Pretending to be a genius starts with the civilization advancement assessment.

Chapter 38 The Bear is Coming from the Giant Rock Abyss
Lin Yi's solemn attitude instantly impressed everyone.

No one dared to linger for even a second longer. Driven by their survival instincts, the forty-odd teachers and students supported each other, staggering but running with all their might towards Hongfulou.

After confirming out of the corner of his eye that everyone was obediently fleeing towards Hongfulou, Lin Yi focused his attention on the pack of Abyssal Wolves near their lair.

The five wolves that had fled back from near the bus had now plunged into the pack of wolves gathered around the den.

Their return was like a stone thrown into a pond with undercurrents, instantly causing an even greater commotion.

Not only that, Lin Yi also noticed that the small group of six Abyss Wolves that had been keeping a close watch on the convenience store across the street had also abandoned their prey. As if receiving some silent summons, they quickly darted out from their hiding corner and joined the ever-growing wolf pack in the direction of their den.

More than fifty red dots clustered together, forming a glaring red area in the detector's field of view.

They let out threatening howls towards the direction of the bus, looking ready to pounce.

"As expected," Lin Yi thought to himself, not surprised at all.

He initially chose to use his source energy to instantly kill the three Abyss Wolves blocking his way, aiming to create the greatest visual impact and psychological deterrence, hoping to scare away the rest and quickly resolve the problem.

The main reason for doing this is because we know the initial behavior patterns of this nest.

However, even the wolf at the convenience store was drawn away and abandoned its watch, which was somewhat unexpected.

But it wasn't a big deal; in fact, it saved him the trouble of cleaning it up later.

Lin Yi's gaze quickly swept across the street.

The convenience store's roller shutter was suddenly pulled up, and five figures tumbled and scrambled out.

They must have noticed the commotion earlier, and as soon as the wolves that had been surrounding them withdrew, they immediately seized the opportunity and ran away.

Despite their pale faces and terrified expressions, their survival instincts drove them to unleash their full speed as they raced headlong toward Hongfulou without looking back, none daring to glance at the massive pack of wolves.

"That was quite decisive."

Lin Yi made a neutral assessment in his mind.

However, he was not surprised. In the apocalypse, many indecisive people died in the first wave of impact, and those who managed to survive mostly had some merit.

He glanced at it briefly before turning his attention back to the pack of Abyssal Wolves that were slowly approaching.

"It seems that their courage has grown when there are many of them; we need to help them calm down."

Abyss Beast Nests are not mindless monster spawn points. Based on the types, order, and combination preferences of the Abyss Beasts they produce, their core "behavioral patterns" or "styles" can be roughly deduced.

In their previous lives, after paying a heavy price, the Blue Star civilization summarized more than twenty relatively universal rules regarding the lair of the Abyss Beasts.

For example, a nest that throws all its initial source energy into producing a powerful lord-level abyssal beast is usually an "aggressive" or "gambler" type, extremely aggressive. Such nests will even choose a reckless type like the Fierce Claw Wolverine as the base abyssal beast produced later.

The nest in front of us initially produces a large number of the lowest-level Corruption Abyss Wolves, then slowly accumulates resources to prepare for producing elite units like Giant Rock Abyss Bears, and only finally considers the leader unit model, which is basically a "conservative" or "stable" approach.

The core logic of this kind of nest is "preserving strength and making steady progress," tending to obtain results with minimal cost, and being very cautious about actions that are uncertain or may cause significant losses.

Lin Yi had judged this point, which is why he dared to use a seemingly aggressive, swift-kill tactic as a deterrent.

However, deterrence comes with prerequisites.

Simply standing there is not enough to face more than fifty Abyss Wolves gathered together.

Wolves are suspicious by nature, but they also bully the weak and fear the strong. Once they perceive you as outwardly strong but inwardly weak, they will swarm you without hesitation.

Without hesitation, Lin Yi still gripped the black iron staff tightly with his right hand, while slowly raising his left hand, pointing his fingers like a sword, and placing it diagonally in front of his chest.

The next moment, a pure yet dangerous azure light quietly shone at his fingertips, like a miniature star in the night, steadily radiating energy fluctuations.

