220: sword finger farm

In the distance, under Etna's command, a helicopter rapidly flew towards the Silver Fox's location.

As a highly effective mode of transport from long ago, helicopters had always been America's most common means of travel.

With the continuous development of new technology, modern helicopters were even more formidable.

Their size was in no way inferior to previous aircraft, yet they possessed even greater maneuverability, capable of handling more scenarios.

This helicopter carried a large number of healing Espers, existing as battlefield support.

Once they arrived, they might be able to save the Silver Fox's life.

The helicopter's speed was very fast, and it quickly reached the ground. A team of fully armed healing Espers emerged from it.

They wore white doctor's robes, considering themselves angels who saved lives and healed the wounded.

They quickly brought a large pile of specialized medical equipment to the Silver Fox.

Saving an ordinary Awakened Beast might be very troublesome.

After all, under the influence of the Beta Gene, most Awakened Beasts had become enormous.

But the Silver Fox was different.

Its agility meant it didn't blindly pursue a massive size, choosing instead a miniature version more suitable for concealment.

This small size was very convenient for healing Espers to rescue.

However, the Silver Fox probably never imagined, even in death, that it still couldn't escape America's clutches.

As the captain of this medical team, Lopez immediately chose to use Self-healing Ability on the Silver Fox upon arrival.

This energy was practically omnipotent, greatly enhancing the target's vitality and providing a very powerful healing effect.

After all, Awakened Beasts' Self-healing Ability was already terrifying; as long as their lives were sustained, they would generally survive.

However, Lopez quickly frowned.

He found that the Silver Fox's condition was quite different from what he had imagined.

It didn't at all resemble an Awakened Beast with powerful Self-healing Ability.

Instead, it was more like an ordinary wild beast from before the world mutated, with extremely low Self-healing Ability.

This situation was extremely abnormal and should not occur under normal circumstances.

It was as if every cell in its body was resisting Self-healing.

A glint of excitement flashed in Lopez's eyes.

There's actually a creature that refuses treatment?

The more you don't want to live, the more I will make you live.

The thought of twisting a life's will excited Lopez immensely.

“Captain Lopez, the Silver Fox's tongue has been found. What should we do next?”

Just then, Lopez's assistant handed him a bloody tongue.

It was the one the Silver Fox had bitten off.

Not chewing it up and swallowing it directly was perhaps its biggest mistake.

The Silver Fox was indeed a powerful Awakened Beast.

The tongue, having been detached for several minutes, still maintained full vitality.

It could still be reattached and used.

Lopez made a judgment in an instant and ordered, “Pry open its mouth and reattach the tongue.”

“Then use life energy to rapidly stimulate its growth. I believe it should heal very quickly.”

“Don't be afraid of harming the Silver Fox's body. This fox is a Mental Power-type Awakened Beast.”

“As long as its brain is intact, other parts of its body can be damaged at will.”

“The only thing we need to do is ensure it doesn't die.”

Although the Silver Fox was powerful, it was ultimately on its deathbed.

To pry open its mouth, these people even used massive mechs.

While the mechs were powerful, their large size made fine manipulation very difficult.

Coupled with Lopez's instruction to be bold and fearless, they had even fewer reservations.

With a crisp snap, the Silver Fox's mouth was instantly shattered.

Revealing the other half of the tongue hidden within.

Without even a simple cleaning, Lopez directly shoved the mud-covered tongue back in.

With the violent infusion of life energy, the tongue began to heal rapidly, just as Lopez had predicted.

Eventually, it stopped bleeding, sealing the largest wound.

The next steps would be much easier.

That was to heal the injuries in the Silver Fox's brain.

Thinking of this, Lopez asked his assistant, “What are the results of the Mental Power scan?”

“What is the state of the Silver Fox's brain?”

The assistant's voice trembled slightly as he said, “It's almost turned into a paste.”

“It's hard to imagine how ruthless it must have been to itself to inflict such a fatal blow.”

“However, if we only need to maintain its most basic functions, forcibly stimulating its Self-healing Ability might be feasible.”

“Its memories, on the other hand, are completely unimportant to us.”

Lopez nodded, agreeing with his assistant's words, and said, “But that alone isn't foolproof.”

“Bring a Nature Fruit and force-feed it to this Silver Fox.”

Nature Fruit?

A hint of surprise flashed in the assistant's eyes. That was a super treasure, and it was going to be used on a dying fox.

The Nature Fruit, as its name suggested, was a fruit borne by the Nature Tree, possessing incredibly terrifying vitality.

