Chapter 39: Shooting Star
At 11:50 AM, Yu Xian and Bluebird sat together inside a bubble, gazing at the lush green mountain range in the distance. Only ten minutes were left before the operation began. Both of them had already made their preparations for battle. Now, everything depended on General Zhao Yi's opening attack.
"Bluebird, what's General Zhao's ability?" Yu Xian asked.
Bluebird shook her head. "No idea. The abilities of Dragon-rank individuals and above are classified information. Even if someone knows, they're not allowed to talk about them."
Suddenly, she remembered something amusing and couldn't help laughing. Keeping her eyes on the distant mountains, she said, "I've heard that a long time ago, powerful supernatural beings from the Island Nation loved showing off their abilities during battles. Some of them would even kindly explain exactly how their powers worked to their opponents.
"Later, countries around the world specifically researched ways to counter them. A huge number of those supernatural beings ended up dead before they finally learned their lesson and stopped casually revealing their abilities."
Yu Xian's expression turned strange. A moment later, he couldn't help laughing along, finding the entire situation rather ridiculous.
As the two chatted and joked, the clock finally struck noon. At that instant, they noticed an additional figure in the sky. The man hovered at an altitude even higher than theirs. Though his build was not particularly imposing, he radiated an indescribable aura that seemed to dominate the entire world.
Bluebird gazed at the figure. "It's finally starting."
Yu Xian looked up. "That's General Zhao?"
Bluebird nodded. "Watch carefully. What you're about to see isn't something that happens very often."
Far away in the sky, Zhao Yi stood atop an atom, silently observing the mountains below. His ability, known as the Reference Frame of the Microscopic and the Macroscopic, was exceptionally unusual.
Just as he could stand atop an atom, he could grant small objects the characteristics of large ones, or vice versa. In essence, he did not actually alter an object's size. Instead, he allowed something microscopic to exhibit macroscopic characteristics or something macroscopic to exhibit microscopic ones.
With a flick of his finger, a speck of dust drifted from the air and fell toward the ground. "Shooting Star!"
The instant it hit the ground, the entire world seemed to fall silent, then the ground crumbled layer by layer. A blinding white flash erupted, followed immediately by a devastating shockwave.
The scene resembled a gigantic meteor striking a planet. The surrounding mountains were reduced to ashes in an instant. Countless creatures vanished in the brilliant light, burned into wisps of smoke, leaving behind only charred silhouettes.
A mushroom cloud slowly billowed upward. Not long after seeing the flash, Yu Xian felt a fierce gale sweep over him, and faint ripples formed on the surface of his bubble.
They were actually separated from General Zhao Yi by a staggering distance. The only reason they could make him out at all was that both of their eyesight had been profoundly enhanced.
The first wave of destruction was followed by the second, then the third. Within just half an hour, the entire terrain inside the sealed-off zone had been fundamentally reshaped.
Vast columns of black smoke billowed into the sky. The ground had become a devastated wasteland, riddled with craters and fissures, while rivers of molten lava flowed and boiled across the landscape. There was little doubt that once the lava cooled and a torrential rain eventually fell, an enormous lake would be born.
Although Yu Xian had mentally prepared himself beforehand, the scene before him had still left him utterly dumbfounded. He could not even tell how General Zhao Yi attacked and was completely unable to make sense of his ability. The devastation on the ground suggested that something had slammed into it, but he had seen absolutely nothing.
What kind of ability is that?
Yu Xian was certain that against an ability whose attack trajectory he couldn't even perceive, there was no outplaying it. His only option was to hunker down and rely on his defensive abilities to withstand the impact. Against a powerhouse like General Zhao Yi, he had absolutely no chance of winning.
Yu Xian stared at the devastated landscape. "So, this is what a Dragon-rank powerhouse is like?"
Bluebird finally snapped out of her daze. "No. General Zhao isn't even fighting at full strength. This is our homeland, after all. He doesn't have the heart to cause more destruction than necessary."
Yu Xian became curious. "How do you know that?"
Bluebird smiled. "Classified information. Anyway, it's time for us to get to work."
Below them, countless wild animals were fleeing in panic. They had been outside Zhao Yi's attack range, which had allowed them to survive the bombardment. However, the sheer terror of the incident that had just taken place had triggered their instincts. Now, they were desperately trying to escape the area. Unfortunately, this operation was not intended to leave any survivors; their fate was already sealed.
Yu Xian watched the wild animals pouring over the mountains and racing in their direction. "Let me handle this. I happen to have a little idea I'd like to try."
He extended a hand out of the bubble. Immediately, countless tiny bubbles streamed from his fingertips. The bubbles, shimmering with rainbow hues, were dazzlingly beautiful. Under the sunlight, they looked almost dreamlike. Yu Xian directed them toward the ground at high speed.
Below, wild boars, leopards, wolves, snakes, tigers, squirrels, deer, pheasants, buffaloes, and rats were all fleeing in panic. Predators and prey alike ran side by side, united by their instinct to escape.
Suddenly, hundreds of bubbles descended from the sky and came to a stop directly in their path. Many of the wild animals did not even realize what had happened. They lurched sideways before collapsing to the ground, where the stampede behind them trampled them to death.
Yu Xian had positioned most of the bubbles along the wild animals' escape routes. The principle behind his move was similar to what happened when a motorcyclist speeding down a road struck a steel cable stretched across it.
The animals had, in effect, run headfirst into the bubbles. Because the bubbles were fixed at specific spatial coordinates, anything less durable than the bubble would be killed instantly upon impact.
However, some smaller animals managed to slip beneath the stationary bubbles. In response, Yu Xian directed a bubble to weave repeatedly through the fleeing animals. Rats, snakes, and squirrels dropped one after another. Small, bloody holes appeared in their bodies, as though someone had riddled them with bullets.
As she watched hundreds of animals being killed within seconds, Bluebird was shocked. "Salted Fish, your ability is terrifying."
She imagined in her mind what a battle against Yu Xian would look like. The conclusion left her feeling hopeless. Even if she used every trick at her disposal, she probably wouldn't be his match. Those spatial bubbles alone were enough to guarantee that Yu Xian would remain virtually unbeatable in a fight against her.
Of course, the main reason was that she was still far below Eagle rank. If she could reach Eagle rank, she would probably at least have a chance of competing with him. When facing Yu Xian, anyone below Eagle rank was practically courting death, unless they possessed a top-tier ability like Pangu Divine Strength.
Yu Xian looked at the enormous craters in the distance. "It's not that impressive. Compared to General Zhao Yi's ability, mine is nothing."
Bluebird rolled her eyes. She didn't think Yu Xian was being modest at all. If anything, it sounded more like a humblebrag.
At that moment, a thunderous explosion suddenly erupted in the distance. Both of them immediately turned toward the source of the sound.
Bluebird's eyesight was better than Yu Xian's. She had spotted a massive, ferocious creature with crimson skin pursuing two operatives. These two operatives weren't members of the Wickedness Purging Squad. They belonged to another squad.
"We've got friendly forces engaged," she said to Yu Xian.