Many animals possess territorial instincts. If other animals encroach upon their territory, they will band together to drive out the intruders. Lions and tigers are examples of this, but birds also exhibit territoriality. When animals invade their habitats, mutated birds will unite to kill these invaders.
For ten years since the apocalypse, mutated birds had resided in Siberia, considering it their habitat. The humans who had previously lived in the Siberian Plateau region were long ago killed by the mutated birds, turning the area into a desolate no-man's-land. However, at this moment, over ten thousand humans entered the territory of the mutated birds, and the birds immediately launched an attack.
Mutated birds harbored a deep-seated hatred for humans, a hatred that drove them to constantly kill and consume humans. Now, with humanity launching a counterattack and penetrating Siberia, the mutated birds felt a sense of crisis.
Consequently, the nearby bird kings began emitting special electromagnetic waves. Within the bird kings' brains existed extraterrestrial elements. The presence of these elements enabled the mutated bird kings to communicate remotely via electromagnetic waves. If a bird king encountered danger in a certain location, it could inform the other bird kings of the situation.
Initially, the millions of nearby birds merely intended to expel or kill the humans in the basin. However, after the humans retaliated with firearms, the mutated birds sensed something was amiss. These were clearly tough opponents, and it would be difficult to achieve victory with their current numbers. Thus, the bird kings issued electromagnetic distress signals, calling for reinforcements from bird kings in surrounding areas.
Upon receiving the electromagnetic signals, the other bird kings quickly led their mutated birds to the vicinity of the Lena River. Here, countless mutated birds were also attracted by Yu Chenggang's induced electromagnetic waves and flocked into the basin to participate in the battle.
Mutated birds continued to arrive from afar, but the frontline soldiers were nearing their breaking point. The defenses in the swampy terrain were stable. Everyone had used sacks filled with earth to construct trenches on the ground. Each position was circular, capable of defending against enemies from all directions. Such formations were impregnable without artillery.
However, the mutated birds showed no mercy to the enemies who had invaded their habitat. Disregarding their own casualties, they launched wave after wave of assaults, leveraging their numerical superiority. The soldiers on the positions continuously fired their weapons, but after half a day of fighting, their gun barrels had heated up. Although they still had ammunition, loading it into the magazines took time, especially for the machine guns. After prolonged firing and excessively high rates of fire, some had already become inoperable.
Humanity's resistance against the mutated birds relied on overwhelming firepower. But now, with their firepower faltering, the mutated birds launched a full-scale offensive.
In the heart of the swamp, Yu Chenggang continued to emit electromagnetic waves, attracting mutated birds from afar towards the swampy area. Some mutated birds became interested in Yu Chenggang, who was emitting the waves, and flew towards him, seemingly intending to kill him.
However, Gong Changfa was present beside Yu Chenggang. Gong Changfa was now a sixth-tier esper. With a mere display of his abilities, he could easily kill the surrounding mutated birds. Previously, Gong Changfa could only harm enemies with a berserk particle stream, and this particle stream could only move within his body. But after five years, Gong Changfa had grown. He could now move the particle stream around his body. No matter how many mutated birds came, they met their demise. Around Gong Changfa, the very air seemed distorted, as the space was filled with various berserk particles.
Various rays exist in the universe, and these rays are essentially composed of particles. These particles are so minuscule that they are invisible, even to an electron microscope. These berserk particles formed streams of rays, and any living organism on Earth struck by these rays would generally be unable to survive.
Originally, cosmic rays could not reach the Earth's surface because of the ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere. The ozone layer would absorb these rays. However, Gong Changfa's ability was to control these berserk particles, making it effortless to kill the surrounding mutated birds.
"Vice City Lord, can you still hold on?" Yu Chenggang asked Gong Changfa while emitting electromagnetic waves.
Gong Changfa calmly replied, "Let alone holding on, I can fight for three days and three nights without breaking a sweat."
Gong Changfa possessed the ability to kill sea beasts and had indeed done so before. At that time, with Jin Ziju's cooperation, a group of sea beasts had been incapacitated, allowing him to seize the opportunity to kill these giant sea beasts. Now, a flock of mutated birds, only a few meters long, were no match for him. Killing these mutated birds was a simple matter.
The battlefield was shrouded in smoke, filled with the sounds of gunfire and the screeches of mutated birds. When the battle first began, the sounds of cannons and guns had suppressed the birds' cries. But as more mutated birds arrived, the sounds of guns and cannons gradually became sparser, indicating that the soldiers could not hold on for much longer.
"We can hold on, but those soldiers seem to be unable to!" Yu Chenggang exclaimed.
"We must persevere, at least for another day. After a day, the mutated birds will continue to gather, and their numbers will surely reach tens of millions. As long as we hold on for one day, Shen Feng can unleash his abilities tomorrow and inflict massive casualties on the mutated birds," Gong Changfa urged.
Meanwhile, in the command post, Shen Feng was also continuously instructing his subordinates via walkie-talkie to hold on, assuring them that victory would be theirs if they persevered.
