Chapter 160: The Ultrasonic Siege: Defending Territory Three

Seizing the last moments, Xia Qing quickly switched on the earpiece walkie-talkies for all four protective masks and tied up Boss Sheep with rope. Then, she gently spoke into the radio for Boss Sheep and the two wolves, “There’ll be a lot of noise soon. It’s just to drive away the birds. Don’t be scared, I promise you won’t get hurt.”

The moment the two wolves heard Xia Qing’s voice right in their ears, their eyes nearly bulged out of their heads in shock.

“Baa.” Tied up and uncomfortable, Boss Sheep protested weakly. With the protective mask on, its bleat sounded muffled and pitiful.

Xia Qing had set all the earpiece walkie-talkies for Boss Sheep and the wolves to listen-only mode, blocking any outgoing sound. Since animals had sharper hearing than humans, she worried Boss Sheep would panic and start howling once the sonic attack began, which could affect her focus.

“Fwoosh—”

The evolved raptor called out for more support. From the Evolver Forest to the north and east, flocks of evolved birds took to the air, forming a black cloud as they slowly drifted toward Territories One through Twenty-Eight.

“Ten seconds to countdown. When the ultrasonic attack starts, the bird swarm will be thrown into chaos. All snipers and shooters, be ready.”

“Wolves, Boss, don’t be afraid. I’ll take the brunt of this attack.” Xia Qing opened the attic skylight and aimed her sniper rifle at the nearest evolved bird, speaking in the gentlest tone even as her words brimmed with steely resolve.

“Start.”

Even with the best protective mask strapped tight, Level Six Hearing Evolver Xia Qing heard a buzzing sound in her head so intense it felt ready to explode. At that same moment, the circling flocks above broke into chaos, and one bird dropped rapidly right into her firing range.

“Bang!” Xia Qing fired, nailing the evolved bird right in the neck. Blood sprayed like rain as the bird struggled and then plummeted straight down.

“Moo—”

Boss Sheep couldn’t take it anymore under the ultrasonic attack and called out to Xia Qing, begging for help.

“Hang in there, Boss, I promise it’ll be over in a few minutes. Get through this, and I’ll make something delicious for everyone.” Gritting her teeth against a pounding headache, dizziness, and nausea, Xia Qing reassured her companions in the kindest voice as she kept taking birds out with the sniper rifle.

“Moo—” Boss Sheep could barely hang on. Helpless, it banged its head desperately against the floor.

The two wounded wolves were struggling just as much. The one with the broken leg was already starting to roll its eyes back.

“Don’t be scared, Boss. Don’t be scared, wolves.” Xia Qing’s gentle voice soothed not only the three evolved animals at her side, but also Da Jiang and Liangzi, the hearing evolvers from Hu Zifeng’s Squad in Territory Three. Both of them gritted their teeth to hold on.

Suddenly, six birds swooped from above Territory Two toward Territory Three. The first three zeroed in straight for Xia Qing’s house.

“Xia Qing!”

Hu Zifeng’s voice rang out in warning.

“Got it, I’ll handle the first three.” The birds weren’t moving all that fast—probably power or ability evolvers—but Xia Qing’s hands had already started to shake. She could barely grip the sniper rifle.

Come on, you think I’m scared of you?

As the evolved birds closed in, Xia Qing, nearly crazed from the sonic assault, swapped the sniper rifle for a submachine gun and sprayed a hail of bullets at the trio.

Two evolved birds dropped from the sky, but the third streaked right at her, its talons glinting coldly as it struck.

Please, like I’m scared of that trick!

Dropping the submachine gun, Xia Qing drew the expensive long knife she’d bought from Huo Lei’s shop and stood her ground.

“Clang!”

Bird talons clashed with the long knife, metal ringing out. The raptor’s dive packed a punch, but Xia Qing’s strength didn’t lose out. She held her ground and then sliced straight through its claw, exposing the bird’s leg bone.

The evolved bird let out a piercing screech and thrashed its wings, trying to take off.

No way she’d let it escape. Xia Qing grabbed the bird’s thick leg—fatter than a wolf’s—and yanked it down. With a brutal stab upward and a hard slash, she sent blood gushing down like a rainstorm.

At that moment, a speed-evolved bird shot in like lightning. Without her vision upgrade, Xia Qing would never have tracked its movement.

There was no time to counterattack. Xia Qing used the bird carcass she was holding to block the attic skylight.

“Bang!”

“Crash!”

The speed-evolved bird tore straight through the skylight glass and darted out the back of the house.

“Leave the Windrider to me.” Hu Zifeng’s cool, steady voice came over the walkie-talkie.

“Windrider down.”

“Copy.” Xia Qing hurled the now-dead evolved bird out the backyard window, wiped her hands clean of blood, and grabbed her sniper rifle again. After that last brawl, she found the ultrasound was affecting her less—her hands had stopped shaking.

The furry brute overhead was still calling for backup, but its flock, rattled by the sonic pulses and battered by the gunfire, had dwindled to barely a dozen birds circling high above.

Now the real threat was the backup flock. Eyes bloodshot, Xia Qing stared fiercely at the sky, tracking their movements. She was too focused even to comfort her companions.

Boss Sheep, completely losing it, had already smashed a crack in the attic floorboards.

Two minutes later, the ultrasonic attack finally stopped. Boss Sheep collapsed motionless on the ground. Xia Qing, covered in blood, leaned against the wall, fighting the urge to vomit, and comforted her companions, “It’s over, Boss, wolves. The hardest part is done. I’ll cook up something good for you soon.”

The worst had passed, but over a dozen evolved birds hovered above the territory, unwilling to leave or launch another attack. They just circled, keeping everyone tense.

With the birds refusing to back off, no one dared lower their guard or put down their weapons.

“The ultrasonic barrage has stopped the birds in the Evolver Forest from taking flight. The only ones left are those circling overhead,” Tan Junjie reported, his tone steady and serious. “Territory Seven, report in.”

“Territory Seven here.”

Tan Junjie started coordinating the plan. “Missile systems have locked onto the giant raptor. Ground-to-air defenses across Territories One to Twenty-Eight are ready. Territory Seven, commence laser cannon fire on other evolved birds. Snipers, synchronize your attacks.”

“Copy, Territory Seven.” Two seconds after the reply, Xia Qing watched a white flash bloom beneath a circling bird’s belly, then watched it drop straight down.

The flock, barely recovered from the ultrasonic onslaught, panicked again and scattered chaotically.

Xia Qing aimed at one that swooped into range and fired, but pain made her aim shaky. She managed to clip it, shooting off some feathers but missing a kill shot.

Before she could fire again, a shot cracked from a few hundred meters north. The wounded bird beat its wings in panic and started spiraling down.

That one had been taken out by Hu Zifeng’s Squad, guarding the farmland a few hundred meters behind Xia Qing.

With laser cannons and snipers working together, the numbers of evolved birds overhead shrank fast.

“Fwoosh—”

The giant raptor shrieked from on high and the remaining birds began to retreat southwest.

Even after the sky finally cleared, Xia Qing kept her sniper rifle at the ready, not allowing herself a single moment of relaxation.

Only once a streak of light flashed across the sky did Tan Junjie’s calm, steady voice finally come over the Lord’s Channel: “The giant raptor has been killed by missile strike. The Evolver Forest fifty miles east has been hit with Xiang Rain. With current weather conditions, this won’t spread into our territory. Stand down from combat alert.”

Exhale—

Xia Qing set her gun aside and leaned back against the short wall.

Hu Zifeng’s voice came through the earpiece again, checking in. “Xia Qing, how’s your side holding up?”