Volume 1, Chapter 39: Who Gave You Permission to Kill It?

"No, no, that's not it!" Zhang Tao was so anxious he was scratching his ears and cheeks. The issue at hand was how to rescue Zhang Wei, not figuring out where these elephants had come from.

However, Zhang Tao had absolutely no idea how to save Zhang Wei. He looked at Lin Qianying, hoping she might have a plan.

"We go and draw their attention. We'll lure them toward us to create an opening for Zhang Wei to escape," Lin Qianying decided, her tone decisive.

"How do we lure them?" Zhang Tao asked, looking a bit lost. It sounded easy, but how was it supposed to be done?

Lin Qianying rolled her eyes at him. "Just hack at the buildings. Make as much noise as you possibly can."

Zhang Tao realized what she meant instantly. He immediately took his war scythe and began attacking the surrounding high-rises. Fortunately, the area had been abandoned due to the rat swarm, so there was no need to worry about collateral damage to civilians.

It must be said, when it came to making a racket, long-range combat really couldn't compete with close-quarters destruction. Under the cutting power of the war scythe, one skyscraper after another collapsed. The commotion successfully grabbed the attention of the elephant herd.

Standing on high ground, Lin Qianying watched tensely as the herd stopped moving and turned their heads toward them. She was ready to drag Zhang Tao away the moment the elephants showed signs of charging in their direction.

"Huh?" Lin Qianying suddenly let out a sound. "Stop hacking." She signaled to Zhang Tao, who was busy trying to bring down another building.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Tao asked, looking at her in confusion.

"It's no use," Lin Qianying said, sounding a bit dejected. The herd had indeed stopped because of the noise, but after only a brief pause, they turned back and continued their charge toward the rat swarm.

Just then, Zhang Wei contacted Lin Qianying.

"Was that noise you two?"

"Zhang Wei? Is that you? How are you? Are you alright? What can we do to help you?" Lin Qianying fired off a string of questions.

Zhang Wei could hear the anxiety in her voice, and his heart warmed slightly. "I'm fine. You two need to leave, now."

"But what about you?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry, go back and wait for me."

Zhang Wei’s relaxed tone eased much of the tension in Lin Qianying’s heart.

"But..."

"Go back quickly. If I can't beat them, I'll run," Zhang Wei interrupted.

"Alright, we'll keep the comms open," Lin Qianying said, having finally figured out how to use the mech to maintain contact with him. As long as she could reach Zhang Wei, she wasn't as worried; she had great confidence in his combat prowess. Besides, she knew that if Zhang Wei truly needed help, he wouldn't stand on ceremony with them.

"Let's go. We're heading back," Lin Qianying said.

Zhang Tao, unaware that she had made contact with Zhang Wei, looked at her with a mix of confusion and irritation. "Heading back? We're just going to leave my brother behind?"

"Your brother contacted me. He told us to go back and wait."

"He contacted you? Why didn't he contact me?" Zhang Tao was taken aback, his focus remaining as peculiar as ever.

"What do you think?"

Zhang Tao suddenly realized the implication. *Is this what they call 'prioritizing romance over friendship'? Damn it, I was so worried about him, and my sincerity was fed to the dogs.*

After a silent grumble, he knew he had to leave. Lin Qianying and Zhang Tao quickly retreated.

Back at the scene, the rat swarm was in a state of panic. The sheer momentum generated by the elephant herd was terrifying; the ground shook so violently that the mountain of metal debris Zhang Wei was standing on threatened to collapse.

"They're here for you, aren't they?" Zhang Wei looked at the clearly panicked Rat King.

The Rat King was indeed terrified. It knew these elephants were coming for it. The reason was obvious: it had commanded its swarm to destroy one of the elephants earlier. But why had the retaliation come so quickly? And besides, no one had mentioned there was an entire herd!

Could the rat swarm take on an elephant herd? Don't be ridiculous. The rats could kill a single elephant by sheer numbers, but taking down a whole herd was a different story.

"Come to my side. I'll protect you," Zhang Wei said to the panicked King.

"Human, don't think you can trick me!" the Rat King spat back angrily. It was already in a state of high anxiety—was he trying to make a fool of it? They had just been fighting to the death; who would believe him now?

"I'm not tricking you," Zhang Wei said simply, offering no further explanation.

"Why would you protect me?"

"Because you are the Rat King, and I need Source Crystals. As long as we cooperate, I can have an endless supply."

The Rat King’s first reaction was fury. What was he implying? That he wanted to turn the King into a tool to summon its own kind for slaughter? But then, it reconsidered; it did indeed have a shared interest with this human. As long as that interest existed, there was a foundation for cooperation.

"Fine. You help me kill them, and I'll help you collect the Source Crystals."

The Rat King had actually agreed. This response shocked and repulsed the mutant mechanical rats under its command. But even so, it was useless; the King was their ruler, and even as mutants, they had no power to resist.

"You command the swarm to harass them, and leave the rest to me." Zhang Wei was proactive, charging directly toward the direction of the elephant herd.

The Rat King did not fully trust Zhang Wei. It followed about a hundred meters behind him, not daring to get too close, but also not daring to flee. It knew that if it ran, Zhang Wei would certainly run too, and the herd would only chase after their true enemy—the King—rather than Zhang Wei. Therefore, following him and using the swarm to stall the elephants was the only way to use Zhang Wei to kill them, or at the very least, shift the herd's aggression.

The Rat King’s little plan was working in its mind. Little did it know, Zhang Wei had his own calculations as well. However, Zhang Wei was indeed charging headlong into the herd without holding back.

His remote-controlled floating cannons opened fire from a distance. Zhang Wei’s presence instantly drew the attention of the elephants. Unlike the countless small things on the ground, Zhang Wei was in a twelve-meter-tall mech, standing eye-to-eye with them. Of course, the mechanical elephants were thick-limbed, each weighing over a hundred tons—four or five times the mass of Zhang Wei’s mech.

Under normal circumstances, the herd would have no trouble sweeping through Zhang Wei and the rats. But Zhang Wei was the outlier. His mech's combat power was already nearing seven hundred. What was the combat power of a single mechanical elephant? Probably stronger than that mechanical snake, but not by much. If they were given time to enhance themselves by consuming enough metal or Source Crystals, their power would climb quickly. But to catch up to or surpass Zhang Wei, it would take at least seven or eight days, even with a rapid growth rate of a hundred points per day.

By then, who knew how high Zhang Wei’s power would have climbed?

"Human, move aside. We do not wish to kill you; we only want that rat," the lead elephant said, waving its massive steel trunk after swatting away a cryo-missile.

"Who gave you permission to kill it?" Zhang Wei retorted.