Chapter 204 - 133: All the Benefits Are Mine
[World Chat Channel (788211)]
Lin Yu: "Guys, I figured out what race our opponents are!!!"
Ding Dong: "Brother Lin, you’re the best when it comes to intel! Hurry up and tell us, I’m dying of curiosity!!"
Lin Yu: "I’ll post a video for you all. You’ll understand once you see it. video.avi"
...
Lin Yu’s post was met with swift replies. Everyone was very curious about what race their opponents were this time, especially since the invading soldiers had been from all sorts of different races.
The video showed the ground littered with barbarian corpses (from the location of the second barbarian attack).
As the camera zoomed in, a vine—a Plant Person’s hand—flipped over one of the corpses.
It then pulled aside the corpse’s clothing, revealing its back. An oval-shaped scar was particularly conspicuous, with many fine lines branching out from its edges, spreading across the entire back.
Then, the vine touched the scar. The oval scar flipped open like an eyelid, and an eye appeared before the camera.
A flash of astonishment appeared in the eye. It then pulled slender tentacles out from the fine lines and leaped toward the camera, eyeball and all. The camera then shook violently (the eyeball was trying to parasitize the Plant Person, but couldn’t find a way in). The eyeball was thrown to the ground, where the vine pierced it straight through the pupil.
The injured eyeball let out a piercing screech, like nails on a chalkboard, and then slowly died.
At the same time, the numerous corpses rapidly shriveled, and swarms of eyeballs burst out, charging toward the camera.
Many more vines (other Plant People making their move) shot out from behind the camera to attack the eyeballs.
Quite a few eyeballs broke through to the area behind the camera, and a series of scraping sounds could be heard.
However, before long, the eyeballs ran back into the frame. Their numbers were reduced, and their gaze seemed to carry a look of disgust. They scurried to the edge of the shot and swarmed onto a few of the more intact barbarian corpses. The corpses immediately climbed to their feet and, now covered in eyeballs, took off running, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
[World Chat Channel (788211)]
Ding Dong: "So, the attacking side we were randomly assigned this time is... these eyeball creatures?"
Zhang Jing: "There’s no record of this creature in the Empire’s public database. Do any of you big shots have information on these eyeball creatures in your family records?"
...
The chat channel fell silent. The usually resourceful second-generation elites weren’t saying a word.
After a short wait, Ding Dong spoke up: "Looks like nobody knows, then. In that case, we need to be cautious. These eyeballs seem to need a host to survive, but we don’t know what their specific abilities are."
Mei Yuan: "Why not experiment and find out? Just drag some enemy corpses back to your territory and test them."
Zhang Jing: "I’m not testing that. It’s disgusting to even look at. I’m already preparing the ’deluxe cremation package’ for them."
Mei Yuan: "If you don’t experiment, how will you find out their abilities? What will you do if they catch you in a trap?"
Zhang Jing: "Then why don’t you test them yourself?"
Mei Yuan: "I did! I already moved the Fishman I killed back to my territory. I haven’t noticed anything unusual. As long as you don’t attack the eyeballs, they don’t attack you. They’re quiet and actually kind of cute."
Zhang Jing: "eyeball_screenshot.jpg"
Zhang Jing: "You call this cute?"
Mei Yuan: "Yeah. Isn’t it?"
Zhang Jing: "Ugh... Fine, you’re right. Just don’t talk to me anymore. I don’t want to talk to a freak!"
Mei Yuan: "Is anyone else willing to research this with me? I haven’t found anything out on my end. Maybe one of you can uncover some new information."
...
[Cuiwei Star Experts Group]
Ding Dong: "Younger Brother Lin, what’s the deal with the vines in your video? What did those eyeballs do? And why did they all run away in the end?"
Lin Yu: "As you know, I have Elemental Mages in my territory. These are Vicious Poisonous Vines summoned by a Wood Mage’s Magic. I had the vines take a camera and poke around the corpses."
Lin Yu: "I’m a cautious person. I’d noticed something was off with the barbarians before, so I sent in these plant-type Summoned Beasts."
Lin Yu: "And then, my summoned vines discovered those eyeballs."
Lin Yu: "I don’t have many hobbies besides watching movies. That thing screamed ’bad news,’ like some kind of parasite. So, I had the vines attack one, and then the eyeballs went nuts, just like you saw in the video."
Lin Yu: "After they went wild, the eyeballs swarmed my summoned vines and stuck their tentacles into them. It looked like they were trying to parasitize or control the vines, but they failed and ran off."
Lin Yu was concealing one small detail: the existence of the Plant People. He passed them off as summoned Vicious Poisonous Vines, then shared the intelligence that wasn’t shown in the video.
In truth, it was more or less as he described. The eyeballs’ attempt to parasitize the Plant People had no effect whatsoever. Their nerve-invasion ability was completely useless against the Plant People’s bodies of roots and stems.
The eyeballs tried for a while but failed to harm or control the Plant People. Instead, they got beaten into submission.
This was especially true for the Big-Mouthed Flower Plant People. The eyeballs had low health, so if a Big-Mouthed Flower swallowed one, it would be digested in seconds. The Big-Mouthed Flowers would then just keep devouring them, popping one eyeball after another into their mouths like they were eating peanuts.