Chapter 23: Mutated Beast Rampage
Her attacks were nothing in front of the goat. The goat approached step by step, and Jiang Ning glanced at the high-voltage protective fence behind her. She had no room to retreat.
As the goat got closer, Jiang Ning aimed for the right moment. Her samurai sword twirled in the air, and the blade got stuck in its coiled horns.
“Maa—”
The goat let out a short bleat.
Its indifferent eyes stared quietly at Jiang Ning, then it lifted its left hoof and forcefully swatted Jiang Ning away.
Jiang Ning felt as if her internal organs had been displaced. The ‘sizzling’ sound of the current from the high-voltage protective fence was right next to her ear; she had almost crashed into it.
Jiang Ning tried to get up from the ground but failed. The fiery pain in her internal organs swept through her entire body. She heard the shouts of Auntie Li’s group of three in her ears.
She had no time to worry about anything else and could only watch as the goat walked towards her.
If only she hadn’t used up that last sun.
Jiang Ning closed her eyes. Her entire body was enveloped in the goat’s shadow. Just as she thought her interstellar experience card was about to end, the imagined pain did not come.
“…”
She opened her eyes and saw that one of the goat’s horns had been cut in half. The fallen goat horn had landed right next to her hand.
Immediately after, several light blades came from the fog and all landed on the goat’s body.
The goat glanced at Jiang Ning on the ground, thought for a moment, and still raised its hand towards her.
“Beep—”
A beam of aurora light hit the goat’s raised hand, and a hole was instantly burned in its black fur.
Four combat flying vehicles flew in from mid-air, surrounding the goat from three directions.
It’s the guards!
Li Xiang’s expression lit up when he saw the M412 government logo on the flying vehicles.
Great, they were saved!
The goat could only temporarily stop its attack on Jiang Ning and turn to deal with the more troublesome rescue guards.
Seeing this, Li Xiang seized the opportunity and quickly dragged Jiang Ning out of the center of the battlefield.
“Are you alright?” A slender, well-featured young soldier in a military uniform walked up to them.
“Not dead for now,” Jiang Ning glanced at the nameplate on his chest, which read: Colonel Tret.
His rank was quite high.
There were no military officers of such a high rank on their Planet M412. Tret must have been temporarily transferred here to deal with the mutated beast rampage in the western suburban uninhabited zone.
“Sir, what on earth is that?” Jiang Ning asked.
“I haven’t seen it before either. The current known mutated beast evaluation standards are completely ineffective against it. It might be an unknown species,” Tret shook his head.
Tret’s expression was calm. Mutated beasts of unknown rank and species had appeared before.
Once this mutated beast was brought back and studied by the military’s research institute, they would know.
However, this goat’s abilities far exceeded their predictions. Even with four combat flying vehicles attacking in turns, they didn’t gain any advantage.
“What a hassle!” Tret tutted twice.
He took off his gloves and released his psychic energy.
The goat instantly felt as if its feet were weighed down by a thousand catties and couldn’t move.
“This is?” Jiang Ning stared blankly at the scene in front of her.
Gravity manipulation?
The next second, she only felt a gust of wind fly past her.
Tret charged out with an energy light blade in his hand and directly pierced through the goat’s chest.
The goat fell straight down, its horizontal pupils still indifferent to everything around it.
Jiang Ning stared at his back in a daze.
This Colonel Tret’s ability seemed to be able to change the surrounding gravity.
Tret raised his hand and stored the goat in his nano-ring.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. The mutated beast with explosive attack power was finally dead.
After the battle, the four flying vehicles landed from mid-air and stopped steadily around the protective fence.
The previous fight had created several more large holes in the high-voltage protective fence.
A single soldier got off a flying vehicle. Tret immediately said, “Inform the M412 star government that the high-voltage protective fence needs repairs.”
“Yes, sir,” the soldier replied.
Tret pointed to another soldier and said, “You take these people to the hospital. The rest of you, continue patrolling with me.”
“The range of mutated beast activity has increased again. In recent years, there have been more and more mutated beasts of unknown rank,” Tret pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache.
The soldier drove the flying vehicle and safely transported the four of them into the city, then returned to the uninhabited zone.
Jiang Ning once again lay in a treatment cabin.
With her previous experience, she was familiar with the process this time.
After the doctor assessed her injuries, he made some settings on the treatment cabin’s panel, and then the treatment cabin began to heal her.
Her injuries last time were not as severe as this time. Last time, she had lain for twelve hours, but this time, the treatment duration was two days.
When Jiang Ning woke up again, it was already two days later.
The treatment fee this time was 500. She paid the money with a heavy heart and walked out of the hospital.
She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but Jiang Ning felt that there seemed to be fewer people on the streets today than before.
“Buzz—”
A vibration came from her hand.
Jiang Ning looked down and saw that it was a news push from Planet M412 during her treatment. She clicked on the message, and a message popped up:
【The M412 government reminds you that due to the recent mutated beast rampage, many people have been attacked by unknown mutated beasts. The range of mutated beast activity is spreading from the western suburban uninhabited zone to the city’s periphery. The western suburban station will be temporarily closed, and the opening time is to be determined. For everyone’s safety, please all citizens do not leave the city!】
It was sent three times in a row.
Jiang Ning opened the StarNet and browsed the topic of the mutated beast rampage on Planet M412.
