Chapter 349

Chapter 349: First Impressions Matter

To be fair, Lin Qingliu never expected the feathered serpent to choose such an ending.

The soldiers on the city wall were already aware that a superpowered individual was assisting them, and the surveillance cameras near the outer city walls had captured his presence; his existence was no longer a secret.

Yet, despite this, the feathered serpent chose to leave a lasting impression with its final moments, a gesture so touching it left one speechless.

With its physical strength and object control abilities in full force, the half-charred feathered serpent, now nearly two meters shorter, burrowed swiftly into the ground.

It delved deeper, its scales grating against the concrete ceiling of the Shelter.

The sensation was akin to numerous heavy machines operating above, and the civilians inside the Shelter could feel the impending catastrophe.

To prevent panic, the Shelter’s doors required a command from the central spire to open once they were sealed.

People were compelled to gather in various corners of the Shelter, some huddling around support columns, leaving the central area as clear as possible.

Amidst the jostling and screams of the crowd, a shaft of sunlight broke through into the underground Shelter.

The ceiling had been breached.

The breach widened, and the sunlight, typically a symbol of hope, now felt like a harbinger of doom to those inside, instilling a deeper sense of dread with each passing moment.

As the scales continued to churn and scrape, the breach expanded to three meters in diameter.

The occupants of the Shelter watched in horror as a monstrous head descended through the opening.

It was a massive serpent’s head, encircled by a plume of fiery feathers.

The enormous head was armored with thick scales, their gray-blue hue etched with intricate patterns that could mesmerize and disorient those who gazed upon them too long.

The giant snake parted its colossal jaws, its forked head as thick as an adult’s waist, and began to roam through the confined space of the underground Shelter.

At that moment, the thousands of humans within had seemingly become the giant snake’s next meal.

The head continued to lower until it abruptly halted just under two meters from the ground, quivered momentarily, and then slumped.

Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone in the Shelter, the head plummeted straight down.

It fell.

The head, comparable in size to a standard car, crashed to the ground from a height of two meters, producing a thunderous impact.

The onlookers observed that the giant snake appeared to have lost all vital signs; behind the decapitated head, the mass of feathers was split into two.

The nature of the wound suggested it was not caused by a cutting implement but rather by a violent impact that caused the flesh to burst.

Most of the refugees were workers from nearby factories, familiar with the effects of impact or compression on the human body.

Though not identical, the feathered serpent’s wound evoked a sense of recognition among them.

"Thud."

A figure descended from the breach above, landing on the lifeless giant snake’s head. The afternoon sun cast its rays on his slightly curled golden hair, reminiscent of a warrior surveying his realm from a throne.

“Everyone, rest assured. The situation has been resolved.”

“Arthur” proclaimed with a warm, reassuring smile:

“I apologize for the fright. Only this one extraordinary beast has breached our Hope City; the outside is now secure. Please await further instructions before exiting.”

The thousands of refugees gazed upon this seemingly reliable man.

From an emotional perspective, there was no doubt that this person was Lin Qingliu’s savior, and he appeared so kind and approachable that there was no reason not to trust him.

However, this did not mean that issues were absent. For instance, the clothes he wore were not typical of a superpowered individual.

In the rigidly structured environment of Hope City, this seemed like a blatant violation of the rules, and the majority would choose to uphold the law rather than challenge it.

But such questions could not be posed in front of their savior and before thousands of people.

No one was willing to, nor did they have the courage to do so.

Thus, regardless of whether they noticed the somewhat deliberate nature of the situation, everyone ultimately gave the same response—applause.

Lin Qingliu did not wish to linger here too long; he gestured like a leader to quiet the applause and continued,

“The battle on the wall is not over; I have more important matters to attend to.”

With that, he stepped lightly and leaped several meters, disappearing into the opening above.

The crowd fell silent, all eyes fixed on the bright entrance.

It was the familiar sunlight, but at that moment, it felt infinitely warmer than just a minute ago.

“Thud.”

Footsteps echoed once more as the golden-haired man jumped down again.

He looked around, ruffled his hair, and said somewhat sheepishly,

“It seems this thing here is causing a bit of a disturbance.”

Without asking if others felt the same, he grabbed a dent on the serpent’s head and soared into the air.

Though the crowd was surprised, they felt this was the kind of superpowered individual capable of overcoming such extraordinary beasts.

As they watched the serpent’s head leave the Shelter, their hearts finally eased.

They jostled each other, refilling the vacant area in the center of the Shelter while discussing whether they had ever seen such a superpowered individual before.

—

On the city wall, the Blood Puppet was being pinned down and beaten by the Horned Demon.

Perhaps it found satisfaction from the physicality of the earlier battle with Lin Qingliu, or maybe it wanted to return the earlier blows.

In any case, the Horned Demon seemed to relish this feeling, having already brought several people to their knees within just a few minutes.

However, every time it aimed to deliver a fatal blow, this shape-shifting human always managed to rescue those people at strange angles, which infuriated the Horned Demon.

This human possessed powerful abilities and remarkable versatility, a fact that even the will of the mycelium had to acknowledge.

But its abilities were not well-suited to the mycelium ecosystem.

The tribe had not yet evolved to a stage where all parts could roam in non-fixed forms; that required a state of near-permanent mimicry, which consumed too much energy and could not be achieved in a short time.

Though due to this consideration the Horned Demon did not choose to hunt the Blood Puppet, the latter also could not easily breach its defenses.

However, as the saying goes, "a fly doesn’t bite, but it annoys," and the Blood Puppet’s repeated provocations had thoroughly enraged the Horned Demon.