Chapter 59: A Brand New Map!
“Open!” Su Wudeng answered without a moment’s hesitation.
At the same time, she reached out and tightly hugged Amber. Since they were stepping into a completely uncharted territory, she couldn’t afford to get separated from the husky.
The scenery before her blurred and shifted, and when the world stabilized, she found herself standing in a completely foreign environment.
“Are these all… tree branches?” Su Wudeng looked around, bewildered. As far as her eyes could see, massive, emerald-green branches stretched out in every direction. The leaves were incredibly dense, rustling softly in the cool breeze.
She glanced down to check her footing, and a wave of vertigo nearly made her lose her balance. We’re in the treetops!
She was standing atop an exceptionally thick, sturdy branch. Beside her, Amber was trembling like a leaf, her four claws desperately digging into the bark for dear life, her face a mask of pure terror.
“Woof, woof!” Amber’s whimpers shook. “Holy crap, master! How did we end up in a tree?”
A dog up a tree? The universe was clearly glitching.
The husky tried to look down, but immediately snapped her head back up and squeezed her eyes shut. The sheer drop was absolutely terrifying!
Su Wudeng was equally stunned. The tree they were perched in was colossally massive, its trunks thick and intricately intertwined. Peering down through the foliage, it was impossible to see the ground or get a sense of the tree’s true scale. She could only catch faint, dizzying glimpses through the gaps in the leaves, confirming that they were suspended a terrifying distance above the earth.
She looked up, but the canopy was so thick and lush that it entirely blocked out the sky. The sunlight filtered through the rare openings, turning the dense leaves a vibrant, glowing green.
With no obvious way up or down, Su Wudeng cautiously took a step forward. Fortunately, the branch beneath her feet was as wide and stable as a concrete bridge, so she didn’t fall.
Suddenly, a cluster of leaves directly ahead of her began to rustle.
Su Wudeng instantly gripped a nearby branch for support, while Amber instinctively drew her sword, leveling it forward with a low growl.
“Who’s there?” Su Wudeng called out, her voice sharp with vigilance.
After a tense ripple through the foliage, a snow-white ferret poked its head out. The little creature looked infinitely more terrified than Su Wudeng; the moment its eyes landed on them, it curled itself into a tight, shivering ball.
“A little white ferret?”
The creature possessed pristine, silky white fur. As it balled itself up, it raised its tiny paws to cover its eyes, trembling violently.
Su Wudeng’s tone automatically softened. “Hello there. Don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Could you tell me where we are?”
But the little ferret was so utterly paralyzed by fear that it couldn’t form a response. It just continued to shake.
Su Wudeng frowned slightly. Something wasn’t right. She hadn’t made a single aggressive movement, so why was this wild beast so deathly afraid of her?
Though suspicious, she chose not to push the creature any further. It was clearly suffering from extreme stress; triggering it again might literally scare it to death.
After a long, quiet standoff, the ferret finally seemed to realize it wasn’t in immediate danger. It slowly, tentatively lowered its tiny paws, revealing a pair of large, watery black eyes. It stared at Su Wudeng in confusion, seemingly unable to comprehend why this human was simply standing there instead of lunging to capture it.
It crept a millimeter forward, testing the waters. Finding that Su Wudeng remained completely still, its anxiety began to lift.
“Are you… actually okay?!” The ferret’s eyes sparkled, and it opened its mouth to speak. “Squeak—”
Suddenly, its ears twitched sharply. It whipped its head toward the lower branches, a look of unadulterated horror instantly locking onto its tiny face. With a frantic leap, it hooked onto a higher vine, zipped directly over Su Wudeng’s head, and vanished into the dense canopy.
Su Wudeng blinked in surprise. Before she could process its sudden flight, a muffled, disjointed conversation drifted up through the leaves.
The sounds were coming from directly beneath them!
She quickly locked eyes with Amber, pressing a finger to her lips and shaking her head in a universal demand for absolute silence. The husky, understanding the gravity of the situation, clamped her jaws shut and froze like a statue.
Crouching down, Su Wudeng cautiously parted the leaves to peer through a gap.
A group of figures was slowly navigating the lower branches. There were three of them, all clad in utilitarian black uniforms. Most alarmingly, each man was carrying a heavy hunting rifle slung over his shoulder.
Su Wudeng’s gaze turned ice-cold. Those hunting rifles were an exact match to the model that had severely injured Nana.
Could they belong to the exact same poaching syndicate?
As the men came to a halt directly beneath her branch, their voices became crystal clear.
