Chapter 185

Chapter 185

Yo!

Akjin almost thought she had been startled by a snake, but then she realized that the term "Dad" wasn't the black snake's self-reference; it was referring to Ji Xinghai.

Huh? Wait, can the black snake talk?

There are combat pets that can talk, but they are usually those whose traits involve human speech, like parrots or those with higher intelligence.

The black snake talking... Could it be a mutation?

Thinking about it, there are indeed combat pets that mutate and develop traits completely different from their original nature. Akjin accepted this premise.

"Yes, your dad’s." She checked the time. "You should go back now. I need to leave too."

The black snake watched her leave using the same method. It bit down on the three cards and crawled out through the same gap, making its way back to Ji Xinghai.

The outer light barrier did not stop it.

The black snake placed the cards in Ji Xinghai’s pocket and coiled itself inside, next to the five-star crystal stone that had only been scratched. Sniffing the familiar scent, it closed its eyes contentedly.

Akjin descended from the tree as quickly as possible, but it still took nearly ten minutes. Now that she didn’t have to worry about being detected by monsters, she took out her motorcycle from her storage space and sped off to the designated meeting point.

"How is it going?"

As the one drawing attention, Wanda, who was injured, squatted to the side waiting for the medicine to take effect: "Almost over. How about you?"

"Two," Akjin said, peering into the distance and then looking back at the tallest tree on the vast plain. There was no movement, which was a good sign.

"Two what?" Wanda suddenly remembered something and jumped up despite his broken leg. "Not two eggs, right?"

"Exactly two eggs."

"We hit the jackpot! Our team finally has some operating funds."

"Don’t celebrate yet; we’re not done." Akjin looked back at the tree again. It had been twenty-five minutes since Ji Xinghai activated his skill, and the female night owl could wake up at any moment.

Wanda noticed her frequent glances at the tree and finally remembered the newcomer: "To complete the mission facing a night owl, the newcomer did well. By the way, he’s hidden, right? Don’t let the night owl find him."

Akjin thought to herself that the night owl had already discovered him, but she didn’t want to elaborate in this situation.

"Goo!"

A sharp whistle came from the direction of the tall tree. The sound waves shook off many leaves and sent a flock of bird monsters flying. Akjin, who had been watching closely, turned pale upon hearing this.

The female night owl had woken up, and the newcomer was in danger!

She instinctively wanted to go over but remembered the two eggs in her pocket.

No, her current task was to protect the eggs. Besides, the protective barrier could withstand three fatal crises...

"Goo goo!"

Another sharp whistle came from another direction, carrying a hint of sorrow, as if conveying a message of impending death. Immediately after, there was a loud explosion. Clearly, the other side had heard the female night owl and intensified their attack.

The female night owl on the giant tree also heard the sound. In that momentary pause, Ji Xinghai’s three-star skill "Sheep Transformation" activated.

The near-S-level monster night owl turned into a black-faced white-furred sheep in a puff of green smoke. This sheep innocently bleated at him, with a ten-second countdown above its head.

"Snap!"

At the instant the night owl turned into a sheep, a hand reached out and slipped a button-like object into its mouth just as it opened its mouth, then gently pushed it.

The black-faced sheep, already at the edge of the nest, was pushed out in confusion and fell straight down.

Off you go.

Ji Xinghai turned and jumped into the nest, which was soft and sturdy enough to withstand the impact of the explosion without much trouble.

He counted down in his mind: 5, 4, 3... 1!

Bong!

The explosion sounded as expected, startling everyone, including Akjin, who was worried.

"What happened?" Wanda touched his nearly dislocated leg, watching the golden sparks erupting from under the giant tree, and then a long-necked bird monster emerged from the sparks.

It was like magic.

But the bomb was real, and its immense power created a massive shockwave that shook even the towering trees, causing leaves to fall and breaking branches. The whole tree seemed to age overnight.

The night owl at the center of the explosion naturally couldn’t escape. Even an A-level top-tier monster was now staggering, smoke rising from its throat. Even when it tried to fly, its wings trembled, making it drop repeatedly, looking exhausted.

Seeing all this, Wanda’s mood exploded like his lion’s head: "Newcomer? How did he do it?"

The only one left there was the newcomer. How did he manage to use his skill to trap the night owl and deliver such a memorable blow?

