Chapter 28 Breathtaking Power (2/2)

Even creatures as foolish as the sweepers realized that with this powerful female guarding Blackflag Outpost, there was no chance at all for them to take this place over!

“FOR BLACKFLAG OUTPOST!”

“KILL THEM ALL!”

Grizzly led the warriors of Blackflag Outpost in an inexorable, unstoppable charge. Yet another frenzied and bloody battle erupted, but this time it was the sweepers who were driven to despair and cornered like animals. The two sides fought bitterly, as though possessed by bloodlust and driven mad by rage, but there was no doubt as to what the end result would be.

Cloudhawk, however, was focused on the Queen’s disappearing silhouette. There was no way she had won as easily as it had seemed! Cloudhawk had noticed that after she had used that final dazzling attack, it seemed as though something inside her body had been completely wrung dry, almost like a reservoir that had lost all of its water. Although she looked as cold and powerful as before, she had already reached her limits. He could sense that the ripples emanating from within her body had dropped down to an incredibly weak level.

Cloudhawk felt certain that if another powerful foe appeared, the Queen would have no chance to fight back at all. She was clearly very powerful; clearly, she could’ve slain the sweeper leader with ease using a much less taxing attack. Why, then, had she taken on such a huge risk in expending all of her energy to kill him in such a manner?

There was only one possible answer for this. She was putting on a false front, a show.

Cloudhawk suspected that this attack against the outpost wasn’t as simple as it seemed. The sweepers had probably been employed or driven to launch this attack, and it was likely that the person hiding behind them was the one who had created that sandstorm at the very beginning. This battle most likely had nothing to do with the sweepers or Blackflag Outpost at all. Instead, it was a test, a little skirmish between two freaks who both possessed supernatural powers.

Still, what mattered was that this brutal battle was about to come to an end, thanks to the defeat of the sweeper leader. The surviving sweepers finally began to flee, abandoning their vehicles, their mounts, their weapons, and their equipment. All of those things were being claimed by Blackflag Outpost as spoils of war, and the outpost guards and mercenaries were all excitedly surrounding and claiming various piles of items as their own.

“Everyone else is charging forwards to get their share of the spoils.” Slyfox stared at Cloudhawk as though he was an idiot. “But you don’t seem interested at all. Do you have shit for brains?”

“The only thing I want right now is a good, long sleep.” Cloudhawk’s adrenaline rush had ended with the battle, and a wave of exhaustion had just come crashing down on him. How could he possibly have any energy or interest in running forward to pick up some spoils? Besides, he really didn’t believe that these savage men would let a kid like him get anything nice!

Slyfox saw that Cloudhawk was indeed covered with wounds, and so he just waved his hands in an extremely impatient manner. “Fine, fine. Hurry up and fuck off already. Go to Mantis’ workshop and get those wounds treated. I aint got any time to worry about your sorry ass.” Cloudhawk nodded, then immediately departed from this noisy, boisterous scene of looting.

The rugged streets of Blackflag Outpost were quite silent. Mice and other animals were rustling through the weeds, occasionally popping their heads out. They were drawn by the stench of blood in the air. Right now, this place truly did look like a lifeless, barren wasteland.

Cloudhawk was extremely tired in body, mind, and soul. The beast wave and the sweeper battalion had been incredibly dangerous, and he was once more reminded that staying alive in the wastelands was no easy feat. There was no such thing as a truly safe harbor in the wastelands, not even in the outposts. They walked a thin line between life and death, and the outposts themselves were fragile things.

Cloudhawk was starting to want to leave… and what he had seen today was reinforcing those budding thoughts. On one side, there was a hidden, unknown figure capable of controlling and creating sandstorms. On the other side, there was a Bloodsoaked Queen who wielded an inconceivable amount of power.

What feud existed between the two? Cloudhawk didn’t know, and he didn’t want to know. However, he knew that if two figures like them began to fight with Blackflag Outpost being their battlefield, this place would never be safe to live in. Today was just the beginning. Who knew what the future would bring?

But if he left the outpost, where would he go? The wastelands were so vast and endless as to engender a sense of despair, and they were so cruel that they could devour anyone’s innocent dreams or ideals. Was there truly no such thing as a safe place to live in this vast world?

Just as Cloudhawk’s tired mind was throwing out these random thoughts, he was suddenly able sense those faint ripples once more. They seemed very similar to the ripples he had sensed from the Queen. Cloudhawk frantically looked right and left, but was unable to see anyone at all. No one was here. Was this a hallucination caused by excessive blood loss?

Cloudhawk continued to carefully scrutinize the area. Finally, his gaze turned towards a small, unremarkable alleyway. Those strange ripples were coming from that direction. No way. That place was absolutely foul and filled with refuse and excrement. Who in the world would go there?

Cloudhawk wasn’t certain what these ripples were, but felt certain that it wasn’t just a hallucination. He decided to go over there and take a look… but when he did, he was badly startled by what he saw in front of him.

There was a human silhouette within the alleyway. The person was seated on the ground, half-slumped against the wall. The person’s mask was turned directly towards Cloudhawk, and the deep eyes hidden beneath the mask seemed to be staring death at him. This was the terrifying woman he had seen just a short while ago… the Bloodsoaked Queen!

Cloudhawk’s first instinct was to run. This freak of a woman had been able to crush maneaters as easily as ants. To her, someone like Cloudhawk would be even less than an ant. But just as he took his first step to run, he suddenly halted.

The Queen’s arms were resting on the ground, seemingly powerless, and a thin trickle of blood was actually streaming out from the edges of that savage mask. She remained slumped against the wall, not moving or making even the slightest of sounds.

Drip. Drip. Drops of crimson blood landed on her clothes, staining them with a large, bloody patch.

Was the Queen dead? No way!

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