Lin Ming and Quynh Nhu moved into the forest with the practiced silence of predators. Lin Ming led the way, his [Qi Sense] acting as a flawless guide, honing in on the massive, pained energy source.
Quynh Nhu followed close behind, her sniper rifle held at a low ready, her sharp eyes scanning every shadow and treetop.
"Tell me what you're sensing, Scrawny," she whispered into her comms, her voice a low hiss. "My thermals are useless. The whole forest is glowing with residual energy."
"It's big, angry, and hurt," Lin Ming replied just as quietly. "And it's not alone. There's another energy signature near it. Small, but foul. It feels... artificial. Like the Madakaros tech in the warehouse, but... biological."
They moved deeper, the forest growing older and more primal around them. Giant, ancient trees formed a dense canopy, plunging the forest floor into a perpetual twilight.
The air grew thick with the smell of moss, damp earth, and something else—a faint, acrid smell of ozone and decay.
After ten minutes of careful trekking, they arrived at a clearing. It was a breathtaking sight. A massive, ancient banyan tree, easily a thousand years old, stood at the center.
Its sprawling roots were as thick as pythons, and its canopy formed a cathedral of leaves. This was the heart of the grove, a place of immense natural power.
Lying at the base of the tree was the source of the roar.
It was a creature of legend—a Tiger. But it was a beast of impossible size, larger than a truck, its striped fur the color of burnished gold.
Its massive muscles rippled with power even as it lay twitching on the ground. This was the Mountain Guardian.
But something was horribly wrong. Patches of its golden fur were blackened and falling out. Dark, ugly veins pulsed with a sickly purple light beneath its skin, centered around a deep wound in its shoulder.
The wound wasn't bleeding; it was festering with a substance that looked like bubbling, black tar. It was this foul substance that emanated the artificial, alien energy Lin Ming had sensed.
As the Guardian twitched in agony, it let out another pained roar. The sound wave alone was powerful enough to crack stones and send Quynh Nhu stumbling back a step.
"Sweet mother of..." she breathed, steadying her aim. "Is that... a freaking divine tiger?"
Lin Ming's eyes weren't on the tiger. They were on the dark, tar-like substance. "It's been poisoned. That stuff is Madakaros tech. A biological weapon."
His mind raced. In his previous life, he had encountered reports of Madakaros bio-weapons—nanite plagues and flesh-eating viruses.
This looked like a crude but potent variant, something designed to corrupt and control powerful lifeforms. They must have detected the Guardian's energy and sent a covert team to either kill or capture it, a prize far more valuable than an oil field.
"Can you shoot the gunk off it?" Lin Ming asked Quynh Nhu.
"Are you insane?!" she hissed back. "First, I'm not sure my rounds can even penetrate its hide. Second, it's writhing around! I'm more likely to hit it in the eye and make it even angrier. Third, have you seen the size of its claws?!"
She was right. The risk was too high. They couldn't attack the poison without provoking the Guardian.
Suddenly, the great tiger's head snapped up. Its bloodshot, golden eyes, clouded with pain and rage, fixed on them. It didn't see allies; it saw intruders, more small creatures in its domain to be torn apart.
With a deafening roar, it surged to its feet. It was wounded, but it was still a guardian deity. The sheer force of its presence was suffocating.
"Plan B, Scrawny!" Quynh Nhu yelled, her face pale but her hands steady on her rifle. "What's Plan B?!"
Lin Ming didn't have a Plan B. But he had Thuan Thien. He drew the legendary sword.
The moment it left its scabbard, the blade hummed with a soft, golden light, as if sensing the presence of another ancient power.
"I'm going to try and talk to it," Lin Ming said, his voice strangely calm.
"You're going to what?! We are way past talking! That's Plan F! For 'Freaking Eaten'!"
But Lin Ming was already walking forward, holding Thuan Thien in front of him not as a weapon, but as a symbol.
He projected his thoughts again, just as he had at the lake—not with aggression, but with respect and an offer of help. 'Great Guardian, we are not your enemy. We are children of this land. That filth on your shoulder is from the alien invaders. Let us help you.'
The tiger paused, its charge momentarily halted. It seemed to tilted its massive head, its rage-filled eyes showing a flicker of confusion.
The golden light from the sword seemed to soothe its spirit, a familiar, ancient energy that cut through the haze of pain.
But the alien poison fought back. The dark veins on its shoulder pulsed violently, and the tiger let out another roar, this one filled with renewed agony.
The flicker of lucidity was gone, replaced by pure, feral instinct. It lunged.
It was impossibly fast, a blur of golden fur and razor-sharp claws.
Quynh Nhu screamed, "MING!" and opened fire, her shots aimed not at the tiger, but at the ground in front of it, trying to divert its charge. The high-caliber rounds kicked up dirt and stone but did nothing to slow it down.
Time seemed to slow for Lin Ming. The Guardian's charge was terrifying, its killing intent absolute. This was a true life-and-death crisis. This was the moment his System had been designed for.
[Near-Death State Detected!]
[Host is facing an overwhelmingly powerful foe!]
[Activating "Deathmatch State"! Battle Will Generation x5! System Mana Bar Locked at 100%!]
[The closer to death, the louder the song of your will!]
A surge of pure energy flooded Lin Ming's body. His fear was washed away, replaced by an ice-cold calm. He knew he couldn't beat the tiger in a direct confrontation. But he didn't need to beat it. He needed to cure it.
He sidestepped the initial lunge, the tiger's claws scything through the air where he'd been, shearing a massive boulder in half without slowing down. The raw power was terrifying.
His eyes were locked on the black, festering wound. That was the target.
As the tiger spun around for another attack, Lin Ming acted. He poured his Qi into Thuan Thien, but not for a slashing attack. He focused the energy to the tip of the blade, commanding it to do one thing: purify. The sword, created by a Guardian, had a natural enmity towards this alien filth.
He lunged forward, not away. It was a move of insane courage, a suicidal charge towards the rampaging beast. He dodged under a swipe that could have ripped a tank in half and, with a powerful cry, plunged the glowing tip of Thuan Thien directly into the heart of the black, tar-like wound.
A blood-curdling screech erupted, not from the tiger, but from the alien poison itself. A wave of black, foul-smelling smoke billowed from the wound as the pure, righteous energy of Heaven's Will did its work. It was like dousing a fire with water. The poison was being burned away from the inside out.
[Purified Alien Contaminant!]
[Dealt massive 'Holy' damage to a corrupted entity!]
[A Legendary Deed! Guardian's Gratitude incoming!]
[Battle Will +4000!]
[Battle Will Points: 9860! Threshold for Foundation Establishment has almost been met!]
The purification, however, came at a cost. The tiger, in its final throes of agony, swatted backward with its massive tail. Lin Ming was still too close. He tried to leap back, but it was too late. The tail, as thick as a tree trunk, slammed into his chest.
CRACK!
Lin Ming felt his ribs shatter, the air driven from his lungs. He was sent flying like a broken doll, crashing through the underbrush and slamming into the trunk of a tree with a sickening thud before falling to the ground, unconscious.
The last thing he heard was Quynh Nhu's panicked scream.