Chapter 555: The Earth Trembles

The tamed bird invading Territory Three was hit by Xia Qing and exploded in mid-air fifteen meters from where Xia Qing and Sick Wolf were positioned.

The violent sound and shockwave from the close-range explosion of the high-explosive bomb slammed into Xia Qing, leaving her with ringing ears, dizziness, and nausea, but she didn't blink once.

The beatings she took during ten days of special training with Yanlong weren't for nothing, and the training fees paid to Green Dragon this winter weren't spent in vain. A sniper must lock onto the target quickly under any circumstances.

Taking advantage of the intense flash from the explosion, Xia Qing fired rapidly.

"Bang, bang!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!!"

"Bang!"

"Boom!!!"

Two consecutive shots took down two tamed birds carrying bombs at low altitude—one over her territory, the other over neighboring Territory Four.

At the same time, Beard Feng also shot down a tamed bird that had flown into Territory Three.

Already suffering from blast-induced deafness and unable to hear, Xia Qing pressed two buttons on her walkie-talkie and quickly broadcast on the patrol channel and the lord channel: "Four tamed birds carrying bombs have appeared flying at low altitude over Territory Three and Territory Four. They appear to be large evolved bats coated in a new stealth material that can evade night-vision goggles. Extremely dangerous. Xia Qing's hearing is damaged and she cannot receive orders for the time being. Requesting Territory One and Territory Seven to activate emergency floodlights so we can use the intense light to quickly eliminate the evolved bats."

The brightness of the outdoor emergency disaster-relief floodlights is extremely high; once switched on, they not only illuminate the invading tamed birds in the dark night but also attract large numbers of birds toward the territory, bringing new dangers.

But the situation is urgent now; the harm from attracting birds is less than that from the tamed birds carrying high explosives.

The moment Xia Qing's voice fell, multiple emergency floodlights lit up simultaneously over Territory One, Territory Seven, Territory Eight, and Hill Forty-Nine. A few seconds later, Territory Twelve, Territory Twenty-One, and Territory Twenty-Five lit up their floodlights in succession.

The floodlights from six territories plus the hilltop completely illuminated the dark night across the twenty-six territories of Northern Zone One, leaving the invading scout birds nowhere to hide.

"Boom—"

"Boom—"

"Boom—"

Explosions sounded one after another in Territory One and Territory Eight. Standing on the high ground of Territory Three, Xia Qing saw that the blast in Territory One occurred at low altitude while the one in Territory Eight happened on the ground, causing substantial damage. God only knows how, in temperatures below minus twenty degrees, the invaders got the bats to fly and bomb the territories!

"The spore powder factory in Territory Eight has been bombed. There are casualties."

On the patrol channel that Xia Qing could no longer hear, Xin Yu calmly submitted a fierce request: "I request to withdraw the scout birds over the territory and search for the humans controlling the invading tamed birds in the areas outside the territory."

"Approved. Stay safe." Tan Junjie, who was defending against the beast tide in the southern part of the territory, agreed to Xin Yu's request. "The beast tide and the birds in the air will be drawn by the intense light and move toward Northern Zone One. The emergency floodlights must be turned off in eight minutes."

The main body of the beast tide is almost here.

Xin Yu replied, "Copy."

Ji Li broadcast on the patrol channel: "Captain Tan, the invading birds are flying too low. The laser cannon in Territory Seven can't engage."

The invaders this time have figured out the defensive methods of this stretch of territory, which is why they released bats flying at low altitude. It's not that the laser cannon can't hit the bats, but after hitting a bat, the laser beam still carries tremendous power and would cause collateral damage to personnel and ground facilities within the territory.

Tan Junjie responded calmly: "Territory Seven handles high-altitude invaders. Low-altitude invading bats are to be taken down by the sniper team."

"Copy."

"Copy."

On the alliance channel, Yue Haiying asked about the situation in Territory Three and Territory Four.

Xia Qing could no longer hear, so Beard Feng answered: "Territory Three has eliminated five invading bats. Xia Qing has hearing damage but no other external injuries."

