Chapter 55.2: Weak Blue Sea Residents
Growing up, he had never once scored above 80 on a physical education exam.
When Tian Buke was seven years old, whenever he went out to play with his cousins, his aunt would specifically remind his two older female cousins,
“Your little cousin isn’t very strong. Don’t let him climb trees that are too tall. Just find one that’s three or four meters high and let him play on that.”
Every day, Tian Buke would look at his combat power, which stubbornly refused to increase, and worry.
Am I really going to leave the temple… only to die in some foreign land before three days have even passed?
But if he was told to stay behind in the Safe City’s heated shelters with the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled…
He couldn’t accept that either.
He was one of Blue Sea’s people.
He longed for the outside world.
He wanted to fight too!
But today…
Everything was different.
With a whoosh, Tian Buke spread the wings on his back.
The four enormous skeletal wings felt as though they had always belonged to him.
He could sense the wind flowing across them as they opened.
He could control every movement, making them flap, spread wide, and fold back at will.
Spread open—they looked unbelievably cool.
Folded behind his back—they still looked unbelievably cool.
Flying through the sky—cool.
Even falling out of the sky—still cool!
The more Tian Buke played with them, the more addicted he became, unable to stop.
His luck had been unbelievably good.
He knew he wasn’t among Blue Sea’s strongest fighters. Going into the battle, his plan had simply been to join the melee, contribute whatever damage he could, and rack up enough assist points.
According to the AI’s scoring system, once he accumulated 10,000 assist points, he’d be eligible to join the waiting list for a future pair of flight wings.
Instead, fortune had smiled on him.
One Skywing Dragon had swooped down to attack him.
He had merely thrust his weapon forward instinctively.
By sheer coincidence, it pierced the creature straight through the heart.
Several other Blue Sea fighters had been rushing over to help, but before any of them could land so much as another hit…
The Skywing Dragon was already dead.
Because he had solo-killed it, he qualified to receive a pair of flight wings.
Even now, Tian Buke could hardly believe he’d been so lucky.
It must have been our God’s blessing!
Now that he had these wings, things were completely different.
If he couldn’t win a fight after leaving the city…
He could always run.
Or fly off to call for reinforcements.
Perhaps because he had never been particularly strong since childhood, Tian Buke had never been possessive about prey. He didn’t mind sharing kills with others.
Unfortunately, when he had applied to join the military years ago, he had been rejected because he wasn’t tall enough.
But that didn’t matter anymore.
Now he had wings.
He could fight all the same.
Tian Buke repeatedly spread his wings, folded them, then spread them again.
Fortunately, every other Blue Sea resident was just as absorbed in admiring their own magnificent new wings, so his behavior didn’t seem out of place at all.
“Old Tian!”
Another young man, one of Tian Buke’s friends, came swooping over.
With a loud thump, he landed.
Or rather, since he still wasn’t used to landing while flying, he had used a little too much force. It looked less like he had flown down and more like he had fallen out of the sky.
“The temple’s going to stay here for at least another five days before moving on. Are you planning to stay behind?”
There were simply too many people in Blue Sea.
No matter which region they went to, there probably wouldn’t be enough prey for everyone.
The government had already discussed the issue and decided that some of the residents who possessed flight wings could remain here.
When the time came for the Safe City to leave this world, those left behind would be able to follow the Great Creator God’s guidance and fly back using their wings.
Tian Buke hesitated.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
His friend replied,
“You’d better decide soon. I heard a lot of people have already signed up. They’re only leaving three thousand people in this region, and I bet the spots will be first come, first served.”
Tian Buke looked puzzled.
“Will that many people really sign up? I thought everyone would rather join the next campaign to hunt the Skywing Dragons.”
By now, Skywing Dragons had become Blue Sea’s most valuable resource.
The contribution-point cost of purchasing flight wings was certainly expensive, but the AI calculated everyone’s contribution during group hunts.
Take Tian Buke, for example.
He had killed a Skywing Dragon by himself, so naturally, that creature’s wings belonged entirely to him.
But for the Skywing Dragons that had been brought down by groups of a dozen—or even dozens—of people…
There simply weren’t enough wings for everyone to claim.
That was why the combat contribution system existed.
As long as someone participated in bringing down a Skywing Dragon, the AI would automatically review the battle footage and assign contribution points based on each person’s performance.
Once a resident accumulated 10,000 contribution points, they could join the queue to purchase a pair of flight wings.
Although the government hadn’t opened a direct exchange between contribution points and regular contribution credits, it did allow residents to freely buy, sell, and gift contribution points to one another.
