The teammates’ words came one after another, leaving Gu Ziyan unable to refute them. Yes, at this moment he was a soldier, no longer Sheng Xia’s class monitor, no longer his grandfather’s grandson.
“Get as close to the ground as possible,” Gu Ziyan said, stepping away from the pilot seat and moving to the cabin door.
The backup pilot immediately adjusted the helicopter, lowering it to its maximum safe altitude.
Gu Ziyan’s emotions surged violently. The black in his eyes slowly deepened into a dark red. With a slight movement of his fingertips, several streams of fire suddenly shot out from the helicopter, striking the fuel tanks of the cars on the ground.
Boom, boom, boom!
A series of explosions echoed like thunder. The beasts caught in the blasts were torn apart, their flesh and blood scattering everywhere.
As if venting his frustration, Gu Ziyan moved his fingers again, directing the flames on the ground to surge through the streets. Wherever the fire passed, beasts howled in agony.
Many nearby beasts retreated instinctively. Their intelligence was not low; they understood that the flying machine above posed a threat.
Suddenly, a dark shadow streaked down from the sky. It was half the size of the helicopter, and its claws scraped across the fuselage with a piercing screech.
The aircraft jolted violently. Gu Ziyan, standing near the cabin door, nearly fell out, but someone beside him reacted quickly and grabbed him.
His expression changed. With a sharp motion of his fingers, the direction of the flames shifted, and a basketball-sized fireball shot toward the shadow.
Under the light of the flames, its true form was revealed, a flying beast resembling a bat.
It had wings two to three meters wide, claws tipped with cold, gleaming spikes, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Its pointed ears stood upright on its head.
If Sheng Xia were here, she would have immediately recognized it as the flying bat-type beast described in the book, known for its speed and detection abilities.
These beasts were extremely agile and fast, and could emit ultrasonic waves like bats to locate enemies. Their only weakness was poor endurance and an inability to fly long distances.
Seeing the fireball incoming, the flying bat beast abandoned its attack and dodged nimbly. The crew’s expressions grew grim.
Gu Ziyan launched several more fireballs, managing only to force it back without dealing any real damage.
This was the first time they had encountered a flying-type mutated beast during their journey, and it proved to be extremely troublesome.
Looking at the still-swarming beasts on the ground, Gu Ziyan’s elemental energy was nearly depleted. He sighed, his heart filled with guilt toward Sheng Xia and remorse toward Su Mei, before giving the order.
“Turn back immediately!”
The team collectively breathed a sigh of relief. The pilot quickly evaded the flying beast and turned the helicopter toward Yanjing at full speed.
It had all started because he had been tricked by Xu Dayou due to his own carelessness, dragged back to Yanjing without explanation. Later, he was confined there, unable to leave. Only after the Blood Moon descended and the world changed, when his body mutated and he awakened fire abilities, was he finally allowed to go out and complete missions.
This time, he and his grandfather had finally persuaded his father to let them come and pick up Sheng Xia. Yet what awaited him was this scene.
If only he had known…
But there was no “if only.”
Sheng Xia, you must survive.
……
After more than an hour driving on the highway, Sheng Xia finally picked up sound from the radio.
What she heard left her deeply shocked.
It turned out Kangcheng was not the only place attacked in advance. Beasts had appeared all over the world. Nearly all towns near those regions had been assaulted without warning.
Only now did those who had sent out suicide squads understand why all previous expeditions into black holes and dimensional rifts had never returned.
Those unknown regions were inhabited by such terrifying creatures. How could anyone survive there?
Sheng Xia realized that the apocalypse described in the book had fully begun. Survival would only become harder from this point onward.
While she was thinking, a white figure suddenly darted out in the middle of the highway. It reflected the headlights, its massive shape resembling an adult mammoth.
Sheng Xia slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel sharply, narrowly avoiding it as she scraped past the guardrail.
Jinbao was flung inside the car, spinning in the air before waving its claws and crying out in protest.
Cold sweat broke out on Sheng Xia’s back. That was a mutated mammoth-like beast.
It was enormous, pure white, with skin as hard as iron and extremely strong defense. However, it was not a fast-moving creature.
Yet one had suddenly appeared on the highway. That could only mean one thing, there was likely a dimensional rift nearby that she did not know about.
Sheng Xia slowed the car, turned on the high beams, and tried to see ahead, but the darkness limited her vision.
There was an exit just ahead. She immediately decided to leave the highway.
If she accidentally drove straight into a dimensional rift, she would be done for.
Just as she turned onto the ramp, before she could feel relief, she looked ahead and her heart sank completely.
As expected, she was no longer the favored child of fate.
He had changed his mind.