Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Assault of the Ghost Birds
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That moment came so suddenly that neither Gavin nor Charlie could react in time. The man raised his gun and fired, and in an instant, the corridor erupted with the bangs of light rounds flying everywhere. Suddenly, with a crash, the entire glass door shattered.
Charlie: “...”
Gavin: “...”
“Woo——” Countless huge, ghastly pale faces emerged from the darkness, followed by the giant birds all bursting out.
Gavin bellowed, “Run!!”
They had never run so fast in their lives—sprint champions would have to bow in defeat. The shrieks of the birds clung right behind them, and the several-hundred-meter corridor reached its end in a flash. Ahead loomed two branching paths, left and right.
“This way!” Charlie spotted faint lights on the left and shouted immediately.
Gavin’s feet stuttered to a halt. He suddenly glimpsed the driver not far behind, already tackled to the ground by a giant bird, and immediately spun back to rush toward him. Charlie hesitated for half a second before following, but after just two steps, he came face-to-face with a freakish giant bird. His voice cracked in terror: “Fuck—!”
Gavin slid flat on his back, slipping right under several giant birds. Then, with a clang, he swung his knife horizontally with his right hand, blocking the bird beaks stabbing toward his face. With his left, he grabbed the blood-soaked driver and barked, “Run!”
But as the man looked up, his face was covered in blood, his eyes locked dead on Gavin.
In that instant, Gavin sensed something was wrong. He tried to stand and flee, but it was too late. The man screamed and tackled him, clamping down on his neck with a vise-like grip!
An Alpha mech pilot—the elite of the military elite. His ten fingers bulged with knotted veins like iron tongs. Gavin didn’t even have time to struggle before he heard the terrifying creak from his own throat.
In that moment, he couldn’t even think. Suffocation blackened his vision, and in his daze, he saw only the man’s face twisting grotesquely, fresh blood pouring from his body in splashes—the giant bird circling overhead had pierced straight through his back with its beak.
Yet his hands didn’t loosen a bit. A chilling light gleamed in his eyes, and from his mouth came intermittent “heh heh” gasps.
Gavin couldn’t make a sound. His right hand spasmed around the dagger, trying several times to aim it at the man, but it always went limp.
—He couldn’t do it.
Even in this life-or-death moment, he couldn’t bring himself to strike.
“Woo—” A ghost bird swooped down from above. Its eyelids, milky like cataracts, flipped open to reveal two cloudy eyes, staring down at Gavin in mocking condescension.
At that moment, it didn’t look like a bird anymore. That gaze was unmistakably human. Gavin’s mouth opened, as if to say something, but no sound came out.
...Was this how it ended?
Gavin closed his eyes. Three seconds later, a roar exploded from above: “Get—the fuck—off him!!”
With a thunderous boom, Charlie descended like a god of war. Knife in hand, he swung like he was smashing a baseball, instantly hurling the man flying!
The man crashed into the wall with a clang and slumped bonelessly to the ground, head awash in blood, life unknown. Gavin shot to his feet, coughing violently, just as the ghost bird screeched and lunged its massive maw at Charlie!
It all happened in a flash. Charlie drew his arc knife and charged with a mad roar, thrusting the blade straight into the giant bird’s mouth with a squelch!
Black blood sprayed everywhere, the ghost bird’s agonized shriek deafening. Gavin clutched his throat and struggled up to see every freakish bird in the corridor surging toward them like they’d received a signal, instantly engulfing Charlie.
Gavin gasped in spasms. He immediately grabbed the ghost bird with the arc knife jammed in its mouth. The creature’s eyes were now normal, veiled in white cataracts like the rest, thrashing wildly on the ground. Gavin seized its beak with his blood-drenched hand, yanked the arc knife free, and cleaved off its massive, vicious head in one motion.
“Charlie!” Gavin roared. “Hold on!”
Charlie’s scream came from within the swarm. Gavin charged in knife-first, slashing at every white shadow without discrimination. In the melee, he lost count of how many beaks pierced him—even the pain faded away. He just swung relentlessly, blue arcs leaping from the blade in all directions, bisecting every ghost bird they touched.
Shrieks filled the air overhead. The entire corridor became a blood-soaked hell. Chunks of giant bird flesh rained down, human and beast blood mingling to splatter the walls. The black-red chaos filled his vision, making it hard to spot Charlie struggling on the bloody floor.
“Hold on! Don’t die!” Gavin slammed his knife into the ground and hauled Charlie up onto his shoulder, bellowing, “Don’t you dare die!”
Charlie’s abdomen was run through, his guts nearly spilling out, bloody foam bubbling from his mouth. Gavin dragged him, limping, to the corridor’s end. Spotting faint lights in the left branch, he stumbled inside.
The giant birds howled in pursuit. Gavin slashed back several times without lingering, hacking a few and fleeing. Luckily, the branch was short. Soon, a red metal fire door appeared on the wall. No time to check the map—Gavin dragged Charlie and rammed it open with all his strength, then slammed it shut with a heavy bang!
Thuds like a rain of blows hammered the door, the giant birds piling into it. It lasted a good ten seconds before fading.
Only then did Gavin’s body, braced against the door, relax. He collapsed trembling to the floor, then suddenly remembered something. He snatched his pack and frantically dug out the medkit.
“I-I’m... gonna die...” Charlie shivered. “G-Gavin...”
“Shut up!” Gavin snapped, panting hard as he activated the med-ray.