It was essentially an official acknowledgment that people could make money from them.
Only three days had passed, yet the market price of contribution points had already stabilized.
The going rate was exactly ten contribution credits for every one contribution point.
Tian Buke had earned 31 contribution points, which he sold to another resident in exchange for 310 contribution credits, making himself a tidy little profit.
This time, plenty of people had gotten a taste of the rewards.
And those who hadn’t… had seen just how sweet those rewards were for everyone else.
The next wave of Skywing Dragons hadn’t even appeared yet, and countless Blue Sea residents were already impatiently studying recordings of the previous battle, training themselves for the next one.
“That’s true,” his friend said, “but think about it. Those item cards can also be exchanged for contribution credits. If you get lucky and find a Tier-2 item card—or even a Tier-3 one—you’ll strike it rich overnight!”
“And with this ridiculous weather, sooner or later everyone’s going to have to leave the city and live outside anyway. The earlier you get out there, the earlier you can build yourself a base, and the better your life will be, right?”
“This region is only allowing three thousand residents to stay behind, so the competition isn’t nearly as fierce. It’s not like the last place, where only people with combat power above seventy were allowed to venture out. The two of us could only wander around near the temple the whole time—we didn’t even see a single snow beast. The veterans got to all of them before we had the chance.”
“But here it’s different.”
“At least we won’t have to compete with all those monsters.”
His friend gently bumped Tian Buke’s wings with his own.
“The temple’s going to visit plenty of other apocalyptic worlds in the future. There’ll be no shortage of battles.”
“Don’t you want to earn more contribution credits?”
“Don’t you want to become stronger?”
Those last words struck Tian Buke right in the heart.
Yeah.
He really couldn’t stay sheltered inside the Safe City forever.
There would only be more dangers in the future.
If he didn’t improve his combat strength now, he might spend the rest of his life hiding inside the Safe City, relying on the government for protection.
Opportunities like obtaining flight wings would never come to someone who remained weak.
And if that happened…
Wouldn’t it mean he’d never be able to afford better weapons?
Or live in a nicer home?
Heck, he wouldn’t even be able to donate much when he went to the temple.
As he pictured that all-too-plausible future, Tian Buke’s expression hardened with determination.
“I’m signing up too! Want to come with me?”
His friend shook his head.
“Nah. I’m staying to hunt Skywing Dragons. Heh.”
Tian Buke blinked.
“…Then why are you telling me to stay behind?”
“Because you can’t beat Skywing Dragons.”
His friend answered with complete confidence.
“One-on-one isn’t too bad. But when they’re attacking in swarms, your dodging and reaction speed are your biggest weaknesses. Any one of them could casually take a bite out of you, and you’d lose a limb.”
“Our current large-scale hunting strategy just isn’t suited for you.”
“But if you stay here and hunt the land-based snow beasts instead…”
“First, they drop item cards. You can use the weapons and equipment from those cards to strengthen yourself.”
“Second, we’ve already wiped out almost all of the flying snow beasts in this area. There aren’t many threats in the sky anymore.”
“If you can’t win…”
“At least you can run.”
Tian Buke fell silent.
…All right.
He had to admit his friend was right.
After killing that Skywing Dragon earlier, if his friend hadn’t pulled him away in time, another one would have bitten his hand clean off.
Still, he couldn’t help feeling a little reluctant.
“Then… who knows when we’ll see each other again.”
His friend reached over and lightly smacked Tian Buke on the head with one of his wings.
“It’s fine. You won’t be lonely.”
“Didn’t the AI say so? Residents who have flight wings can apply to bring along one teammate who can’t fly.”
“You’ll stay behind together.”
“And when it’s time to evacuate…”
“You just carry your teammate and fly back to the temple.”
His friend offered one last piece of advice.
“I’d recommend bringing someone with a combat power over 70. It’ll be much safer.”
After thinking for a moment, he added,
“As long as it isn’t Arnold.”
Arnold was another one of their childhood friends. The three of them had grown up together in the military residential compound.
His combat power was only 45—even lower than Tian Buke’s.
Tian Buke wholeheartedly agreed.
The problem was…
Every one of his friends whose combat power exceeded 70, except for the friend standing in front of him, didn’t have flight wings.
The sixteen of them answered in perfect unison:
“I’m not going.”
“I’m hunting Skywing Dragons!”
Wings!
They wanted wings!
Only Arnold looked thrilled.
“I’ll go! I’ll go! Take me with you, Buke! I promise I won’t hold you back!”
