76: Chapter 76 Being Watched

"Little Qing."

Qin Ce patted the neck of the Azure Bird, the light igniting in his eyes almost scorching the sky.

The Azure Bird turned its head, gently nudging his hand with its beak, emitting a clear, resonant cry.

It could feel that its master was very excited right now.

That kind of excitement was not the nervousness felt when facing danger, but the — battle intent — of seeing prey, seeing an opportunity, and seeing the dawn of victory!

"We have work to do," Qin Ce said softly, "Big work."

The Azure Bird flapped its wings and let out a long cry, the sound piercing the sky and echoing across the vast horizon.

In the distance, the Raven Flock continued to fly forward, completely unaware of everything happening behind them.

They did not yet know that the "little fly" that had been following behind them had completely changed its gaze.

It was no longer a cautious hunter walking on thin ice.

Instead, it was a predator that had seen the full picture of its prey and was calculating how to devour them all.

...

Meanwhile, in the Inner City of Fengling City.

Jiang Ruowei was standing on a crystal core turret, flanked by two Silver Rank Beast Tamers who were assisting her in operating the turret.

At the same time, the surrounding members of the Starlight Squad were also cooperating to use city defense artillery and the like to increase damage, intercepting the fierce beasts that attempted to attack the crystal core turret.

Jiang Ruowei's Pet Beast—a black-striped, white-based "Jade-Horned Flying Tiger" with a pair of wings—was guarding by her side.

The Jade Horn on its head was like a radar, always able to guide Jiang Ruowei to the strongest fierce beasts in the vicinity.

She had already killed twenty-two bronze low-grade fierce beasts, sixteen mid-grade bronze ones, and two Silver Low-grade fierce beasts.

Her accumulated military merit had only just exceeded five thousand points.

This efficiency was already considered top-tier in the Inner City defense zone.

But what she did not know was that, in the skies over the wilderness hundreds of kilometers away, there was a person reaping military merit at a speed ten times faster than hers.

What she did not know even more was that the bet between her and Qin Ce was quietly changing its trajectory in a way she could not control at all.

...

With no worries behind him, Qin Ce completely let himself go.

His movements became faster and faster, smoother and smoother.

Spider-Web Wind Blade—drop—dive—finishing move—climb—return to the tail of the Raven Flock—and do it again.

He repeated this cycle over and over.

The military merit number jumped crazily.

One thousand.

Two thousand one hundred.

Three thousand five hundred.

Four thousand seven hundred.

...

Less than an hour.

Sixty-three kills.

Military merit: four thousand seven hundred and sixty points.

Qin Ce glanced at the number on his squad badge, the smile on his lips deepening slightly.

This efficiency was even higher than he had expected.

The Raven Flock continued to fly forward, completely unaware of the losses at the rear—or rather, they didn't care at all.

A loss of less than a hundred was merely a drop in the ocean for a flock totaling over ten thousand.

This was exactly what Qin Ce wanted.

As long as he wasn't discovered, he could keep killing like this.

He would kill until the Raven Flock reached the main city, until his military merit was enough to crush Jiang Ruowei.

He patted the Azure Bird's neck, preparing for another round.

However—what he didn't know was that, deep within that black torrent, a pair of blood-red eyes had already locked onto him.

...

The Raven King.

A Gold Rank Raven King.

If it were any other time, if a "little bug" dared to harvest its subjects right under its nose like this, it would have long since led the flock to swarm back, letting that ignorant thing see what it meant to be overwhelming, what it meant to leave no bones behind.

But at this moment, it dared not.

Because the order from the Beast Tide Beast King was absolute—it had to arrive over the main city within the specified time to cooperate with the ground forces in launching the general attack.

Any delay would be regarded by that terrifying Beast King as disobedience to military orders.

And the consequences of disobeying military orders...

A trace of instinctive fear flashed in the Raven King's scarlet eyes.

It withdrew its gaze, no longer looking at that clown.

But it did not intend to let that "little bug" off either.

A low, short hiss emanated from its throat.

The sound was extremely faint, so faint that it was almost drowned out by the clamor of the Raven Flock, yet it was precisely transmitted to the ears of a dozen nearby ravens.

It was an order.

Three silver figures, clearly a size larger than ordinary ravens, quietly broke away from the depths of the Raven Flock.

Silver-rank Ravens.

Following closely behind were fifteen Upper Bronze Rank ravens, their wings as black as ink and their eyes flashing with the aura of peak Bronze Rank.

Under the Raven King's command, they silently moved toward the rear of the formation.

There was no hissing, no restlessness, not even any abnormality in their flight posture.

They merely used their companions as cover, shifting positions backward little by little, unobtrusively.

It was just like a wolf pack moving silently before surrounding its prey.

Qin Ce was completely unaware of this.

He had just completed another kill and was gaining altitude, preparing to look for the next target.

The Azure Bird's breathing was a bit more rapid than before; over an hour of continuous high-intensity combat was a significant drain on its stamina.

But its eyes were still full of excitement.

Those clumsy ravens had no power to fight back against the Spider-Web Wind Blade, and this kind of hunting made it feel incredibly satisfied.

"Kill one more, and we'll take a break," Qin Ce gently patted its neck.

The Azure Bird let out a clear cry, indicating it understood.

Qin Ce's gaze swept across the tail of the Raven Flock, quickly locking onto the next target—a raven lagging at the very back of the formation with a slightly clumsy flight posture.

"That's the one."

The Azure Bird quietly descended in altitude, approaching to a suitable distance.

Qin Ce joined his fingers like a sword with his right hand, his internal energy circulating, communicating with the Azure Bird.

Spider-Web Wind Blade, prepare—

However, at that very moment, Qin Ce suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation.

It was an instinctive warning honed from countless brushes with death.

But he had no time to think carefully, because the Azure Bird had already launched its attack.

Dozens of fine Wind Blades wove into a large cyan net, covering that raven head-on!

Then, Qin Ce saw a scene that made his pupils shrink—

That raven, far from falling in terror like the previous prey, suddenly turned its head, a cold light flashing in its pair of scarlet eyes.

It flapped its wings violently!

Whoosh—

The Wind Binding that was enough to restrain ordinary ravens was actually torn apart by it!

Violent wind elements splashed and scattered, and the raven's figure only paused slightly before it continued to hover in the air, staring coldly at Qin Ce.

Something was wrong!

Qin Ce's heart pounded wildly, and he activated Nine-Star Insight at full power!

The world in his vision became transparent and three-dimensional.

Then, he saw a scene that made his scalp tingle—

Within a range of less than five hundred meters around him, unbeknownst to him, nearly twenty ravens had silently gathered!

Fifteen Upper Bronze Rank!

Three... Silver Rank!

[Fierce Beast]: Raven (Silver Low-grade)

[Level]: Silver Low-grade

[Potential]: Silver Upper-grade

[Attributes]: Dark, Wind

[Talents]: Ink Feather (Silver Rank) - Can release feathers to transform into dense fog, severely interfering with energy equipment and obscuring vision in large areas; Hunting (Gold Rank) - Combat power increases by 50% when cooperating in a group, automatically forming complex tactical formations

[Skills]: Wind Arrow Storm, Diving Raid, Shadow Claw, Tear, Iron Wing Sweep, Ink Feather

[Status]: Excited, bloodthirsty, executing leader's orders

[Weakness]: Flight speed is medium, turning is relatively clumsy (Bronze Rank evaluation)

[Evolution Opportunity]: None