"Is anyone else not dead? Is Xiwen also down there?"
However, in the next second, Li Chonglou's expression suddenly changed. He saw a sharp claw following Zhang Hu's figure, and its form flickered, disappearing from its original spot.
Realizing the fatal crisis from behind, Zhang Hu sobered up slightly and instinctively turned to shield his chest with both hands.
*Bang!*
Zhang Hu's entire body slammed heavily against the specially made rock, and three bleeding wounds appeared on his arms, crimson blood continuously gushing out.
Zhang Hu spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling as if his whole body had fallen apart, utterly drained of strength.
The post-breakthrough weakness had finally arrived.
"At least one regret is settled."
Facing death, Zhang Hu's face showed a smile, clearly ready to accept his fate with equanimity.
However, in the next second, Li Chonglou's voice reached his ears.
"I'm here, don't worry."
Zhang Hu instinctively looked up ahead, just in time to see the three mutated behemoths that had cornered him explode into three balls of bloody mist almost simultaneously.
"?"
Confusion once again filled Zhang Hu's face.
"Am I hallucinating?"
Li Chonglou, calmly retracting his fist, was about to check on Zhang Hu's condition when his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the distant end of the passage.
It was Xiwen and Old Niu!
Li Chonglou immediately smiled, and without a word, he pulled Zhang Hu up and dashed towards their direction.
The mutated creatures that swarmed towards them couldn't even last half a second before turning into bloody mist. Moreover, Li Chonglou's speed was incredibly fast. In less than half a minute, he had completely escaped the beast horde.
When he brought Zhang Hu back to the group, everyone's expressions were identical, a look of stunned bewilderment.
Simultaneously, Gnehmshaw in the stronghold could no longer contain his curiosity and clicked on Li Chonglou's name again.
To prevent individuals with ill intentions from using cheating methods to gain points, the scoring system was designed with a video saving and viewing feature. This was to immediately provide evidence if such an event occurred.
Without the slightest hesitation, Gnehmshaw directly clicked on "Save Video for Viewing."
"With their current scores combined, they don't even amount to a tenth of his. He's definitely secured first place."
Gnehmshaw murmured to himself.
If the scores were close, he wouldn't dare to click "Save Video for Viewing" at this time. After all, doing so would stop the video recording, meaning the scoring system would cease to operate while he viewed the video.
Since the video recording time wasn't long yet, Gnehmshaw waited for about a minute before seeing the "Save Complete" notification.
"Let me see what exactly you're up to, kid."
Gnehmshaw directly opened the video, and what appeared on the screen was the scene of Li Chonglou leaving the stronghold. Gnehmshaw dragged the progress bar with his mouse, directly to the middle section of the video.
However, in the next second, he froze completely.
After about ten seconds, Gnehmshaw suddenly jolted, shut off the video without a word, and then used his mouse to delete Li Chonglou's video directly.
After finishing these actions, Gnehmshaw realized his hands were trembling uncontrollably.
"Is this guy even human!"
Gnehmshaw stood up abruptly, quickly walked over to a landline phone, and dialed.
"Connect me to headquarters!"
After about ten seconds.
"I'll settle the score with you regarding the base later. For now, immediately arrange an honorary elder position for me, and the first place winner of the Ironwood competition has been decided. Reward them with the highest possible accolades!"
After speaking rapidly, Gnehmshaw paused, then changed his wording.
"No, increase the highest reward by double, no, triple! If headquarters doesn't have enough, deduct it from my own inventory! Whatever the best reward for first place is, make it happen!"
Once he had confirmed the content of his words using his authority as the head of Ironwood, Gnehmshaw sank back into his seat.
Gazing out the window, Gnehmshaw murmured, "This world, indeed, can never be fully understood."
Inside the beast nest.
When Xiwen and the others recovered, they all looked at Li Chonglou with astonished eyes.
"Little Li, were all these strange beasts heading for you?"
Old Niu felt his throat suddenly become dry, his voice hoarse as he spoke. This was a clear indication of his extreme disbelief.
Li Chonglou's presence here meant he had broken through to the Law Enforcer level and the base's beast tide all by himself. Was this something a human could accomplish?
However, the most shocked among them was undoubtedly Zhang Hu. Even though he was no longer in mortal danger, he still couldn't quite process whether what he had witnessed was indeed his doing.
Seeing their expressions, Li Chonglou naturally understood what they were thinking. Therefore, he didn't answer Old Niu's question. Instead, he patted both their shoulders and said,
"I'm relieved you're both safe. But the situation outside is still a bit severe, so it's best for us to wait here for reinforcements."
"A bit severe... a bit..."
Everyone exchanged glances, at a loss for words.
If it were truly just "a bit severe," they would have already fought their way out! Why would they be hiding here like dogs?
Although they hadn't witnessed the scene above, just the fact that Li Chonglou could arrive here alone, and the power of the few punches he'd thrown while bringing Zhang Hu back, made them unable to refute his words!
Xiwen's attention was also drawn to Li Chonglou's statement, and he immediately inquired, "Little Li, when did you find out about the base's situation?"
"Gnehmshaw told me, and he also asked me to come over first."
Xiwen's brow furrowed, but then he sighed and said, "It's a shame I lost my communicator, otherwise I'd definitely give that bastard a good questioning about what he's doing!"
Li Chonglou raised an eyebrow at Xiwen's angry tone and said, "My scoring device seems to be able to contact him."
He said "seems" because Li Chonglou wasn't sure if he could actively contact Gnehmshaw through the scoring device.
However, he was unaware that the scoring device originally had no communication function. The one Li Chonglou possessed was specially prepared for him by Gnehmshaw.
This meant that among all the contestants, only Li Chonglou's scoring device had communication capabilities, which naturally included Li Chonglou initiating contact with him.
So, after taking it off and fiddling with it for a while, he suddenly heard Gnehmshaw's voice from inside.
"What is it? Do you have any instructions?"