Even hybrid monsters have their day

Since they didn't know who their target was or where they were, they traveled and observed along the way, staying in each place for two or three days to see if anything seemed amiss.

Traveling on and off like this, nearly half a month passed.

Geng Miaowan discovered that the air quality in this space was truly terrible. Apart from the city they had stayed in at the beginning, which had relatively good air quality because it was built next to a forest, they hadn't found any other place with better air quality along their journey. Another issue was the abundance of ruins, with some areas specifically designated for dumping garbage.

The distance between cities is quite large, and along the way, they rarely saw anyone passing by; almost no one drove across provinces and cities on their own.

Aside from these, they found virtually nothing unusual. Or rather, everything seemed perfectly normal, so normal that Geng Miaowan wondered if the system had made a mistake with the task, or perhaps the mission had been transferred to the wrong space again…

That day, they passed through a small town, and as it was getting dark, they decided to stay there for the night. Oh, and one thing that bothered Geng Miaowan was that, apart from the city, in all the places they passed through, there wasn't a single place selling regular meals. It seemed the people there were more interested in nutritional supplements like "nutritional water" than food.

Just like the advertising slogans for these nutrient solutions and supplements, they are convenient, quick, and efficient.

Geng Miaowan noticed that most of these nutrient waters and supplements were produced by Arans Bioengineering Co., Ltd., and that advertisements for Arans products were posted in almost every town, and their products were also the most frequently featured on television. It seemed that Qiu Pi's business was really big.

That night, Geng Miaowan, unusually, didn't meditate or cultivate because she was thinking about the mission. Instead, she poured herself a glass of water and sat by the window. Looking out the window, it was pitch black outside, with only a faint moon emitting a low-key light.

At night, everything was pitch black, which seemed to be the only strange thing about this space. None of the towns she passed through, regardless of size, had neon lights at night. And the people here basically had no nightlife; once night fell, the entire city became quiet.

She remembered asking a local, who said they didn't know why either; one day, the government suddenly issued a document requiring all outdoor lights that would be on at night to be turned off, even streetlights were allowed to be used.

Geng Miaowan couldn't understand why this was happening; it was simply too absurd. How could a country introduce such a policy?

Just then, a dark shadow flashed past the window at incredible speed. She barely blinked, and the shadow had already darted far away, seemingly just passing through. Looking at it this way, it actually resembled the one she'd seen in the forest that day.

Since she had nothing else to do, she opened the window and followed the shadowy figure at a distance. The figure seemed to be avoiding something, moving quickly and constantly changing direction. After a short while, she lost track of it and had no choice but to return to the hotel dejectedly.

The next day they continued their journey. While sitting in the car, Geng Miaowan told them about what she had seen the previous night.

"I saw a dark shadow last night, it looked a lot like the thing I saw in the forest the other day." She used the word "shadow" because last night she clearly saw that the shadow had wing membranes on its body, like wings.

Xu Ruwen, driving without turning his head, said, "And then?"

It's less about him driving and more about him simply sitting there. Because the cars here are all self-driving; they don't need drivers at all.

"I chased after him, but I couldn't catch up."

Huangfu Aoxuan: "You should have invited me." The implication was that he thought she was useless.

Suddenly, Xu Ruwen shouted, "Stop the car!" The car stopped abruptly, and due to inertia, Geng Miaowan almost hit the back of the seat in front of her. She looked at him in confusion, "What happened?"

Xu Ruwen pointed to something by the roadside. "What's that?"

Geng Miaowan and Huangfu Aoxuan then noticed that there was a small animal's carcass lying by the roadside. This wouldn't normally be strange, but since arriving in this space, they hadn't seen a single animal, not counting the bird-man.

Seeing something like this lying there suddenly makes one feel a little strange, or even curious.

The three of them got out of the car one after another and came to the corpse. It looked like a dog. Geng Miaowan found a stick and turned it over. The dog's body was still a little soft, indicating that it hadn't been dead for long. What didn't surprise them was that there wasn't a single drop of blood on the dog; it was like a skin wrapped around a pile of bones, dry and brittle.

"What's going on?" Geng Miaowan asked, puzzled.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from behind, "What are you doing?"

"Ah~" Geng Miaowan seemed to have been caught playing with toys in class by the teacher, and immediately dropped the stick in her hand and stood up. Then she realized that her reaction was a bit too much, and quickly regained her composure.

The three people slowly turned around and saw the person standing behind them looking at them with a smile.

"Ah...you..." Geng Miaowan exclaimed, speechless. What a coincidence to run into Qiu Pi here! He wore a gentle smile, and the gold-rimmed glasses softened his features, making him appear somewhat refined. This was different from his appearance in other spaces, but that wasn't the point. The point was that behind him stood four men dressed in identical black suits.

One of them held an umbrella, the large umbrella casting a shadow over Qiu Pi.

They looked serious, their faces expressionless, like four robots watching them intently, as if they would swarm and subdue them at the slightest move.

Geng Miaowan, Huangfu Aoxuan, and Xu Ruwen exchanged glances, all of them startled. None of them had noticed when he had approached them, nor the four bodyguards behind him.

Qiu Pi chuckled again and said to Geng Miaowan, "I'm sorry, I startled you." (To be continued.)