Volume 1, Chapter 40: Dazzling Purple, Epic-Grade Source Crystal

The lead elephant was slightly stunned by Zhang Wei's question.

Let's be real here—since when did we need a human's permission just to kill a few rats?

Besides, is there something wrong with your brain?

If I'm not mistaken, it was the rat swarm that was just swarming and attacking you, right?

If you're genuinely looking for allies, we should be the ones on the same side.

Unlike the perplexed elephant herd, the Rat King felt deeply moved.

Seeing Zhang Wei confront the elephant herd, the Rat King's trust in him deepened considerably. If Zhang Wei weren't genuinely helping it, he certainly wouldn't speak to the elephants that way.

"Human, have you lost your mind? Leave now, and we won't stop you." The lead elephant's temper was relatively mild, as it didn't immediately attack Zhang Wei.

Before Zhang Wei could reply, the Rat King grew displeased.

Trying to poach my ally right in front of my face—aren't you people being a bit too audacious?

"Humph, kill them." The Rat King snorted coldly and commanded the rat swarm to charge at the elephant herd.

A suicidal charge.

The mechanical rats rushed toward the elephant herd like a mechanical ocean.

The elephant herd reacted instantly.

Consisting of thirteen elephants in total, they formed a back-to-back defensive formation under the lead elephant's command.

Their trunks, averaging over five meters in length, were whipped around like windmills. Any mechanical rat that came into contact with their trunks was instantly crushed into fragments.

How had the mechanical rats managed to kill a mechanical elephant earlier?

Because they had targeted a solitary, isolated mechanical elephant. Taking advantage of their small size, the mechanical rats had specifically attacked the openings on the mechanical elephant's body.

Even with such a despicable tactic, the mechanical rats had paid a heavy price to kill just one mechanical elephant.

The mechanical elephants facing the swarm right now, however, were not isolated individuals; they were a pack. By standing back-to-back, they could thoroughly protect the openings on their bodies, leaving the mechanical rats no loopholes to exploit.

"Human, aren't you going to make a move?" Watching its subjects being continuously shredded by the elephant herd, the Rat King felt as though its heart was bleeding. Even though the mechanical rats were numerous, they couldn't just be allowed to die like this.

"Don't just stand there either—create an opening for me." Zhang Wei ignored the Rat King's command.

Instead, he began issuing orders to the Rat King.

Seeing this, the Rat King did not argue.

It knew that what Zhang Wei said was correct. Although Zhang Wei was quite strong, the elephant herd was swinging their trunks so densely that it formed an impenetrable barrier; even if Zhang Wei rushed in directly, it wouldn't be of much use.

"Alright."

The Rat King still possessed considerable capability. With a wide open mouth, it launched two sharp fangs shooting toward the location of the elephant herd.

At that very moment, Zhang Wei made his move.

Furthermore, Zhang Wei activated his legendary skill: "Super Combat Power Enhancement."

Combat power doubled.

Boosted by the skill's effect, Zhang Wei's combat power instantly soared to 1,312 points.

A doubled combat power translated to greater strength, faster speed, and sturdier mecha defense.

However, the Rat King was utterly bewildered.

Because it felt as though Zhang Wei had charged in the wrong direction.

Instead of rushing toward the elephant herd, Zhang Wei charged directly at the Rat King.

While the Rat King was still stunned, Zhang Wei had already crossed a hundred meters and arrived right before it.

Seeing the thermal greatsword sweeping toward it like a giant door plank, the Rat King snapped back to reality.

So, this human's target had been itself all along.

To think it had been naive enough to believe that this human genuinely wanted to cooperate with it.

Yet, it was too late to say anything now.

If the Rat King had maintained a distance of six hundred meters from Zhang Wei, it would have had some maneuvering room. At the very least, it could have ordered the mechanical rats to continuously charge at Zhang Wei to buy itself a chance to escape.

But now, they were simply too close.

"Damn human, you tricked me!" the Rat King shrieked, spitting out sharp fangs from its mouth as if they cost nothing.

