Chapter 445: scavenger rats

Crii…!!!

A loud sound that seemed like the croaking of a frog and the creaking of a cricket at the same time reverberated from the distance, spreading shock through the fragile hearts of the tourists.

The galloping sound in the distance intensified as soon as Mr. Sandstorm identified the enemy. Clark already researched a bit and knew this creature, so a lot of thoughts rapidly went through his mind.

In this part of the Sahara Desert, Scavenger rats were part of the set of monsters that could be more frequently seen or were more or less the locals of this part of the desert.

Individually, they were not as strong as the weakest exobeasts but their strength was in their number. They never moved alone, they lived and moved in large hordes.

The largest ever recorded horde of Scavenger rats recorded that more than 200,000 of the mutated rats swept across the desert like a plague.

For the largest recorded disaster of Scavenger rats, the mutated rats swept across and invaded the nearest city which was the city of the desert.

Then, the terrifying rats weren’t put in much regard yet. With inadequate preparations and nonchalance from the humans, the Scavenger rats were able to wipe the city to the floor like a horde of locusts sweeping through a cornfield.

Just like a swarm of locusts, Scavenger rats eat anything that they see in an even more terrifying manner than locusts.

They eat normal human-grown food, they eat sand, they eat metal, they eat rubber, they eat humans, they drink blood, they eat virtually everything chewable by their fork-like teeth.

During the disaster, some people survived and escaped from the town after recognizing the danger first but they could bring nothing with them. Every material good, building, and everything standing in the city was leveled to the ground.

The current people living in the city of the desert were actually foreigners who came and settled in the city after the initial destruction.

As all this information went through Clark’s head, the effects of the incoming stampede were already escalating rapidly.

In just seconds to a minute, the vibration traveling through the desert floor already intensified several folds. The sand started loosening up, threatening to swallow any unlucky tourist in the process.

The sand shook like thousands of artillery vehicles were unleashing their loads without holding back.

The dust in the air started thickening as dust rose into the air from a distance, covering the air like a thick brown fog.

The sound made as the rats stampeded towards them was so intimidating that some of the tourists almost started messing themselves already.

Seeing this, Mr. Sandstorm who originally had his head bowed in thought suddenly raised his head to look at the tourists. “Right now, all I need from all of you is to remain calm and listen to my instructions”.

“Now, stand still and wait for me”.

Without waiting for the tourist’s consent, the local leading this expedition turned and started sprinting up a nearby hill made from sand.

His boots glowed a brown color, enabling him to rapidly scale the hill like he was sprinting on a smooth track. In 2 minutes, he got to a high height in the hill where he could see far away.

Looking to his front, all he saw first was dust, thick dust billowing into the skies like smoke coming from a huge industrial oil company.

Squinting his eyes, he finally saw the huge red-eyed rats that seemed like they were injected with chicken blood making them hyperactive and frenzied.

They covered everywhere at their front like a huge curtain of death.

Seeing this, his expression became even more solemn but he didn’t just look at the horde, his eyes darted left and right as he searched for a breakthrough point.

He tried to find a way through the horde but he found none so he instead directed his attention to the surrounding, looking for an error somewhere that may help his expedition team go through this horde.

His eyes quickly lit up the next moment as he found what seemed like a huge metal pipe slightly jutting out of the ground. It was revealed as the sand was blown away by the wind.

Seeing it, his implant quickly geared into overdrive as he started comparing the statistics in his head. He quickly arrived at his answer.

[Tunnel route: U-29.]

As soon as he got this, he heaved a sigh of relief but his heart skipped a beat as he thought of another thing. His thoughts were a little jumbled up due to the severity of the situation and how anxious he was.

Trying hard to keep his heart calm, he quickly made some calculations which made his heart sank. If they set off for the escape route now, the horde would meet them before they got there.

Facing the horde alone was not the real danger, the real danger was if other creatures in the desert decided to take advantage of the commotion and ambush them.

He had an unwilling expression on his face but he instantly made his decision. Blindly deciding to go further was suicide, he was ready to have a bad record in his resume just to make sure no tourist died.

After coming to his decision, he no longer hesitated.

He rushed down the hill with the fiercely blowing wind and arrived before the tourists in about a minute this time.

“There’s no way to go through, we’re going back”.

“What?” The blonde Casanova youth blurted out angrily as his expression became warped. “Do you know how much I paid? I came to see the tip of supremacy, you have no right to declare that we’re going…”

Mr. Sandstorm ignored the youth and instead directed a look at his bodyguard. Understanding the look, the bodyguard did not hesitate to grab the youth as he started sprinting away.

“Run! Now!” Mr. Sandstorm yelled at the other tourists.

Clark was a little dumbfounded by the sudden change in circumstances. He didn’t expect the journey to end up like this. He wanted to curse like the youth, but he forced himself to stop.

He knew that his energy would not be able to last if he decided to face the horde of Scavenger rats alone. Without hesitation, he turned and sprinted after the leader of the expedition team who was already flying away in the distance.

All the tourists were already warned of situations like this, so they were prepared. All of them ran after Mr. Sandstorm amid the raging sand and dust.

The galloping sounds behind them seemed like the countdown to their death which only made the tourists more frenzied. For 2 minutes, they ran with all their might, covering a few meters in the process.

Despite their efforts, the Scavenger rats were closing the distance.

While feeling nervous, as they ran, a loud sound suddenly reverberated amid that being made by the rats. Clark noticed it first and stopped immediately, he wanted to raise an alarm but he was not fast enough.

Whoosh!

The sand which was originally slowly loosening up suddenly intensified and the ground opened up abruptly, catching everyone in the team off-guard.

“Ahh!”

Only yells of terror were heard from 2 of the tourists as the sand opening up swallowed them without any compromises, the Casanova youth almost fell down also but his bodyguard reacted fast and caught him.

Amid the commotion brought by the widening of the hole, Mr. Sandstrom rushed to the edge of the hole and saved another tourist but briefly glancing inside the hole made horror grip his heart.

“The maneater?!?”