Chapter 22: Joining Forces

Black Dog was vicious beyond measure. With a leap on all fours, it jumped midair and opened its mouth wide, biting the calf of the boy who had kicked at it.

Snap.

The boy's calf was bitten clean off by Black Dog.

"Ah!"

The boy in midair let out a tragic scream as he fell to the ground, blood splattering everywhere, wailing in agony.

Black Dog landed.

Xiao Zhe pounced like lightning, claws aiming for Black Dog's head.

Black Dog seemed to realize the danger and leaped aside swiftly, dodging Xiao Zhe and charged toward Xu Hua.

Xu Hua, wielding a steel pipe, struck downward at Black Dog's head.

With a swift body swerve, Black Dog avoided the steel pipe and bit towards Xu Hua.

Xu Hua's skin was as tough as copper, Hard as nails, Black Dog's bite landed on Xu Hua's thigh.

"Ah!"

Xu Hua felt some pain in his thigh, and he slammed the steel pipe onto Black Dog's back.

Bang!

Black Dog was hit solidly by the steel pipe, letting out a howl of pain, quickly releasing its bite and running off.

Xu Hua glanced down to see four tooth holes in his thigh bitten by Black Dog. If it weren't for his copper skin, a big chunk of flesh would have been torn off by Black Dog.

A Mutant wielding Fireball aimed one at Black Dog at this moment. However, his control over Fireball was limited, with it losing momentum just one meter away from his body, and Black Dog could easily dodge it.

All these actions happened in the blink of an eye. Although Black Dog had taken a hit, it had broken a Mutant's calf and wounded Xu Hua, showing its extreme ferocity.

People around froze at this brutal scene, and many who were eager to try held back in silence.

Xiao Zhe's entire forearm had mutated into black, covered with long black hair, his claws as sharp as Wolf Claw.

Xiao Zhe dashed forward with a roar and pounced at Black Dog again.

Xu Hua, furious about being bitten by Black Dog, brandished the steel pipe and charged forward like a madman.

The boy controlling Fireball hesitated then said to a dozen boys behind him:

"Let's all go together!"

Those boys, each holding steel pipes and seeing how ferocious Black Dog was, were quite fearful. Taking courage in numbers and with Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua pushing forward, they all shouted and rushed up together, attacking Black Dog.

Black Dog seemed somewhat wary of Xiao Zhe. With a howl, it leaped up, vaulting over Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua, and charged directly at the dozen boys with steel pipes.

One boy couldn't dodge in time and had his arm bitten off, another was knocked down and his throat bitten through; the rest of the boys, terrified, scattered and ran.

"Bang!"

A fireball hit Black Dog squarely in the waist, burning a patch of black fur off in an instant.

"Ow!"

Black Dog howled in pain, charging madly at the boy who controlled Fireball.

Besides his ability to control Fireball, the boy had few other skills. Now seeing Black Dog pouncing, he turned and fled in terror.

Xiao Zhe charged up again, blocking the way, claws reaching for Black Dog.

Black Dog didn't dodge this time and leaped at Xiao Zhe.

With a slicing sound, Xiao Zhe felt his right hand tear through Black Dog's skin.

Black Dog howled, its front paw clawing towards Xiao Zhe's head. Xiao Zhe's head swirled, pain searing across the left side of his face as blood trickled down his cheek.

Black Dog leaped away, bleeding from under its belly.

Xu Hua rushed over, raising the steel pipe to strike at Black Dog.

Black Dog dodged swiftly and pounced at Xu Hua's feet, biting onto his left calf.

Xu Hua felt excruciating pain and, in his desperation, swung the steel pipe with all his might at Black Dog.

With a whine from a hit, Black Dog let go and ran off.

Xu Hua's calf was left with four bloody holes, the injury more severe than his thigh.

Having been hit by Xu Hua's steel pipe twice, clawed open in the abdomen by Xiao Zhe, and burned in the waist by another young Mutant controlling Fireball, Black Dog was now in a frenzied rage.

Turning around, it fiercely pounced at Xu Hua.

Xu Hua suddenly felt like a tragedy had hit him. Damn it, with over a thousand people on the playground, why was it just him and Xiao Zhe taking on this mutant Black Dog? Where the hell did everyone else go?

Fortunately, Xiao Zhe didn't abandon him. He charged right up next to Xu Hua, wielding his sharp Wolf Claw, glaring angrily at the Black Dog.

The Black Dog paused, seemingly intimidated, standing its ground and confronting the two men, barking non-stop.

At this moment, the thought of barbecued dog meat had long vanished from Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua's minds. All they hoped for was to scare off the mutant Black Dog so that the two of them could return to camp to rest and tend to their wounds.

Xiao Zhe wanted to call for people behind them to help, but he realized those people had already retreated tens of meters away.

"What do we do, Xu Hua?"

"There's nothing we can do but to tough it out. Hopefully, this mad dog will back off on its own. We'll defend and not initiate an attack. Let's not separate. I reckon the Black Dog wouldn't dare to attack us."

"Looks like this is the only way. I didn't expect this mutant Black Dog to be so ferocious. Even the four of us mutants were no match for it."

The two of them continued their standoff with the Black Dog.

Somebody walked out from the crowd, heading toward Xiao Zhe.

"Boss, what are you doing, don't go get yourself killed!"

Huang Wen yelled anxiously.

The crowd was also buzzing with discussion.

"Who isn't afraid of death?"

"Didn't you see that even the four mutants, including Xiao Zhe, are no match for the Black Dog? And this person still wants to rush to his death?"

"Sigh, probably went crazy with hunger, wants to eat barbecued dog meat. Damn it, I can't even mention 'barbecued dog meat' without my stomach hurting."

...

Yang Xiao slowly walked behind Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua.

"How about we join forces and kill this Black Dog?"

Xiao Zhe turned around and saw it was Yang Xiao; at first, he was pleased, then he sneered:

"How capable do you think you are to kill this Black Dog? It's a mutant, and we're already struggling to save ourselves."

At this moment, the Black Dog looked at Xu Hua and Xiao Zhe, barking incessantly, increasingly agitated and restless, seemingly about to attack at any moment.

Xu Hua saw Xiao Zhe for the first time and also scoffed:

"If you can help us drive away this mad dog, we won't pursue the matter of you killing Hao Lei."

With the formidable enemy in front, both Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua were still thinking of getting Yang Xiao's help in driving away the Black Dog. As for killing it, they weren't even entertaining that hope.

Yang Xiao had his arms crossed, speaking indifferently:

"You can find me anytime about Hao Lei's matter. I haven't hid. You just need to have the guts."

"You?"

Xu Hua:

Xiao Zhe: "Enough, with the enemy before us, stop arguing. Yang Xiao, think of something to drive away this Black Dog. This thing is about to go berserk."

Yang Xiao said:

"The three of us together, let's kill the Black Dog. My condition is, I want half of the dog meat, and you two get the other half. How about it?"

"You... Have you gone insane wanting to eat dog meat?"

Xu Hua cursed.

"I'll count to three, and if you don't agree, I'm turning around and leaving, 1, 2,"

"Damn, fine, I agree. If we're going to die, we might as well die together!"

Xiao Zhe said resolutely.

"Alright then. You two attack the Black Dog immediately, draw its attention."

"And what about you?"

"I'll be right behind you. If there's a chance, I'll kill it; if not, I'm running away."

Hearing this, Xu Hua got angry:

"Did you come here just to set us up?"

"But I'm 70% confident I can kill this Black Dog. Believe it or not, it's up to you. Want to try?"

"Fine, I'll trust you this once, but don't you dare fail us at the critical moment. Xiao Zhe, let's go!"