Jiang Wan's attention was indeed diverted by her: "Strangler fig? Why are you asking about that?"
She casually closed the car window and drew the curtains.
Not far from the RV, Yu Fen kept trying to contact Cheng Zhen, but he couldn't get through.
Something's not right!
The mutated magic staff has been strangled, why hasn't the captain returned yet?
Jiang Xiaoxin said, "What I just heard was a very angry voice calling for the strangler fig."
She stopped talking, bit her chubby finger, thought carefully for a moment, and then nodded solemnly, "That's the name!"
Then, tilting her little head back, she asked, "Mommy, what is a strangler fig?"
Jiang Wan didn't answer immediately. She paused for a moment, then suddenly opened the window and called out to Yu Fen, "Where's your captain?"
Yu Fen was very anxious. When he heard her call out, he said, "I don't know. He should be back by now, but I can't get in touch with him!"
In the wild, mutated plants are almost everywhere, but their main purpose for this trip is to find and transport food and supplies back to the city, so they will not waste time killing them unless the mutated plants attack them on their own initiative.
Given the current environment, these mutated plants are impossible to eradicate completely, so why waste manpower and time when they don't lack crystals for the time being?
Therefore, he was almost certain that Cheng Zhen was in danger.
Jiang Wan's guess was similar to his, so she said, "Take some men and go find him."
Cheng Zhen was her partner in the apocalypse, and she didn't want anything to happen to him when she didn't have enough power to protect herself and the twins.
Yu Fen hesitated. Of course, he wanted to go find the boss himself, but he was also worried about leaving her here alone.
Jiang Wan then pointed to Yu Yuan: "Have him protect me. You just need to go and come back quickly."
Pingjiang also said, "I'll take responsibility for the experts' safety. You go quickly."
Although Yu Fen often felt that Pingjiang was an eyesore and blocked the team leader's path to promotion, and he also found Pingjiang's rigid and profound personality quite annoying, at this moment, Yu Fen believed him.
So he selected ten superhumans, all of whom were the best in their squad, and together they went deep into the forest.
In the woods, Cheng Zhen was indeed ambushed.
He strangled the mutated cactus under a very strange-looking tree, took its crystal, and was about to leave when he suddenly tripped over it. Two withered white tree roots, each as thick as an arm, suddenly emerged from the ground and tightly wrapped around the tree trunk.
When Yu Fen and the others arrived, they saw Cheng Zhen tied to a tree in a terrible condition. There was a bloody hole in his left shoulder, and blood kept flowing down and seeping into the soil, disappearing instantly. Clearly, something was absorbing his blood to nourish itself!
Moreover, he discovered that once he used his superpowers to resist, his energy and blood would both be lost at an accelerated rate and absorbed by the mutated plant, thus strengthening its own energy.
Yu Fen and the others' expressions changed drastically: "Captain!"
"Boss!"
Although Cheng Zhen was momentarily caught off guard, she was still relatively clear-headed. Upon seeing Yu Fen, she couldn't help but get angry: "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to protect Jiang Wan and her two children?!"
"Boss, I'm coming to save you!" Yu Fen was extremely anxious. Even at a time like this, he was still thinking about others. Couldn't he think more about himself? What if he died?!
He stepped forward and unleashed a beam of light to cut the tree roots binding him, but suddenly a row of tree roots emerged from the ground, blocking Cheng Zhen's path and neutralizing his attack.
Other superhumans tried their abilities one after another, but all failed.
Yu Fen's eyes were bloodshot with anxiety, and he couldn't help but curse, "Damn it! What the hell is this?!"
At the same time, another branch sprouted from the tree trunk behind Cheng Zhen and stuck in his shoulder, creating another bloody hole next to the one that had just been there.
"Heh heh."
Suddenly, a voice as dry as an ancient well rang out from nowhere, "Don't bother, you can't save him. He's quite good, just what I need!"
Everyone was startled, including Cheng Zhen.
His face showed shock and surprise, then he realized: "You've already become a spirit!"
No wonder he didn't sense the presence of the mutated cactus when it was strangling it. It turns out that the mutated cactus had mutated into a more advanced mutant, which had actually developed a humanoid consciousness and was able to conceal its presence.
"Hehe"
The voice sounded old and weak, and he didn't talk much, but sighs came from time to time. He was drinking Cheng Zhen's blood to nourish his heart meridian.
Yu Fen stared at the strange tree behind Cheng Zhen with bloodshot eyes. The tree was very strange, twisting and turning in circles, completely different from the upright trees he usually saw.
Yu Fen's light shockwave struck down, breaking the tree trunk, but only a part of it broke; it seemed unable to cut into the solid inside.
Looking through the broken surface, it was pitch black inside, and you couldn't see anything.
Yu Fen and the others were in a great hurry, and someone suggested: "Let's set it on fire!"
Cheng Zhen shook his head: "It's no use, there's almost no oxygen here."
His breath was getting weaker and weaker, and he could clearly feel his blood being drawn away.
"Then let's dig! I'll dig this thing out by the roots right now and see how wild it can get!" Yu Fen had no other choice but to come up with this clumsy method.
Sure enough, the next second, a row of tree roots appeared in front of them, their tips slightly curved in an attack posture.
As soon as they start digging, these roots will instantly pierce through them.
"Damn it! Do you think I'm afraid of you?!"
Yu Fen shouted and used the light wave as a shovel to strike the ground below, digging down fifty centimeters. But at the same time, countless tree roots attacked him. He couldn't dodge in time and was hit several times, leaving several bloody wounds.
"Yu Fen! Don't be impulsive!" Cheng Zhen gritted his teeth and spoke up to stop him.
The blood on Yu Fen dripped onto the ground and was instantly absorbed.
A satisfied sigh echoed in the air, the voice as ancient as an old well: "How wonderful~"
Just then, footsteps sounded behind them again; Jiang Wan had arrived.
Cheng Zhen looked up and was immediately shocked and angry: "What are you doing here? Get out of here!"
"Yu Fen! Listen to my order, retreat immediately! You escort the experts back to the city first, then come and rescue me!"
Yu Fen glanced behind him, then stubbornly refused: "No! If we leave now, you're dead meat, boss!"
He didn't care what others did; he was only focused on saving people.
Just as he was about to unleash another wave of light, Jiang Wan quickly glanced at the scene and then spoke up calmly, "Don't waste your energy. That's a strangler fig outside. It's tightly strangling the trunk of the tree inside, which is also a natural protection for it!"
She looked up at the tree canopy and said, "This strangler fig was about to be completed, but unexpectedly, the apocalypse came and the tree mutated."
"Heh heh, clever."
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