Though small, a single one could achieve the effect of bringing the dead back to life and regenerating flesh.

After all, this came from the Nature Tree, another equally powerful Lord of the Forbidden Zone.

America had only managed to obtain less than ten in total, which showed how precious it was.

After all, not everyone could casually extort countless Nature Fruits like Lin Tianwei.

But then he quickly realized that this wasn't just any dying ordinary fox.

This was a powerful Lord of the Forbidden Zone, a Ninth-tier giant beast, the owner of the Crazy Zoo Forbidden Zone!

If it was to save such a powerful target, using a Nature Fruit was very reasonable.

Thinking of this, he carefully opened the toolbox he carried.

In one exquisite glass bottle, a vibrant green fruit lay quietly.

As soon as the Nature Fruit was placed in the Silver Fox's mouth, it seemed to melt, turning into a pool of vibrant green liquid that rapidly integrated into its body.

As if sentient, the vibrant green liquid, imbued with powerful life force, began to converge in the Silver Fox's brain.

Continuously healing the brain that had already turned into a paste.

Coupled with the infusion of various healing Espers' abilities, the Silver Fox's body actually began to slowly recover.

The powerful Self-healing Ability of Awakened Beasts might be a life-saving key at other times.

But at this moment, with the Silver Fox having given up on life, it became a burden.

Even if its will longed for freedom and did not want to fall into the hands of these upright apes.

Its body instinctively wanted to live.

With the powerful life force of the Awakened Beast erupting, the Silver Fox's injuries actually showed a tendency to stabilize.

Even Lopez's eyes showed a hint of joy.

He had once again saved lives and healed the wounded, rescuing a patient who needed saving!

However, Lopez ultimately underestimated the Silver Fox's determination to long for freedom.

To commit suicide, it not only actively welcomed the arrows and plasma bombs, which were already fatal enough for it.

It also decisively bit off its own tongue.

And it even launched a Mental Power shock at its most vital brain, directly pulverizing its brain into a paste.

Such terrifying injuries, even with all healing Espers working at full capacity, would be difficult to reverse.

As time passed, the Silver Fox's condition worsened.

There was no sign of complete recovery.

Instead, the healing Espers who had been treating the Silver Fox started to experience problems.

The cold sweat constantly seeping from their foreheads indicated their significant exhaustion, meaning they definitely couldn't last much longer.

This situation was simply a slap in Lopez's face.

The Silver Fox used its powerful willpower to tell him that it was not a life to be toyed with at his whim.

Sighing, Lopez shook his head and said, “I have tried my best.”

“But this fox's injuries are too severe, and coupled with its will resisting to live, the treatment is completely twice the effort for half the result.”

“Most importantly, our personnel are already showing signs of exhaustion.”

“Once the continuous supply of life force is lost, that might be when the Silver Fox dies.”

As if to confirm Lopez's words, the weakest healing Esper suddenly rolled his eyes and fainted.

Like a domino effect, three more healing Espers then collapsed.

This scene made Etna's face turn ashen, like the darkest bottom of a pot.

If the Silver Fox died, wouldn't it mean everything they had sacrificed for this battle was for nothing?

A wasted effort!

Freedom?

How could freedom be more important than life?

Etna completely failed to understand the Silver Fox's thoughts, yet he was helpless.

After all, he was not a powerful healing Esper.

Even Lopez said he was powerless, so he too was powerless, only able to watch the Silver Fox slowly slide into the abyss of death.

Perhaps even God was on the side of this stubborn life?

However, just as he was about to give up on treatment, he heard a lewd voice say,

“Doesn't want to live? Hehe, I have ways to make it want to live.”

“Life is precious, and giving up one's life so easily is not a good habit.”

At this point, Milosh fawningly said to Etna, “Lord Etna, please allow me to try.”

“If successful, after stimulating the Silver Fox's will to survive, it might cooperate with Lord Lopez to live.”

“As for my previous contracted Awakened Beast, that only Eighth-tier Awakened Land Tortoise, please have Lord Etna send someone to kill it.”

“Don't worry, under my command, it will definitely not have any thought of resisting.”

At this point, Milosh looked at the dying Silver Fox with fervent eyes.

If he could contract this powerful Ninth-tier Awakened Beast.

He couldn't even imagine how much benefit he would gain.

Of course, he also knew who was in charge here, so even in such an urgent moment, he did not act on his own initiative.

Milosh's words, however, opened up Etna's thinking.

