The scene of a black-clad girl descending from the sky was too shocking. The beautiful warrior girl landed, her long trench coat still fluttering behind her, causing the captain and first officer to almost stop breathing.
The samurai sword effortlessly sliced through a horde of deranged, twisted monsters sent by a spatial locator, reducing them to pieces. The sword was so sharp that as these strange people were cut into bits, they had no time to even spill blood before being engulfed in flames and turning to ash.
The captain and first officer saw a flash of silver light, followed by rising black flames. In the span of a single breath, the cockpit was restored to its pristine state, leaving only the divine-like girl arrogantly shaking her long hair, her samurai sword, unstained by a single drop of blood, sheathed.
"Hmph, quite the show."
Bai Cha tossed the long samurai sword in her hand. The narrow, slender blade gleamed with a cold light as if washed by autumn water. A flash of cold light, and the captain and first officer saw a white light streak past. A small, thumb-sized square mechanical box was neatly bisected.
The mechanical box emitted a faint crackle of electricity, rendering it scrap, and the cloaking film covering it was also pulverized by Bai Cha.
This kind of cloaking film didn't truly make items invisible; it merely altered the light to create an optical illusion. Such a simple trick was as good as nothing to Bai Cha. In fact, Bai Cha had discovered this device long ago, waiting for the mastermind to take the bait.
Or rather, the mastermind saw through Bai Cha, and Bai Cha saw through herself.
That mysterious person, the one who always hid in the shadows, forcing Bai Cha to break through one predicament after another and leaving Shadow stretched thin, had seen through Bai Cha's inevitable anger and disappointment. He had also calculated that those clinging to Bai Cha's coattails, having been idle recently, would panic at Bai Cha's detachment and rush to pledge their loyalty.
Therefore, that mysterious person had prepared long in advance. At this time, Bai Cha had just finished a match. Failure to participate in a world competition resulted in an automatic loss, and falling out of the top ten carried equally severe consequences.
Unfortunately, Bai Cha knew she would be angry, and thus she could also deduce that Gong Yuechen's group would act erratically. However, Bai Cha had actually overestimated her brother.
Gong Yuechen. This person always seemed to possess a beauty untainted by rationality at critical moments.
Fortunately, Bai Cha had a contingency plan, sending Su Qing to use the challenge slot and engage in a protracted battle to delay the match.
It was a pity that the item just destroyed was a smoke bomb, but it didn't matter. Among so many, there had to be at least one connected to the real terminal. She would see who would win this game of chess between her and the mysterious person.
Although, for now, it seemed to be a draw.
"Miss... Miss Bai?"
The captain was dumbfounded. He was also a seasoned captain with extensive experience, having weathered storms in crises. This was why he was entrusted with ferrying these high-ranking individuals. He was no stranger to Bai Cha. The moment he saw her, his heart was a mixture of tension and relief.
The relief stemmed from the fact that with Bai Cha present, everything would surely be alright, or at least their survival was not in doubt. Miss Bai never failed when she acted.
However, there was a significant issue. Bai Cha only appeared in places of genuine crisis. This meant that if Bai Cha had appeared here...
It meant something truly, truly, truly, truly terrible had happened!
How could he not be tense!
Hearing the captain's words, the first officer also reacted and stammered, "Miss... Miss Bai, were those... zombies just now?"
In other words, it was truly becoming surreal. Following the descent of dragons, the world was becoming even more fantastical. What were those grotesquely shaped, twisted, green-faced, fanged creatures! Were these Western zombies? If so, would Eastern Jiangshi also be far behind!
The two captains felt their already fragile scientific beliefs crumbling. Establishing a worldview was difficult, but destroying one took but a moment. Even though scientists had worked as quickly as possible to explain the operating principles of dragon power, it didn't prevent more fantastical, mythological elements from flying everywhere.
"No, people who die are just dead. Zombies, reanimation, and the like are generally unlikely unless remotely controlled," Bai Cha said, shrugging. This statement gave the two captains renewed confidence in science.
But her next sentence made the two captains doubt life even more.
"So, these aren't zombies; they're Asura." Bai Cha added.
The captain and first officer said in unison: "What?"
"Well, have you heard of the Six Paths of Reincarnation? In the Asura Path, there are many Asura, with males being extremely ugly and females extremely beautiful. They are born from hell and guard the Asura Path," Bai Cha said, stroking her chin and speaking fluently from memory. "However, if I recall correctly, these low-level, easily angered, and highly aggressive Asura are the weakest. Calling them zombies wouldn't be entirely wrong... Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Bai Cha was earnestly explaining, but she found the world-view-shattering expressions on the captain and first officer's faces somewhat inexplicable.
"Oh, don't misunderstand. I'm just explaining ancient texts. These things didn't crawl out of the Asura Path in hell; they are artificially created."
Artificially created? That was good. After all, everything in this world could still be explained by science.
The captain and first officer patted their chests simultaneously, breathing a sigh of relief.
After all, even the composition of dragon power, energy generation, explosion causes, and why it could circulate in the human body had been explained. So, this time, it could surely be explained by science, right?
