Chapter 342

Chapter 342: Destruction in the Opposite Direction

Some soldiers managed to evade the rain of fire, while others received timely assistance after catching fire. Despite this, some members of the city defense army were completely engulfed, turning into blazing fireballs.

Some burning feathers also fell outside the city, but the extraordinary beasts seemed to have anticipated this, skillfully dodging them and allowing the flaming feathers to quietly burn to ashes on the ground.

As for the feathers that shot into the city, there was currently no one to manage them.

At this moment, those with the capability were stretched thin, and for the average person facing such a disaster, fleeing was the only option. Even seeking shelter for themselves was difficult, let alone rescuing those in the outer city beneath the rain of fire.

This was the nature of unexpected calamities; the burning feathers fell onto houses, in the middle of roads, and onto corners piled with food scraps and strange living garbage.

Quickly, flames and thick black smoke rose from the outer city, and the few members of the Public Security Team who hadn’t sought shelter quickly sprang into action.

Fortunately, the civilians had enough experience with evacuation, so the rain of fire didn’t harm anyone inside the city.

—

“Holy Shield! What the hell are you doing?!”

“Infinite Scroll” had helped “Starfall” restore the signal coming from the outer city, but due to many cameras being damaged, some signals could only be supplemented by the occasional surveillance cameras installed near the city wall.

Watching the raging flames over there, “Starfall” couldn’t help but curse.

But this was just a moment of frustration.

As fellow surgical transformers, the five members of the first team could truly empathize.

Just as “Starfall” had to constantly adjust the output power of the energy cannon to avoid damaging the city wall and harming the soldiers on it, he was dancing on the edge of a knife.

“Holy Shield” faced the same struggle.

He had to maintain the shield covering all of Hope City, and personal control over one’s abilities had its limits. Thus, the shield could mostly filter out active substances automatically and provide early warnings about enemies coming from the sky.

However, these flaming feathers, now entirely devoid of life force, fell outside of “Holy Shield’s” abilities.

In the next moment, a fireball with a diameter of over ten meters flew over the heads of all the soldiers on the wall, descending from the sky like a genuine “Starfall” and crashing violently into a small building in the outer city of Hope City.

“This… this…”

“Starfall” was momentarily at a loss, unsure whether to feel shocked or angry, and stammered without managing to utter a word.

“This isn’t within ‘Holy Shield’s’ scope of responsibility.”

“Infinite Scroll” explained lightly from the side, clearly, this unnecessary dialogue did not elicit a response from “Starfall.”

—

A continuous row of houses collapsed amid the violent shockwaves and flames, with a ten-meter-long tail of a feathered serpent fiercely gripped by the man with light golden hair.

He then soared upwards, reaching an appropriate height to wildly swing the feathered serpent’s entire body, seemingly aiming to kill it or perhaps simply venting his frustration.

A roar belonging to a beast echoed as Lin Qingliu felt his wrist loosen. Looking down, he realized that the feathered serpent had resorted to survival tactics, now with only a meter-long burning tail remaining, twisting madly and bearing characteristics of both willow branches and serpents.

A part of the feathered serpent was also ablaze, gripped in Lin Qingliu’s hand, making it hard to discern who was igniting whom.

After a painful roar, the dense feathers surrounding the serpent’s head ignited once more, as if a defeated lion was reclaiming its dignity.

It mimicked a human, glancing around before looking at Lin Qingliu and speaking in a somewhat awkward but distinct voice:

“This is human territory; you are destroying a part of your own body!”

Its tone fluctuated, as it mirrored how Lin Qingliu felt just moments ago when they had together destroyed a small forest; the will of the mycelium experienced a sense of reluctance emanating from within for the first time.

Before Lin Qingliu stood a human who showed no change in expression as he faced the human habitation he had just destroyed.

During the growth of the will of the mycelium, it had assimilated hundreds and thousands of brains, continuously drawing useful knowledge from them.

Among these talents, there clearly existed a profession born from a focus on human weaknesses—psychologists.

Yet, at that moment, the will of the mycelium couldn’t find any way to lock onto the emotions of the human before it.

His expression was completely false, and even this humanoid body felt the same.

A fake face would not betray true feelings with subtle expressions, greatly reducing the accuracy of its analysis, forcing it to rely on the newly grasped theories and think from the perspective of others.

“Do you know? I don’t care.”

The man with light golden hair suddenly spoke:

“Their life or death has nothing to do with me.

“But you are different; this humanoid body of yours will certainly remain here today.”

“Impossible!”

“Nothing is impossible.”

Lin Qingliu spoke with a cold tone, as if a frozen machine had suddenly activated:

“I think that the flame giant had similar thoughts before its destruction. Everyone has seen the outcome.”

His right hand tightened slightly, and the over one-meter-long tail of the feathered serpent, which bore characteristics of both animals and plants, began to wither rapidly, soon turning into a mere skeleton.

Lin Qingliu let go, allowing the debris to fall onto the rubble of a concrete slab, turning into a pile of unremarkable dust.

“I can’t tell the truth from your words, but I think…”

The scales and feathers at the neck of the feathered serpent started to grow rapidly, ready to unleash a deadly rain of fire like a blooming sunflower.

“If I burn this human habitation to ashes, your expression might become a bit more lively.”

Just as the charging firestorm was about to be unleashed, a ray cannon, packed with enormous energy, shot directly at the spot above the extraordinary beast’s head, taking away a considerable portion of its feathers, scales, and willow branches.

That shot had been aimed at the feathered serpent’s face and head, but the reaction speed of Fifth Level extraordinary beasts was always astonishing; it had been true for the griffin before, and now for the feathered serpent as well.

“The trajectory has deviated…”

“I know, I know.”

“Starfall” interrupted “Infinite Scroll” and directly asked:

“Is there any way to help that human?”

Infinite Scroll looked into the distance, his gaze seemingly piercing through dozens of kilometers to lock onto Lin Qingliu, who stood facing off against the opponent:

“I think he’ll be fine.”