Apocalyptic Gratitude Duck - Chapter 12

Kexin’s black eyes glinted with fierce intensity, her golden neck feathers ruffled by the wind, making her look both ferocious and majestic.

The thugs, wielding steel pipes, wore vicious expressions and gripped their weapons tightly, yet none dared to make the first move.

With a sudden flap of her wings, Kexin sent two powerful gusts sweeping outward. The two thugs closest to her were instantly sent flying by the roaring wind.

Two dull thuds echoed as they slammed into the wall and crumpled to the ground.

“Damn duck! All of you, attack together! Beat it to death!”

Seeing their comrades injured, the thugs’ eyes burned with brutal hatred as they charged forward, swinging their pipes at Kexin.

After her wings sent two more thugs flying, her sharp claws clashed with the pipes, emitting piercing metallic screeches.

The pipe snapped in two with a crack. A vicious glint flashed in the thug’s eyes as he pulled out a fruit knife and lunged at Kexin’s neck.

But Kexin was faster. She dodged the attack effortlessly, her claws clamping down on the thug’s neck with crushing force.

The hatred in the thug’s eyes faded, replaced by terror. His trembling lips parted to plead, but before he could utter a word, his throat was pierced, and a gush of blood erupted from the wound.

With a single flick of her wing, Kexin sent the useless human flying. Her ruthless gaze fixed on the remaining thugs.

Those who dare harm my Master deserve death.

Kexin fought fiercely, like an emotionless killing machine, striking terror into their hearts.

“It’s a Mutated Beast!”

Someone suddenly shouted.

Panic-stricken, the thugs realized they’d stirred up a hornet’s nest and scrambled frantically for the door.

Before they could reach it, with a clatter, seven or eight shelves materialized, blocking the exit.

They exchanged terrified glances, the scent of impending doom thick in the air. Trembling, they turned back.

Qiao Yanyu stood behind them, her gaze icy. With a subtle twist of her right hand, the checkout counter crashed down from above, crushing the second-in-command beneath it. The remaining thugs scattered like rats.

Qiao Yanyu unleashed her Space Ability, transforming every sharp object within ten meters of her into lethal projectiles. They shot through the air with deadly precision, reaping the heads of the fleeing thugs. Kexin pursued relentlessly, cornering the last two thugs against the wall.

“Don’t… don’t come any closer! I have an Ability!”

Kexin paused, her dark eyes fixed unwaveringly on them.

The thugs trembled under Kexin’s intense gaze, rubbing their fingers vigorously. After a long moment, a feeble flame finally flickered to life.

Holding the flame carefully between them, they presented it to Kexin and snarled, “Move aside now, or we’ll burn you alive!”

A dark glint flashed in Kexin’s eyes. With a flick of her wings, the flame was instantly extinguished.

The air seemed to freeze.

Extinguished? How could it be extinguished?

The thugs strained their necks, staring in disbelief at their empty fingers.

Kexin narrowed her eyes, remembering her master’s last birthday celebration for her. There had been no candles, no cute birthday hat, only a burning matchstick.

Bathed in the dim glow, her master had patiently demonstrated how to blow out the flame, holding her close. Kexin had never learned to blow out candles; she could only extinguish flames with her wings.

Silence fell, broken by the gentle, cheerful melody of a birthday song. The air seemed to fill with the sweet aroma of cake, and her heart swelled with warmth.

If those people hadn’t wanted to eat her, her master wouldn’t have died because of her.

Kexin opened her eyes, her heart burning with killing intent as she dove toward the thugs.

With his life hanging by a thread, the thug suddenly bent down and lunged forward, pulling out a fruit knife and pressing it against the shop assistant’s neck. “Don’t come any closer, or I’ll kill her!”

The shop assistant’s legs went weak, tears streaming down her face. “Don’t kill me.”

Kexin sheathed her sharp claws, somewhat annoyed. These weak humans only know how to prey on those weaker than themselves.

Qiao Yanyu said calmly, “You can strike now if you want.”

“Don’t think I won’t! I’m going to kill her right now…” The thug, assuming Qiao Yanyu wouldn’t act unless faced with death, raised the knife to stab the shop assistant.

In the next instant, his mouth gaped in horror as the knife in his hand twisted and bent at an unnatural angle, its blade stabbing uncontrollably into his own body.

