As the thing in the sky drew closer, its appearance came into view before Chen Chuan and his companions.
This was a bird unique to the convergence zone. It possessed a long, sharp, curved beak, and its head was encased in a rugged exoskeleton, inside of which its eyes were deeply sunken.
The feathers across its entire body were an off-white color and edged with sharp thorns, making it look very much like it was draped in a light mantle of delicate bone plumes.
The moment Chen Chuan laid eyes on it, his boundary credential displayed its background.
It was a "skeleton bird," an aggressive and vindictive avian species relatively common in the convergence zone, with at least over a hundred documented classifications so far. Below the description, the boundary credential helpfully showed its weaknesses and methods for dealing with it.
At the wheel, Second Lieutenant Dai didn't turn his head, merely glancing through the rearview mirror. Not appearing particularly nervous, he said in an ordinary tone, "Please hold on, sirs. I'm going to speed up. Convergence zone creatures wander over here all the time. We can guarantee your safety."
With that, he stepped on the gas, accelerating in an instant. The fortress was only a three- to four-minute drive away; once they drew close to the fortress's firing range, there would be no danger.
Just then, panels atop several train cars flipped open, and mounted swivel machine guns were cranked upward, aiming into the sky.
Yet the skeleton bird seemed to know how deadly machine guns were; it didn't dare approach the train, wheeling around in midair instead to circle above a makeshift sentry post.
Now they could see a thick tree trunk clutched in its talons. As it swooped past the sentry post, it released its grip. With a thunderous crash, the log smashed down, instantly pulverizing the wooden roof of the watchtower.
Having done that, the skeleton bird let out a piercing screech and accelerated sharply, darting forward as though trying to cut through the gap in firepower between the fortress and the train.
Judging by its heading, it would definitely pass right over Chen Chuan and the others.
Chen Chuan had originally been somewhat worried about Chaoming, but seeing Chaoming soar high into the air right at the start and noting that the skeleton bird showed no interest in Chaoming at all, its purpose in coming this time seemed merely to destroy that watchtower.
The creature arrived overhead in moments. By now, they could clearly see the hard, razor-sharp talons tucked beneath its belly and feel the heavy pressure radiating from it. Counselor Pei immediately drew his sidearm, switched off the safety, and raised it with both hands toward the sky.
The skeleton bird seemed to have intended to fly straight across, but upon spotting the military uniforms on Counselor Pei and Second Lieutenant Dai, the eyes sunken deep within its skull turned bloodred. It abruptly slowed down, casting a looming shadow that swept rapidly toward them.
Watching those massive wings blot out the light, Chen Chuan's eyes instantly flared with sharp radiance. With a subtle flicker of his gaze, a burst of spirit power erupted in an instant.
This strike of the Spirit-Shaking Hammer slammed directly into the skeleton bird's spirit. Instantly, the red glow in its eyes vanished, and it seemed to lose consciousness in a split second.
Right at that moment, a dark silhouette plunged from the sky. It was Chaoming, diving down from above, its sharp mutated talons carving diagonally across the bird's neck. With a swift slash, a massive gash tore open!
Almost simultaneously, a gunshot cracked from the fortress. Large holes blew open across the skeleton bird's wing and belly, spraying gore outward from its body.
Chen Chuan turned his gaze and saw a major standing on an open exterior platform of the fortress, resting a large-caliber double-barreled shoulder gun against his shoulder. Wisps of blue smoke curled from its barrels.
The shock of its wounds seemed to bring the skeleton bird back to its senses, but by then it was too late. Without so much as half a struggle, it lost momentum and plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily into the ground and churning up a burst of dirt.
Soldiers stationed at the fortress who had been ready immediately drove out in vehicles, passing Chen Chuan and his companions. Once near the skeleton bird, they leaped out and blasted the creature with large-caliber firearms, riddling its body until it shuddered continuously, not stopping until a full half-minute later.
No one could blame them for being so cautious. Creatures of the convergence zone all developed mutated tissue and had tenacious vitality; if not killed outright on the spot, there was a real chance they could recover.
A chirp echoed from the sky. Chaoming circled twice above before descending to perch on the car door beside Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan stroked its smooth feathers, sensing Chaoming's excitement. After all, this was its first time fighting an avian creature far larger than itself, and it had even successfully wounded the foe.
It truly deserved praise. This ambush had been decisive and fierce, striking right after his spiritual attack; their coordination had been superb.
In truth, had the skeleton bird's head not been protected by a hard exoskeleton, that single attack would have sheared off its skull entirely.
With mutated tissue, Chaoming maneuvered nimbly, flew rapidly, and attacked sharply—the inherent advantages of its smaller size.
