Chapter 134 – Humans
The Pao Xiao leader didn’t let the opportunity slip by, continuously slamming its paw down to vent its rage.
After seven or eight blows, its underling’s bones were completely shattered, and it died painfully in full consciousness.
Before the Pao Xiao leader could catch its breath, Tu Ran charged at it, knife in hand.
Right now, the superpower she most desired now was limitless strength.
Then she could break its spine with a punch and shatter all its bones.
Even if it was invulnerable to blades and bullets, it wouldn’t matter.
Unfortunately, she could only dream about that for now.
Tu Ran still aimed for its weak spots.
The real eyes and the fake eyes.
Although its eyes were gone, the wounds where they had been offered ample opportunity for her to exploit.
The initial armor-piercing bullet had burned half its skull to a charred crisp, with the hair on the back of its head turned to wisps of smoke and vanished without a trace.
Yet in such a short time, its entire head was visibly healing. The blood had stopped flowing, the wounds scabbed over, scars faded…
Even the hair on the back of its head was gradually regrowing.
Its regenerative ability was stronger than soaking in a nutrient pod.
Tu Ran yearned for this [Diamond Body] superpower even more.
She leaped up, silently bringing herself level with the Pao Xiao leader’s head, gripped the knife with both hands, and before the Pao Xiao leader realized the danger, she drove the 70-centimeter blade deep into its not-yet-healed eye socket.
The soul-piercing pain made the Pao Xiao leader’s entire body tremble.
It was twice her height, and Tu Ran’s whole body now dangled in front of its forehead.
The Pao Xiao leader opened its mouth and roared in pain.
Tu Ran had been waiting for this chance.
Since she couldn’t kill it from the outside, she would destroy it from within.
She took out the bomb she had prepared, bit off the fuse, and threw it directly into its gaping mouth.
The bomb slid down its massive throat unobstructed and into its stomach.
The knife was stuck in its skull, and Tu Ran couldn’t pull it out.
She had to temporarily abandon the knife and jumped down, hiding behind a tree.
The next second, the bomb exploded inside the Pao Xiao leader, and chunks of flesh rained down, turning the entire green forest blood red.
Tu Ran emerged from her hiding spot and immediately saw the bright, shiny bead near the Pao Xiao leader’s skull.
Her knife was still embedded in the skull.
Tu Ran approached, picked up the bead, wiped it clean, and put it in her pocket. Then she stepped on the Pao Xiao leader’s skull and used a lot of effort to pull the knife out.
The blade was covered in sticky, stinking blood.
Wiping it clean was impossible, so Tu Ran decided to find a river to wash it.
Gripping the handle, she looked up at the branch where Pangpang was perched.
“Come down, we need to leave here quickly.”
Pangpang glanced at the height and trembled, “It’s too high, Pangpang can’t get down.”
“You’re a bird!”
“Pangpang is a bird that only eats and can’t fly. Boss, come up and save Pangpang.”
Tu Ran sighed, wondering what she had done to deserve such a subordinate.
“Jump down, I’ll catch you.”
She called from below.
“No, Pangpang thinks Pangpang will crush you.”
It was aware of its weight.
“Come on, stop wasting time. If the smell of blood attracts other creatures, I’m not saving you.” Tu Ran threatened.
Pangpang was tearful but had no choice. It followed the boss’s orders.
After steeling itself, it closed its eyes, braced itself, and spread its wings, jumping off the branch.
It flapped its wings rapidly, hoping to slow its descent.
If it crushed the boss into a pancake, there would be no one to pick fruit for it.
Though heavy, its natural ability helped it land lightly.
“Now that’s more like a bird.” Tu Ran praised.
Pangpang felt embarrassed but was also amazed it had managed.
“Where’s the nearest water? Lead me there.”
“This way.” Pangpang looked around quickly, identifying the direction, and led Tu Ran away.
…
Shortly after they left, four feet appeared in the bloody battlefield.
Two humans.
They observed the scene.
“It looks like the explosion came from here,” said the man.
The woman crouched down, picking up a fragment of the bomb, “It’s an explosive from the Pioneer Team. Our comrade.”
Her voice was a bit excited.
“It seems our comrade dealt with three Pao Xiaos.”
The site had two relatively intact Pao Xiao corpses and one Pao Xiao skull.
It wasn’t hard to deduce there had been three Pao Xiaos.
“Three? One person couldn’t handle that alone,” the woman stood up, surveying the battlefield, “Pao Xiaos are tough to deal with. I’d estimate there were three or four people, perhaps they met here like us and teamed up.”
The man shook his head slowly, “No, it was one person.”
“What?” The woman frowned, “How could one person handle three Pao Xiaos?”
“It was just one person,” the man was certain, his eyes on the ground where a line of footprints extended into the distance.
Alongside the human footprints was a set of bird tracks.
The man followed the prints around the scene, reconstructing the events.
“They threw an explosive into the Pao Xiao’s stomach and then hid behind this tree.”
He pointed to the large tree where Pangpang had perched and continued, “After the explosion, they returned to the Pao Xiao’s skull.”
He noticed a deep hole in the Pao Xiao’s eye socket, likely left by a weapon, and surmised, “They left a weapon in the Pao Xiao’s skull, retrieved it, and then returned to the tree before leaving.”
There was one thing he couldn’t understand: why the person had returned to the base of the tree one more time.
The woman circled around following his lead, also puzzled, “The bird tracks appeared after the explosion and suddenly showed up at the explosion site. There are no other tracks elsewhere. Was it hiding in this tree the entire time?”
“Very likely,” the man nodded, continuing his deductions, “The Pioneer must have discovered a bird-like alien hiding up there and returned to check.”
“Judging by the tracks, this bird alien left in the same direction as the Pioneer. The Pioneer wouldn’t allow an alien to follow them unless they deemed it harmless. So, they probably left it alone, and the bird alien only came down once it felt safe.”
The woman agreed with his analysis, “From your time in this forest, what kind of bird alien leaves tracks like these?”
“I’ve only seen an alien species similar to a pheasant. The tracks look very similar, but those pheasants live on the outskirts and are too heavy to fly up such high trees.”