“Why the hell are we always stuck on perimeter patrol? Team One hasn’t had to pull a patrol shift in days!”
“Shut your mouth. Team One brought home a massive haul. The Director said they’ve already cleared half the quarterly quota, so they earned a break!”
“Man, those bastards got incredibly lucky finding a nesting ground like that. We’re going to make an absolute fortune off this shipment. I wish my team had been the one to bag them.”
“Keep dreaming. Tell the Wind Wolf to sweep the sector for anomalies. If the grid is clear, we need to move to the next waypoint!”
The leader of the squad abruptly kicked the large beast walking beside him. The Wind Wolf let out a low, irritated snarl, its snout twitching rapidly as it sampled the currents.
Almost instantaneously, the beast’s head snapped upward, its predatory gaze locking directly onto the branch where Su Wudeng was hiding.
Su Wudeng’s skin crawled with immediate danger. Without a millisecond of hesitation, she grabbed Amber and initiated a forced system recall!
In a flash of light, the human and dog vanished from the tree entirely.
Up in the branches, the Wind Wolf’s eyes blinked in sudden confusion. Did its tracking senses just glitch?
Right then, the poacher next to the beast reached out and delivered a sharp slap to the back of its head. “What are you staring at, you stupid mutt? Focus and sweep the sector properly!”
The Wind Wolf let out a pathetic whine, shaking its massive head to signal that it hadn’t detected anything unusual.
“Useless piece of garbage!”
“Move out, head to the next sector!”
Back in the safety of her hotel suite, Su Wudeng’s heart was still hammering against her ribs.
“That was definitely the poaching syndicate that targeted Yingying and Nana. Not only is their tactical gear identical, but they’re even utilizing tamed Wind Wolves for tracking!”
“Patrols… operational teams… quotas… halfway through the harvest…” Su Wudeng’s face was dark with fury. “They’ve managed to capture another massive batch of innocent beasts, and their operations are still active.”
Furthermore, standard patrol rotations were only deployed when a syndicate had established a semi-permanent base or camp. That meant their primary holding facility was located within that exact forest sector!
Did I just accidentally stumble onto their main base of operations?
There is no way I’m letting them walk away clean this time. If I don’t dismantle them now, countless more beasts are going to be tortured and trafficked!
Her immediate priority was intelligence gathering—she needed to determine their exact numbers, defensive equipment, and beast assets.
She needed to prepare for war.
Su Wudeng immediately booted up her Starnet terminal and opened a premium procurement interface. “Military reconnaissance drones… optical stealth cloaking modules… non-lethal concussive payloads… high-speed atmospheric drop-ships…”
She aggressively placed orders for every piece of high-tech tactical equipment she could think of, opting for the highest-tier expedited delivery to ensure everything arrived within two hours.
Fortunately, Athens was a first-tier core world with a massive, fully stocked logistics hub. As long as the capital cleared, items were dispatched immediately.
“But mechanical gear has its limits. If the syndicate handles high-tier combat beasts, automated drones won’t be enough to secure the area.”
“I need to check if Qingqing has wrapped up her exhibition matches.”
Now that the falcon had fully recovered from her prior illness, her elemental capabilities were easily on par with Aihua and Yingying. If Qingqing and Amber coordinated their assault, they should be able to neutralize the majority of corporate or criminal threats.
“Come to think of it, I wonder how she’s handling the competition?”
With two hours to kill before her weapons shipment landed, Su Wudeng slipped out of her room and headed toward the main arena.
The venue was absolutely packed to the rafters. The grand tier seating rose in a massive colosseum circle, housing at least several thousand spectators. In the center of the arena lay a vast, high-density reinforced combat floor.
The moment Su Wudeng stepped into the viewing section, she noticed the surrounding audience stiffen, their eyes turning toward her with strange, heavily charged expressions.
“Look, over there! It’s Manager Su!”
“Holy crap, she actually showed up!”
“So that falcon belongs to her?”
“She looks pretty ordinary… but her luck is absolutely insane, isn’t it?”
The highly intense, self-absorbed whispers and evaluating stares made Su Wudeng feel incredibly uncomfortable. Furthermore, because the arena speakers were blaring high-volume promotional tracks, she could only catch disjointed keywords like Qingqing and Manager Su.
She internally questioned the universe. What on earth did I miss?
Why is everyone looking at me like I just committed a crime?
Did Qingqing pull another stunt?
Just then, she spotted three familiar faces in the VIP box—the patriarchs of the Xia, Mu, and Fei families. She quickly navigated the dense crowd to reach them.
