The zombie bird in the sky let out a clear cry, then dove straight toward Fang Chang and Chen Xiaotan.

Chen Xiaotan tensed, on full alert. In nature, the bigger something is, the stronger it is—that’s been true since time immemorial.

Even she couldn’t be sure she could take on a giant zombie bird with a ten-meter wingspan at full strength.

Just then, Fang Chang moved.

The aura of the zombie Mother Nest spread out, now mixed with another presence: Lu Nongxi’s.

That time, she hadn’t just given birth to Qiu’er—she’d also absorbed a little of Lu Nongxi’s power. The Zombie Queen’s aura mixed in with her own now was the best proof.

The giant zombie bird immediately gave a submissive cry. It folded its wings and landed on the rooftop, bowing its raised heads to Fang Chang.

It had probably once been a black eagle. Its feathers were intact, but its red eyes and two heads marked it as an evolved zombie.

And judging by its strange appearance, it was probably a special type of evolved zombie, too.

Fang Chang already knew the bird meant to submit, but Chen Xiaotan thought it was preparing to attack. Some vampire traits appeared on her body, and blood magic poured out from her in every direction.

Then Fang Chang smacked her on the back of the head, forcibly making her transformation recede.

“Come on. Get on the plane.”

Chen Xiaotan stared blankly as Fang Chang stepped onto the zombie bird’s massive beak and walked all the way onto its back. Only then did she finally snap out of it and hurry after her.

The zombie bird had let Fang Chang climb aboard, but that didn’t mean it was willing to let Chen Xiaotan on. As Chen Xiaotan approached, the feathers on both its heads stood on end, and it took on an unmistakably aggressive stance.

Chen Xiaotan hurriedly backed off and readied herself to fight. Then Fang Chang gave a sharp command from the bird’s back, and it obediently lowered its heads.

After gripping the zombie bird’s broad feathers to steady herself, Chen Xiaotan looked at Fang Chang, who seemed completely at ease, even more baffled. “What are you to it?”

“Nothing…” Fang Chang had answered offhandedly, but for some reason, she thought of what Lu Nongxi had said among the zombie horde. She paused, then changed her answer. “If I had to call it something, I guess I’m their queen.”

“Their queen?”

“That’s right. I can command them.” Fang Chang gazed into the distance, searching for the laboratory. “Fly higher!”

The zombie bird beat its wings and quickly climbed another hundred meters.

From up there, they could already see the edge of the ruined city. After a brief search, they found the direction of the laboratory from before.

That patch of woods, that mountain—that’s it!” Fang Chang’s heart surged. Her longing to find her child made her heart race, excitement and nerves tangling together.

The zombie bird was incredibly fast, and soon they were near the mountain. Fang Chang was stunned. Half the mountain had been hollowed out, leaving a massive crater in the middle, as if some enormous creature had once been there and had now escaped.

“What happened?”

She hurriedly told the zombie bird to land on the mountain. The moment her feet touched the ground, the crater struck her even more deeply. It was so huge that even ten zombie Mother Nests couldn’t have filled it. Water pooled in the middle, and beneath it lay an even deeper world.

Chen Xiaotan expertly pinched some of the dirt, then found a nearby stone and studied its grain. In the end, she had no choice but to use magic.

A wash of red light spread across a ten-meter radius. Chen Xiaotan closed her eyes, taking in the information carried by the light, then slowly opened them again.

“Based on my observations and tests, the ground here has been exposed to wind and sun for about a month. In other words, they were still underground a month ago. So this crater…”

Fang Chang silently stared into the deep crater, reliving each moment she’d shared with Li Zirong. Her heart twisted with pain. Unconsciously, she unleashed her full aura. The zombie bird cried out in sorrow and immediately flattened itself against the ground in submission. Chen Xiaotan felt pressed in on from every direction, and she could almost hear the bones in her body grinding softly.

Only then did she fully understand Fang Chang’s true strength.

