Chapter 57: You Kiss-Asses Are Making Me Uncomfortable
Elder Xia’s expression was incredibly grim. “Are they seriously going to let that mechanical construct circle the sky until the countdown runs out?”
“This is utterly shameless!”
They had still underestimated just how low their opponents would stoop. Passing this trial was already an uphill battle for them. Neither a Green Snake nor a Northern Long-tailed Tit stood a chance of evading such a dense artillery barrage on their own.
Yet, the corporations weren’t satisfied with just making the gauntlet impossible; they had deployed a high-tier mechanical unit specifically to sabotage them. It wasn’t hard to imagine how aggressively that machine would target their beasts once it engaged!
Chief Fei’s face turned as dark as the bottom of a burned pot. “This is completely uncalled for!”
“It’s an insult to everything we stand for.”
A profound wave of sorrow washed over him. Is it truly over for us today? Is there really no path left for our families?
The Northern Long-tailed Tit perched on Chief Fei’s shoulder seemed to sense his shifting emotions. It nuzzled its round, fluffy body against his cheek, letting out a series of soft, reassuring coos.
Don’t be sad, Master! I’m going to do my absolute best! I won’t let you down!
Hearing those tiny chirps felt like a needle piercing Chief Fei’s heart. My brave little bird!
He reached up with his rough, calloused hand to gently stroke the bird’s soft plumage. The little tit leaned into his touch, its tiny eyes narrowing with contentment.
A bittersweet smile touched Chief Fei’s lips. He smoothed down the feathers on its head, his gaze hardening as he made a silent vow. “No matter what happens… I won’t let you get hurt.”
His precious companion shouldn’t have to bleed in a corporate ambush.
“Dad! Let me send Que Ling into the ring!”
A spirited young woman dressed in a striking red outfit stepped forward, her voice filled with determination. “Que Ling is the fastest among all our Northern Long-tailed Tits. If any beast has a chance of outrunning those artillery shells, it’s her.”
“Absolutely not!” Chief Fei instantly extended an arm to block her path. “Yuanlin, it’s entirely too dangerous!”
“Dad!” Fei Yuanlin pressed, her anxiety spiking. “Are we seriously just going to hide like turtles in our shells?”
“They aren’t going to show us any mercy. If we take one step back today, they’ll force us to take ten steps back tomorrow!”
“We have to fight back!”
“Que Ling and I will go together. If things turn ugly, I’ll stand right in front of her. I don’t believe for a second that they’d dare to murder a legacy heir on a live galactic broadcast!”
Fei Yuanlin saw the situation with absolute clarity. The corporations wanted to break them completely. If they retreated now, the Northern Long-tailed Tit as a species would have no market space left to survive.
The Fei family had fought tooth and nail to protect their heritage until today; she refused to stand by and watch it get erased.
Standing beside them, Elder Xia let out a heavy sigh. He had to admit, the old men hadn’t seen the truth as clearly as this young girl.
“Old Fei, Yuanlin is right!”
“I’ll send my Green Snake to support Que Ling. We can’t afford to retreat anymore!”
They were backed against a cliff. There was no going back.
Chief Fei’s resolve fractured.
With only five minutes left on the crimson countdown timer, Fei Yuanlin didn’t waste another second. She spun around and marched straight toward the active combat zone, Que Ling perched proudly on her arm. She threw a fierce shout toward the arena: “We’re stepping in!”
This time, Chief Fei didn’t try to stop her. His Green Snake slithered tightly behind her heels, joining the fray.
Yet, as Chief Fei watched the solitary girl and the two small beasts face the sprawling combat platform, his expression turned bitter. “Even so… our chances are practically zero.”
The exact moment their feet cleared the boundary, dozens of automated artillery turrets swiveled in unison, locking onto their coordinates.
[Wait, what’s happening? A beastmaster is actually walking onto the live fire platform? Is she insane? Artillery shells don’t have eyes!]
[Isn’t this girl just getting in the way? Look at how fragile she is—isn’t she just going to drag her beasts down?]
[Get her out of there! Stop ruining the stream, okay!]
[That’s the problem with traditional beastmasters. They always insist on fighting alongside their animals. It’s so inefficient compared to remote-controlled mechanical units.]
[…I mean, it’s a bold move, but it’s totally reckless. Do they honestly think this pathetic lineup can clear the trial?]