Mu Jin was the first to spot her arrival. Surprise flashed across her face as she exclaimed, “Manager Su! We were just debating where you’ve been hiding!”
“Seriously, you kept us completely in the dark!” Mu Jin’s voice was laced with profound envy. “Your Saker Falcon is an absolute monster! She’s currently on a ten-match win streak! Ever since she stepped onto that floor, she hasn’t dropped a single round! She is literally executing them one by one!”
The Fei family patriarch was even more animated. He eagerly grabbed Su Wudeng’s shoulder, a massive, wildly arrogant grin plastered on his face. To an outside observer, one would assume the Saker Falcon belonged to his own lineage. “It is magnificent! I swear, it’s an absolute crime that you missed the opening rounds! You should have seen Qingqing’s legendary performance!”
“Lin Rongsen tried to fix the matches from the start. He immediately deployed his highest-tier ‘Perfect Series’ mechanical units—the ones explicitly designed with attribute advantages against aerial types. And do you know what your bird did? She completely disintegrated the flagship model with a single, casual lightning strike!”
“Lin Rongsen couldn’t swallow the humiliation, of course. The absolute hypocrite immediately ordered a second deployment, this time rigging the unit with specialized rubber-insulated kinetic armor to specifically counter Qingqing’s lightning discharge!”
“And what happened?” Su Wudeng asked, her curiosity genuinely piqued. She was fascinated to know how Qingqing had bypassed a material engineered to perfectly neutralize her elemental type.
Patriarch Fei slammed his hands together in pure ecstasy. “It was entirely useless! I tell you, corporate engineering is a joke! Insulated armor? That simply means the voltage isn’t high enough!”
“A casual hundred-thousand-volt discharge! It burned right through the insulation like wet paper!”
Su Wudeng’s mouth twitched slightly. “…Isn’t that description a bit exaggerated?”
“Hahaha!” Patriarch Fei laughed, completely unbothered by her skepticism. “Well, we don’t have the exact scientific telemetry on the voltage, but I swear to you, the entire arena floor was a non-stop storm of purple lightning!”
“The visual spectacle was breathtaking!” He placed his hands proudly on his hips, casting a smug look toward the center of the ring. “She’s already smashed through nine consecutive rounds. We only need one final victory to lock in the absolute first-place championship for the exhibition!”
“And the purse is a cool one million credits!”
Su Wudeng tracked his gaze toward the center of the arena, a profound wave of relief and pride swelling in her chest. The memory of Qingqing’s prior suffering and trauma seemed to have temporarily faded from the bird’s consciousness. Right now, the falcon’s eyes held nothing but raw, absolute focus on her adversary, her singular, unyielding goal being absolute victory.
Having achieved nine consecutive triumphs, Qingqing unfurled her magnificent black wings, soaring triumphantly across the upper atmospheric generators of the stadium, letting out a sharp, joyful raptor cry.
A Saker Falcon was born to rule the endless sky!
The stadium seating erupted into a synchronized, deafening chant: “Qingqing! Qingqing!”
Every single pair of eyes was glued to her elegant, dominant silhouette—the undisputed sovereign of the arena!
Right then, the head referee signaled for the final contender to take the stage.
The moment the immense mechanical construct cleared the bay doors, a low, tectonic rumble vibrated through the concrete foundations of the stadium.
Elder Xia’s smile instantly vanished, his expression turning deathly serious. “This is bad… it’s the absolute pinnacle model of the Perfect Series: the Bastion-Wall Rhino!”
“They are trying to execute her through attrition!”
“The Bastion-Wall Rhino?” Su Wudeng asked, narrowing her eyes. “What kind of unit is that?”
She was well aware that the ‘Perfect Series’ represented the absolute gold standard of corporate military engineering in the Scott Galaxy, with each model possessing terrifying combat matrices. But the name Bastion-Wall Rhino hadn’t appeared in any of the public market brochures she had reviewed.
“Is it a brand-new prototype?” she pressed.
Elder Xia shook his head grimly. “No. It’s a classified, black-budget series that is strictly prohibited from commercial sale.”
“The Bastion-Wall Rhino is the absolute apex of the Perfect Series’ defensive matrix. Its biological blueprint combines the structural mass of ancient rhinos and elephants, reinforced by mythical armor records.”
“Of course, the mythical components are mostly corporate marketing fluff, but that doesn’t change the absolute horror of its defensive output. Its chassis features an impenetrable, layered kinetic shield network capable of absorbing millions of joules of damage. Simultaneously, its massive hydraulic propulsion systems allow it to execute unstoppable ramming maneuvers, scattering or crushing anything in its path.”
