Swallowing the Stars: Only in my later years did I come to the life-spending panel.

County town number 0231.

An endless swarm of rats, like a black tide, surged from every corner of the ruined city.

Luo Feng gripped his Blood Shadow Battle Blade tightly; the blade was already stained with the monster's blood. His strength was nearly exhausted, but the swarm of rats ahead still stretched as far as the eye could see. His three companions were already pale; one of them had been bitten on the leg by a rat-like beast, bleeding profusely, and was only kept from collapsing by the support of the other two.

"Hold on! Run towards that abandoned building in the East District!"

The team leader, high-ranking general Li Xiao, roared. His combat uniform was covered in scratches, and the armor on his left shoulder was shattered.

There were too many rats. Those iron-haired giant rats, whose size was comparable to calves, rushed in from all directions. Even more terrifying were those shadow rats that were extremely fast. They darted among the giant rats, like assassins, and targeted people's weak points.

The group of five was surrounded and struggling to move forward.

Luo Feng slashed away a shadow rat that was lunging at his face with a single strike, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw three giant iron-haired rats on the side simultaneously attacking their wounded companion.

Just then, a sharp whooshing sound came from the sky.

The fleeing crowd instinctively looked up and saw a completely black, round fighter jet rapidly diving down, with the insignia of the Jiangnan Base City military painted on the bottom of its fuselage.

The fighter jet hovered less than ten meters above the ground when the cabin door suddenly burst open.

A dark gray figure leaped down from it.

The man stood tall and straight, wielding a battle sword. The moment he landed, the sword flashed.

Several blades of light appeared almost simultaneously, slicing the three-headed, iron-haired giant rat that was pouncing on the injured warrior in mid-air into two pieces.

He then turned his body, his sword strikes continuous and powerful, each strike precisely reaping the lives of the surrounding rats.

"Ninefold Thunder Sword?!"

Luo Feng's pupils contracted slightly. He was very familiar with this sword technique, which was the attack method he had been practicing diligently. However, the power of this person's sword technique was completely different.

Each strike caused a sharp whistling sound in the air; wherever the blade passed, swarms of rats fell, and not a single rat beast could get close.

"Get in the fighter jets quickly!"

With a deep shout, Luo Feng and the others snapped out of their daze. They sprinted towards the hovering circular fighter jet with all their might, and under the cover of the iron-gray figure, one by one they were pulled into the hatch.

Luo Feng was the last to crawl into the hatch. Looking back, he saw the martial artist swing his sword one last time, shaking off the swarming rats. Then, he used his legs to propel himself into the air, using the abandoned high-rise building as leverage to crawl into the fighter jet through the hatch.

The hatch closed, and the circular fighter jet quickly pulled up, escaping the rat swarm's attack range.

Inside the fighter jet cockpit, the five men slumped in their seats, panting heavily.

"Thank you for saving me, Lord Lu Gang!" Li Xiao struggled to his feet and bowed.

"Thank you for saving us, Lord Lu Gang!" Luo Feng and the others also stood up to express their gratitude.

Luo Feng looked up at Lu Gang. He had seen this powerful war god in the news before and knew that he was one of the core figures of the military in Jiangnan Base City.

Lu Gang waved his hand, walked to the driver's seat, and asked urgently, "How's the situation at the front?"

The driver, a young man in military combat uniform, said with a grave expression: "Lord Lu Gang, the main force's evacuation is not yet complete. At least three martial arts squads are still trapped in the ruins of County Town No. 0231, and military support troops will not arrive for at least another ten minutes."

"If the main force of the rat swarm continues to advance, the front lines may be in serious trouble..."

The driver didn't continue, but everyone understood the consequences. Lu Gang remained silent for a second.

The next moment, he turned and walked toward the hatch.

"Lord Lu Gang!" Li Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "What are you going to do?"

"Hold them off." Lu Gang's voice was calm, as if he were talking about something trivial. "It'll only take ten minutes. I'm going to deal with that Rat King."

"But your injury..." Luo Feng pointed to the still bleeding wound on Lu Gang's left arm, which was left by a hidden high-level beast general-level giant rat when they were covering their retreat.

Lu Gang glanced down at the wound. "It's a minor injury; you won't die."

The hatch slowly opened, and a gust of wind rushed in.

Lu Gang leaped into the air, his iron-gray figure instantly disappearing into the vast swarm of rats.

"Lord Lu Tsuna!"

Several young martial artists rushed to the hatch, but could only watch helplessly as the figure fell into the swarm of rats and was then swallowed up by the dark, surging waves.

Luo Feng clenched his fists until his fingertips turned white. For the first time, he felt his own weakness so acutely.

The Level 3 beast tide consists of millions of monsters. Although most of them are beast soldiers and beast generals, their sheer number still poses a deadly threat to warriors at the God of War level.

If he had enough strength, if he were a war god-level expert like Lu Gang, perhaps he wouldn't have had to watch others die to cover for them.

"Ten minutes..."

Luo Feng murmured.

Lu Gang plunged deep into the densest part of the rat swarm like a sharp blade. His blade flashed among the rats, each swing sending up a cloud of blood mist.

Those iron-haired giant rats, shadow rats, and even those beast general-level giant rats hiding among them all died under his blade!

At this moment, he was charging towards the Rat King, who was crouching on the top of the ruins in the distance. If he could kill the Rat King, the rat horde would fall into chaos or even collapse. At the very least, he could attract the attention of the main force of the rat horde and buy more time to evacuate.

One minute.

Two minutes.

three minutes.

Lu Gang's advance began to slow down.

There were too many rats; the entire field of vision was filled with rats and beasts, and they were impossible to kill.

Driven increasingly mad by the scent of their fallen comrades' blood, the giant rats swarmed towards Lu Gang, using a rat swarm tactic to wear him down. His blade was still fast, but it was no longer as sharp as it had been at the beginning.

Four minutes.

Lu Gang's left leg was bitten by a shadow rat that attacked him. He slashed back and killed the shadow rat, but he was already staggering.

five minutes.

Lu Gang finally reached the ruins beneath where the Rat King was, but his combat suit was mostly torn, and his exposed skin was covered in blood, wounds, and bite marks. He looked up at the giant rat, which was entirely black and had bristles like steel needles standing upright on its back, his eyes filled with determination.

"Five more minutes..." He gritted his teeth, gripped his sword tightly, and tried to charge towards the top of the ruins.

The Rat King seemed to sense his intention and let out a sharp screech. Instantly, at least a hundred beast-general-level iron-haired giant rats surged forward, surrounding Lu Gang completely.

The sword flashed again, but he was already too weak to fight back.

Lu Gang swung his sword, felling several rat-beasts, but three shadow rats simultaneously pounced on his back. He barely managed to turn and block, but the immense force forced him to his knees. More rat-beasts swarmed forward, their claws and fangs tearing at his already tattered armor.

"Oh shit......"

Lu Gang let out a low roar, using his last bit of strength to shake off the swarm of rats around him, but his legs had already gone weak and he could no longer stand up.

He looked up at the Rat King, which was only about twenty meters away. But those twenty meters, a distance he could cross in a single breath at his peak, had now become an insurmountable chasm.

Time... five minutes... that should be enough, right?

As Lu Gang thought about it, a wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

......

Suddenly, a sharp whooshing sound came from the sky, and a silver-white streak of light approached at an astonishing speed, hovering above Lu Gang in the blink of an eye.

The hatch opened, and a figure in black stepped out.