As the netizens debated furiously in the chat, Chief Fei and Elder Xia watched the arena with bated breath, their hearts in their throats.
Suddenly, the artillery batteries unleashed a coordinated roar!
Perhaps the technicians operating the grid behind the scenes wanted to avoid a high-profile civilian casualty on a live broadcast, because the incoming fire wasn’t quite as dense or rapid as the initial demonstration. Furthermore, the targeting algorithms deliberately avoided Fei Yuanlin, focusing their lethal payloads entirely on the Green Snake and Que Ling.
The Green Snake kept its body pressed flat against the pavement. Because it was incredibly slender and agile, it managed to cleanly slide through the initial explosions, deliberately drawing the heat away from Fei Yuanlin as it created distance.
Meanwhile, Que Ling spread her tiny wings and took to the sky. Though she looked like nothing more than a round ball of fluff, her aerial velocity was staggering. She darted through the chaotic hail of anti-air fire like a white streak, ascending rapidly toward the upper atmosphere.
Her strategy was clear: fly over the active targeting zone from above and cross the finish line from the air!
However, the moment she broke through the initial curtain of flak, a gleaming white silhouette intercepted her path like a bolt of lightning. It was the Zhuguang!
The mechanical construct’s chassis was forged from an ultra-high-density titanium alloy, making it practically indestructible, and its propulsion core was a cutting-edge, military-grade prototype. Its speed was unparalleled. In a fraction of a second, the Zhuguang materialized directly in front of Que Ling, the localized energy grids across its hull flaring to life.
It was preparing its signature offensive module: the Blade of Light!
It was going to slice Que Ling out of the sky.
Down on the platform, Fei Yuanlin’s heart seized. She immediately screamed at the top of her lungs: “Dive!”
The instant the command reached her ears, Que Ling folded her wings without a shred of hesitation, dropping like a stone back into the relative safety of the low-altitude artillery barrage.
The Zhuguang’s tracking algorithms paused briefly, recalculating the risk. After a millisecond of computation, it opted to remain in the upper atmosphere, hovering safely within a dead zone its programming had mapped out.
Fei Yuanlin let out a ragged breath when she saw Que Ling land safely, but her brow furrowed even deeper. “To clear the boundary, we have to go through the Zhuguang…”
Though Que Ling possessed exceptional evasion and speed, her offensive capabilities were practically nonexistent. Engaging a military-grade combat construct like the Zhuguang in a dogfight would be a death sentence.
What could they possibly do?
At that moment, the Green Snake—which had successfully bypassed the initial waves—found itself entirely pinned down by an increasingly dense wall of mortar fire. With all forward vectors blocked, it had no choice but to retreat, slithering frantically back to Fei Yuanlin’s side.
The sight caused despair to ripple through the onlookers.
Elder Xia let out a long, heavy breath, his shoulders slumping. “It’s a checkmate.”
“Neither Que Ling nor the Green Snake possesses the raw power to breach that perimeter. The moment the countdown hits zero, they fail.”
[…Wow. I thought the legacy families were supposed to be legendary, but this is it?]
[Traditional beasts simply aren’t built for modern warfare. They can’t hurt the Zhuguang at all. The best they can do is run away.]
[Obviously. The Light-Chaser series is the absolute pinnacle of modern mechanical engineering. It’s designed specifically for speed and high-output destruction. When you compare them side-by-side, the limitations of living animals are just too obvious.]
[But omg, that Northern Long-tailed Tit is so incredibly cute! Sure, it can’t fight, but it’s gorgeous. I’m definitely buying one as a pet after this stream!]
[…What’s the point of buying a useless bird just because it’s pretty?]
[It’s a little sad to watch, but this is a total, crushing victory for the mechanical faction.]
[Why is it sad? That’s just technological evolution. Traditional beasts are obsolete; they were bound to be phased out sooner or later.]
[…Wait a minute, where is the manager of Chong’ai Pet Home? Did they lie about her attending? Clickbait!]
[Can you guys stop bringing up that pet shop in every single thread? This is an elite beast-fighting conference. Does that boutique owner even know how to train a combat beast?]
[Seriously, the mindless cult following around that shop is so annoying. Her animals are just cute influencers. Can they actually fight? Could any of them last a second against the Zhuguang?]
[They mention her every single day, it’s exhausting!]
