Miss Chai's mind raced, thinking about what sort of background would match her prestige, when suddenly, a series of chaotic and mournful howls approached from afar, speeding toward them.

Wei Linglan couldn't make out the sights within the mist, while Li Ang, with the aid of Cat's Eye, could see a bit further.

Giant rats, dozens of them the size of tanks, completely congested the street, knocking down and crushing vehicles, ornamental trees, street lamps, and any other obstacles in their path.

The black spikes on each rat's back stood tall like bristling fur, swiftly changing from black to red. After a short delay, they shot out toward their rear.

The spikes, like bolts from a Crossbow Gun, rained down continuously into the dense fog, followed by the sounds of explosions from behind.

But those sounds, compared to the sheer number of spikes, were clearly far fewer.

It was as if something within the fog was effortlessly swallowing most of the explosive spikes…

The pack of rats lowered their heads and accelerated their charge. Their crimson eyes blazed with savagery and bloodlust, yet beneath that, an even stronger, instinctual fear was visible.

They were trying to escape something within the mist.

WHOOSH—

A sound of cleaving air tore through the atmosphere.

Within the dense fog, air currents surged, and a vast, indistinct vertical shadow descended from the sky. It violently seized the last rat in the pack, dragging it upwards into the air.

The rat pack squealed in terror, quickening their sprint, yet this did nothing to stop the vertical shadow from descending from the sky again and again, snatching them one by one into the fog.

Li Ang saw it clearly, but Wei Linglan only saw a dozen or so giant rats rushing toward the restaurant.

Her complexion changed drastically. She immediately darted behind a table facing the main entrance, propped the grenade launcher's stand on the tabletop, and aimed the barrel at the restaurant door as if facing a formidable enemy.

This MK19 grenade launcher was a heavy firearm issued by the Special Affairs Bureau to auxiliary personnel of the Mobile Detachment.

Operating the MK19 grenade launcher alone, she could fire an average of eighty high-explosive grenades per minute.

In open terrain, she was certain she could hammer these giant rats into the ground. But this was a confined restaurant with no defensive fortifications. The area to defend was too large, and the enemy was too close. Even if she killed or wounded the first few monsters that charged in, other giant rats could still break through the surrounding ground-floor windows and attack the crowd…

The thunderous stampeding, like the relentless beating of drums and warhammers, grew louder as silhouettes of numerous giant rats emerged from the fog. They lined up and crashed into the restaurant's street-facing windows.

The glass shattered on impact, and cries of panic filled the air.

The vertical shadow had already plummeted from the sky, aiming for a rat on the periphery. But as it neared the restaurant's vicinity, it came to an abrupt halt, hesitated for a moment, then silently withdrew.

The rats had successfully escaped.

The largest among them barged through the front door, its crimson eyes reflecting the unmoving silhouette of Chai Cuiqiao, donned in Bronze Heavy Armor.

The concept of "unnatural occurrences signaling monsters" didn't exist in its brain. Fear of the dark shadow in the mist completely filled its mind, causing it to overlook the sharp threat emanating from Chai Cuiqiao.

The giant rat swung its strong forelimbs, raising its scythe-like sharp claws high and fiercely hacking down toward Miss Chai.

It all happened too quickly. Wei Linglan had just used an explosive grenade to kill a rat that broke through a ground-floor window. When she turned, she saw Miss Chai at the door, about to be gutted by the rat monster.

Why isn't she dodging?

"Heh... how noisy." Chai Cuiqiao sighed, her hands clasped behind her back, without turning around. It was as if the lightning-fast claw strike was nothing more than a gentle breeze.

Just as the giant rat's claw was about to strike, more than a dozen pale, slender, elongated arms shot out from the ground. They wrapped around the rat's body like pythons and twisted forcefully!

CRACK CRACK CRACK—

The rat's entire skeleton was brutally twisted and broken. With a loud BANG, its full, round belly burst open like a squeezed lemon!

Red and white viscera splattered everywhere, and a putrid smell diffused through the air.

The dozen or so arms didn't vanish. In the next second, they reappeared beneath the other rat monsters, swiftly harvesting their lives as if squeezing lemons.

After a few breaths, the carnage-filled restaurant looked as if it were laid with a crimson carpet. The foul stench assaulted everyone's nostrils, causing many to vomit on the spot.

The crowd looked at Miss Chai, their eyes filled with fear and awe.

Yet she stood amidst the bloodbath, not a single drop of crimson staining her.

Miss Chai was still silently cultivating her image when she suddenly spotted a moon-shaped ornament on the restaurant wall. Instantly, she conceived a suitable identity for her makeshift Vest.