Hold back the attack!
This is an advanced technique in the external release of source energy; only a brief overview of this aspect was covered in the basic source energy channeling technique.

But for a genius, that's enough.

Of course, this is purely bluffing.

Lin Yi knew very well that the source energy in his body was only enough to release one more source energy external attack.

But the pack of wolves in the distance didn't know!

Having just witnessed three of their companions instantly killed by that terrifying blue light, the wolf pack's ferocity and restless attack, fueled by their sheer numbers, faltered upon seeing the deadly blue glow again. Their advance halted, the restless growls continued, but now, a clear sense of apprehension and hesitation lingered in their crimson eyes.

They hesitated and lingered, no longer daring to approach easily.

Lin Yi maintained this posture, keeping the blue light at his fingertips stable, and did not make any more provocative moves.

He was very clear about the boundaries involved.

While an individual abyssal wolf may have limited courage, its boldness grows exponentially once its numbers reach a certain scale.

Just like lions and hyena packs on the savanna, a lone hyena dares not provoke a male lion, but a pack of hyenas dares to snatch food from the lion's mouth and even attack a lone lion.

He is now the lion, and the other side is a pack of more than fifty hyenas.

Rescuing prey and killing its companions is already challenging the wolf pack's bottom line.

If they launch another attack or make any overt provocation, they are likely to completely enrage the wolf pack and trigger a desperate attack.

At that time, although he will be able to kill all these Abyss Wolves, he will also be forced to expose some things that were not part of his plan.

Therefore, the best strategy at this moment is to maintain this standoff under high pressure.

After all, his goal was simply to save people and he didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

Time ticked by in the suffocating standoff.

Only after the five people who had run out of the convenience store finally scrambled into Hongfu Restaurant, and Lin Yi confirmed with the detector that the green dots nearby were all piled up together, did he slowly retract the sword finger of his left hand, and the blue light at the tip of his finger went out.

But instead of retreating immediately, he took a few steps forward and calmly picked up the three Radiant Crystals next to the bus.

The moment the fingertips touched the crystals, information flowed into the mind—all three were level 1 source energy crystals.

"Good luck."

After doing all this, he held the long staff, faced the direction of the wolf pack, and steadily retreated step by step.

Before his figure completely disappeared into the building, Lin Yi glanced one last time in the direction of the lair.

Around the core of the huge, constantly rotating purplish-black vortex in the distance, the dark red veins that had previously flickered faintly were now pulsating at a significantly faster frequency, and the light seemed to be a little more intense, like the blood pumping faster from an enraged heart.

"It seems they've really got their eye on them."

Lin Yi sighed silently.

He also knew that, despite his efforts to restrain himself, his actions were undoubtedly a serious provocation to this conservative group.

Normally, given the "steady and methodical" nature of such nests, they would prioritize eliminating weaker and easier-to-reach survivors within their territory. Hongfulou, being a tough nut to crack, would likely be a lower priority in their attack sequence, only being taken down when they have a high degree of confidence.

But now, he slapped them hard in front of their lair, rescued two batches of prey, and killed quite a few Abyss Wolves. This feud is now firmly established.

Therefore, the peace between the two sides at this moment is only temporary.

What maintains this fragile peace is not the other side's tolerance, but their current lack of offensive forces capable of directly confronting them, such as the Giant Rock Abyss Bear.

Based on his experience from his previous life and the energy reaction speed of the nest at this moment, Lin Yi made an estimate.

"Tomorrow, once the nest has a new source of energy, the Giant Rock Abyss Bear should come out."

Lin Yi gripped the long stick tightly in his hand.

At that time, with their powerful weapons, the wolf pack would probably target Hung Fook Lou as their first target for revenge.

"The original plan will have to be delayed slightly."

He sighed inwardly.

This fierce battle is inevitable.

Only after this battle is over, after they have truly been hurt, and after this nest has realized once again that an easy attack here will come at a high price, can he leave with some peace of mind and head to the gathering point.

Otherwise, no sooner had he left than Yuan Xiong and his pack of wolves could have leveled the place.

　Thanks to "Update Quickly, Brother" for the donation.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)