Miles recognized him, and Tanya also had a bit of memory. He was a male from the Little River village and was one of the strongest warriors when he was young. He was a friend of Tanya's father. After Tanya's father died, he and his wife quietly looked after Tanya and her siblings.
"Arnold, what's wrong?" Miles stepped up to him.
"Tanya, Miles, go back quickly. Star and Moon are in trouble!" Arnold was actually around forty years old. In modern times, he would still be considered in his prime.
But in this wild beast world, humans age fast and live short lives. To still be alive at forty was already considered long-lived.
Tanya immediately became serious and sprinted toward the bamboo house.
Arnold didn't rest. He ran back with them. "It's the beastmen. They suddenly showed up and tried to catch Star and Moon. I had Mily take them into the mountains to hide."
Miles frowned hard and handed him the basket in his hands. "Arnold, please take this back for us. I'm going first."
"Alright, alright, go quickly!" Arnold took the basket and pushed them to hurry. "If you're any later, those two kids might not survive."
In the beast tribes, females were very rare. Star might be kept alive, but Moon would definitely be killed.
Tanya quickly grabbed Miles before he could run too fast. "Take me with you."
This body was too weak. She couldn't keep up with his speed.
Miles remembered she had special weapons, so without a word, he tucked her under his arm and dashed off.
If Tanya had known what he was thinking, she would've been embarrassed. She didn't even have a single bullet left. She had just used them all on that mole cricket swarm.
If she had known, she would've saved some bullets. Now, the only choice was to quickly level up her powers. She didn't need all five types, just for the wind ability to stop disappearing at random. She didn't expect to return to her peak level in the future world, but at least she needed to be strong enough to survive in this beast world.
In a blink, Miles had already carried her into the forest.
Tanya was confused. When they came earlier, they had walked by the river, not through the woods.
"They went into the mountains. Deeper in is the Endless Forest. It's very dangerous. They wouldn't go that way. Up there is the tribe. If we go this way, we might run into them."
Tanya nodded. "The tribe people definitely won't save them."
The twins were born in a primitive world where twins were considered cursed because it was believed they killed their mother in childbirth. If they ran back to the tribe, they might die faster.
"Yeah. Star and Moon are smart."
Miles spoke while running fast with Tanya in his arms. She was shocked he wasn't even breathing heavily. His stamina was incredible.
Star really had run toward the end of the Little River without thinking. Her sister and Miles were there. The wind sound behind them told them the beastmen were still chasing.
"Ah!" Star tripped over some grass and fell to the ground.
Moon tried to grab her but lost his balance too. The two of them fell together.
The two kids had been undernourished for a long time. Tanya had fed them well the past few days, but the damage was too much to fix quickly.
"Star!"
"Haha. These two little cubs can really run."
Several adult males appeared behind them, moving slowly and relaxed. They had clearly been following the kids for a while.
Rather than catching them, it looked more like they were driving them forward to lure out someone stronger.
One of them shot out white silk from his hand. It wrapped around Star's ankle and pulled her backward. While she screamed, he grabbed her by the neck and smiled wickedly. "This little female is still young, but raise her a bit and she'll be useful."
In his other hand, he was holding another unconscious young female. It was Mily.
The males behind him burst into loud laughter. "This trip was worth it. We caught two females!"
"No, three. Wasn't there supposed to be an adult too?"
"Yeah. Hahaha."
Moon saw Star being taken and panicked. He raised his bone knife and rushed at the beastmen.
The leader, the spider beastman, sneered. "Overestimating yourself."
Behind him, another beastman transformed into a huge poisonous wasp and flew toward Moon. If that venomous stinger touched him, the boy would die instantly.
Moon raised his bone knife to block, but it was like an ant trying to move a tree. Useless.
Just at that moment, Miles and Tanya arrived.
Suddenly, the air filled with a sweet and attractive scent from a female. The beastmen froze. The wasp also turned back into human form and looked in the same direction.
Miles gently set Tanya down and rushed forward, punching the beastman attacking Moon.
That beastman was surprised by the strength of this human male. He quickly moved to the side and threw Moon aside. Then he turned and rushed toward Tanya.
At the same time, the spider beastman shot out silk again, trying to wrap up Tanya like before and drag her away.
Compared to the two little girls, this beautiful and sweet-smelling adult female was far more valuable. He threw the other two girls to someone behind him without care.
Miles's heart dropped. He picked up Moon and turned back immediately. Tanya couldn't be taken.
She was a human female. Being captured by beastmen who lacked females could only mean one thing.
No, he would never accept that.
Tanya stood at a distance, watching the beastmen and analyzing their abilities. She remembered the mole cricket beastman from before. These beastmen only had some animal features. They weren't like the magical monsters from the apocalypse books that could control the elements or cast spells.
That made things easier.
She had a plan now. With confidence, she moved calmly.
At that moment, spider silk wrapped around her waist. She pulled out a dagger from her space storage, cut the silk cleanly, and charged straight at the wasp beastman.
These beastmen were strong and had huge bodies that gave them a big advantage over humans.
But Tanya was faster, more flexible, and had combat experience from fighting zombies in the apocalypse. She quickly pinned the wasp beastman down.
She shouted to Miles, "Don't worry about me. Save them first."
Miles saw she could handle it, so he set Moon aside and focused on saving Star and Mily.
He used to be the strongest warrior in the Central Tribe. Most of the wandering beastmen in the area had suffered under him before.
The only reason they dared show up today was because they heard he was injured and useless. They came to kill him and take revenge for the past.
But now, after seeing him beat down one beastman in just a few moves, they all realized something.
They had been tricked. He wasn't useless at all.