Unfortunately, though she and Captain Li meant well, some people took kindness for granted, a portion of the crowd just muttered “it’s just a bit windy” and didn’t take it seriously, so much so that when the first person was attacked and fell, they still hadn’t registered what was happening.
The rescue team had already put on night-vision goggles and opened fire without hesitation.
It was birds, sparrows, most likely, and like the yellow dog before, their eyes were blood-red, savage and bloodthirsty, and they weren’t alone, it was an entire flock.
No wonder the wind had been howling on approach, this dense a swarm, it was practically a locust plague.
The person who’d fallen earlier had thought it was nothing to worry about and hadn’t been on guard at all, when he found himself isolated, three birds swarmed him at once, and in no time his throat was slashed open, he died without even a chance to call for help.
The rescue team had night vision and good aim, able to take one down per shot, but there were simply too many sparrows to kill them all quickly. Li Zhengze had no choice but to shout, “Everyone, pick up any weapon you can! These birds are small, their killing power is limited! Protect yourselves until we’ve taken them all down!”
Shen Qi had already killed more than one sparrow with her dagger the moment she spotted them charging in. Li Zhengze’s claim that they had “limited killing power” was partly meant to keep everyone calm, after fighting them off for even a short while, Shen Qi’s hands had already picked up several deep cuts, nothing to underestimate.
The unlucky man who’d fallen had been caught completely off guard and swarmed, no wonder he died. Still, compared to the bone-deep wounds the yellow dog inflicted, this could indeed be called “limited killing power.”
People kept getting attacked throughout the crowd, screams rising one after another, everyone trying to push toward the center of the group, chaos breaking out everywhere.
The little girl Qingqing got pushed to the edge of the crowd, her mother, shielding her, was already covered in wounds.
Qingqing, eyes brimming with tears, looked at her mother’s pale face and rushed in front of her, flailing her arms wildly: “Don’t hurt my mommy!”
A breeze passed by, and something flew out from behind Qingqing, two feathers gleaming with a metallic sheen, striking precisely into the throats of two sparrows. Those two had been closest to Qingqing, with them dead, she and her mother gained a moment of safety to breathe.
“Huh?” Qingqing blinked in confusion, and before she could figure out where the feathers had come from, her mother pulled her into an embrace, saying urgently, “It’s okay, Mommy’s okay, Qingqing, don’t wander off!”
The little girl buried herself in her mother’s arms, then looked up and saw a very familiar, very beautiful bird.
Its coloring resembled a sparrow’s, but it looked more unusual than an ordinary sparrow. Its round black eyes were like beads, and both its wing feathers and tail feathers were long, gleaming with that same metallic sheen.
“Flower bird bird killed the bad bird.” The child’s babbling was drowned out by the chaos, but the little girl vaguely felt this pretty bird looked a lot like the little flowered sparrow that used to come by her house begging for rice, she’d even given it a name: Huahua.
The sparrows were gradually all killed off.
With the crisis resolved, Shen Qi’s sixth sense told her nothing else would likely happen for now. Still, to be safe, she asked Nuonuo, “Any more danger around?”
Nuonuo: 【None left.】 Its sensing ability, actively spread outward, let nothing slip past its awareness.
Li Zhengze took out his megaphone: “Please don’t panic, the danger has passed. Anyone who’s injured, come forward to report it and receive medicine and bandages! Those with severe injuries will be transported to the hospital right away!”
The rescue team members also helped organize the injured. Zhao Bai came over and asked Shen Qi, “Sister Qi, that was awesome, your moves are great! I can see you and Nuonuo took some hits, want some medicine?”
Shen Qi said, “Sure, thanks.”
Nuonuo: 【Not necessary.】
Shen Qi: “……?”
Zhao Bai couldn’t hear the mental exchange between Shen Qi and Nuonuo, so he simply left behind some medicine and bandages before going off to help other team members.
Shen Qi flashed a saccharine smile: “Why not?”
Nuonuo’s “delicate body” shuddered, and it immediately flopped down, rolling onto its back and showing its belly to be coaxed.
Shen Qi, merciless: “Get up. Acting cute won’t work.”
Nuonuo drooped its head, dejected, glancing at Shen Qi’s displeased expression before hurriedly licking its wounds and shuffling closer to her.
Shen Qi then noticed, the wound that had been deep enough to show bone earlier was slowly closing up, visibly, right before her eyes.
Shen Qi: “……” Her mind was reeling!
That same familiar surreal recipe, that same familiar surreal flavor.
Nuonuo: 【You… Qiqi, don’t be mad, I had confidence when I jumped in. I couldn’t be sure I’d win, but I was sure I’d be fine!】
Shen Qi: “Heh. No trouble, it’s ‘poop-scooper’, trouble hits, and suddenly it’s ‘Qiqi.’ Impressive, really.”