"After all, when extreme evil and extreme good are over-stimulated and become unbalanced, they can indeed become demonic. It's equivalent to humans being mutated into hellish creatures," the captains said, before they could fully relax, Bai Cha added, "After all, humans are too much, and it's only right for the gods to bestow punishment..."
"Hmm? Why are you still looking at me like that?" Bai Cha stroked her chin, raising an eyebrow at the captain and first officer whose expressions went from horrified to calm, and then from calm to horrified. "Oh... you two, forget I said anything."
Bai Cha had suddenly overlooked an important issue. Due to their special professions, they often walked on the edge and were accustomed to strange occurrences. They had overlooked that ordinary people were always kept in the dark.
She imagined they had fallen for the researchers' deception.
The captain and first officer: "..."
How could you expect us to forget what you said? Our worldviews have been shattered! That look you just gave us was clearly saying, "You actually believed those deceptive words!" with utmost disdain!
"Thump thump..."
A soft knock on the door.
"Bang bang bang!"
Before the captain could even ask who it was, the knocking became more urgent. The loud knocking startled both the captain and first officer. This time, there was no need to look to know something was wrong.
"You two, stay inside the protective shield and don't move," Bai Cha said, looking up and gesturing for them to look ahead. "You're responsible for watching the plane."
As soon as she finished speaking, the plane lurched, as if suddenly bearing tons of weight, tilting sharply.
"So soon?" Bai Cha muttered softly. She wasn't in a hurry. She leisurely strolled to the door, pushed with her left thumb, and the sharp long sword faintly unsheathed, a silver light flashing.
Bai Cha gripped the door handle, a faint, wicked smile playing on her lips. She actually seemed to be in a good mood.
"Let's see how powerful the Muramasa that Miyamoto-san brags about is."
"But since it's a sacrificial blade, I hope there are enough small monsters."
Meanwhile, on the other side, Gong Yuechen and his companions were dumbfounded.
They were pinned to their seats, unable to move. They had initially felt relieved upon hearing Bai Cha's broadcast, but then, a scene beyond their wildest imagination unfolded.
Suddenly, inexplicably, a horde of zombies appeared in front, behind, left, and right of the plane. These zombies were green-faced, fanged, and incredibly ugly. Occasionally, there were some beautifully grotesque zombies, some even having four arms.
Yes, beautifully grotesque. Their noses, their eyes, were indescribably beautiful. If even one of them were placed on their own faces, it would significantly boost their appearance.
However, perhaps because the skin color of these female zombies was too strange, like a palette mixed with acrylics of green, yellow, and red into a lump, appearing dry and pockmarked, their attractive features were still chilling.
Yet, they still had to admit these female zombies were truly beautiful. Their skin was so ugly, yet paired with their figures and faces, it evoked both disgust and admiration.
As for the male zombies, they were completely ignored. They refused to acknowledge those bizarrely ugly, strangely shaped, twisted, and dismembered humanoid creatures as male zombies. The very thought of associating them with the word "male" felt unlucky.
No, the point wasn't that. The point was why were there so many zombies on the plane!
Gong Yuechen was thoroughly distressed. These zombies were trampling on the corpses of their companions, frantically gnawing at their protective shields. Seeing their uneven, black-and-yellow teeth and their grotesquely varied uvulas, Gong Yuechen felt he would never want to look in a mirror while yawning for the rest of his life.
It would leave psychological trauma, wouldn't it!
The cabin was silent, except for the wriggling and gnawing sounds of these zombie Asura. Everyone was like a chicken with its throat choked, wanting to say something but having their mouths clamped shut. Watching the zombies gnaw at the protective shields with their crunching sounds made them also grit their teeth.
"... Damn it, Bai Cha, save us!"
Gong Yuechen's heart was streaming tears. He had never wanted to see Bai Cha so much. He voiced everyone's inner thoughts.
They weren't afraid of ghosts, but they were afraid of ugliness! They were too ugly, terrifyingly ugly, and almost made them vomit their last meal!
"Chi wa chi wa!"
Strange gibberish sounds came from the front of the cabin. All the zombies suddenly stopped moving, stared blankly ahead, and slowly crawled down, then rushed forward in waves towards a specific direction.
Those sitting in the front felt it most acutely. For instance, Gong Yuechen, sitting in the second row, was about to cry from disgust. A flash of silver light appeared, and he thought he was mistaken. But the next second, the zombies swarming his protective shield were sliced into pieces, scattered haphazardly, and then, with a fleeting black flame, those disgusting things were incinerated.
Immediately after, Bai Cha flicked her wrist, and another spatial projector was rendered scrap. Two on the plane's fuselage, one in the cockpit, and the spatial projector at the front of the cabin that sent the zombies were all shattered by Bai Cha. However, the spiritual power Bai Cha used for reconnaissance yielded no results. It seemed to be another smoke bomb.
But it didn't matter. There was only one left anyway.
Bai Cha narrowed her eyes and walked forward step by step with leisurely grace. With every step she took, zombies within a few meters were cut into pieces and then incinerated. The zombies grew more numerous, but the clean area behind Bai Cha also expanded.