They might have another way to twist the Silver Fox's soul and make it live to become their enforcer.

After all, he had originally planned to have Milosh try at a crucial moment.

It was just that he had been so frightened by the possibility of failure that he had lost his mind for a moment, completely forgetting about this matter.

Thinking of this, Etna nodded without hesitation and said, "Alright, we'll do as you say."

"America will remember your sacrifice."

"Although that eighth-tier Awakened Beast land tortoise will die as a result."

"But don't worry, even if you don't succeed in saving this Silver Fox, we will definitely find an excellent replacement Awakened Beast for you."

"I order you to go all out!"

Etna's promise made Milosh ecstatic, and his last bit of apprehension vanished.

He immediately bowed and scraped to Etna.

The moment he sensed the mental link with the Awakened Beast land tortoise break, Milosh moved against the Silver Fox.

As his strength grew, his application of this Esper ability became more proficient.

It was no longer like before, triggered randomly by instinct.

Now, Milosh could target and contract quickly.

Of course, he had to possess sufficiently powerful strength to suppress the target's mind and successfully contract it.

Under normal circumstances, Milosh's half-baked Mental Power would never be able to successfully contract the Silver Fox.

However, now was different.

The Silver Fox was on the verge of death, having drained its last shred of Mental Power to launch a suicidal attack on itself.

This left it with pitifully little strength to resist Milosh's contract.

Facing Milosh's intrusion, the Silver Fox's body instinctively trembled.

It was as if it feared the arrival of something terrifying.

However, already at the end of its rope, it had no chance of escaping Milosh's clutches.

As the mental link was established little by little, the Silver Fox was about to fall into an abyss called enslavement.

Just as Milosh was diligently contracting the Silver Fox, its eyes suddenly snapped open.

Two lines of clear tears streamed down its cheeks.

Hiss~~~~~~~~

The Silver Fox let out two mournful cries, but due to its injured tongue, it could only produce some garbled sounds.

It never expected these people to be so cruel.

They even ruthlessly deprived it of the right to die.

It wanted to attack itself and commit suicide again, but found that it couldn't muster any strength.

It could only continuously emit mournful hissing sounds, like a cuckoo crying blood, exceptionally desolate.

Eventually, the Silver Fox's cries grew weaker and weaker, until they finally disappeared.

This also meant that the Silver Fox's spirit had completely lost the ability to resist.

When the Silver Fox stopped wailing, Milosh's contract was completed.

It had become Milosh's contracted beast; its life, and even its will, were no longer its own.

"Annoying, shut up."

"Without my command, you are not allowed to say a single word."

"Now I command you, fight with all your might to live!"

The Silver Fox's tragic cries received no sympathy.

Instead, they greatly annoyed Milosh, who immediately ordered it to shut up.

He really didn't want to hear that unpleasant noise anymore.

Perhaps there wasn't much power left in the Silver Fox's body at this time, so Milosh didn't receive much power feedback.

But this couldn't stop his excitement.

This was a ninth-tier Awakened Beast, and he had successfully contracted it, making it a Slave he could manipulate.

More importantly, he could feel the power emanating from the Silver Fox's body growing stronger and stronger.

This also meant that the Silver Fox was recovering, becoming more powerful.

He was about to possess a powerful Awakened Beast.

Awakened Beast land tortoise?

To hell with it!

It was a good thing he gave up quickly, otherwise how could he have obtained such a powerful Awakened Beast?

Milosh even began to fantasize: if the Silver Fox could be successfully contracted by him.

Then wouldn't that mean... wouldn't that mean that even the terrifying Tiger King could also be contracted by him?

At the thought of this possibility, Milosh was so excited he almost jumped up.

As for what to do with the Silver Fox when contracting the Tiger King?

Just kill this stupid fox, wouldn't that be enough?

It wanted to die? Then he would grant its wish.

Perhaps it would even be grateful for his mercy, grateful that he allowed its soul to be freed.

Thinking this, Milosh felt he was truly a great benevolent person.

Suppressing the joy in his heart, Milosh respectfully said to Etna, "Lord Etna, I have not failed you."

"I can feel the Silver Fox's vitality gradually growing stronger."

"It should recover its health very soon."

Before Etna could even ask, Lopez, equally ecstatic, said, "Lord Etna, what he said is basically correct."

"With the Silver Fox's active cooperation, its injuries have begun to heal noticeably."

"Although it won't fully recover to its peak state for a while, it has at least escaped immediate danger."

