Chapter 75

"Wow! Wow!"

The small figure screamed and ran past Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi.

Because of the shadow umbrella, it didn't actually notice them.

Zhou Qi raised his flashlight and held out his umbrella. The beam of light immediately pierced through the darkness and shone towards the figure. Then they saw that the blue-green figure was actually...

A mushroom!

The blue-green mushroom head is particularly eye-catching under the beam of light.

Before they could see how it moved, the strange mushroom had already drilled into a hole in the corner of the wall and disappeared.

Only the strange sound of "Wow, Wow, Wow" still echoed in the empty corridor.

Tang Yu'an blinked, looked at Zhou Qi who was in deep thought, and couldn't help but say, "Brother Xiaoqi, that just now... was it the mutant mushroom that Sister Lin mentioned before that can run?"

It was the first time he saw a mushroom that could run and make sounds!

and……

"Did it just create an illusion to control us?"

Tang Yu'an recalled the illusion he had just seen and frowned, "But with the umbrella, it shouldn't be able to see us, right?"

Zhou Qi also frowned in thought, "Could it be an indiscriminate attack?"

He looked up at the quietly floating umbrella, his expression becoming a little solemn.

"It seems that even with the Shadow Umbrella, we are not completely safe. It can only conceal our whereabouts, but it cannot shield us from attacks."

Simply put, the shadow umbrella only covers their tracks, but does not really make them invisible.

They can dodge physical attacks by taking advantage of the fact that the enemy can't see them, but silent hallucinations like the one just now are hard to defend against.

Zhou Qi picked up the dagger he had thrown.

I thought I had missed the target, but I found some blue-green slime on the dagger.

"An An."

"Um!"

Without Zhou Qi's explanation, Tang Yu'an tacitly identified the blue-green mucus.

[Do you want to deduct 2 points and use the "Item Appraisal (Basic)" skill on this item?]

Is such a small amount of slime worth 20 points?

Tang Yu'an chose identification.

【Name: Unnamed】

[Value: 20 points/2 drops]

[Origin: MR176349 plane]

[Description: A mucus secreted by a certain mutant mushroom. It is released in large quantities when in danger. It has a refreshing effect. Applying it under the nose can quickly improve resistance to hallucinations.]

Wow, slime that can combat hallucinogenic effects!

Tang Yu'an quickly told Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi nodded and tried to apply a drop under his nose.

The mucus of this mutated mushroom did not smell bad. On the contrary, there was a cool scent that kept entering his nasal cavity, making him feel his mind became clearer.

Hearing his words, Tang Yu'an also hurriedly applied a drop.

"Really?! I feel like the stench around here isn't that strong anymore."

Realizing that this was a good thing, Tang Yu'an quickly looked around - as long as the item had been identified, a bubble of explanation would appear within his field of vision.

Soon, he found a few more drops in the corner.

Although it's mixed with mud and moss, I can just take it back and separate it using the inventory function—

He also gave the mushroom that escaped just now a name, called the hallucinogenic running mushroom.

A mushroom with hallucinogenic properties and the ability to flee when in danger.

Straightforward and easy to remember!

Zhou Qi had no objection, but he was a little hesitant about whether to continue exploring.

Things have gone beyond our original expectations.

They had only intended to clear out the dangerous creatures on the map, and when they encountered a building that looked like a giant lizard's nest, they simply thought that since Lin Zhen could come in and explore, there was no reason why they couldn't.

Now it seems that he underestimated the danger of the giant lizard's nest.

"Brother Xiaoqi, let's go."

After Tang Yu'an named the mutant mushroom, he pulled Zhou Qi and continued to move forward.

Before, he was trembling and pale with fear because of the surrounding environment, but now, Zhou Qi found that the boy's expression had calmed down, and there was a kind of determination on his little face.

"An An, aren't you afraid?" he asked.

"Don't be afraid." Tang Yu'an said, "You have to get stronger quickly so you can go home earlier."

If you are afraid of this, what if you encounter greater difficulties in the future? Sister Lin doesn't have any special abilities. She can explore the giant lizard's nest alone, and so can they.

