Zhang Junbao slumped on the ground, barely able to maintain the five-hearts-facing-heaven posture as he cultivated. Only after about half an hour did he manage to support himself.
From the Black-Crowned Golden Eagle's appearance to the battle that had just ended, his successive fights had severely drained his body's strength.
His injuries compounded the strain, and a wave of weakness rose through him.
My body has used up too much energy. Cultivation alone can't restore it. I need to eat as soon as possible.
Zhang Junbao stood up. He needed food. At his current level of strength, he couldn't maintain his body's condition by absorbing Cosmic Origin Energy alone.
The two "meat chickens" before him seemed like excellent choices. Monster meat was rich in nutrients, far beyond anything ordinary livestock such as pigs, cattle, and sheep could offer. Eating it regularly could improve a warrior's physique, but its price was beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Some warriors therefore specialized in hunting monsters to supply meat for human consumption. Most warriors, however, took only the most valuable parts. Monster meat was worth less than special parts such as horns and sinews, yet weighed more.
Zhang Junbao pulled them off the sword-beak, found an open space, and dragged over a nearby metal rack to use as a grill.
As for firewood, he searched the surrounding area and found quite a few wooden desks and pieces of furniture.
There was even a huanghuali wood desk, something precious before the Great Nirvana.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The boss on this floor must have been a real tycoon back then, using huanghuali wood for an office desk."
As he searched, Zhang Junbao's gaze was drawn to a pile of human-shaped objects in a corner. He saw that they had been placed near the nest.
The nest was where the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle slept and hatched its young. Everything else, including sofas, tables, and chairs, had been swept aside. Only these few things had been left there.
They were not far from the nest, and the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle should have been able to see them every day from where it was. They had to be things it valued.
What made the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle value them so much? Could they be some kind of treasure?
Zhang Junbao approached slowly, his heartbeat quickening.
This is... a human combat suit?
When Zhang Junbao came closer and looked, he discovered that it was a set of equipment belonging to a human powerhouse, including a combat suit, a combat vest, and Alloy Combat Boots. There was even a combat backpack.
Why isn't there a weapon? Zhang Junbao was puzzled. Combat suits were highly valuable, but weapons were usually worth the most. After all, only powerful attacks could kill monsters. Killing one through defense alone was almost impossible.
Zhang Junbao picked up the entire combat suit and examined it, finding traces of blood around the collar.
Clang.
Metal clattered to the floor as a coldly gleaming spearhead fell out of the combat suit. A piece was actually missing from its edge!
What happened here? Judging by the material, this combat suit most likely belonged to an Advanced Warlord or even a War God. But if the combat suit was of that level, why is a piece missing from the spearhead, and where did the shaft go?
The chances of a human Advanced Warlord dying in the wild are already low, and the death of a War God would even warrant a nationwide memorial service. So the owner of this combat suit was most likely an Advanced Warlord on the verge of breaking through to the War God Level.
What kind of monster could someone like that have fought for even his weapon to break?
Judging by the material of this spearhead, it was most likely genuine War God Level equipment. It must have been damaged in a fight with another monster. Could it have been a Lord-level monster?
That doesn't make sense either. If a Lord-level monster killed him, why would his belongings be here with the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle?
Could it be...
Zhang Junbao's gaze shifted, fixing intently on the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle's sword-beak as he recalled a monster bestiary he had once read.
It had mentioned that the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle's sword-beak was its most important treasure. Anyone who killed one had to take its sword-beak.
Ever since the advent of Kro Alloy, the weapons of human powerhouses had been made by using technology to combine certain monster body parts with Kro Alloy.
If that was the case, the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle's sword-beak had to be a material for making swords used by War Gods. That would explain it.
That must be it. The Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle fought this warrior, broke through his defenses, and killed him by piercing his throat. That's why there are clear traces of blood around the collar.
The spearhead might have broken during the fight. If the sword-beak could break a spearhead that was possibly S-grade, it might be a raw material for making S-grade or even SS-level swords.
Series 1 through Series 9 correspond to the nine grades: H, G... C, B, A, and S. Series 9, or S-grade, is the standard equipment issued to War Gods.
