Chapter 419 - 366: Fat as a Black-Bone Chicken
Chapter 419: Chapter 366: Fat as a Black-Bone Chicken
After an hour of flight, the plane suddenly lurched, and an announcement crackled through the cabin’s intercom.
The voices of Five and Nolan Jennings came over the speakers.
"We’ve encountered a flock of birds. Everyone, fasten your seatbelts."
Even though everyone in the cabin had their seatbelts fastened, the mere mention of a "flock of birds" was enough to spark panic.
Those by the windows slid open their shades, and what they saw nearly gave them a heart attack.
In front of and behind the plane’s wings were several clusters of black, crow-like birds, each flock numbering twenty to thirty, scattered all around the fuselage.
Just then, upon spotting the humans who had opened their shades to look at them, the crow-like birds let out a sudden "CAW!" A few clusters of the "crows" abruptly changed direction and veered straight for the windows.
At that exact moment, the plane banked sharply, narrowly avoiding a collision with the "crows." For the next three hours, thanks to the superb fighter-pilot skills of Five and Nolan Jennings, they managed to evade the birds and were finally approaching Morhaven.
But just as the plane began its gradual descent over Orinburg, the fuselage shuddered violently. A gigantic bird appeared, its wingspan wide enough to cover the entire cockpit windshield.
"Boss, we’ve got a tough one," Five’s voice announced over the intercom.
Lex Cross went to the cockpit and saw it for himself: a massive bird was perched before their windshield as if resting, its enormous wings spread wide, completely blocking their view.
"The area outside Morhaven’s airport is surrounded by her flora. Contact Flora and prepare for landing."
After speaking, Lex Cross strode expressionlessly into the main cabin and suddenly threw open the emergency exit. A violent rush of turbulent air blasted into the plane. Even with their seatbelts on, the passengers were nearly lifted from their seats by the force.
The superpower users managed better, but the ordinary people without superpowers were suffering badly. Still, for their own safety, they all gritted their teeth, trying to suppress their terror and keep themselves from screaming in fear.
"These flocks will attack people! Everyone, lower your window shades!" The special forces soldiers in the cabin knew what their boss was about to do. To support him, they wanted everyone to close the shades to avoid provoking any other birds.
But the people in the cabin, superpower users and ordinary folk alike, had never experienced anything like this. Even though they heard the soldiers’ words, they just clung to their armrests, gulping air from the oxygen masks that had dropped from above.
The special forces soldiers, however, demonstrated their excellent physical and mental conditioning. One by one, they unbuckled their seatbelts, held on tightly to the handrails, moved to each passenger’s seat to lower the window shades, and then returned to their own seats to buckle up again.
Meanwhile, Flora Bloom was leading her team on a hunt in the wild forest outside the base.
Ever since the changes came to Morhaven, the people at the base seemed to have no shortage of food, but the wild beasts in the forest were not something just anyone could hunt.
It could be said that any superpower user below Level 3 who faced one of these beasts would be on a one-way trip.
Except for those with a Spiritual Ability.
What surprised Flora Bloom was that Caleb could now simultaneously control three evolved creatures.
After Caleb advanced to a Middle Level superpower user, the big white goose had evolved a bright red comb on its head, its eyes had turned gold, and the edges of its wing and tail feathers had begun to take on a faint golden hue.
The goose, originally pure white, had actually shrunk a fair bit after a period of evolution, but its wings had grown longer than before.
Most importantly, it could now carry Caleb and fly through the air.
Flora Bloom was extremely envious when she saw this.
She took stock of her own little pets. Quite a few of them could fly: Vert, the golden cicada, the little white tiger, and the Golden Crow.
Unfortunately, although Vert was enormous and looked like it could carry a person with no problem, its body was as smooth as jade, making it impossible to get a stable seat—you’d just slide right off.
The golden cicada was too small and timid. It had mastered the art of "the cicada shedding its shell," often vanishing at the slightest hint of trouble.
Riding on the little white tiger’s back was comfortable and stable, but its ability only allowed it to use the surrounding elements to hover or glide for a short time. It wasn’t true flight.
And finally, there was the unreliable Golden Crow. Lately, it had been doing nothing but eating firebugs in her personal space, growing fat and strong. It had certainly gotten bigger, but it was growing sideways. It was so plump that Flora Bloom started to think it was evolving from a crow into a fat black-boned chicken.
So, starting yesterday, she had kicked it out of her space and made it help with the hunt. Only good performance would earn it a firebug as a reward.
The Golden Crow also knew it had absorbed too much Fire Element Energy. All that power was just sitting inside its body, and it needed to be used in battle to be properly integrated and assimilated.
And so, in the wild forest at this moment, Flora Bloom was leaping through the trees on the back of the little white tiger. The golden cicada flickered in and out of sight among the treetops, its thin, golden wings fluttering.
Vert’s wings let out a threatening "DEE-DEE" sound in mid-air as it, along with Monkey One, Monkey Two, and Monkey Three, who were swinging through the trees, worked together to drive a fat, tusked wild boar.
The Golden Crow flapped its wings, joining the chase and occasionally shooting a blast of True Sun Fire at the boar’s rear.
Unfortunately, it didn’t even singe the boar’s curly tail, instead scorching a large patch of the nearby woods bald.
In the end, the little wolf couldn’t stand to watch anymore. It lunged forward in a fierce pounce, bravely sinking its teeth into the boar’s neck and tearing open its softer belly with two swipes of its claws, finally ending the battle.
Flora Bloom shot the Golden Crow a contemptuous glare. "You eat the most and do the least. Tell me, you useless thing, what the hell do I even need you for?"
"Master, it’s not that I wasn’t trying! That boar was just too fast!" the Golden Crow whined pitifully, earning it a dismissive eye-roll from Flora Bloom.
"You can’t even keep up with a boar, and you call yourself a Golden Crow? You’re not fooling me, are you? You’re probably just a regular crow!"
The Golden Crow stared with its small, golden eyes, which seemed to be welling up with liquid. But then, a tiny flicker of flame suddenly shot out from just below them.
Not only that, but as if triggered, the Golden Crow’s abdomen suddenly swelled to an enormous size, and a torrent of Fire Element Energy seemed ready to explode from within it.
"SKREEE!" A cry escaped its beak. The Golden Crow spread its wings and began to tremble in place, as if in great pain.
Cynthia Grant and the others heard the commotion and thought Flora Bloom had run into a powerful beast. They rushed over, only to see the Golden Crow—jet-black and fat as a chicken—being consumed by golden flames that started from its eyes and spread across its dark feathers.
Flora Bloom froze for a second, startled. ’Did I really just scold this thing so hard that it’s having a mental breakdown and trying to take me with it?’ she thought in alarm.
But then she saw the Golden Crow become completely enveloped in the flames of the True Sun Fire. Its black feathers were set ablaze with a golden light, and it suddenly beat its wings, soaring into the air and circling above.