Chapter 081: Emergency Evacuation

“Xiaobai! Get ready to fall back!”

Drumstick hoisted his wooden shield once more, moving to aid Bai Yuxi in fending off the relentless onslaught of the plasma toad swarm.

“You go first! I can jump across!”

Without turning his head, Bai Yuxi quickened the pace of his attacks. The surging waves of energy he unleashed forced the now-frenzied plasma toads, agitated by the sight of their quarry escaping, to retreat once again.

Luo Fei and Drumstick understood well enough that, given Bai Yuxi’s physical condition, he was the best choice to cover their retreat. Without further delay, they slipped away and glided to the other side.

Once all the seventh squad’s companions had withdrawn, Bai Yuxi drew a deep breath. Steadily suppressing the toads’ assaults, he began to inch backward.

But before he could reach the threshold of the passage, startled cries and angry shouts erupted behind him. His heart skipped a beat and he spun around for a quick glance.

Their maneuvers had apparently alerted members of other task teams at nearby passage entrances.

Upon seeing the seventh squad retreating into a corridor free of plasma toads, the others were overjoyed. Abandoning their own efforts to hold back the toads, they scrambled, leaping down into the underground pond, bounding from one concrete slab to another, desperate to reach this unexpected escape.

But as Bai Yuxi’s gaze swept the scene, he saw the consequence: the plasma toads in those other passages, no longer held in check, surged forth like a flood, sending up great fountains of water in the subterranean pond and even launching huge, bloated tadpoles into the air.

“Damn!”

Panic seized Bai Yuxi. Abandoning caution, he threw a powerful punch, then spun and dashed out of the tunnel, leaping with all his strength toward the far side.

It was no wonder the other superlimit task team members were so desperate to flee. Though their numbers and strength surpassed those of Luo Fei, Drumstick, and the rest of the seventh squad, none among them wielded an area-of-effect superlimit technique like Bai Yuxi’s. They had no choice but to resist the plasma toads’ attacks together.

Driven into this underground pond by the swarming toads, they were on the verge of despair, believing themselves doomed to become food for the spawn of these monstrous beasts.

But as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm them, they suddenly discovered the seventh squad had found a way out. Without hesitation, they risked everything, charging after them in a frantic rush.

Yet the stone slabs protruding from the pond were irregular, slick with moss and sticky secretions. Not every superlimit warrior was as nimble as Willy, the “agility-type” scout. Many lost their footing and plunged into the pond, or were knocked down mid-leap by hurtling plasma toads.

Once in the water, scrambling out of the thick, swamp-like pond while monstrous toads rained down from above was a near impossibility.

Worse still, the seemingly harmless giant tadpoles swarmed the fallen warriors, latching onto them with their disproportionately tiny mouths and dragging them into the depths as living rations for their growth.

In the blink of an eye, nearly half of the thirty-odd apprentice warriors from the four task teams had fallen into the pond, vanishing without a trace—without even a single cry of anguish.

Just then, as Bai Yuxi, sensing something amiss, leapt from the tunnel and reached for the wire suspended above, a young superlimit warrior about his own age, face twisted with panic and rage, charged toward him. Landing on a stone slab below, he launched himself upward. As he and Bai Yuxi crossed paths, he let out a savage roar and swung a furious punch: “Out of my way!”

Caught off guard by the attack, Bai Yuxi instinctively raised his arm to block. The powerful impact sent the other man hurtling into the passage, while Bai Yuxi was knocked forcefully into the subterranean pond.

“Son of a—!”

Furious and shocked, Bai Yuxi was incensed at the man’s selfish disregard for others’ lives. But he had no time to dwell on it; as he lost his balance and plunged into the pond, he smashed his fists behind him.

Two “Particle Impact Fist: 9x9” detonations exploded with a thunderous force, the shockwaves halting his descent and annihilating the dense swarm of giant tadpoles within several meters into a bloody pulp.

This bought him a moment to regain his balance. Curling his body, Bai Yuxi kicked off powerfully, two more bursts of energy propelling him upward. He shot into the air, just as a plasma toad launched itself sideways, slamming him into the tunnel.

The third-generation plasma toad that struck him disintegrated on impact, unable to harm Bai Yuxi. He stumbled into the tunnel, crashing into the wall before steadying himself, blood seeping from his arms and legs. Unleashing the “9x9” at full force was still too much for his current physique.

Especially that desperate punch from the fleeing superlimit warrior—it had packed a staggering punch. Even Bai Yuxi, caught off guard, had suffered a heavy blow. By his estimation, the man must have reached at least F5 or F6 level.

Spinning around, Bai Yuxi sent a wild punch crashing into the oncoming swarm of plasma toads, knocking them aside. He had no time for curses, only to sprint from the tunnel, pursued by an endless tide of monstrous toads.

Compared to these amphibians born to the mire, humans moved sluggishly in the muddy depths. Worse still, many superlimit warriors had already charged through, churning the settled silt into a soupy mess, making every step even more treacherous.

Bai Yuxi could only fight as he retreated, following the route stored in his data visor—his only safeguard against getting lost in the maze of passages.

After a tortuous scramble, a faint light finally glimmered ahead—it was the half-buried, fractured entrance through which he had come!

Elation surged in Bai Yuxi, and he quickened his pace. But then came a dull rumble; the earth at the edge of the sinkhole collapsed further, burying most of the exit in an instant.