Monster Pet Evolution

"Is he dead?" The smile on the red-haired girl curled into a sneer. "Simple-minded fool. Killing him will throw the Huaxia region into chaos. You didn't miss, did you?"

"Believe me, there's no way I'd miss a head that big. At this range, I could even take down an Elite-tier monster without a problem, not to mention a human." The man rubbed his aching shoulder. The recoil from his sniper sure packed a punch.

Still battling in the sky, Flamy paused momentarily before resuming its fight with the Winged Cobra. Its attacks were unbelievably faster and stronger than before. A long, keening wail escaped Flamy, anguish written clear across its face. This rampage seemed to be its way of avenging its fallen master.

"Let's get out of here quickly. Even with the racket those two familiars are causing, someone in Southern Sky might have heard the gunshot."

"Yeah. Let's go while these creatures are occupied." The red-haired girl nodded.

The bald, tattooed man eyed the people around him before quickly heading over to where Gao Peng was. "Let's not waste the core crystal. I'll go get it and we can split it in half."

A bulky, golden-haired man wearing a brightly colored singlet hopped out. Wielding a rifle in one hand, he gently tapped the side of the truck. Out leaped a strange familiar that looked like a Light Albatross with two pairs of wings instead of one.

The albatross was already outfitted with saddles and was obviously ready for travel. The blonde man, the red-haired girl, and the other mustached guy were about to get on when the blonde man did a double take. Staring after the bald man, the blonde man had a strange look on his face. Something didn't feel right.

All of a sudden, the blonde man slapped his forehead in dismay. He remembered something odd. When the bullet hit Gao Peng, there had been no sign of blood.

At such a close range, there should have been a freaking crater in his head.

No blood?!

His facial expression changed. He immediately leaped on the Four-winged Light Albatross. "Let's go!"

"But Gou Bang isn't back yet," said the mustached man.

"We're not waiting for that idiot," the blonde man said icily.

At that very moment, the bald man rummaging through Gao Peng's clothing for the pouch of core crystals nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone grab his arm.

His face paled as he turned to look. Gao Peng was staring right back at him with eyes wide open.

What sorcery was this?

Chills ran down his spine and goosebumps rippled across his arms. What do you want from me? I didn't kill you! he thought.

"Don't go around touching people like that. It's rather impolite, you know?" Gao Peng fixed him with an angry glare.

Before the bald man could say anything, Gao Peng grinned wryly and crushed the bald man's shoulder bone into dust.

"Argh!" A blood-curdling scream ripped through the quiet night sky.

As the people on the Four-winged Light Albatross saw the ground grow smaller and smaller until it was nearly out of sight, they heaved sighs of relief.

There was no way Gao Peng could have pulled off a switch. There simply wasn't enough time. The only logical explanation was that Gao Peng was still alive.

If even a semi-automatic rifle at such a close range couldn't finish off Gao Peng, it meant that conventional weapons were practically useless against him. Only a special kind of "bullet" could do the trick.

"Let's go. There's no way we're going to be able to kill him in the Huaxia region now," the red-haired girl said grudgingly.

All of a sudden, the Four-Winged Light Albatross let out a shriek of pure terror before coming to a sudden halt.

A few hundred yards in front of it, a skeletal Wooden Peacock had appeared out of nowhere. Flaring its skeletal wings, it wouldn't let them pass. The Soul Flames burning eerily in its eye sockets seemed to be tracking them intently.

The red-haired girl stared intently at the Wooden Peacock. It looked familiar.

"It's only a skeleton. Smash right through it!" The blond-haired man was the picture of calm and tranquility. This wasn't his first time dealing with an undead creature like this. Even though they looked scary, their bodies were actually brittle and weak. Most of them only had a fraction of their power left from when they had been alive.

A ring of white light formed under the Wooden Peacock, illuminating the ghastly fear on their faces.

The Wooden Peacock let out an ungodly shriek that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Its bones rattled and rattled, aiming themselves at the group like swords.

The albatross was just about to charge when it sensed the murderous intent emanating from the Wooden Peacock. Without hesitation, it turned the other way and tried to flee.

Whoosh—

Their field of vision was entirely consumed by the skeletal Wooden Peacock. All they could see was darkness. Then they were engulfed by a nauseating wave of decay, followed by a raging wind.

Crash!

The bony claws of the peacock ripped the wings of the albatross and into shreds. One wing was ripped cleaned out of its socket with a shocking explosion of blood.

The three people astride the Four-winged Light Albatross were tossed off its back. Hurtling towards the ground, their stomachs churned as they were struck by a wave of vertigo.

The 23 of them felt as though their hearts were going to leap right out of their chests. Right as they were about to hit the ground, they jerked to a sudden halt.

The Wooden Peacock plucked them out of the air and dropped them off at the gates of the Southern Sky Group none too gently.

Gao Peng was casually splayed across his sofa. With a delicately embroidered handkerchief, Gao Peng meticulously wiped down his hands, taking extra care to reach the spaces between his fingers.

"Not bad. It stung a little." Gao Peng pointed at his temple. "Good accuracy. You got me right in the temple."

The blonde man stared intensely at Gao Peng's temple, as though trying to will a gunshot wound into existence. Alas, there was nary a bruise to be seen. "You actually own more than one Lord-tier familiar." The blonde almost sounded indignant. There had been nothing in the files about the Wooden Peacock, after all.

"Young master Gao." Zheng Tiezhuang was beside himself with rage. To have this happen on his watch as Head of Combat was an insult to his honor and to the honor of his team.

"Take turns interrogating them. I don't care what methods you use as long as you find out where they came from and who sent them to kill me," Gao Peng said lightly.

"Leave it to me, Master Gao. I'll have them singing like birds in no time!"