“Its battlefield endurance is practically infinite. It is engineered to simply absorb punishment until the enemy collapses from sheer physical exhaustion.”
“The only reason I possess intelligence on this model is because I witnessed a deployment of Bastion-Wall Rhinos repel a Zerg swarm on the Athens perimeter years ago. They literally anchored themselves in open space and absorbed the entire Vanguard’s kinetic energy until the swarm broke their own teeth and retreated.”
His jaw tightened. “Lin Rongsen designed this matchup with malicious intent. He knows Qingqing has fought nine consecutive matches without a break; he’s deploying an infinite-endurance tank to run her battery dry!”
Patriarch Fei stared at the arena floor, panic lacing his features. “This is a blatant corporate hit! How is Qingqing supposed to crack a planetary defense shield?”
Mu Jin’s brow furrowed with deep anxiety. “If Elder Xia’s data is accurate, the rhino’s armor is too dense for Qingqing’s lightning to pierce. Furthermore, its mass makes its ramming speed lethal. If Qingqing sustains a direct impact from that weight, her internal organs will be crushed instantly.”
“Our only saving grace is that Qingqing commands absolute air superiority. She can easily evade its ground rushes.”
“But biological stamina has a hard ceiling…”
Down on the floor, the Bastion-Wall Rhino had fully entered the ring. It was a terrifying titan, towering over ten meters in height, its colossal frame encased in interlocking plates of matte-grey heavy alloy armor that radiated an aura of unyielding stability.
A collective hush fell over the spectators. How was a living bird supposed to fight a mountain? Qingqing had already expended an immense amount of physical energy dismantling nine high-spec machines. Forcing her to face the absolute peak of corporate defensive endurance in her exhausted state…
The crowd felt a wave of resignation. The final match was effectively decided before it even began.
Just as the head referee raised his arm to signal the commencement of the bout, a clear, authoritative female voice cut through the stadium audio feed.
Su Wudeng marched down the stairs step-by-step, her eyes locked on the referee. “I am exercising our official management right to request a strategic timeout. We will resume the bout after a five-minute recess.”
According to the official summit handbook, every registered team was legally entitled to a singular timeout per block. Su Wudeng had memorized the rulebook cover-to-cover, and she wasn’t about to let corporate optics rob her of her rights.
The referee looked visibly annoyed, but since the bylaws were explicit, he had no legal grounds for a refusal. He could only nod stiffly.
“Management timeout approved! The bout is suspended for five minutes!”
The audience murmured in confusion, while Lin Rongsen fixed Su Wudeng with a dark, calculating stare from the executive booth.
Five minutes? What could five minutes possibly change?
Did she honestly believe a Saker Falcon could regenerate its entire biological energy reserve in three hundred seconds?
Or magically double its muscle density?
Ridiculous.
Su Wudeng extended her leather-reinforced arm toward the sky. “Qingqing! Return!”
The moment the words left her mouth, the massive falcon dove from the upper rafters, sweeping low over the arena before landing as light as a feather atop Su Wudeng’s forearm.
The display made Patriarch Fei and his daughter turn green with envy in the VIP box. A predator that fierce, capable of generating localized lightning storms, was acting like a pampered house pet in her manager’s hands. The sheer desire to own a species like that was driving them insane.
Su Wudeng leaned down, gently nuzzling the falcon’s sleek forehead. “You did incredible out there. Did you have fun, Qingqing?”
“Let’s take a quick breather before we finish the game, okay?”
Qingqing let out a soft, melodious trill. “Yes! Sister, I had the absolute best time tearing those tin cans apart!”
Su Wudeng smiled warmly. “I’m glad.”
She walked back toward the team benches, approaching Su Yulan.
The younger sister looked immensely guilty, lowering her head. “I’m sorry, Sister. I got so caught up in the momentum that I just wanted Qingqing to sweep all ten matches as quickly as possible…”
If Su Wudeng hadn’t stepped in to enforce a timeout, Qingqing would have been forced to fight the tank while running on fumes. It was an operational oversight on her part.
Su Wudeng gently patted her shoulder. “I know your personality. Once you get into a scrap, your brain shorts out. It’s a miracle you even remembered to count the rounds.”
“But don’t pull a stunt like this again. We brought Lu Feng along for a reason; biological recovery takes seconds when you utilize the right assets.”
Su Yulan nodded rapidly, completely submissive. “I understand, Sister! I won’t forget!”
