Chapter 332

Chapter 332: Not Weak

When a body part that was once there is lost, phantom pain may occasionally arise, which is known as phantom limb pain.

Fulan understood this concept well, but if the situation were reversed—if a body part that had never existed suddenly appeared and hurt—she didn’t know what to call it.

In any case, Fulan wasn’t intentionally nitpicking; the pain from the pair of wings on her back was almost unbearable.

It was a mixture of growth pain, aching pain, and tearing pain, layered together.

Fulan had no idea how far she had flown; she only knew that the white fog around her was gradually dissipating and that the forest below was thinning out, making the shimmering cocoons invisible.

She finally saw the edge of the forest and the nearly unreachable Hope City on the horizon.

Just then, the tearing pain suddenly intensified. Fulan turned her head and saw that her large and small pairs of wings had already detached from her body, flying away like two differently sized boomerangs.

And she was plummeting.

"Ahhhh, meow!"

For a being at Third Level, falling from a height of several dozen meters was indeed difficult to be fatal. Moreover, Fulan’s true form as a cat allowed her to withstand falls better, so she didn’t sustain any injuries.

But for the sake of drama, she had to let out a couple of cries.

She rolled and scrambled to her feet from the ground, knowing that she had to rely on her feet—no, her four legs—to cover the remaining distance.

At that moment, she suddenly heard the sound of feet trampling on the barren ground not far ahead—

Someone was coming!

Fulan quickly entered a state of alert and saw a few figures approaching her from nearby, two of whom she recognized.

—

Wang Xiao had received the assembly order the night before; the massive beast tide had already dispersed, and it was time to embark on a new exploration.

The council members learned from their previous lessons and no longer employed the strategy of casting a wide net to catch fish. Instead, they formed a small team consisting of five high-ranking superpowered individuals.

If they could successfully return from this exploration, future explorations might heavily rely on them.

The five members were:

The so-called Undead, who is known for being able to survive almost anything without being a masochist.

Ink Drench, the one-hit kill king who faced mysterious visitors in rural areas and failed to defeat them despite giving his all.

The Shadow Master, who possesses highly versatile abilities, is smooth and understated in social situations but has recently been forcibly taken to jail to assist investigations.

The Survivor, a master of outdoor survival who requires almost no food and water and can even conquer nature to some extent.

The Sleepless, an artificial radar capable of sensing biological density over a large area and significantly reducing its presence.

Clearly, the council members were learning their lessons.

Even the one who seemed the least combat-ready, the Sleepless, could use its ability to seek benefits and avoid harm, preventing attacks by lowering its presence. As long as its teammates were alive, no enemy would notice it, giving it actual survival ability far beyond what the paper data suggested.

After two previous failures, the council members realized one thing:

Do not bring any technicians on explorations unless they are highly capable or the fighting superpowered individual is a technician themselves.

This time, the mission was straightforward: after a large beast tide, there would be a period of time with reduced danger outside the city.

With the Sleepless’ ability to seek benefits and avoid harm, along with the unparalleled durability of the other four, as long as they could make it back alive, they’d be successful.

Regarding the missing technician in the team, if necessary, the others should learn a bit more…

So at dawn, everyone set out from the city gate to the west and after walking for several hours, they encountered a talking cat falling from the sky.

This was certainly not a coincidence, but rather the guidance of Sleepless.

For some reason, he felt that the biological density outside the city was lower than usual today.

He didn’t realize that what he was sensing as biological density was actually a manifestation of the biological field; he could only perceive a smaller but powerful individual rapidly moving in their southern direction.

The others expected to encounter an enemy, but to their surprise, a cat fell from the sky, meowing loudly.

Fulan rubbed her face with her paw and looked up at the few people in front of her.

Aside from the unfamiliar faces of Ink Drench, Survivor, and Sleepless, she recognized Wang Xiao and Shadow Master.

Although she had participated in their exploration, Wang Xiao was unaware of this and could not openly connect with her.

Finally, Fulan focused her gaze on Shadow Master, who was preparing to protect everyone in front of them.

The Middle-aged Man in front also recognized the colorful little cat.

“Cowardly man.”

“Beggar cat.”

Both the man and the cat spoke at the same time, plunging the atmosphere into a strange silence.

Shadow Master quickly stepped out from behind his teammates, unsure of whom to explain to:

“This is called caution; what does this extraordinary beast know?”

“I’m just asking for help, not begging,” Fulan retorted, then quickly shifted the topic to the matter at hand.

She stood upright on her hind legs and handed a stack of badges that Lin Qingliu had hung around his neck to Wang Xiao, who reached out to take them.

His gaze immediately fell on a familiar name—“Tower” Zheng Gaoya.

Wang Xiao’s pupils narrowed in shock and then returned to their previous calmness.

It had been a month; everyone expected that the person was long gone. However, seeing the belongings of someone he knew still made Wang Xiao a bit sad.

At that moment, Fulan, eager to convey the information, began to speak in her quirky voice:

“I found these in the forest, but that’s not the most important part.

“A beast tide is about to brew; everyone should go back to the city and notify them.”

Her voice, which sounded both elfish and childlike, lacked the convincing power; Survivor immediately retorted:

“How could there possibly be another beast tide right after one just ended?”

Upon hearing this, Shadow Master stepped back again, returning to the group.

Fulan understood that humans could not yet trust the extraordinary beasts who had come to seek their support, but she didn’t explain further; she simply said lightly,

“Believe it or not, how about we stay here for a day to see what happens?”

“I’ll give it a try.”

A calm voice spoke up, and Sleepless stepped out from the group, his voice deep as if he hadn’t used his vocal cords in a long time.

“Can you sense it?”

Fulan showed a look of surprise.

“Perhaps.”

Sleepless closed his eyes, attuning himself to another level of perception.

“Nothing.”

He reported his Observation Findings.

“Go farther.”

Fulan seemed to expect this and quickly issued the command.

“Nothing.”

“Go farther.”

“Not… wait, what is…???”

Sleepless opened his eyes, his face filled with terror.