Chapter 135: An Owl Riding a Robot!?

It was obviously impossible for this thing to just appear out of thin air, right?

No matter how you looked at it, someone had to be living inside.

"It looks like a circus camp, just a bit on the smaller side."

Skinny Monkey muttered from the side, then nudged their leader with his elbow.

"Do you think it could be the mobile Shelter of some big shot?"

"A mobile Shelter!?"

The leader trembled, his heart skipping a beat in shock.

"Yeah, weren't people on the World Channel discussing the possibility of Shelters having various attributes? Like open-type or membership-based ones. So, a mobile type should be pretty normal too, right?"

Skinny Monkey explained.

The rumors seemed to have originated from the Supreme Council.

Word was that one could consciously cultivate and grow their Shelter.

Although he had no idea what that actually meant, it sounded incredibly impressive, which was why it immediately came to Skinny Monkey's mind.

"You make a lot of sense. In that case, you go up and take a look."

The leader tilted his chin up slightly, gesturing toward him. Thus, the loudmouthed Skinny Monkey was once again elected for this glorious role.

Looking back over his shoulder with every step, Skinny Monkey gazed reluctantly at his brothers and sisters, who were giving him a poignant farewell stare.

Some even clenched their fists and cheered him on.

'Whatever.'

'It is not like this is my first time doing this anyway.'

'I just have to pay the price for my big mouth. It is no big deal.'

And so, right in front of everyone, Skinny Monkey's figure slowly vanished.

Mirage, an invisibility talent.

This talent was perfectly suited for assassins and covert operations. It had kept Skinny Monkey safe in the very beginning, allowing him to discover quite a few treasure chests and sell enough resources to upgrade to a Level 2 Shelter.

Of course, it sounded amazing on paper, but in reality, this talent was merely C-Rank.

It could still be detected, seen through, and even attacked.

To put it bluntly, it was just like a chameleon throwing on a layer of active camouflage.

However, Skinny Monkey used it exceptionally well.

At the very least, he did not trigger any alarms even after infiltrating within twenty meters of the Magic Shield's protective radius.

But!

With Lan Qingyou's cautious nature, how could she possibly pin all her hopes on a single defensive alarm?

"Hoot?"

Steel Wool, who had been resting with its eyes closed beside Lan Qingyou, suddenly snapped its head around one hundred and eighty degrees. It then scanned its surroundings vigilantly with those intensely wise, yellow, beady eyes.

"Hoot!"

As if sensing something, it hopped up and prepared to smack Lan Qingyou with its wing to wake her, but abruptly stopped.

Its eyes darted around slyly before it jumped directly onto a Rolling Blade Beast.

"Hoot!"

Steel Wool waved its wing, and the Rolling Blade Beast began to trundle forward with a heavy rumble.

Do not worry, this was no supernatural phenomenon. It was a cockpit designed by Lan Qingyou for Steel Wool, allowing the owl to pilot the magic puppet during emergencies.

In a way, you could even call it a toy crafted specifically for her pet.

After all, aside from protecting her and fighting when they went outside, these magic puppets had very little use while sitting around inside the Shelter.

Thus, a magic puppet that balanced both combat and entertainment was born.

Rumble, rumble...

Just as Skinny Monkey stealthily crept up to the edge of the tent, he heard a strange noise emanating from within.

Realizing he might have already been discovered, his very first instinct was, naturally, to flee.

However, before he could even move a muscle, the tent flap was thrust open.

Two contraptions that looked exactly like chainsaws were brandished right in front of his face, gleaming menacingly.

They were barely thirty centimeters away from his eyes.

Too close, and far too cold.

The sunlight reflecting off the blades hit his face, sending an indescribable chill shooting straight from his tailbone up to the crown of his head.

It was far too late to run now. The only thing he could do was hold perfectly still and pray he remained undetected.

'Are you kidding me?'

'One look at those saws and it is obvious they are not meant for cracking walnuts.'

'If I get caught, being chopped into eight pieces would probably be considered keeping me intact.'

He then watched as a brass-colored Rolling Blade Beast slowly drove out from the tent.

"Hoot!"

Hoot?

Just as Skinny Monkey was dripping with cold sweat, entirely unable to force a smile, a highly incongruous sound rang out from the robot.

He subtly shifted his gaze to look for the source.

Then, perched atop the Rolling Blade Beast's back, he spotted an even more out-of-place monster.

An owl!?

And an owl riding a robot, no less?

Well, although Skinny Monkey had never seen an Aurora Snowy Owl before, there was no denying that a snowy owl was simply a type of owl.

This raised a glaring question: why on earth was an owl sitting on top of something that looked like a robot?

'It couldn't just be for fun, right?'

'Whatever, I just need to stay quiet. Once I get through this crisis, I will...'

'Wait! Have I been discovered!?'

Skinny Monkey began to doubt his entire existence.

He couldn't deny that his talent could technically be seen through, but it definitely shouldn't have been discovered this easily.

And yet, what was the reality?

Had it even been ten seconds since this owl showed up?

How did it spot him so fast?

Could it be a monster with some special tracking skills?

'This is bad!'

Seeing the brass robot's chainsaw arms roar to life, the ensuing mechanical buzz made Skinny Monkey instantly realize that he had absolutely been spotted.

Boom!

"Monkey! Run!"

A modest-sized fireball smashed into the robot, accompanied by the desperate shout of their leader.

In truth, from the moment Skinny Monkey crept forward, the leader and the others beside him had been preparing an attack.

They were ready to cover his retreat at a moment's notice.

After all, anyone who would so brazenly set up a tent in a place like this was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Shortly after, he witnessed a straight-out-of-sci-fi scene.

A robot?

And a chainsaw-wielding robot, at that?

He had thought that transmigrating and encountering magic was already fantastical enough. The sudden appearance of something so distinctly sci-fi was too much for the leader to process, causing him to freeze on the spot.

Had it not been for the reminder from the people beside him, he would have completely lost his loyal brother.

Meanwhile, the instant Skinny Monkey received support, he executed several rapid backflips. Landing steadily, he spun around and sprinted away as fast as his legs could carry him.

Although making such large movements instantly dispelled his camouflage talent, this was hardly the time to care about staying hidden.

"Hoot, hoot, hoot!!"

Seeing an extra person suddenly appear nearby, Steel Wool immediately commanded its mount to hunt the intruder down.

The Rolling Blade Beast was an assault-type magic puppet designed with high mobility. Therefore, Skinny Monkey's two legs were painfully inadequate against its heavy wheels.

He fled, it chased; even with wings, he would struggle to escape.

If it weren't for the ranged attacks constantly harassing the puppet every time it closed the distance, Skinny Monkey would have long since been sliced into pieces by the chainsaws.

Boom!

Following Skinny Monkey's frantic evasion, the group in the distance finally got a clear view of the owl perched on top of the robot.

And so, under their leader's command, everyone focused their fire on Steel Wool.