She turned toward the elegant stag resting near the benches. “Lu Feng, please administer a recovery cycle to Qingqing. We need her at peak performance.”
The stag nodded smoothly, maintaining a remarkably poised, dignified posture as he stepped toward the falcon. “Qingqing, please lower your crown slightly. My antlers will channel the vital essence more efficiently if we establish physical contact.”
Qingqing immediately lowered her head, and Lu Feng tilted his head forward, his magnificent antlers instantly erupting into a brilliant, warm green glow. The life-force energy flowed seamlessly into the falcon’s frame along the crystalline points.
Within seconds, Qingqing’s feathers smoothed out, her eyes regaining their sharp, electric intensity as her biological stamina was completely restored to a state superior to when she had first entered the stadium.
Su Wudeng watched the process with deep appreciation. Lu Feng was precisely the genius deer Nana had described; his localized healing output had scaled significantly since their departure from the home world, his efficiency growing at a visible rate.
Mu Jin, who had hurried down from the VIP box to intercept them, stared at the display with her jaw practically on the floor. “Is… is that the legendary Lingnai Deer? The species capable of absolute healing and flora-birth?”
“This is… a literal miracle of nature!”
She desperately wanted to edge closer to examine the stag, but she restrained herself to avoid disrupting the medical channel.
If his localized healing output is already this terrifying, his agricultural flora-birth capacity must be god-tier!
Our silkworm plantations are officially saved!
Witnessing the miracle with her own eyes delivered a psychological impact infinitely more profound than watching the edited documentary packages.
The group clustered tightly around the beasts, effectively obscuring the view of the surrounding corporate surveillance drones.
In the stands, the spectators watched the countdown timer with mounting impatience.
“What’s taking so long? Are they still trying to patch the bird up?”
“What can five minutes possibly accomplish against core fatigue? They’re just delaying the inevitable.”
“Are they preparing to forfeit? They know they stand zero chance against a Bastion-Wall unit, right?”
“Shut up! Manager Su doesn’t forfeit. She’s just taking care of her beast.”
“Exactly! She’s already won nine rounds straight, she’s earned a five-minute break!”
In the executive booth, Lin Rongsen kept his eyes glued to the digital clock. The exact millisecond the countdown expired, he fired a sharp hand signal toward the announcer.
The commentator immediately keyed his microphone. “Recess concluded! Saker Falcon, report to the central floor! The final bout resumes now!”
Su Wudeng lightly tapped Qingqing’s chest. “Go get ’em.”
The falcon unfurled her wings with a fierce screech, launching back into the center of the arena.
“The final match of the summit: Bastion-Wall Rhino versus the Sovereign Saker Falcon!”
“Bout, execute!”
The colossal rhino instantly engaged its primary power cores, its heavy interlocking armor plates flaring with a toxic green luminescence as its internal reactor hit maximum output. A deep, mechanical drone vibrated through its chassis, sending shockwaves across the entire stadium floor.
[Holy shit, that’s a prime Perfect Series unit for you! That presence is absolutely suffocating!]
[Look at the falcon! She’s diving already!]
[Why is she launching a direct vertical dive?! That thing is a literal mountain of armor! Does she honestly think she can break a heavy kinetic shield with physical force?]
[Based on her prior combat data, her current offensive output shouldn’t be able to scratch that hull, right?]
The audience leaned forward in absolute suspense. Qingqing’s wings beat the air into a localized hurricane as she descended from the stratosphere at a velocity that defied human visual tracking. The sheer speed generated a violent, thunderous sonic boom that echoed through the arena.
Yet, the Bastion-Wall Rhino didn’t even attempt a defensive dodge. It locked its hydraulic stabilization struts and initiated a forward charge, steering directly into her path! Its entire massive chassis was engulfed in a dense green energy barrier—the absolute physical manifestation of its corporate shields running at maximum capacity.
In a fraction of a second, the two titans collided, and a deafening, apocalyptic explosion shattered the audio feeds!
The piercing, metallic shriek of the impact forced thousands of spectators to frantically cover their ears. A blinding, solar-grade flash erupted at the center of the floor, illuminating the entire stadium complex.
Fierce arcs of purple lightning and brilliant blue kinetic energy violently clashed and intertwined, creating a visual display so intense that anyone staring directly at the core risked immediate temporary blindness.
[Holy hell, that is terrifyingly powerful!]
[What am I even looking at?! That’s equivalent to a tactical anti-matter detonation!]
[Wait a minute! Was the falcon always this strong in the earlier rounds?!]