Yet he estimated Chaoming would likely grow larger still. In the past, the external environment had limited its mutated tissue and size, but entering the convergence zone might stimulate further growth.
By this time, the open-top off-road vehicle had entered the fortress. The major who had fired came down from above and saluted them.
"I am Major Bao Heheng, the garrison defense officer here, in charge of passageway security. Welcome. Apologies for giving you two a scare just now."
Counselor Pei said, "Major Bao, your shot was quite timely."
Bao Heheng said solemnly, "Counselor Pei, rest assured, I would have brought down that skeleton bird before it could have attacked you."
Chen Chuan nodded slightly, inclined to believe him. He had noticed earlier that ever since the large bird appeared, the major had been tracking it, looking for the right moment to fire. His focus had been intense and resolute—the mark of someone with utter confidence in his abilities.
Bao Heheng then turned to Chen Chuan. "And you must be Supervisor Chen. Greetings. We have already received top-level directives from the Defense Department instructing us to support your mission. Preliminary preparations are already complete."
He glanced at Counselor Pei as well. "If either of you has any other requests, please don't hesitate to ask. Our garrison troops will do everything we can to accommodate them."
"Thank you for your trouble, then," Chen Chuan said.
After the pleasantries, Major Bao led the two toward the garrison commander's quarters. Along the way, Chen Chuan asked about the situation here and learned that attacks like the one outside were a common occurrence, as the land ahead of Fort No. 3 was a vast, unexplored expanse.
Migration was frequent within the convergence zone, and newly arrived creatures often viewed the area as their territory and attacked them.
Moreover, when it came to pack or flock creatures, killing just one often triggered relentless subsequent attacks. The garrison troops here, however, had long since grown accustomed to it.
Counselor Pei checked in with the highest-ranking officer here, then made a trip to the intelligence office. When he returned, he said, "Supervisor Chen, compiling the reports from up ahead will take some time, and the hour is growing late. Let's get something to eat first."
Chen Chuan agreed, and they headed to the base mess hall for dinner.
There was little to praise about food in the convergence zone, but as senior officers, they were at least treated to meals prepared with somewhat better attention to flavor.
After dinner, Counselor Pei went to the operations intelligence room. Unrelated personnel had already cleared out. At the front hung a map, with key positions and routes marked in advance.
Counselor Pei said, "The communications room hasn't received any intelligence sent back from Captain Xu, but there's no news from other sources either."
He let out a sigh. "No news can tentatively be counted as good news, I suppose."
Chen Chuan said, "Captain Xu is very experienced and excels at preserving his strength. We can trust him."
Counselor Pei nodded. "Indeed. There are a few things I need you to see, Supervisor Chen."
He stepped up to the map, picked up a pointer, and tapped a spot on the display. "Based on earlier intelligence and the assessments from our analysis team... The Syndicate—or rather, the Linax Federation—has likely established a camp at this location.
"The communications station has observed over recent days that airships have been heading in that direction one after another, averaging about once a day. These airships all departed from corporate branch offices located in the convergence zone, so we can reasonably conclude that this camp serves as their rear staging ground for exploring the uncharted territory."
Chen Chuan took a look. The spot was situated in the lower-right corner of the unexplored region, marked on the map with crossed lightning bolts.
On a broader scale, it sat along a road that connected directly to their rear, and pushing forward just over ten kilometers from that position would lead into the uncharted region.
It seemed the Syndicate and the Linax Federation intended to make steady, measured progress this time rather than charging recklessly inside.
This made sense. Without securing retreat routes and support forces in advance, even if they obtained a relic, they might not be able to carry it out successfully. Furthermore, a base camp allowed them to provide a steady stream of support and supplies to the front.
Conversely, however—he fixed his gaze on that location—if this camp could be destroyed, it would deal them a heavy blow, cutting off their support to the vanguard at the very least.
As the thought crossed his mind, he shifted his eyes to the other side, noticing a blue marker. "This must be the outpost we set up?" he asked.
Counselor Pei said, "Originally, yes. However..."
He shook his head. "Five days ago, it suffered a surprise raid by elite cavalry of the former imperial house. The camp was severely damaged, and over the past few days, it has been facing continuous attacks.
"We haven't abandoned it and have been trying to maintain it, but for now we cannot spare troops to support or link up with Captain Xu's group inside, let alone deter the Syndicate and Federation forces on the other side."
His expression turned grim. "Higher-ups suspect that the former imperial house may have reached a limited cooperation with the Syndicate this time, seeking to drive us out of the game first."
Chapter 717