Shen Feng felt immense torment. Although he possessed the ability to fight, he could not act rashly. He had to consider the overall situation, which meant watching others fight. To maximize the effectiveness of his attack, he had to be the trump card, only to be deployed at the last moment.
Soldiers were continuously sacrificing themselves. The number of people reachable via walkie-talkie dwindled. The sounds of gunfire and cannons on the battlefield grew weaker. Although many positions were still resisting, some had already been overrun by the mutated birds.
Upon landing, these mutated birds began tearing at human corpses, pecking at the humans as food. Some soldiers had already prepared for sacrifice. They kept their last grenade, and when the mutated birds landed beside them, they pulled the pin. These grenades were often called "glory grenades," used at the final moment.
Shen Feng desperately wanted to intervene and save these people, but in the end, he could only watch helplessly as the soldiers' remains were gradually consumed by the birds.
Soon, on many positions, only piles of white bones remained. As for the flesh and blood on the bones, they were all eaten clean by the birds. Some desperate soldiers poured gasoline around themselves and then set it alight, sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.
Under the billowing smoke, dusk finally arrived. The sunset in the distance appeared as red as blood. The towering mountains in the distance stood dark and silent, like a vast, still sea. At this moment, Shen Feng recalled a poem by a great man: "Green mountains like the sea, the setting sun like blood."
In just one day of combat, at least half of the soldiers had perished, and the remaining soldiers were all wounded. Many who had followed Shen Feng for four or five years also died in this battle, especially those from the Feathered Army. They did not want to bring shame to Shen Feng in the eyes of outsiders, so they fought to the death, and their deaths were extremely tragic.
In the command post, Shen Feng inquired about the casualties from those on the positions. However, the responses from the positions were very brief. Approximately fifty percent of the soldiers had died in the first day of formal combat. If the fighting continued at the same scale on the second day, there would not be a single survivor left in the positions.
"Don't worry, I will take action tomorrow. No matter what, we cannot allow the casualties to escalate further," Shen Feng responded to everyone in the positions.
One day passed, and birds from the Lena River region continued to converge. According to radar detection, at least ten million mutated birds had arrived from the surrounding areas. With another night passing, by the morning of the second day, even more birds would undoubtedly gather here.
Shen Feng had killed millions of mutated birds during the apocalypse with relatively few casualties. However, this time, Shen Feng could expand his achievements, but the cost was the lives of thousands of people. He did not know if this was right or wrong. All he could do was avenge those who had sacrificed themselves the next day.
Shen Feng's battle in Siberia had also attracted the attention of many. Any country with satellites had noticed the fighting occurring in the Siberian Plateau, as satellites observed an interesting phenomenon: countless mutated birds were continuously converging from surrounding areas towards the Lena River, precisely where Shen Feng and his subordinates were located.
"What exactly is Shen Feng doing? Can he really kill a large number of mutated birds this time?" Everyone speculated about the matter.
"It's impossible. No matter how powerful Shen Feng is, he cannot achieve this. It's not that we don't believe in his strength, but human strength is incapable of this. It would be more effective to drop nuclear bombs on Siberia sooner rather than later," someone retorted at the time. Although Shen Feng had over ten thousand subordinates, Siberia was the nest of mutated birds, and ten thousand people were simply not enough to make a difference here.
However, everyone also knew that talking about dropping nuclear bombs was just talk. No sane person would make such a decision. Given the number of nuclear bombs on Earth, bombing all of Siberia would certainly turn it into a sieve. But this would undoubtedly backfire on humanity, and besides, the Russians would not agree to such a thing.
Upon learning of this matter, the force most concerned about Shen Feng's actions was actually Jinling. This was because, at this time, Jinling was the nominal leader of the Chinese region. Although it was only a verbal leadership, Jinling was content, having obtained the status of the capital. However, now, if Shen Feng could kill a large number of mutated birds, then Yuzhou would surely gain immense fame. At that time, Yuzhou might even become the new leader.
Then, on the second day, countless mutated birds began their attack once more. This was because Yu Chenggang was currently unleashing his abilities, and mutated birds from surrounding areas were continuously arriving. Shen Feng issued an order from the command post: "Everyone put on gas masks and do not take them off. I am about to unleash my abilities."
Upon receiving Shen Feng's instructions, the commanders on the positions quickly shouted to their subordinates: "Everyone quickly put on your gas masks! Lord Fengshen is about to unleash his abilities!"
The soldiers hastily put on the prepared gas masks. Many had witnessed the mushroom forests in the Northeast. The mushroom forests in the Northeast were not as spectacular as those in Yunnan Province. The mushroom forests seen in Yunnan Province actually possessed a dreamlike quality, as from a distance, the mushroom forests appeared illusory and fantastical, and the mushroom spores did indeed have hallucinogenic effects.
The mutated mushrooms in the Northeast were much simpler, purely poisonous. Many directly affected the nervous system, with the same pharmacological action as sleeping pills. Overuse could lead to eternal sleep.
Therefore, when faced with such a situation, the soldiers dared not be careless. They all put on gas masks and simultaneously defended against the attacks of the mutated birds.