The race begins with a walk along a narrow stream, followed by a ferry ride upstream. Once disembarked, everyone finds themselves in the rainforest.

Everyone was wearing team uniforms, which were light and breathable, so walking in the hot and humid rainforest wasn't too strenuous.

The journey wasn't difficult at first. Huang Zheng was experienced and quite familiar with the rainforest. After leading everyone to avoid many potential risks, they had already surpassed many other teams by the end of the day.

Nighttime is the best time to travel, and no one would choose to rest at this time.

It's not only a waste of time, but also unsafe.

For a soldier, going ten days and ten nights without sleep is perfectly normal; the strong physique he has built up over the years is now coming in handy.

For the first three days, everything went smoothly and we completed half the journey.

The map and road signs in my hand are very clear, and as long as I follow the route, I won't easily get lost.

"At this pace, we'll be out of the rainforest within ten days."

Kress wiped the sweat from her face, still in high spirits.

"Really? That's great! Now we're sure to pass the preliminary round!"

Huang Zheng wiped his face and looked around.

"Don't oversimplify things; we haven't encountered the real dangers of the rainforest yet."

As soon as he finished speaking, the previously cacophony of insect chirping suddenly fell silent. Under the sultry, broad leaves, even the sound of the wind could not be heard. Everyone immediately became alert. Huang Zheng and Harry stood on either side of him, cautiously watching their surroundings.

Just then, a wet, sticky liquid fell from the sky, landing unexpectedly on the heads of Kress and the others.

She frowned and touched the top of her head with a disgusted look.

"What is this...?"

The next second, everyone slowly raised their heads and looked at the dense forest above.

Immediately afterward, a giant carnivorous plant with a gaping maw and a mouthful of fangs silently swooped down toward Claire's head.

Clare paused for a second. After all, seeing this thing in a picture was one thing, but seeing a man-eating plant with its mouth full of fangs and slime in person was quite another.

In that split second she was stunned, Jin Shu, who was standing next to her, raised her gun and fired a shot at the flower core deep inside the fangs.

Gunshots rang out, and birds took flight in fright.

The man-eating flower let out a scream, abruptly contracted its bud, and quickly retreated into the dense jungle, disappearing without a trace.

Kress finally came to her senses.

She grabbed Jin Shu's arm.

"Did I just make a fool of myself?"

"Um."

"I'm sorry, this is the first time I've seen something like this. Now that I know, I'm not afraid anymore."

“You really shouldn’t be afraid anymore, because that thing is everywhere now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the dense jungle around them rustled. Everyone huddled together back to back, watching as a dozen giant man-eating flowers, each with a diameter of over two meters, slowly poked their heads out at them, opened their mouths, and revealed a mouthful of fangs.

The purplish-red petals trembled, and a hissing sound, like a snake spitting out an apricot, came from the flower's core.

Huang Zheng shouted.

"Aim at the flower's center and fire!"

And just like that, everyone simultaneously raised their guns and fired wildly at the flower's core.

The man-eating flowers shrieked and shrieked as they retreated, but another one quickly emerged to take its place. So no matter how they fought, the number of flower plates circling around them, waiting for an opportunity, never changed, and even seemed to be increasing.

Just as Huang Zheng realized that shooting at the flower's core wouldn't last long, Jin Shu suddenly lunged forward, facing the menacing man-eating flower head-on, and swiftly disappeared into the dense jungle.

Vice-captain Harry was completely baffled by her actions.

"What does she mean by this? Is she abandoning us and running away?"

Kress took down the carnivorous plant in front of her with a single shot, then retorted loudly.

"Pea isn't that kind of person!"

"What was she doing just now?! We can't hold on much longer!"

With a limited number of bullets, they will eventually run out of bullets if they continue like this.

Just then, Vice Captain Harry suddenly felt a sharp pain in his foot. He looked down and saw that a scarlet flower stamen was wrapped around his ankle, and the other end of the stamen was the flower head that he had just blasted to the ground! The flower head was still alive, and instead, it silently sprouted a stamen and wrapped itself around him!

Before he could even draw his knife, a tremendous force sent him flying. He clung tightly to the ground, but his body continued to hurtle rapidly toward the man-eating plant with its gaping maw behind him.

Huang Zheng couldn't spare a hand to help him, so he could only shout for him to quickly draw his knife and cut off the flower stamen.

With his attribute panel blocked, he subconsciously reached for his waist and suddenly realized that his knife was gone. Seeing that his last chance to escape was gone, he turned ashen-faced. How could he not have imagined that he would lose his life in such a place?

A stench assaulted his nostrils, and he instinctively reached out to pry open the man-eating flower's gaping mouth.

In that instant, the man-eating flower, which had been so fierce and powerful just a second ago, suddenly lost its strength. The flower stamen that had been wrapped around Harry's ankle slowly loosened, and the flower head that had been holding its head high and opening its mouth wide, waiting for the gift, became as still as a toy whose batteries had been removed.

On the other side, the carnivorous plants, which were launching a fierce attack, were also falling to the ground one by one like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

While everyone was still immersed in shock and confusion, Jin Shu emerged from the bushes, holding a thick, white root in her hand.

"Peya! I knew you wouldn't abandon us!"

Huang Zheng walked straight up and stared at what Jin Shu was holding.

"Is this the root of a man-eating flower?"

"Um."

Harry looked at Jin Shu with surprise, clearly not expecting that a soldier who had just joined the group would know so much.

Jin Shu offered an explanation.

"I've read a lot of books in the library of the Allied Military Academy before, including an illustrated guide to tropical rainforest flora and fauna. At that time, the book was covered in dust, and I thought that this thing was extinct."

Huang Zheng nodded.

"I remember my teacher mentioned this when I was in school, but it was just a brief mention, so I don't know exactly where the carnivorous plant's root system is located."

Going out to search rashly would likely result in being surrounded by even more carnivorous plants, so I thought you were being a bit reckless when you rushed out.

But now it seems you're even more outstanding than I imagined.

Jin Shu wasn't too modest.

"It's quite a coincidence that I enjoy reading."

All of this is thanks to one thing: Jin Shu never feels that the books she reads are useless. (End of Chapter)