The black bear attacked continuously seven or eight times, each assault weaker than the last.

The heavy impact sounds gradually turned into insignificant slapping noises.

“Almost there…” Qi Xia said. “Its attacks should end here.”

Sure enough, just as Qi Xia predicted, after finishing its last feeble attack, the black bear cautiously looked at the iron plate before it, snorted a few puffs of hot air from its nose, and gave up.

It didn’t look very tired, but it had stopped attacking.

“That’s it?” Qiao Jiajin peeked out from the side of the iron plate. “That guy should still have strength left.”

“Animals are different from humans. To cope with the dangers that can be found everywhere in nature, they rarely allow themselves to fall into a state of complete exhaustion. Even if it still has energy left, it’s not prepared to fight this iron plate to the bitter end.”

Indeed, the black bear silently turned around and walked toward a corpse on the ground.

This was the woman who had died at the very start of the game.

She was also a more stable and safe food source for the black bear.

The bear’s eyes remained fixed on the iron plate’s direction as it sniffed the corpse on the ground. Then it opened its mouth and with a “splurt” bit through the corpse’s belly.

The sound was like biting through a water-filled plastic bag, with bright red contents spilling all over the ground.

Next, the black bear nudged with its nose and began using its tongue to select satisfactory organs. Before long, “smacking” sounds could be heard, as if it were eating with great relish.

Everyone turned their faces away, really unable to watch this scene.

The black bear ate while looking toward the iron plate, forming a bizarre standoff between the two sides.

Fortunately, there was little time left.

Under the tense, oppressive atmosphere surrounding everyone, the black bear made no further moves. It simply ate the corpse’s entire abdomen clean, exposing several stark white ribs.

Qi Xia checked the time—only thirty-some seconds left. It looked like the game was about to end.

But at this moment, the well-fed black bear suddenly let out a low roar and once again twisted its massive body to charge over.

It seemed to know that time was running out and was preparing for one final gamble.

“It’s coming!! Get ready!!” Qi Xia shouted loudly, alerting Qiao Jiajin.

Qiao Jiajin kicked both feet backward, positioning his entire body at an angle against the iron plate.

The column behind him also quickly positioned themselves. The group had become somewhat united now, with each person steadily supporting the person in front of them.

They thought this assault could also pass safely, but unexpectedly, when the black bear ran to the iron plate, it suddenly reared up and stood, its form over two meters tall giving everyone an overwhelming sense of oppression.

“Oh no…” Qi Xia immediately sensed trouble.

The next second, the black bear placed both front paws on top of the iron plate and thrust its head over. It opened its mouth, with fragments of human flesh still stuck between its teeth.

“ROAR—!!”

With a tremendous roar, Qi Xia felt his ears were about to be deafened. The black bear’s foul-smelling saliva also sprayed all over his face.

“Hold on!” Little Glasses shouted.

Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth tightly and pushed hard against the plate. He could clearly feel several hundred kilograms of weight pushing forward, attempting to flatten him into a pancake.

“I… god… damn…”

Even speaking became difficult for Qiao Jiajin. Qi Xia immediately stepped forward to help him hold it. The black bear’s strength was too terrifying, to the point that the people behind them were somewhat paralyzed with fear.

The black bear pushed forward forcefully several more times. Finding that the iron plate wouldn’t budge an inch, it actually grasped the edges with both hands and suddenly pulled in its own direction.

Qiao Jiajin and Qi Xia had been bracing the plate and pushing outward, never expecting the black bear would also pull outward. Following the momentum, it directly toppled the plate to the ground.

Both men instantly lost their support and fell to the floor.

CLANG!!

With the loud sound of the iron plate hitting the ground, everyone was exposed before the black bear, including Qiao Jiajin and Qi Xia, who were at the greatest disadvantage.

Before the two could react, the black bear immediately extended its front paw to strike at Qiao Jiajin.

Qiao Jiajin suddenly rolled to the side, narrowly dodging this strike.

“Hey! You liar! Get up!!” Qiao Jiajin, who had rolled to the side, shouted loudly. “If you keep lying there, you’re dead!!”

Qi Xia lay on the ground rolling continuously, feeling as if he’d been struck in the chest earlier. For a moment, breathing was somewhat difficult.

Qiao Jiajin climbed up, anxiously looking in Qi Xia’s direction. “This is bad… you liar, hurry up and get up!”

Qi Xia wanted to get up too, but his body hurt terribly. He tried several times but kept falling back to the ground.

The black bear seemed to have noticed Qi Xia’s condition and immediately abandoned the agile Qiao Jiajin, turning instead to pounce on Qi Xia.

Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and stomped his foot. After a running start of two steps, he leaped into the air and executed a flying knee strike from the side, hitting the black bear squarely in the face.

The black bear howled in pain, immediately closed both eyes, and swung with its front claw, striking Qiao Jiajin’s abdomen.

“Agh!”

This strike looked casual but happened to hit the most vulnerable part of the human body. Qiao Jiajin flew straight backward.

“Cough, cough… damn…” Qiao Jiajin felt like his ribs might be broken.

“What, what do we do…” Little Glasses said nervously. “We need to save them…”

Having said this, he thought of something and immediately turned to the middle-aged man. “Old Lu! Quick, take off your shoes! I have a way to save them!”

“Don’t be stupid!” the middle-aged man said. “Little Glasses, do you want to bring trouble on yourself?! If the black bear just eats those two, we’ll be safe! Time’s almost up!”

Little Glasses looked up—indeed, the game had less than twenty seconds left.

The black bear at this moment extended its forearm toward Qi Xia again. Looking at the current situation, although the game was about to end, Qi Xia would certainly die.

This man had just been doing his utmost at the iron plate to contend with the black bear. Regardless of his ultimate purpose, he had indeed saved everyone’s lives.

After one second of internal struggle, Little Glasses immediately made his decision.

“Hey! You bastard!!” He shouted while jumping forward a step. “Don’t touch him!!”

The black bear froze and shrank back slightly.

The middle-aged man was also startled and growled quietly, “Holy shit! Little Glasses, have you lost your mind?!”

“You damn blind bear…” Little Glasses ignored the middle-aged man and instead cursed at the black bear. “If you’ve got guts, come chase me…”

Before he could finish speaking, the black bear immediately pounced.

Little Glasses was horrified and turned to run. He had thought he could tangle with this black bear for a few dozen seconds like Qiao Jiajin had.

But he had never imagined how terrifying it would be to be pursued by a massive predator filled with endless killing intent. Hot wind kept rushing at his back, carrying a faint stench. Although he tried his best to stay calm, his legs kept trembling, and every two steps he took, he would fall once.

He could only keep getting up after falling, falling and getting up again.

Looking at this situation, before the black bear could kill him, he might fall to his death first.