Up on the platform, Fei Yuanlin’s chest heaved. Sweat poured down her face, stinging her eyes as it dripped past her lashes. Am I really going to fail here? Am I forced to just give up?
A violent surge of rebellion roared in her chest, but as she looked up at the pristine, blindingly bright mechanical bird hovering arrogantly above them, reality crushed her. It was a canyon of power they simply could not cross.
Are we really going to lose?
Is the Northern Long-tailed Tit destined to become nothing more than a forgotten historical footnote?
Then, without warning, an immense, sweeping shadow blotted out the stadium lights directly above them.
Fei Yuanlin’s eyes snapped open wide. High in the upper atmosphere, a massive, ink-black silhouette was slicing through the clouds.
What on earth is that?!
Before she could process the sight, a crisp, authoritative female voice cut through the mechanical thunder of the arena.
“Qingqing, execute!”
A piercing, blood-curdling raptor cry tore through the heavens. A magnificent black falcon descended from the stratosphere like a localized hurricane, its massive wings cutting through the smoke.
As the predatory bird leveled out, Fei Yuanlin’s pupils dilated to the size of pinpricks. She let out a breathless, stunned gasp:
“That’s… the Apex of the Skies… a Saker Falcon!”
The falcon’s physical proportions completely dwarfed the Zhuguang. It was a creature of pure, midnight black, equipped with talons that looked like forged iron hooks. In a display of sheer, terrifying velocity, it closed the distance and clamped its talons around the Zhuguang before the machine’s sensors could even register its presence!
A collective gasp echoed across the entire stadium complex. What kind of impossible speed was that?!
The corporate flagship model hadn’t even been granted the microsecond required to initiate an evasive maneuver before it was utterly pinned.
How was this scientifically possible?!
The paradigm shift had occurred so rapidly that the audience’s brains were struggling to process the visual data.
The trapped Zhuguang immediately initiated an emergency protocol, its titanium hull surging with a blinding white glow as it prepared to discharge its Blade of Light.
Fei Yuanlin’s instincts screamed. She looked up and shouted a warning at the top of her lungs: “Watch out! It’s discharging an energy blade!”
She was terrified that this wild falcon didn’t comprehend the lethal nature of a mechanical payload. If it sustained a direct hit from that military-grade laser at point-blank range, it would be sliced clean in half! It was a lethal force that no living tissue could withstand.
Yet, the falcon’s iron grip didn’t waiver a single millimeter.
In the control booth, the technician piloting the corporate unit completely lost his temper. He slammed his hands onto the interface, overriding the safety limiters. “Full energy release! Force-activate the Blade of Light past safe thresholds!”
He refused to let the Zhuguang lose its debut match—especially not to some random biological bird that had dropped out of nowhere! This unit was the crowning achievement of their entire research facility; it was supposed to sweep the galactic awards and dominate the quarterly revenue charts!
How could it be permitted to fail before it even cleared the entrance gates?
The lead engineers watching the telemetry data from the sidelines gasped in absolute horror at his inputs. “Are you insane?! If you force an over-limit discharge, the entire Light-Chaser unit will suffer immediate core burnout!”
“A standard discharge is more than enough to incinerate a biological target! Why are you destroying the prototype?!”
“Because it’s about the data!” the pilot snarled.
The black bird possessed nothing but raw velocity. Even if it had successfully grappled the construct, it lacked the tools to inflict structural damage on a reinforced titanium frame. That was the fundamental advantage of machinery over flesh—there was no pain, no fear, only cold, calculated optimization. As long as the primary chassis wasn’t crushed, the over-limit discharge would vaporize the attacker without compromising the Zhuguang‘s vital modules.
Ignoring his colleagues, the pilot locked in the command. “Light-Chaser, ignore safety limiters. Over-limit discharge, execute!”
The instant the override cleared, the Zhuguang’s body erupted into a spectacular, incandescent dome of white energy. The sheer thermal signature was staggering, convincing every onlooker that the black falcon was about to be reduced to ash.
The engineering team knew the exact destructive yield of that over-limit blast. In their calculated estimation, no biological organism could survive the blast radius. It was a shame to burn out a pristine prototype, but the demonstration of absolute corporate dominance would be worth the cost.
