Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

"Close the window! Close it quick!" Zhang Zhiyuan shouted loudly.

The windows had two layers, the outer glass pane and the inner wire mesh. Clearly, the glass would not hold against these sized bird creatures; only the wire mesh offered a sliver of hope!

The others rushed forward, pulling down the wire mesh windows.

Almost at the same time, the white birds reached the side of the carriage! They didn’t ram into the windows like moths to a flame but clung to the windows, pecking viciously with their beaks. The combination of a human face and a skull with a row of diamond-shaped cat eyes was unspeakably horrifying! For a moment, the windows creaked under the stress as the wires were pulled out of shape.

Zhang Zhiyuan and the others did not hesitate to stick their gun barrels out of the window and immediately pulled the triggers.

The piercing sound of gunfire immediately echoed through the forest!

It wasn’t just their carriage; cries and the sounds of gunfire came from the other carriages as well.

"I’ll hold this place!" Zhang Zhiyuan yelled, "Anthony, you go to the roof!"

"Hang in there, kid!" With his helmet on, Anthony climbed to the roof using the ladder in the middle of the carriage, where a twin-barrel 30mm autocannon was mounted. As soon as he popped his head out, the white birds dived at him from all directions. Anthony, regardless of his own body, grabbed the gun handle and started firing!

The firepower of the large-caliber autocannon was far beyond that of a rifle. Wherever the bullets reached, feathers scattered, and many bird creatures were swept down before they could get close, splattering fresh blood everywhere. A few birds that clung to him and gnawed could do no vital harm, thanks to his thick leather jacket and stab-proof armor, giving him only a dulled sense of tearing pain.

The train also sounded its whistle at this moment, with the brakes of each carriage seizing instantly and the wheels screeching.

The people inside the carriage were once again jostled violently from side to side!

Chaoyang’s voice also entered the minds of all the players then, "The train is under attack, disembark and clear the creatures."

"Zhou Zhi, you stay here to guard Leisk; we’ll go down!" Zhang Zhiyuan instructed.

"Wait, count me in!" The rear door was suddenly flung open with a bang, and Cui Zhen’en, having switched bodies, returned in front of everyone, "Damn it, they bit me so badly, I can’t swallow this anger unless I kill dozens of them!"

"I’ll go out first, you follow me." Ailuodi snatched ahead of Zhang Zhiyuan, opened the door, and jumped off the train. The surrounding monsters immediately changed their target, snapping their beaks at the Angel. What greeted them, however, was a sword wind faster than a hurricane, and in the blink of an eye, a dozen or so bird creatures were decapitated!

Zhang Zhiyuan, Cui Zhen’en, and Qianyuan Mingzi also descended from the train at this time, firing violently along the carriage at other carriages—the barrage of bullets instantly knocked down a large number of white birds like a paintbrush.

As long as the firepower is sufficient, much of the fear brought by the unknown dissipates.

The chaotic battle lasted about ten minutes. Seeing that they couldn’t consume these humans, the bird creatures began to retreat. They left behind a large number of their kin’s corpses, diving into the woods and quickly vanishing into the mist.

If not for the mass of feathers and flesh littered on either side of the tracks, they might have even thought it was all just a nightmare.

"What the hell are these birds?" Zhang Zhiyuan picked up one of the bird corpses from the ground and held it up for a closer inspection. Its body was almost no different from that of normal birds, except for its more developed muscles. Its most distinctive characteristic was its head, which at first glance looked like a human skull, but in reality, it was covered with a thin layer of gray down, giving it the texture of sun-dried bone shards. Only its mouth... was exactly like a human’s, even the number of teeth was about the same.

"These are creatures of the mist," someone suddenly said.

He looked up and saw a petite girl standing in front of him. Her thick long hair rose without wind, like a colorful, vivid black flower.

"It’s my first time seeing them," said Zhang Zhiyuan, tossing away the dead bird and scrutinizing the girl curiously. Although he already knew this world wasn’t a true game world, and beyond humans, there were many human-like "others," taking the host’s words with only half a grain of trust. Nevertheless, the girl before him captured his gaze.

Unlike the "others" he had encountered before, the Haiwei People, the sense of non-human she gave off was more on a spiritual level. It was strange, especially for Zhang Zhiyuan, who usually acted based on rational judgment. His intuition continuously warned him that this girl was far removed from other "others"... and even all of humanity, as if she belonged to an entirely different existence.

