Chapter 34

Chapter 34

An A-grade flying beast capable of covering over two hundred kilometers in just minutes would naturally have an even faster hunting dive speed.

Xu Qiao and the others, along with the fire scorpion, barely had time to see the shape of the flying beast before its massive shadow loomed right in front of them.

The moment the sharp, strong iron claws of the flying beast seized the head and tail of the fire scorpion spirit, it was the slowest point in its dive.

Three energy gun bullets simultaneously shot towards the flying beast's head.

In a flash of black, the flying beast darted back into the sky, and all three energy rounds missed their mark.

Meng Li recalled the fire scorpion spirit.

Xu Qiao, watching the flying beast still ascending due to inertia, said, "It's a tiger-striped hawk."

A variant of a fierce bird resembling an eagle, covered in tiger-striped feathers.

Awakened humans had developed their abilities to impressive levels, while mutated creatures had evolved their bodies to monstrous degrees.

Sun Fushan hurriedly handed Meng Li a set of A-grade combat armor. As for him and Xu Qiao, they were already wearing C-grade armor, and there was no time to change.

Sun Fushan had something to say but couldn't express it. Xu Qiao stepped in front of Meng Li, "I'll buy you some time. Quickly put it on!"

It was difficult for energy guns to hit a tiger-striped hawk. Among the three, only Meng Li, at B-grade, had the strength to fight one, provided she first prepared her defenses.

Given the situation, Meng Li took the armor and ran towards the nearby forest.

The tiger-striped hawk dove again, its sharp eyes locking onto Meng Li, clearly recognizing that this human was the one who had been about to eat the fire scorpion.

Xu Qiao stopped Sun Fushan from raising his gun and aimed as she ran away, releasing her spirit.

This time, she went all out. A vast expanse of misty lotus ponds spread out around her, with layers of green lotus leaves towering higher than the trees overhead, shrouded in white mist that concealed everything beneath.

Xu Qiao and Sun Fushan promptly hid under a large lotus leaf.

They couldn't see Meng Li's position, only feeling the wind from the flapping wings that caused the entire lotus leaf to tilt to one side.

The already weakened lotus flower spirit could not withstand the overwhelming gusts and flew back into Xu Qiao's body.

When a spirit leaves its user, both lose shared senses and can only communicate through thoughts. However, if the spirit suffers an unbearable attack, the impact directly affects the user.

A searing pain surged through her mind, and Xu Qiao collapsed into Sun Fushan's arms.

But her severe injury bought the tiger-striped hawk a miss. The hawk flew back up into the sky, its eagle eyes scanning below, spotting the "scorpion-scented woman" lying flat in a patch of grass, quickly putting on a black outfit. Realizing the black outfit might pose a threat, the tiger-striped hawk turned and dove down again.

Its speed was so fast that the trio's defense and offense could only be measured in seconds.

Meng Li needed at least ten more seconds to finish putting on her armor.

"Don't move!"

Sun Fushan rudely removed Xu Qiao's helmet and shoved a green wood-type crystal core into her mouth while shouting loudly at Meng Li.

Meng Li chose to comply.

Lying on her back, the tiger-striped hawk in her black pupils grew closer. Just as she could see the sharp, scythe-like claws, a larger shadow covered her, revealing the yellow jade-like carapace above her eyes. This shadow suddenly lifted off with the flying tiger-striped hawk, revealing a giant turtle peering down at her.

The tiger-striped hawk seemed to know its transparent prey could vanish at any moment, tightening its sharp claws.

Just before Meng Li leaped up to put on her helmet, she saw the motionless giant turtle being pierced through its carapace and dissipating.

If it were a real ordinary turtle, its shell would have shattered with blood splattering.

But the absence of blood did not mean the spirit didn't feel pain.

As the turtle spirit vanished, Meng Li coldly put on her helmet, facing the swooping tiger-striped hawk. She turned and sprinted away.

The shadow blotting out the sky arrived in an instant, and Meng Li made a diving motion forward.

Convinced the scorpion-scented woman couldn't escape, the tiger-striped hawk grabbed its prey in new clothes and flew upward, unaware that Meng Li had turned mid-air, flying upside-down with the hawk.

The massive talons clamped tightly around Meng Li's chest and abdomen, the sharp tips instinctively digging inward to pierce the prey's flesh.

The A-grade armor stubbornly resisted the initial force of the tiger-striped hawk.

Realizing something was amiss, the hawk looked down at its prey.

Meng Li raised her energy gun and fired three shots at the bird's belly.

The tiger-striped hawk released its grip in agony.

Meng Li plummeted rapidly, activating her armor's flight mode mid-air to stabilize herself.

The tiger-striped hawk, a highly sensitive and aggressive creature with relatively weak defenses, had its abdomen penetrated by Meng Li's three shots. Its corpse fell straight down as its momentum ceased.

Meng Li didn't chase after the A-grade flying beast's corpse. She was about to land to check on her teammates when she noticed two other flying beasts turning towards them, followed by a swarm of smaller flying beasts.

Meng Li's face darkened as she landed beside Xu Qiao and Sun Fushan, and the fire scorpion spirit reappeared, digging a hole with its large pincers.

Meng Li secured her teammates' helmets, carrying one under each arm, and jumped into the hole dug by the fire scorpion.

By the time the second tiger-striped hawk dove down, the hole was already over five meters deep. Meng Li hugged her teammates at the bottom, with the fire scorpion propping itself up to protect them, its stinger hidden in the intentionally displaced soil.

The tiger-striped hawk landed at the entrance of the hole, its sharp beak piercing the center of the depression.