Zhou Qi looked at the boy's profile and suddenly felt that An An was really growing up.

He pursed his lips to hide the heartache in his eyes, followed him silently, and paid more attention to everything around him.

The experience just now made him realize that props are not omnipotent.

Danger may come silently, so he must mobilize all his senses, keep his nerves tense at all times, and not be careless at all.

Fortunately, they did not find any more mutant mushrooms afterwards.

Following the occasional footprints on the ground, they came to a door. The door was ajar, and there were obviously more footprints on the ground.

It was obvious that Lin Zhen stayed here for a long time.

“Clatter—crater—”

Faintly, the sound of water came from behind the door.

Tang Yu'an took a look at the small map.

The red dot belonging to the dangerous creature is behind the door.

Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi looked at each other, then they turned sideways and carefully slipped in through the crack in the door.

The shadow umbrella was also slightly folded up and followed them stealthily. It was not opened until they entered the door, diligently covering the tracks of the two teenagers.

Once you enter the door, your view becomes noticeably wider.

They were located on the second floor, surrounded by rows of auditoriums. Many of the seats were damaged and turned into pieces, and in front of them was a guardrail that was broken into pieces.

Below the guardrail is a huge pool.

This was originally supposed to be a small swimming pool. They were standing at the top of the stands, overlooking the entire venue.

The swimming pool was damp and stuffy, and the light from the outside was blocked by plants, making it very dark inside. Directly opposite and looking down, they could see a deep, dark hole.

The door that was supposed to be the exit is now gone, and it has become a passage that leads to nowhere.

The once clean swimming pool was now filled with turbid sewage, moss, weeds, and rotting meat, and even from such a distance, a foul stench could be smelled.

Lizard eggs piled up in the mud on the shore, like big round stones. The white eggshells reflected light slightly, so they were not difficult to find.

This is indeed the monitor lizard's nest!

Tang Yu'an couldn't help but sigh, fortunately these lizard eggs were not laid in the pond, otherwise they would have to fish out the eggs in such dirty water...

Just thinking about that experience made his scalp tingle.

“Clatter—crater—”

They heard the sound of water again.

Tang Yuan lowered his head slightly and saw a slowly moving black shadow in the swimming pool. It should be the female lizard.

Just as Lin Zhen described, it was much larger than the male lizard, at least five meters long and about two meters wide. It swam slowly in the sewage, and only its slowly moving shadow could be seen in the dim light.

This is definitely the largest mutant creature they have encountered so far.

However, due to the lighting problem, the distance and the large size of the swimming pool, it did not cause much visual impact in comparison.

On the shore, Zhou Qi also noticed the corpse of a giant lizard that was nearly half its size. It should be the male lizard that had chased Old Li before.

Just as Lin Zhen described, it had been killed by the female lizard, most of its body had been eaten, and the rest was as rotten and smelly as the pool of sewage. Even from such a distance, one could see the swarms of flying and wriggling insects around it.

Fortunately, Tang Yu'an's eyesight in dim conditions was not as good as Zhou Qi's, so he did not notice this disgusting scene.

But when the female lizard slowly crawled onto the shore and its huge body was completely exposed in front of them, Tang Yu'an's body became stiff.

This female lizard is really big!

He couldn't help swallowing, feeling that if the giant lizard flapped its tail, it would cause the earth to shake and the sky to collapse.

"Brother Xiaoqi..."

He subconsciously lowered his voice and whispered, "Happy Marbles won't work here, right?"

Even if this giant lizard could really be made to laugh, the mutant pig had already made such a big noise when it laughed before, so this female lizard would definitely be even louder.

This swimming pool already looks shaky. If the female lizard really goes crazy, the whole building might collapse.

They would also be in danger if they stayed in the swimming pool.

Zhou Qi pursed his lips tightly. He had already realized this, and what was worse was that the dog frisbee might not be usable.

The light is too dim and the venue is very limited——

The dog frisbee needs to be seen by the creature first, and then it will chase and bite it. It will only be effective after contact is made.

