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Chapter 56: Chapter 56 The Battle of Birds and Fish
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"Crash!"
The sparrow’s sharp claws plunged into the water, instantly grabbing a fish weighing over ten kilograms. With a quick leap, it soared into the sky, its massive wings unfolding once again.
"Holy shit!"
Everyone watching this scene gasped in amazement.
Just when everyone thought this giant mutated sparrow would have a feast, suddenly, with a "whizz", a bone spur shot out from the water, rocketing toward the sparrow in the air.
The sparrow, clutching the fish in its claws, tried to dodge the incoming bone spur by twisting its body, but because it was holding the fish, it was slightly sluggish and was ultimately a bit too slow.
The bone spur struck the sparrow’s wing, causing it to shriek, drop the fish, and swiftly fly away, disappearing into the sky in an instant.
Everyone was astounded by this scene; it was their first time witnessing a duel between two types of mutated creatures.
After exclaiming in awe, they returned to their tents to rest.
Yang Xiao felt a bit uneasy inside and gathered everyone together.
"Let me ask everyone a question, are there usually a lot of birds in Biyun Mountain?"
It was Yang Xiao’s first time studying at Kongming Academy, so he was unfamiliar with the surroundings.
Chen Lu, a local, said:
"Yes, there are usually many birds in Biyun Mountain, sparrows, magpies, white cranes, and so on, probably about ten kinds of birds."
"But on this trip up the mountain, it seems we haven’t encountered any birds?"
Huang Wen said.
Chen Lu also found it a bit strange.
Yang Xiao couldn’t figure it out either and instructed everyone to remain vigilant.
Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua approached Yang Xiao and asked:
"Yang Xiao, what do you plan to do about that big water pit in the central pond? Are you still going to use ice blocks to catch fish?"
"The water pit is quite large, with a relatively deep water level, so using ice blocks would be less effective; we must drain at least one meter of water from it."
"But the central pond is at least 50 meters away from the drainage gate, and the terrain is higher on the outside and lower on the inside. How can we drain the water, do we have to dig an even deeper drain?"
From the drainage gate to the central pond, there’s a terrain drop of at least 3 meters. Digging a 50-meter long, 3-meter deep trench is doable but getting close to within around 20 meters of the central pond means facing dozens of giant tilapia that can shoot bone spurs, full of danger.
Yang Xiao pondered for a moment and said:
"Honestly, I don’t have a particularly good solution. There are at least twenty giant tilapia in the central pond, along with a tilapia king. As everyone just saw, even the giant bird in the sky got shot away by the tilapia from the water. If we attack rashly, we’ll certainly suffer losses. However, we still hold the initiative; at least those fish are trapped in the pit, and we can slowly figure out a solution."
Chen Lu, standing by, said:
"The current weather isn’t very rainy; if we wait ten days or half a month, the water in the pit will evaporate considerably, perhaps even dry out naturally. Anyway, we’re not short of food now, we can afford to wait."
Yang Xiao chuckled and said:
"Though your method seems a bit slow, it is indeed a feasible approach. Xiao Zhe, time is on our side, don’t rush, everyone can think things over slowly."
Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua shrugged, showing helplessness. Just as they were about to turn and leave, Chen Fei suddenly pointed to the distant sky and said:
"Look, what is that?"
Yang Xiao turned to look and saw a black cloud suddenly descending over the pond. Upon closer examination, it wasn’t a black cloud but a flock of birds, each with enormous wings spread wide, blotting out the sky, making the originally hazy sky abruptly even darker.
Yang Xiao was somewhat shocked, quickly saying to Xiao Zhe:
"Hurry back and gather your team members into the tents; if those birds attack us, everyone should immediately run down the mountain and head straight for the field."
Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua turned pale with fright, not daring to take any chances, and swiftly returned to their camp, assembling everyone back into the tents.
"Boss, what should we do?"
Huang Wen asked.
"We’ll watch first. I guess these birds are after the fish in the pond; as long as they don’t attack us, we can hide and enjoy the show."
Everyone hid inside the tents, nervously watching the sky over the pond.
About a hundred giant sparrows were circling above the pond, constantly screeching.
Clearly, these were the companions called by the sparrow that was defeated earlier. Just thinking about how there were so many terrifying mutated creatures on the mountain made everyone shiver in fear.
The central pond also showed some changes, with bubbles continuously surfacing, indicating that the fish below had sensed the sparrows above.
The sparrows were very clever too, led by a giant sparrow king, hovering thirty meters above the water, beyond the range of the tilapia’s bone spurs, which was relatively safe.
"Uh,"
A sharp cry rang out as a sparrow suddenly dived toward the water.
With a swift sound,
A bone spur shot out from under the water, aimed directly at the diving sparrow.
However, the sparrow twisted its body, instantly changing its diving path, and skimmed past the water’s surface.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh,
Several bone spurs shot out from beneath the water, targeting that sparrow.
But the sparrow, with a few deft maneuvers, kept changing its flight path, easily evading the bone spurs’ attack.
"Boss, who do you think will win, the sparrows or the tilapia?"
Feifei asked.
"If we didn’t drain the water from the pond, the tilapia would be safe; they could hide several meters under the water without worrying about the birds above, as the birds couldn’t dive several meters deep to catch fish. But now, the situation is different. The tilapia are wholly exposed; one mistake and they could be attacked by the birds. Even if the tilapia can fend them off for a time, they won’t endure for long."
Just as Yang Xiao finished speaking, more sparrows began diving toward the water, immediately causing chaos in the pond. Besides the incessant bone spurs shooting out, the surface became roiled with massive splashes.
Initially, these sparrows didn’t seem intent on catching fish but were merely flying over the water, exhausting the tilapia’s bone spurs. After firing, the bone spurs on the tilapia’s backs required 24 hours to regrow.
Moments later, the dense bone spur barrage on the water’s surface began to thin out. Of course, a few giant sparrows were hit by bone spurs and fell into the pond, struggling.
The tilapia inside seemed too preoccupied to devour the fallen sparrows, allowing them to struggle.
"Crash,"
A huge sparrow suddenly swept over the water, grabbing a fish weighing twenty to thirty kilograms and soaring into the sky.
The sparrow swiftly carried the fish away from the pit, landing on the distant ground. Holding the struggling fish with its talons, its sharp beak pierced the fish’s eye mercilessly, tearing out and swallowing the eyeball in one gulp.
More sparrows flew over, clambering for the fish. In mere moments, a fish weighing twenty to thirty kilograms was devoured entirely.
After savoring the taste of fish, the sparrows became even more excited, intensifying their assault on the pit, consecutively snatching several fish.
Within half an hour, at least fifty different types of fish were snatched out. Once these mutated fish were slain, a dozen or so glittering genetic fragments were left on the sandy shore.
The sparrows, jubilant, kept chirping enthusiastically.
"Yang Xiao, what about these giant tilapia? Why is there no movement?"
"I guess the tilapia are trying to sacrifice these smaller fish, hoping the sparrows will leave after getting full."
"What if the sparrows’ real target is those giant tilapia?"
"Hehe, it’s no ’if’ but a certainty; there will definitely be a fierce battle eventually. And the tilapia are at a disadvantage since the water in the pit will keep evaporating, giving the sparrows more energy once they’re full."
