Chapter 333

Chapter 333: Omen

At that moment, fear was etched across the face of Sleepless. He opened his eyes, gazing at the horizon shrouded in thick fog, then turned his gaze to the seemingly harmless cat, Fulan.

“Are those…?”

Fulan nodded, watching the man’s face turn ashen, like a withered plant.

When Sleepless closed his eyes and activated his ability, he could sense the intensity of the biological field within a certain range.

A First Level extraordinary beast was like a small light bulb in the darkness; the higher the level of an individual, the brighter it shone, while humans and extraordinary beasts emitted two distinct kinds of light.

When he limited his perception to a few kilometers, the entire world seemed plunged into darkness.

But as he expanded his range to the limit he could not sustain for long, his ability surprisingly performed beyond expectations.

Any detection equipment or ability loses precision with increasing distance, and Sleepless’s ability was no exception.

Yet even in such a blurred state, he still sensed countless glowing dots, each belonging to an extraordinary beast.

These glowing dots varied in brightness, appearing at the very edge of his perception range.

If the previously sensed beast tide could be likened to a "moat" surrounding Hope City, then this new beast tide resembled a vast and endless sea beyond the eastern wall of Hope City.

Seeing that Sleepless’s speech had even faltered, the others could guess the outcome of his perception.

Clearly, continuing to advance and carry out their mission was a foolish decision. In the face of such a beast tide, even the most powerful superpowered individuals would be engulfed by the endless extraordinary beasts, let alone the five of them without the protection of city walls.

Ink Drench, the temporary captain of the Relentless Team, held the authority to make decisive decisions in emergencies.

Everyone’s gaze turned to this oldest member, who had the richest experience in fighting extraordinary beasts.

Ink Drench reflected without emotion for a few seconds and then said,

“Shadow Master will head back to Hope City at full speed to report, and the rest of us will retreat as fast as possible.”

Fulan asked,

“What about me?”

Ink Drench looked at the extraordinary beast that had helped them significantly, his expression less stern than usual:

“I’ve heard of you; come back with us, there are some details that you need to clarify.”

Fulan nodded and skillfully followed behind the others. Although she had reached the Third Level, any of these individuals would be challenging to defeat, but she thought she could escape at some cost.

Moreover, supported by a presence as unfathomable as the Sleepless, Fulan felt particularly confident.

The Relentless Team discarded their equipment, which was worthless against the beast tide, and quickly began their retreat.

Naturally, the first to lead was the Shadow Master. Upon receiving this task, the Middle-aged Man exerted all his effort to suppress the smile that almost appeared on his lips.

He wasn’t afraid of death; he simply felt that staying under such conditions without retreating was meaningless; indeed, he was not afraid of dying.

With the task received, he swiftly slipped into the shadows formed by the dry grass on the ground, using the connections between the shadows in the grass leaves to move rapidly towards Hope City.

Without carrying extra items or personnel, his speed was terrifying.

—

It seemed as if the sound of "ripping" space returned again. Lin Qingliu realized that a Fifth Level extraordinary beast had emerged from the more distant forest.

He stood in the air, exuding pressure at the same level as theirs, quietly waiting for the other party’s arrival.

At that moment, his position was on the only path between the extraordinary beasts and Hope City; anyone attempting to attack Hope City would have to go through him.

Of course, this wasn’t the battlefield Lin Qingliu had originally planned.

During his time waiting in place, he had made some preliminary adjustments to his plan.

Lin Qingliu had initially intended to use this outing to accomplish two tasks:

The first was to roughly map out the terrain and biological communities within a certain range outside Hope City, preparing for future proactive strikes.

The second task was to find an unclaimed life pod or sleep pod, just like last time, crawl inside like a hermit crab, and then wait for Fulan’s team or other humans to discover and bring him back to Hope City, thereby gaining a new identity.

Of course, this part was just the surface explanation; in reality, he only needed to find an Old Era life pod, clear out the mycelium or brain inside, and then burrow in near Hope City.

As for the finer details of the plan, he would leave that to Fulan and the other extraordinary beasts who had already allied with humans.

This plan bore a resemblance to many novels Lin Qingliu had read in his past life, and its execution had a high chance of success.

However, there was still one problem: would the people inside Hope City recognize him?

If he returned and completed the identity verification in this manner, his identity could indeed be recognized by the spire.

With the endorsement of the spire’s database, those council members would have to grudgingly accept it in the short term.

But the residents of Hope City were unaware of this, which would naturally cause his identity to lose some advantages, making it difficult to gain an edge in subsequent plans.

And the actions of the will of the mycelium, while posing a significant threat to Hope City, also presented Lin Qingliu with a potential opportunity.

High risks often accompany high rewards, and after secretly developing for so long, Lin Qingliu felt it was time to show a little of what he was capable of.

After a brief internal review, Lin Qingliu sensed the anticipated sense of crisis.

The first extraordinary beast to leave the "cocoon" had developed rapidly, and as he looked toward the forest ahead, he suddenly felt a flash before his eyes.

His entire right arm, along with half of his shoulder, suddenly vanished, as if he had intercepted an artillery shell with his body.

Only after the sensation of his limb separating did a dull crash sound and sonic boom follow.

In that moment, Lin Qingliu thought of a certain unfortunate soul whose arm he had taken.

But unlike Luke, although his flesh had been scattered, he could still feel most of it, as if an invisible web was spreading through the space, with each piece of flesh resting on the nodes of this web.

To catch a big fish, one naturally needed a bigger bait, and his vibrant limbs were the perfect choice.

When he sensed the enemy approaching from afar, Lin Qingliu immediately made a decision, preparing to take a hit to test the waters.

Indeed, the true Fifth Level Extraordinary Beast was not much different from the level he had displayed that day, but its mode of attack was different.

Under Lin Qingliu’s mental control, the blood and flesh fragments that had shrunk to nearly invisible sizes began to rapidly and chaotically multiply in the air, morphing into a space filled with thumb-sized blood bombs in less than a second.