CH 27

Chapter 27: The El Niño Water Dragon

Zhou Yu could only continue petting its back with his other finger. Only then did it eventually calm down.

After a long while, Mo Ye really did fall asleep as its breaths gradually became more shallow. Zhou Yu placed it down on the floor, stood up, and left.

He went to the surveillance room and started chatting with the chief researcher, Carlos.

“I never expected to be able to see a living night spirit in all my years. This species is nearly extinct in Nibelungen.”

“Will you hurt it?” This was what Zhou Yu was the most concerned about.

At this stage, it was impossible for him to take Mo Ye away, not to mention that Juli Corp had control over the way back to his world.

“Of course not! It has research value only if it is alive! We will carefully extract its saliva and not hurt it! Look at how beautiful it is!” Carlos stood in front of the glass wall and looked at Mo Ye with an almost reverent gaze.

Zhou Yu was a little surprised. It was the first time he had heard that little black thing referred to as “beautiful”. Sure enough, the world of academics was different from the world of normal people.

“What about its habits? For example, what does it eat?”

“Before we got hold of it, we had nothing on it. But according to the data from our sensors, when it was holding your finger just now, it had been sucking your blood.”

“Just as I thought…”

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“Yes. Instead, it made your body healthier,” Carlos shrugged his shoulders.

Zhou Yu nodded, “It’s getting late, I’m going back to rest. If anything happens to Mo Ye… that night spirit, please let me know.”

“Of course,” Carlos nodded, then suddenly asked, “Did you give it a name?”

“Yes,” Zhou Yu answered, “It’s called Mo Ye, it means ‘a night as black as ink’.”

Back in the room, Zhou Yu lay down on his narrow bed. He had not received any tasks in these two days, so he was finally able to have a good rest.

The next morning, Zhou Yu’s intercom sounded and Wu Yun’s voice came from it, “Hey, bro! We need to head out! A research team out collecting important plant samples is currently trapped.”

Zhou Yu jumped up and glanced at his watch. He found that he had only slept for five hours.

However, that was enough for Zhou Yu. When he left the room, he saw the two coffee-colored fruits lying on the bed. He took them with him without hesitating.

After checking their equipment, he and Wu Yun quickly walked over to the surface level of the base.

Several younger field workers followed behind them.

Wu Yun nudged Zhou Yu with his elbow and whispered, “It’s always a pain bringing rookies on missions.”

“They’re all newcomers?” Zhou Yu asked.

“Yeah. They think they know how dangerous Nibelungen is, but they don’t. They want to show off their abilities in order to win the backing of Juli Corp and then wait for the money to flow into their pockets. They think they’ll spend the rest of their lives lying on the beach somewhere in Hawaii, drinking cocktails and ogling beauties in bikinis.”

“By the time they get back, maybe inflation will have made the money they exchanged their lives for worthless already.”

“Ha-ha, what a cold sense of humor, I like it,” Wu Yun gave Zhou Yu a thumbs up.

In front of them were two helicopters on standby.

Stepping into the cabin, Zhou Yu suddenly thought of something, “Hey, did you introduce yourself to the rookies?”

Wu Yun touched his nose and laughed, “A warning would be useless if no one listens, and suggestions that aren’t followed are also worthless. Don’t you know the significance of this task?”

“Aren’t we going to rescue the researchers?”

“Whether those two researchers are still alive or not is still up in the air. The true purpose of this task is a screening and, if possible, to retrieve the research data of the researchers. Every researcher carries a recorder with them when they go out into the field that records everything they do, including conjectures based on on-site observations. If they can’t be saved, then it becomes vital to bring their recorder back. Juli Corp will not spend an exorbitant amount of money to support anyone worthless. Those who survive repeated missions are the ones who deserve their money.”

“Others just get compensation pay, right?”

Wu Yun shrugged without answering.

