RITAAB 67.1

Chapter 67 【o(*￣︶￣*)o】PART 1

 

Qin Jiulin, “If their strength is comparable to completely regressed animals, does that mean… they are just a step away from complete beast transformation?”

 

At this, Zhang Yuankai and the others revealed extremely pained expressions.

 

“Yes! These half beastman are truly just a hair’s breadth away from complete beast transformation, but that tiny bit is just not possible! Nature can be so cruel.”

 

“For example, if they still have a human eye, or a human hand or foot, or even just one finger that hasn’t transformed, they can only become a mindless half beastman.”

 

Qin Jiulin and Liu Zhongyuan exchanged a glance, finally understanding just how dangerous this military base was. They only needed to treat those half beastman as even more dangerous than completely regressed animals.

 

Qi Yue, “Isn’t this too dangerous?”

 

Liu Zhongyuan, “We’ll use the simplest method.”

 

Zhang Yuankai, “Huh? The simplest method? Is there really a simple method?”

 

Liu Zhongyuan, “Take them down one by one. We can lure out the half beastman from the military base, one or two at a time, and take care of them outside. This old-fashioned method may be simple, but it works. Didn’t you all try it before?”

 

Zhang Yuankai, “We didn’t have the time to try, and the ammunition we hastily brought out couldn’t support us doing that.”

 

“And a lot of people were injured back then. The half beastman in that military base… it was hard for us to escape them, and we lost quite a few comrades. Captain Gao wouldn’t let us get close to that place without being sure.”

 

“Now it’s up to you to handle it. I guess we really have no choice, our weapons are almost depleted. This time, I hope we can all return safely.”

 

Liu Zhongyuan thought for a moment. “Are you underestimating me?”

 

Mo Xinghui, “It’s not a matter of underestimation, but the reality in front of us. We have to take it seriously, so we don’t end up with a disastrous outcome.”

 

Liu Zhongyuan, “Don’t worry, I’ll be very careful. After all, I’m not going alone, I have the four of you with me, so of course I’ll be more cautious.”

 

As he spoke, Liu Zhongyuan’s gaze was fixed on Qin Jiulin alone. Qi Yue rolled his eyes in the corner, so they were all just extras, were they?

 

Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui actually knew about Liu Zhongyuan’s beast form and his strength. Truthfully, if even Liu Zhongyuan couldn’t handle this mission, they’d have to shelve it for now and figure it out later.

 

They briefly discussed the mission details again, then took the backpacks packed by the soldiers and left under the cover of night. As they left, they saw many military vehicles in a parking lot, but most of them were unusable, without any fuel.

 

They needed to travel through the night, and the sound of vehicles would be too loud and impact their mission, so they had to leave the cars behind and go on foot. Of course, Liu Zhongyuan’s beast form would be the best way to travel quickly.

 

Only Qin Jiulin could sit on his head, the others couldn’t. Qi Yue was flying in the sky ahead, scouting the way, so he didn’t need to sit. But Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui could only sit on the area around his neck, where there were some relatively flat scales for them to cling to.

 

Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui exchanged a look, finding this giant snake transportation method quite useful. But this wasn’t something they could just sit on casually, after all, the one sitting at the very top was Qin Jiulin.

 

The relationship between Liu Zhongyuan and Qin Jiulin seemed special. Otherwise, they could also sit in the same position as Qin Jiulin. It seems…

 

Liu Zhongyuan silently moved forward in the direction they had agreed on earlier. The snow owl in the sky wasn’t really being watched, since they all knew the direction. The snow owl was just scouting ahead and would come back to inform them of the situation.

 

They didn’t have any major demands, and they weren’t rushing at full speed either. They just needed to maintain their condition, traveling through the night, which didn’t present too much of a problem.

 

Along the way, they sensed the tracks of many animals, and some even came close to look. However, all the animals that approached and saw the giant snake fled in fright, disappearing quickly.

 

All of them were scared off by the giant snake, which saved the group a lot of trouble. If they had to deal with animals attacking them occasionally, it would have endlessly delayed their travel time.

 

Maybe they wouldn’t be able to complete the mission and return before the military’s ammunition was completely exhausted.

 

Qin Jiulin sat there, observing the dark environment around them. His night vision ability wasn’t great, but it was still far better than ordinary people. In the pitch-black darkness that would have been completely blind for normal people, he could still make out some outlines.

 

To observe the surroundings better, Qin Jiulin transformed into his beast form and lay down on the snake’s head. This way, he could keep an eye on the situation and respond quickly if there were any problems.

 

Zhang Yuankai looked up and elbowed Mo Xinghui, gesturing towards Qin Jiulin. Mo Xinghui looked over and saw a rather large outline.

 

This definitely wasn’t a human outline, so Qin Jiulin had transformed into a huge tiger. Was there some trouble?

 

The two of them quietly transformed into their beast forms as well – a pangolin and a snow leopard appeared where they had been sitting. Qin Jiulin didn’t know their intentions, but he could see them clearly now that they had transformed.