The livestream chat erupted into absolute chaos. The viewers were witnessing a theoretical over-limit display from the Light-Chaser series! It was a magnificent, fleeting spectacle—a mechanical masterpiece burning its own soul to achieve ultimate destruction.
The owner of this corporate unit was incredibly wealthy to casually sacrifice a multi-million-credit prototype just to secure a kill!
However, right at the absolute peak of the white explosion, a violent, piercing purple luminescence ignited from deep within the core of the blast!
The purple light expanded with terrifying velocity, actively devouring the white corporate energy like a black hole swallowing a star.
But it didn’t stop there. Once it had completely neutralized the Zhuguang’s discharge, the cascading purple energy arced outward, blasting straight down toward the artillery-lined combat platform!
With a deafening, apocalyptic crackle, a series of massive EMP explosions ripped through the testing grounds. In a fraction of a second, every single automated artillery battery was reduced to twisted, molten slag.
Blinding forks of purple lightning violently spiderwebbed across the sky, altering the very color of the horizon.
Another sharp, piercing raptor cry echoed through the heavens, erasing any lingering doubt regarding the creature’s status. The falcon reigned supreme.
The entire stadium fell into a stunned, absolute silence.
CRASH!
With a heavy, metallic thud, the charred, blackened, and thoroughly melted chassis of the Zhuguang dropped out of the sky, slamming into the ruined platform and shattering into thousands of useless components.
“It’s… it’s just gone?” someone in the crowd whispered, their voice trembling as if waking from a nightmare.
“The over-limit model… completely destroyed in a single exchange?”
That had been an over-limit attack—the absolute pinnacle of mechanical destructive output! Yet, it had been swallowed whole, completely snuffed out without managing to mount a single shred of meaningful resistance.
Suddenly, an engineer in the crowd leaped to his feet, his face flushed with manic excitement. “No! That wasn’t just plasma fire! That was localized atmospheric lightning! That falcon is an ultra-rare, elemental lightning-aspected apex beast!”
The design team instantly recognized the specific radiation signature of natural lightning. Their eyes darted away from the wreckage, locking onto the far edge of the platform where a second girl had materialized alongside Fei Yuanlin.
“Holy shit… isn’t that Su Wudeng? The manager of Chong’ai Pet Home?”
“So… that monstrous bird belongs to her?”
“She literally walked in and dropped a strategic nuclear option on day one…”
A junior designer couldn’t control himself, letting out an ecstatic cheer: “That is so incredibly badass! Holy hell!”
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt the icy, murderous glares of his entire department locking onto him. He instantly choked on his words, lowering his head to stare at his shoes. It was undeniable proof of concept, but the problem was that the mechanical unit that had just been turned into scrap metal belonged to them.
[Ahhhhh! My wife! My wife has arrived! That was incredible! Wife, you are so cool my entire body is numb right now!]
[She literally neutralized the entire arena grid and tore their flagship corporate model to pieces in five seconds! I dare anyone to say something! Anyone!]
[Did that girl call it a Saker Falcon? Is this the manager’s newest companion?!]
[It looks so dominant! The Sovereign of the Skies, the Saker Falcon!]
[That entrance was an absolute 10 out of 10!]
[Waaaah, my wife has been hiding a whole new pet from us! I feel neglected!]
[The falcon is a total savage! No talking, no warnings, just straight violence!]
[Hey, where did all those keyboard warriors go? The ones complaining about my wife not being a real beastmaster? Why is the chat suddenly so quiet?]
[Get absolutely wrecked! Keep her name out of your mouths! Hahaha, my manager is untouchable!]
Backstage at the conference center, Director Lin and his inner circle were on the verge of an absolute aneurysm.
“What is the meaning of this?! Didn’t I explicitly command you to notify me the exact second Su Wudeng crossed the perimeter? She’s already finished the entire match, and you’re just now telling me she’s on-site?!”
This collection of incompetent corporate sycophants was going to give him a stroke!
The pristine stage they had spent months financing, the massive internet traffic they had carefully funneled to their launch—it had all evaporated in an instant, and every ounce of that global spotlight had been hijacked by Chong’ai Pet Home!
Their shiny new product line, the Zhuguang, had been publicly dismantled by a biological bird on a global live feed!
How was he supposed to spin this? It was a massive, humiliating slap to the face!
