Jia Liangcai followed the team through the Bronze Gate.

After arriving in the forest, he curiously observed his surroundings.

By the time he joined Home, they were already in the Gobi Desert.

So this was his first time seeing this forest.

It was daytime in the forest. After the main force arrived, they split into twenty teams and scattered in all directions, with most of them felling trees.

Others gathered fresh water and collected plants.

Cao Biansheng came up behind Qin Ziwen. "Leader, is this your first map? It feels a bit like our first map back then."

"You think so?"

"Very similar." Cao Biansheng spread his arms, breathing in the fresh air. "More than similar. The temperature is about the same, as are the species of these trees. Plus, the sky where we were also had two suns." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Maybe we really were on the same map back then—we were on this side of the mountains, and you were on the other," Qin Ziwen said with a smile. "You all stand guard here for now. I’m going to go check on the altars in this area."

Qin Ziwen beckoned to the Beaked Eagle that had followed him.

The Beaked Eagle waddled over, curiously eyeing its surroundings.

Behind the Beaked Eagle, Black kept its head down, acting furtively.

Red Hare stood next to Black. Taking advantage of its greater height, it secretly nudged Black with its rear. Caught off guard, Black stumbled forward a few steps and nearly fell.

"What do you think you’re doing!" Qin Ziwen noticed its little maneuver, and Red Hare immediately froze.

"Speaking of which, I wonder if the altars here will continue to spawn Cards now that the Gated Community is gone." Qin Ziwen raised his head, looking up.

’If the altars stop spawning Cards after we leave, it means they exist solely to serve the Gated Community.’

’But if they keep spawning Cards, it means their existence is independent of the Gated Community.’

"Why did you two come along?" Qin Ziwen frowned. He had only planned to bring the Beaked Eagle, but the other two little rascals had secretly tagged along.

"Whose idea was this?"

As soon as he spoke, the Beaked Eagle guiltily lowered its head, its eyes darting around.

Red Hare raised its head, practically shoving its face forward so its master could see its innocent little expression.

As for Black, it was staring around with a dazed look, filled with curiosity about everything. Suddenly, it spotted a field mouse on the ground and pounced, its head smashing into the grass as its tail shot straight up.

Two seconds later, it yanked its head out of the dirt, its face covered in grass and soil.

’It still hasn’t shaken off that daze from eating the Heaven-Reaching Fruit!’

Qin Ziwen was a little worried. The side effects of the Heaven-Reaching Fruit were lasting longer than he’d expected.

’Of course, it’s also possible it ate too many at once and got some kind of fruit poisoning.’

His gaze fell upon the Beaked Eagle. A single glance was all it took for Qin Ziwen to guess who had come up with the terrible idea.

"You keep an eye on Black. Don’t let it run off," Qin Ziwen instructed Red Hare. After a moment’s thought, still feeling uneasy, he called Qin Ziwu over and had him watch the dragon and the horse.

After giving his instructions, Qin Ziwen mounted the Beaked Eagle and flew toward the Stone Toad Cave.

The Beaked Eagle was fast, arriving at the cave entrance in less than half an hour.

Not far away, two Black Falcons were flying over. Halfway there, they recognized the Beaked Eagle and, as if they had seen a harbinger of doom, immediately turned and fled.

"SCREEE—"

A sharp cry tore through the sky.

Above them, a giant bird dove downward.

Qin Ziwen recognized it. An old acquaintance.

"A Monkey-eating Albatross."

The great bird that had attacked the Gated Community several times before.

It hadn’t really appeared since.

And now they’d run into it as soon as they came back.

There’s a special kind of fury when old enemies meet. The Beaked Eagle recognized this as its "old friend" that had once chased it for dozens of miles across the sky, forcing it to hide in the forest for over an hour.

The Beaked Eagle suddenly accelerated, charging toward the Monkey-eating Albatross.

’Wait, I’m still on your fucking back!’

The powerful G-force pushed Qin Ziwen down. He quickly bent over, his hands grabbing the feathers on the Beaked Eagle’s back.

The two giant birds, both with eight-meter wingspans, shot toward each other like a pair of jet fighters.

At the last moment before impact, the Monkey-eating Albatross dropped its altitude and veered away.

"SCREEE—"

As they brushed past each other, the Beaked Eagle let out a triumphant cry.

It turned its head, glaring ferociously at the Monkey-eating Albatross.

It banked sharply.

Qin Ziwen threw his arms around the Beaked Eagle’s neck, feeling his legs almost swing out into empty air.

The Monkey-eating Albatross flew past the Beaked Eagle. It didn’t look back, instead flying farther into the distance.

But while it wanted to escape, the Beaked Eagle wasn’t about to give up.

It sped up, pursuing from behind.

The Monkey-eating Albatross tried to gain altitude to shake the Beaked Eagle.

But the Beaked Eagle was faster.

It drew closer and closer, until finally, the Beaked Eagle was right on top of it, its talons sinking like daggers into the Monkey-eating Albatross’s back.

Then it forced the albatross down in a furious dive.

The Monkey-eating Albatross tried to struggle, but its strength was in a completely different league from the Beaked Eagle’s.

With the Beaked Eagle standing on its back, the two birds plummeted from the sky.

"BOOM—"

A huge cloud of dust and dirt erupted from the ground.

At the last second, the Beaked Eagle released its claws. The Monkey-eating Albatross crashed heavily to the ground. The Beaked Eagle glided in a circle before landing lightly on its foe’s back.

Its sharp beak was like a hammer—once, twice, three times.

It pecked until the Monkey-eating Albatross’s flesh was torn and its skull was shattered.

Qin Ziwen said, "I didn’t realize you held such a grudge."

The Beaked Eagle cooed twice and released its claws. The Monkey-eating Albatross’s spine was nearly torn out, and the top of its skull was smashed open, leaving a gaping hole. It was clearly dead.

Qin Ziwen felt a wave of emotion. He still remembered the first time he’d seen a Monkey-eating Albatross, hiding under a tree with his brother as the giant bird descended from the sky.

Times had changed. Now, seeing the Monkey-eating Albatross again, it was no longer in the same league as his Beaked Eagle.

Just now, he could feel the Beaked Eagle’s control over the surrounding air currents.

He had to admit, when it came to dealing with flying creatures, the Beaked Eagle’s ability to control air currents gave it a huge advantage.

After all, a bird’s ability to fly is fundamentally based on using the curved cross-section of its wings to manipulate airflow.

’In that case,’ he thought, ’wouldn’t the Beaked Eagle’s ability give it a massive advantage against other Extraordinary-class flying creatures?’

"RUSTLE RUSTLE~"

A sound suddenly came from the nearby grass.

Qin Ziwen turned his head. The Beaked Eagle’s neck swiveled a full one hundred eighty degrees to stare intently behind it.

In the grass, a leopard was tiptoeing away, carefully lifting its paws as it prepared to leave.

Its paws were moving, but its head remained vigilant, facing the man and the bird.

When the man and bird turned their heads at the same time, all six of their eyes locked.

The leopard felt terribly unlucky.

It was just trying to take a nap here.

And then two birds fell out of the sky.

It was seriously pondering, ’If I leave now, will that be okay?’

Suddenly, the leopard’s nose twitched. Its gaze toward Qin Ziwen held a trace of confusion.

’This person’s scent... it seems a little familiar?’

...

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