Sky-cracking Rider-Chapter 740: Section 735 - Return to the Surface

The 200-meter passage wasn't long, slantingly stretching toward the ground, where other passageways intersected with it, seemingly leading to the original paths toward the cylindrical space. The roar of firearms and monster's howls occasionally carried over, as automated combat machines proceeded to eliminate these hidden dangers one by one.

Probably because the Crown Prince and his party found it bothersome, after confirming the location of the cylindrical space, they directly used Earth Magic to create a new path harshly breaking through.

Arriving on the ground, this newly created entrance was situated near a desolate community kindergarten, with the target warehouse that Chen Fei had previously locked on not far away, almost right next to it.

However, the nursery's children and teachers had evacuated to other places along with nearby residents to avoid the warfare, and now, only the combat and logistical personnel brought by the Slan Dynasty Crown Prince and various kinds of combat equipment occupied the place.

The atmosphere on the site was inexplicably a bit oppressive, everyone was on alert as if facing a formidable enemy, and Chen Fei soon discovered the reason.

Birds with all-black feathers covered the surrounding buildings and trees in droves, some of the braver ones even directly landing on the combat equipment and piles of supply boxes.

If one were to look from above, aside from the roads, the area several miles around centered by the nursery and the warehouse was almost entirely covered in black, growing denser towards the center.

Thousands of Pure Light Sparrows gathered together, yet oddly did not make a single sound.

Even at this moment, Pure Light Sparrows continued to fly in from afar, two by three, joining this bizarre gathering.

Although Xiao Jiu had been captured underground with Chen Fei, the gathering behavior of Pure Light Sparrows had never ceased, and it was burgeoning even more—the group instinct of Pure Light Sparrows was at play, spreading from one to ten, ten to a hundred, a hundred to a thousand...

Nowadays, Pure Light Sparrows were no longer synonymous with "harmless." Once agitated, they could annihilate even a Giant Dragon, the more in number, the more terrifying they were.

The personnel stuck here due to the mission couldn't help but get goosebumps from these ordinarily very common little creatures, their hair standing on end involuntarily.

Seeing so many of its kin, the little one on Chen Fei's shoulder immediately became happy.

"Chirp!"

"Chirp!~"×50951↑

The uniform chirping converged into a sound like thunder, buzzing everyone's eardrums, causing even beings of the Heavenly Order to involuntarily look alarmed.

Less than ten thousand Xiao Jiu (Pure Light Sparrows) are bearable, a full ten thousand is unstoppable,—a fact deeply rooted in everyone's minds.

In the meantime, there were many dazzling flashes, no less than a hundred, that seemed to use "Light Burst Flash" for greetings, a bad habit not unique to Xiao Jiu. Each flash could be identified as a Pure Light Sparrow of at least the Second Rank of Human Order.

"Let's drive them away, or soon we'll have bird droppings everywhere!"

Chen Fei raised his hand and scratched the tender feathers on the little bird's neck.

He had noticed that the number of Pure Light Sparrows in Nandu City had been increasing recently. It was easy to gather a large flock, and the number of those who could successfully cast Light-based Spells of the First and Second Rank had also started to increase, with even Third Rank ones beginning to appear.

Chen Fei guessed this observable change might be somehow related to Xiao Jiu regularly causing trouble when gathering crowds. Each incident could provoke a mass advancement. Although Pure Light Sparrows were weak, if they made full use of their numerical advantage, their collective will could easily lead to a qualitative change through quantitative accumulation.

It was hard to imagine what the increasingly occurring rank advancements among Pure Light Sparrows would bring about for the entire Cangqiong Star.

"Chirp!~"

Xiao Jiu flapped its wings and flew towards the sky, its call clear and bright.

A black cloud rose up as if shrouding the sun, and a cacophony of various chirps deafened the ears.

Almost at the same moment, all the Pure Light Sparrows ascended into the sky, forming a vast vortex.

The number of Pure Light Sparrows inhabiting the area around Nandu City was almost no less than three hundred thousand. If they all gathered together, it would be an absolutely stifling scale. Even a fraction of them currently made the people brought by Crown Prince Lin Zio extremely apprehensive, more so than even when facing a Parasitic Species.

As the little one flew into the sky, Chen Fei indeed worried it would not return.

However, the little bird was not just family to him, but also an indispensable combat partner.

Without Chen Fei himself, barring mutual annihilation, the so-called "Dragon Slayer" honor was nothing but a joke.

Real combat had already proven that, even piloting the X-D-005 Giant Dragon-type Fighter Mobile Armor, along with the artificial intelligence AI "Adam" and the collaboration with the female Metallic Giant Dragon named Yilan, plus copious firepower output, he could only barely draw with an adult Metallic Giant Dragon from the ancient times, not to mention defeating the opponent, catching them was likely impossible.

The adult Metallic Giant Dragon that appeared in Nandu City was ultimately taken down by the Pure Light Sparrow Xiao Jiu, leading numerous indistinguishable companions, proving only Dragon-Slaying Sparrow was the genuine article.

It was as if a burst of invisible strong wind blew by, causing the circling flock of sparrows to shake violently for a moment and then disperse in all directions, some trailing waves of Light Elemental Energy, streaking away like meteors.

