Chapter 14: Steel-boned Vulture

That scream seemed like it could tear a person's eardrums apart.

Wang Gongtou's vision went black in an instant, and he nearly fell off the broad back of the Black Tortoise.

He clutched his ears tightly, letting out a pained growl:

"What the hell is that! This sound!"

Lin Yue's condition was no better than Wang Gongtou's; his heart felt as if clenched by an invisible hand, and his whole body's muscles were tensed like a bow drawn to its limit.

He had no time to worry about Wang Gongtou, his eyes locked onto the fleeting shadow that flashed from the clouds, and he barked the command at top speed:

"Black Tortoise, Energy Shield!"

That shadow moved at extreme speed; without the Energy Shield's protection, a single encounter would likely tear him and Wang Gongtou to shreds!

"Roar!"

The Black Tortoise let out a low roar.

Its twenty-meter-long massive body shuddered violently, and in the next instant a semi-transparent pale-blue light shield, like an upturned giant bowl, silently unfurled, protecting the entire turtle back, the people on it, and the surrounding several meters of space completely.

The moment the shield formed, that huge shadow, accompanied by a piercing shriek that ripped the air, came down from the heavens!

Only then did Lin Yue finally see the attacker's true form.

It was a giant falcon with a wingspan exceeding five meters.

Its feathers were not soft down, but a sickly gray-white, with edges flashing like blade-like luster.

Its eyes were pure blood-red, with no pupils, only a sheet of murderous madness, and those talons gleaming with metallic cold light could likely tear through a tank's armor with ease!

"Clang——!!!!"

A deafening boom exploded on the shield!

The giant falcon's talons dug fiercely into the pale-blue light shield.

Scattered sparks flew everywhere!

That terrifying force, capable of ripping steel plates, only caused a violent ripple across the shield's surface, yet failed to move it in the slightest!

"Good… close call!"

Wang Gongtou looked up at the menacing talons hovering just above his head, scared stiff, he plopped onto the ground, his face turned deathly pale, and the clothes on his back were instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He had no doubt that without this shield, just a moment ago he and Lin Yue would already have been torn into two pieces of corpse!

"Screech——!"

After missing its strike, the monster that Lin Yue had named in his heart the "Swift Wind Falcon" let out a furious screech.

It violently flapped its wings, tracing an unimaginable sharp angle in the air, turning into a gray-white lightning bolt that swooped down from another direction!

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A series of dense impact sounds, like a rainstorm hammering a tin roof, rang out wildly.

The Swift Wind Falcon's speed exceeded imagination; it circled the Black Tortoise's Energy Shield, launching a storm-like frenzy of attacks, each strike exploding a blinding burst of sparks on the shield.

"Little Lin, this won't do if we keep going like this!"

Wang Gongtou shouted anxiously,

"How long can this shield hold? Look at it, it seems to never tire!"

Lin Yue frowned tightly; he of course knew that what Wang Gongtou said was true.

He could feel an invisible energy continuously draining from within the Black Tortoise.

Although the drain is slow, if this continues they'll eventually be doomed!

"Taking hits passively just isn't my style."

Lin Yue's eyes turned cold, and killing intent surged in his heart.

"Black Tortoise, knock it down for me!"

He directed his command at the gray afterimage raging wildly outside the shield, ordering an attack.

"Roar!"

The Black Tortoise's head, like a small mountain, shot up, aiming at the Swift Wind Falcon's next dive trajectory, like a cannonball fresh from the barrel, it slammed into it!

Savage Collision!

This strike bore the force of ten thousand jun, even compressing the air into a dull boom.

However, the Swift Wind Falcon's reaction speed far exceeded Lin Yue's expectations.

Just as the Black Tortoise's head was about to strike it, the falcon's massive wings bent at an impossible angle, jerking its whole body sideways several meters in midair, narrowly dodging the deadly blow!

