Chapter 194: Angry—Why Didn’t You Help?

(from *Restarting the Farm at the End of the World*)

Milk, the little guy, had always been used to throwing its weight around. Suddenly running into someone who didn’t give it the time of day and even showed open disdain, it was absolutely furious—stomping its feet, lowering its head, and wiggling its butt, ready to charge in for a showdown.

Gu Xu grabbed it by the scruff and quickly made a couple of hand signals. The fifty or so people behind the earth-element defense immediately sprang into action.

The injured, the spatial ability users, and those unsuited for close combat quickly withdrew, retreating far to the rear.

The remaining thirty-odd people regrouped and formed a new battle formation.

Shadow, agile as a bun, climbed up a tall tree and crouched on a branch, moving his hands a few times.

Suddenly, a thick white mist spread through the forest and into everyone’s line of sight. In just a few breaths, the fog became so dense that people could barely see half a meter in front of them.

But that wasn’t a problem. As soon as the mist began to spread, each person pulled something out of their backpack and put it over their eyes.

Night-vision goggles—devices that detected objects via infrared. Even if you couldn’t see with the naked eye, once you put them on, you could clearly make out the glowing red outlines of people and the hulking, misshapen animals.

Friend and foe were instantly distinguishable.

The animals, however, had no such advanced tools. Their vision was blocked, and from deep within the fog came their panicked, terrified cries—a cacophony of sounds that made everyone’s ears ring—followed by the warning growls of the wolfdogs. The mutant beasts quieted down, but at that very moment, the humans with night-vision goggles launched their attack.

Bian Changxi wasn’t wearing night-vision goggles. She stood outside the combat circle with Gu Xu and the other non-combatants, leaning against a tree as she sensed what was happening inside.

Her energy, faint but dense, spread through the low grass, shrubs, and trees, forming a web-like network across the area. Since she didn’t need to attack, just a thread or two of energy in each spot was enough. This way, it wasn’t too taxing, and she could easily “see” the battle unfold.

The humans quickly seized the upper hand, and with their first assault, the mutant beasts suffered heavy casualties. The main threat was the two wolfdogs; the other mutants, though intimidating, couldn’t withstand the experienced and powerful ability users for long. About half the group dealt with the smaller animals, while the other half focused on holding off the two wolfdogs.

It was just like fighting monsters in a video game.

The earth-element users, tough as nails, acted as frontline warriors, tanking the beasts. Behind them, the wind, ice, and metal users unleashed their abilities in a barrage. The fire users held back, afraid of accidentally burning their own people, and the wolfdogs, massive and thick-skinned, were incredibly hard to take down. Surrounded, they struggled and roared so fiercely it seemed the whole mountain was shaking.

Bian Changxi quickly noticed a few people accidentally got trampled by the wolfdogs. Though their teammates rescued them right away, they still suffered various injuries and came running out of the fog.

Someone reported that after being seriously wounded, the wolfdogs went berserk, their strength surging as if they’d gone mad.

Gu Xu was a bit surprised. At that moment, a terrifying roar shook the sky, followed by the screams and cries of people. He had a bad feeling, told Bian Changxi to stay put, and dashed into the fray with Milk.

Bian Changxi saw one wolfdog suddenly break free from several people, rearing up on its hind legs as its bones cracked and reshaped, its jaws widening abruptly. Its fangs grew visibly longer and thicker, and its claws extended sharply, as if being ripped out from its flesh, leaving bloody trails.

The now-enlarged wolfdog was even more ferocious and terrifying. With a swipe of its forelimb or tail, it sent people flying like rag dolls, as if it were cheating. One of them pounced and knocked down an earth-element user. The latter quickly wrapped himself in a thick layer of earth, turning into a human-shaped pillar, but the wolfdog’s claws still pierced through easily. Its gaping maw descended, about to bite him in half.

Bian Changxi’s heart leapt into her throat. Just then, a blazing chain of fire shot across the air, binding the wolfdog’s jaws shut and wrapping around its body in several places.

The wolfdog roared in fury.

Gu Xu shouted in a deep voice, “Back off! Lightning user, now!”

Everyone immediately retreated. Then, a massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking the wolfdog with a deafening boom—nearly engulfing Gu Xu in the blast as well.

Everyone held their breath. As the lightning faded, it dispersed all the surrounding fog, revealing the charred body of the wolfdog. Next to it, Gu Xu lowered his flaming shield, his clothes singed and smoking in several places. A young man rushed over in a panic, “Major, are you okay? I—I wasn’t sure about the range…”

So that was the lightning user. The others looked at him, unsure whether to envy or pity him. His power was strong, but his area-of-effect attacks were terrifying—one misstep and he might take out his teammates too.

Bian Changxi finally understood why the lightning user hadn’t acted earlier—his technique was still unrefined, and the risk of friendly fire was high.