She casually lifted her chin slightly and said in a deep voice, "Tread firmly upon the earth, unfurl the grand expanse of the heavens. Across the layered skies, burst through the profound abyss. Ignite the three thousand realms in rising fury, swiftly conquer the ninety thousand miles.

"I am Wei Yueyan of the Layered Sky Palace, the seventh lodestar of the Black Tortoise, known as the ominous Wei. It is my duty to preside over slaughter!"

"Layered Sky Palace..." Wei Linglan's expression grew solemn as she mulled over the term.

Layered sky suggested clouds, the heavens.

The Song Dynasty poet Su Shi wrote in his ci poem "West River Moon·Moment in Huangzhou": "The wild fields gleam faintly in the shallow waves; high above, the layered skies loom faintly visible."

"Tread firmly upon the earth, unfurl the grand expanse of the heavens. Across the layered skies, burst through the profound abyss." This passage also came from the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's "Roc Blessing: Order."

Wei Yueyan was one of the twenty-eight mansions, the fifth of the northern seven, located at the tail of the Black Tortoise, presiding over the grim reaping of autumn.

As an auxiliary member of the Special Affairs Bureau's Mobile Detachment, Wei Linglan had not yet reached a security clearance high enough to be privy to such secrets.

Naturally, she couldn't discern the truth of the "Layered Sky Palace" that Chai Cuiqiao had so casually mentioned.

Furthermore, this person, clad in Bronze Heavy Armor, moved with ease and exuded a profound, grim aura. Introducing herself so elaborately amidst this bloodbath—she hardly seemed to be fabricating it on the spot.

From an ancient, hidden organization? Or a recently established Secret Society?

Miss Chai glanced at Wei Linglan, who was still deep in thought. "Your identity."

The latter snapped back to reality and hastily displayed her player ID.

Not being a player, Chai Cuiqiao couldn't see the ID, but that didn't stop her from nodding lightly, feigning understanding.

In reality, Miss Chai hadn't clearly seen the rats being chased through the dense fog, but Li Ang had. Using Cat's Eye's illusion-casting feature, he projected a line of small text onto the inside of Miss Chai's visor, directing her like a teleprompter from behind.

It was unclear what the vertical black shadow descending from the sky truly was, or why it had refrained from acting within the restaurant's perimeter. However, Yongyi Pavilion Restaurant being unsafe was now an established fact—if it were safe, the System wouldn't have assigned two players an escort mission.

Under the direction of Li Ang's teleprompter-like assistance, Miss Chai—or rather, Wei Yueyan of the Layered Sky Palace—gave a detached glance to everyone inside the restaurant.

She said gravely, "This place is not safe. Prepare yourselves; we are leaving immediately."

"Yes, yes."

Slightly awed, Wei Linglan didn't dare say more. She quickly stored a giant rat's corpse in her inventory slot, then turned to the crowd, directing them to bring various tools from the kitchen:

These included, but were not limited to, steel serving platters, various steel pots, long ropes made by tying shorter ones together, and lighting fixtures.

After the tools were brought out, Wei Linglan had the crowd form an eleven-by-twelve square formation.

Able-bodied men holding steel platters and pots stood on the formation's perimeter, while the elderly, women, and children were positioned in the center.

People with lighting fixtures were stationed at the front, rear, and on both sides of the formation, illuminating all four directions.

Each person also gripped a rope that encircled the formation, preventing anyone from accidentally straying into the fog and becoming lost.

Not everyone wanted to leave the restaurant. But faced with Wei Yueyan's icy gaze and Wei Linglan's rifle, no one dared voice dissatisfaction.

After the formation was quickly arranged, Wei Yueyan led the way at the front, while Wei Linglan brought up the rear. The large group filed out of the restaurant and onto the fog-covered street.

As an adult male, Li Ang naturally stood on the group's perimeter. Wei Linglan had arranged for her parents, Li Ang, and Wang Congshan to be at the rear, closer to her for protection.

He glanced around with Cat's Eye, ensuring the vertical black shadow high in the sky was not nearby, then directed Wei Yueyan to head east along the street.

Wei Yueyan led the group forward. Suddenly, she stopped and seemed to fall into thought. Wait, heading east… which way was east again…?

Her abrupt halt caused a stir of panic among the people behind her. Everyone, including Wei Linglan, thought she had spotted something.

Speechless, Li Ang projected an arrow onto her visor, signaling her to change direction.

Lady, you're going the wrong way.

Unfazed, Wei Yueyan stared steadfastly ahead, then suddenly took three steps back, as if repelled by a formidable aura.

"Hmph, what a strong presence."

Wei Yueyan looked forward and snorted, then turned to address the crowd solemnly, "There's danger ahead. We'll change direction."