“Sir… she literally just arrived a moment ago,” a subordinate stammered, his face pale with terror. “We don’t understand the physics of it. Our sensors picked up her starship’s transponder in high orbit, but within a single second, she was already standing on the test platform…”
He couldn’t comprehend how a human could cover that distance instantaneously.
“…How else do you think? Just look at the velocity of that black bird and use your brain.”
“Are you suggesting… the manager saw the traditional families losing on the Starnet feed and deployed her falcon from orbit to intercept the match?”
“That is the only logical conclusion. We failed to anticipate that she possessed an aerial unit—let alone one with that level of atmospheric speed.”
“What are our options now? The entire Light-Chaser marketing campaign is ruined! We can’t just accept this loss!”
“Who could possibly accept this?!”
But the power dynamic on the field had inverted too quickly. That had been an over-limit corporate flagship, and it had been turned into garbage. It was entirely too fragile. How can a single biological organism possess that much destructive force?
“Director Lin! Where are you going?!”
The executives watched as Director Lin marched out of the office, his face twisted in a mask of pure fury. His roar echoed down the corridor: “Where do you think I’m going?! To clean up the absolute disaster you idiots created!”
“A bunch of useless parasites! You can’t even execute a simple gatekeeper protocol!”
How triumphant he had felt just moments ago watching the traditional beasts fail; how utterly humiliated he felt now. The pet home hadn’t just defeated his product; they had publicly exposed him, and the blow was agonizingly loud.
The product they had poured their entire research budget into couldn’t even survive a single strike from a falcon’s talons. Once word of this leaked, the research facilities in neighboring galaxies would make them the laughingstock of the corporate sector for the next decade.
The internal competition between regional divisions was brutal. They had designed this launch to solidify their supremacy, but instead, they had merely served as a stepping stone to elevate their worst enemy’s reputation!
But the situation couldn’t be allowed to deteriorate further. He had to handle this personally.
The moment Director Lin stepped onto the ruined platform, the true scale of the devastation hit him. The reinforced combat ring was fractured down the center, and the remnants of his expensive artillery batteries were scattered across the concrete like burnt tinfoil.
The cleaning crew was frantically attempting to sweep up the debris, but the space was an absolute disaster zone.
His eyes immediately locked onto the young woman responsible for his sudden spike in blood pressure. Forcing his facial muscles to cooperate, he plastered a tight, professional smile on his face and approached her.
“Ah, it appears our esteemed Manager Su has finally arrived. Please forgive my lack of a formal reception at the gates.”
“However… don’t you think your conduct is a bit uncalled for, Manager?”
“This platform was designed as an agile transit trial to test if a beast could successfully navigate a perimeter defense grid. I am well aware your companion possesses exceptional power, but surely simply crossing the finish line would have sufficed? Was it truly necessary to completely vaporize our prototype, the Light-Chaser?”
“Regardless of your personal feelings, that machine represented years of tireless dedication from our corporate engineering team. Walking in and utterly disrespecting their hard work… don’t you find that a bit arrogant?”
The live feed was still broadcasting, ensuring Director Lin’s carefully constructed appeal to corporate victimhood reached every corner of the Starnet.
In his mind, Su Wudeng had clearly staged this intervention as a political statement. The way the corporations had treated the Xia and Fei families—the manager had simply thrown their own medicine right back down their throats.
It was a brilliant counter-move, but it was also incredibly aggressive.
However, Director Lin was playing the victim card perfectly. The rules of the trial were public, and the challenge was technically legal. If the legacy families were too weak to pass, that was their own failure. The corporations hadn’t technically broken any laws, so the public couldn’t legally find fault with them.
But the manager’s response—outright destroying private corporate property—could easily be framed as an abuse of power. The audience wasn’t blind. Hearing a prominent director speak so sorrowfully about his team’s destroyed dream began to sway a portion of the more neutral viewers.
[Yeah, when you think about it, those engineers probably worked night and day on that robot, only for it to get turned into scrap metal immediately.]
[This feels a bit toxic. If you’re strong enough to pass the test, just pass it and move on. Why do you have to permanently destroy someone else’s property?]
[Are the people in the comments serious right now? Are these paid corporate bots? Before the manager arrived, that white robot was actively trying to intercept and injure the Northern Long-tailed Tit to keep it from passing! Why is it okay when the big corporation plays dirty, but the second our manager hits back, she’s the villain?]
