Chapter 161: Borrowing a Knife

Zhou Liming, completely unaware that he had become the target of reconnaissance for various countries around the world, focused his mental energy highly to deal with the obstacles appearing from time to time.

In fact, Zhou Liming had already witnessed the reconnaissance capabilities under satellite monitoring when he was in the X Squadron. However, under such circumstances, his mind was entirely occupied by watching out for obstacles ahead, with only one thought in his heart: to flee, to flee like crazy… He did not have the mental strength to analyze every aspect, nor did he have the consciousness to hide his tracks.

Zhou Liming felt like a cruise missile, constantly bouncing up and down with the undulating terrain.

Sometimes, his brain’s reaction speed could not keep up with his current speed. Some obstacles were penetrated through like a warhead without any evasive maneuver. His terrifying speed was the source of his greatest power , and his strong defensive ability acted like the hard penetrator of an armor-piercing shell. With speed as the driving force, some buildings were directly pierced through by Zhou Liming.

“Pah, pah!” A series of sounds echoed as Zhou Liming felt that his hair was all covered in dust.

Because of his excessive speed, he was unable to dodge. Instantly, he pierced through a building like a cannonball. Zhou Liming felt his head go numb, and his vision grew somewhat dim. Brick and concrete walls, shattered like tofu by Zhou Liming’s collision, created a cloud of dust. Getting his face messy with dust and spitting out mouthfuls of dirt was only normal.

The super high speed made it impossible for Zhou Liming to confirm his current location. He could only keep flying forward.

When a city appeared again ahead, Zhou Liming lowered his altitude once more, skimming just above the street surface as he rushed past one street after another. The powerful air currents even overturned some light-weight, abandoned cars on the streets. A sky full of waste paper and other debris was swept up. Numerous billboards could not withstand such strong air currents and were thrown into the mid-air.

But compared to the commotion caused by the Bullhorn Fish, Zhou Liming’s actions were merely a drop in the ocean.

Wherever the Bullhorn Fish passed, countless buildings were frozen. The extremely low temperature caused the internal structures to change, constantly generating cracks. Finally, building after building turned into ice shards and crashed down thunderously. Under such circumstances, what the Bullhorn Fish passed through was indeed a disaster. Sliding or anything else could not stop it.

Zhou Liming was regretting it fiercely now. What the hell was he thinking? Why did he have to mess with it?

It was too late now. Roughly calculating, it had been chasing him for half an hour, yet it was still fiercely sticking to him? Did he and it really have such a deep grudge? If it hated humans, it wouldn’t have ignored him and the others at Xijia Village and then left, right?

“What the hell is going on?”

Zhou Liming cursed in his mind. He took a sharp turn, moving from the main road of this city into a one-way street, and then from the one-way street into an alley. “I don’t believe it. In such narrow places in this city, do you dare to match my speed?”

The Bullhorn Fish’s body size was nearly ten times larger than Zhou Liming’s. A one-way street was barely passable, but these narrow alleys…

It turned out just as Zhou Liming thought. When Zhou Liming made a detour, the Bullhorn Fish surged forward fiercely. But facing these narrow alleys, an ice arrow was shot out. The entire alley was instantly frozen. The Bullhorn Fish then flew high, continuously shooting ice arrows from the sky. This unexpected situation left Zhou Liming in a wretched state. Evasive maneuvers in such narrow places were absolutely perilous, with death lurking at every step.

This was the definition of “trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice,” and that was exactly Zhou Liming’s current situation.

With no other choice, Zhou Liming shot straight up into the sky again, gritting his teeth. “If playing tricks doesn’t work, then let’s go head-to-head. Let’s see who collapses from exhaustion first.” Optimistically estimated, at this speed, it would take at least two or three trips around the globe to exhaust the Bullhorn Fish. He did not have the stamina to fly around the globe two or three times. The one who would collapse and die of exhaustion first would definitely be himself.

How far could he fly in half an hour? When Zhou Liming shot straight up, he had already confirmed the name of this city: Yue A City.

Zhou Liming did not expect that he had been near the border between Gui Province and Vietnam just half an hour ago, but now, after half an hour, he had appeared in the provincial capital of Yue Province.

Whenever he thought of Yue Province, the first instinctive memory in Zhou Liming’s mind was the first mission he executed after joining the X Squadron: rescuing Su Yunan from Yue B City. The next memory was the landing of the Flame Bird, a King-level Fierce Beast among Level Six Fierce Beasts. Its momentary display of power to the shock of all remains unforgettable in Zhou Liming’s mind to this day, especially that scene of it instantly destroying an entire district.

