After the phone call, Long Yu laid back down on the bed, with both his hands behind his head.

'System, exchange for the location of Xixi's mother,' he connected to the system in his mind.

[Confirm exchange/Cancel]

'Confirm,' he accepted without hesitation.

Now that he knew Xixi's mother is still alive, he is able to search for her whereabouts without worries.

Initially, he didn't have the courage to do so. He was afraid that the girl's mother might be dead. If he was to learn about her death early on, he would not know what to say to Xixi.

Could he lie to her, and give her false hope? No, Long Yu did not want to do that.

Therefore, he would rather have the police find it out for him, and learn about the news together with Xixi.

Although it may seem like a cowardly thing to do, Long Yu was only human. Whether it was out of kindness or irresponsibility, no one person in this world could always make the right choice.

[Coordinates of person detected:

39.XXXXXX,105.XXXXXX]

After receiving the location from the system, Long Yu accessed his laptop and typed in the longitude and latitude coordinates online. As expected, the maps online only showed images of a barren piece of land that stretches miles.

Long Yu knew that it was probably some sort of secret facility, which is hidden from the public eye.

'Maybe I should take a heli-'

*Bang*

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of something hitting the hotel room window.

Curious of what happened, Long Yu walked towards the curtain and pulled it out of the way.

"What the… Are crows supposed to be this big?" he was shocked at the size of the crow that just dropped onto the balcony floor.

The bird had hit the glass window mid flight, causing it to fall to the ground, dazed.

Observing it from the other side of the glass, Long Yu could detect a glimmer of red in its eyes.

'Looks like these things have started to mutate already,' he figured by recognising the crow's enlarged size and the red hue reflected in its irises. These were symptoms mentioned by the system, that would appear in the initial mutation of some animals.

All of sudden, Long Yu heard the loud cawing of crows in the distance. Looking up at the sky, he could see a group of black dots moving towards the hotel building.

Without delay, he retrieved a pair of binoculars and directed his sight to where the dots were.

"You've got to be sh*tting me!" Long Yu cursed under his breath.

The group black dots were crows similar to the one he just saw. However, they were currently flapping their wings in desperation, as if trying to escape from something.

If Long Yu was a bird himself, he too would want to flee from that thing. Flapping its surfboard sized wings behind the crows, was a ferocious looking giant eagle.

That thing was at least three times the size of a mutated crow. Obviously, the eagle was the predator and the crows were the preys.

It flew at a much faster speed and was currently attacking the crows. Through the binoculars, Long Yu was able to notice its abnormal behaviour.

The giant eagle was picking specific targets within the group of crows, and stabbing them with its beak. Those that were assaulted, fell from the sky like broken kites.

'System, what is that thing doing? Why isn't it attacking the other crows?'

[The eagle's behaviour is common for a mutant creature. It is currently consuming the mutant cores that are growing inside the hearts of the crows]

'So you mean it can detect whichever crow that has a core inside them?'

[Yes. However, such ability are not commonly found in ordinary mutated animals. This eagle is likely to have some sort of special instinct that assists it in detecting the mutant cores inside other creatures]

Hearing this, Long Yu looked at the eagle in envy. He was not jealous of its ability since he could probably replicate it through some sort of item from the system.

What he desired was the giant eagle's capability of easily devouring mutant cores left and right in the sky, as if picking flowers in a garden.

If he had those cores, he would have an even bigger head start in doomsday. Alas, it was but a yearning. Long Yu knew it would be foolish to jump into the wild, trying to collect cores in mutated animals.



Minutes later, the eagle had finished its hunt. Satisfied with its meal, it flew away without caring for the rest of the fleeing crows.

'Well, at least that thing is not interested in eating humans, at least not yet…'

Lowering the binoculars, Long Yu could not help but sigh. The heavens truly was not going to let him have it easy.

Before witnessing the eagle's all you can eat buffet, he had thought of flying a helicopter to pick up Xixi's mother. It would have been the fastest and most efficient way.

Sadly, his idea was cruelly stomped on by the heavens. With giant creatures like the eagle terrorising the skies, who would dare fly a helicopter.

"Well, I guess we'll have to take the car then." Long Yu tried to cheer himself up.

Anyway, it was not like he was planning to head to the coordinates straightaway. He first had to replenish his currency.

Long Yu was planning to loot all the money and weapons that he had inadvertently discovered in Nanjing Casino Royale. Furthermore, he had already decided the time to do so.