[Exactly! If you want to talk about breaking the rules, the corporation started the fight! Now that your shiny toy got turned into scrap, you want to hide behind the rulebook? Hilarious! Talk about double standards!]
[Don’t worry, Manager! We see through his corporate nonsense! We’ve got your back!]
Su Wudeng blinked, looking genuinely bewildered by the director’s lecture. When she finally spoke, her tone contained zero malice or sarcasm; she sounded entirely, completely perplexed. “Wait… so that big white mechanical bird wasn’t part of the trial?”
She looked genuinely shocked, her facial expressions completely betraying her inner thoughts. She pointed a slender finger at a melted heap of metal nearby. “These… um… little mortar tubes? This was the actual test?”
No way, Su Wudeng thought to herself, holding back a massive eye-roll. Are they seriously that primitive? A combat trial consisting of just shooting cannons at animals?
Their civilization possessed interstellar space travel and high-density titanium alloys, yet the best entry exam their brightest corporate minds could engineer was an automated shooting gallery?
They didn’t even bother setting up a dynamic simulation environment or utilizing advanced robotic adversaries. They just… shot at the beasts with conventional artillery?
Does anyone actually use conventional artillery for an elite beastmaster certification in this day and age?
Su Wudeng tried to choose her words as tactfully as possible. “If my memory serves me correctly… this is Athens, right? A first-tier core world?”
Those three simple sentences completely obliterated Director Lin’s psychological defenses.
His face turned an incredible shade of mottled purple, the practiced corporate smile completely vanishing from his lips.
What did this backwater girl mean by that?!
What was she implying about their elite world?!
Seeing his spectacular facial contortions, Su Wudeng realized he had completely misinterpreted her genuine confusion as an elite psychological attack.
Scrambling to de-escalate, she quickly added two more sentences to clarify. “No! Wait, what I meant to say was that I genuinely assumed the white bird was the actual boss of the trial.”
“Uh, I mean… it’s not that your little cannons are bad or anything… it’s just… uh…”
Great. She was digging herself into a hole. There was no saving this conversation.
She decided to just shut up.
Hearing her “apology,” Director Lin felt his vision go blurry with rage. His entire body began to shake, his limbs turning ice-cold as his blood pressure spiked to dangerous levels!
He pointed a trembling, manic finger at Su Wudeng, but his throat was so constricted by fury that he couldn’t form a single coherent syllable.
If you’re going to mock our entire planetary infrastructure on a global live feed, at least have the decency to finish the insult! Why are you trailing off and looking at me with pity?!
Those last two sentences were infinitely more lethal than her initial remarks. They didn’t just insult their technology; they shattered his dignity—inflicting far more psychological damage than watching the Zhuguang get pulverized!
[…Pfft. Why does the manager’s argument make total sense though?]
[Seriously. If you’re going to hold an elite galactic conference, build a proper, advanced trial arena! Dragging out regular artillery batteries makes our entire planet look like a bunch of uneducated hicks!]
[The manager’s face is pure gold. She looks like a tourist who just realized the five-star resort she booked is actually a trailer park. ‘Wait, your first-tier world uses conventional mortars? For real?’]
[I can literally see the director’s soul leaving his body right now, hahaha! But she’s right, he has zero counter-arguments!]
[As a proud resident of Athens, I am deeply, profoundly embarrassed right now. Manager, please don’t judge us by this corporate clown! We aren’t all this primitive, I swear!]
Director Lin took a deep, shuddering breath, staring at Su Wudeng with absolute, unadulterated hatred.
She had completely crossed the line!
Since the situation had devolved into a public relations nightmare, he was going to exercise his corporate authority to the absolute limit. He was going to ensure this arrogant girl never set foot inside the venue! She would be barred from the exchange conference entirely!
He would frame it as a safety violation—she had unprovokedly assaulted a fellow participant’s beast and intentionally sabotaged the official testing infrastructure! Her invitation would be revoked immediately!
Su Wudeng watched the director shake silently for a several seconds. Seeing that he wasn’t saying anything, she assumed he was waiting for her to prompt him.
“So, Director… considering the circumstances, my team has officially cleared the entrance requirements, correct?”
Director Lin let out a sharp, venomous sneer. “Cleared? Ha!”
