Chapter 471: Snatching the Aberrant Species' Head

The painted thrush's feathered blade slashed across Mei Wei Si's shoulder, and the deep‑purple fabric tore a slit.

Mei Wei Si lowered her head to glance at the wound, then casually brushed it with her fingertip, wiping away the blood droplet.

"Your strength has diminished a great deal."

In fact, Mei Wei Si's physical condition far exceeds that of the painted thrush, but that does not stop her from using this point to taunt it.

"When you used to strike me, a single slap would make my face swell for three days."

The painted thrush's pupils contracted; it stepped back half a pace, its heel carving a shallow groove in the ground, and its wings unfurled behind it.

"I'm going to tear your mouth off!"

It's purely fighting by relying on the Aberrant Species' instincts.

Since Co-Absorption also has a bird‑person, Mei Wei Si has already dealt with Lu Mu on many occasions.

With that contrast, the painted thrush looks especially like an outsider.

Has it truly taken itself for a beast?

Mei Wei Si casually tore a strip of fabric from her hem, wrapped it around the wound in her palm, bit one end, pulled tight, and tied a knot.

"You've always been like this—when things go wrong you like to smash objects and hit people, but fortunately this place is still remote, so a bit of commotion is no problem,"

"I told you to shut up!" The painted thrush's wings snapped violently, a dozen feathers shedding from the wing and flying toward Mei Wei Si.

Mei Wei Si did not dodge; amber‑colored energy condensed before her into a honeycomb‑like hexagonal lattice.

A feather lodged in the lattice's gap, its tail feather still trembling, like a butterfly whose wing is caught.

Mei Wei Si moved like a leaf blown off by wind, deftly threading through the gaps of the feathered blades.

Behind her, translucent wings beat rapidly, always timing perfectly to evade the incoming feathered blades, like a choreographed solo dance.

The painted thrush's attacks grew denser, feathered blades flying from all angles; Mei Wei Si switched the short staff to her right hand and drew a circle before her.

A dark‑yellow glow at the staff's tip traced an arc through the air, which solidified before her into a dark‑red light shield, blocking the remaining feathered blades.

The painted thrush was panting heavily; the feathers on its wings were noticeably stripped, resembling two plucked chicken wings.

"Good, it hasn't even mastered its own energy circulation,"

Now it can be fully confirmed that the painted thrush has not been an Aberrant Species for long.

Mei Wei Si dismissed the light shield and sheathed the short staff back into the leather case beneath her hem.

Her dress had already been torn in several places; trying to protect it amid such a dense battle was truly a hardship for her.

A slit opened at her waist side, a corner of the hem was missing, and blood even seeped down her calf into the heel of her shoe.

"Shall we continue?"

Mei Wei Si asked lightly, her insectoid compound eyes allowing her to take in the painted thrush's condition in full.

Although she seemed just to be defending a position, don't forget that Mei Wei Si's codename is "Queen Bee."

Poison is the field she excels at most.

The painted thrush's body began to drop without warning, crashing straight into the ground and raising a cloud of dust.

Mei Wei Si lowered her head to look at it; the painted thrush still retained its Aberrant Species form—

This is normal; this comparison is the appearance they should have now.

The toxin has already spread throughout the painted thrush's body; its breathing grows shallower and slower, as if the malevolent spirit that just returned to this world is about to be forcibly sent back.

Mei Wei Si crouched before it, her fingertips gently stroking the painted thrush's compliant feathers, just as she once did.

Only, in the end Mei Wei Si will receive another slap.

"How did you become an Aberrant Species?" Mei Wei Si asked softly, as if coaxing a child about to fall asleep.

"I clearly killed you with my own hands ten years ago, and only after confirming your complete death did I discard you,"

Whether it is she, Mei Wei Si, Lu Mu, or others, they all endured the Mutation by some method, and only after becoming Aberrant Species did they retain their self‑awareness.

Fang Zhiyan had long reached a conclusion: to become Aberrant Species like them requires the prerequisite of surviving the Mutation while alive.

But the painted thrush does not meet that condition at all.

It is a vengeful spirit that truly crawled out of hell for revenge, but it sought revenge against a devil living among humans, which led to its failure.

The painted thrush's lips twitched, and its mouth corner slowly lifted, mockingly gazing at the painted thrush.

"No... tell you..."

Mei Wei Si said nothing, only silently stared at it; the eerie compound eyes made the painted thrush feel a chill behind it, so it simply closed its eyes, awaiting the toxin to engulf its consciousness.

It fainted.

"It's fine; after all, I'm not the one curious about the reason,"

Mei Wei Si lowered her head to glance at her tattered hem; she knew the painted thrush's uniqueness would certainly attract Fang Zhiyan's attention, so she had to send it to Fang Zhiyan's laboratory.

Honestly, Mei Wei Si no longer cares at all about the "young lady" who once caused her much pain.

Because of the Dome's needs, she uses her current identity to mingle with the major nobles of the Dome's factions, and she has witnessed many things even more outrageous and disgusting than this.

At first she would have been disgusted, but now she can watch everything with a smile, even pondering whether she can incorporate it into her new book.

There's no other way; this is the only way she can pass the time.

She kicked the torn strip of fabric aside with her toe, pulled a communicator from her pocket, and opened Bai Mu Yun's avatar.

Logically, Bai Mu Yun should be negotiating with the painted thrush, but since the person herself is here, she's either idle or being held up by some low‑level side characters.

Just as she was about to press the "dial" key, a bullet shot in through a hole in the factory, and Mei Wei Si instinctively dodged the bullet that was about to hit her, then reflexively glanced at its direction.

That direction contained only a few abandoned residential blocks, their gray‑white walls resembling forgotten tombstones.

She immediately realized something was wrong.

Her finger hovered over the communicator's screen, about to press; Mei Wei Si slowly turned her head, looking at the painted thrush on the ground.

The painted thrush's forehead bore a tiny hole, its edges charred black.

That bullet wasn't aimed at her; it was aimed at the painted thrush on the ground.

Why?

She had just come to the Dome not long ago; by rights, she hasn't offended anyone, so who is this third-party force that suddenly intervened?

Meiweisi casually placed a white handkerchief over the bush warbler's head, and soon a bright red bloodstain spread across the white handkerchief.

Her eyes detected no abnormality, which means the enemy is far away from her, right?

Although firearms can easily kill stronger enemies, the premise is that this enemy has set up no defenses.

For example, the bush warbler, which was already on the brink of death from her toxin.