in the dense woods, where a collapsed mass of earth revealed a man-made opening, taller than a person. The walls of the cave showed unmistakable signs of human construction—blocks of cut stone forming a passage leading into the mountain. From this tunnel, mutant rats—each as fat as a housecat—were pouring out in a frenzy.

As they stood at the entrance, hacking down the oncoming rats, the group debated heatedly whether to report back to the LDH command center or to venture inside for a look. Their hesitation was understandable; memories of their last, disastrous foray into an underground structure were still fresh and painful. And in the dead of night, this cave entrance looked all too much like the mouth of a tomb—enough to send chills down their spines.

"This isn’t a tomb!" Su Xiaoke, sheltered in the middle of the group, suddenly spoke up after studying the site for a while.

"It’s not?" The others turned to her in surprise. "How can you tell?"

"The construction style and dimensions don’t match any known tomb architecture," Su Xiaoke explained, pointing to the stone-blocked walls. "This is more like an ancient armory hideout, or a shelter built for refuge."

"How do you know that?" The group stared in amazement. "You studied archaeology?"

"I stumbled across some archaeology materials while doing research," Su Xiaoke shrugged. "I got tired of reading one book and picked up another to clear my head."