The rat was fast—insanely fast that Cassie had trouble following its movements. However, she still followed its movements, even if only barely.

Although the mutated rat was able to dodge most of her attacks, a few still landed on it. However, none were killing blows and could only count as superficial wounds.

Usually, that would have been the case. But it was a different matter with her dagger. Imbued with poison, even a small wound could count as fatal.

During the first minute of their fight, it seemed like the mutated rat was slowly overpowering her. However, anyone could notice that the beast’s movements had become quite stiff.

Sometimes, it couldn’t move out of range in time, and would get more superficial injuries from her dagger, causing the effects to stack.

Cassie’s smirk widened as she sidestepped, dodging a claw strike that shattered the concrete floor.

The beast growled and turned its large head towards her. She responded to its growl with a vicious kick to its jaw.

The beast’s head snapped to the side, and before it could recover, she plunged her dagger into its neck.

Just as she was about to twist the hilt and worsen the wound, it jumped back and retreated.

"One more minute," Leon warned, tapping his foot impatiently.

They were surely wasting time, but he also wasn’t going to let go of an opportunity for Cassie to grow stronger.

She nodded at his words, then distanced herself from the beast. A second passed, then two. The mutated rat prepared to attack her, but realized it couldn’t move.

Cassie sensed this too and calmly walked up to the paralyzed beast. Its wild, feral eyes stared at her as she sliced at its neck, opening a deep wound across its throat and killing the mutated Rat King

[You have slain a Level 27 Tier One Evolved Rat King! +16 Agility points gained!]

[You have leveled up to...]

[You have leveled up to...]

[You have leveled up to Level 21! +19 Stat points gained!]

She grinned in delight at the messages, then picked up the only item dropped by the dead mutated rat.

It was a treasure cube, and she handed it to Leon without hesitation.

He didn’t bother checking it now as they were still on the run. Instead, he glanced at the corpse and his trait activated.

—Trait: Danger Sense. Extract?

Leon paused for a second, then said to Cassie, "Turn around."

The girl was obedient and did as he had told her. He approached the corpses and crouched beside it.

Activating his extraction ability that cost little mana, his hand turned gold and he reached into the corpse, tugging on the bright purple rune engraved in it.

The moment he pulled it out, it transformed into a scroll which he kept in his waist pouch. He also pulled out the soul crystal from its forehead and stored it.

Then, he stood up and tapped Cassie. "Let’s go."

The two continued heading east, and soon enough, their surroundings began to change. The tall skyscrapers were gradually disappearing, and the buildings around them became residential ones and supermarkets.

Leon could even spot some bicycles parked or crashed on the walkways that were smeared with dried blood.

’This smell...’

He instinctively inhaled the fresh, salty scent that drifted from the east, and a smile appeared on his face.

Cassie’s face lit up too, and she said excitedly, "Boss, look! It’s the East River!"

Under the warm sun, Leon and Cassie finally emerged from the canyon of skyscrapers.

A strip of silver-blue appeared before them, stretching across the horizon until it touched the shoreline of Brooklyn.

’What a spectacular sight for an apocalyptic world.’

Leon thought darkly, then shifted his gaze to an imposing structure that loomed over the wide river.

A gigantic steel structure stretched across the water—the Williamsburg Bridge.

Just as he expected, the bridge was imposing. Although not as luxurious as the Manhattan Bridge or the Brooklyn Bridge, it was still a grand structure nonetheless.

After shaking off his awe, Leon’s eyes narrowed as he studied the bridge. Unlike the other two popular bridges, this one had a lower number of cars on it, as most people preferred using the Manhattan Bridge instead.

This meant it would be less crowded than the other bridges, and this was the reason why he had chosen the Williamsburg Bridge.

"Alright. We need to get to the bridge fast. Can’t keep them waiting for too long."

The two immediately resumed their journey after taking in the view.

......

Meanwhile, at the targeted bridge, a thorny black bus was parked quietly. However, its surroundings were anything but quiet.

A flock of mutated crows harrassed the bus repeatedly, but failed to get any of the humans to come out.

They cawed loudly, creating a noise that irritated Selene and the others.

"Why are they so persistent? Can’t they go away?" Miguel grunted in displeasure, his arms folded as he glanced outside. He could barely see the sky since so many crows had covered the bus, creating a wall of darkness around it.

Selene appeared calm, though the faint twitch of her brows betrayed her emotions.

’We’ve been waiting for over five minutes now, yet no sign of them.’

Thankfully, the zombies hadn’t caught up to them yet. However, it was only a matter of time—time they didn’t have.

’I expected Leon to be faster than our transport. After all, if he carried Cassie like he carried me...’

Her thoughts slowed to a crawl, and she couldn’t help but feel a little conflicted.

That night, she knew Leon had definitely carried her back to the hotel all by himself. She absolutely hated having physical contact with men or even standing too close to them.

When she realized that she had been held by a man, she was inwardly furious and wanted to vent her anger. However, knowing that there had probably been no other choice but to carry her to Fel for immediate treatment, she decided to let it slide this once.

Besides, Leon didn’t seem to be the type to show any lustful interest for women.

If not, then he was better at hiding it than Samson or Miguel, who were controlling themselves.

’Tch. Why am I even thinking of this? This guy still hasn’t arrived.’

It was at that moment that she looked outside the window and saw something flying at them.

It was an absurdly large insect, barreling towards their bus with its wings causing a disruption in the air.

Selene’s eyes widened as she observed its head.

’Tier One...!’