Chapter 439: Awakening and Assurance

Chapter 439: Chapter 439: Awakening and Assurance

Flora Sullivan, walking ahead, suddenly stopped. She lowered her voice in warning, her gaze fixed warily on a particularly dense thicket of bushes to their right.

Seraphina immediately raised her sniper rifle, following Flora’s line of sight.

Behind the bushes, a huge, five-meter-tall black shadow had its back to them. It seemed to be gnawing on something, making sickening sounds of chewing and crunching bones.

The black shadow’s muscles were gnarled, covered in thick, long fur. Its back alone radiated a sense of immense power and a menacing presence.

As if sensing the Aura of unfamiliar creatures, the black shadow paused its meal and slowly turned its massive body around.

Seraphina finally got a clear look at it.

It was a black bear-type monster!

Or rather, it retained the general silhouette of a black bear.

But this "black bear monster" was several times larger, with tusks like daggers jutting out, curved claws that glinted coldly, eyes as crimson as blood, and an Aura of Frenzy emanating from its entire body!

Fresh blood and bits of flesh dripped from its mouth. At its feet lay the disemboweled and mangled form of... a tiger.

Or what was once the king of the forest!

The black bear monster spotted Seraphina’s group of three, and a greedy, savage light instantly erupted in its crimson beastly eyes.

’Fresh meat!’

It let out a low roar, foul-smelling drool dripping from its maw. Its massive body suddenly shot forward like an out-of-control semi-truck, charging toward the three of them with the momentum to crush everything in its path!

The ground trembled slightly under its heavy footfalls!

"Courting death!" Seraphina’s eyes were icy, showing not a trace of panic.

Against such a thick-hided and immensely powerful target, long-range sniping was the best option.

With a single thought, her [Universal Sniper Rifle] instantly materialized and charged.

She didn’t bother with any fancy Skill conversions this time. Instead, she concentrated the purest, most penetrating Skill-bullet—the [Space Bullet].

She raised the muzzle slightly, locking onto a spot just above the brow of the charging black bear monster.

She squeezed the trigger!

The Hundred Shots Hundred Hits Skill activated.

WHOOSH—!

A faint shriek, like the sound of Space itself being torn, rang out.

A nearly invisible beam of transparent Energy instantly sliced through the air!

The black bear monster’s forward momentum came to a sudden halt. A perfectly round, fist-sized hole silently appeared on its massive, savage head, running clean through from front to back!

The frenzied kinetic energy and the attached Space Tear Effect completely destroyed and annihilated the brain tissue inside the instant it pierced the skull!

CRASH!

Its massive body, now devoid of all life, stumbled forward a few more steps from inertia before crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

A clean, single-shot kill.

The danger was eliminated in an instant.

Seraphina put away her sniper rifle without a second glance at the corpse.

"Let’s go. Keep moving. We need to get out of this forest as soon as possible."

Flora let out a sigh of relief. Carrying Sharon Lynn on her back, she hurried after Seraphina, and they quickly passed through the area.

The three of them traveled swiftly for a while longer. Ahead, the trees began to thin, and they could faintly make out a heavily damaged, weed-choked asphalt road that was still recognizably man-made.

And just then, Sharon Lynn, who had been unconscious on Flora’s back, let out a faint moan. Her eyelids fluttered slightly, showing signs of waking.

Seraphina and Flora exchanged a look, quickly adjusting their expressions and composure.

"Get ready, she’s waking up. Remember who we are," Seraphina said in a low voice.

Flora nodded, gently setting Sharon Lynn down to lean against a relatively clean rock. She then put on an act, pretending to be breathless from their recent escape but forcing herself to stay strong.

Sharon Lynn’s eyelashes trembled more violently. Finally, her wide eyes, still holding the residue of terror, slowly fluttered open.

An unfamiliar environment, the terrifying ordeal on the plane, and the seemingly disheveled older sister before her.

She blinked blankly as memories flooded back like a tide. Her lower lip quivered, and she looked like she was about to cry again.

"Don’t be afraid. You’re awake?" Seraphina immediately adopted a gentle, concerned tone and knelt down. "It’s okay now. We escaped the plane. We’re safe for now."

Flora also came closer and offered a canteen. "Here, little sister, have some water."

Sharon Lynn looked at them, then at the completely unfamiliar wilderness and the distant road. Overwhelming panic and helplessness washed over her again, and tears finally began to stream down her face.

"Big sister... where... where are we now? The others... what about the other people on the plane? How... how did we survive?"

The escort and survival mission officially began the moment the target woke up and asked her first question.

It was time for Seraphina’s masterclass in acting.

After all, the little girl in front of her was the mission’s objective.

Gaining her trust was essential.

An intricate mix of lingering fear, sorrow, and the relief of survival immediately appeared on her face. Her voice trembled slightly, laced with a sob she was trying hard to suppress.

"Sharon... the plane... the plane crashed.

"At the last second, we desperately jumped from a breach in the fuselage and fell into the forest... The others... the others..."

She paused at the right moment and turned her face away as if she couldn’t bear to say more, her shoulders shuddering slightly.

Flora, standing beside her, immediately understood her cue. Being young herself, she gave a perfect performance of someone still in shock and struggling to hold back her grief. Her eyes reddened, and her voice was thick with tears.

"Sob... it was so scary... so many big birds... The plane exploded... Only... only the three of us were lucky enough to be thrown clear and get caught in the trees. That’s how... how we survived..."

As she spoke, she glanced fearfully toward the distant forest, her body trembling slightly.

The pair’s realistic "performance" instantly triggered Sharon’s most terrifying fragmented memories.

The plane’s turbulence, the impact of the strange birds, the piercing alarms, the people’s screams... and finally, the terrifying sensation of weightlessness and the explosion.

"WAAAHHH!!! Daddy! Mommy! SOB... SOB... SOB..."

Sharon Lynn could hold it in no longer. Her pent-up terror erupted, and she burst into loud sobs, tears streaming down like a bursting dam.

She wanted to go back to her parents, who were researchers in Shelter Number 3.

This time, it was Seraphina and Flora’s turn to be a little stunned.

They were just laying the groundwork with their act. They hadn’t expected the little girl to have such an intense reaction, crying her heart out so devastatingly that they were momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Seraphina quickly went to her, pulling Sharon Lynn into her arms and gently patting her back, comforting her in a voice that was both softer and firmer.

"Sharon, don’t cry, don’t cry... It’s all in the past now.

"We’re still alive, and that’s the most important thing.

"You still have us. We’ll protect you. We’ll find a way to get to that safe place, to Shelter Number 3, okay?"

Flora also came closer, clumsily wiping Sharon’s tears. "Yeah, yeah, don’t be scared, Sharon.

"We... before the plane crashed, we found some weapons from those soldier-uncles! Look!" She quickly showed off the submachine gun and grenades hanging from her gear.

"With these, we can fight off the little monsters! We’ll protect you!"