When fighting for survival, the Rat King could no longer care about the consequences of losing all its teeth; it just needed to spray out as many as possible.

The floating turrets opened fire, and freezing bombs bloomed in all directions, sniping at the mechanical rats trying to get close.

Zhang Wei used the massive thermal greatsword entirely like a shield.

The fangs intercepted by the thermal greatsword exploded simultaneously, while the fangs that managed to slip past struck Zhang Wei's armor. The impact generated by the explosions forced Zhang Wei to halt his steps for a brief moment.

As the shockwave dissipated, Zhang Wei checked the status of his mecha.

The body had sustained no damage, but the external defensive armor's durability had decreased by seventy points.

The explosive force generated by that barrage had been entirely absorbed by the defensive armor.

The Rat King had assumed that after such a frantic bombardment by its fangs, Zhang Wei would surely suffer some injuries, but the outcome exceeded its expectations.

The explosions had merely caused Zhang Wei to pause for a fraction of a second, without even the slightest indication of retreating.

Just as the Rat King intended to turn and flee, Zhang Wei swung the thermal greatsword in his grip.

While the Rat King's maneuvers on the ground were indeed extremely agile, with his combat power doubled, Zhang Wei could easily match the Rat King's speed, leaving the creature with nowhere to hide.

As the thermal greatsword closed in, the Rat King felt the terrifying high temperature radiating from it.

Before the terror could even fully form in the Rat King's mind, the thermal greatsword had already sheared off one of its hind legs.

Losing the support of its hind leg, the Rat King's body collapsed, crashing heavily into the pile of metallic debris on the ground.

The moment it made contact with the metallic debris, the Rat King began furiously thrashing its front legs, digging a tunnel in the blink of an eye.

"Trying to run?" Deeply aware of a rat's tunneling abilities, Zhang Wei did not let down his guard in the slightest.

Gripping the thermal greatsword with both hands, Zhang Wei crouched down. The thermal greatsword easily plunged into the ground, successfully severing one of the Rat King's front legs.

A despairing scream burst from the throat of the furiously digging Rat King.

It had thought it could tunnel away to safety, never expecting Zhang Wei's movements to be so fast.

Fast enough to extinguish any hope of survival.

"You still think you can run away right in front of me?"

Zhang Wei twisted the greatsword and swept it upward at an angle. The Rat King, having lost yet another front leg, was caught amidst the flying metallic debris.

The floating turrets shifted their aim, and a freezing bomb successfully struck the airborne Rat King before it could land.

Parts of the Rat King's body were instantly frozen in a thin layer of ice.

Even so, the Rat King refused to give up. It shrieked frantically, urging the mechanical rats to charge forward wave after wave, attempting to use their own bodies to shield it.

Regrettably, Zhang Wei gave them no such opening. Purple light gathered in Zhang Wei's eyes, and a beam of purple lightning formed in an instant.

Swept by the death laser, every single mechanical rat that came into contact with it was sliced apart.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Wei strode forward and grabbed the three-legged Rat King by the neck.

"Spare me, and I can help you collect source crystals!" The Rat King cried out for mercy.

In the face of life and death, dignity was worth less than dirt.

Faced with the Rat King's pleas for mercy, Zhang Wei remained completely unmoved.

This was the Rat King after all, which had a high probability of dropping an epic-grade source crystal. In the early days of the apocalypse, an epic-grade source crystal was far more valuable than ordinary ones.

Consequently, the strength in Zhang Wei's grip steadily increased.

The sound of metal deforming echoed out as the Rat King's neck gradually twisted, while the vibrant blue light in its eyes slowly faded away.

At this moment, the elephant herd halted their advance, and the rat swarm stopped their charge toward Zhang Wei.

"You can die now." With those words, Zhang Wei exerted a sudden, fierce burst of strength, and the Rat King's head tilted completely to the side, losing all signs of life.

Shortly after, a dazzling purple light drifted up from within the Rat King's corpse.