Originally, Old Tie had planned to take Old Wang and charge into the beast tide. However, after seeing the approaching black lines, he instantly changed his mind.
The sheer, endless numbers made his scalp tingle.
Still, this current choice was the most prudent. The Blacky base was divided into several levels, and unless something major had occurred, this particular base was the lowest-ranked.
This meant that the Blackies within the base would pose no problem for him; in fact, they would be the best meat shields.
Although his current speed wasn't his absolute limit, it wasn't slow either. Old Tie only took about five minutes before spotting his destination. To his surprise, it was already under attack.
"No way, there's more?"
Directly ahead of them, on the other side of the base, a fierce battle was raging. The sporadic black smoke made it feel like they had returned to the Stone Age.
But in reality, it was a clash of specialized weapons and monstrous beasts.
Old Tie quickly looked to the left and confirmed his fears: more black lines were appearing! Could this be a coordinated general assault?
Old Tie's heart skipped a beat. He cast his gaze towards the last direction. Thankfully, this time, he saw no black lines.
"This way it is! Let's go!"
Old Tie let out a strange cry and shot the Blacky base a peculiar look.
Had they done something heinous to deserve being besieged by a beast tide?
However, as a human, Old Tie was delighted by this turn of events. The more trouble the Blackies faced, the more excited he became. If he weren't afraid of getting caught up in it, Old Tie would have even taken Old Wang to hide and watch the show!
His appearance naturally drew the attention of the Blackies.
"Quick, notify the boss, it's a human!"
"Wait, no, damn it! The beast tide was brought by humans! There's another wave behind him!"
"Report! We've also detected a new beast tide!"
The Blacky base, which had started to stabilize, descended into renewed chaos.
Countless people were rushing around, reporting situations to their superiors and inquiring about countermeasures. Even the two figures who had been calmly standing on the highest point of the city wall let out exclamations.
"How is this possible! There are other beast tides too?"
Despite their words, they fell silent upon seeing the beast tides approaching from the other two directions.
After a long pause.
"Raise the alert to the highest level! All base personnel are to enter combat readiness! Also, request reinforcements from above!"
With three commands issued, the entire Blacky base immediately entered a state of highest alert. The news of Old Tie's sighting was also transformed into a report implicating him as the culprit and sent to their superiors.
Old Tie, or rather, humanity, was being framed in such a clever manner, though no one realized it yet.
Old Wang, who was being carried along, suddenly noticed Old Tie chuckling to himself and couldn't help but ask, "Senior Old Tie, what are you laughing about?"
"You wouldn't understand. Beast tides are no laughing matter. One beast tide is enough to give the Blackies a hard time. Now there are three waves attacking. I've never encountered anything like this in my long life. This base is finished."
Old Wang blinked in surprise, "Is it that serious?"
Old Tie chuckled, "Finished is the least of it. If these people hadn't been moving as fast as they were, perhaps ninety percent of them would have been lost."
Old Wang finally understood why Old Tie was laughing. However, he still couldn't quite grasp it. Even with more beast tides, as long as they confined their movement and relied on their experts, the problem shouldn't be too great, right?
Old Tie glanced at Old Wang, understanding his thoughts. However, Old Tie had no intention of explaining further. Whether he explained these matters or not wouldn't change the outcome.
It was better to ensure his own safety first!
Taking advantage of the fact that one direction was still safe, Old Tie hurried along with Old Wang, planning to take a wide detour. If he could find the edges of the other beast tides later, he wouldn't mind returning to watch the spectacle.
"Wait, Senior Old Tie, there's something up ahead!"
Old Wang's startled cry suddenly rang out. Old Tie said helplessly, "I see it. I'm not blind."
His helplessness wasn't due to Old Wang's reminder, but his own luck. Damn it, was this a four-pronged ambush?
Wait, something felt wrong.
Old Tie suddenly stopped and, for the first time, put Old Wang down. The latter, having been airborne for a while, stumbled slightly upon landing, seeming unaccustomed to it.
"Old Tie, are you abandoning me?"
Old Wang looked at Old Tie with a resentful gaze, his rough hands clasped in front of him, feigning pitifulness.
"Get lost! There's something happening up ahead. Do you want to go take a look?"
Old Tie kept his eyes fixed on the beast tide blocking their path. The situation he was referring to was that this particular beast tide wasn't heading towards the Blacky base but seemed to have found its target and was completely surrounding the area ahead.
Yes, surrounding, not moving in a unified direction!
Old Tie needed to confirm if this beast tide was special or if a unique situation had arisen. If neither was the case, then his previous guess was likely wrong!
Old Wang instinctively shook his head, "No, no, no, I'm not going."
This was ridiculous. He was trying to avoid them, so why would he go forward voluntarily?
Old Tie's figure suddenly dashed towards the surrounding beast tide. Old Wang's expression changed drastically. He glanced left and right; at the end of his vision, there were still black lines, and who knew how many monstrous beasts were included in this!
"Wait for me, Senior!"
Old Wang quickly caught up to Old Tie. The latter looked confused, "Didn't you say you weren't coming?"
Old Wang said righteously, "Senior Old Tie, how could I, a junior, let you take such a risk alone!"
Old Tie rolled his eyes. As they got closer to the beast tide, he instinctively wanted to ascend and get a clear view of the situation within.
But when he saw Old Wang in his peripheral vision, he dismissed the thought.
It had been so many years since he had last fought. He could endure it a little longer. What if that kid was nearby? It wouldn't be good if he saw this.
With that thought, Old Tie led Old Wang directly into the swarm of monstrous beasts.
Old Wang had no weapons, while Old Tie relied on his pair of somewhat weathered fists. For a moment, they moved as if through an empty realm.
These monstrous beasts, with their fangs and scorpion tails, attacked with speed, but their defense and reaction capabilities were only at a common level. Moreover, compared to the other beast tides, their cultivation realm was only at the third level.
For the two of them, whose weakest cultivation was the fifth level, it was as easy as slicing through vegetables.
Old Wang even gained considerable confidence from this, "Senior Old Tie, this beast tide is nothing much. We should have just fought our way through from the beginning instead of running!"
Old Tie, who continued to slay monsters ahead, replied without turning his head, "If you want to court death, don't drag me down with you."