How to attract the attention of the female lizard in such a restrictive venue and escape before it is attracted by the dog's Frisbee is also a huge challenge.

After all, the encounter with the mutant mushrooms just now has told them that the shadow umbrella can only cover their tracks but cannot block attacks for them.

Fortunately, they came here to scout the area in advance. Otherwise, if Old Li and the others arrived and something dangerous really happened, their means would be restricted and they would not be able to exert their full power, which would be troublesome.

Now that we have enough information, we need to decide on the next countermeasures, which can be discussed after we return.

Zhou Qi looked at Tang Yu'an, "Are you going back?"

After all, it was the first time for Zhou Qi to experience such a dangerous place, and he subconsciously wanted to take Tang Yu'an back to a safe place.

Tang Yu'an showed obvious hesitation.

Now that we're here, wouldn't it be a pity to just leave like this?

"Don't you want to steal an egg before going back? And..." He whispered, "Should we try the super mousetrap?"

If I follow Grandpa Li and the others, I probably won't have the chance to use the super mousetrap. If they want to do it again alone, why not try it today?

If I could really turn the female lizard into a mouse, then I could solve the problem once and for all!

Now that we're here...

Zhou Qi stared at the monitor lizard lying on the edge of the swimming pool. It lay there motionless, as if it was taking a nap after being tired from swimming.

If they could get rid of this giant lizard in one go, they wouldn't have to worry about what happened later, and there would be no danger if Old Li and his men came to steal eggs again.

"Okay, let's give it a try."

Zhou Qi finally made up his mind. He said seriously, "But only try once. If it doesn't work, run away immediately."

"Okay!" Tang Yu'an nodded, "Then what should we do next?"

The two of them got together to discuss it.

The umbrella covered their figures and sounds. Even though they discussed countermeasures in front of the mother lizard, she was unaware and still lay on the shore without moving.

Their goal was to steal a lizard egg and then test whether the super mousetrap would work on the female lizard.

Now the female lizard was too close to the lizard eggs, estimated to be only four or five meters away, but the space for movement was still too small. If it rushed over rashly, it would easily overturn.

So they need to wait a little longer until it leaves the lizard egg.

As for the super mousetrap, it is definitely not feasible to just hold it in your hands and hit it with it like you do with the dark green spider.

So it can only be placed on the path that the monitor lizard must pass through to see if it can be triggered, and it must also be able to be recovered.

"It would be great if we could have the hallucinogenic ability of mutant mushrooms." Tang Yu'an couldn't help but say.

"The fact that hallucinogenic mushrooms can grow in monitor lizard nests suggests they are likely parasitic to the mutant lizards. Even if that's not the case, the monitor lizards should have a high resistance to hallucinations."

After hearing Zhou Qi's analysis, Tang Yu'an nodded: "That's true..."

As for the skill of remote placement, it cannot be used because the range of use is only 2 meters.

Thinking of something, Tang Yu'an looked around.

Soon, another mutant mushroom was found in the corner. Although the lighting in the venue was dim, the bubble marked "Hallucinogenic Running Mushroom" by the system was so bright that it was hard not to notice it.

It seems that there are many mutant mushrooms growing in this swimming pool. Because he and Xiaoqige have smeared mucus under their noses, they will no longer be affected by them.

Tang Yu'an quickly told Zhou Qi the information he had obtained.

Although the female lizards may not be afraid of the hallucinogenic ability of the mutant mushrooms, can they really not do something with these mutant mushrooms that can run and shout?

-

After about a few minutes, the female lizard finally moved again.

It turned around and slid back into the dirty water of the swimming pool, causing a splash of water.

In addition to the female lizard, Zhou Qi also found that there seemed to be other smaller creatures in the pond, which seemed to be fish. No one knew how they got into this sewage pool, and now they have become the female lizard's food reserve.

The mother lizard swam into the pond and began hunting, no longer paying attention to the lizard eggs on the shore.

The opportunity finally came.

As they had agreed, Zhou Qi bent down, picked up Tang Yu'an, and tied him tightly to his body with a rope.

