Chapter 649: Lightning!

"Awoo, oof..."

"Squeak, cheep, squeak!"

Haoyun and the rat were locked in a fierce battle. The long fur floating in the air belonged to Haoyun, the short fur to the rat. A few drops of bright red blood dripped from Haoyun's nose—one of the few places without fur protection, which had become the opponent's primary target. It stained the bridge of its nose and the area around its mouth red, as if it had stolen and eaten a dragon fruit!

"Damn, this speed... I can't keep up!"

Zhang Su arrived at the edge of the battle circle. Feeling the fight at close range, he felt like two gusts of wind were swirling in place. If he relied on his naked eye, he couldn't keep up with the speed at all. He could only capture their movements through the white mist, his brain processing the images quickly, but his physical functions couldn't compare to two awakened animals!

He didn't dare intervene rashly; he might end up doing more harm than good, perhaps accidentally slashing Haoyun and ruining everything.

"Where did this rat come from? Try using mental control!"

Tachibana Maiying appeared beside Zhang Su like a ghost, whispering. Her suggestion meant she wasn't confident about intervening either.

"Wait, I... I know!"

Zhang Su held up a finger, his brow furrowed, and suddenly said, "Lightning! Is that you?"

Woken from a pleasant dream, he vaguely remembered someone mentioning something about a rat. In his panic, he hadn't thought it through, but now, with the cold wind hitting him, the memory surfaced.

*Snap... *

The battle, which had been evenly matched, finally took a turn the moment Zhang Su shouted the name "Lightning."

The rat froze for a split second. In that damned instant, Haoyun's fleshy paw struck out like lightning, swatting the rat away and sending it crashing into the slope like a cannonball!

*Puff, slap-slap, slap, roll-roll... *

"How did you know..."

Tachibana Maiying looked at Zhang Su in surprise, not understanding how he knew the rat's name.

"I'll explain later... Haoyun, stop, stop, stop!"

Zhang Su didn't have time to explain to Tachibana Maiying. Seeing Haoyun opening its bloody mouth to press the attack, he hurriedly stopped it and ran forward, saying, "Lightning, are you the Lightning from the Dragon Head camp?"

"Squeak... squeak-squeak."

The rat had been swatted over twenty meters away and had rolled who knows how many times. It shook its dizzy head and stood up. Seeing that the one running toward it wasn't the big dog, but the human who knew its name, it very humanly covered its head with its two front paws, shook it, and then looked up and nodded at the person who asked.

"You really are Lightn... no, no, you've already won. Since you won, you're not allowed to keep fighting!"

Zhang Su grabbed the tail of Haoyun, who was angrily stepping forward to continue the fight, like a parent pulling apart children.

Haoyun turned to look at Zhang Su, baring its teeth in frustration. It raised a paw and pointed to its own nose, where several bloody scratches were clearly visible, its white fur stained with blood. Then, it barked loudly: "Woof-woof, woof!"

The barks were filled with resentment. Haoyun raised a paw to point at the Cuileng Pavilion, then gestured at its own mouth, and finally made a "strong" gesture.

"It's not that bad... be good, don't be angry anymore. Go find Auntie Xiaoshan and let her treat your wounds. Good dog. You did a great job tonight, I'll reward you with something delicious. Go on."

Zhang Su crouched down and stroked Haoyun's head. He understood—Haoyun wanted that half-chicken with the stimulant effect; it was planning to get serious with the little rat.

Feeling its master's comfort, Haoyun's rapid breathing slowly calmed down. It shot a glance at the rat not far away with bloodshot eyes, bared its teeth in a threat, then turned and ran toward Little Lucky, disappearing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

"There are hundreds of people in the camp who don't fight, and you awakened animals are already rare enough—why do you have to scrap the moment you meet?"

Zhang Su rubbed his temples helplessly and looked at the rat, which had recovered from its dizziness. He continued, "Hey, are you really Lightning, the hamster from the Dragon Head camp?"

Whether due to the awakening causing a mutation, Lightning's frame was larger than a normal hamster, especially in length. It wasn't the traditional "fur ball" anymore; it was trending toward a rat, not quite as cute...

Lightning sat on the ground. Suddenly sensing someone walking nearby, it immediately went on guard. Discovering the newcomer seemed to have no hostility, it sat up straight again, looked at Zhang Su, nodded, and pointed to the east.

"It seems..." Tachibana Maiying frowned as she looked at the rat, Lightning, and said uncertainly, "It seems very sad."

