"Lord Commander, those damned Mutant Beasts have landed. Should we press our advantage and go finish them off?"
A soldier clad in black armor looked to a man with a sword at his waist, standing before a silver-white cannon, and inquired.
WHOOSH...
A great gust of wind blasted them, sending the hair of the dozen or so people on this special operation flying back.
The man with the sword gazed at the distant sky, shook his head, and spoke to his subordinate.
"No need. The Lord City Lord only ordered us to send a message to those Mutant Beasts—to make it clear that we know they were behind the last two torrential downpours in the city.
This mission can be considered a complete success. Now, we just need to pack up the Spiritual Artifact Lightning Cannon and head back to the city."
Although the armored soldiers desperately wanted to charge to the Mutant Beasts’ current location and wipe them all out, their superior had given the order to retreat, and they had to obey.
The armored soldiers then began to pack up the gleaming silver Spiritual Artifact Lightning Cannon.
They were incredibly efficient. In less than a minute, they had loaded the three-ton Spiritual Artifact cannon onto a cart and started back toward Dongwu City.
...
The grayish-brown owl Mutant Beast leader and its underlings waited in the meadow for a long time. When no further attacks came, they realized the danger had passed.
After that sudden attack, the grayish-brown owl Mutant Beast leader chose not to have its underlings fly up to create more rain clouds. Instead, it led them toward the forest.
Once inside the forest, the grayish-brown owl Mutant Beast leader had its underlings return to their nests, while it continued on alone, flying deeper into the woods.
The verdant forest stretched as far as the eye could see. The deeper the owl flew, the more towering, ancient trees it encountered.
After flying for over a hundred kilometers, the grayish-brown owl Mutant Beast leader finally reached its destination.
Before it lay a valley. A waterfall cascaded from hundreds of meters high, forming a massive pool at the valley floor.
On clear days, the mist from the waterfall created a rainbow that would hang suspended in the middle of the valley for a long time.
The sides of the valley were covered in flowers of every color imaginable, a vibrant tapestry of reds and purples, with countless butterflies flitting among them.
It was hard to believe such a beautiful, scenic place existed deep within such a perilous forest.
The grayish-brown owl Mutant Beast leader swooped down from the sky, landing beside the pool in the valley.
A few moments after the grayish-brown owl Mutant Beast leader arrived, the calm surface of the dark, fathomless pool suddenly began to churn.
SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH...
The water of the pool churned violently, sending spray everywhere as a colossal figure surfaced from the depths.
It was an immense python, thirty-five meters long, with a sharp horn on its forehead, scarlet eyes, and a body covered in dense black scales.
"Hoot... Lord Single-Horned Black-Scaled Python." Seeing the immense Mutant Beast that had emerged from the pool, its body radiating powerful Spiritual Energy Waves, the grayish-brown owl leader immediately gave a respectful greeting.
"Hiss... Didn’t I tell you to take your underlings and create rain clouds to shroud Dongwu City in a downpour? Why have you come to me?" the Single-Horned Black-Scaled Python asked in confusion.
It had been dozing at the bottom of the pool when it suddenly Perceived a Spiritual Energy fluctuation outside and came up to investigate. It hadn’t expected to see the underling it had sent on a mission.
"Hoot... Lord Single-Horned Black-Scaled Python, I was following your instructions, leading my underlings to create clouds and rain.
Everything was going fine, but a short while ago, we were suddenly struck by a beam of silver-white light from the distance. We lost dozens of our brethren in an instant. I’ve come to report this to you."
The grayish-brown owl leader heard its boss’s question and hastily explained the reason for its arrival.
’Attacked by a beam of silver-white light? Could it be...’ Upon hearing this, the Single-Horned Black-Scaled Python fell into thought for a moment.
A flood of unpleasant memories surfaced in its mind. Its tone turned icy as it said, "The beam of light that attacked you must have come from a Spiritual Artifact Lightning Cannon."
"Spiritual Artifact Lightning Cannon?" The grayish-brown owl clearly didn’t recognize the name, its eyes filled with confusion.
"Yes. Over a decade ago, the humans of Dongwu City used the Spiritual Artifact Lightning Cannon to great effect. It cost us a great number of our kind.
The fact that you were attacked by a Spiritual Artifact Lightning Cannon means it was most likely the City Lord of Dongwu City who ordered it," the Single-Horned Black-Scaled Python said.
"What?!!" Hearing that the one who ordered the attack was likely the City Lord of Dongwu City, the grayish-brown owl leader was terrified.
Although it had just been cheerfully leading its underlings through the sky, using its Superpower to create clouds and rain to drench Dongwu City, the truth was, it was terrified of the city’s Lord and dreaded being discovered by him.
After all, it was more than a decade ago that this very same City Lord had personally led a great army to purge the Mutant Beasts active around Dongwu City, ultimately forcing them to retreat into this forest.
Even after all these years, the infamy of Dongwu City’s Lord was still a legend whispered among the Mutant Beasts of the forest.