She wanted to go check if Gu Xu was hurt, but he ordered everyone to stay back. There was still one wolfdog left. A few people and a big cat-like animal were circling it. The wolfdog was bound by a wood-element user, pinned and battered by two earth-element users, while a metal and a wind user kept inflicting wounds. A mist user stood atop a tree, ghostly and elusive, with mist blades swirling around him, slashing long gashes and steadily draining the wolfdog’s life.

The wolfdog was furious. Seeing its companion fall, its anger turned to panic. It thrashed and howled, while Milk, the chubby white creature, barely dodged its feet, unable to find an opening to attack. When it tried to leap up, the wolfdog reared up too, swinging its forelimbs with deadly force.

It seemed to know that only this little, chubby thing could truly threaten it, while the humans could only inflict ordinary wounds.

Gu Xu told everyone else to back off, leaving just the earth and wood users to restrain the wolfdog, then let Milk face it alone. He didn’t intervene, only occasionally giving a few hints and commands.

Bian Changxi felt a pang of sympathy for Milk, but was soon distracted by the wounded around her and turned to help with healing. The others, after a moment’s surprise, began collecting and processing the mutant beast corpses.

The lightning user glanced around, then quietly poked the dead wolfdog with his gun. With a puff, the wolfdog collapsed into a pile of ash and chunks. He gaped in shock, and the others gathered around to examine the remains, all praising the lightning user’s power. Embarrassed, he scratched his head, when someone suddenly said, “Quick, see if there’s a crystal core—did the lightning destroy it too?”

Hearing this, the lightning user hurriedly dug through the ashes, and with everyone’s help, soon found a shiny earth-element crystal core.

Only then did Bian Changxi realize she’d forgotten to account for the crystal cores when tallying up the loot. Mutant beasts didn’t always drop them—maybe two out of every three did. So what about those flying pigs from earlier…?

Before she could finish the thought, someone handed her the earth core. The young lightning user, shy and excited, said, “Miss Bian, this is for you.”

Huh? Why give it to her?

Someone saw her confusion and explained, “Anything obtained in battle goes to the group. The two spatial users’ storages are almost full, and we don’t want to mix up the crystal cores.”

The main point was, such important items should go straight to Gu Xu, but since he was busy, they gave it to Bian Changxi instead. After all, she was also a spatial user—perfect for the job.

Bian Changxi accepted the earth core. It glimmered brilliantly—earth yellow wasn’t usually a pretty color, but in this sparkling crystal, it looked bold and bright. The purity was high, and it felt heavy in her hand. She estimated, “This is probably a fourth-tier crystal core.”

The lightning user was thrilled, and the others shared in his excitement. At this point, a fourth-tier core was extremely rare—there were few fourth-tier plants or animals, and as for fourth-tier zombies, almost no one dared mess with them, since the strongest human ability users were only third-tier.

Bian Changxi couldn’t help but think of the box of green cores Gu Xu had given her, several of which were fourth-tier. She wondered how he’d collected them and how much effort it had taken.

She wanted to ask how this fourth-tier earth core would be distributed—surely they wouldn’t just split it three ways among fifty people, since only about a dozen had actually fought the wolfdog. But she decided not to ask; she trusted Gu Xu would have a fair method for dividing the spoils.

Just then, the other wolfdog let out a final howl and collapsed. Bian Changxi looked over and saw Milk perched on its neck, sucking away fiercely—there must have been vital essence in the wolfdog. Milk was covered in blood, with a long gash on its belly and a patch of fur missing from its back, exposing raw, red flesh. Bian Changxi’s heart ached. She rushed over just as Milk finished feeding and tumbled off the wolfdog’s neck. She scooped it up—its whole body limp as if boneless, gasping for breath, sweat and blood mingling on its fur, muscles still twitching, and it whimpered weakly, barely able to breathe. It sounded so pitiful it broke her heart.

She was furious and glared at Gu Xu without thinking: “Why didn’t you help?!”

Gu Xu was stunned.

Before he could say anything, Bian Changxi had already stormed off with Milk in her arms, sitting under a tree to heal it.

Qiu Yun sidled over with a wicked grin. “See? She’s mad. I told you, boss, your training methods are too brutal. Finally, someone agrees with me.”

He thought back to his youth, being put through the wringer by Gu Xu—never a day without a bruise or a cut. Why had no one ever come to hug him and offer comfort back then?

Sigh. Even a cat got better treatment than he did.

Gu Xu ignored him completely, staring straight at Bian Changxi as he walked over.

Qiu Yun shrugged, wincing as the motion pulled at his back wound. “I need healing too. Me, me!”

Wu Dalang watched him hobble away and shook his head, pulling a towel from his own bag to wipe his sweat. He asked Shadow, “How’d it go?”

They were among the last to hold out, and the training had paid off handsomely.

There will probably be three chapters today, 1314.