"That should be warned ahead of time, so we can prepare," Ling Jiang said helplessly.
But actually, even a warning would have been useless. When catching chickens, you couldn't avoid looking at them. Once you looked, you could get dizzy.
Lan Jin asked, "What about using equipment? Sunglasses to block those red eyes?"
"Useless. Tried everything. Other devices too. The fastest way is to be quick. Grab it and chop its head off immediately. Then nothing happens."
Catching chickens was possible, but killing them? She didn't dare. If she had that courage, she would have already raised live animals in the space.
During the following chicken-catching, Lan Jin didn't appear again. Perhaps knowing they would have extra food at night, everyone's hands and feet moved quickly. Five minutes later, they regrouped with three chickens caught.
They had assumed Brother Zhang would think this was too few. Surprisingly, Brother Zhang said, "Good enough. Pretty decent."
Brother Zhang could even praise them, which showed how difficult these chickens were to catch.
After placing the three chickens in the car, the group continued on their journey.
The closer they got to the cleared hills, the more animals and dangers appeared. Brother Zhang explained, "These animals were probably everywhere on the hills before, but our base took part of the area. Earthquakes damaged more, and occasional drives pushed them away. Naturally, they avoid people, so the more dangerous areas have more mutated creatures."
After more than an hour of driving, just when everyone thought no more creatures would appear, a massive figure suddenly leapt out from the dry branches on the side. It moved incredibly fast, jumping from left to right in the blink of an eye. When they looked right, it seemed the giant creature vanished. Not a trace could be seen.
Such speed made it obvious to anyone that this creature was extremely dangerous. And judging by the brief glimpse, it was not small.
The four vehicles slammed brakes, but saw nothing. Brother Zhang warned, "Everyone, be careful. Adapt to the situation."
Just as he considered getting out, the dark figure jumped again from right to left and vanished.
Then, before Brother Zhang could react, the black figure leapt onto their car roof with lightning speed. The windshield shattered instantly. The roof dented where it landed, and even the side doors bent, forming cracks.
These were military vehicles modified for the apocalypse. Their armor was tough, yet it bent under the creature's force. One could imagine its strength.
But bending the roof was not enough to end its "play." It lifted its legs and stomped the dent again.
The first strike had caught everyone off guard. No one was hurt, but it was a huge shock. The second strike meant no one could let it stomp freely.
Lan Jin, Lao Gao, and Huang Jinghe used all their strength to hold the roof, shouting, "Quick, get out!"
Brother Zhang asked urgently, "What are you doing? Its strength is huge. You could get hurt."
To him, their actions were suicide. Internal injuries would be disastrous.
But if they didn't hold the roof and it stomped again, escape would be impossible. Lan Jin yelled, "Stop wasting time! Get out! If it stomps again, we can't escape!"
Ling Jiang, being weaker, didn't linger. She pushed Brother Zhang in the front seat and jumped out.
"Come on, Sister Lan!" Lao Gao shouted.
Lan Jin moved quickly, leaping out of the car door. Huang Jinghe followed immediately.
Before Lao Gao could get out, the creature jumped again, denting the roof further.
Luckily, no one else was in the car. Lao Gao dodged to the gap under the seat, narrowly escaping, and then jumped out safely.
The front driver wasn't as lucky. His door was jammed. He had to climb from the driver's seat to the passenger seat to get out.
As he crawled over, the creature stomped on the roof, landing on his back.
The driver spat blood, eyes panicked, staring at them. When Brother Zhang moved to help, the massive creature's gaze turned toward them.
The creature was huge, around three meters long, feline in shape with a tail. Its eyes were fierce, its body terrifying. Lan Jin asked, "Brother Zhang, what is this? Leopard? Lion? Tiger? Big cat? No, this isn't a wild mountain. How can this exist? And it doesn't even look like those."
Even in H City, surrounded by mountains, snakes, rabbits, chickens, ants made sense. But a cat this size was absurd. It wasn't a wild mountain. Even if it was, no news ever mentioned such a creature.
Brother Zhang panicked. "I haven't seen this myself, but our ability squad reported it. Many ability users got hurt by it. You must be careful."
"Understood."
No sooner had they spoken than the giant feline leapt from the roof toward them. Lan Jin whipped her whip, striking it.
The creature screamed in pain and collapsed, kicking its legs wildly.
Lan Jin struck it several more times. Unexpectedly, it bit the whip. Lan Jin couldn't pull it back. She used all her strength to swing the whip, lifting the creature off the ground entirely.
The creature sensed Lan Jin's power and released the whip, but the force of the swing remained. Lan Jin quickly used her ability to make the whip vanish midair, avoiding harm to others.
Lao Gao then used his fire ability. The creature, instinctively afraid of fire, backed several steps, baring its teeth and growling at them.
Lao Gao continued, completely surrounding the creature with fire.