The fire scorpion lunged outward, its stinger colliding with the hard part of the bird's beak, spraying a dense cloud of venom.

The toxic fog enveloped the head of the tiger-harrier that couldn't retract in time, sticking to its eyes that also failed to close.

Enhanced physical constitution doesn't mean immunity to all poisons. A B-grade ordinary mutant beast is hard-pressed to kill an A-grade mutant beast, but B-grade toxins can directly damage an A-grade mutant beast's insides. Even if it doesn't immediately cause death, it will inflict pain.

As if splashed with chili water, the second tiger-harrier let out a miserable shriek and flapped its wings into the air, instinctively seeking water to wash its eyes.

The third tiger-harrier circled and landed on a nearby tree.

Its sharp eyes fixed on the faintly visible red-black scorpion tail in the cave, this tiger-harrier turned its head, issuing several short calls to the lower-ranked tiger-harriers that hadn't yet arrived.

Among the swarm of trailing tiger-harriers were both B-grade and C-grade ones. Upon receiving orders from the higher-ranked harrier, they swooped down, some probing the cave entrance with their claws, others using their long beaks, while one specifically kept watch for the fire scorpion's toxic fog, immediately flapping its wings to deflect the black mist whenever it spewed out.

The other tiger-harriers that couldn't squeeze in began digging with their claws, attempting to unearth their prey.

The bird claws of C-grade tiger-harriers were comparable to the sharpest hoes, and the earth here visibly thinned at a rapid pace.

More and more tiger-harriers joined the attack on the fire scorpion. Finally, Meng Li's mental energy was depleted, and the fire scorpion vanished reluctantly.

Meng Li immediately switched to a gun, using an A-grade energy pistol to kill the circle of tiger-harriers surrounding the cave entrance.

However, there were too many tiger-harriers, and the energy pistol's ammunition was limited.

Xu Qiao woke up amidst the continuous gunfire.

While she was unconscious, her lotus flower mental entity automatically absorbed the wood-type crystal core given by Sun Fushan, not only healing her injuries but also restoring three-tenths of her mental energy.

Realizing the urgency, Xu Qiao hurried to find the gun Sun Fushan had given her.

Meng Li smiled bitterly, "Both guns are empty now; this is the third one. There's at least one A-grade tiger-harrier outside, and countless lower-ranked ones."

Sun Fushan had brought only three energy pistols.

Xu Qiao looked at the still-unconscious Sun Fushan beside her and tried to heal him, but her healing ability couldn't restore his depleted mental energy, which was the true reason for his unconsciousness.

Suddenly, a tiger-harrier poked its entire head into the cave.

Xu Qiao instinctively released a water blade at its slender neck.

She usually used water arrows and water balls, expecting it would take at least two water blades to sever the head of this C-grade tiger-harrier, but surprisingly, one cut was enough to separate head from body.

Even Meng Li, who was struggling to cope, glanced over.

There was no time for them to discuss this change. Xu Qiao immediately began experimenting with the continuously probing bird heads or claws.

Wherever the water blade passed, bird heads and claws fell like rain, occasionally requiring two cuts to succeed.

Meng Li exclaimed joyfully, "B-grade!"

Xu Qiao released a smaller version of her mental entity, the lotus flower still with thirty-three petals, but the mist beneath the lotus leaves had transformed into gently surging deep water.

With increased combat power, Xu Qiao immediately said, "Absorb the crystal cores quickly; I'll deal with these lower-ranked harriers."

Mutants could only absorb crystal cores of the same attribute. Today, they had obtained two fire-type crystal cores, but Meng Li had been too busy fighting to absorb them.

"Alright."

Putting away the energy pistol with only two bullets left, Meng Li held a crystal core in each hand, about to absorb them, when all the tiger-harriers outside suddenly rose into the air.

Some of the tiger-harriers hung upside down with drooping wings, clearly under external control.

The teammates exchanged glances, cautiously remaining still, observing through the cave entrance.

A red light flashed, and the area above where dozens of tiger-harriers had gathered suddenly burst into flames.

Xu Qiao's eyes lit up—had the patrol finally arrived?

The flames gradually died down, and gusts of wind swept away the remains and ashes of the mutant beasts, along with countless crystal cores.

A few seconds later, a tall figure clad in S-grade black battle armor appeared above the cave entrance, its face hidden behind a helmet.

The figure tossed down a rope.

Meng Li grabbed the rope first, climbing out swiftly, ensuring there was no danger outside before thanking the rescuer and helping carry Sun Fushan, who was being lifted out by a lotus leaf.

When Xu Qiao climbed out of the cave, she only caught a glimpse of a pair of straight, long legs outlined by the battle armor before the figure took off, flying north toward An County.

Meng Li looked around, noticing that the A-grade tiger-harrier was gone, and exclaimed, "He's S-grade."

Only an S-grade powerhouse could so easily control and kill an A-grade mutant beast.

Xu Qiao looked in the direction of Jing City: "Something must have happened at The Second School, causing so many high-level beasts to scatter, prompting the base to send an S-grade powerhouse to handle it."

Meng Li nodded. "Yes, while it's still relatively safe, you dig out the crystal cores here, and I'll go find the corpse of the other A-grade tiger-harrier."

Having used so many of Sun Fushan's energy rounds, they needed to make up for the losses with these tiger-harriers.

Xu Qiao nodded. After Meng Li flew away, she prepared to dissect the tiger-harriers but noticed a small pile of crystal-clear crystal cores next to the cave entrance, including one A-grade core.

Could this be compensation sent by the base on behalf of The Second School?