Ding Longyun walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. Seeing something, he muttered, "Something's not right tonight."
Su Li quickly followed and saw dark shadows churning in the water where they had thrown the corpses. When the shadows surfaced, they revealed themselves to be numerous Water Rat Beasts.
These Water Rat Beasts could not climb ropes. Instead, they were diving in through the windows of the 30th floor below.
"What's not right? Are you talking about these Water Rat Beasts?" Su Li asked Ding Longyun, watching the multitude of Water Rat Beasts slipping into the 30th floor windows.
Ding Longyun stared intently at the water below, his expression solemn. "I didn't expect so many water rats to emerge. There might be bigger guys following them."
Just then, a new creature shot out of the water. It was entirely gray-black, a large lizard nearly two meters long from head to tail. Unlike the Water Rat Beasts diving into the 30th floor windows, this lizard climbed straight up the exterior wall toward the roof, moving as swiftly as a gecko.
"What kind of creature is that?" Ding Longyun was slightly startled; clearly, this was his first encounter with it as well.
Su Li activated the "Peering Rune." Information about the large lizard climbing the wall immediately appeared in his mind.
"Name: Marine Iguana Monitor. Common species among Level 3 Spiritual Source Beasts. Has venom glands in its mouth. Has a certain probability of evolving into the Elite species, Marine Iguana King. Killing a Marine Iguana Monitor will not grant special abilities."
"A Marine Iguana Monitor? This thing is a Level 3 Spiritual Source Beast?" Su Li's heart tightened. The Marine Iguana Monitor was already halfway up the exterior wall, its head just appearing over the roof's edge.
Ding Longyun did not let the creature safely climb onto the roof this time. He struck first, swinging the steel shovel with both hands toward the lizard's emerging head.
Sensing danger, the Marine Iguana Monitor immediately retracted its head. Ding Longyun's shovel struck air, but then another lizard head popped up on the side. Following it, a Marine Iguana Monitor climbed fully onto the roof.
Clearly, there was more than one Marine Iguana Monitor appearing this time.
The second Marine Iguana Monitor climbed up about four or five meters away from them. Su Li noticed the lizard's emerging head and immediately grabbed his iron rod and charged toward it, shouting, "These Marine Iguana Monitors are Level 3 Spiritual Source Beasts and are venomous! Do not let them bite you, Xuehui! Stay clear of them!"
Xu Xuehui was only a Level 1 Spiritual Source Wielder. Furthermore, she was small and weak, and less physically capable than an average Level 1 Spiritual Source Wielder. She stood no chance against a Level 3 Spiritual Source Beast, or even a Level 2 Water Rat Beast.
By the time Su Li charged, the Marine Iguana Monitor had already climbed onto the roof. It opened its mouth and let out a low growl. Its body lunged forward, charging straight at Su Li.
The most distinctive feature of this Marine Iguana Monitor was the row of fleshy tendrils beneath its mouth, resembling a goat's beard—very strange. Its open mouth revealed sharp teeth, and it lunged viciously at Su Li's legs, seemingly trying to bite them.
It seemed to pay no attention to the iron rod in Su Li's hand.
"Beast!" Su Li shouted. He directly swung the iron rod, aiming at the creature's wide-open mouth.
He could exert 700 jin of force with both arms. That force, combined with the heavy iron rod, struck squarely inside the Marine Iguana Monitor's massive, open mouth.
Several sharp teeth immediately broke off and fell out. Blood sprayed from the Marine Iguana Monitor's mouth, and it retreated backward with a muffled groan.
Compared to the cunning Gluttonous Dog, the Marine Iguana Monitor, though appearing huge and terrifying, clearly had a simpler mind. Although it was a Level 3 Spiritual Source Beast, this actually gave Su Li some relief.
A Spiritual Source Beast like this, while strong and long, wasn't hard to deal with, provided he was careful not to be bitten.
On the other side, another Marine Iguana Monitor climbed onto the roof. As Ding Longyun rushed over to stop it, the one he had previously forced to retreat also climbed up where he had been standing.
A total of three Marine Iguana Monitors had successfully scaled the roof.
Xu Xuehui was obedient. Knowing she was no match for them, she quickly retreated to the stairwell entrance behind them.
Ding Longyun swung his steel shovel, holding off the second Marine Iguana Monitor that climbed up, while the last one that ascended charged toward Su Li, as he was closer.
Su Li knew this was bad. Although the Marine Iguana Monitors had simple minds, their mouths contained potent venom. Being bitten would be disastrous. Fighting two of them at once would be extremely dangerous.
Before the third monitor lizard could reach him, Su Li swung the iron rod repeatedly at the first one. His strikes were quick and fierce. The injured Marine Iguana Monitor, having lost several teeth, became extremely aggressive. It charged wildly, ignoring the blows from Su Li's iron rod and forcing Su Li to continually retreat to avoid its ramming. In return, it took three or four strikes from Su Li.
"This thing is incredibly tough."
Su Li quickly realized that the Marine Iguana Monitor was thick-skinned and rugged. Despite taking several strikes, it hadn't sustained a fatal wound. He even landed one iron rod strike directly on its head, causing blood to flow, but failing to shatter the lizard's skull. The creature's skull was simply as hard as iron.
On the other side, Ding Longyun was also shouting in frustration, encountering the same problem.
He swung his steel shovel repeatedly at the Marine Iguana Monitor in front of him, but failed to inflict a fatal wound. Instead, the lizard kept ramming him, forcing him to retreat and dodge carefully, terrified of being bitten.
Su Li had warned him that the Marine Iguana Monitor carried venom, so Ding Longyun dared not be careless and was hesitant to get close to it.
Because he couldn't quickly dispatch the Marine Iguana Monitor before him, Su Li found himself in a predicament, caught in a pincer attack by two Marine Iguana Monitors.
But this wasn't the most frightening development. Su Li saw the head of yet another Marine Iguana Monitor pop up over the edge of the roof—the fourth one was about to climb up.
"This is bad! If we can't end this quickly, we're all in danger tonight."
No one knew how many more Marine Iguana Monitors would climb up. Furthermore, the swarm of Water Rat Beasts that had gone into the 30th floor could appear on the roof via the stairs at any moment. They had no time to be bogged down fighting these Marine Iguana Monitors.
Watching the Marine Iguana Monitor before him roar and charge again, while the other one slammed toward him from the right, Su Li's mind raced. Clenching his teeth, he made a decision. He quickly moved to narrowly avoid the right-side monitor's charge, gripped the iron rod with both hands, and thrust it directly into the mouth of the Marine Iguana Monitor charging at him head-on.
(End of Chapter)