Single-handedly bringing a top-tier monster to this state.

Wow, the feeling of both shock and satisfaction was indescribable.

Even Wanda, who knew nothing, felt this way, and Akjin, who had a vague idea of the process, was even more stunned.

Some things become even more unbelievable the more you understand them. She knew the explosion’s effect came from the button bombs and that Ji Xinghai not only survived but also bombed the monster.

But how did he manage to attach the bomb to the night owl? And how did he successfully throw a flying bird off the tree?

A flying creature, incredibly fast, weighing several tons, with a wingspan of dozens of meters—could such a monster be casually tossed from its nest? Is that reasonable? Is it scientific?

"If it were me, what would I do? Could I manage?" Akjin asked herself, but after a minute, she stopped tormenting herself. She couldn't think of anything; it was simply impossible.

While Akjin and the others had the energy to ponder, the female Night Owl that was thrown from the tree was truly furious.

It had never experienced such humiliation in its life. Being dragged into some inexplicable place to play a guessing game, slowly losing blood bit by bit—it was unbearable.

What infuriated it most was the two-legged creature's incessant chatter, not a single word worth listening to.

Though it couldn't speak human language, it understood every word. The two-legged creature deliberately poked at its sore spots, even advising it not to get upset over losing its eggs and chicks, suggesting it could live a peaceful life as a single noble widow bird.

That creature wasn't human!

So, the moment it came out, it intended to kill this hateful being. Who knew that the creature had the skill to turn the mighty sky ruler into a fat sheep, stuffing a bomb down its throat and pushing it off the tree.

Pushed off the tree.

An utter disgrace!

A bird, pushed off a tree and blown up!

The disgraced Night Owl didn't even bother with its wailing mate and let out a piercing scream, rushing towards the nest.

The earlier explosion had caused significant trouble for it, and combined with previous injuries, it had lost nearly a third of its health. However, both its wings were still intact.

Flying above the nest, it shook off the last few leaves, but looking around, the nest was empty. Not only was there no sign of the hateful human, but the eggs and chicks were gone too.

Some kind of pungent, sour liquid had been sprinkled in the nest, destroying any remaining scent, making tracking impossible.

"Gu—"

As soon as the explosion ended, Ji Xinghai, who had quickly escaped and hidden in a tiny tree hole he had seen, perked up his ears.

Had it discovered the vinegar spilled on the nest? Or perhaps it was the seasoning packet left from his breakfast.

Was it this angry because it didn't like it?

"Gu—" Unable to find the culprit, the Night Owl angrily overturned the nest.

Hiding in the tree hole, Ji Xinghai listened. Was the female Night Owl so enraged that it might actually spit blood?

Indeed, high-grade bombs had impressive effects, completely different from the earlier one that took only 0.3 of its health. If possible, he needed to prepare more of these bombs to use in conjunction with the Sheep Transformation spell, doubling the effect.

Unable to find Ji Xinghai and having suffered the tragedy of losing all its young, the Night Owl not only overturned the nest but also wreaked havoc on the tree—its flapping wings turned the air into sharp blades, destroying the tree's canopy beyond recognition.

The little monsters whose homes had already been damaged by the explosion's shockwave dared not protest and could only watch helplessly as the enraged Night Owl vented its fury.

Finally, it remembered the male bird that had been crying for help earlier.

However, by the time the female night owl hurried over, it was too late.

Where was the male night owl? He had already fallen and turned into experience points and loot. The loot had been collected by Brother Cat and would be distributed later based on each person's contribution.

The system's allocation was still too rigid, not accounting for non-combat contributions.

Having lost her child and mate in one day, the female night owl finally went berserk. She flapped her wings high above, creating invisible wind blades that spun rapidly, soon forming two tornadoes spinning in opposite directions. Even the most advanced materials would be shredded if caught in this whirlwind, let alone fragile human bodies.

"Run!" Brother Cat and the others, who were just catching their breath, knew they couldn't face the enraged female night owl in their current state, so they chose to retreat temporarily.

They had noticed the previous explosion as well.

"Amazing. I wonder what the rookie did; he managed to bring the monster to such a sorry state all by himself. We barely managed to take down the male night owl with all of us."

"He's got guts. Give him a stick, and he'd poke a hole in the sky."