Tian Buke: “…”
Although he really didn’t want to bring Arnold…
They had grown up together since childhood.
In the end, he couldn’t refuse.
The expressions on the rest of their friends’ faces were… difficult to describe.
Still, they sincerely wished the two of them luck.
Each friend presented them with a gift useful for combat.
The next morning, everyone gathered at the city gate to see them off.
There was a reason the farewell came so quickly.
“The temple won’t leave for another four days. Go give it a try first. If you find you can’t handle it, come straight back.”
“Exactly. Don’t worry about losing face. Being born physically weaker isn’t your fault.”
“Don’t go too far. Stay within the AI’s coverage area at first and see if there are any snow beasts around. If you run into trouble, just send us a message.”
“Right! I’ve got wings now. I’ll fly over and rescue you.”
Tian Buke and Arnold both nodded nervously.
Compared with the group of anxious young people, however, their parents were remarkably calm.
As mentioned before, all of these youngsters had grown up in the military residential compound.
Naturally, their parents were all military officers.
The two families stood some distance away, quietly watching as their sons received earnest advice from their friends.
One of the parents smiled and said,
“When do you think those two will finally realize…”
“…that they’re not actually as weak as they think they are?”
“Probably the moment they come face-to-face with a snow beast.”
The two silly boys still hadn’t realized the truth.
If they were actually weak—for example, if their combat power were only in the single digits—then forget hunting snow beasts.
The AI would never even approve their request to leave the city.
Just like the elderly, the sick, and the disabled living in Blue Sea’s heated shelters, Blue Sea would rather spend enormous amounts of energy supporting them every day than send them out to face snow beasts they couldn’t possibly defeat.
Whatever mixed feelings their parents had, Tian Buke and Arnold nevertheless set off with great trepidation.
Tian Buke effortlessly lifted Arnold—who stood 1.85 meters tall and weighed 82.5 kilograms (165 jin)—into his arms.
With a beat of his four wings, he took to the sky, quickly leaving the Safe City behind.
It was the first time in their lives that either of them had traveled so far from home.
Arnold kept glancing back over his shoulder.
Tian Buke wasn’t much better. Every so often, while flying, he would suddenly make a wide turn just to look back at the city.
The two discussed their plans as they flew.
“We have to be careful.”
“Right. Let’s find a building item card first.”
“Exactly. We should observe the situation thoroughly before making a move.”
“Yeah. We can hide inside a snow burrow and watch from there.”
Chatting back and forth, they flew for more than an hour.
Suddenly, Arnold’s ears twitched.
“There’s something happening below.”
Tian Buke heard it too.
Cautiously, he descended a little lower.
From a distance, they spotted a snow beast standing on an open snowfield.
Nearby lay a blood-soaked person sprawled on the ground beside the ruins of a destroyed building.
The wolf-sized snow beast was charging toward a local child who looked no older than five or six.
“Our God!”
Tian Buke’s mind went blank.
Every thought about being cautious vanished instantly.
His combat instincts took over.
Without a second thought, he dove.
Using the momentum of his descent, he drove a powerful kick into the snow beast, sending it flying several meters away.
Arnold rolled off Tian Buke’s arms, landed firmly on his feet, and rushed forward.
With a single slash, he buried his blade deep into the snow beast’s abdomen.
Before the snow beast could even let out an enraged roar, Tian Buke was airborne again.
He swooped back in and delivered another powerful kick.
While the beast was still dazed, he flew directly above it, wrapped both arms around its body, and forced it onto its back.
“Arnold!”
Arnold instantly understood.
He charged forward and, with one clean swing of his blade, struck the snow beast squarely across its exposed neck.
It was a combat coordination game every child in Blue Sea had played since elementary school.
The two of them had practiced together since they were little.
Neither of them even needed to think.
They simply moved.
The snow beast’s head rolled onto the ground.
The entire sequence flowed as smoothly as running water.
From beginning to end…
It hadn’t even taken thirty seconds.
Silence fell over the snowy field.
The severely wounded Dazzling Star native lying on the ground was dumbfounded.
The little child stood frozen in place as well.
The two Blue Sea residents who had just killed the snow beast looked even more stunned than either of them.
Everything they had done moments ago had been pure instinct.
Only now did they finally process what had just happened.
Tian Buke, whose combat power was only 46, stared in disbelief as his four wings fluttered unconsciously—so hard they practically created a freezing draft around him.
“Huh?”
Arnold, whose combat power was 45, looked from the snow beast’s severed head on the ground to the knife still in his hand.
“…What?”
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