In the original film, these Pterosaur-like creatures made frequent appearances; the Na'vi relied heavily on them to build an overwhelmingly powerful aerial force, and it seemed that possessing such a mount was a symbol of status among the Na'vi—much like driving at least an Audi A6 in the real world. Of course, the Banshee Dragon that the protagonist eventually tamed was surely the unique, custom-built Rolls-Royce Wraith, the only one of its kind in the world.

These seven or eight Pterosaurs climbed to an altitude of about a hundred meters before immediately splitting up, circling, and diving, separating into four teams to assault the contractors defending the four cardinal directions. At this moment, the long-range attackers naturally opened fire simultaneously. Concurrently, a sentry began shouting, "Large numbers of rapidly moving creatures approaching in the distance! Preliminary estimate: a pack of Viperwolves, numbering between 50 and 100!"

In this split second, Fang Senyan was reminded of his encounters in the Star River world: the overwhelming tide of Flooders, and those recklessly charging Spore Wyverns. Fortunately, the two sides back then had not coordinated to form a three-dimensional land-and-air assault; otherwise, even with Fang Senyan's maximum health multiplied by ten, he would have long since been reduced to ash.

But now! The Viperwolves had cleverly formed this three-dimensional land-and-air combat pattern with the Pterosaurs! The cunning and massive swarm of beasts, combined with the ferocious and powerful flying units, constituted a terrifyingly perfect fighting combination. Fortunately, Fang Senyan wasn't fighting alone; he was battling alongside the Illuminati, and the vast majority of the attacks from these fierce and sly creatures would be absorbed by them.

Luckily, the Illuminati's long-range firepower naturally asserted itself first; they began raining down formidable firepower upon the beasts, successfully drawing the attention of the volatile creatures. This allowed Fang Senyan to watch on with a sense of ease and detachment.

One Pterosaur was seen plummeting through the intense barrage of fire. Despite its hide being torn by various bullets and spells, it let out an indescribable, piercing shriek from its sharp beak! This cry spread out immediately, like a single stone striking water to cause a thousand ripples! Wherever the sound wave passed, rings of invisible ripples could be seen! The contractors caught in the blast seemed to be battered by a Level 12 gale—their eyes stung unbearably, tears streaming down their faces as they could only shield their heads with their hands and stagger backward repeatedly.

B-Rank Ability: Tracheal Tremor! By stirring up violent air currents, this ability forces enemies within the range into a continuous retreat state for a duration, and because the eyes are irritated, their hit rate is also significantly reduced!

Pterosaurs are social animals, and sound is a crucial means of communication for them. Since the Pterosaurs lacked a visible trachea, and air entered their chests directly during respiration, they used their lungs to pump air into their cranial cavity to generate sound, then projected that sound in a specific direction through their wide-open mouths.

Over time, this method of communication evolved into this potent attack. As for these formidable and terrifying beasts, due to having two pairs of eyes—one pair being normal eyeballs, and the other smaller pair capable of independent movement—they were exceptionally adept at tracking movement. At night, the smaller pair functioned similarly to infrared vision, protected by transparent eyelids, rendering them almost completely immune to this type of attack.

After this Pterosaur broke through the encirclement first, the remaining two smaller Pterosaurs also swooped down, seizing this rare opportunity. Their razor-sharp talons effortlessly sliced through the air in arcs of death, easily rending human flesh. Wherever they passed, the spattered blood formed several intersecting red lines in the air.

A few screams followed immediately. The weakness of contractors who relied on teamwork for survival was naturally their low durability... The division of specialized roles made it difficult for them to acquire gear or ability scrolls that enhanced survivability.

Several contractors could immediately be seen collapsing to the ground, their wounds looking sickeningly deep, clearly having suffered devastating damage from the Pterosaurs. Blood poured from the gaps between their fingers as if it were free.

Immediately following this, another Pterosaur snatched a contractor, beating its membranous wings and soaring high into the sky. At seventy or eighty meters above the ground, it released its prey. The shrill scream dragged on as it fell, ending with a sickening thud against the Valkyrie ship's port wing, before bouncing onto the ground—it was clearly beyond saving.

However, just as the third Pterosaur dove straight down, Akaphir of the Symbiote society had already charged to meet it before Fang Senyan.

This Symbiote MT had only arrived late due to the distance, and the Pterosaur's B-Rank ability, Tracheal Tremor, had only managed to muss up his chest hair, failing to impede him in the slightest.

