Chapter 44: Almost Dead
Kestrel dug up the box buried in the sand, delicately brushing away the grains that clung to it.
"What’s this?" Birdie leaned in for a look.
The box appeared old, made of ordinary wood. Faint traces of weird symbols, weathered by time, were still visible on its surface. A few hollow pits suggested that gems might have once adorned it, but now they were long gone.
Clutching the old wooden box, Kestrel beamed, examining it closely before happily stuffing it into her backpack.
Birdie found it a bit odd. The box might be old, but it was brought up from the seabed, presumably to hold precious energy stones. It shouldn’t have been overlooked by everyone so easily.
They were alphas, known for their keen observation skills. They rarely missed anything. Yet, everyone, including Birdie, hadn’t noticed this wooden box, as if it were just an ordinary thing, meant to be unseen by all.
"It’s like something icy has swept past us, leading everyone to ignore this box," Birdie thought sharply.
The moment Kestrel stored the box in her backpack, she paused, as if hearing something. She lifted her gaze to the sea. A dreamy, chaotic whisper seemed to float up from the ocean’s depths. The sound was so faint, as if it originated from a great distance, and before she could focus, it was gone. Only the lapping of the waves, endlessly washing over the golden beach, was left.
"Strange, it seems like there’s a sound from under the sea, did any of you hear it?" Kestrel asked.
Alpha’s hearing was far superior to that of beta’s. They were supposed to hear the sounds even more clearly.
"No, I didn’t hear anything," Birdie replied. "But I think we should leave here as soon as possible."
Birdie’s alpha suit was custom made with excellent elasticity, sporting two slits at the back. As long as she didn’t transform too drastically, she wouldn’t have to remove it.
At that moment, a pair of massive wings slowly spread out from the slits on her suit’s back.
With a powerful flap of her wings, she ascended into the sky, reaching for Kestrel and lifting her into the air.
The other alphas picked up speed, sprinting across the ground, following closely.
Birdie didn’t fly very high. Kestrel could see the tops of green plants and the low rooftops rushing past below them. It was an exciting sensation.
"Am I heavy?" she asked Birdie mid-flight.
"Are you underestimating me?" Birdie sounded a bit upset. "Apart from Tegnell, I have the best weight-bearing ability in the East Shore."
Kestrel stayed quiet, finding the situation amusing, reaching out her toes to try and touch the tender leaves on the tree tops.
Just then, she noticed the world beneath her seemed to twist momentarily. The vibrant trees, straight roads, and orderly houses seemed to distort.
The whole world seemed to twist. Something was waking up.
Birdie descended from the sky, her mouth agape as she looked up at the stars. The stars seemed to come alive, an array of colorful lights dancing around them, accompanied by distant melodies. The streetlights slowly brightened, as if the world was waking up.
"How could this be?" She could hardly believe her own eyes, "Night has fallen early."
Everyone looked up at the sky.
The entire world came to "life."
The peaceful "daytime" ended, and the terrifying "night" arrived ahead of schedule.
On the once silent and deserted street, a very ordinary middle-aged woman suddenly appeared. She had curly hair, red lipstick, and a noticeable mole on her face.
She carried a shopping basket, talking non-stop, "The eggs are on sale today. I need to hurry."
This was a common scene in streets and alleys in real life, and the woman looked like the most ordinary person. However, her sudden appearance in this bizarre area, the Polluted Zone, was extremely eerie.
Everyone backed away from the wall, keeping their distance from the approaching woman. The slightly plump woman seemed completely oblivious to the crowd, and kept muttering about the discounted eggs as she approached them.
"Today’s eggs are on sale."
"Must hurry."
"Can’t waste time."
Except for her eyes darting uncontrollably, from her appearance to her clothes, she truly resembled a typical woman about to buy groceries.
Birdie watched the approaching woman, gesturing two tactical signs to Tegnell.
Tegnell nodded.
As the peculiar woman approached, Tegnell suddenly leapt forward, slicing her into three pieces with two strokes.
At the same moment, Birdie led the remaining people, sticking to the road and breaking through. Without a single glance at the surroundings, they dashed across the street and turned into a deserted alley.
Tegnell quickly followed.
On the street they had just run past, the woman, now in three parts, lay on the ground. Her bones and organs were as real as any human’s. But before long, the three pieces of flesh began to wiggle, slowly transforming into three women of different sizes but identical appearances, climbing off the ground.
They looked somewhat lost, looking around as if they didn’t understand what had happened, and then continued to mutter about the discounted eggs, waddling forward.
Those hiding in the alley, including Birdie, let out a sigh of relief.
They quietly left the alley and turned onto another street.
The street was suddenly crowded. Old people with canes, children dragging toys, middle-aged men smoking... it seemed like a bustling community street.
The streetlights were bright, the stars dazzling, and soft music played in the air.
The ’people’ here had proportions completely different from normal humans. The middle-aged man was only the size of a fist, his tiny body squatting on a piece of stone and smoking. The child dragging a toy was unusually tall, a full three meters high, his huge, obese body squeezing in the narrow alley, making clanging footsteps as he moved forward step by step.
"Be very careful," Birdie whispered, "Don’t touch their bodies, and don’t touch their stuff. Otherwise, they’ll see us."
Everyone walked in a line, sticking to the corners of the wall and carefully avoiding all the people.
The road was crowded, and it was difficult to avoid the several "people" coming and going on the small road. The windows along the road were lit, and there were figures moving in the houses. But all the ’people’ seemed to live in their own world, and not one of them noticed or recognized these strangers.
At the end of the street corner was the fist-sized middle-aged man, who was smoking on the stone. they all held their breath and walked past him, sticking to the stone. The man smoked and mumbled to himself about "needing to find my wife tomorrow" as if he couldn’t see them at all.
They managed to pass under the man’s eyelids, and everyone couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Just then, a window on the side of the road was suddenly pushed open, and an old man with silver hair was carrying a basin of water, which he poured onto the street with a splash.
Muros couldn’t dodge in time and was about to be splashed with water. Tegnell, from behind, pulled his collar and moved him aside. Muros escaped, but Tegnell’s thick arm was inevitably wet with a splash of water.
The middle-aged man who had just been unable to see them, first looked stunned, then his facial expression twisted into anger, and he jumped off the stone, baring his teeth and claws, and pounced on them.