"It will only take a month, and I will be able to completely heal it."

Alive?

The Silver Fox was alive again?

Etna never expected there to be such a turn of events in subduing the Silver Fox.

Truly, when mountains and rivers seem to block the way, and you suspect no path remains, suddenly, a village appears amidst the willows and blossoms!

The cooked duck had flown back again.

He immediately praised, "Milosh, Lopez, you both did an excellent job."

"America will remember your contributions."

"Don't worry, this time you will certainly be rewarded handsomely."

At this point, Etna's gaze suddenly turned to the distance.

It turned towards the direction of the Tiger King Farm.

There lay their ultimate enemy in America.

The terrifying nightmare that hung over all of America was finally due to be dispelled.

Thinking of this, Etna murmured, "A month's time, then?"

"That's just right; Plan M and plan b still need some preparations here."

"A month from now, it will be time to launch a fatal blow against the Tiger King Farm!"

Thinking of this, Etna's eyes regained their confidence, and he said, "One month, we in America will wait for one month."

"Bring back the Awakened Beasts captured this time; don't even let go of the corpses."

"They are all excellent materials."

"Whether used as beast companions or materials for modification, they are excellent choices."

Etna's words, though simple, conveyed an unusual meaning.

America had always been brewing an attack plan against Lin Tianwei, never intending to let him go or compromise.

This was only natural.

If they are not of our kind, their hearts must be different!

The miserable fate of the Awakened Beasts in Crazy Zoo was their true attitude towards Awakened Beasts.

The reason they hadn't moved against Lin Tianwei yet was simply because they didn't feel their own strength was sufficient.

How can another sleep soundly when a tiger lurks by their bed?

Even a small place like Cherry Blossom Island wouldn't allow such a thing to happen, let alone America, known for its barbarism and dominance.

The reason they hadn't attacked Lin Tianwei before was simply that the time wasn't right.

This time, they had gained even greater power.

That restless heart grew even more eager to move... Five days!

Ten days!

Fifteen days!

Twenty days!

Twenty-five days!

As the one-month mark drew closer, America clearly fell into an increasingly tense atmosphere.

This atmosphere undoubtedly meant that something big was about to happen.

In Tiger King Farm.

Ouro was also in a fluster.

All signs indicated that America was brewing a major move.

A major move, just like when they flattened Crazy Zoo.

However, all his intelligence channels yielded no news.

An illusion?

No, this was definitely not an illusion.

It was merely the calm before the storm.

Thinking of this, Ouro looked at Rosa with a worried expression and asked, "Rosa, do you have any intelligence on your side?"

"I feel the current situation is rather strange."

"America must be planning a major move, yet we haven't received even a whisper of it."

Only then did Ouro realize how ridiculous his infiltration plan truly was.

Truly confidential matters were simply not information he could obtain through infiltrators.

Even the vague rumors about tianqing no. were obtained at the cost of Rosa's exposure.

And this information had received no feedback.

Because Lord Tiger King had shown no reaction whatsoever.

Of course, this wasn't entirely Ouro's fault.

True infiltration is meant to be subtle and undetectable.

An infiltration plan lacking time to execute is destined to be a failed, half-finished product.

Thinking of this, Ouro felt another headache.

The situation was already dire, yet Lord Tiger King showed no action.

It was as if he was completely unaware of America's strange situation.

Such circumstances made him incredibly worried.

A proud army is destined to lose!

This was a lesson learned by Huaguo after countless failures.

Gritting his teeth, Ouro decided to go see Lord Tiger King again.

Even if it displeased Lord Tiger King and made him disappointed, he had to do it.

Facing Ouro's inquiry, Rosa sighed and said, "I'm sorry, my Ouro darling."

"Since my exposure, my intelligence network has also been quickly dismantled, and I can't obtain any confidential information."

"If I hadn't risked exposure back then, perhaps this wouldn't have happened."

"I never imagined..."

Although Rosa didn't finish her sentence, Ouro understood her meaning.

In fact, even he hadn't expected Lord Tiger King to remain indifferent.

Thinking of this, Ouro said to Rosa, "Rosa, this isn't your fault."

"Since we can't find the cause, we can only strengthen our own defenses."

"Go arrange the defenses of Tiger King Farm, making sure there isn't a single oversight."

"At such a critical moment, stop all non-essential activities and try to reduce the entry and exit of suspicious personnel."

"I'll go report what I've discovered to Lord Tiger King again." (End of Chapter)