【How long is this going to be sealed? My whole family depends on the mutated beasts in the uninhabited zone to make a living.】
【Upstairs, you should wait. A friend of mine died because he went into the uninhabited zone.】
【The mutated beasts in this rampage are all brand new species. My uncle’s wife’s sister’s son works in the military’s research institute. He said their internal rank assessment for these mutated beasts has reached S-rank.】
【Damn, S-rank! Isn’t our Planet M412 finished then?】
【Let me know when it’s the end of the world. This corporate slave really doesn’t want to work anymore. Sad.】
【How is that possible? The Federation sent an SS-rank colonel here. I heard his name is Tret or something, a very young military officer.】
【A young military officer? Can he deal with an S-rank mutated beast?】
【You didn’t see the SS-rank, did you! That military officer’s ability is a rare physical type. He was promoted very quickly. In five years, he climbed from an ordinary single soldier to the position of colonel.】
So the Tret who had saved them that day was an SS-rank ability user.
Jiang Ning recalled the scene from that day in her mind.
An SS-rank ability user was indeed very powerful. With just a slight move, he had killed the goat that several of them couldn’t handle.
She wondered how many suns she would need to accumulate for her psychic energy to also reach the SS-rank level.
Jiang Ning browsed the StarNet all the way back to the slums.
As soon as she got off the bus, she saw the government’s reminder message being broadcast on a loop at the bus stop sign.
Not long after she returned home, Auntie Li knocked on the door.
“Sorry, Jiang Ning, for getting you injured again,” Auntie Li said with an apologetic expression.
“I’m fine. After lying in a treatment cabin for a day or two, I’m alive and kicking again, aren’t I?” Jiang Ning smiled and comforted her.
“It’s just that from the looks of it, the uninhabited zone will be sealed for a while longer. What does your family plan to do?” Jiang Ning asked.
Auntie Li sighed, her face full of worry. “Now that the western suburban uninhabited zone is sealed, we can’t go to other contaminated zones either. What else can we do? Your Uncle Li has to go to the mining planets to do hard labor. Although it’s a bit tough, at least he can earn some money to support the family.”
“I still have some savings here. Why don’t you take them for emergencies?” Jiang Ning transferred 1000 star coins to Auntie Li.
Auntie Li looked at the extra money in her account in astonishment. She wanted to return it to Jiang Ning, but thinking about her family’s situation, she held back. Auntie Li gratefully held Jiang Ning’s hand. “When your Uncle Li earns money, we will definitely pay you back.”
Jiang Ning’s eyes suddenly became moist. She smiled and said okay. In her previous life, her parents had also worked so hard to support her.
Auntie Li held back her tears, turned, and went back to her own home.
Three days later, Jiang Ning, Auntie Li, and Li Xiang went to the airline station to see off Uncle Li, who was heading to the mining planets.
After that, Jiang Ning’s life was as usual. She got up every day and busied herself in her small garden. The rest of her time was either spent looking for Ke Lai or in the physical bookstore.
Ever since her ability was tested and awakened, Ke Lai’s parents had sent her to an ability school to study. Jiang Ning could only see her on Saturdays and Sundays.
Ke Lai was one of her few friends in this world.
Compared to her increasingly tight life, Ke Lai’s family’s business was booming, becoming more popular day by day.
The western suburban uninhabited zone was sealed for a full five years. Everyone tacitly agreed that the uninhabited zone was already ruined.
It was not until Tret’s single soldier team had completely swept through the uninhabited zone that the uninhabited zone, which had been sealed for many years, was finally reopened.
“Wow! The flowers in your garden have grown so well!”
As Jiang Ning was planting the latest sunflower seedling she had summoned, Auntie Li suddenly appeared behind her.
Five years had passed, and Jiang Ning’s small garden had finally grown into a sea of sunflowers.
Over the years, she had also accumulated a lot of suns in her mind. This psychic energy continuously nourished every part of her body, causing her to grow rapidly during her growth period. Her height was approaching one meter seven, even taller than the neighboring Li Xiang.
“What kind of flowers are these? They haven’t withered after so many years,” Auntie Li said in amazement.
“They were summoned by my ability,” Jiang Ning said, her hands not stopping. She dug up a sunflower, put it in a flower pot, and handed it to Auntie Li.
“This pot is for you.”
“For me?” Auntie Li was obviously surprised that Jiang Ning would give her a flower.
“Yes, my garden is already full. I plan to sell some of these flowers on the StarNet,” Jiang Ning said.
She couldn’t possibly have the energy to take care of so many sunflowers at the same time. Although they didn’t need much care now, her place was only so big, and continuous planting was always a problem.
So she decided to sell some. Besides, one of the reasons she had started planting these plants was to get rich, wasn’t it?
“That’s great,” Auntie Li said, taking the sunflower.
Just this one flower that Jiang Ning gave her would sell for 300 star coins outside, not to mention the planting soil in the pot.
“Have you set a price?” Auntie Li asked.
Jiang Ning shook her head. “Not yet. I plan to ask Ke Lai. She’s quite experienced in this area.”
“Okay.” Li Xiang had mentioned Ke Lai to her before. Her family owned a spirit tool shop, and it was said that it had now become the leading spirit tool shop on Planet M412. Her parents’ assets had also squeezed into the top ten on Planet M412.