Chapter 96 - 94: Unknown "Gift Package
"What the hell is this thing?"
A paramilitary officer pinned a constantly writhing branch to the ground with a pair of long-handled steel tongs, then clamped down on it tightly.
Beside him, two of his comrades carried a metal container. Seeing their chance, they immediately unlocked and opened the lid, allowing the officer in front to place the branch inside. Then they closed the lid and pressed a confirmation switch.
A faint mechanical whir could be heard from inside the container, and the green "Ready to Open" light lit up again. The next time they needed to collect a branch, the storage compartment would be empty, just as it was now.
This separated design effectively prevented previously collected items from escaping when the container was opened to put something new in.
"Probably really is an Alien."
A soldier to the side joked.
"You guys think people like us are the first to bite it in sci-fi blockbusters...?"
The soldier carrying a flamethrower behind him added with a laugh.
"Don’t talk that crap! You think that thing in your hands is just for show?"
Groups like this, each with five to six people, were stationed every five meters. They advanced the encirclement forward until they were less than 50 meters from the entire shantytown area.
From here, they could clearly see the large crater created by the bunker-buster missile, still emitting wisps of green smoke.
Several teams in thick isolation gear were approaching the edge of the crater, filming with their equipment.
Drones circled continuously in the sky above.
The situation inside the crater was clear at a glance. Aside from some constantly writhing, struggling vines, the most conspicuous object was a bizarre, blasted plant.
It was covered in barbs, like a giantized version of Thorns. It was clear that the strange plant might have tried to avoid the bunker-buster at the time, as it wasn’t at the epicenter of the explosion. But it had obviously underestimated the missile’s power and was blown apart.
However, despite being hit by the missile, it hadn’t been completely obliterated and was still exhibiting nerve-like spasms, as if it were an animal.
The leader of one team was making a live analytical report over his gear’s built-in communications device.
"Visual estimate puts its size at six meters in diameter. The main body is formed from a large cluster of thin branches. No leaf veins detected at present, but the sap is dark green, suggesting the presence of a chlorophyll-like substance. Tentatively assessed as having lost mobility and offensive capability."
"Copy that. Maintain observation. Do not provoke it any further."
"Understood!"
Just as they were speaking, a blood-curdling scream suddenly rang out from not far away.
It was immediately followed by the WHOOSH of a flamethrower.
"We need help! We’ve got a tough one over here!"
A patch of vines, previously thought to be dead, had suddenly sprung to life during the recovery process. It tripped three soldiers and ensnared one of them.
A nearby soldier rushed forward and blasted the main body of the vines with fire. Several other groups immediately rushed over to provide support, also aiming their flames at the vine’s core.
Seven or eight soldiers desperately held onto the man whose thigh was caught by the vines, preventing him from being dragged away.
WHIRRR—WHIRRR—
Amidst the roar of machinery, two soldiers with chainsaws rushed up and began cutting at the end of the branch coiled around him.
Dark green sap splattered everywhere. The toughness of the vines was beyond imagination; after five seconds, they had only managed to cut less than halfway through the diameter of one three-finger-thick vine.
CRACK! The ensnared soldier cried out in pain.
"Aaah! My leg!!"
The people beside him held him down tightly. With the sound of a chainsaw cutting through air, several vines were finally severed.
"It’s okay, you’re fine! It’s just a dislocated thigh!"
As they dragged the man out of the danger zone, the empty space was immediately filled by three soldiers shouldering flamethrowers.
A total of six flamethrowers formed a circle, unleashing a torrent of fire on the patch of vines.
The drones in the sky immediately flew closer, recording the entire process.
The alternating blasts of fire continued for over a minute before the menacing vines finally went still. A fire truck then drove up and extinguished the remaining flames with its water cannon, revealing the charred black vines, catalyzed by the rapid change from extreme heat to cold.
The things were actually still alive. Their central parts were still twitching, just without their earlier ferocity.
And the soldier hadn’t just suffered a dislocated leg. He and six others, a total of seven soldiers, had been poisoned.
A fast-acting neurotoxin.
