As he spoke, Denton waved his hand, and a rustling noise came from behind him. It was his mutant rat army. "Come with me. We're getting Tyler back!" With that, Denton jumped into the abyss. In an instant, only a few pets and two trees were left on the surface. Denton didn't know that the moment he disappeared into the depths, a group of mutant creatures that had been lurking for a long time finally bared their fangs, ready to surface. The most dangerous things underground weren't mutant snails or mutant wood mice. It was ... mutant ants. They had tight organization, huge numbers, and a serious grudge. Earlier, when the ground split, one of their nests got destroyed. They'd already sensed the quake and picked a lower spot to rebuild, only to get caught up in the mess anyway. And then, they smelled humans. Those mutant ants had fought humans before and hated them. As soon as they sensed a human nearby, they signaled the queen. The queen's command came quickly—wait, then strike. With Denton and the mutant rats there, the ants had felt threatened. But when he and the rats went into the abyss, the ants thought it was the perfect moment to attack. The first ant, the size of a small arm, climbed up. Then another, and another... Handsy and Medusa sensed danger first, followed by Tartrate and Biscuit. Handsy and Medusa immediately went into combat mode, going after the intruders. Tartrate and Biscuit charged as well. Branches whipped, leaves smacked, claws slashed, and hooves stomped... But there were way too many ants. Many ants broke through their defenses and started climbing toward the base walls and building!Their numbers kept growing—10, 20, 30... Tartrate and Biscuit got bitten and went wild, sprinting in panic. Medusa and Handsy also had ants crawling all over them. A swarm of mutant ants flooded the yard, unstoppable. Just as it seemed like everyone would be overwhelmed, a horrifying, ear-piercing scream tore through the air. It was so loud it felt like it drilled into their brains, making it impossible to think, like stabbing their eardrums. Three seconds later, every mutant ant was out cold. Tartrate and Biscuit collapsed as well. Only Handsy and Medusa, who couldn't hear, stayed standing. Then, on the base wall, something like vines—or maybe blood vessels—started appearing. They grew endlessly, bright red, swallowing the unconscious ants into the wall inch by inch. A soft "ding" sounded, and the wall leveled up. But the upgrade direction was random. No one knew how Caroline would react when she returned. ... Underground, Caroline saw the mutant wood mouse still puking and immediately struck while it was weak, hitting it again and again. Raven and Jet dove in to help, too. But the wood mouse was insanely tough. Nothing seemed to hurt it. Sweat dripped down Caroline's face. Today wasn't her day. Her random abilities were useless. She finally got Crow's ability, but the other two were weak and barely helped. And the tight space made it worse. She suddenly summoned a lollipop—one of those unbelievably painful ones from her storage space. If she guessed right, Tyler was inside this thing's gut.Seeing the piles of bleached bones nearby made her panic even more. If she waited too long, Tyler would be digested like them. She thought maybe hitting the wood mouse would make it spit Tyler out. Right then, another quake hit! Rocks crashed down, and the whole area shook. Caroline sensed something cutting through the air above her. She looked up and braced herself. The wood mouse lunged, jaws stretching wide toward the sky. Caroline's eyes lit up. If she couldn't break it from the outside, maybe she could from the inside! With its mouth open, that was her chance. But just as she prepared to strike, something fell fast from above. The wood mouse snapped its massive mouth sideways toward whatever was coming down.