The Natives of This World Are Fierce

Tao Xingzhi’s brow furrowed. He habitually pulled a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth, but didn’t light it.

He gazed at the shanty town in the distance, past the quarantine line.

"Can you sense how many there are?"

Huang Jiutian’s arm was already growing hot. This meant Qin Xiaoxia’s Magic Power had autonomously sensed a threat and was starting to become agitated.

In the darkness, this gave Huang Jiutian’s eyes a strange pull, one that seemed to draw in a person’s spirit.

He took off his glasses and observed the distance carefully.

"There’s only one! It’s not the vines! The thing is underground! I’d bet that with all this commotion we’re making tonight, it definitely knows we’re out here. But just like us, it’s afraid to make a rash move!"

The tension in Huang Jiutian’s voice had faded, gradually replaced by a calm. This wasn’t just because he had composed himself, but also because the Magic Power in his arm was giving off a reassuring feeling.

This was a perception that originated from the Magic Power. The true owner of the Magic Power in his arm was Qin Xiaoxia; Huang Jiutian was essentially borrowing his strength to sense things.

Back at the construction site, Qin Xiaoxia hadn’t been paying attention. But now, he was deliberately focusing a part of his mind on Huang Jiutian. The moment Huang Jiutian sensed an entity that also possessed Magic Power, the two forces collided, and Qin Xiaoxia instantly realized what his friend had encountered.

As his best friend, Huang Jiutian’s safety was something Qin Xiaoxia cared about deeply.

Qin Xiaoxia had no idea that Huang Jiutian was currently under "heavy guard." From his perspective, Jiutian running into a being with Magic Power was like smashing his head against a steel hammer.

Unless, of course, it was another pushover like Doudou.

Although the power of the Secret Realm couldn’t be borrowed by Huang Jiutian remotely without Qin Xiaoxia’s Sealing Technique, it was still possible, at all costs, to reverse the process and pull Huang Jiutian, who possessed Original Magic Power, into the Secret Realm from a distance.

Though Jiutian certainly wasn’t alone, it was hard to say what kind of tricks an anomaly from the Outer World might have up its sleeve, especially one with Magic Power.

Unfortunately, Qin Xiaoxia was no human GPS. Based on his senses alone, he could only get a rough idea of Huang Jiutian’s direction and distance, not enough to provide precise data or a specific location.

He had no choice but to have Doudou steal Gou Junbao’s car keys so they could race to Su Province through the night.

「Outside the Rong County containment zone.」

After hearing Huang Jiutian’s report, Tao Xingzhi seemed lost in thought. He took out his lighter, flicking it on and off, on and off again.

"Since the vines and the thing you mentioned aren’t a single entity, can you sense if they have some kind of symbiotic relationship?"

The corner of Huang Jiutian’s eye twitched. "Tao, I’m not Little Ding-Dang. How could I possibly sense a relationship that sounds so esoteric?"

At his words, Tao Xingzhi let out a small laugh, easing some of the heavy tension around the special task force’s position.

After a long moment, as if he had made up his mind, Tao Xingzhi finally lit the cigarette in his mouth.

"As soon as it’s light out, we’re going to hit it hard!"

Friendly negotiations had been off the table ever since the Chaoxian Army couple and Officer Zhang Xinyuan became casualties.

Tao Xingzhi hardened his heart, choosing to ignore the faint heat signatures still visible on the infrared analysis.

...

The fighter jets circling high above had been replaced by a fully fueled squadron.

The pilots watched their instruments, occasionally glancing down at the vast, dark expanse of land below as they circled and banked.

The pitch-blackness of the target’s central area stood in stark contrast to the scattered building lights around it, forming a circular depression of light.

But the view on the Radar screen was another story entirely. The area around the containment zone was a dense cluster of green dots.

Just then, the latest order from the command center crackled through the pilot’s communicator.

"Sparrow Two, prepare to launch bunker buster. Coordinates... depth 25 meters. Await command for specific launch time."

"Sparrow Two, copy!"

The sky grew brighter. In the east, golden sunlight began to paint the dark canvas of the sky azure.

"The Light of Dawn is always so beautiful!"

