STRIKER: Independent Beast Tamer

Underground passage:

It's been a few minutes since he left the crossroads. Now he is walking back to the sinkhole located at the site of the dilapidated building. He doesn't know whether those two had left or not.

He could imagine them being afraid. The network connection was cut off here in the passage. He could only inform them after going back.

It's already nighttime. He thinks that rat beasts were previously released for the nighttime intrusion. He thinks the people who released the beasts wouldn't have imagined that they would die by his hands.

Jeremy then collected his thoughts before resuming walking.

Screech!

Not long after, he hears a horrific scream. This terrible sound was louder and more powerful than before. Jeremy paused his footsteps and turned around.

He knows that it's the noise of a rat beast. He wouldn't be surprised if a rat beast appeared to attack. But he was disturbed by the sound.

The sound seemed creepier and louder than before. He doesn't know what's happening, but he has a feeling about this noise.

He held the katana sword in his right hand and stood firmly. His gaze was fixed on the passage. He then slightly increased the illumination.

It immediately brightened the path a few meters ahead.

Tremor!

Shortly afterward, Jeremy felt something was wrong. He could feel tremors from the ground. The passage walls were shaking a bit as well.

Some broken stones fell from the walls. Seeing that, his expression changed drastically. He was afraid that the passage would collapse.

"This is bad," Jeremy thought.

Screech!

Just as he was contemplating, he saw a huge shadow of the rat beast appear on the ground under the illumination of the light.

The shadow was bigger than the normal Tier-3 Rat Beasts.

Tremor!

At the same time, the tremors increased, as if a big beast was nearing him. Jeremy was not stupid; he quickly figured out that the sudden tremors might be related to the beast.

He didn't want to think about it, but it could be a Tier-4 Rat Beast.

Swoosh!

Then he caught a glimpse of the Tier-4 Corrupted Rat Beast. Upon seeing it, he immediately turned around to flee. If he fought against the Tier-4 Beast inside the passage, the passage would collapse. He had no choice but to lead it toward the surface. At the same time, he was terrified at heart.

He didn't know how the Tier-4 Rat Beast appeared in the passage. He saw no Tier-3 beasts kept inside the warehouse, let alone a Tier-4 Beast.

Finally, he suspected the Tier-4 Rat Beast had come down from other routes connected to the city. This Tier-4 Beast was enough to cause numerous casualties.

He absolutely couldn't let it out of his sight. He hoped that the network would connect so that he could inform Daniel and Betsy Lowe.

Screech!

The Tier-4 Rat Beast was randomly moving forward. Even after crossing the crossroad, it was moving on a straight path.

After dealing with the lower-tier rats, the Tier-4 beast was not satisfied. It was trying to look for other prey. But it could only find the disgusting smell lingering in the air.

...

Outside,

Instructor Jacob called Daniel Stone again. He wanted to know about the mission and whether Jeremy Night had returned or not.

"Daniel, what happened?"

"Did he come back?" Jacob asked on the call.

Daniel, who was resting inside the tent, was surprised by Instructor Jacob's sudden call.

"Instructor, we think something is wrong. Brother Jeremy has yet to return. The underground passage is definitely dangerous."

"Instructor, we think you should come here," Daniel replied.

Hearing him speak to someone, Betsy Lowe entered the tent as well. Earlier, she was not worried about the mission, but her expression was different right now.

Previously, they had completed the same rat-hunting mission easily. Now they were facing hardships somehow.

One of the hardships was they lost contact with Jeremy Night. The next was they didn't know whether any rat beasts were hidden in the passage or not.

On the other hand, Instructor Jacob agreed on the call to come. His work was already over, so he decided to make it there quickly.

When the call ended, Daniel turned to Betsy.

"What do you think?"

"Is something happening to Brother Jeremy?" he asked.

"Jeremy is a cautious guy. I doubt he would take unnecessary risks. Let's hope that he is doing fine," Betsy said in a solemn tone.

Even though her heart was uneasy, she didn't want to scare him. After hearing that Instructor Jacob was coming, her worries eased a bit.

The area around the dilapidated building had become a restricted area. The City Administration staff had yet to leave. They knew something was going on.

The more time passed, the more they thought the situation was serious. It made the locals paranoid, especially those who lived in this location.

Earlier, the driver and a few other locals who showed the site to Jeremy and others were standing near the barricades. They were not allowed to enter.

They could only watch from there.

"I don't know what happened to the university students," he murmured.

"Don't worry, I heard that university students are strong. They can easily handle the rat beasts. It's just that something else is going on here, and we were not allowed to know," a local pointed out.

The driver could only helplessly sigh. He brought those kids here and felt unknowingly responsible. The other locals were genuinely worried.

They wanted the university students to be safe. But if something happened to them, it naturally meant there was a danger that could pose a threat to them as well.

Meanwhile,

The City Administration authorities knew what was going on here. They were in touch with Dean Carolyn of Central University 14.

She had learned it from the First-Year Department Head Derek and Instructor Jacob.

It's just that Dean Carolyn didn't share many details with the authorities after learning that Jeremy had found an underground passage and went to explore it.