Chapter 258 - 155: There Aren’t Ghosts, Right?
Meanwhile, the members of the flanking detachment who were free to roam about also ran into trouble.
"Hey, look! The plants on this mountaintop are so weird!"
"Such a big mouth. I wonder what it’s for?"
The speaker, curious, even went forward and pried it open, wanting to stick his head inside to see what was up.
Someone nearby quickly pulled this "Curiosity Baby" away.
"What are you doing? You’re being really weird!!"
Afterward, the group continued to wander around, hoping to find some wild fruit to try. Only that "Curiosity Baby" couldn’t suppress his curiosity. He quietly fell to the back of the group and ran off to touch the Big-Mouthed Flower.
Just as he forced the Big-Mouthed Flower’s mouth open again and poked his head inside, it swallowed him in one gulp.
This Big-Mouthed Flower was a Plant-Person. Not only was its level higher than a normal Big-Mouthed Flower’s, but it also had attribute bonuses. After being swallowed, the man went silent within a few breaths.
The members of the flanking detachment up ahead were chatting and laughing, but in the middle of their conversation, they suddenly realized someone was missing.
"Where’d that ’Curiosity Baby’ go?"
"That idiot probably went back to mess with that weird plant again."
"No, I looked. No one’s there."
"Then he probably went back on his own. Ignore him. Having that idiot around makes my skin crawl."
"Let’s go, let’s go. The view over there looks pretty good. Let’s go check it out."
The group paid no mind to the missing person and continued forward.
"Look, quick! There are a lot of weird plants over here."
"For real, these plants are so strange. And they’re so ugly!"
The plants, which had been swaying in the wind, suddenly froze.
"This is a cactus, right? So many thorns... No Cactus Fruit, though. Bad review!"
"Quick, look at these plants! Why do they have a cup growing on their heads? What if we plucked one to use as a water cup?"
The man who said this actually went up and started yanking hard on a Pea Shooter’s barrel.
Someone else was surprised to find some watermelons.
"Come quick! There are watermelons over here, and even a blue mutated variety!"
Hearing there was food, everyone ran over. Sure enough, they found the ground covered in watermelons. They happily ran over, each picking one up, ready to enjoy a treat.
"BANG~"
A watermelon exploded, splattering the people around it with pulp.
"HAHAHA~"
"That’s so fucking funny!"
Their sorry state made the others roar with laughter. No one noticed that the ones who’d been hit by the explosion seemed to be injured.
"BANG~"
"BANG! BANG! BANG!~"
A series of explosions rang out as all the watermelons in their hands detonated. In an instant, the group was left dazed and confused by the blasts.
At that moment, the various Pea Shooters and cacti to the side fired their respective thorns and peas.
The Pea Shooter whose barrel had been yanked on, in particular, even used Spiritual Energy to empower its peas. Anyone hit by them was blown clean through, leaving a gaping hole.
Before the group could react, they were wiped out by the focused fire. They died horribly, without a single intact spot on their bodies.
Afterward, the Watermelon Shooters on the ground pulled up their roots, dragged the corpses underneath them, and buried them in the earth. The craters left by the attack were filled in, and all the plants returned to their leisurely swaying in the wind. There was no sign that an ambush had just taken place here.
As more members of the flanking detachment rested on the mountaintop, quite a few were secretly eaten by Big-Mouthed Flowers that silently crept up on them.
「...」
When the detachment captain felt everyone had rested enough and called for them to assemble, he finally realized something wasn’t right.
’Why are there fewer people?’
"Everyone, sound off! Check your squads and see who’s missing."
"One!"
"Two!"
...
After tallying the numbers, the captain was shocked to find that over ten thousand people were missing.
"How are so many people missing? Did none of you notice where anyone went?"
Everyone looked at each other, stunned to find that no one else knew the whereabouts of the missing people either.
Most of them knew some people had fallen behind, but they just assumed those people had returned to the assembly point, or had gone to relieve themselves, or to have a quick shag in the woods, or something. They never imagined they would actually disappear.
If a few people had gone missing, the captain wouldn’t have cared. He would have just assumed they’d lost their footing and fallen off a cliff.
If a few hundred had gone missing, the captain would have organized a search party, because it would most likely mean they had run into enemy sentinels.
But now, with over ten thousand missing, the captain wasn’t particularly worried. He figured the most likely explanation was that they had all arranged to go off and do something together.
’It’s impossible they were attacked by the enemy. With that many people, there’s no way they wouldn’t have made a sound. And with so many others around, it’s impossible that no one would have noticed anything. They must have just left on their own.’
"Jilong, Ma Yu, Niu Ben! You three, take some men and go find them. This is outrageous! I told them to assemble at this time, and they just treat my words like hot air."
"What? Do they think I’m not qualified to be their captain?"
The three men, having received their orders, each took 1,000 men and headed deeper into the mountain forest to search.
Along the way, they took turns shouting, hoping the missing people would respond.
As they went further and further, the sound of their shouting grew fainter and fainter, until it disappeared completely.
Back with the captain, he was still lecturing the remaining troops.
"Let me tell you, this mission is extremely important."
"The reason Lord Mei Yuan appointed me as captain is definitely because my command ability is superior to yours."
"Don’t think I don’t know that some of you are very unhappy about me being the captain..."
「...」
The captain, getting into the swing of his speech, rambled on and on. It wasn’t until his mouth was dry that he realized he had been lecturing them for a very long time.