He knew basic field first aid. First, he shoved Charlie’s spilling guts back in, then stripped off his jacket to plug the abdominal punctures, sweeping the med-ray over them. The protruding muscle gradually knit closed. Once the bleeding slowed, Gavin pulled out a blood booster, mixed it quick, and jabbed it into Charlie’s carotid.
The whole process took just minutes, but felt eternal to Gavin. Finally, Charlie’s gut was sealed, no more blood from his mouth. Gavin shoved the medkit into his hands. “Use it on yourself.”
In the dim light, Charlie’s gaze was indescribable. After a long pause, he said, “...Be careful.”
Gavin nodded absently, oblivious to the tragic abandonment in his tone. “I’ll be back soon.”
He wore only a short-sleeved T-shirt, hands caked in blood. He grabbed the arc knife, flung open the fire door, and charged out!
The giant birds outside hadn’t fully dispersed. The door’s creak startled them—but Gavin moved like lightning. In the split second before it clicked shut, he shot out like a released arrow!
“Woo—”
“Woo——!”
Shrieks rose in waves, countless white shadows whirling down like bloodthirsty demons. Gavin bolted from the branch, feeling a stab of pain behind him. He whipped around, seized the ghost bird’s spear-like beak, and cleaved it in two!
Unburdened by Charlie, he moved like a bolt of lightning. In a dozen meters, he left a trail of gore, scaring several giant birds into panicked retreat. In moments, he reached the corridor and spotted the driver sprawled on the ground—his left arm nearly gnawed clean off, a horrifying sight.
“Wake up! Hey!” Gavin rushed over, propped him up, and checked his carotid—faint pulse. He hauled the man up and ran for the fire door.
“Don’t...” The man rasped weakly. “Don’t... bother with... me...”
“Quiet!” Gavin barked.
He’d slain so many birds on the way that the remaining white shadows hovered far in the dark. In those seconds, Gavin dragged the man back and slammed the door shut. From the corner, Charlie barked, “Who’s there!”
Gavin turned. “Are you an idiot?”
Charlie finally saw him and gaped. “You... why the hell did you come back?”
Gavin rolled his eyes, too annoyed to argue. He snatched the medkit and started patching the driver.
The man’s injuries were dire. He nearly passed out several times, only revived by blood boosters from Gavin and Charlie taking turns. Even so, his face stayed deathly pale, body wracked with feverish shivers. In his haze, he fixated on Gavin, gasping, “You... get out of here...”
Gavin tied off the mangled left arm with strips of cloth and demanded sharply, “Who sent you to kill me?”
“They... all want... you... go now...”
The driver panted wildly, then seized Gavin with dying strength. Blood foamed from his mouth as he croaked, “If I... lose it again... kill me... don’t let... them control... me...”
Charlie blurted, “Who’s controlling you?!”
“Go... now...”
Gavin stared at the driver’s agonized, twisted face, pupils contracting as a classified rumor hit him.
Though the Alliance had banned hypnosis control research, black-market labs persisted. Rumor had it that on remote planets, some could remotely dominate those with lower mental thresholds using drugs, tech, and their own potent psy-power.
But rumors were just that—who’d seen it? There were tales of a notorious interstellar cult deep into it, even controlling hordes of elites to do their bidding. But the Alliance crushed the cult, and the stories ended there.
Gavin vaguely recalled the cult’s name, but it eluded him. Thinking harder split his head with pain.
“Go... leave me... alone...” The driver’s voice faded. Seconds later, a gurgling choke rose from his blood-clogged throat.
“What now?” Charlie fretted. Before he finished, the driver’s head snapped up, eyes blazing red hate, lunging at Gavin again!
“Aaahhh!” Charlie screamed and backpedaled—as fast as it happened, Gavin grabbed the driver and chopped down with a palm strike, knocking him out clean!
The man thudded heavily to the floor. Charlie shrieked louder: “Aaahhh, he’s dead?!”
“No.” Gavin knelt, checked his neck. “Just out cold.”
Charlie exhaled in relief, slumping against the wall, still shaken.
“We can’t take him with us. Gotta stash him here first.” Gavin scanned around. Beyond the fire door was a safety stairwell, dimly lit up and down, destination unknown—but the lock was solid. The birds couldn’t break in anytime soon.
The driver was deep unconscious, and an Alpha’s weight was no joke for an Omega. Taking him down was impossible. Best to hide him here, safe-ish, notify the committee after the match, and get him extracted.
Gavin and Charlie teamed up to drag him around the corner, left water and rations, and stuck a note on his forehead: “Don’t move when you wake up.” That done, they decided to head up the stairs—closer to the surface, the better.
And at that moment, Gavin had no idea what awaited him ahead.
He climbed toward the upper levels, flashlight in hand. His lean, straight back was smeared with blood from shoulders to waist. Yet the figure wasn’t grotesque or fearsome—rather, it exuded an inner dominance and ferocity, like an invincible war god, inspiring awe.
“...Not bad for a Celia.”
A hundred meters above ground, a black-armored warrior murmured, switching off the projector.
Silence fell around him. After a beat, someone said coldly, “Alliance war god or not, he’s just an Omega now. Should’ve killed the brat quick—better yet, nab him so we can have first crack...”
Ambiguous chuckles rippled through the group.
Moments later, another added, “Celia’s gone soft—not killing the kid?”
“‘No blades in peacetime, die before taking a life’—spouting that rot makes him no better than an old woman!”
“But imagining that face twisted in humiliation... kinda thrilling—”
“Hahahaha...”
The laughter scattered on the wind as sandstorm gales howled. The black-armored warriors pressed steadily through the tempest, vanishing into the endless yellow dunes.