At this moment, Fang Senyan could easily have disengaged from the battle, but truthfully, he was reluctant to leave. Fang Senyan had witnessed Reef's defensive style, but Akaphir’s fighting methodology as a Symbiote MT was something that intensely piqued his curiosity. As the saying goes, one man's scrap is another's treasure; for Fang Senyan, who was still developing, gaining some valuable experience from observing him would be priceless.

Facing the third diving Pterosaur, Akaphir took a deep breath and lunged forward, seemingly intent on mutual destruction! However, when the two were only five or six meters apart, Akaphir thrust both hands out, drawing a two-handed greatshield from behind his head, and charged directly into the Pterosaur.

Fang Senyan saw clearly that Akaphir's greatshield was emitting a silvery glow, and with every swing, tiny silver motes scattered, feeling almost like falling, drifting stars. According to the data Fang Senyan and Gold Mine had collected, this was clearly a special effect only present when equipment had been upgraded beyond a certain tier.

When held upright, this greatshield was taller than a man, circular at the top and tapered at the bottom—a design that allowed it to be easily smashed into the ground for anchoring. When wielded, it resembled an utterly solid gate, its surface covered in dense, sharp studs for reinforcement. Every dark rivet was pyramid-shaped, rising at least several centimeters from the shield's face. One could imagine that if this struck a person, it would leave behind countless bloody punctures—a true instrument for draining life.

The edges of the shield were framed with at least ten centimeters of solid silver metallic material, a design that clearly bestowed extraordinary sturdiness but also considerable weight. This was why Akaphir needed both hands to wield it proficiently.

Following a colossal boom, a sharp, terrible screech echoed through the air. Although Akaphir let out a grunt and was slammed five or six meters back by the immense force of the collision, the Pterosaur's dive was abruptly halted. It lost its balance on the ground, tumbled a few times, and continued to flap its wings and cry out strangely, large patches of blue blood spraying from its chest.

Seizing this excellent opportunity, the broad-shouldered man with exceptionally long arms, Seble, let out a roar that sounded like a broken gong, leaping high into the air. He gripped his massive black longsword with both hands and brought it down in a deadly overhead chop!

This strike whistled sharply through the air, clearly indicating a skill activation, and its imposing aura was immediately evident.

"Another Vant," Fang Senyan mentally tagged the man.

With a flash of gore, Seble's left shoulder had a large chunk of flesh ripped away by the desperately counter-attacking Pterosaur. But he immediately let out a savage roar, accelerating the swing of the black greatsword. This strike effectively cleaved off half of the beast's wing. The severed section of the membranous wing, trailing plumes of blue blood, flew upward for over ten meters before drifting slowly back down—a spectacular sight.

After all, Pterosaurs relied on flight, meaning the carbon fiber structures supporting their membranous wings were largely hollow, thus lacking sufficient structural integrity. Once grounded, the Pterosaur's killing power was drastically reduced. Though it kept shrieking mournfully, within a few short minutes, the contractors swarmed it, focusing their firepower until it was beaten into a bloody pulp.

The other two Pterosaurs dove again in grief and anger, but this time Akaphir was fully prepared, and the Illuminati members coordinated perfectly, granting them absolutely no openings. Instead, they took the chance to slay another Pterosaur.

However, these aerial monsters had successfully caused considerable chaos among the Illuminati ranks. More importantly, the previously well-arranged defensive formation of the Illuminati was ripped apart.

This gave the arriving Viperwolves an opening.

Their intelligence was already high. Seizing the moment when the Illuminati line was experiencing major disarray, eight Viperwolves cunningly bypassed the five or six melee contractors blocking their path and viciously lunged towards the weaker, more exposed long-range contractors in the inner layers. It truly gave the feeling of water spreading seamlessly and inexorably, plunging the situation into extreme confusion for a time.

Seeing this, Fang Senyan gained a rough understanding of the Illuminati's overall strength. However, he also noticed that only Akaphir and Seble seemed to be core members present; Fang Senyan recalled seeing at least six core members on a previous occasion. This meant a full four core members were absent, obviously held back as strategic reserves.

At this point, he decided he had lingered long enough. He turned to leave to observe elsewhere, perhaps seeking an opportunity to accumulate some battlefield contribution points.

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I highly recommend a rather [***] book to everyone: Wuhuang Tutian (Martial Emperor Slaying Heaven). Although it still follows the path of the useless young man trope, it contains many highlights. The emotional beats and moments of triumphant comeback are executed very well.