Nuonuo, scared, went quiet, its ears flattening submissively.
Shen Qi sighed and cupped Nuonuo’s head in her hands. With how huge Nuonuo had grown, this gesture now required her to stand on tiptoe, tilt her head back, and reach up.
“I’m not mad at you, I know things are different now from before, we all need to train up and adapt to our abilities to survive in this world, so I won’t stop you, I’m willing to fight alongside you. I’m just worried, you’ve never been hurt this badly before, not once in your whole life…”
Nuonuo lowered its head and nudged her gently, offering silent comfort.
Their little moment was warm and peaceful, but not long after, more trouble broke out nearby.
“Aaahh! What is that! There’s still more sparrows they didn’t kill!! Rescue team, where’s the rescue team?!”
A throbbing pain pulsed at Shen Qi’s temple.
Tonight really was one wave of trouble after another, back and forth without end.
The one screaming was a young man, pointing at the little girl’s shoulder in absolute terror.
Qingqing said, wounded, “Mister, you’re wrong, Huahua isn’t a bad sparrow, Huahua’s a good bird!”
The bird called Huahua perched on the little girl’s shoulder, its long feathers beautiful, seemingly deaf to the man’s shouting and blind to everyone else’s stares, focused entirely on grooming its feathers with its beak.
The man’s face twisted with fear: “Impossible! There were so many birds just now, it must be one that slipped through! Rescue team! Rescue team, kill it now!”
Li Zhengze, thoroughly exasperated, glanced at the bird’s shiny black bead-eyes and immediately understood it was in a similar situation to Nuonuo. He stepped in to mediate: “Quiet! Don’t panic! This bird isn’t one of the earlier sparrows. Regarding the animal anomalies, official word will be released soon, don’t jump at shadows!”
Under the rescue team’s firm authority, the man reluctantly shut his mouth, though it was clear he was still afraid and didn’t quite believe what the rescue team had said.
While no one was paying attention, taking advantage of the crowd’s focus on the man, Nuonuo quietly dragged away the yellow dog’s corpse and a few of the larger bird corpses to hide them somewhere, planning to eat them later.
Shen Qi saw it happen, but of course, she and Nuonuo were of one mind, and she pretended not to notice as well.
Some of the rescue team also noticed Nuonuo’s actions, and afterward, while cleaning up the battlefield, they all tacitly overlooked the missing corpses.
The rescue team wasn’t the type to string people along with empty promises. Less than three days after Li Zhengze’s announcement, the survivors received an official broadcast.
“Static, crackle—”
“Dear citizens, hello, this is Xing Ye, commander-in-chief of the h City military district. Strictly following orders from above, I am here to broadcast information regarding the global earthquake and the animal anomalies.”
“According to expert research, this global earthquake was triggered by abnormal movement of the Earth’s crust, which simultaneously released anomalous particles causing animal mutation. So far, it’s been confirmed that animal mutation falls into two categories: one, malignant mutation, two, benign mutation.”
“After malignant mutation, animals develop blood-red eyes, become savage and violent, and turn bloodthirsty and murderous, they have already caused mass casualties among the population. Experts refer to them as fallen beasts. We ask that all citizens learn to identify them and stay away from red-eyed fallen beasts, do not take any chances!”
“Animals with benign mutation become extraordinarily intelligent, with an IQ comparable to an adult human, and may display strange abilities such as growing in size, developing steel-needle-like fur, or spraying water or fire, phenomena that cannot currently be explained by science. Experts refer to them as mutant beasts. Although mutant beasts are relatively rational, research shows that most do not bond with humans, we advise all citizens not to approach mutant beasts casually. Safety comes first!”
“Aftershocks are gradually subsiding. Please remain calm. The nation will not abandon a single citizen! We ask that any citizens with spare energy assist the rescue teams, help save survivors, and participate in rebuilding efforts! Every contribution will be remembered!”
“Dear citizens…”
The official broadcast looped for quite some time.
The earthquake had destroyed most broadcasting equipment, but during the rescue period, Shen Qi had noticed a dedicated team working on rebuilding equipment, and now the new gear was proving its worth.
The official broadcast was extremely clear, covering the situation, precautions, advice for the public, and gentle requests to the citizens all at once, answering people’s questions while also, to some degree, easing their worries, giving everyone a sense of reassurance.
Shen Qi’s earlier suspicion turned out to be correct, officials had indeed known about the animal mutations for a while, even assigning special researchers to look into it, and only after reaching some conclusions had they informed the public to take precautions.
But, hadn’t officials said mutant beasts mostly didn’t bond with humans? So what was going on with Nuonuo? And what about that bird of Qingqing’s?