Flying on a Shield!

As Luo Feng set off towards the monster lair, Jiangnan Base City, nearly a thousand kilometers away, remained a picture of peace, a haven for humanity. Yangzhou City, Mingyue Residential District. A heavy snowfall last night had blanketed the residential district. Children gleefully built snowmen and engaged in snowball fights. Elders strolled leisurely through the district. Outside, the streets were lined with rugged SUVs, sleek sports cars, and occasionally, luxurious flying vehicles soared through the air. Chen Gu and his wife sat on a swept-clean stone bench, watching their child build a snowman nearby. "The Base City is truly wonderful," Chen Gu sighed, unable to help himself. "The Base City is good, but the Wilderness is crawling with monsters. Only Warriors can venture there. Tell me, Old Chen, when are you going to leave your Warrior Squad?" Chen Gu's wife asked, a hint of sadness in her voice. "You've fought for so many years; it's time you rested and enjoyed life." Chen Gu looked at his wife, then at his son in the distance. "Wife, I can't always think about retreating! Our Fire Hammer Squad is in a period of rapid strength growth. I want to fight alongside these old brothers for a while longer. In another year or so, my strength probably won't keep up with the squad. Then, the squad will likely need to recruit new members, and that's when I'll retire!" Chen Gu knew clearly... Aside from Luo Feng, the members of the Fire Hammer Squad were all quite old. With Luo Feng's astonishing progress in strength... it was only natural that Chen Gu, Wei Qing, and Wei Tie wouldn't be able to keep up in another year or so, and would have to leave. "Luo Feng's parents mentioned he hasn't returned yet. Is he in the Wilderness?" Chen Gu's wife asked. "Yes, that's right," Chen Gu nodded. "He's pushing himself too hard," Chen Gu's wife couldn't help but sigh. "He should balance work and rest. And how peaceful and comfortable is the Base City?" The Base City was indeed comfortable, free from the threat of monsters, and filled with all sorts of luxuries brought by technology. The Wilderness, however, was fraught with peril. "What do you know?" Chen Gu retorted, unable to hold back. "If everyone indulged in pleasure, how would humanity fight against the monsters? It's precisely because of the tireless efforts of countless scientists, and more importantly, the Warrior-level martial artists, and even the invincible beings who transcend Warriors, that all of humanity can live safely in the Base Cities!" The Base City and the Wilderness were practically two different worlds. One was a comfortable, peaceful world. The other was a bloody world teeming with danger, a Wilderness where only the elite of human society, the Warriors, could truly thrive. "Oh, right, wife. If Luo Feng's parents ask you later, just tell them... Luo Feng will be back soon," Chen Gu instructed. "I understand," Chen Gu's wife nodded. ... In stark contrast to the atmosphere of the Base City, in the northern outskirts of City No. 003—a city on the Eurasian Continent with one of the highest concentrations of monsters—a climactic battle was unfolding: two Warriors clashing with three monster lords! "I must speed up!" "Otherwise, if the monster lords win and return to their lair, I'll have no chance at all. And if the human Warriors win and go to the monster lair, I'll also have no chance," Luo Feng thought, his figure moving swiftly and elusively. "My only window of opportunity is this brief period while they are fighting outside." Luo Feng, whose parents, family, and friends in the Base City worried about him, was now pushing himself to the limit, navigating through the monster-infested city. Luo Feng soon infiltrated the fog-shrouded area. "Hm?" Luo Feng exhaled, darting into a fifth-floor apartment of a six-story residential building. Through the window, he gazed at the fog-covered area ahead. The streets below were teeming with all sorts of monsters, and even shops, residential buildings, and office blocks were packed with them. With the supermarket at its core, the surrounding fog-shrouded area was swarming with monsters! "Now what?" Luo Feng frowned. "The monster density is too high. There's no way I can sneak in unnoticed." Even the two Warrior powerhouses, Wang Tong and Li Kan, couldn't stealthily enter the fog-covered area with its omnipresent monsters; they could only force their way through! "Warriors can force their way, but if I do, it's suicide." "It seems there's only one way!" Luo Feng shook his head with a smile. His biggest advantage over a Warrior was... he could fly! Click! Click! Luo Feng pressed two buckles, and the hexagonal shield strapped to his back immediately slid off. Under the control of his Psychic Energy, it then floated before