Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lichens were a complex symbiotic combination of algae and fungi.
Due to the long-term close integration of bacteria and algae, regardless of shape, structure, physiology, and genetics, they had formed a unique nature and appearance.
However, Meng Chao was familiar with hundreds of species of lichens in the phylum, but he had never seen such a strange kind of lichen.
It grew extremely fast.
Earlier, Meng Chao had used all his strength to scratch the tree trunk, scraping off the lichen that was up to one centimeter thick, revealing the dark tree trunk beneath.
However, after a few seconds, the lichen on both sides squirmed and covered the tree trunk. A dark green liquid even flowed out, wrapping up the tree trunk at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It was as if Meng Chao’s fingers had reached into a green ocean. No matter how hard he stirred, it was impossible to tear a crack in the ocean.
Meng Chao narrowed his eyes and was about to activate the microscopic observation ability of his eyes when…
His fingertip suddenly felt pain, and the lichen stuck to his finger hissed as if it was boiling.
Meng Chao raised his finger and carefully observed his fingertip.
When he increased the magnification of his eyes hundreds of times, he saw that the lichen that he had scraped off was still highly active. Green tentacles that were as thin as hair extended out from the inside, like young shoots that were full of vitality. They were sniffing and poking around, trying to tear his skin apart and crawl into his warm flesh.
Meng Chao had spirit energy to protect his body. His flesh was as tough as steel. Naturally, he was not afraid of the invasion of the lichens.
However, it might not be the case for ordinary people or ignorant beasts.
What would happen if the lichen was to crawl into his body?
Meng Chao thought of a scene captured by the man-eating pomfret team.
Inside the body of a man-eating pomfret warrior, there were ghostly things that looked like vipers, vines, and branches wriggling.
When the captain decided to force the ghostly thing into the warrior’s arm and then cut off the entire arm, it also tried to grow countless vines and moss to wrap the arm and turn it into an ugly creature that looked like a deformed spider.
Wait a minute, Meng Chao suddenly realized that it was not moss.
At least, it was not the usual moss.
There were also the “lichens” that were fat and greasy, emitting the smell of rotting corpses.
Meng Chao snapped his fingers softly.
A spirit flame darted out of his fingertip and burned the lichen clean.
However, looking up, the entire jungle was completely covered by the lichen.
Judging from the speed of it growth, even if all the crystal ammunitions that the exploration team carried were exhausted, it would be impossible to burn them all.
“Look! What is that?”
Suddenly, one of the members of the exploration team exclaimed in surprise.
Meng Chao and Long Feijun dashed in the direction that he was pointing at, aiming their guns at the greenest place among the rocks, which were covered in lichen.
The place was like a lichen “nest.” Countless lichens were condensing into precise spheres in the dark corners. They were so round that they did not look like natural creatures.
The shells of some of the spheres had already exploded like ripe fruits, revealing bright red… “stamens” inside.
Something similar to the stamens soared into the sky. It looked like a bunch of demonic flames, but it also looked like a ghostly hand that had crawled out of the ground and peeled off the skin. It made people’s mouths dry and their bodies cold.
“Blood Flowers…”
Meng Chao murmured.
He exchanged a glance with Long Feijun. Both of them could see the seriousness in each other’s eyes.
The Blood Flower was the most troublesome fungus-like creature for humans.
It was not an exaggeration to say that it was even more troublesome than many Apocalyptic Beasts.
The individual attack power of an Apocalyptic Beast was indeed unparalleled. However, they were ultimately huge. They could only attack one place at a time. They could be intercepted by Deity Realm powerhouses and bombarded by railway guns.
The Blood Flower itself did not have much attack power. However, it could appear and disappear mysteriously. It could be blown away by the wind, greatly increasing the combat power of the monsters and the chances of them turning into undead creatures. It could also stimulate the mutation of the zombie virus, giving birth to hundreds and thousands of super zombies with strange shapes.
The Blood Flower at the center of the strange lichen in the depths of the Hidden Mist Domain was the most luxuriant and colorful one that Meng Chao had ever seen.
The green lichen and the Blood Flowers, which were as red as blood, were two completely different colors. The collision of the two colors gave off a terrifying, gloomy feeling.
Meng Chao and Long Feijun took two steps back and nodded at the same time.
Two members of the exploration team, who were carrying flamethrowers on their shoulders, stepped forward and unleashed the weird flames that were mixed with monster bone powder and the crystal powder.
The weird purple flames then grew in the storm. With the Blood Flower as the center, they soon covered a hundred meters around them.
In the raging flames, both the Blood Flowers and the weird lichen were growing and wriggling at an accelerated pace, making screeching noises.
The lichen nearby heard the noises and wriggled at an accelerated pace, trying to extinguish the flames like continuous waves.
However, the heavenly flames were too fierce. With the weird lichen as fuel, they piled up a wall of fire that reached the treetops and blocked even more lichen outside. Finally, the lichen and the Blood Flowers inside the wall of fire were completely burnt.