[Absolutely not! It looks like she was just playing around with the previous machines…]
[…You’re telling me she treated military-grade combat bots like squeaky toys?!]
[What?! What?! What?!]
[So… she didn’t even utilize ten percent of her true capacity in the first nine matches?!]
As the blinding glare gradually dissipated, the spectators frantically wiped their eyes to scan the floor.
The colossal Bastion-Wall Rhino was collapsed on its side, its heavily reinforced armor fractured by massive, spiderwebbing fissures that leaked continuous bursts of volatile electricity and hydraulic fluid.
On the opposite side of the ring, the Saker Falcon was hovering effortlessly, her entire form cloaked in a crackling, majestic aura of pure purple lightning—looking exactly like a mythical deity bathing in a sea of cosmic thunder.
A piercing, triumphal raptor cry echoed through the skies as Qingqing launched back into the upper rafters, her speed so extreme that the audience could only track a cascading sequence of afterimages.
Seizing the tactical opening, the fractured rhino forced its hydraulic legs to lock, attempting to swing its heavy chassis around for a desperate counter-rush. Though its surface armor was ruined, its internal kinetic propulsion core remained operational.
The sudden movement made the crowd break into a cold sweat. That rhino is incredibly stubborn! If that ten-ton frame managed to land a clean hit on the falcon, the biological trauma would be severe.
However, before the machine could even complete its turn, a purple afterimage flashed across its sensors. The falcon executed a flawless aerodynamic pivot mid-air, effortlessly dancing outside the rhino’s tracking cone.
“Brilliant, Qingqing!” Su Wudeng cheered from the sidelines, her voice full of joy. “Magnificent! You’re the absolute best!”
As if acknowledging her praise, Qingqing let out another crisp, musical shriek, ascending back to the apex of the stadium before locking onto her target for a second run.
She dove straight down!
Qingqing’s form was completely obscured by a blinding column of elemental lightning. Her descent was so extreme that her physical shape vanished entirely; the audience could only witness a terrifying bolt of purple light slicing through the air, materializing in front of the Bastion-Wall Rhino in a microsecond.
[Holy shit, that’s terrifying! The velocity is god-tier!]
[This is the authentic, unbridled power of a Saker Falcon! She moves like literal lightning!]
[The Bastion-Wall Rhino looks like a complete joke out there. It’s too slow to even register her approach!]
[Who approved this matchup? The rhino is getting completely hard-countered!]
[…When your raw combat stats are high enough, traditional attribute advantages become completely irrelevant!]
The second lightning strike connected with a concussive roar, and the ten-ton mechanical juggernaut was violently slammed back into the concrete floor!
This time, its internal reactors went dark, and it never stood up again.
The magnificent black falcon circled smoothly over the ruined arena, her victorious cries echoing through the rafters like a true monarch surveying her domain!
“Saker Falcon! Saker Falcon!”
Thousands of voices rose in a thunderous standing ovation, the explosive atmosphere transforming the stadium into a cauldron of pure adoration.
Not stopping at mere cheers, countless spectators immediately uploaded high-res video packages of her victory lap directly onto the Starnet, triggering an absolute viral frenzy across the network.
Dozens of high-speed highlight reels materialized within minutes:
“The Sovereign of the Stratosphere: The Saker Falcon Demolishes Corporate Monopoly in Debut Match!”
[This is the first time in my life I’ve seen what a true, primordial apex predator looks like when it commands the sky!]
[She is so incredibly elegant and terrifying! I officially declare the Saker Falcon as the undisputed queen of my heart!]
[Fierce, immensely powerful, yet completely submissive and loyal to her manager. Where on earth do I buy a Saker Falcon?!]
[Waaaah, everyone chant with me: Manager Su! Open up the pre-orders immediately!]
[I showed the clip to my mechanical pet, and it slapped my terminal away, telling me to stop watching fake CGI. I think it’s insecure.]
After Qingqing completed three majestic victory laps, Su Wudeng promptly recalled her to avoid being completely swarmed by the aggressive corporate press.
“You were absolutely magnificent, Qingqing!” Su Wudeng praised, fiercely hugging the large bird.
The Fei family patriarch and his daughter trailed closely behind, showering the falcon with an endless stream of extravagant compliments. Once Qingqing’s ego was thoroughly satisfied, Su Wudeng treated the entire entourage to a massive celebration banquet at a high-end sector restaurant.
Such a flawless performance demanded a premium reward!
