The wind howled, and the heat from the sun caused the surrounding temperature to rise steadily.
The soldiers sweated under this relentless sun, aiming at the terrifying bird from all angles.
Their eyes widened in fear as the bird swooped down from the sky, obliterating at least ten soldiers and a tank, directly swallowing them while crushing the tank with its claws.
"This monster…" The soldiers kept shooting, but their expressions gradually became horrified as they realised they were powerless against the huge creature.
One of the soldiers, paralyzed with fear, wet himself and abandoned the sniper in his hand.
"I can't fight this monster, no one can fight it. I need to run, just for food, I can't risk my life…" The soldier wept and ran away.
First came one deserter, then the second and third…
"Damn it, we shouldn't have recruited these volunteers," said a woman sitting at the back, shaded by an umbrella held by another person.
Her expression was cold. "What should we do now?" She bit her long finger in nervousness.
Initially, they were confident as they easily killed any level one undead that came their way.
But everything changed when they provoked the level two Raven in the sky, overconfident in their abilities.
With the missile, she thought they would be invincible, but how wrong she was.
Even if they ran away, the Raven would still chase them, slowly swallowing one or two people.
She was so nervous that her mind didn't even function when people started to run away.
"Even if you run away, that will only make you die faster," she sighed as she watched the chaos unfold.
As expected, the ground trembled, and a terrifying wind blew.
All they saw was a fleeting shadow, and almost ten of the soldiers had already vanished.
"Captain, we are running out of ammo." Those who were loyal stayed behind, but their expressions were grim.
She looked at the black Raven with a blank expression. "Is this the end?"
The Raven descended from the sky again to take another human, but just then, an inconspicuous shadow appeared, rapidly approaching the bird.
As the bird landed, the small figure had already reached it.
The next moment, they heard a terrifying boom, and shockwaves sent everyone hurtling through the air.
"So you finally landed, little birdie."
The small shadow somersaulted to the ground, revealing the figure of Ray.
"Weakling," he said apathetically.
The Raven, which he called "little birdie," had crashed into one of the tanks, causing it to explode along with the tank.
"Is it dead?" Ray narrowed his eyes.
Crooaak!
The wind grew turbulent as the raven's bloodshot eyes fell on Ray.
An invisible storm seemed to be brewing.
Previously, it seemed as if the bird had been playing with its toys, but now it appeared to be truly angry.
Its malevolent eyes stared at Ray.
"Little birdie is dead," Ray coldly stated.
Stretching his muscular legs, he moved, creating a blurry image before he reached the bird again in almost an instant.
"Lightning Arts."
Zhh!
Static electricity flowed from Ray's hand, traveling through the bird's body and nearly frying it.
The raven cried out loudly again.
"I said sit."
Ray jumped and casually kicked its beak. "Even if you have so many skills, what can you do if you can't use them?"
He sneered while casually standing behind its back.
"Lightning Arts."
Zhh!
Immediately, static electricity flowed through his entire body, electrocuting the poor Raven without giving it any chance.
Then he stomped on the Raven. The crisp, hollow sound of bones breaking resounded for a while as the insides of the bird splattered out.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Ray casually retracted his legs when he found that the bird was already unresponsive.
He didn't even have the time to look at the military personnel before a red panel appeared in front of him.
His eyes went towards the mutation section and immediately widened.
—--
[Mutation energy: 1923]
—--
"This…"
This weakling of a level two raven actually gave him a whopping thousand mutation energy, but he was even more attracted to the panel in front of him.
[Congratulations you have collected 1200 mutation energy, would you like to advance your skill: Body Strengthening from Awakening III to IV?]
"Yes." Ray muttered in his mind without a shred of hesitation.
He had waited for this moment countless times, holding off on advancing all his other skills, and now it had finally been fulfilled.
"Finally."
He tightened his fist, feeling power flowing through his veins, every single fibre of his muscles twitching with strength.
A strange state of exhilaration took over him.
For a while, Ray couldn't calm down at all, closing his eyes almost in an addictive trance.
"Umm, hello."
The woman who was called "captain" called out to Ray.
"Hmm?" Ray looked at the woman, then at the bird, completely ignoring her for a moment.
"Can I bind this bird?"
The thought immediately rose in his mind. If he could really bind this bird, it would definitely benefit him.
Don't be misled by how easily Ray defeated it.
His raw stats, insanely boosted by spreading his genes and the double boost in strength and speed, led to this level two raven's demise, and he had also sneak-attacked the bird.
Even if someone with the exact same skill set tried to kill the bird, it would be impossible without his stats.
Ray never gave this poor bird any chance to fight back. First, he sneak-attacked it, then he mercilessly beat the bird until it died.
From beginning to end, it might have looked like he was toying with the level two raven, but if it had been given time to use its wind manipulation and sonic speed, the outcome might have been different.
Although he wouldn't have been defeated, killing this undead bird while it was in the air would have been impossible.
"It might be a little rude, but can you give this corpse to us?"
Ray raised his brows, looking at the woman.