him. "Tsk, tsk, flying into a monster lair. Thrilling," Luo Feng muttered, leaping onto the hexagonal shield. The shield hovered about half a meter above the tiled ground. "Go!" Whoosh! The hexagonal shield shot out of the window at astonishing speed. Luo Feng's control over his throwing knives could make them exceed the speed of a sniper bullet instantly! The hexagonal shield, combined with Luo Feng's body weight, was considerably heavy. Yet, with the strength of Luo Feng's Psychic Energy, he could still make the hexagonal shield fly at near-supersonic speeds. However... "I can't fly too fast, or the air vibrations will make too much noise, and the monsters will easily detect me." Luo Feng stood on the shield, flying fifty meters above the ground. Because of the pervasive fog, both humans and monsters had significantly reduced visibility, which ironically helped Luo Feng remain undetected! "The fog is really helping me out," he mused. And so... Although monsters were densely packed on the ground, in shops, residential buildings, and office blocks, the monster horde controlled by the Armored Dragon consisted mainly of ground-dwelling beasts, with no flying creatures. Unable to fly, and with limited visibility, these monsters simply couldn't detect Luo Feng. "Carrefour Supermarket!" From mid-air, Luo Feng vaguely spotted the sprawling, low-rise building. The entire Carrefour Supermarket had five floors. Originally, the first and second floors were the supermarket, while the third, fourth, and fifth floors housed large appliances and general merchandise. Of course, decades later, these items had long been ravaged by monsters. Yet, the five-story building itself remained largely as it was. "Hm?" Luo Feng pulled a pair of binoculars from his backpack and observed carefully. Despite the thick fog, the binoculars offered a much clearer view than the naked eye. Through the already shattered windows, he could vaguely discern a few monster silhouettes on the third, fourth, and fifth floors of the Carrefour Supermarket. Strangely, there wasn't a single monster on the first or second floors. However, in every direction around the supermarket, the ground was swarming with monsters. "Monster lords are highly intelligent, comparable to humans!" Luo Feng mused. "If I were the leader, I'd certainly want my living quarters free from my subordinates' disturbances. So, the first and second floors are very likely the lair of the leader, the 'Armored Dragon'!" "As for the third, fourth, and fifth floors, those should be reserved for its elite subordinates. Probably Beast Generals." Luo Feng meticulously observed the five-story supermarket building from diagonally above, even circling the entire structure—north, south, east, and west—to scrutinize the monster lair from every angle. Without absolute certainty... Luo Feng wouldn't dare to easily breach this monster stronghold. "This is—" In mid-air, Luo Feng held his binoculars, carefully observing below. These binoculars were designed for Warriors, expensive yet highly effective. Luo Feng could vaguely make out the monsters standing directly in front of the supermarket's main entrance... each one massive, with glossy fur and even more intricate scales. "Mid-tier Beast General, this one too, Mid-tier Beast General, High-tier Beast General, Mid-tier Beast General, High-tier Beast General... Mid-tier Beast General... High-tier Beast General..." Luo Feng continuously identified them. After identifying just fifty-two, Luo Feng stopped, leaving nearly half of the Beast Generals unexamined. "Among these 52 monsters, 32 are Mid-tier Beast Generals, and 20 are High-tier Beast Generals! Not a single Low-tier Beast General." "This group guarding the main entrance of the monster lair consists of nearly a hundred Beast Generals. I estimate sixty to seventy Mid-tier Beast Generals, and thirty to forty High-tier Beast Generals." Luo Feng calculated a rough number, and couldn't help but be startled. Good heavens! This monster lair, besides the countless monsters swarming its surroundings, actually had such a 'Beast General monster squad'! And thirty to forty High-tier Beast Generals! If it were a Beginner Tier Warrior, they would probably flee without a fight! To fight would be almost certain death! A Mid-tier Warrior might be able to put up a fight. Only an Elite Tier Warrior could likely break through the obstruction of this Beast General squad. "What now? The third, fourth, and fifth floors all have monsters! And the entire supermarket is surrounded by countless monsters, with a Beast General squad guarding the main entrance... How can I get in? How can I retrieve the Armored Dragon's egg without alerting them?" Luo Feng, standing on his hexagonal shield in the fog-shrouded mid-air, binoculars in hand, rapidly considered various plans.