For Milton, YangHe Hospital was not unfamiliar, and it could even be said that he was quite familiar with it. Every time Peter came to deliver goods, he brought Milton along, and he knew the layout here.
As he entered, the outpatient department was on his left. When he passed through the outpatient department, a strong stench hit his nose. He was met with the sight of a bare-chested butcher, wielding a knife at the massive chunks of meat on the cutting board. Everywhere around him were clumps of black hair and white bones.
"Ugh!" Milton felt his stomach churn. He had seen such scenes many times before, but each time it made him nauseous. He was very familiar with those pieces of meat; they were the offerings he had delivered. Perhaps noticing his gaze, the butcher suddenly looked up and flashed him a sinister smile. Startled, Milton quickly retracted his neck and hurried towards the inpatient department ahead.
Seeing Milton shrink away, the butcher burst into laughter. "Look, that cowardly kid is here again!"
His cronies nearby followed suit, laughing. "Alright, take the processed meat to the boss."
Out of nowhere, the butcher blurted out a sentence that struck his cronies like lightning, abruptly silencing their laughter and replacing it with fear. Trembling, one of them asked, "Powell, isn't it too early for that?"
"Quit fucking yapping. If I tell you to deliver, you deliver!"
"Fine."
Meanwhile, Milton could actually hear the laughter behind him, but he was afraid. He dared to kill and bully people, but at least he treated them as human beings. That fat, round guy treated people in front of him no differently from pigs or dogs, slaughtering them without a second thought. Unable to suppress a shiver, Milton hurriedly walked inside.
After reaching the sixth floor, he encountered two guards on duty. "Halt, what's your business?" one guard asked.
Milton quickly offered a smile. "Bro, just need to use the facilities. I have an important matter to discuss with Ollie." As he spoke, a voice came from one of the patient rooms.
"Alright, let him in," the voice ordered. Immediately, the guard straightened up. Milton noticed and nodded with a grin before quickly jogging inside.
This was a special care ward, quite spacious. A man stood on the balcony, his back turned, so his face wasn't visible. Milton could only see him feeding the birds in the air.
"Speak, what brings you to see me?" the voice spoke, and Milton immediately dropped to the ground with a thud. He kowtowed three times in a row, sobbing, "Ollie, you have to do something for Peter! He died so horribly!"
"Peter is dead?" skepticism tinged the man's words.
After all, Peter was a first-stage Awakened Being, and he was the most powerful close combat Beastiality ability user. Even before the apocalypse, he was one of the top figures in LINXIAN City. After the apocalypse, with countless casualties, it was practically impossible for surviving civilians to be his match.
Could it be the military? Thinking, the man tossed a few bugs towards the flock of birds in the air and said casually, "Tell me."
"Well, I just found a batch of offerings today and had discussed with Peter that we would deliver them to you in a few days. But unexpectedly, a group of people forcefully invaded our base. There's an elderly man among them who's extremely powerful. Neither I nor Peter could match him. I managed to escape by pretending to be dead, but Peter was killed on the spot. You have to help us, Ollie!"
"Hmph!" the man snorted and continued, "What do these people look like?"
"There were three of them in total. The leader is an old man in his seventies. He's incredibly strong, ranking among the top even among first-stage Awakened Beings. There are also two young women in their twenties, not very strong, probably not yet at the level of an Awakened Being," Milton said after some thought.
"Do you know where those three people are?" the man continued to ask, his back turned.
Milton shook his head helplessly. "They came too suddenly, we didn't have time to react."
Just then, a voice sounded from outside the door. "Ollie, everything's ready. Should we do it now or later?" The man calmly replied, "Do it now."
As he spoke, two henchmen entered carrying a large bucket of raw meat. They placed it in front of the man and then pitifully glanced at Milton before hastily leaving.
Milton felt puzzled by the way these two men looked at him, but the next moment, he regretted it. Suddenly, the man in front of him emitted a sharp screech towards the sky, and then, a massive monster bird came swooping down.
It was called a monster bird for a reason – Milton had never seen a bird so enormous. Its wingspan was about five meters, and it had two heads on its neck, similar to Ollie's. When it landed on the balcony outside the patient room, it completely blocked out the sunlight, with an estimated height of at least four meters. Its feet were sharp claws, but it had a body similar to that of a calf. Its tail behind it constantly swayed in the air, releasing a snake-like hiss.
When the monster bird looked at Milton, its eyes were filled with desire, and it turned to the middle-aged man as if seeking permission.
"What is this thing?" Milton instinctively wanted to escape, but when he thought of his own base being destroyed by that old man, he suppressed his fear and remained in place.
"Kid, you've got some guts," the man turned around, smiling at Milton. At the same time, Milton also got a clear view of the man. He had an ordinary appearance, except for those golden eyes that were sharp and intense, something no human should possess.
"Thanks for the compliment, Ollie…" Milton gulped nervously.
Ollie pointed at the monster bird next to him. "This is a griffon, a deity from the ancient camel country's Pharaoh era. Legend has it that it preys on humans and gains their memories from before they die."
"Preys on humans? Gains memories? Could it be…" Milton felt an impending danger.
Ollie suddenly changed the subject, looking at Milton indifferently. "I have some unfortunate news to tell you. It just told me that it wants to eat you. What do you think?"
"Ollie, are you joking?" Milton took two steps back.
"Joking? I never joke. You wanted to avenge your leader, right? I'll help you now," Ollie said impatiently.
"I... I won't seek revenge anymore." Milton swallowed hard, glanced around, and when he saw that the door to the room was still closed, he blurted out a curse, "F*** your mother!" He dashed toward the door.
But the next moment, the two-headed griffon moved even faster. A flap of its wings and the room door slammed shut. Then, screams echoed from inside the room. By the time an arm was devoured by the griffon, Ollie patted the griffon's head and said calmly, "Now, do you remember what these people look like?" The griffon nodded.
"Then go find these people for me. Remember, I want them alive," the man said. With an eagle's cry piercing the air, the massive wings spread open, creating a hurricane as the griffon vanished into the sky. After it left, Ollie looked at the bloodstains in the corner of the room and furrowed his brow deeply.
"Who will be the Awakened Being of LinXian City?"