NOVEL WEB Chapter 144 - Human Puppet
As the eighth-level beast was about to catch up with Mai Dongzi, it unexpectedly slipped down from the tree for unknown reasons. Meanwhile, Mai Dongzi was already nearly at the treetop.
It was likely due to the heavy fall from a height of over ten meters that the eighth-level beast stopped climbing the tree to pursue Mai Dongzi. Instead, it aimed to break the tree to knock her down.
In the violent shaking, Mai Dongzi had no choice but to hold tightly onto the trunk to avoid being thrown off.
However, the strength of the eighth-level beast was immense. Even though the tree trunk was thicker than its waist, it could not withstand the beast’s relentless blows.
After only three strikes, the tree began to tilt dangerously to one side, clearly on the verge of breaking.
Despite this, Mai Dongzi remained calm. She had already prepared to leap to another tree.
The reason she had climbed the tree was to retreat; before climbing, she had sent a withdrawal message to Bodyguard Su.
Just as the tree was about to snap and fall, the flying car driven by Bodyguard Su appeared above the treetop.
She was tied with a rope, leaped down from the flying car, and grabbed onto Mai Dongzi. The rope quickly retracted, bringing both of them back onto the flying car.
Bodyguard Su’s movements were incredibly swift; in less than twenty seconds, they had left the furious eighth-level beast behind, which continued to smash a few more trees in its rage before finally stopping.
Once inside the flying car, Mai Dongzi collapsed onto her seat and took out an energy potion, tilting her head back to drink it.
This game, which seemed like a cat-and-mouse chase to others, had truly exhausted her. Not only was her physical stamina nearly depleted, but her mental energy had also been drained by more than half.
“How do you feel? Do you need to practice against a seventh-level beast first?” Bodyguard Su asked.
Since Mai Dongzi had gotten out of the flying car, she had been closely monitoring her situation through the flying car’s control room system.
Even if this eighth-level beast is semi-domesticated, it is not something Mai Dongzi’s current cultivation level can handle.
Although the eighth-level beast had never managed to hit her, she was indeed in a very dangerous situation while facing it.
“I feel great. Once I’ve rested, I’ll continue,” Mai Dongzi said.
Her expression, though tired, showed bright eyes, clearly indicating that her spirit was in an excited state.
This was the most challenging fight Mai Dongzi had experienced since her rebirth.
Although she had been desperately fleeing throughout, the feeling of narrowly escaping deadly danger was so familiar yet thrilling.
She didn’t like the apocalypse and despised the hardships and bloodshed of struggling in a post-apocalyptic world.
However, she was the kind of person who had come through such hardships; the slow-paced training environment at school was really not suitable for her.
Over the next three days, besides resting, Mai Dongzi repeatedly “entangled” with the eighth-level beast.
Her progress was also evident.
On the first day, under the pursuit of the eighth-level beast, she could only flee for her life.
By the second day, she was able to fight back and occasionally strike the eighth-level beast while escaping.
By the third day, she still couldn’t directly confront the eighth-level beast, but she had become much more composed in her dodging, and the frequency of her counterattacks had increased.
Although Song Zongsheng wasn’t always watching the surveillance footage, he had seen everything he needed to see.
As a result, when Mai Dongzi came out of the training area, he felt that her aura was almost the same as it had been before she entered, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Over the past three days, the eighth-level beast had been “outmaneuvered” by this young girl, and he had witnessed her growth firsthand.
In this situation, how could the aura around her remain unchanged? The lack of change could only indicate that her mental strength was incredibly formidable, allowing her to alter the aura she projected.
Although Mai Dongzi had not killed a single beast during these three days, she still had to pay a hefty fee. The reason was that during her “game of hide and seek” with the eighth-level beast, she had destroyed over three hundred trees.
Mai Dongzi had come here in disguise, but upon entering the Central Forest, she resumed her original appearance.
During her three days here, three or four staff members from the Central Forest had seen her.
Although there are strict regulations against disclosing the information of those undergoing training here, the allure of money is immense, especially when there is no imminent danger.
Therefore, no one can guarantee that Mai Dongzi’s information would not leak out while she was here.
After her training, Mai Dongzi planned to return to Imperial Capital University with her original appearance, escorted directly by Bodyguard Su.
To avoid raising any suspicions, Mu Bo would stay an extra day before returning.
Once Mai Dongzi had resumed her original appearance, he would split from her. Aside from Song Zongsheng, no one knew about the relationship between Mu Bo and Mai Dongzi.
Although Mai Dongzi had been reborn, she had never considered that she might have a protagonist’s fate; it was rare for her to venture out and not find peace.
This was especially true since they had previously encountered a flying car hijacking incident on the first day of classes at Imperial Capital University. Therefore, they prepared to switch to the Anning flying car when they reached the edge of the Central Forest.
When they arrived, they also switched cars at the forest’s edge station. The mechanical guardians in this area were of a high level, with tight security, and no hot weapons were allowed inside.
So, Mai Dongzi never expected they would encounter a suicide attack.
It was a seemingly ordinary-looking waiter, with only mid-level four martial skills.
What was even more terrifying was that, at the moment he launched his attack, Mai Dongzi felt not a trace of killing intent from him.
However, when the waiter approached her, her instincts kicked in, prompting her to evade him.
Because of the distance she managed to create, she barely had enough time to raise a mental energy shield, protecting herself and Bodyguard Su from the horrifying explosion.
The explosion from the human bomb completely destroyed everything within a twenty-meter radius, leaving a pit over ten meters wide and more than a meter deep at the edge of the forest station.
Two waiters who stood about seventeen or eighteen meters from the center of the explosion were blown to pieces, resulting in instant death.
Yet, at the explosion’s epicenter, both Mai Dongzi and Bodyguard Su survived, appearing uninjured on the surface.
Bodyguard Su quickly took out the Anning flying car, swiftly scooping up Mai Dongzi and jumping into the vehicle.
As soon as they entered the flying car, Mai Dongzi could no longer hold on; she spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.
Because the human bomb targeted Mai Dongzi, the explosion’s center was closest to her. Additionally, to protect Bodyguard Su, Mai Dongzi expanded her mental energy shield significantly, which caused her mental energy to bear the brunt of the explosion’s impact.
During the explosion, Mai Dongzi felt as if her mental sea had been heavily struck, leaving her dizzy and disoriented.
After the explosion, although Mai Dongzi appeared uninjured, she had actually slipped into a semi-unconscious state; only her sense of crisis kept her from collapsing immediately.
Fortunately, Bodyguard Su reacted very quickly. Without hesitation, he grabbed the Anning flying car and brought her aboard, allowing her to finally relax and faint.