Chapter 972: Unknown Mutation

"Weighing peregrine falcon?"

"What is that?"

Rubbing his head, Zhang Tie instinctively grabbed the bloody, fuzzy corpse, staring blankly at Lin An.

He hadn't read much, dropping out of middle school.

Faced with this lump of meat, he really couldn't make out anything from the scattered feathers.

He gestured for Zhang Tie not to touch it with his hands.

Lin An continuously released his psychic power, suspending the bird corpse in midair.

"Peregrine falcon, belonging to the Falcon family and genus, a medium-sized raptor, body length 41-50 cm, top speed about 380 km/h, roughly three times that of a cheetah."

"Just treat it as a very fast-flying bird."

The bird's head, suspended in midair, was driven into its chest cavity; drips of dark red viscous blood clung to its wings like oil.

Zhang Tie nodded, half-understanding, and couldn't help clicking his tongue.

A fast-flying bird?

This isn't just fast flying; it's practically like a fighter jet—no, even faster than a fighter jet!

Xiong Hanzi, completely unaware of any problem, smacked his lips:

"Captain Lin, I used to hear people say that birds knocking down an airplane was fake."

"Now it seems, this damn thing flying so fast is indeed impressive..."

He glanced at Yun Tian, still struggling to patch the hole, his eyes full of lingering fear.

If Lin An hadn't reacted quickly enough to pinch and explode the following flock of birds from afar, and if they kept hitting, once the engine was pierced, they'd all fall.

Even if they didn't die from the fall, the rest of the journey would have to be made on foot.

Listening to Xiong Hanzi's sigh, Mo Ling glanced at him sideways, clutching Lin An's arm with her small hand.

"Lin An, isn't something wrong?"

"The peregrine falcon's 380 km/h speed compared to just now is completely different."

"This thing's speed just now was at least 3000 km/h!"

Mo Ling couldn't help but glance at Lin An's side profile, speaking softly.

"Lin An..."

"Its speed, isn't it a bit too fast..."

"Even if it were made of iron, at this speed it should disintegrate in the air..."

Lin An stared unblinking at the peregrine falcon's corpse, nodding silently.

"That's right."

He also only realized this, and his face suddenly turned grim.

Speaking of speed alone, these peregrine falcons might be comparable to a third-rank high-level mutant!

At such terrifying speed, he yet detected no high-intensity spiritual energy from the peregrine falcon corpses.

Even if they had mutated, at most they'd be less than first level.

These birds, how on earth did they become this fast!!

Psychic power seeped into the bird corpses, dissecting them like a scalpel.

After a moment, Lin An, lost in thought, held aloft a gland-like thing and focused his gaze.

He examined the peregrine falcon's brain and eyes.

Although smashed into a mess, one could generally see that these birds were infected with the zombie virus.

The eyeballs were red, the brainstem atrophied, yet had rubber-like elasticity.

He had some knowledge about animals being infected with the zombie virus.

In his past life, this situation wasn't unusual.

As long as one consumed something containing the zombie virus, whether human or animal, they would be infected.

He even recalled that, in his memory, a tiger in a national zoo, under the dual effect of infection and spiritual pollution, surged in strength to third-rank peak.

In the information that leaked out, that monster's body directly grew to thirty meters, covered head to toe in white bone armor, enough to withstand attacks of the same rank.

In just a short week, it successively destroyed two medium-sized safe zones, countless humans perishing in the jaws of the corpse tiger.

But such examples are ultimately rare.

Most animals, after infection, become frenzied and bloodthirsty, their physical qualities enhanced, but only limitedly.

Otherwise, with such massive numbers, humanity wouldn't need to survive.

Even if these peregrine falcons before us were similar to that corpse tiger, at most only one or two would show comparable enhancement; it's impossible for the whole flock to reach this speed.

Ten times the speed, Mach 3 supersonic flight...

If it were an ordinary third-rank, caught off guard, they'd probably have been smashed into meat paste in that attack just now.

Having seen records of peregrine falcon hunts, Lin An deeply knows just how exaggerated these aerial raptors are.

Frankly speaking, if the peregrine falcon were a bit larger, even before mutation it could probably hunt lions and tigers.

Arcane power lifting the gland, Lin An carefully examined it inch by inch.

After a moment, he furrowed his brow and put down that red thread.

Could not be seen,

He could only vaguely feel that inside seemed to flow a force utterly incomprehensible.

Like condensed energy liquid, but not quite the same.

Moreover, in his perception he could clearly feel that this "liquid" was filled with a decaying aura.

Stroking his chin.

His body swayed with the cabin's movement, Lin An thought quickly.

The mutant that suddenly attacked...

No further developments; it must be a random incident.

The airspace where we're currently flying lies above the edge of a populated area.

Zombie‑ified birds have gathered in flocks, yet no similar reports have ever appeared in the war‑zone channel...

That shows this thing only appeared recently.

This is a flock of... zombie‑ified birds that, after contacting some special event recently, underwent super‑mutation?

Special event... recently... appearing in the skies...

Under hyper‑effective thinking, Lin An quickly gave his judgment.

One second later, he glanced at the cockpit being repaired.

Through the side skylight, a flash of silver flickered in Lin An's eyes; as if realizing something, he directly asked Yun Tian:

"Yun Tian!"

"Can you retrieve the radar's previous data?"

"What direction is their flight path!?"

Three minutes later.

In the barely repaired cockpit, Yun Tian stared intently at the radar screen, his face grave:

"Lin Dui! The radar on the fighter has been modified; otherwise it wouldn't work at all."

"I can only simulate the route using motion trajectories."

He swallowed.

Yun Tian compared the map, then replied somewhat nervously:

"If my judgment is correct."

"These mutant birds are so fast... if their flight path hasn't changed midway, they must have come straight from the northwest at 75 degrees!"

The line segments overlap.

On the map, a straight black line cut through the East Mountain Province War Zone.

Taking the fighter's coordinates as the base point, the other end unmistakably passed through the target red dot.

Looking at the plotted route on the map, Lin An's eyes twitched slightly, and he instinctively looked forward.

Still not fully repaired, the fighter was flying at low speed.

The distant horizon resembled a setting sun fading away.

Did it fly out from the satellite... base?

The mutant birds, the severed military region, the place where no one "survived"...

What exactly happened.