The Black Tortoise's massive head, bearing unmatched might, heavily struck nothing.

"What?!"

Lin Yue's heart sank.

The Black Tortoise's attack couldn't even touch its edge!

"Screech!"

Having dodged the attack, the Swift Wind Falcon circled once in midair, let out a mocking cry, then turned into a blur again and launched a new round of harassment against the Energy Shield.

Now the trouble's big.

Lin Yue's heart kept sinking.

Can't hit it, can't hold the defense.

This is practically an unsolvable dead end!

This is just one of them!

Wang Gongtou said earlier that a flock of mutant birds is holed up here!

If a few more of these monsters show up…

Lin Yue dared not think further.

We have to think of a way,

He forced himself to stay calm, his brain racing,

"Speed is its advantage, but also its weakness. Any object moving at high speed has inertia as its greatest enemy; as long as we can predict its trajectory..."

Just as Lin Yue was desperately thinking of a countermeasure, locked in a stalemate with the Swiftwind Falcon...

On the other side of Building Materials City, a completely different roar suddenly erupted!

Hum—boom—boom—boom—!

It was the roar of an engine!

It was mixed with intense gunfire!

Lin Yue and Wang Gongtou abruptly turned toward the sound.

Only to see at an entrance on the east side of Building Materials City, a monstrous 'fortress vehicle' refitted from a heavy truck, bristling with impact angles and steel plates, brutally smashing through the barricades and forcing its way in!

Behind the truck, two similarly modified brave off-road vehicles followed closely.

The convoy made a slick tail‑skid stop, the doors flung open, and a dozen or so fully armed survivors leapt out one after another.

These people were completely different from the scavengers Lin Yue had seen before.

They uniformly wore dark combat uniforms and tactical vests, Kevlar helmets on their heads, and their weapons were all automatic rifles; every movement exuded a military‑like efficiency and lethal aura!

"It's the people from Pillar Stone Security!"

Wang Gongtou recognized their chest insignia at a glance and exclaimed in shock,

"Hangcheng's biggest private armed force! How did they end up here too?"

The Pillar Stone Security squad obviously also noticed Lin Yue and the massive Black Tortoise, but they merely gave a wary glance and did not rashly approach.

The squad leader, a burly man wearing tactical goggles, quickly arranged a defensive formation with just hand signals, his goal clear—they too were after the supplies in Building Materials City!

"How interesting—mantis stalks cicada, and now another hunter has appeared."

Lin Yue's thoughts raced, and the situation instantly became complicated.

The Swiftwind Falcon that had been attacking the Black Tortoise seemed also provoked by this group of uninvited guests.

It gave up gnawing at the Black Tortoise's hard bone, let out a sharp cry, turned direction, and swooped straight at the squad that hadn't yet found its footing!

Fire!

The Pillar Stone Security captain reacted instantly, his order triggering a dozen automatic rifles to spit flames simultaneously!

Rat‑tat‑tat‑tat‑tat—!

A dense hail of bullets swept toward the Swiftwind Falcon in midair.

However, the Swiftwind Falcon merely twisted agilely in the air, easily dodging most bullets; only a few stray shots struck its feathers, spitting a few sparks without even breaking the skin.

Damn it! This damned thing!

The captain cursed angrily, about to order the use of heavy weapons.

Just then.

——Screech——!!!!!!!!!!

A cry higher and sharper than any before, filled with supreme majesty, suddenly tore from the top of the tallest crane deep within Building Materials City, ripping through the sky!

The Swiftwind Falcon, still entangled in combat, stiffened, showed fear, and rapidly climbed higher to flee.

And within Building Materials City, every sound vanished at that moment.

Dead silence.

A suffocating dead silence.

An overwhelming, terrifying pressure swept forth from the direction of that crane!

Lin Yue's heart nearly stopped beating at that moment.

He jerked his head up, staring fixedly at the crane that loomed like a tower reaching to the heavens.