It seemed he thought of something. The Flame Bird’s fire attribute, the Bullhorn Fish’s water attribute…

Zhou Liming’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he let out a ha-ha laugh. Unfortunately, due to the high speed, his mouth was distorted by the wind, turning the laugh into a series of strange screams.

The current Zhou Liming was extremely excited. He had finally thought of a way to shake off the Bullhorn Fish.

“You’re so awesome, aren’t you? If you have the guts, go clash with the Flame Bird. Bullying a kind, ignorant young person like me proves nothing.” The more Zhou Liming thought about it, the more proud he felt. It seemed he had forgotten that it was he who had initially targeted them. He was now anticipating what the scene would be like when two King-level Fierce Beasts clashed.

In this instant, Zhou Liming immediately felt his blood boiling.

But the Bullhorn Fish following closely behind constantly reminded Zhou Liming that it was not yet time to be boastful. If he was too careless, before he even reached Yue B City, he might turn into an ice sculpture.

Not daring to be careless, after briefly confirming the direction, and once he left the city, he glanced around and quickly found the highway connecting City A and City B. Without hesitation, he pushed his fastest flying speed to the limit over the highway. Breaking through the speed of two thousand kilometers per hour, it took only a short time, less than ten minutes, for two cities separated by only a hundred and dozens of kilometers.

The increase in flight speed as seen by the satellite once again caused people to exclaim in surprise. Many people’s eyes seemed about to pop out just by looking at the flight speed displayed on the screen.

One hundred and some kilometers were covered in the blink of an eye.

Calculating from the time he first saw the Flame Bird, several months had already passed. Zhou Liming was not sure if this Flame Bird was still in Yue B City. After all, in several months, anything could happen. He could only pin his hopes on the fact that Yue B City was the Flame Bird’s territory and that it would not leave easily.

“Damn it, even if it’s not here, I will take the Bullhorn Fish across the sea and lead it to the United States to cause trouble,” Zhou Liming thought fiercely. If all else failed, they could compete to see whose flight endurance was better. Zhou Liming believed that if the time was longer, the Bullhorn Fish would surely leave on its own once it lost interest in him.

Seeing the familiar sights of Yue B City approaching, Zhou Liming began to feel nervous. With terrifying speed, he plunged straight into the airspace above Yue B City.

The Bullhorn Fish also maintained its speed, plunging in just as fiercely. But unlike Zhou Liming, its sensory organs were far more sensitive than Zhou Liming’s. As soon as it entered this city, it immediately sensed a powerful aura, an existence on the exact same level as itself.

However, the previous speed was too fast. By the time the Bullhorn Fish noticed, it had already reached the center of the city.

Every Fierce Beast, or group of Fierce Beasts, possesses its own territory. While a territory can accommodate the presence of other Fierce Beasts, it cannot accommodate the presence of its own kind. The saying “one mountain cannot contain two tigers” is precisely for this reason. To a Fierce Beast, territory is its final bottom line. Any person or beast that touches this bottom line is seen as a provocation.

The Bullhorn Fish and the Flame Bird were not the same kind of Fierce Beast. But one should not forget their common identity: Level Six King-level Fierce Beasts.

Watching the Bullhorn Fish suddenly stop, seeing its cautious demeanor, Zhou Liming also came to a halt. He, too, sensed another powerful existence in the city. Undoubtedly, the Flame Bird, which possessed ruling power, had indeed treated Yue B City as its territory and had not left despite the passage of several months.

Looking around, the entire Yue B City was in ruins. Everywhere there were skyscrapers destroyed by Fierce Beasts, and some streets had even turned into ruins entirely. Many other places still bore traces of fire. In some densely populated prosperous areas, countless skyscrapers had lost their former magnificent and gorgeous appearance. After being burned, they were left as empty, charred frames, standing in the city like smokestacks.

It was clear that these should be the creations of the Flame Bird.

A “chirp” sound suddenly rang out in a villa area by the sea, and a giant bird covered in fiery red plumage took to the sky.

Zhou Liming’s heart contracted sharply. The powerful oppressive force made him feel a trace of fear. Although his blood was boiling fiercely at this moment, emitting a strong battle spirit, Zhou Liming still chose to face the gap between himself and them rationally. Without hesitation, he flapped his wings and plunged into the city, skimming across the streets and disappearing into the distance in an instant.

For Zhou Liming, this was a fight between immortals. As a mortal, it was safer for him to stay out of the way.

The Bullhorn Fish had long since focused its attention on the Flame Bird rising into the sky. It had no intention of stopping Zhou Liming’s departure.

Not releasing its main body abilities, the Flame Bird was only as large as a giant eagle. Its feathers were fiery red, looking like a ball of vivid fire. Its bright chirp revealed a warning to the intruder. It soared into the sky, its wings beating gently as it continuously circled over the city.