Brother Cat rode his motorcycle, splitting up from the others. They communicated through the walkie-talkies on their bikes.

"Is the rookie really that good?"

"Even better than you can imagine. Give him some time, and he'll grow beyond recognition."

"I can't wait. I dream of being carried by someone and competing for the top ten teams."

"Then stay alive. Dead, you get nothing."

They moved in irregular curves, making it impossible for the circling night owl to predict their next moves. It could only unleash large-scale wind blade attacks continuously.

During these brief moments, the team members, accustomed to life-and-death situations, chatted and took some medicine to recover.

Once they regained their strength, they would face off against the bereaved monster.

Roasted Chestnuts was a team with an unreliable name but highly mature and coordinated. Once they restored sixty percent of their health, they began their joint attack on the female night owl.

Using the same method, one person set traps while another lured the night owl. When the night owl was drawn into the trap area, the waiting students used control skills to lock it down, followed by concentrated fire. Those defending against the monster's attacks used protective skills.

"They must have practiced a lot to achieve such coordination." Ji Xinghai, who had already emerged from the tree hollow, stood openly on a branch. His height gave him a wide view of everything happening in the distance.

The more advanced the skill, the more restrictions it had and the shorter its effective duration. Therefore, every second of coordination was crucial. Any mistake in their process would cause the entire chain to break.

Despite Ji Xinghai's impressive feat of taking nearly a third of the monster's health, he knew that without follow-up support, he could only watch helplessly as the monster escaped.

Highly sensitive and short-lived, yet with high attack power—such was the nature of his role.

Thus, utilizing all team members to maintain continuous and effective attacks on the monster was both the most challenging and the most reliable strategy.

In the end, the female night owl was worn down and killed, dropping more loot than the male night owl. Brother Cat collected the loot and would distribute it later.

"Let's turn in the mission first, then go for a drink." Wandaigeneration, seeing Ji Xinghai approach, hopped over despite his leg injury, "The hero is here. Are you of age yet?"

Ji Xinghai nodded: "I'm an adult now."

"The strongest rookie king is here."

The team members had already learned from Ajin what had happened, and they were all very happy to see Ji Xinghai. He was the most critical piece, and because he performed so well, he saved them a lot of trouble. Moreover, this time they even obtained two combat pet eggs with A-level potential—what a fortune.

The only regret was that they couldn't save the humans who were taken away. They couldn’t even bring back the bodies due to the lack of time.

With the main monster dead, the secret realm would soon disappear, and they couldn’t stay here indefinitely.

"Ajin, is this yours?" Ji Xinghai took out the five-star protective shield from his body. He hadn’t used it but appreciated the gesture. "Thank you."

"Hey, keep it. Every member of our group has one, and Brother Cat will replenish mine later," Ajin said with a smile, refusing the offer.

"Just take it; you need it." The others chimed in, "You’re our lucky charm; we can upgrade our gear this time."

"Let me rub some luck off you; I’m going to buy a lottery ticket later."

Those who have fought for their lives often find their fate influenced by other elements. While they might not believe in superstitions, they cannot disrespect them. They felt that Ji Xinghai carried a bit of mysticism.

Brother Bald Cat waited until they had finished their antics and relaxed before urging, "Come on, both Night Owls are dead. The secret realm centered around them will disappear soon. You don’t want to stay here forever, do you?"

"No, no."

They found the rainbow light orb within the secret realm and returned to the game world through it.

The ordinary people outside were startled at first, but upon seeing it was the Special Operations Group, they weren’t surprised anymore.

Everyone took out a motorcycle, and as Ji Xinghai looked around, someone grabbed him and pulled him onto the backseat.

"What are you dazing for? Let’s go, we need to turn in the mission."

A dozen sleek motorcycles formed a convoy, rolling down the road. People who were about to curse saw their high-grade battle suits and immediately fell silent.

At the Special Operations Group substation, they turned in the mission, and a huge sum entered the team's public account. Wandai put his arm around Ji Xinghai’s neck. "Come on, Super Rookie King, I’ll treat you to a meal, something you’ve never tasted before."

As they walked out, they just missed a group of incoming trainees.

"Who the hell is this 101? Damn, I’ve been chasing him since last night, barely slept, and only reached level 9, while he’s already level 15. Damn, is there cheating in this game?"