Free Web NovelChapter 281: Chapter 31: Garuda
As he thought this—perhaps spurred on by the thought of his property, or perhaps because he had finally recovered from the Spiritual Pressure—a bit of courage welled up in the elderly Balha’s heart. He tremblingly took out his phone and dialed a number: the emergency line left by the government officials who had recently come to warn him.
「Five minutes later.」
Accompanied by the rapid thumping of rotor blades, a helicopter roared closer at nearly three hundred kilometers per hour. The Golden Eagle, enjoying a rare feast, warily lifted its head and looked toward the sky at the rapidly approaching ’metallic kin.’ With a single beat of its wings, it rocketed into the air at an initial speed of nearly fifty meters per second, letting out a shrill cry as if to declare its territory.
It was indeed powerful.
And so, it was met with the beam of a Blinding Flashlight moving at three hundred thousand kilometers per second, a high-powered Crossbow Arrow from a sniper crossbow fired from afar, a suppressive barrage of Spiritual Power Bullets, and a mountain of a man, built like an iron tower, leaping directly from the helicopter!
VMM! In an instant, the Golden Eagle’s overly sensitive eyes were dazzled by the Blinding Flashlight, which pulsed with intense Spiritual Light, causing its entire body to plummet from the sky. The high-powered Crossbow Arrow that followed immediately pierced through the Golden Eagle’s steel-hard feathers, pinning its wing bone. And while the barrage of shots failed to penetrate the Golden Eagle’s flesh, the successive impacts were like a series of heavy punches, leaving it dazed, dizzy, and immobile.
The coordinated assault was so exquisitely seamless that the Golden Eagle was completely overwhelmed before it even realized it was in a fight. It didn’t even know who was attacking it, as it had been blinded from the very beginning.
After all, this kind of attack pattern didn’t exist in the natural world.
And the finishing move came from the shield-wielding behemoth who had fallen from the sky. He landed while bellowing an angry war cry—"Who the hell kicked me off?!"—and amidst a teammate’s shouted response of "You slipped! Don’t try to blame anyone else!" he brought his shield down squarely on the Giant Beast’s head, knocking it unconscious and sending it into shock.
Soon, as the elderly plateau-dweller Balha stared, dumbfounded, the helicopter landed. The other three fully armed team members scrambled out. They unfurled a large net equipped with barbed tasers and securely bound the unconscious, pathetic-looking giant eagle, then attached it to the helicopter’s underbelly sling. One of them, a young man with an exceptionally friendly smile, noticed Balha, hurried over, and handed him a feedback form.
"Western Capital Qinxing Academy, Emergency Response Team One, at your service. You can take this form to the official government department to file for compensation, at market value, for any losses incurred from this Spirit Beast attack. Are you satisfied with our service today? If so, please check the box right here. Thanks for your cooperation~"
For a moment, Balha couldn’t process the transition from what felt like a scene out of a gory monster film to this current situation, which had the distinct feel of giving a five-star rating to an online seller. Staring at the handsome youth’s enthusiastic smile, the stunned old man could only gape and nod wordlessly. He took the pen and, on autopilot, placed a red checkmark for a perfect score next to every option.
’Academic credits, secured!’ The youth’s smile became even more genuine.
"These mountains aren’t very safe right now. If possible, please don’t linger around here. If you’re attacked again, don’t provoke the wild animals. Just hide and call our emergency number. A response team is guaranteed to arrive within three to ten minutes. Remember, your life is what’s most important."
Once he confirmed the form was filled out, the handsome youth let out a soft sigh of relief. After offering his smiling admonition, he returned to his squad, leaving the old man—who was still trying to process what had just happened—standing alone. The youth boarded the helicopter, which ascended, towing the unconscious giant bird behind it.
Faintly, he could still hear the sounds of complaints coming from the squad.
"How many does that make? Feels like every single avian Spirit Beast from the whole Northwest Plateau is heading this way, doesn’t it?" It was the voice of the man built like an iron tower. "I actually believed the Academy when they told us we’d ’get some time to cultivate in peace.’ We haven’t had a single moment of downtime since day one, have we?"
"That’s the fifth one, counting this one," came the youth’s voice. "Lighten up, that’s five academic credits right there! Besides, these Spirit Beasts are just flying straight for the Kunlun Ruins; they’re not hurting people. And capturing so many Spirit Birds is a rare opportunity to improve our teamwork... But most importantly, there are credits to be earned!"
The other two members of the team remained silent, radiating an air of cool competence.
...
Kunlun Camp was abuzz with activity. freeweɓnovel.cøm
"The students are all fired up to work. With academic credits as a reward, even the ones who usually like to slack off are showing far more initiative than normal."
"Ah, the passion of student life! I remember back in my day, my own advisor tricked us into doing ’volunteer work’ with the promise of extra points on our exams. I guess it’s finally my turn to be on the other side."
"Watch what you’re saying! This is a test of their character! How can you call something that tests character ’tricking people into doing labor’?"
For a moment, a cheerful atmosphere filled the camp.
Ever since a fissure to the Kunlun Secret Realm had opened, personnel monitoring Spiritual Qi in the Northwest Region had noticed a phenomenon. All the raptorial Spirit Beasts from across the entire northwestern part of Zhengguo, and even from neighboring countries, were flocking towards the Kunlun Secret Realm. At the same time, other Spirit Beasts were also heading toward the Kunlun Ruins; however, since they couldn’t fly, their mobility was poorer, and they had not yet reached the warning perimeter.
The signs were so obvious they were beyond the need for speculation or analysis. Anyone with eyes could see what was happening: inside the Kunlun Secret Realm, the inheritance of at least one of the Avian Demon Gods had been activated.