She had to be a top-tier player!

Then what level was the big shot who’d modified her?

“Let’s go! This isn’t my only destination. There’s… there’s somewhere else…” Fang Chang reined in her aura and turned away, firm in her resolve. But her words didn’t sound nearly as firm; they were full of self-deception. “This was Li Zirong’s lab, not my wife’s home. If I want to find someone, I should look back where she came from!”

She pulled Chen Xiaotan back onto the zombie bird. After the outburst of aura, it was now so docile it really did seem like an ordinary giant bird.

It carried them both into the sky on outstretched wings.

With the mountain as a landmark, it was much easier for Fang Chang to find Lu Nongxi’s lair. Her psychic power was exceptionally high. Even though she’d only traveled the route once, she’d memorized its general layout.

Soon, they reached the clean, well-kept garden.

The zombie bird circled above the villa but didn’t dare land. The queen’s aura rising from below filled it with fear.

“Go down. She won’t blame you.”

Fang Chang gave the order, nervous but hopeful.

The zombie bird didn’t dare go down because it was intimidated by Lu Nongxi’s aura. Did that mean Lu Nongxi was home?

Hearing Fang Chang’s command, which carried the same kind of aura as the queen’s, it finally descended. It landed a little off target, though, a hundred meters from the lair.

Fang Chang didn’t care about that. She grabbed Chen Xiaotan and ran inside, Lu Nongxi’s face flashing through her mind again and again—her soft, sweet Qiu’er.

But the moment she pushed open the door, all those hopes came crashing down.

The house was empty. There was nothing inside. The pink cartoon wallpaper that had once covered the walls was gone without a trace, and half the walls and ceiling were charred black.

“How could this…”

Chen Xiaotan had no idea what was going on, but instinctively activated her vampire magic.

To her surprise, it turned something up. A charred piece of wood flew from a corner into her palm. Pink fuzz still clung to its edges, just like the girlish decorations that had once filled the house.

But the moment Fang Chang saw it, she finally lost control.

She could picture what had happened. Li Zirong had sacrificed Qiu’er, and Lu Nongxi had fought her fiercely. But giving birth had left Lu Nongxi weak, and she’d been forced to flee. After barely making it back to her lair, Li Zirong caught up with her, burned the place down, and took Lu Nongxi away…

“Why did you lie to me?!”

Demonflame, imbued with the power of a curse, erupted and swept outward from her. Chen Xiaotan cried out and hurried to escape. She had barely made it out of the villa when a boom shook the air—the entire building exploded from within, and crimson Demonflame shot out.

It set the garden ablaze in an instant. The red flames surged outward like a tide. Chen Xiaotan summoned her bat wings and took to the sky to escape.

The zombie bird, which had been resting nearby, cried out in alarm, beat its wings, and flew up into the sky.

The garden, hundreds of meters in every direction, became a sea of fire. At its center stood Fang Chang amid the ruins. She threw her head back and roared, then opened her mouth and inhaled. Air rushed inward all at once, forming a storm that spun back on itself.

Behind her, a shadow rose, forming the five-character title: Mother of Veris.

The five characters cast an endless expanse of shadow power. Fang Chang raised her right hand behind her and plunged it into the darkness. In an instant, countless currents of shadow power wrapped around her and sank into her body.

Chen Xiaotan was terrified. She beat her bat wings again and again, trying to get away.

The zombie bird flew alongside her, but they were both too weak. The wind held them fast, and they couldn’t break free.

As they drifted closer and closer to the sea of fire, terror of death overwhelmed Chen Xiaotan. She hurriedly called out, “What are you doing? Could you let us go first?”

Fang Chang glanced at her and closed her mouth.

Chen Xiaotan and the zombie bird fled as fast as they could. Only after they’d flown out of the fire’s reach did they each breathe a sigh of relief. Human and zombie met eyes, both showing the same unmistakable relief.