Kokomoqi was also sizing up Zhang Zhiyuan at the same time.

She had been told by Chaoyang that Paradise held a handful of "Chosen Ones," who existed alongside Paradise, their spirits immortal as long as the divinities were undying. The downside was that they often acted out of line, and their understanding of the world was somewhat lacking. They dated back to the origins of the Paradise Master and could be considered a type of innate ability.

Contracts, Chosen Ones, and connections... She already knew about three kinds of innate abilities, making Kokomoqi somewhat envious. When had newborn divinities become so powerful? The divinities born in her era generally had only one or two innate abilities, which had to be paired with The Divine Country to be most effective.

"The fog can change the ecology of an area. In such environments, new species can be born, commonly possessing stronger aggressiveness," Kokomoqi kindly explained. "Your memories should be inherited from the Paradise Master, right? He has just formed not long ago and hasn’t seen any creatures of the fog, which is quite normal."

"That... makes sense," Zhang Zhiyuan replied, slightly embarrassed, while reminding himself that although this was not a game, his job was to play as an RPG player, satisfying both Paradise and his superiors.

Although the man’s reaction was somewhat impolite, Kokomoqi didn’t take much offense, considering he was a Chosen One.

"You weren’t injured, were you?"

Ailuodi descended at that moment and asked Zhang Zhiyuan.

"No... Thanks to you leading them away, I’m fine," he noticed, although she seemed concerned about him, her attention was actually focused on that girl all the time.

Another Chosen One.

And this person was different from the other Chosen Ones; her aura was significantly stronger. Kokomoqi nodded towards her, "Go help the others, not everyone is as strong as you. I guess those adventurers have gotten into serious trouble."

After speaking, she disappeared into the air.

"Geez..." Zhang Zhiyuan shuddered unconsciously. Why does she, like Mr. Zhao, like to play this vanishing game?

"Don’t be fooled by her small size; she’s no easy target," Ailuodi frowned. From an Angel’s perspective, one could see the immense life force of the Magic Goddess, almost like a column of fire burning with fierce green flames.

"Go to carriage number nine, they need medical assistance," Chaoyang’s voice entered their minds at that moment.

The two exchanged glances and headed towards the rear, weapons in hand.

Upon reaching carriage number nine, Zhang Zhiyuan realized just how terrifying the attack had been. The area around the carriage was strewn with dismembered limbs, and the blood remaining on the windows trickled down the exterior. Cries of agony and screams were incessant, chilling to the bone amid the quiet forest.

"Quick, bring over the tourniquets!"

"My hand, my hand..."

"Forget it, it’s not coming back!"

A group of people had gathered here; by their attire, they were the expedition team from Zhaixing City. They were nervously consoling their companions, treating the wounded, and a few warriors stood on guard at both sides of the carriage, weapons ready.

Shandela was also among them.

"How are things?" Zhang Zhiyuan stepped forward to ask.

"More than a dozen dead, the others are severely injured," Shandela sighed with slight relief upon seeing Zhang Zhiyuan and Ailuodi. "They didn’t manage to close the windows in time, letting those monsters in, and then... Right, do you have that kind of special medicine? The injection that immediately suppresses pain once administered?"

"Yes, I’ll go help now," Zhang Zhiyuan walked into the carriage and was immediately hit by a strong stench of blood. He took out morphine syringes from the first aid kit and began injecting the surviving severely wounded one by one. Some had lost lower legs, others had half their faces bitten off. Even if the bleeding could be stopped, the severe pain alone could kill them. As a sufficient dose of morphine went in, the groaning subsided considerably, and the agonized expressions on their faces began to ease.

"Thank you," a man in a red robe nodded in gratitude toward him. "Could you help me bring those with lighter injuries over?"

Zhang Zhiyuan did as he was asked.

The injuries of these with lighter wounds were mostly to their limbs, like a bitten-off finger or an ear. The man held a glowing red dagger, cauterizing their wounds. But what was surprising was that there was no source of heat nearby; the dagger seemed to be self-heating, not cooling down even after searing several wounds.

He realized that this was no ordinary artifact.

"May I ask your name...?"

"I am Yukel, the Executive Priest of the Furnace Cult," the man said with a smile.