“I hereby declare that your team has engaged in unauthorized violence against a fellow competitor and deliberately compromised the structural integrity of the examination grounds. The final ruling of the committee is—”
The moment those words left his mouth, Su Wudeng’s expression darkened.
Why was she being penalized for neutralizing the white bird? The machine had initiated the aggression by attacking the Northern Long-tailed Tit first!
Why was the corporate construct permitted to engage in combat, but her living beast wasn’t?
Was this a joke?
Before Director Lin could utter the final three words of his disqualification decree, Su Wudeng abruptly raised her left arm and barked, “Qingqing, return!”
A violent, piercing raptor cry shattered the air. Qingqing executed a tight, sweeping bank in the upper atmosphere before diving straight down toward Su Wudeng’s position.
An immense, suffocating shadow rushed down over the platform, the displacement of air generating a localized gale-force wind that forced the nearby guards to stumble backward to maintain their balance.
Director Lin, standing directly at the epicenter of the downdraft, bore the brunt of the atmospheric pressure.
Through the roaring wind, a cold, smooth female voice cut through his panic: “I strongly suggest you reconsider your next words, Director.”
Director Lin’s face went entirely pale. Is she… is she openly threatening a corporate executive?
He tried to square his shoulders to maintain his dignity, but the second he looked up, the terrifying, razor-sharp beak of the massive black falcon was screaming straight toward his face!
Those iron-forged talons were spread wide, coming directly for his throat!
The sheer, primitive weight of an apex predator’s aura made his entire body lock up, cold sweat saturating his tailored suit. Seeing that the giant eagle was a fraction of a second away from tearing his face off, his corporate pride completely collapsed, and he shrieked at the top of his lungs: “Passed! You passed!”
In the center of the ruined arena, with the vast blue sky framing her silhouette, Su Wudeng offered a mild, pleasant smile. The massive black falcon smoothly altered its trajectory, landing flawlessly atop her leather-reinforced forearm, its heavy weight balanced perfectly by her slender frame.
[Ahhhhh! My manager! That shot was absolutely legendary!]
[I am screaming! She is so incredibly alpha!]
[How does her slender frame handle the weight of that massive predator so easily? She didn’t even flinch!]
[My heart almost stopped there. I was terrified that corrupt bureaucrat was actually going to disqualify her.]
[The Saker Falcon is an absolute masterpiece of a raptor. The sheer psychological pressure it radiates is insane. It’s so beautiful! I’ve never seen a species like this in my entire life!]
The moment the word “passed” escaped his lips, Director Lin’s face flushed a violent, humiliating crimson.
Abandoning every shred of his carefully cultivated corporate dignity, he spun on his heel and sprinted away from the platform as fast as his legs could carry him.
Su Wudeng’s voice drifted after his retreating figure. “Don’t forget, Director! I explicitly said our team. That means every single one of us has cleared the trial!”
She had fully expected the man to argue or attempt to negotiate, but he didn’t even pause. He actually accelerated, practically fleeing the courtyard like a criminal escaping a crime scene.
“Why is he running so fast? Is there a fire?”
“Well… he stated the approval clearly on a live broadcast. With millions of netizens witnessing it, he can’t retroactively revoke our entry without destroying whatever shred of institutional credibility his company has left.”
Just then, Su Wudeng caught sight of the small, white, fluffy bird hovering in the sky nearby.
Her eyes instantly transformed into sparkling dinner plates. Oh my goodness, look at that precious cotton ball!
It was a Northern Long-tailed Tit! It was perfectly round, incredibly fluffy, and possessed two giant, liquid-black eyes. It was hands down the cutest thing she had ever seen!
Instead of returning to its owner’s shoulder, Que Ling tilted its tiny head, staring at the immense black falcon with a mixture of terror and awe. What an incredibly powerful predator! Its aura is like a mountain!
Driven by a strange, instinctual curiosity, Que Ling began to hesitantly drift closer to the falcon. Qingqing suddenly cut her eyes toward the tiny bird, causing the cotton ball to freeze mid-air with a tiny, terrified shiver.
He looked at me!
Despite her terror, Que Ling continued to shyly inch forward.
Meanwhile, Fei Yuanlin had already marched over to Su Wudeng’s side. “Thank you so much, Manager Su! You completely saved our lives out there! And you helped us bypass that disgusting corporate blockade!”
“Oh, let me introduce myself properly. I’m Fei Yuanlin.”
