Chapter 793: Red Gemstone
The rooftop was covered in dark green moss, and a dark green figure stood at the edge, seemingly examining the situation below.
Lin Ye didn’t act rashly. After a few seconds, he realized that figure was fixed in place like a statue, not moving at all.
‘Looks a bit familiar…’
Lin Ye climbed onto the rooftop and approached step by step. He recognized the figure as one of the witches who had surrounded his Alienated Body earlier.
‘Got in fast, huh? Pretty efficient.’
Lin Ye stood to the side, observing the witch’s state. He noticed that she seemed to be holding a shiny red gemstone in her hand.
‘No signs of movement downstairs, which means she probably appeared on the rooftop as soon as she entered. So where did this gem come from? Did she bring it from outside?’
‘She ended up like this the moment she got here—could it be related to this gem?’
Lin Ye pulled out his kitchen knife, wedged it into the witch’s hand, and pried the gemstone out with force.
The moment the gem left her palm and flew into the air, the entire building began to shake. Branches climbed up onto the rooftop, swarming toward the gem.
The tremors didn’t subside until the moss on the ground wrapped around the gemstone.
Now Lin Ye understood why she had ended up like that. She probably didn’t realize the plants were attracted to the gem and thought the vegetation here was naturally aggressive.
Before she could jump off the rooftop, she was already surrounded by plants everywhere.
Lin Ye felt that she must have been absolutely terrified at that moment.
A supposedly all-powerful Controller, suddenly stripped of all her power and teleported to a place like this…
Lin Ye looked at the gem on the ground. He hadn’t brought anything in, but she had managed to bring an item, which piqued his curiosity.
“What is that?”
Eura and Little Guardian walked over. They had both thought the apartment building was about to collapse.
“You two get down first and stay far away. I want to try something. If something goes wrong, we’ll split up for now.”
Lin Ye wasn’t sure if he could pull it off either.
“Alright. Be careful.”
Little Guardian didn’t ask any more questions and pulled Eura away from the rooftop.
Lin Ye stood at the edge of the rooftop until the two were far from the apartment building. Then he walked over to the gem.
After simulating the next steps in his mind, he bent down, inserted the kitchen knife into the moss, and pried the gem out again.
The gem flew straight into Lin Ye’s mouth, slid down his digestive tract, and settled into his stomach.
He wanted to digest the gem to figure out what it was. As long as the gem was gone, the plants would stop attacking.
But he couldn’t tell how long it would take to digest it, since he didn’t even know what the gem was made of.
So he had to buy enough time before the gem was completely broken down.
The apartment building began to shake violently again. Lin Ye didn’t pause for a second and charged straight toward the rooftop edge.
A flood of branches surged onto the rooftop, and the moss on the ground started creeping toward Lin Ye’s stomach.
Before making his move, Lin Ye had already considered this scenario. Retreating into the building was a dead end—it was filled with plants everywhere.
The apartment building had ten floors, and he was just an ordinary person now. Falling from this height would be a death sentence.
He couldn’t climb down from the rooftop edge either, since it was covered in deadly vines.
That’s why the witch had been trapped at the edge of the rooftop. Without giving up the gem, there was no way out.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud!
Lin Ye stomped hard on the ground, sprinting at full speed to the edge, then leaped off!
Thirty meters above the ground, after a brief ascent, Lin Ye began to fall.
It was a dead end, but only by walking into death could he see a chance at survival.
A mass of plant branches appeared in front of Lin Ye. Those branches wanted to grab him, to seize the gem in his stomach, but instead they became his only lifeline.
Lin Ye calculated his path as he sprinted across the branches at full speed. Vines and plant tendrils poured out of the apartment building, chasing behind him. If he weren’t thirty meters up in the air, and if the area weren’t spacious enough, he would have had no room to escape.
But even so, he couldn’t hold out for long, so he had a backup plan.
It was the kitchen knife he had been gripping. If push came to shove, he would dig the gem out of his stomach and toss it to the plants.
He was willing to believe in the strength of his Special Ability, but that trust had limits. He’d rather keep his fate in his own hands.
Layer upon layer of plant branches surged toward Lin Ye. Thick root systems sprouted from the ground, shooting up like sharp spears aimed at him in midair.
Lin Ye’s living space had been compressed to the limit. Just as he was about to dig out the gem, the movements of the surrounding plants suddenly slowed slightly.
‘…That was close.’
The kitchen knife had already pierced his skin. He had been ready to act.
Lin Ye jumped onto the ground, landing on the plant branches. He felt like he had gained something from digesting the gem, but it was just a sensation.
“Are you okay?”
Eura ran over. She could hardly believe Lin Ye was just as ordinary as she was.
“I’m fine… just feeling a bit full.”
This was the first time Lin Ye had felt this way since arriving here.
“The sky seems a bit darker. What should we do now?”
Little Guardian had been keeping an eye on the changes in brightness nearby. If the light vanished, they’d be stuck in a pitch-black forest.
That wouldn’t be good at all.
“You keep leading. There might be other buildings nearby. It’d be best if we found a place to spend the night before it gets dark.”
Based on past experience, Lin Ye felt that the forest might undergo some changes after dark.
“Okay.”
Little Guardian led the way, moving a bit faster this time.
“…I’m a little hungry. Can I eat those wild vegetables?”
Eura’s breathing was a bit labored. She had been hungry since she first entered.
“Better not. You saw what happened earlier—those wild vegetables are problematic too.”
If it weren’t for the Gluttony skill, Lin Ye wouldn’t eat anything here either.
“But if this keeps up, I won’t last much longer.”
Eura didn’t want to put pressure on Lin Ye, but her vision was already going dark.
“Don’t worry. I’ll find food and water before you kick the bucket.”
Lin Ye actually had another backup plan, but it wasn’t time for that yet.
“There seems to be a big building ahead.”
Little Guardian suddenly spoke.
Lin Ye looked over and saw that there was indeed a building completely covered in plants.
The sky was getting dark. If they didn’t want to move in the dark, they had to think about where to spend the night.
“Let’s check it out first. If it’s no good, we’ll head back to the apartment building.”
The three of them quickly approached the building. As they got closer, they realized it was over a hundred meters tall.