The thug let out a blood-curdling scream as his body was pierced repeatedly, leaving him covered in blood and gore.

Meanwhile, at the brink of death, the shop assistant’s body suddenly erupted with a translucent, shimmering blue spherical shield, completely enveloping her.

Shield Ability: Basic skill. Initially wraps the user in a spherical shield that can completely negate a certain level of ordinary attacks and reduce the damage of ability-infused attacks. Duration: one minute.

Qiao Yanyu glanced around, ensuring the small-time thugs had committed suicide as instructed. She then had Kexin store the collected medical supplies in her Space before approaching the shop assistant. “You can leave now. These people are all dead.”

The shop assistant’s expression crumbled, tears streaming down her face like pearls falling from a broken string.

Kexin patted the woman with her wing, but instead of comforting her, the gesture only frightened the woman further, her face paling. She tried to retreat, but her legs were too weak to move.

Curious, Kexin extended her sharp claws and scratched at the spherical shield surrounding the woman. Her claws tingled slightly, and she accidentally left a white scratch on the shield.

Hmm, this thing isn’t bad for sharpening my claws.

Qiao Yanyu picked up Kexin, stroked her head, and said gently, “Be good. Don’t go messing with other people’s things.”

The Shield Ability was somewhat useless in its early stages but became incredibly powerful later on. If cultivated properly, it could assist teammates in dealing damage or enhance one’s own combat capabilities. She had once seen a level-six Shield Warrior from the base who could simultaneously deploy over a dozen shields, even inflicting some counter-damage. If they had encountered a counter-damaging Golden Shield today, Kexin would have been injured.

She took out a wet wipe from her bag and gently wiped the bloodstains from Kexin’s feathers. Kexin was usually very clean, and if the blood wasn’t wiped off promptly, she worried Kexin might run outside in the rain to clean her feathers and accidentally ingest dirty rainwater, leading to diarrhea.

Kexin reverted to her normal form, nuzzling her small head against Qiao Yanyu’s arm and affectionately rubbing against her with her eyes half-closed.

She loved it when her master wiped her feathers.

The sticky, matted feathers quickly became clean and smooth. After cleaning the left side, Kexin shook the feathers on her wings and turned around, allowing Qiao Yanyu to wipe the right side.

“You’ve been so good today,” Qiao Yanyu couldn’t help but praise her, stroking Kexin’s glossy white feathers.

When Kexin was younger and still growing her feathers, her downy fluff was a tender yellow, and she wobbled when she walked, often falling over after just a few steps and getting covered in mud. Back then, she would get upset if anyone except Qiao Yanyu touched her feathers. When Qiao Meng came to play and saw Kexin fall into the mud, she had barely helped Kexin up before receiving a barrage of pecks from Kexin’s duck-like beak. She had to ask Qiao Yanyu for help to stop Kexin.

For a long time, Qiao Meng would jokingly call Kexin “Little White-Eyed Duck.” Now, the little white-eyed duck had grown up into an incredibly well-behaved little duck.

Kexin proudly puffed out her little chest, knowing she was the world’s sweetest duckling.

Qiao Yanyu wiped the dirt from Kexin’s feathers, then picked her up and weighed her. She felt heavy, but not yet as plump as she needed to be. Ducks needed to fatten up for winter; without enough fat reserves, they were prone to illness.

As an experienced duck farmer, countless fattening plans flashed through Qiao Yanyu’s mind.

Little Kexin, blissfully unaware of these schemes, was still basking in the warmth of her owner’s embrace. She burrowed deeper into Qiao Yanyu’s arms when suddenly, a rustling sound caught her attention.

She whipped around just in time to see a yellow figure dart past her.

Qiao Yanyu shot a glare at the figure and snapped, “If you don’t want to die, get on the ground and cover your head!”

The rustling ceased instantly. The spiky-haired, yellow-haired delinquent clutched his head, his face contorted into a subservient plea. “Big Boss, don’t kill me! I’m really useful!”

Qiao Yanyu’s gaze remained icy. “Prove it,” she said coldly. “If you’re not, your death will be more painful than theirs.”

The yellow-haired boy’s expression froze, like he was constipated. He stammered out assurances. “Useful! I swear I’m useful! I have really important information!”

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