At that moment.

The dense forest raced past.

Hu Yan sat behind Pan Hua on the Harley, both arms wrapped around his waist, her body heat carrying through the leather jacket between them. It made Pan Hua feel, for a moment, like he'd been dropped back into the early days of their courtship, riding her around on the bike, showing off, thoroughly pleased with himself.

"Carrot, hold tight — husband's opening it up!" Pan Hua couldn't help shouting.

But the only answer he got back was a low, guttural growl. Hu Yan couldn't speak anymore — only growl and shriek.

At the sound of that growl, Pan Hua's face changed on the spot. The Harley fishtailed hard, throwing up a spray of dirt, and came to a steady stop on the freshly-cleared forest road. He dismounted fast, drew both his blades, and turned to look at Hu Yan — already off the bike, already snarling low in her throat.

Hu Yan only made that sound when facing danger.

She was making it now.

Which meant danger was here.

Following the direction of Hu Yan's growl, Pan Hua kept a wary watch while his mind raced through the possibilities — a large evolved beast, or something else.

He'd learned to gauge the level of danger from her growls. With her keen senses, Hu Yan always caught danger before he did — the tighter and more urgent the sound, the worse the threat. Right now, her cries were coming fast and hard.

Danger. Serious danger.

Drawing a deep breath, Pan Hua made ready to scout ahead — this was his job, after all, both patrolling the logging zone and clearing threats from the surrounding area.

But before Pan Hua could move—

A rustling stirred through the dense forest all around, and from every direction — front, back, left, right — countless unidentified figures in black surged into view, every one of them armed with blades, spears, clubs, bows slung across their backs, and a round, long tube hanging at the waist — the standard kit of a Bug Warrior.

Stitched across the…