The boy and his group were naturally surprised to see so many students from the school across the street.
They were even more shocked when they saw the large fortress, completely free from zombie and monster attacks.
"Wow, this place must be much safer than Business Street," said the boy, looking very excited.
Upon closer look, he actually seemed very exhausted.
"Come on, let's go there," he added, waving to his group members, who looked even more exhausted — especially the old man, who seemed close to death.
However, crossing the street and entering the school gates wasn't difficult for them.
The boy had apparently reached Level 4 and could easily kill all the zombies and monsters in the area.
And soon, he was surprised by Zombie Paul, whose lower body was a snake tail.
Because Zombie Paul was giving him the same empty stare as the other zombies, the boy began charging his fist with purple and red lightning.
"Stop it, boy!" Liam shouted, freezing the water around the boy's feet to stop him.
However, unlike the frogs Liam had fought earlier, the boy smashed the ice with a single punch, shattering it instantly.
He glared at Liam.
"What's the meaning of this? Why can't I kill that zombie?" he asked, his tone irritated.
"He, she, and that dog — they're under my control," Liam replied, pointing at Paul, Alice, and the husky.
The boy was stunned once again.
"You should have said that earlier. No need to attack me," he answered.
"Kid, weren't you taught to respect your elders?" Alex, already standing next to Liam, couldn't help but scold him, visibly irritated by the boy's attitude.
"What? You got a problem?" the boy shot back, staring Alex up and down.
Because Alex had activated his body-enlarging skill, the boy had to crane his neck quite high to meet his gaze.
Alex clearly hadn't expected him to answer like that.
But before he could react, Liam stopped him.
"Let me talk to him," Liam said softly.
"Boy, what's your name?" asked Liam.
"Carlos," the boy replied indifferently.
"Carlos..." Liam nodded slightly.
"You came here looking for a safe place, right? But as you can see, this is our territory. This isn't a place where you can act however you like," Liam said.
He glanced at the people following the boy, seeing them lower their heads or look away, seemingly embarrassed by the boy's behavior but unable to do anything about it. They had survived thanks to him, and he had helped them fight and level up.
However, they couldn't deny that his behavior was extremely reckless.
Carlos frowned upon hearing Liam's words.
But before he could respond, something surprising happened.
"Kid, you sure ran fast!" A loud voice boomed from the street where the boy had come from.
What appeared next completely shocked Liam.
It was a giant rat, nearly four meters tall, with jet-black fur resembling iron and long fangs sticking out from its upper and lower jaws.
Of course, what shocked him was the fact that it could talk.
(Boss Monster Level 6!)
(Notification: Boss Monsters are monsters of a higher class, capable of human speech and far stronger than average monsters, though their overall intelligence resembles that of a child under five years old!)
Liam quickly received the notification about the rat.
It was a Boss Monster.
Carlos panicked upon seeing the rat, clearly not expecting it to show up.
Whoosh!
The rat didn't waste words and charged toward the boy and his group.
"Rat, you think you can defeat me!" the boy shouted angrily, sending large bolts of purple and red lightning at the rat.
The rat laughed, "I'm Level 6 now, you're no match for me!"
The rat emitted a black light that resembled a shadow, and soon its entire body seemed to turn into that shadow.
Whoosh!
The lightning bolts passed right through its body as if hitting nothing, leaving the boy wide-eyed.
"My body can become shadow now. You can't touch me," the rat declared.
In no time, it arrived before the boy and his group and swung its long claws at them.
"Quick, dodge!"
"Raise your shields, damn it!"
Some members jumped back while others deployed their shields to block the claws.
Clang! Clang!
The rat's claws struck the shields, unable to slice through like Alice's claws, but the impact still threw the people behind the shields backward.
The rat then opened its jaws to bite Carlos.
Carlos could only leap back to avoid it and immediately ran, with the rat chasing him closely.
Apparently, there was a great grudge between them, as the rat seemed focused only on killing him, ignoring the others.
BANG!
Carlos rushed into the school building, but the rat smashed through the wall, creating a large hole.
Continuing to flee, Carlos exited through a window, and the rat easily broke through the rear wall of the building.
Naturally, Liam chased after them as they headed toward the residential area behind the school.
He was eager to kill the rat, believing he would gain a large amount of Battle Points like when he killed Zombie Alice.
This was also a perfect chance, as the rat's attention was fully on chasing Carlos.
From the back wall of the school, Carlos leapt onto a rooftop, then onto another. But while he needed two jumps, the rat only needed one to catch up.
"Kid, die!" the rat roared, swinging its claws again.
Carlos's lightning naturally moved faster to strike the rat, but like before, the lightning passed harmlessly through its shadowy body.