Zhang Su's heart skipped a beat. He said in a deep voice, "Lightning, did something happen at the Dragon Head camp?"

Lightning let its front paws hang naturally, sniffed its little nose, and nodded.

"Damn, Brother Good-Man, it couldn't be..."

Pan Guoliang saw the little rat's appearance and looked at Zhang Su with a strange expression.

Zhang Su's face twitched. "Was there an explosion?" "Squeak!"

Lightning let out a loud cry, jumped into mid-air, hugged its front paws, and then flung them up. After landing, it hugged its head, stuck its butt out, and shivered, then ran around, waving its paws constantly, like a shaman performing a ritual.

Zhang Su and the others looked at each other in confusion. Just as he was about to have Tachibana Maiying call her follower Zhou Haotian, rapid footsteps came from afar.

"Squeak-squeak, squeak!"

Just as Zhang Su saw that the person coming was Shen Linrui, the rat, Lightning, let out a series of cries and darted past him, heading straight for Shen Linrui.

"Ah, it... it really is you, little guy. No, why are you... how did you find your way here?"

Shen Linrui looked like he had come out in a great hurry; his boot laces weren't tied, he hadn't had time to put on his hat, and his shoulder-length hair was disheveled from sleep.

He had a very special relationship with Lightning. Hearing the squeaking earlier, he had been shocked and wanted to come out to see, but he was worried about being in someone else's camp and didn't want to meddle. But the more he heard, the more it sounded like Lightning, so he finally came out.

"Squeak, wah-wah, squeak-squeak, wah..."

Seeing Shen Linrui, Lightning acted as if it had seen a relative. It crawled onto his boots and cried, "wah-wah." The sound wasn't loud, but the emotion was sincere and touching. Little tears dripped down its fur, which was messy from the fight.

Shen Linrui was a bit dazed. He looked at Zhang Su and the others who had walked up with a questioning gaze: "This... Yama, what is this... Lightning seemed to be fighting that little dog earlier. Is it hurt?"

"They were just playing, nothing serious!" Zhang Su waved his hand, his face extremely serious. "You should ask it about the Dragon Head camp. Something happened to your camp!"

??!! Shen Linrui's heart sank. He bent down and scooped up Lightning, who was crying its heart out, into his hands. Just as he was about to speak, more footsteps came from behind.

"Team Leader Shen, what's wrong?"

"It's so lively in the middle of the night, what's going on?"

Several people from the Dragon Head camp had been woken by Shen Linrui's commotion and followed him out. They were all staying in the Breeze Pavilion, not far from where Haoyun and Lightning had fought.

"Don't make noise, I need to ask Lightning something first!"

Shen Linrui shook his head at his companions.

"What? Lightning?"

"How did Lightning get here..."

"Looking for Team Leader Shen, obviously. Team Leader Shen is basically half its owner."

Shen Linrui didn't have the energy to listen to their whispers, but Zhang Su heard every word.

"Lightning, tell me, what exactly happened to the Dragon Head camp?"

Shen Linrui gently stroked Lightning's cheeks and then tenderly helped it groom its fur.

Lightning pushed Shen Linrui's fingers away with its paw, then jumped to the ground and began its abstract performance again.

"No, no, no..."

Shen Linrui's understanding of Lightning's movements was deeper than anyone else's. After watching for a while, he staggered backward.

"Team Leader Shen, Team Leader Shen, what's wrong..."

The other few people from the Dragon Head Camp were startled by Shen Linrui's appearance and hurriedly steadied him; this was a downhill slope with a significant grade, and if he fell on his backside, he might well end up rolling down like a gourd.

"It can't be, how could it be like this? It's over, it's all over..."

Supported by his companions, Shen Linrui's legs felt weak. He stared blankly at Lightning, who was still "performing," muttering that it was over. Tears streamed down his face, and his lips trembled.

"Sigh!"

Although Zhang Su didn't understand what the "King of Abstraction," Lightning, was acting out, it was like solving a math problem—by reverse-engineering from the guessed answer, it was easy to verify if it was right or wrong.

He said softly to Tachibana Maiying and Pan Guoliang, "The Dragon Head camp was blown up."

"My god..."

"I said yesterday that the direction of the explosion looked like the Shanhai District. It really was? Holy crap!"

Pan Guoliang's expression was twisted and exaggerated. Pegasus Island and the Shanhai District were nearly forty kilometers apart in a straight line. With such a distance and such a powerful shockwave, it was hard to imagine what the situation in the Shanhai District was like! (End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 650 =====