Wu Yue’s heart clenched, and she ran toward the cave entrance.

At the entrance of the main cave, many slaves were already writhing and wailing on the ground. The sight of their agony was terrifying.

The Beastmen, Half beastmen, and male Pure Humans were all outside, fighting off the fearsome insects. They let out furious roars from time to time, trying to scare them away.

But to the Iron Claw Worms, these roars, which caused no real harm, were completely ineffective.

The battle was raging when Wu Yue arrived.

Qingcao grabbed Wu Yue, who was about to rush forward. "Yue, don’t go! The Iron Claw Worms are incredibly dangerous."

Qingcao’s hand trembled. She remembered a tribe member who had been swarmed and killed by Iron Claw Worms. His entire body had been covered in horrific wounds—a truly tragic sight.

Wu Yue pressed her lips together. She understood what Qingcao was thinking, but she couldn’t just ignore the injured tribe members and slaves on the ground.

’I have to at least go see how bad the injuries are.’

"Once an Iron Claw Worm bites someone, it won’t let go until it’s killed or the part it has latched onto is severed..."

As she said this, Qingcao’s face grew pale. "Yue, don’t go. The males will handle something this dangerous."

Wu Yue patted her arm. "I know. I just want to see what an Iron Claw Worm looks like. I’ve never seen one in my old tribe before."

Hearing this, Qingcao finally let go of her hand. "Then... be careful."

Perhaps she was too terrified of the Iron Claw Worms, but she didn’t even have the courage to step forward. She just huddled together with Qinghua and Grandma Lu Shui, gazing worriedly out of the cave.

Wu Yue, on the other hand, hurried to the edge of the crowd. The first thing she saw, aside from the group of tribe members screaming in agony on the ground, were the creatures crawling all over them...

’Giant lobsters?’

’You couldn’t call these things crayfish. Every single one was as long as a Beastman’s forearm.’

With their larger bodies, their strength seemed to have multiplied. The spots where the males were clamped had already begun to bleed, making for an extremely gory scene.

"WAAH!"

Suddenly, a child’s wail echoed from the cave entrance. It was a small cub who had run out at some point.

He was sitting slumped next to a male Pure Human. His scrawny little hand was caught in the grip of an Iron Claw Worm nearly as long as his entire body. Blood dripped onto the ground, drop by drop, causing the hearts of the watching females to seize with fear.

"My baby!" a young female cried, held back by the others around her, unable to rush forward.

The little cub cried, screaming "Father!"

Beside him, the male Pure Human, whose body was swarming with Iron Claw Worms and had been motionless, suddenly stirred. A blood-soaked arm shot out, grabbed the small cub by the shoulder, and threw him toward the tribe members in the cave.

A sturdy female Beastman rushed forward and caught the little one, and a collective gasp came from the crowd.

Sure enough, the next moment the Iron Claw Worm’s other large pincer snapped shut, aiming for the female Beastman.

The female Beastman’s face went pale, but she didn’t dodge. The little cub in her arms was already in agony; if she let go, the other pincer would clamp down on him instead.

But to her surprise, the searing pain she expected never came. Everyone looked down and saw that the pincer, glinting coldly, was clamped around a wooden staff as thick as an arm. It was only about two fingers’ width away from snapping the staff in two.

On the other end of the staff was a slender, fair hand—it was Wu Yue.

The female Beastman looked up at her. "Thank you."

Wu Yue shook her head. "We’re all from the same tribe. There’s no need for thanks."

She then looked at the little cub still crying in the female Beastman’s arms. "What do we do about this little guy?"

’Although these Iron Claw Worms looked like crayfish, the size difference was immense. I don’t even know if the methods for dealing with crayfish will still work.’

The female Beastman pressed her lips together, her heart aching as she looked at the little cub in her arms, his face pale from the pain. "The only way is to..."

Before she could finish, a wretched howl echoed from nearby. Everyone turned to see that a male’s finger had been severed by an Iron Claw Worm. The worm that had severed it had also been killed.

Wu Yue’s face paled at the sight. ’If crayfish were this dangerous, it would be utterly insane.’

"Don’t kill them! These damn worms sever anything in their pincers the moment they die!"