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The crowd on the steps suddenly cheered, and the birds that had been dozing with their eyes closed woke up. Pieces of clothing scattered on the ground were blown into the air by the dust, as it was the wind created by countless wings that forced them to dance.
The golden eagle that had provoked Pei Chanbai swooped down close to the ground, its sharp beak moving to seize the motionless child lying on the ground. A taste of blood welled up in Shi'an Chen's throat. He looked up and saw the golden eagle soar diagonally into the air, hurling the child upward.
The next moment, the small figure disappeared into the golden eagle's mouth without even a drop of blood.
Shi Youchen stood there in a daze. The short-haired woman beside him could no longer hold back and bent down, but she didn't vomit anything except stomach acid and bile. She hadn't eaten for a long time.
Following the golden eagle's example, other birds began to follow suit, picking up body after body, swallowing the smaller ones whole while using each other's strength to tear the larger ones apart and then share the food.
Shi Youchen's legs gave out, and he fell to his knees with a thud. Smelly blood and an unknown mucus dripped onto his forehead, staining his vision with a blood-red hue. This bloody feast soon ended, and the birds scrambled back to the steps, returning to their master's feet to affectionately "claim the credit."
The white-robed woman narrowed her eyes and said, "Take the remaining surviving losers down with you." The beasts then leaped down the steps and headed towards the center of the arena, towards the defeated who hadn't been "dealt with." The birds had dealt with at least half of the humans, or rather, their bodies. Of the remaining fighters on the ground, including the other two from the trio, some collapsed from exhaustion, while others completely lost consciousness and fell into a coma.
Some of them kept their eyes open when they fell to the ground, and saw the entire process of "cleaning". Then one or two of them tried to struggle to get up, not knowing whether they wanted to prove that they were still alive or to try to escape from this hell.
The short-haired woman vomited profusely, not even bothering to wipe the filth from the corners of her mouth. She struggled to her feet, her eyes bloodshot, her pupils shuddering and trembling, and a slither of hideous blood all around her. She glanced blankly at the scattered body parts and pools of blood on the ground. Suddenly, she let out a sharp wail and, in a state of collapse, twisted and scrambled towards the door she had come from.
The previous battle, carrying the hope of survival, had consumed her remaining strength. Now she had little strength left, and her movements were far less agile than before. She stumbled forward, tripped by something, and began to crawl on her hands and feet. On the steps, the woman in white frowned at the twisted figure, sighed regretfully, and said, "What a pity! A strong body is useless if your mental strength is not strong enough."
Then she flicked her hand lightly, and the tigers, leopards, jackals and wolves that were originally wandering leisurely among the remaining crowd turned around in unison and rushed towards the short-haired woman who had just run a few dozen steps.
In just a moment, the few people who were struggling to get up stopped moving. Shi Youchen was still kneeling. He heard the two extremely shrill screams behind him quickly dissipating in the air. After a few seconds of silence, the sounds of chewing and swallowing seemed to be heard.
At this moment, someone walked up behind him, squatted down, stretched out their hands, and cupped his ears tightly. The warmth of their palms covered his earlobes, and a few buzzing sounds swam through his head.
After a moment, the heat behind him faded. Shi Youchen's gaze swept across the pale faces in front of him, and his stomach began to turn sour. He was still too arrogant. He arrogantly thought that he had seen a lot of ups and downs since becoming a superpowered person. He arrogantly believed that he could complete the mission well without the help of Ying Yungui and Yan Zhiyuan.
I even arrogantly thought that after witnessing so many farewells, death would no longer be something that could move me.
That's why he came to District 5 alone in a fit of rage, naively hoping to find any trace of the Maintenance Bureau in this place that is generally recognized as the most chaotic in the world.
But he forgot that he had never actually witnessed a truly tragic death. The partings he had experienced were mostly about cold bodies, but less about pungent smells and vague incompleteness.
He had never seen the real world of superpowers, a world that was not much more advanced than the wild natural world.
A hand reached out before him. Shi Youchen looked up along the wrist, where Pei Chanbai was half-kneeling, watching him. "Are you okay?" Shi Youchen wanted to say, but the acid in his stomach surged uncontrollably as soon as he opened his mouth. Fortunately, Pei Chanbai pulled his hand back quickly enough to avoid getting contaminated.
Then he knew he could no longer say "it's okay." When he finally managed to calm his breath, the herds of beasts came back leisurely, their tails swishing. They either stretched out their claws or opened their mouths, or carried or carried the defeated survivors of the fight, and walked away without making a sound.
In the shambles, only Shi Youchen, Pei Chanbai, and the man with the scarred collarbone remained. The woman in white robes approached with a smile, kicking away a small fragment of a limb near her feet. She extended a delicate finger toward Shi Youchen and said gently, "Did I scare you?" She remained unperturbed when ignored, explaining, as if to show some goodwill, "I don't want you to be exposed to this foul smell, but there's nothing I can do. This is the rule."
Watching Shi Youchen struggling to stand up, she smiled charmingly, "Human nature makes you refuse the help offered by others, but one day you will find that you need them." "You will know that we are companions."
After she finished speaking, she blew a whistle, and the giant tiger that had carried the five people here came over obediently. "Take them and clean them up so we can prepare for the evening ceremony."