Su Wudeng waved her hand with immense financial bravado. “This feast is entirely funded by Qingqing’s championship purse, so she gets first pick of every premium delicacy on the menu! Eat to your heart’s content these next few days, girl!”
A one-million-credit purse was more than enough capital to finance a dozen luxury banquets.
When the dishes materialized, the group stared at the culinary masterpieces like wide-eyed provincials. A first-tier core world offered an agricultural and gastronomic variety that completely eclipsed their home sectors. In contrast, the patriarchs of the legacy families maintained a relatively composed demeanor.
“Manager Su,” Elder Xia spoke up, placing his utensils down. “I have officially dispatched the relocation orders to our main estate. Our personnel are currently packing our ancestral archives. Whenever you decide to depart this world, our fleet will be fully integrated with yours!”
Patriarch Fei chimed in immediately. “My thoughts exactly. The Fei family transport ships are fueling as we speak.”
Beside them, Mu Jin nodded eagerly. “Manager Su, the core reason I initially sought an audience with your establishment was to secure a commercial lease for your Lingnai Deer. Our primary objective was to utilize their flora-birth capabilities to revitalize our dying mulberry plantations.”
“Those trees produce the exclusive foliage required to sustain our Mulberry Silkworms, but due to systemic soil blight, our orchards are on the verge of total collapse.” She leaned forward, her voice urgent. “Name your price, Manager. The Mu family will not negotiate; we will meet any financial baseline you establish!”
Su Wudeng set her chopsticks down, offering a calm, measured smile. “I intend to remain planet-side for a few more days to handle logistics. I’ll ensure your teams receive advanced notice before our fleet departs.”
“As for your dilemma, Director Mu… if the core issue is systemic soil blight across your sector, a simple commercial lease isn’t going to provide a permanent remedy, is it? Have you perhaps considered integrating your operations onto our planet permanently?”
“We are currently executing a massive, planet-wide greening initiative. Our initial phase focused on mass-cultivating Green Wind Grass, and our secondary phases are already yields-stable. If the Mu family is willing to align with us, we can easily dedicate our third phase to large-scale, automated cultivation of your specialized mulberry variants.”
“Furthermore, I am fully prepared to zone out a premium, high-density territory exclusively for your clan’s sericulture operations. What do you think?”
Mu Jin was completely stunned by the sheer generosity of the terms. She had never anticipated that Su Wudeng would not only grant her aid, but proactively engineer a solution to eliminate her family’s existential crisis from the source!
This was a literal dream scenario!
“Manager Su… your kindness to our house is profound,” she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. “I feel as though our current assets cannot possibly repay a debt of this magnitude.”
Su Wudeng chuckled softly. “Please, don’t undervalue your own house, Director Mu. The fact that your family has managed to preserve and cultivate the Mulberry Silkworm lineage through a century of corporate pressure proves your operational expertise is exceptional.”
“Furthermore, this is a mutually beneficial partnership. Of course, it would be even more exceptional if your clan would be open to domesticating and managing other beneficial insect species alongside your silkworms.”
This was a calculated, strategic decision Su Wudeng had drafted after careful analysis. In the historical records of her past life, the Mu family were renowned as master entomologists! The single most invaluable asset they possessed was generations of accumulated, specialized knowledge regarding biological insect cultivation. Any family lacking that expertise had long since been liquidated by the automated conglomerates. The current Mu family’s breeding methodology was undoubtedly the finest in the galaxy.
Her planet desperately needed professional biological specialists of that caliber. In exchange, she was merely providing a few square kilometers of mulberry orchards. It was a spectacular win-win scenario.
Mu Jin’s curiosity was piqued. “Other insect species? Does the manager currently possess uncharted biological strains?”
“…Not at the present moment,” Su Wudeng admitted with a sheepish smile. “But our development plan guarantees their introduction in the near future!”
“For instance: specialized honeybees, ecological butterflies, and similar strains.”
She had already mapped out the long-term economic architecture of her planet. Beyond exporting premium spiritual flora, they could dominate the market for high-value biological derivatives—such as rare, uncorrupted spiritual honey!
Just as the Xia family relied on pure snake venom as their core revenue driver, her planet would establish specialized, high-margin biological monopolies. According to her past-life data, apiculture was exceptionally easy to scale.
As for the butterflies? That stemmed purely from her personal aesthetic preferences—they were undeniably gorgeous. She envisioned creating a luxury line of co-branded lifestyle derivatives based on rare butterfly wings! Once those stunning designs hit the Starnet, the luxury sectors would lose their minds.
“Rest assured, Manager Su! The Mu family will fully commit to your vision!” Mu Jin vowed fiercely.