Meanwhile, Meng Chao, Long Feijun, and the other members of the exploration team also took out a few syringes from their medical bags.
These were vaccines…
As well as cell strengthening agents to fight against the spores of the Blood Flowers.
Monsters were evolving, and so were humans.
Monsters could use biochemical technology to create Blood Flowers, zombie viruses, God transformation capsules, and thousands of terrifying things.
Human shields and armors were constantly upgrading, and they were developing all kinds of vaccines and medical agents. In fact, they could even reverse the process, then extract the essence of the zombie virus and the spores of the Blood Flowers. Eliminating the negative effects that would cause people to go crazy, they would retain the functions that allowed humans to surpass the limits of their lives.
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
The members of the exploration team finished injecting each other. As the yellowish medicine was injected into their bodies, a cold and transparent feeling brought them some psychological comfort.
“Look, there’s something over there!”
A bright silver object suddenly appeared in the strange lichen and Blood Flower spores that had been burnt black.
It looked somewhat familiar as if it was some kind of metal part.
Meng Chao shot his chain blade out.
The shining heavy saber was as precise as a scalpel. It tore the burnt lichen and Blood Flowers apart, revealing the remains of a pile of runic machinery.
Almost eight rune machines with broken arms and legs were piled up like tombs.
A mechanical arm was stuck in front of them, and it resembled an unwritten tombstone.
“It’s a temporary tomb built by Sister Ya and her team!”
Meng Chao and the members of the exploration team felt hopeful.
Before Lu Siya went missing, she had sent a video to the rear saying that they had found a cave based on the information left by the man-eating pomfret team. Inside the cave were the remains of several soldiers who had been sacrificed by the man-eating pomfret team.
When Lu Siya and the others discovered the cave, those remains had already been gnawed by snakes, insects, rats, and ants.
In order to prevent the remains of the victims from being damaged, they dug an extremely deep tomb and buried the victims temporarily. They planned to move the victims to the cemetery of martyrs after the human beings occupied the Hidden Mist Domain.
“When Sister Ya and the others were digging the temporary tomb, there weren’t so many weird lichen and Blood Flower spores nearby. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen this place.”
Meng Chao mumbled to himself, “In other words, the lichen and Blood Flower spores only grew after they left. No, they just moved here.
“Did they smell the scent of human remains and want to devour our victims?
“Impossible. How much energy can a few human remains provide? Compared with the energy consumed by so much lichen after such a long journey, it’s nothing.
“If not, could these strange lichen and Blood Flower spores be controlled by some intelligent creature? Are they biological weapons of the mastermind behind the monster civilization?”
Realizing this, everyone could not help but wipe off their cold sweat, secretly exclaiming that it was a close call.
Fortunately, they had arrived in time and burned all the lichen and Blood Flower spores next to the grave.
Otherwise, when Blood Flower spores grew a little more luxuriant, its mycelium would most likely extend underground and wrap around the corpses of the victims, turning them into undead creatures.
A few undead human-shaped creatures were not worth mentioning in terms of combat power.
However, the human martyrs’ corpses being insulted was something that their successors were unwilling to see.
Unfortunately, they still had a mission to carry out, so it was impossible for them to dig up the corpses of the victims and take them away.
They could only set up a trap around the tombs, placing more than a dozen incendiary bombs that could be triggered at any moment.
If the lichen and the spores of the Blood Flower’s virus spread over, they would be burned to the ground again.
The discovery of the tomb could finally help them combine the environment they were in with the map that the man-eating pomfret team and Lu Siya’s team had drawn.
According to the map, they soon determined their current coordinates, the route to the heavenly pit, and a safe passage to escape the Hidden Mist Domain through the route that Lu Siya and her team had taken.
“Don’t worry, we will definitely uproot all the weird lichen and the Blood Flower spores before we wipe out the monster civilization!”
Long Feijun led everyone and gave a solemn military salute to the tombstone engraved with the emblem of Dragon City.
At that moment, explosions and dense gunshots were suddenly heard not far away.
It was coming from the direction where the Kun Peng was forced to land!
Everyone looked at each other, and their hair stood on end. They hurriedly maintained their battle formation and returned to the Kun Peng as quickly as possible.
However, by the time they rushed back, the small-scale battle had already ended.
The exploration team members, who had been guarding the transmigration gate were unharmed.
Only their faces and bodies were covered in steaming mud.
At the edge of the swamp, a small-sized monster had fallen, and its entirety had turned into a hornet’s nest.
The team leader who was guarding the place said that one of the Kun Peng’s crystal engines had exploded, causing the marsh gas in the depths of the swamp to also explode.
The explosion of the marsh gas had alarmed some of the monsters. However, they did not attack the humans. Instead, they fled in a panic.
However, they were treated as moving targets by the neurotic exploration team members.
“So there are still some monsters here.”
Long Feijun had the two exploration team members drag back some monster corpses.
After that, everyone looked at Meng Chao.
Everyone knew that he was an experienced reaper with superb methods.
The role of the coroner naturally belonged to him.