Chapter 166 - 148: The Rare Trait of the Wing Race
Chapter 166: Chapter 148: The Rare Trait of the Wing Race
The Beast Taming Civilization had been developing for several thousand years, so it wasn’t surprising for some strange and special races to emerge.
And the Wing Race was one of them.
If he hadn’t recognized the woman before him and known that she most likely wasn’t an Extraordinary Creature, Li Qian might have mistaken her for a humanoid Bird Human Pet Beast.
The Wing Race and Bird Human Pet Beasts were two entirely different kinds of beings.
You could tell just from their designations.
The former was classified as a "type" of Pet Beast, while the latter was a "race," a term usually reserved for humans.
And strictly speaking, there were physical differences between them as well.
A Bird Human would have more features characteristic of an avian Pet Beast.
The Wing Race, on the other hand, had almost no other traits of an Extraordinary Creature besides a pair of feathered wings.
Furthermore, it was said their wings could be retracted into their bodies, after which they were nearly indistinguishable from ordinary humans.
Li Qian hadn’t known any of this before.
He had only learned it during his recent trip to the Mysterious Forest Secret Realm, from an ancient tome in the Mu Family’s collection.
The description of the Wing Race in the ancient book wasn’t very detailed.
It mainly covered some of their physical traits and an explanation of their abilities.
As for the origin of the Wing Race, it only offered some vague speculations.
Speculation one:
The Wing Race likely originated from certain specific races within the Dimension Planes.
Speculation two:
They were the product of biological experiments between humans and certain Humanoid Pet Beasts.
Recalling this information, Li Qian couldn’t help but want to laugh.
’What does "product of biological experiments" even mean?’
The only word that came to his mind was... crossbreeding!
But Pet Beasts were Extraordinary Creatures. Wasn’t there reproductive isolation between them and humans?
Or were they created through some kind of genetic engineering?
Li Qian shook his head, casting these messy thoughts aside, and focused his attention on the woman before him.
Having figured out her identity as one of the Wing Race, Li Qian now understood why the Cultists of the Black Divine Teachings had launched their surprise attack.
They were one hundred percent after this woman.
The Wing Race was an extremely special and exceedingly rare race.
They were neither purely of the Human Race nor purely Extraordinary Creatures. Or rather, they could be considered both Human Race and Extraordinary Creatures.
Perhaps because they possessed the genes of both types of beings, they had a very rare trait.
They could be contracted, and at the same time, they could also contract other Pet Beasts.
In other words, if Li Qian’s Spiritual Power Level had reached Commander Level right now...
...then in theory, he could directly contract the Wing Race woman before him, and it wouldn’t affect her ability to continue contracting other Pet Beasts.
It was precisely because of this rare trait that every member of the Wing Race could be considered a walking cheat—a human plug-in.
As long as a Beast Master contracted a member of the Wing Race, they could easily double their number of Contract Positions.
For instance, if Li Qian contracted this Wing Race woman now, the three Pet Beasts she owned could also be indirectly considered his Contracted Beasts.
He would be able to command them as well.
It would just be slightly more inconvenient to command them.
But that wasn’t a major issue.
Because of this, one could only imagine how precious such a walking human plug-in was.
No wonder the Cultists of the Black Divine Teachings were so covetous.
At this thought, his heart suddenly clenched.
He didn’t know if the woman’s trump card had finished off her opponents. If it had, that would be a happy outcome for everyone. If not, there would probably be significant trouble ahead.
As he pondered, he had already taken off his Active Metal Mecha Battle Armor badge and placed it on the Wing Race woman.
As the Active Metal Mecha Battle Armor extended once more, the Wing Race woman’s body was covered again.
With that dazzling flash of white now concealed, Li Qian found his mind calming considerably.
’Looks like I haven’t been tested enough in this area. My composure is a bit lacking.’
Li Qian decided that if he had the chance in the future, he must definitely undergo more of these "tests."
He wasn’t used to carrying people in his arms; the posture always felt a bit strange.
Besides, the Wing Race woman was currently encased in the Active Metal Mecha Battle Armor, so holding her would be like hugging a lump of iron. Li Qian had no interest in trying.
He slung her over his shoulder like a log, mounted Qizai, and flew off eastward at top speed.
As for whether the Wing Race woman’s trump card had taken down those four Overlord-level Pet Beasts and the hidden Black Divine Teachings Cultist, he didn’t have the slightest inclination to turn back and check.
He had no desire to waste his own trump card here.
He had only just obtained this trump card; wasting it here would be a huge loss.
Therefore, the best course of action now was to follow the thirty-sixth stratagem: run.
Slinging the unconscious Wing Race woman over his shoulder, Li Qian fled without a moment’s hesitation.
As it turned out, his choice was an extremely wise one.
Not long after he left carrying the Wing Race woman, a Storm Eagle suddenly descended from the sky.
It landed beside the human-shaped crater the Wing Race woman had fallen into.
The strange Storm Eagle was splattered with blood.
From this, it was clear that the Wing Race woman’s trump card had inflicted considerable injuries on it.
However, the viciousness in the strange Storm Eagle’s eyes had not diminished in the slightest; instead, it had grown even more intense.
A figure completely shrouded in a black robe leaped down from the strange Storm Eagle’s back.
This person was none other than the Black Divine Teachings Cultist who had been hiding in the shadows.
"Damn it, she actually got away!" The black-robed Cultist stared at the empty crater and couldn’t help but curse.
Just then, a small voice suddenly spoke in his ear, "Fall back, now! The Public Security Bureau is almost here!"
The black-robed Cultist glanced eastward, then retracted his gaze resentfully and fled unwillingly in another direction.
The Public Security Bureau had been mobilized. If he didn’t retreat now, he would likely be captured here.
「Meanwhile, on the other side, an unknown amount of time passed...」
Suddenly, a ZZZTTT sound echoed.
It was the sound of the Active Metal Mecha Battle Armor retracting!
Hearing this sound, Li Qian whipped his head around.
He saw that the Wing Race woman he had been carrying on his shoulder like a log had woken up.
At this moment, the Active Metal Mecha Battle Armor on her face had already retracted.
However, the armor on her body was still in place.
Seeing this, Li Qian let out a long sigh of relief.
’Good. This Wing Race woman didn’t retract all the Active Metal Mecha Battle Armor at once. Otherwise, she’d definitely have noticed by now that her own clothes are a bit... breezy.’
"Uh, you’re awake!" Li Qian said, greeting the now-conscious Wing Race woman with some awkwardness.
"Were you planning to just carry me like this forever?" the Wing Race woman asked, her voice cold as she gave Li Qian a complicated look.
Li Qian chuckled wryly, scratched his head, and then promptly set the Wing Race woman down.