Tang Yu'an held the shadow umbrella tightly in his hand, and his legs climbed up Zhou Qi's waist, hooking it tightly.

"Are you ready?"

"Um!"

So Zhou Qi jumped high and approached the nearest mutant lizard egg.

The umbrella concealed their movements and sounds, as well as the nervous heartbeats of the two teenagers.

“Plop—plop—”

Tang Yu'an felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

The more dangerous the moment, the calmer and more composed Zhou Qi became.

His speed was much faster than usual. In just a few breaths, he had crossed the distance of dozens of meters and successfully approached the mutant lizard egg.

But just as he landed, the female lizard, which had been slowly diving into the water, suddenly increased its swimming speed.

It's moving upstream quickly.

The female lizard seemed to have discovered them!

Zhou Qi had no time to think about it. He reached out and touched the lizard egg, and the lizard egg was put into the portable warehouse where he had freed up space.

"roar!!!"

The female lizard's angry roar rang out in the swimming pool. It must have really discovered them.

Zhou Qi jumped away quickly and shot out the metal arrow in his hand.

"Wow! Wow!"

The metal arrow accurately hit the location of the mutant mushroom, and the blue-green mushroom head jumped up, making a sharp strange cry.

The cries of the female lizard and the mutant mushrooms came one after another, completely breaking the tranquility of the swimming pool.

The female lizard, which was originally sprinting towards the lizard eggs, suddenly turned around and looked towards the location of the mutant mushrooms.

At the same time, a strong wind mixed with sewage, mud, iron sheets and plant debris blew up and blew towards the stands where the mutant mushrooms were.

The mutant mushroom that was screaming loudly suddenly fell silent, and it was unknown whether it had time to escape.

In short, that small half of the stands was instantly shattered by the hurricane.

“Boom—”

A corner of the wall collapsed, and light from outside poured in, clearly showing the effect of the previous attack.

Zhou Qi floated in the air with Tang Yu'an on his back. Because of the effect of the shadow umbrella, they fell more slowly. In addition, the sudden wind in the venue blew them upwards again.

They looked at the destroyed stands from afar, and sweat soaked their backs.

Fortunately, they did not choose to use cat teasers and dog frisbees, otherwise they would have been killed by the hurricane before the female lizard was controlled.

The female lizard didn't use her superpowers right away, perhaps because she was concerned about the lizard eggs.

So, did this female lizard awaken wind-attribute abilities? Was it inherent, or did it evolve after eating the male?

With a female lizard of this strength guarding the place, if Old Li and Lin Zhen dare to steal the eggs again, they will probably be courting death.

The female lizard had already climbed ashore and rushed towards the lizard eggs with a speed that was inconsistent with its huge body.

Waves of angry roars echoed in the swimming pool.

Zhou Qi could keenly feel that there was a strange wave similar to a line of sight sweeping past their position.

He knew that this was the mental power of the female lizard, which Chi Hao had used before.

If it weren't for the strong protection of the umbrella, they would probably have been exposed by now!

After a while, the feeling of being scanned disappeared.

The female lizard's angry and wailing cry sounded again. It was obvious that it had confirmed the loss of the lizard eggs, and it had not found the whereabouts of the egg thief. It thought that the guy who dared to steal the lizard eggs had escaped.

It swung its lizard tail violently, creating cracks in the ground.

However, the construction quality of this swimming pool seemed to be really good. Even after being hit like that, the roof did not collapse, and the situation that Tang Yu'an had worried about did not happen.

They floated slowly downwards, carefully controlling their descent with their parasols.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

The female lizard was still flapping her tail, venting her anger, stirring up clouds of dust and causing debris to fall from the roof.

At some point...

An unidentified object connected with a thin transparent thread fell from mid-air and landed on the ground where the female lizard was slapping.

“Snap!”

The female lizard's tail just hit it.

The next second, a crisp noise was heard in the swimming pool.

“Snap—”

Along with this strange noise, the sound of the female lizard flapping its tail suddenly stopped. Except for the echo of the flapping sound just now, the entire swimming pool became eerily quiet again.

Was it successful?

Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi stared down nervously.