In Territory Four, Zhao Ze, who was hiding in an underground bunker, answered: "Territory Four detected two invading bats, taken down by Xia Qing and Cheng Ping respectively. No third one spotted so far."

Yue Haiying issued the order: "Hu Ningsheng, Ding Hao, immediately head to the southern part of Territories Three and Four to reinforce. Yin Jie, hold position. All personnel on alert, watch your cover."

"Copy."

"Copy."

Cheng Ping is a retired soldier from Territory Fifteen. Although his left arm isn't very nimble, his marksmanship is excellent, and Yue Haiying assigned him to assist in defending Territory Four. Yin Jie and Ding Hao are two Green Dragon squad members hired by Xia Qing, now under Yue Haiying's command.

On the lord channel, Tang Huai anxiously asked: "Xia Qing, why are there so many explosions coming from Territory Three? Are you alright? Xin Yu, Zhao Ze, are you both alright?"

Xia Qing couldn't hear any of these exchanges. She moved positions with her companion, taking cover behind a thicket, and took down a raptor diving down from high altitude.

The first tamed bird that exploded was clearly aimed at her. The enemy lurking in the shadows had already used reconnaissance equipment to pinpoint her hiding spot. If Sick Wolf hadn't been alert, she would definitely have been hurt much worse.

After hitting the target, Xia Qing quickly rubbed her left arm against her companion beside her. Sick Wolf's hearing is sharper than hers, so its hearing must be damaged too.

Sick Wolf was just about to nuzzle Xia Qing's arm back with its head when its body suddenly tensed. Because Xia Qing was pressed right up against Sick Wolf, she immediately sensed the change and quickly swung her muzzle toward the direction Sick Wolf was looking, only to see Beard Feng approaching.

Strangely enough, although Beard Feng's squad often operates within Territory Three and the two evolved animals in the territory are very familiar with them, they don't treat them as companions.

"Lao Er, it's fine, he's one of us." Xia Qing put her left arm around Sick Wolf's neck to keep it from attacking before explaining to Beard Feng: "Captain Hu, Lao Er and I have hearing damage, so it's reacting more aggressively."

Beard Feng made an "OK" gesture to show he'd heard Xia Qing. He didn't come any closer, stopping eight meters away, placing a small box on the ground, and pulling out his phone to wave it at Xia Qing.

"Understood. Checking the phone."

After Beard Feng withdrew, Xia Qing released Sick Wolf, went to pick up the small box he'd left on the ground, quickly returned to her hiding spot, and gestured with actions for Sick Wolf to stand guard while she leaned against a large tree and opened the phone. She had noticed the phone vibrating earlier, but the situation had been too urgent for her to take it out and check.

Her idol, Beard Feng, and Tang Huai had all sent her messages. Xia Qing opened the one from her idol first, then Beard Feng's, and finally Tang Huai's.

Her idol had learned through the walkie-talkie that Xia Qing's ears had been damaged by the shockwave and had sent someone to deliver medicine! Beard Feng relayed the channel communications to Xia Qing, while Tang Huai was asking how she was doing.

Xia Qing quickly replied to all three, then took off her protective mask and, following the usage instructions for the medicine her idol had sent, took it orally, applied drops externally, and added acupoint massage to relieve the tinnitus and dizziness as quickly as possible.

After massaging the acupoints around her own ears for a while, Xia Qing began administering medicine and massage to Sick Wolf. As for whether a wolf's acupoints are the same as a human's, that was beyond Xia Qing's consideration—pressing something was better than pressing nothing.

After the intense light came on, the invaders withdrew the bomb-carrying birds, but raptors were attracted by the floodlights' glare and were gathering toward this stretch of territory. The laser cannon in Territory Seven has a cooldown, but the flying raptors don't. The sniper team opened fire at full capacity, coordinating with the laser cannon to pick off the raptors.

After massaging her ears for two minutes, sniper Xia Qing put the protective mask back on herself and Sick Wolf, picked up her sniper rifle, and joined the fight.

Although Xia Qing could only hear the ringing in her ears, she knew the main body of the beast tide was approaching this stretch of territory.

Because the ground beneath her feet was trembling harder!