She turned to look at her father, who was sprinting toward them with an expression of wild, frantic enthusiasm. “And this is my father, Fei Hai, the reigning Patriarch of the Fei family.”
“And over there is Grandpa Xia, the Elder of the Xia family.”
Fei Hai shoved his way past his daughter, his eyes crinkling into a massive, overwhelmingly eager smile as he extended both hands. “Ah, so you are the famous Manager Su! A prodigious talent! Truly a visionary of our era!”
“Tell me, Manager… does your magnificent Saker Falcon happen to be in the market for a companion?”
“Please, consider our Fei family! We possess the finest avian lineages on the market! From young fledglings to mature champions, we can arrange any match you desire!”
Su Wudeng: “……???”
Wow. Qingqing literally just saved your family’s legacy from total erasure, and your immediate instinct is to pimp her out?
She raised her hands in a polite but firm rejection. “Patriarch Fei, I appreciate the offer, but Qingqing is already a mother. She has a cub back home.”
Forget about finding her a mate; her family unit is already locked down!
Fei Hai’s eyes flared with even greater intensity. “A mother?! Fantastic! Then surely she’s looking to adopt a son, yes?”
“What do you think of our Que Ling? Look at her! Is Qingqing’s expression a no? Is she not satisfied? Don’t worry, we have dozens of other lineages available in our main aviaries—”
Su Wudeng: “……???”
Who on earth is looking to adopt a random corporate bird?!
Furthermore, she is an apex Saker Falcon, and your beast is a glorified cotton ball! They don’t even share a remote taxonomic family! Wake up, sir!
But Patriarch Fei was completely beyond the reach of logic. His eyes were glued to Qingqing’s midnight-black plumage, his jaw practically slack with admiration.
“Just look at the alignment of those feathers! So fluid, so sharp! This is an absolute masterpiece of an avian specimen!”
“Look at that dark coloration! That is the true, authentic hue of an apex predator! Incredible!”
“Oh~ and look at those talons~ absolute perfection!”
Qingqing: “……!!!”
Help, Sister! There is a creepy old man staring at me!
The massive falcon quickly shuffled her weight, attempting to hide her large body behind Su Wudeng’s slender shoulders.
Before Su Wudeng could offer another rejection, a low, shuddering voice drifted from behind her left shoulder, causing her spine to tingle with a sudden chill.
“A truly supreme Saker Falcon…”
“The sheer volume of resources and expertise required to cultivate a biological specimen of this caliber… it must be astronomical.”
Su Wudeng spun around, only to realize that Elder Xia had somehow managed to teleport behind her while she was distracted by Fei Hai!
The old man was offering her a deeply warm, paternal smile, his eyes filled with profound satisfaction and respect. “Our Xiyao is always far too reserved with her descriptions. Look at the sheer structural quality of this beast! This level of performance! This raw power!”
The institutional backing behind this young manager had to be terrifyingly vast!
With a smooth, practiced motion, the Elder immediately threw his own granddaughter under the bus to score political points. “If Xiyao had simply informed the council that your establishment possessed this level of authority, our family would have packed our bags and relocated to your planet months ago!”
“Manager Su, tell me… is your pet home currently accepting applications for experienced research staff?”
Hearing this, the survival radar inside Fei Hai’s brain instantly went off. What did this old snake just say?
Reading between the lines, the Xia family had already deployed their direct lineage heir to infiltrate the pet home months in advance?!
This old bastard is completely untrustworthy! He tried to monopolize the life raft!
Fei Hai immediately shoved Elder Xia out of the way, raising his hand like an eager student. “Manager Su! As long as you give us the nod, the Fei family will initiate a total planetary evacuation and relocate our entire clan to your world by tomorrow morning!”
“Please, do you think our lineages are qualified to serve your establishment?”
Xia Xiyao—who had just disembarked from the battleship and arrived at the perimeter of the platform—was forced to witness her grandfather and the Fei family head’s desperate display from start to finish: “…”
She had spent weeks begging them to consider relocating, and who was it that had stubbornly refused to listen? Who was it that had claimed Athens was an irreplaceable paradise and that they would never abandon their ancestral home?
What had happened to the ancient, unyielding pride of the legacy beastmasters? What had happened to their noble vow to never bow their heads to outside forces?
“You kiss-asses are making me completely uncomfortable.”