Only to see at the crane's very top, a huge black shadow he had thought was part of the structure, slowly… move.

A ferocious, bald head lifted from the shadow, its massive beak like a battle‑axe forged of black iron, flashing a chilling light that made the heart quake.

A pair of golden, molten‑gold‑like vertical pupils swept coldly over everything on the ground, as if a god were looking down on insignificant ants.

This was the true king of this region!

My goodness…

Wang Gongtou's lips trembled uncontrollably, his teeth clacking, his voice unable to hold back fear,

This… this fucking… what monster is this…

The Pillar Stone Security squad also fell into utter disarray.

Captain! It's the Steel Bone Vulture!

Quick! Rocket launcher! Use the rocket launcher to blast it down!!

The captain bellowed hoarsely, yet his voice betrayed a tremor he himself hadn't noticed.

A squad member immediately hoisted an RPG, aimed as fast as possible, then pulled the trigger!

Whoosh—!

The rocket trailed a long tail of flame, howling toward the iron demon standing on the crane.

However, the Steel Bone Vulture merely lifted its eyelids in contempt.

It didn't even bother to dodge.

Boom——!!!

The rocket struck its chest dead on, exploding into a magnificent fireball!

The blast's shockwave made the entire crane shudder violently.

But when the smoke cleared, everyone saw a scene they would never forget.

The Steel Bone Vulture still stood there, utterly still.

On the chest struck squarely by the rocket, those steel-like feathers bore not a trace of scorch!

Chirp—

It let out a low, disdainful cry, as if mocking these ants for their overreach.

The next second, it moved.

Its massive body leapt down from the hundred-meter-high crane!

"Scatter! Quickly scatter!!"

But it was already too late.

Boom——!!!

The Steel Bone Vulture's huge body slammed heavily onto their hastily built makeshift defense line, the whole earth groaning.

It easily tore open the modified truck's thick steel plating with its claws, like ripping open a soda can.

Its massive wings flared, the gale it kicked up blew several Pillar Stone Security members flying, slamming them hard into a distant wall, turning them into piles of flesh.

It was like a Tyrannosaurus rex barging into a sheep pen, launching a one-sided, brutal slaughter.

It snatched a fleeing member in one grab, hoisting him aloft like a chick, then opened its claws.

The piercing scream cut off abruptly.

On the turtle's back, Wang Gongtou's face was ashen as paper, his whole body trembling like autumn leaves in the wind.

He gazed at that hell-on-earth scene, muttering:

"It's over…… we…… we're all going to die here……"

He looked desperately at Lin Yue, only to see that although Lin Yue's face was equally grim, his eyes were unusually calm, his brows tightly knotted as he fixed his gaze on the Steel Bone Vulture now on a killing spree, as if rapidly calculating something.

Lin Yue was indeed calculating.

The power of this thing exceeded his expectations.

Its physical defense was nearly invincible, its strength and size crushing everything.

But…… the more a creature seems invincible, the more likely it has a fatal weakness.

Just then he noticed that after the Steel Bone Vulture had easily torn apart a person's chest, it actually stopped moving, using its iron beak to arrogantly preen the feather on its chest that had been struck by the rocket.

"I see…… you're that confident in your own defense……"

A fleeting gleam flashed in Lin Yue's eyes.

At the same time, a kilometer away, on the top floor of a dilapidated residential building.

Scar-face Feng Ge slowly lowered his military binoculars, while the skinny monkey beside him had already collapsed in terror, babbling incoherently.

"Feng…… Feng Ge…… what…… what kind of monster is that?! We have to leave now! Please!"

Feng Ge ignored him, just staring fixedly at the battlefield, his face showing no fear at all, instead twisted into an extreme excitement and greedy fervor.

"Leave? Why would we leave?"

He licked his dry, cracked lips, his voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing, his eyes flashing with a man-eating ferocity.

"You didn't see it, the good show... has just begun, huh?"