When the dust settled, the female lizard was no longer there, replaced by a...

A mouse with its tail caught in a mousetrap!

The mouse with green eyes stood there in a daze, with its paws tucked into its chest, looking bewildered.

Zhou Qi, who was carrying Tang Yu'an on his back, finally landed on the ground at this time.

Seeing that the female lizard was successfully transformed into a mouse, the two teenagers slowly exhaled.

It’s really too dangerous!

This female lizard is definitely the most dangerous mutant creature they have dealt with so far!

The thin threads tied to the parts of the super mousetrap were exactly the spider silk they had collected from the dark green spider before.

Perhaps the spider silk was too thin, and the female lizard was in a rage, so she did not follow the spider silk and found them in mid-air.

If the mousetrap had not been successful, Tang Yu'an would have directly put the two things back into his personal storage, and Zhou Qi would have quickly escaped with him on his back.

Fortunately, it succeeded without any danger!

"Squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak-"

The Giant Lizard finally came back to its senses from the confusion of its body suddenly shrinking. It struggled violently, gnawing and biting the mousetrap that clamped its tail and turned it into this state.

However, the mousetrap seemed to be firmly fixed to the ground. No matter how it struggled and bit, it did not move at all, as if it weighed more than a thousand pounds.

Faced with the female lizard that had turned into a mouse, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi were not careless.

In order to prevent it from having any other tricks, such as unleashing a hurricane like the one just now, they continued to hide under the umbrella and did not reveal any trace.

Naturally, the female lizard did not notice them, and did not understand how she had suddenly turned into another weak creature.

Tang Yu'an took out a slingshot, ready to shoot a shot of happy marbles at the female lizard.

However……

It has to be said that the female lizard is indeed the most difficult creature they have ever dealt with.

After the happy marbles were shot out of the range of the shadow umbrella, the female lizard seemed to sense the coming of danger. It took the opportunity to bite off its own tail before the happy marbles hit it!

"Squeak! Squeak!"

Freed from the mousetrap, the big rat dragged its bloody broken tail and crawled into the pile of rubble in the corner.

The happy marbles missed the target, bounced around, and rolled into the shadows.

All that was left at the scene was a mousetrap with a piece of the "rat's" tail stuck in it, and more than forty lizard eggs that had lost their protection.

Tang Yu'an looked at the scene that had already been settled, and it still felt a little unreal.

He lay on Zhou Qi's back, looking exhausted and said blankly: "Brother Xiaoqi, did we succeed?"

After Zhou Qi jumped down from the stands with him on his back, Tang Yu'an felt like every second was a year. When the hurricane blew, he was so scared that his heart almost jumped out of his throat.

When he put down the mousetrap just now, he was so nervous that he almost suffocated.

But now... they succeeded!

Tang Yu'an put the spider silk, the mousetrap and the half of the mouse's tail into his personal storage, and then looked at the task panel.

【Cleaning up monitor lizard's nest】

[Mission Content: Clean up the monitor lizard's nest, destroy all lizard eggs, or take the lizard eggs away from the mother lizard (1/43)]

[Limited time: ...]

Because he only took one and the female lizard was still in the swimming pool, he was judged not to have completed the task.

"Should I...?"

Zhou Qi approached the lizard eggs and collected three of them into the No. 2 portable storage compartment. Just as he was about to continue, he heard Tang Yu'an say, "Brother Xiaoqi, another mutant creature is coming!"

Although there was still some distance, after experiencing the danger just now, they temporarily did not have the energy to deal with it.

"Go back!"

As for the remaining lizard eggs, we can only collect them later.

So Zhou Qi carried Tang Yu'an on his back and crawled out from the corner of the wall that collapsed after the female lizard's hurricane bombardment, and then left here.

The female lizard rat hiding under the rubble didn't know this.

It watched helplessly as the trap that turned it into a mouse disappeared, and watched its eggs disappear one by one before its eyes.

The big rat clung to the stone behind it, its body shaking uncontrollably, its eyes filled with fear to the extreme.

The author has something to say:

Female lizard: Going to scare the rat!