Fei Yuanlin listened to the exchange with her eyes glowing with anticipation. “Manager Su! Our Fei family wants in on the development actions too!”
“If you ever introduce flying companions that require advanced aerodynamic training or aerial matrix drills, our trainers are entirely at your service!”
She was intensely jealous of the Mu family’s sudden integration. She desperately wanted an equivalent piece of the manager’s future ecosystem.
“Don’t worry,” Su Wudeng laughed. “Every house at this table represents elite biological expertise that our planet eagerly welcomes. I guarantee none of you will ever regret this move!”
Securing that vow, Fei Yuanlin let out a sigh of pure contentment. “So, Manager… does this mean our colony will be introducing a wider variety of avian and aerial types in the future?”
She began counting on her slender fingers, her eyes sparkling. “For instance: the legendary Swift Falcon lineage that has been missing for decades? Or perhaps a rare Snowy Owl strain?”
Her voice rose with excitement. Those legendary flying species were entities she had only encountered in ancient textbooks; she had never dreamed she might witness them alive.
“Ah, Manager Su! I honestly cannot wait for the ships to launch!”
Patriarch Fei let out a booming laugh. “Calm down, Yuanlin. You’re going to run Manager Su into an early grave with your demands.”
“Our immediate priority is to complete the packing protocols and execute a clean planetary departure.”
“I have absolute faith that under Manager Su’s leadership, our families are stepping into a golden age!”
Fei Yuanlin grinned. “Hehe, obviously! But wait, once we relocate to the pet home’s planet… does that mean I get to interact with the Snow Crystal Cats, the little Calico kittens, the Orange tabbies, and that massive, beautiful Snow Leopard every single day?!”
She grabbed her father’s arm, shaking it frantically. “Dad, stop eating that pastry! We need to pack faster! Every second we waste on this planet is a second away from the kittens!”
Patriarch Fei choked slightly on his food. “…Get a grip on yourself, girl!”
She was entirely too impatient.
Following the conclusion of the banquet, Su Wudeng returned to her luxury suite, only to find that her entire weapons and surveillance shipment had already cleared customs and been delivered to her door.
After ensuring Su Yulan and the others were securely asleep, she gathered Amber and Qingqing, sealing the room before initiating immediate transit back into the uncharted map sector.
In the blink of an eye, the familiar, towering canopy of the giant forest stabilized around them, their feet anchoring onto the massive treetop branch.
However, it was now deep into the midnight cycle planet-side, and the entire primeval forest was plunged into a pitch-black, suffocating darkness.
“Why does this place feel ten times more terrifying at night…” Amber’s whimper vibrated through the air, her ears pinned flat.
“Wait… did you guys hear that?” The husky’s ears suddenly twitched, her canine senses sharpening.
Su Wudeng strained her ears, attempting to filter out the rustle of the wind, but ultimately yielded. Her human biology couldn’t detect anything beyond the ambient background noise.
In contrast, Qingqing’s head snapped toward a specific compass heading, her sharp raptor ears micro-adjusting. “There is a highly anomalous acoustic signature originating from that vector.”
Su Wudeng immediately booted up her tactical command terminal, linking her consciousness to a micro-reconnaissance drone. She aimed the launch tube toward the heading Qingqing indicated. “Understood. Let’s deploy the automated assets to sweep that sector first.”
The drone launched with a silent hiss, its internal dampeners masking its propulsion as it glided toward the coordinates.
A crisp, high-definition holographic projection flared to life before Su Wudeng’s eyes, displaying the real-time visual telemetry from the drone’s optical sensor. The micro-camera utilized an advanced multi-spectrum night vision lens, emitting a virtually invisible infrared beam. Su Wudeng maintained its flight profile at a high altitude, ensuring that from the ground, the drone would appear as nothing more than a faint, flickering star among the leaves.
“Perfect. Let’s see what these bastards are hiding.”
For a reason she couldn’t scientifically define, an intense, cold knot of dread began to tighten in her chest.
Was her intuition reacting to the poachers?
After the drone maintained a steady flight trajectory for ten minutes, a horrifying, crystal-clear visual pack materialized on her screen.
The exact millisecond Su Wudeng analyzed the visual data, her entire scalp went completely numb with pure, unadulterated fury.
Crammed inside a series of narrow, rusted, and heavily electrified titanium cages was a massive, tightly packed colony of pregnant feline mothers!
The cages didn’t just contain Snow Crystal Cats… there were Calico variants… and even pregnant Orange Tabbies!