If this spearhead is S-grade, that means the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle's sword-beak is close to SS-level in strength. Only that would explain why the spearhead broke.
So the greatest treasure was right beside me, and I didn't even know it. Sure enough, reading too little puts you at a disadvantage!
Hahaha, in that case, I won't stand on ceremony. The equipment I was wearing was completely ruined in the earlier fight. This set is about the right size, and it's at least A-grade, maybe even S-grade. It's far better than the standard-issue junk I was wearing.
As for a weapon, I need to find a way to take the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle's sword-beak off first.
As for SS-level equipment, Zhang Junbao didn't dare hope that a warrior who could be killed by the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle could afford it.
Zhang Junbao suddenly felt as if he had been pumped full of chicken blood, his motivation surging. He wasn't some lofty hermit who could live on ideals. He was a flesh-and-blood person who needed plenty of treasures to strengthen himself.
Scholarship was for the poor, martial arts for the rich. To grow powerful on the martial path, the necessary investment was absolutely indispensable.
Not only that, he also needed a great deal of wealth. Although his father Zhang Anzhong's leg could be restored with the Water of Life, its public auction price had reached 30 billion. Even the purchase price within the War God Palace was around 12 billion. Zhang Junbao, meanwhile, had nothing apart from the startup funds Zhuge Tao had sponsored.
He was, one could say, a complete pauper.
A monster's corpse was an enormous treasure trove to humanity. Scientists could use its parts to develop combat suits or weapons. It was thanks to advantages like these that human warriors could protect the civilians of a region in this world overrun by monsters.
Zhang Junbao changed into the combat suit without feeling awkward about wearing a dead man's equipment. Out in the Wilderness Zone, anyone still hung up on such psychological scruples had no right to survive there.
"Brother, I don't know who you were, but since your equipment has come into my hands, please watch over me and help me get out of the Wilderness Zone safely!"
Warriors passed their wills on to one another. Now Zhang Junbao also hoped to inherit this unknown warrior's will, survive in the Wilderness Zone, and continue killing monsters.
In the spirit of thrift, he even put the broken spearhead into the backpack. Unfortunately, he found no Communication Watch. Perhaps it had been lost during the fight. After all, even the corpse was gone, and the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle couldn't have understood the significance of a Communication Watch.
After sorting out the combat suit, Zhang Junbao's attention was drawn to the enormous nest before him. Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagles were not particularly large, being somewhat smaller than Black-Crowned Golden Eagles. An adult Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle had a wingspan of only around ten meters, and with its wings folded, its body was about two meters wide.
The nest before him was nearly two meters high and more than ten meters across. It was practically a mansion among bird nests.
Zhang Junbao climbed into the nest and saw that only a few small fragments of eggshell remained. The larger pieces were all gone.
Then Zhang Junbao's gaze was drawn to the pale-yellow egg in the middle.
I didn't expect there to be an egg that hasn't hatched. Looks like those two little fellows outside only hatched recently.
This is an Advanced Beast General's egg, and there are Lord-level Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagles in the species. In other words, this monster has a very high ceiling for development.
I can't raise it myself, but those financial groups and major families, even the Military, would all be more than happy to take this Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle egg.
Only monsters tamed from a young age can possibly be brought completely under control. Those major financial groups have plenty of time to devote to it. If they succeed in raising it, it would be the equivalent of a War God Level powerhouse-and one that can fly.
Human War Gods can't fly. Whenever they encounter a Lord-level flying monster, they're at a serious disadvantage.
Just look at Zhuge Tao and the others. In terms of actual strength, none of the three was weaker than the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle, but they simply couldn't do anything to it.
They would need to pilot a fighter aircraft, but the price of an intelligent fighter aircraft is more than an ordinary War God can afford.
Zhang Junbao didn't stand on ceremony. He checked the egg and found that it didn't seem likely to hatch anytime soon, so he put the Sword-Beaked Dragon Eagle egg into his backpack without hesitation.
Zhang Junbao felt not the slightest guilt about stealing the dragon egg. This was a war between two races: humans and monsters!
The monsters wanted to wipe out the human race, and humans wanted to wipe out the monster race! Making monsters angry and grief-stricken, and causing them greater losses, was a good thing.
All the more so when it could directly strengthen humanity.