Huang Jiutian murmured with an almost inaudible sigh as he watched the sunrise.

"The vines are all moving!"

Inside the special task force’s command vehicle, the computer screens showed that as the sky brightened, the vines on the ground had all "come to life." Aside from a few that remained motionless like normal plants, the majority began to retract. Some burrowed into the ground, while others pulled back into the tiled-roof houses.

This seemed to contradict the research department’s earlier analysis that they were phototropic.

"It’s the police officer!"

On the screen, as the vines retreated into the house, they left behind a blood-soaked corpse, twisted beyond human recognition. It was clearly a different state from the half-dead condition of Chaoxian Army.

But right now, Tao Xingzhi and the others felt no intense anger, nor were they focused on studying whether the vines were attracted to or repelled by light. A streak of fire was already plummeting from the sky at incredible speed.

A few seconds later.

Those outside the containment zone felt the ground RUMBLE with a tremor, as if they were experiencing a brief earthquake. Immediately after, they saw a massive cloud of smoke and dust rise from the center of the zone.

Countless fragments of earth, stone, and vines were flung in all directions from the epicenter of the explosion. Most landed within a hundred-meter radius, falling far short of the first defensive line of the containment zone.

’Damn, that was brutal!’

Huang Jiutian knew instantly from the sensory link between their Magic Powers that the thing underground had been hit while completely off guard.

The oppressive sense of its Magic Power had vanished in an instant, plunging into an almost deathly silence.

The tremors quickly subsided, but the dust had yet to settle. Everyone waited patiently.

"How is it? Was the attack effective?"

More than visual confirmation, Tao Xingzhi wanted to hear good news from Huang Jiutian.

"Extremely effective! It’s crippled!"

A smile finally broke across Tao Xingzhi’s face.

"Excellent!"

He then began to issue new orders.

"Proceed to the next phase as planned. Recover the scattered vine fragments. Do not make direct physical contact. Be careful!"

With a mix of tension and apprehension, the armed police units, who had been on standby, began to advance slowly. Approximately every ten meters, there was a soldier shouldering flame-throwing equipment.

Interspersed among them were the main research personnel, clad in thick hazmat suits that made walking through the fields quite difficult.

Along the way, most of the collected vine fragments were like ordinary splinters of wood. Occasionally, some wriggled like worms, but none posed a threat and were picked up one by one with steel tongs and placed into high-strength containers for preservation.

Research personnel immediately began testing the effects of various chemical reagents, herbicides, and other plant-killing agents on them.

After the first line passed through, a second line would advance to check for any missed fragments. A third line followed close behind, spraying the most effective agents identified by the on-site research along the path.

Tao Xingzhi’s repeated warnings turned out to be unnecessary. The thing that had been hit by the bunker buster was terrified.

It wasn’t dead yet, but it was close.

But a major difference between a plant-form Elf and conventional creatures was its Life Force.

It was currently fleeing underground like mad. Then it immediately realized that hiding underground wasn’t safe at all—it had to escape somewhere else!

Its main body had disintegrated by almost half, leaving only a small remnant that tunneled through the earth like a root tendril.

It even deliberately suppressed its own Magic Power’s protective effects on its body.

It couldn’t be helped. There was a being outside who had awakened Magic Power. Although it was very weak, it gave the creature a sense of dread. It feared this was some kind of terrifying existence unique to this strange new world.

Just like that powerful, sudden attack it had no time to react to!

In the hundred-plus years since becoming a Tree Shepherd of the Dark Realm, it had never been so grievously injured.

Now, it had no time for curiosity or delight about this world so full of light. Its mind was consumed by fear, desperate to find a safe place.

As for the vine seedlings it had been cultivating? To hell with them!

PS: Thank you to book friend 20170102034943763 for the 500-coin donation, and thank you to book friends Blood Race Night Blade, Unruly Billows, Wangqing Shuiye, book friend 20180502181245263, Bading Bag, Little Crayfish Jun, and Nadutong Express Courier for the 100-coin donations~~

I spent the whole day at an amusement park with a friend’s family and our kids, so this post is a little late. Consider this a two-in-one Chapter for today!