Crisis!

"What's the matter?" James inquired, his brows furrowing as he noticed Laura's face contorted with frustration.

Exhaling deeply to regain her composure, Laura responded, "I have a hunch about what's going on, but I refuse to speculate until I see it firsthand. You know me; I may be a blabbermouth, but I never spread rumors unless I'm completely certain."

James smirked slightly and countered, "That last bit was unnecessary. You once said that a swarm of rats and this cave emerged simultaneously. Yet, it's eerily silent now, without a single rat in sight."

With a playful slap on James's broad arm, Laura chided, "Oh, you country bumpkin. This cave is far more expansive than it appears. We're only seeing a fraction of it. Most likely, others have ventured deeper through other passages by now. Also, I've noticed over the last few days that the rats dwell on the second level; they only scurry through this floor when foraging for food, never lingering as if something on this level deters them."

"And what do we do now?" James looked around, noting their position at the cave's center where a serene lake mirrored the calm around them.

"Watch this," Laura whispered, raising her hand to halt their progress and closing her eyes in concentration, as if sensing the unseen energies of the cave.

Observing her, James couldn't help but quietly chuckle, appreciating her unexpected utility.

Abruptly, Laura's eyes snapped open. She pointed decisively toward a pathway ahead. "We go through there. It leads to the second level," she declared confidently.

"Lead the way," James nodded, stepping forward to follow her direction.

"Hey, aren't you going to question me? That's a lot of trust," Laura called out, slightly taken aback as she hurried to keep up with him.

"I'd rather trust your lead than wander aimlessly alone," he responded coolly, reflecting inwardly on her naive openness, wondering how her family felt about her adventurous spirit.

"Hmph, just as you should. I'm quite capable, little Huo Huo. Stick with me; I won't let you down," she boasted, a playful smirk spreading across her face.

James's eyes crinkled in mild annoyance, and he quickened his pace.

"Hey, wait up!"

Their path was wide enough for two, but James, larger than most, found it a tight squeeze.

"Hahaha, you look hilarious trying to fit through here!" Laura laughed, glancing back at him as he awkwardly navigated the passage.

"Enough laughing; move!" James grumbled, pushing her gently to urge her forward.

"Why not just remove that bulky straw cloak?" she teased between giggles.

"It's not that simple. Once worn, it cannot be removed for a week," James fibbed smoothly, maintaining a straight face.

"What bizarre sorcery! It's no wonder they call your religion a cult," Laura murmured, half to herself, as they continued their trek, her voice echoing slightly in the cavernous space. Occasionally, she shared bits of lore about their world, schooling James in its mysteries.

"Squeak!"

The sharp cry sliced through the silence of the passage just as James and Laura glimpsed daylight filtering from the exit ahead. A lone rat, appearing deceptively harmless, stood defiantly in their path, blocking their way forward.

The duo halted, locking eyes with the odd rat. Despite its mundane appearance, similar to the monster rats they had encountered before, and possessing merely a low-grade G-level cultivation, James knew better than to underestimate it. With his current prowess, he could easily crush the creature, but he hesitated. There was more at stake here than simple brute force.

The rat's beady scarlet eyes glinted ominously, a striking lock of red fur atop its head catching the dim light of the tunnel, giving it a menacing aura.

A shiver ran down James's straw spine.

He had previously cleared numerous rat nests outside the giant cave, where these vermin were merely fodder, good only for accruing growth points. But inside the narrow confines of this passage, an encounter with them could spell doom.

From his experiences over the last few days, James recalled a troubling detail: if these rats sensed they were being manipulated, they would self-destruct in a lethal explosion.

Beside him, Laura's focus was unyielding, her fingers tightly gripping the Nepali blade sheathed at her back.

"Hey," James began, halting her preemptive strike.

"It's Miss Laura or just Laura, not 'Hey,'" Laura corrected him briskly, though her gaze never wavered from the menacing creature. Qin noted the perspiration beading on her clenched hands; she was far from as composed as she appeared.

James lowered his voice, a plan formulating in his mind. "I have a method to subdue it without triggering an explosion. It'll hold for about four or five seconds. Can you make a dash for the exit in that time?"

Laura assessed the distance to the exit, a few hundred meters away, and nodded after a tense pause. "We can try."

"Get ready," James counted down, "3... 2..."

As he hit '2', he sensed Laura's aura intensify dramatically, as if drawing the very air towards her.

"1! Run!" he shouted.

In an instant, Laura blurred into a streak of green, darting past the rat.

Just as the rat prepared to emit a warning, James unleashed his ace; Fear. The ability froze the rat in its tracks, buying Laura precious seconds.

Those three seconds zipped by. As the Fear wore off, the rat's body ominously expanded, its red fur bristling. With a muffled pop, it exploded into a spray of bright red gore.

[Host devours life force, growth value +1.5]

The system notification chimed in James's mind, but he barely registered it, his focus solely on Laura's rapidly retreating figure.

She was mere meters from the exit when several massive shapes began to loom at the entrance.

Giant rats.