Within three minutes, all seven had collapsed and were convulsing, accompanied by difficulty breathing.
It wasn’t due to a direct attack from the vines, but from the sap that splattered onto their exposed faces and necks during the chainsaw cutting. Their hands were fine, as they had all been wearing plastic gloves.
The rescue of the seven men was hampered by the lack of a suitable drug to counteract the toxin. The medics were forced to send them to a major hospital in hopes of finding a solution.
This incident shattered the previously relaxed atmosphere, and everyone in the area became much more cautious.
Huang Jiutian, in particular, was made to put on the heavy isolation suit normally worn only by research personnel.
「Deep beneath the earth.」
Dozens of meters deep underground, the unfortunate Tree Shepherd had already fled frantically for over ten kilometers, its speed even a little faster than when its body was intact.
But it didn’t dare rest now. Those strange creatures, whose Soul Essence transcended their faint physical auras, were simply everywhere. Dragging its ravaged body, it was desperately fleeing towards a sparsely populated area.
The shantytown had been located in a relatively remote area, but that remote area was now the encirclement. In this coastal region of Hua Country, the population density was immense. Finding a place that was desolate for leagues, like one could easily find in the Dark Realm, was a rare sight here.
Its condition was worsening, and it was losing bodily fluids rapidly. It could only risk using its Magic Power to stabilize its injuries, and thankfully, it hadn’t been detected.
Although it was a type of Elf and possessed extraordinary Magic Power, its injuries were so severe that its consciousness began to fade.
Vaguely, it felt as if only one direction was the right one. Clinging to this feeling, it continued to press forward underground.
Dozens of kilometers away, on a rural road, Qin Xiaoxia was sweating profusely as he looked around in all directions. Doudou was already leaning halfway out of the car window.
The two of them were lost.
Originally, Qin Xiaoxia had just been driving in the general direction based on his senses of the stress fluctuations in Huang Jiutian’s Magic Power. But after entering Su Province, and especially the territory of the Town, he kept getting lost. The direction he needed to go was consistent, but the complex and unfamiliar roads often led him astray, rerouting him elsewhere even when he thought he was on the right path.
And as luck would have it, they had driven onto a deserted rural road with not a single road sign in sight.
That little troll Doudou had used up the phone’s battery playing games on the way, so he couldn’t even use the GPS to get back to a main road.
And that other troll Gou Junbao’s in-car navigation probably hadn’t been updated in years. After turning it on and following it for a while, it actually tried to guide Qin Xiaoxia straight into a field.
Their current situation could be summed up by a few philosophical questions.
’Where did I come from? Where am I? How do I get out of here?’
He grew more and more agitated, cursing Gou Junbao’s useless piece of junk car.
Little did he know that when Gou Junbao back in Qingzhen woke up and found his beloved car missing, he would probably panic like crazy.
’Most likely, nothing major is wrong with Jiutian anymore,’ he thought, ’since the stress response from the clash of Magic Power has disappeared. I don’t know if the enemy ran off or died, but the real question now is how I’m supposed to get back.’
Just as Qin Xiaoxia was about to beat up Doudou for using up the phone battery and not even bringing a charging cable, a strong, premonitory signal from his surroundings sent a jolt through him, extinguishing all his anger.
He had felt this sensation once before. It was the same feeling ’on the sofa’ right before his Magic Power awakened, when he and Doudou had made a Wish to learn the reason for the changes in the Winding Loach River.
But last time, it was him and Doudou who were ’riding the sofa’ to approach something. This time, it seemed to be the other way around.
’What’s with this bad feeling? Is a ’surprise party pack’ about to show up at my door?’
PS: Thanks to book friend RoarRoarRoar~ThisRatIsHere for the 2000 coin donation, thanks to book friend WolfRiderAndSheepLeader for the 1000 coin donation, thanks to book friend PluckedYourEyelashes for the 500 coin donation, and thanks to book friends OldFriendInGreen, CaiYidaoIsAWeiPot, Netherworld Martial Artist, GentlyBlowingWind, HappyAutumn, FuneralOfTheWind1, and SuperAverage for the 100 coin donations~~