After the three were taken away from the Colosseum, which was already filled with a strong smell of blood, the woman in white closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the polluted air around her, intoxicated. An arc appeared under the pure white silk that had just fallen to the ground, and a snake tail with a black background and a golden ring emerged, leaving a winding mark on the ground before disappearing into the darkness behind the iron gate.
...
"I've already said that this time, our clan wants those two people. This has always been the rule. Why won't you let them go?" Atop the castle's central tower stood a vast church, its walls and dome connected by a single piece of stained glass, creating a completely dark atmosphere. A woman in white leaned against the central reading desk, her hands clasped behind her, supporting herself on either side. She tilted her head slightly, the golden lines on her forehead gleaming brightly in the overhead light.
It was the white-robed woman who had just been in control of the Colosseum. Before her stood a tanned woman, complaining disgruntledly. "What you're doing is totally against the rules!"
The woman in white opened her eyes, without moving her head, and only glanced down at the person in front of her: "I have made it very clear, I can't give you the person you want. Let your grandfather come here and pick two others." This sentence completely angered the visitor who was originally a little worried. In an instant, the whole ground shook noticeably, and the candle on the stage suddenly fell and rolled to the ground. The wax condensed into a fan-shaped pool due to the shaking amplitude.
"Pansera, you may not take me seriously, but you are not qualified to despise my grandfather."
The woman in white finally stood up straight. She looked at the enraged man with disdain and said, "You are just a side branch of a side branch. The last person to inherit the bloodline's power appeared in who knows how many generations ago. Although the rules cannot be changed, how dare you come to me and ask for someone?"
The tense atmosphere between the two sides lasted only a few seconds before the arrival of an elderly figure. "Then I'll come in person. Will Your Excellency Panthera release the hostage?" The man was unusually short, barely reaching the waists of the two women who approached the center of the trembling church. Yet, he exuded a majestic aura, steadily suppressing the two in the standoff.
"If my junior has offended you with his words, please forgive me, Lord Panthera. But I believe you don't want the patriarch to worry about such a trivial matter. You will definitely think about your sister, right?" The old man had white hair and beard, and his eyes were already cloudy.
Panthera's temples twitched, and she clenched her teeth. She glanced hatefully at the woman next to her whose expression had turned to joy, but said to the old man, "That's natural. But these people have not yet been trained and tamed. Please come and lead them according to the rules after the ceremony." The vibration of the space stopped the moment the old man appeared. Panthera was annoyed, and after saying this, she walked out quickly.
A moment after the slender figure disappeared, the old man took two steps forward, leaned over, reached out, picked up the white candle from the ground, and placed it back on the table. Before his little granddaughter could speak, he stopped her and said, "I always teach you not to confront Panthera head-on. She is here under the orders of the clan leader. She holds great power and is half the owner of the castle."
"You've angered her. If she hurts you secretly, no one will be able to stand up for you once you leave the castle, not even me, your grandfather."
The woman was quite unconvinced and said, "But she's not the chief's real sister! After all, we are the clan members. Panthera is only here because she looks like her..." The old man's eyes sternly shouted, "Shut up!" He sighed and earnestly taught his granddaughter, "She's right. We are just a branch of the Kalanka clan, but she is now the chief's sister and the guide of the ceremony."
"You're so unstable, Rosa."
"But..." Lusha was about to speak anxiously, but was stopped again. "Okay, go back and rest first. Since she said after the ceremony, I will wait until after the ceremony to find her."
Hearing this, Rosa knew she could no longer change her grandfather's mind. She bit her lip and bowed her head as she retreated. She knew Panthera's temper well, and if it weren't for those two, she wouldn't have come so hastily.
...
On the other side, in a dim room, Shi Youchen had just finished a half-hour long shower. After getting dressed, he put a towel on his head and pushed open the bathroom door with a heavy heart.
Pei Chanbai was lying on the soft bed with his legs spread out, taking a nap with his eyes closed, his bathrobe draped loosely around him.
On the way here, after being led away from the Colosseum by the giant tiger, Shi Youchen was completely lost, his mind a mess, and he had no intention of paying attention to his surroundings. It was not until he was trapped in this room, where all light sources were small, dim, and even the window was only a narrow slit at the top of the wall, that the gloomy environment gradually brought his sanity back.
"Pei Chanbai." He softly called out to the person who was not sure if he was actually asleep or not, "Thank you."
Her long, white eyelashes twitched, and her eyes opened, their blood-red color almost blending into the darkness. Pei Chanbai stared at the ceiling thoughtfully, "This must be your first time experiencing something like this. It's normal to be afraid, and it's normal to be terrified."
"But this is what true psychics must overcome." He slowly raised his upper body, his collar drooping from his left shoulder as he did so. A faint flash of light flashed between his left shoulder and chest, only to be hidden by his bathrobe before Shi Youchen could see clearly. "This place is probably outside the Association's jurisdiction, and there's even a fairly large fugitive organization."
Pei Chanbai changed the subject, not fearing any eavesdropping or surveillance cameras in the room. He tightened his belt again. "I have a way for you to escape. Come here."
Shi Youchen was stunned. He thought Pei Chanbai should not be such a reckless person.
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