 

Qin Jiulin lay on top, looking at them, while they crouched below, staring back at him. The three were in a staring contest, unsure of each other’s motives.

 

In the end, Zhang Yuankai and the others realized that Qin Jiulin had transformed into his beast form simply because…he was more comfortable lying down that way? So it wasn’t related to the surrounding situation.

 

Qin Jiulin was comfortable lying there because the surface was flat and spacious, but they were uncomfortable where they were, with protruding scales and even sharp spines. If they weren’t careful, they could get injured.

 

That would only hurt themselves, so they quickly transformed back into human form, carefully leaning against each other. Getting injured now would be counterproductive, so they might as well take a short rest.

 

Qin Jiulin’s gaze never left the snow leopard…it was just so fluffy. But aside from that, he could only imagine how unbearable it must be in the summer. Poor thing.

 

Fortunately, they were beastmen, so they didn’t need to maintain their beast forms constantly. In that regard, they were much better off than regular animals.

 

They traveled through the night without encountering any dangers, thanks to Liu Zhongyuan’s powerful beast form. It wasn’t until the first light of dawn that Liu Zhongyuan finally stopped.

 

Qi Yue also flew back from the front and landed nearby, putting on his clothes before approaching.

 

“What’s wrong? Aren’t we continuing?”

 

Liu Zhongyuan nodded. “There’s a water source here. Let’s start a fire and have a meal, then rest a bit before moving on.”

 

Even though they had eaten before setting out, being out in the field, they never knew when danger might strike. So whenever they had the chance, they needed to make sure they were in the best condition.

 

This way, if they encountered any emergencies, they wouldn’t be hindered by poor physical states or risk getting injured. Liu Zhongyuan, with Qin Jiulin, went ahead.

 

“You all start a fire here and wait. We’ll be back soon.”

 

Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui had rested a bit while Liu Zhongyuan was traveling, so they weren’t too tired. variant beastmen wouldn’t feel fatigued from just a night without sleep.

 

Qi Yue came to help, and in less than half an hour, Liu Zhongyuan and Qin Jiulin returned with two sizable prey, enough to fill their stomachs.

 

Zhang Yuankai and the others, who had rested the night before, took care of the cooking, while Liu Zhongyuan’s group lay down to rest a bit. The cooking should go quickly, given their experience.

 

The journey so far had been uneventful and very safe. They had successfully reached the vicinity of the military base, and Zhang Yuankai’s group found a well-hidden spot that was higher in elevation than the base, providing a clear view of the front of the military facility.

 

They could see several half beastman wandering slowly in the open spaces, some even collapsed on the ground, their limbs twitching occasionally.

 

They all looked utterly incapacitated, but Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui’s expressions were very serious.

 

Zhang Yuankai, “Don’t be fooled by how they look now. Once they start fighting, their combat ability won’t be what it seems. We can see 26 half beastman in the open areas in front of us. There are probably more inside or in areas we can’t see.”

 

Qi Yue, “Should I go take a look? Surely there aren’t any that can fly among these half beastman?”

 

Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui fell silent.

 

Liu Zhongyuan and Qin Jiulin looked over. “What, there are some that can fly?!”

 

Zhang Yuankai nodded. “Yes, there are some that can fly. Previously, when our main force was retreating, two half beastman that could fly kept chasing after us relentlessly. We managed to break one of their wings.”

 

“So there should only be one left that can still fly. Qi Yue, you’ll have to be extra careful this time. The flying half beastman are no joke – their combat power is incredibly strong, and they’ll be fighting in the air. If a fight breaks out, we won’t be able to support you, so you can quickly retreat back to us if needed.”

 

Qi Yue swallowed hard, having thought this mission would be relatively easy. But it seems the situation was more complicated than expected.

 

“Okay, if I can’t beat it, I’ll just run. I can’t even escape?”

 

Qin Jiulin patted Qi Yue’s head. “Don’t worry, if it chases you and won’t let up, come towards me. I’d like to try my hand at dealing with a flying half beastman.”

 

Qi Yue said, “Okay, brother Qin.”

 

Liu Zhongyuan said, “You can come to my place as well. I can easily slap it down with just a swish of my tail.”

 

Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui exchanged glances again, and for these two, the flying half beastmen indeed did not seem to be able to stir up much trouble. So weren’t they worrying in vain before?

 

However, the most important thing was not this, but how many half beastmen were left in this military base. The half beastmen also needed to be hunted, as they had no rationality and were acting solely on their instincts of hunting and feeding.

 

The animals around this military base must not be few, and the half beastmen should not be self-cannibalizing inside. So now they not only need to check the number of half beastmen inside, but also need to find out how many of them are still out there, or have left this place.

 

After filling their stomachs a little, Liu Zhongyuan and Qin Jiulin lay down there to rest for a while. Zhang Yuankai and the others who had originally wanted to discuss the battle plan with them suddenly didn’t know what to say.

 

“Since that’s the case, shall we rest a bit more?”