Han Ning gasped for breath, trying to clear the dizziness from his head.

He was just about to speak.

But then, Dean Wu’s voice crackled from the device on Lü Xiuning’s waist. "Xiuning, Xiuning, we’re almost there! I can hear your gunfire. We’ll arrive in about twenty seconds. Hold on!"

"Okay, I got it!" Lü Xiuning didn’t even have time to grab the walkie-talkie, just shouted his reply.

Then, he turned his head and yelled to Han Ning, who was hiding in the nearby grass:

"Han Ning, don’t worry about us! Go! Kill the Insect-men if you can! They’re controlling the swarm. If you kill them, the swarm’s movements are sure to fall into chaos!"

SWOOSH!

As he spoke, Lü Xiuning’s pupils suddenly dilated, and he threw himself to the side.

A thin green beam of light grazed his shoulder, instantly tearing away a large chunk of flesh and blood.

BZZZZZZ~

The thick scent of blood immediately attracted more insects.

"I know!"

Han Ning scanned the forest environment.

In almost every direction, a few—or even a dozen—insects were flitting about.

’Trying to sneak up on the four Insect-men seems incredibly difficult.’

’Killing just a few will attract at least several dozen more.’

Yin Yi could take on a hundred at once, but he and Egg Pancake couldn’t!

But right now, Yin Yi was tied down by a silver mantis and a dense swarm of insects, unable to help.

In an instant, he temporarily abandoned his plan to sneak in and shouted, "We have to clear out at least half the swarm! Only then will I have a chance to get near the Insect-men."

"Then we wait. Wait for Dean Wu and the others," Lü Xiuning grunted, clutching his bleeding wound.

"How much longer? My Xiaoyu is about to collapse!" Lin Tianhe’s voice, tinged with anxiety, came from further away.

Farther off, Lin Tianhe’s Tree Spirit was engulfed in flames, struggling to fend off an attack from a Flame Armored Beetle.

On the other side, Lü Xiuning’s Tree Demon was evenly matched against a Blue-striped Butterfly.

"Just hold on a little longer! My Heavy-Armored Tree Spirit’s life is still on the line!" Luo Chen roared in frustration, raising his rifle and spraying wildly at the area in front of him.

PEW PEW PEW~

Just a few flying, colorful butterflies were enough to pin them down with the thin beams of light they condensed in their mouths, preventing them from even poking their heads out.

Amidst the rising and falling sounds of gunfire, a wave of dense footsteps could be heard.

A delighted voice called out:

"They’re up ahead! Charge!"

"Those with Fourth and Third Mutation Silver Lotus Wood, get to the front! Cover Xiuning and Han Ning!"

Suddenly, the shouts of Teacher Zhou and Teacher Fang echoed from within the forest.

In an instant, a dense barrage of nearly a hundred glowing green Silver Thorns shot out from behind the trees like a pear blossom storm, killing the insects flying nearby on the spot.

A continuous series of explosions echoed through the woods.

"They’re here! Our reinforcements are here!" Lin Tianhe yelled, his voice choked with sobs as tears streamed from his eyes.

Even though he had been through many battles and had witnessed the deaths of numerous classmates at the very beginning of their transmigration...

...hearing the heartening shouts of their comrades in a moment of despair was still enough to bring tears to one’s eyes and send their morale soaring.

"Lin Tianhe, you brat, you’re acting like a girl. What are you crying for?" Teacher Zhou, leading a group of nearly two hundred people, charged up and happened to see the tear-streaked Lin Tianhe.

Lü Xiuning pulled the trigger but found he couldn’t fire a single bullet. Only then did he turn his head and shout, "Lao Zhou, this isn’t the time for idle chat! Hurry up and help us clear out the swarm! Our Soul Beasts are still fighting for their lives!"

"Damn it, how are there so many huge bugs!" Teacher Zhou finally snapped to attention and looked up at the sky.

A massive, dark swarm circled the Insect-men; the ones here were just a small fraction of the total.

「At the same time.」

The Insect-men flying above also noticed the nearly two hundred humans and Silver Lotus Wood that had suddenly appeared in the forest below. They hurriedly played their Insect Flutes.

WOOOO~~

The dark swarm instantly changed direction and plunged into the forest.

"Stop fucking cursing! To the left, the left! A swarm of black bugs is charging over!"

Amidst the shouting and cursing, that group of small black insects, which could ignore Spiritual Energy, broke through the defensive line laid by the Silver Lotus Wood. They tanked the barrage of Silver Thorns and charged toward the people behind the slope.

"Don’t use Elemental Attacks on these little black bugs! They can ignore elemental damage!"

A dozen or so of the newcomers pulled out brand-new Silver Scale Shotguns that had been manufactured recently and pulled the triggers on the swarm.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

The bullets hit their bodies, merely knocking them back without killing them. Instead, it enraged them, driving them into a frenzy.

BZZZ~

Clusters of the small black bugs flew up close to the humans under the cover of the other swarms.

"Vine Whips! Everyone, have the Silver Lotus Wood form a curtain of whips!" Lü Xiuning took the ammunition someone handed him, quickly reloaded, and rejoined the firing line.

BOOM!!

On another side, a dozen colorful butterflies condensed a pale green light.

The thin beams, filled with a destructive aura, converged and gushed forth.

Fortunately, from among the Silver Lotus Wood protecting the humans, a few tall, Fourth Mutation Silver Lotus Wood leaped out to block the front lines, using their Silver Thorns to break up the damaging beam.

In an instant, the dozen colorful butterflies were surrounded and shot to death by the other Silver Lotus Wood and the hail of bullets.

However, through the gap created by the black swarm’s charge, a Flame Armored Beetle—wreathed in flames, its body covered in dents and scars, and with more than half its head missing—inexplicably surged forward. It knocked over the two or three Silver Lotus Wood in its path and charged into the firing zone.

"My Xiaoyu is about to die... I’m sorry, everyone, I couldn’t stop this giant beetle." Lin Tianhe choked out a sob, struggling to resist the urge to charge forward.

Not only that, but swarms of various sizes also appeared in other areas, causing the pressure on the defensive line to skyrocket!

The Silver Lotus Wood fighting at the front were already under immense pressure and had no capacity to deal with the Flame Armored Beetle that had slipped into the firearms’ range.

"Tianhe, calm down! As long as Xiaoyu isn’t dead, there’s still hope!"

Han Ning placed a hand on his roommate’s shoulder while shouting to Lü Xiuning, "Teacher Lü, right now only your Tree Demon can stop that Flame Armored Beetle! Have it free itself up and come over here as soon as possible! We need to speed up clearing the swarm!"

"I know! Qing Ling! Qing Ling, come protect us!" Lü Xiuning shouted urgently, looking at his Tree Demon, which was still fighting the Blue-striped Butterfly.

"THUMP~" The Tree Demon, wreathed in a pale white mist, let out a soft cry. It immediately abandoned the Blue-striped Butterfly and charged over.

As it ran, the mist surrounding its body transformed into a pale, misty vine, which it whipped toward the Flame Armored Beetle.

HISSS...

The Flame Armored Beetle, which had been struggling forward, froze for a moment, stunned.

But at the same time, a blue light flashed behind the Tree Demon.

The Blue-striped Butterfly fired its beam, scoring a direct hit on its back.

"Fire! Fire! All powerful Silver Thorns, aim for the swarm! High-attack Vine Whips, block the small black bugs!"

"Fuck, this piece of junk is useless against these insects! Old Fang, bring out the new high-explosives we developed!"

The hot-tempered Teacher Zhou threw down his Silver Scale Shotgun and gestured behind him with his hand.