Two of the newbies also got in their helicopter. They were about the same age as Zhou Yu and also looked like seasoned veterans. There was unconcealed pride in their eyes and they showed no intentions of initiating conversation with their senior, Wu Yun. One of them was from Korea, named Kim Joo-won, and the other was from Japan, surnamed Yamamoto.

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“Me? My life previous life had been miserable. I was finally about to marry my girlfriend of ten years, but she got pregnant with someone else’s child—and that someone was my close friend! If that wasn’t enough, she then planned with him to kill me! In all my rage, I took a knife and killed the two of them instead! At this point, I can only stay in Nibelungen.” Wu Yun spoke in English, allowing everyone to understand him.

Sitting opposite of Wu Yun, Kim Joo-won and Yamamoto both showed sympathetic, yet somewhat contemptuous, expressions.

They sympathized with his girlfriend’s betrayal, but were contemptuous that he had fallen to such a level over a woman.

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“Don’t worry, Professor Zhou is at the base. While you’re away, he’ll go to see Mo Ye.”

“Hm.” Now was not the time to worry about Mo Ye.

Very soon, the helicopter flew to a crater-like place.

Looking down from above, there was a lake in the center of the volcanic crater. It was surrounded by green vegetation, appearing like a transparent sapphire inlaid in jadeite.

A gleam of sunlight only added a bright halo around its elegance.

Such beauty was not at all common.

As the shadow of the helicopter passed over the lake, several winged, dragon-like creatures suddenly sprung out from beneath.

The water splashed up several meters high and fell back down with a crash.

The dragon-like creatures sped up towards the helicopter like sharp arrows released from the bow.

The pilot had no choice but to adjust their angle. Zhou Yu and the others were almost flung out of the cabin.

“Let’s move!” Wu Yun shouted and jumped out of the hatch.

Zhou Yu followed closely behind.

They were wearing wingsuits, and they glided down in the air with their arms outstretched.

The two other team members also jumped off after them.

However, the other helicopter was not so fortunate.

The dragon-like creatures were ‘El Niño Water Dragons,’ nicknamed ‘El Niños,’ due to the fact that they were unpredictable, just like the El Niño phenomenon. Generally, aquatic organisms would evolve fins to maintain their balance in the water, but El Niño water dragons retained both of their wings and often leaped out from beneath the water’s surface to catch their prey. Their dynamic vision was very strong, and they often attacked moving objects. They were one of the few organisms in Nibelungen that didn’t hunt based on fear.[1]

The dragons were capable of being very destructive, and their wings unimaginably powerful. They could pierce through the chassis of the helicopter and drag out the humans who weren’t able to jump out in time to tear them apart in mid-air.

Zhou Yu and Wu Yun were already used to situations like this, and they were able to maintain their balance while gliding in the air.

However, Kim Joo-won and Yamamoto, who jumped down with them, had almost dropped off from the shock.

Wu Yun gestured at Zhou Yu to descend. Their goal was to complete the task, there was no time to spare for the rookies. Those who were truly strong would be able to adjust their mentality at the most critical moment and seize onto any opportunity to live from even the narrowest of crevices.

A dragon was coming head-on towards Zhou Yu, its gaping jaws capable of snapping him into two from the middle. No one could see Zhou Yu’s movements clearly, except that he pulled out the gun from his waist, drew an arc in the air, and shot into the mouth of the water dragon.

The entire series of actions took less than a minute, and Zhou Yu was able to keep his balance throughout.

The dragon let out a cry and fell back down.

Zhou Yu’s movements were fluid and natural in the air. Wu Yun gave him a thumbs up, while Kim Joo-won and Yamamoto revealed amazed expressions. However, before they were able to ponder over how Zhou Yu had killed the water dragon, another one charged at Yamamoto.

He wanted to pull out his gun, but his actions were too slow. Before he could draw his weapon, the dragon bit down on him.

Yamamoto didn’t suffer for too long before being swallowed by the dragon.