Volume One: Mutation Chapter Fifty-Eight: Interlude

A few people sat quietly for a while. Once the helicopter had fully ascended and stabilized, Liu Cong finally broke the silence.

“Uncle Zhang, where is Safe Zone One being built?”

Zhang Chu glanced at the pilot and forced a smile. “Brother, that’s a sensitive topic. It’s best not to discuss it. You’ll know once we arrive.”

Not even allowed to discuss it? The sense of mystery surrounding Safe Zone One in Liu Cong’s mind soared to a new height. Liu Qingqing was also startled by Zhang Chu’s deliberate secrecy, and she vaguely sensed that they were heading to a remarkable place.

“Well, at least you can tell us how long we’ll be flying!” Liu Cong frowned. To him, the helicopter seemed sluggish, and if Safe Zone One was far away, who knew how long it would take to get there.

“Well…” Zhang Chu looked somewhat embarrassed. “This is my first time going to Safe Zone One as well. I don’t know how long we’ll be flying.”

The pilot in the cockpit suddenly spoke up. “We’ll fly for three hours, then transfer to another aircraft.”

Liu Cong glanced at the pilot’s back in surprise. What he hadn’t expected was that the pilot was female—her voice was clear, pleasant, and highly distinctive, with a charm that made one want to know more just from hearing her speak.

He observed closely and noticed her slender, delicate fingers wrapped around the control stick, exposed halfway by her tactical gloves. They certainly didn’t look like a man’s hands, though he couldn’t see her face.

Zhang Chu and Liu Qingqing were equally surprised, their eyes betraying their astonishment.

“If we’re flying for so long, I guess I can take a nap. Getting older, sitting on a plane for hours makes me dizzy. Wake me when we arrive!” Zhang Chu laughed.

Liu Cong smiled as well. “Go ahead and sleep. We’ll wake you when we get there.”

The occasional swaying of the helicopter could indeed make one feel dizzy, but Liu Cong and Liu Qingqing were both in excellent health and felt no vertigo. In fact, the two armed soldiers leaned their heads against the cabin wall, closed their eyes, and pretended to sleep.

In the silent cabin, only the roar of the rotors and engines echoed.

Liu Qingqing tilted her head, gazing at the ground below. As with her previous flight experiences, the vast land beneath was carpeted with a purple weed.

Growing taller and taller, these weeds gradually obscured all traces of humanity on the plains, giving the illusion of being on an alien planet. Whenever a patch of ground held a puddle—rainwater pooling in dried-out ponds—clusters of zombies or mutated beasts appeared nearby. (From now on, mutated animals would be collectively referred to as “beasts.”)

Encountering a puddle, they would crawl or lie down, burying themselves in the water to greedily absorb its energy. Some lucky mutated creatures discovered ponds filled with black rain, rushing in excitedly, only to drown themselves in the process, leaving their bodies floating on the surface.

Liu Qingqing had seen many such ponds covered with corpses.

Liu Cong reached out, gently holding a soft hand, and slowly sent energy from within his body. Sensing the change, Liu Qingqing turned to him, her eyes filled with laughter. The two leaned against each other, closed their eyes, and began their cultivation.

---

No one knew how much time had passed before the group was jolted awake by a piercing alarm.

The cockpit’s console flashed with red lights. The pilot tapped quickly on the screen with one hand.

“What’s happening?” Zhang Chu awoke from his dream and instinctively asked the two soldiers beside him.

“We’ve probably encountered an aerial predator,” the white soldier replied, his Mandarin tinged with a British accent. “Lin! What’s happening?”

The female pilot, her back to the group, spoke urgently. “We’ve hit a large flock of birds. We need to find somewhere to make an emergency landing.”

Everyone looked down; as luck would have it, below lay steep mountains with bare branches everywhere—there wasn’t a single suitable landing spot in sight.

Rounding a mountain, the white soldier spotted a flat area and called out, “Lin! There’s a landing spot to our left rear!”

The pilot surnamed Lin saw the plain he mentioned and frowned. “No, do you see those utility poles in the grass? That grass is at least two meters tall—it’ll get sucked into the rotors.”

Zhang Chu glanced at Liu Cong, his expression signaling: Quickly, brother, your moment to shine is coming—do something!

Liu Qingqing wasn’t worried either. Judging by the steady energy fluctuations from Liu Cong, he seemed confident. She was more curious about the approaching bird flock. After witnessing a T4-level giant beast, she had grown indifferent to regular T1 or T2 creatures. Having seen that giant eagle, she was left with only a hint of curiosity for the unknown flock.

On the radar, a mass of red dots continued to close in on the helicopter icon.

“They’re coming,” the pilot said calmly, betraying no panic.

The white soldier gripped the handle and pressed his face to the window, staring out at the sky. A dense swarm of birds formed a giant net, closing in on the helicopter.

“Shit!”

The pilot pressed a button. The helicopter shuddered lightly, and two tracking missiles shot into the flock, blasting twin balls of fire and opening a small gap.

But the birds were numerous—the opening was quickly filled, sealing off any chance for the helicopter to break free.

“Brother Liu, why do these birds look like crows? Their feathers are all black!” Liu Qingqing’s curious question broke the tense atmosphere in the cabin.

“Probably because they’ve absorbed too much energy from the black water, dyeing themselves black. Didn’t you notice those mutated creatures on land were all black as well?” Liu Cong replied.

“All black, so messy you can’t even see their features. Ugly as hell!”

---

In the quiet cabin, only Liu Cong and Liu Qingqing’s conversation could be heard. At this moment, Liu Qingqing’s disdainful remarks stood out—both soldiers were rendered speechless, and even the usually composed female pilot stiffened.

Everyone cursed inwardly: What a foolish woman! At a time like this, she cares about whether those monsters look good or not? And that man actually agrees—do they think these monsters are here for fun? No wonder the commander sent me to pick up these two idiots.

Still fuming about possibly dying because of these idiots, she heard the pleasant female voice again.

“Brother Liu, they’re so noisy, it’s impossible to concentrate! Hurry up and drive them away—I can’t even guide anymore!”

You... think they’re not only ugly, but noisy too???

And you think driving them away is that easy? As if your Brother Liu—

Wait, what’s happening outside?

Next, everyone in the cabin—both soldiers and the pilot—witnessed a scene they would never forget.

Ahead in the sky, a surge of azure energy formed, spiraling at high speed in a vortex. The dense flock of black monsters was sucked toward it by a powerful force—yet the nearby helicopter remained untouched.

As more and more birds were drawn in, the vortex’s center suddenly ignited with black flames. Azure and black intermingled, instantly forming a tornado of fire reminiscent of Western magic. The birds dragged inside were reduced to ashes before their eyes.

Within a minute, the once overwhelming flock vanished entirely.

The vortex dissipated, and the ashes of the monsters drifted down, blanketing the purple weeds below in a pale gray.

“Oh my god! Are you a Chinese immortal? Thank you for saving us!” The white soldier, stunned, suddenly cried out.

“No wait, are you that Chinese sword immortal?” he corrected himself.

The other soldier looked at Liu Cong with excitement, clearly in awe.

“So that’s why the commander sent me to pick up two seemingly unrelated people—turns out we’re escorting our war god. Amazing!”

The pilot in front turned around, revealing a beautiful face. Her deep-set eyes and prominent nose indicated she was of mixed heritage. Though not as beautiful as Liu Qingqing, she was certainly a top-tier beauty.

For some reason, Liu Cong suddenly felt the burden of being an idol. Instead of brushing off the praise with his usual self-deprecating humor, he remained calm and composed. “It was nothing. Just what I ought to do.”