Even if they couldn't be killed in one blow, these mutated oxen wouldn't last long before bleeding to death.
It would likely only be a matter of minutes, so the team members who chose to target only one mutated ox finished their fights significantly faster than Xi Wen and his group.
Although the situation was overwhelmingly in their favor, Li Chonglou, after finishing off the remaining two smaller oxen in just one minute, couldn't help but rush towards the old ox.
He urgently needed combat to maintain the瘋狂 (fēngkuáng - crazy, wild) pulsing in two acupoints within his body. He hadn't kept the mutated ox earlier because he feared he would affect the battle's progress.
Now, every member of the Dare-to-Die Squad had their own specific objectives. If Li Chonglou were in charge, he would have certainly kept the previous mutated ox to continue fighting. However, remaining calm, he knew it wasn't time for that yet. After all, they were only on the second level, with a long way to go, and they didn't know what dangers they would encounter.
Conserving strength was paramount for everyone.
So, when the old ox saw Li Chonglou rushing over to help, despite being surprised at how quickly he finished his fight, he still revealed a happy smile.
"Then this one's for you!"
The old ox's strength was among the best in the entire Dare-to-Die Squad, which was why he had taken on two mutated oxen. Based on the principle of not getting injured, he, like Xi Wen, approached the fight cautiously. With Li Chonglou now sharing the burden of one, he became significantly more ferocious.
"Watch out, Grandpa Ox!"
The old ox roared, no longer dodging the charging mutated ox. His physique was already tall and mighty. In his current state of rage, he seemed possessed by a gorilla, directly using his hands to brace against the mutated ox's charge.
Although he was forced to slide back a few meters upon impact, he managed to stop the entire mutated ox. However, unlike Li Chonglou's previous approach, the old ox opted for a slide tackle, burrowing beneath the mutated ox's belly, and then pulled out his short刀 (dāo - knife).
With a swish, the entire mutated ox was ripped open from belly to chest. In pain, the mutated ox bolted forward fiercely, but after only a few meters, it collapsed powerlessly to the ground, its innards spilling everywhere. It was clearly not going to survive.
However, when he shifted his gaze to Li Chonglou, he was stunned.
This was because Li Chonglou was already charging towards his next target, and the mutated ox he had previously drawn away had long since fallen to the side.
"He's even faster than me!"
The old ox was utterly shocked. He hadn't paid attention to Li Chonglou's situation earlier and had no idea what had happened. Moreover, the beast tide was still pouring in from all sides. To end the battle quickly, the old ox could only go and help his other teammates.
"Here comes Old Ox!"
The old ox let out a strange cry and rushed to a teammate's side. The teammate immediately rolled his eyes but, with perfect默契 (mòqì - tacit understanding, telepathy), drew his ice-seal gun and fired a shot at the encroaching beast tide.
The situation had drastically changed due to Li Chonglou's sudden intervention. Occasionally, someone would break free from fighting the mutated oxen to deal with the beast tide surging from the surroundings. The remaining mutated oxen, with Li Chonglou's help, were being quickly eliminated, almost one per minute.
What was initially estimated to be a half-hour battlefield concluded in just about ten minutes. Xi Wen made a decisive move, shouting and leading everyone further inside.
Only then did Li Chonglou realize that the area where they had been fighting was surrounded by three times the normal density of mutated creatures. It was hard to say what the consequences would have been if they had delayed any longer.
As the group approached the connection point between the second and third entrances, a group of mutated spiders appeared in their sights once more.
"Prepare for a halt!"
The ice-seal gun continued to fire. With the mutated spiders as the center, the group quickly cleared an open space. As before, they skillfully cut open the spiders' abdomens, extracted the green胆 (dǎn - gall bladder), and held back the beast tide.
Only then did the group, panting, sit down on the ground.
"This was too smooth."
Someone couldn't help but sigh. Everyone present, except for Li Chonglou, had experienced at least one beast tide. Although they hadn't actually undertaken missions in the second level before, they had accepted orders to hunt down leaders on the second level. In previous encounters, they would arrive here almost depleted of ammunition.
This time, not only was their ammunition still relatively sufficient, but the time taken was also more than halved.
The most crucial point was that this time they had the misfortune of encountering a herd of mutated oxen.
At this moment, everyone couldn't help but cast their gazes towards Li Chonglou.
Being stared at by so many intense gazes, Li Chonglou felt extremely uncomfortable.
"Little Li, you're f**king amazing!"
Old Ox couldn't hold back first. He walked to Li Chonglou's side and slung an arm around his shoulder.
"Cough, cough, I was just thinking of letting everyone finish the battle sooner. To be honest, I'm already almost completely exhausted."
Li Chonglou shook his head as he spoke.
Only then did the others nod slightly. That made sense; otherwise, such strength would be too terrifying!
In their opinion, Li Chonglou must have used his full strength to achieve such an impressive record. However, even so, in their hearts, they had completely recognized Li Chonglou's strength.
At least he wasn't weaker than Old Ox!
"Then you can rest for a bit. We'll handle the rest."
Xi Wen smiled with satisfaction, then instructed everyone to contribute some equipment to Li Chonglou.
"You should know how to use these things, right?"
Li Chonglou held the familiar firearms and suddenly recalled the events in the first two stages of Iron Forest. He coughed lightly and nodded.
He was indeed very familiar with these things.
Although he currently craved hand-to-hand combat more to train the acupoints within his body, one still couldn't be too ostentatious. The attribute of being low-key had, at some unknown point, been ingrained in his bones.
Soon, Li Chonglou, who was originally lightly equipped, became fully armed.
The attention of the others then finally shifted away from him as they began to discuss their actions upon entering the third level.
"None of you have truly entered the third level of the beast tide before, right?"
Xi Wen suddenly spoke to everyone, and they all nodded. Because Xi Wen wasn't referring to the beast's nest, but the beast tide.
If it were just about the third level, everyone in the Dare-to-Die Squad had been there before joining. However, the third level under the beast tide was completely different from its normal state. Only Xi Wen among the entire Dare-to-Die Squad had experienced it before.
"Now, I'll first tell you about the general situation inside. I will lead the team first, with a portion of us entering. The rest will enter half an hour later."
Xi Wen reminded them before proceeding to explain the general situation.