Even without the Elemental Affinity Potion and other resource cultivation, the collective rank advancement of Pure Light Sparrows was enough to create a significant number of extraordinary individuals, and all it took was a catalyst.

The situation Chen Fei worried about did not occur.

As the flock returned home, a flutter of wings approached his ear, and the little bird lightly landed on his shoulder, contentedly preening its feathers with its bright red beak—just like cats tucking their paws and dogs licking their noses, preening feathers was a primary way for birds to regulate their emotions.

-

Upon visiting the "Radiant Tiger" legion camp once again, the automatic identification gate had let him through directly, even though Chen Fei was clearly not the ally of the faction.

This saved him quite a bit of trouble, however.

"You almost never came back, I thought you had fallen!"

Minante was the first to greet Chen Fei and did not hide his surprise.

The barbecue had just been lit and his counterpart had suddenly taken off without any explanation. Although the destination was unknown, a fight would undoubtedly not remain unnoticed, naturally drawing the attention of the "Radiant Tiger" legion. However, the commotion soon ceased, leaving both Minante and his uncle, the legion commander, puzzled about whether Chen Fei had succeeded or perished.

After all, clashing with a parasitic species meant success or martyrdom; it was either his death or its life, with only one possible outcome.

It wasn't until Chen Fei reemerged that Minante confirmed that the guy hadn't managed to get himself killed.

He had never underestimated the combat power of "Sagali." If it was truly so easy to deal with, then the resistance of all intelligent species of Cangqiong Star over ten thousand years would turn into a joke.

Chen Fei said openly, "You guessed right, I almost perished!"

He even made a gesture to indicate how close it had been—the distance between his thumb and index finger was almost imperceptible.

If "Sagali" had not intended to use him as a host for replication, he would have died long ago, precisely because it was a parasitic species that it left him alive effortlessly.

Without the "Spatial Branding" and the firearms that did not rely on elemental energy, Chen Fei would likely have been unable to escape from the "Beehive" room; a mere B-ranked supernatural power user could tear the transparent membrane but would stand no chance against the various fanged monsters swimming in the clear viscous fluid.

Yet, the world is devoid of so many 'ifs', and had the "Spatial Branding" and enormous supplies arrived a few days later, Chen Fei's fate would have been entirely reversed.

"Ah? Did you encounter that Royal Breed?"

Minante knew that Chen Fei had been searching for the Royal Breed parasite spreading mutated parasitic spawns all over the place.

"Didn't encounter it, just came across a mature 'Seed Nest' and a few enslaved species, probably just a stronghold."

Although Chen Fei faced a magical beast, the "Earth Flame Rhinoceros," which had been parasitized and had its combat abilities significantly enhanced by "Sagali," it was quite a challenge but still wasn't the Royal Breed he was searching for. Without removing this threat, the chaos in Zhai Liuzhou would not cease.

Feigning anger, Minante said, "You resolved it all by yourself? Why didn't you call me?"

Being responsible for Nandu City, it was incumbent upon the "Radiant Tiger" legion to act as soon as a parasitic nest was detected nearby, as if it was their chance to go and beat up "Sagali" and enjoy the combat.

"You think I didn't want to call you? I ran into a communication disruption until I dealt with the 'Seed Nest' and communications were restored; by then, I had already killed them all, clean and clear. What was left for you to do?"

Chen Fei did not think of Minante, a combat pilot, as someone necessarily eager to rush into a potential death trap—he himself had forgotten that he was also a combat pilot who had recently been compelled to switch careers to becoming a ground trudger.

Besides, what's the point in criticizing after the fact?

To collide head-on with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Silan Dynasty and his men, good lord, the rebel underlings encountering the ruling sovereign were indeed rushing to their doom, as if they weren't dying fast enough.

Unaware of the many thoughts that had crossed Chen Fei's mind, Minante said with a face full of regret, "These things really are troublesome."

Communication jamming, a low-tech threshold yet highly practical and cost-effective tactic, was nearly ubiquitous; rebels use it, mutants use it, and the parasitic species "Sagali" uses it too. No species is simple unless someone uses massively high-powered coverage, light communications, or some other advanced communication methods, otherwise it's unsolvable (try DIYing a spark-gap transmitter, randomly send out sparks for a few minutes, and the cops will show up at your door inviting you to enjoy the prison's pork chop meals—it's highly illegal).

"I'll give you a file, but let me say upfront, it's okay to spread it, but don't misuse it."

Chen Fei instructed the AI "Adam" to open and reorganize the freshly received "Sagali" data pack, then forwarded it to Minante.

"What is this?"

Minante pulled out his mobile phone, flicking through the screen in bewilderment, trying to see what peculiar thing had been sent to him that warranted such importance.

A moment later, he lifted his eyes from the phone screen.

"Where did you get this? Ordinary people can't access it!"

Even professionals who study parasitic species might not have access to such detailed information—various classifications, characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, vulnerabilities, all clearly listed, much of it unheard of, almost as if the human race had planted a spy inside the parasitic species, continuously obtaining these precious pieces of intelligence.

"Sagali" spy?

How could that be possible!

"From the Lin Family!"

Chen Fei did not conceal the source of the intelligence information.

The attack on the Lin Family's sovereignty was probably one of the reasons for the origin of these reports.