The city's central square, a massive platform formed by the intertwining of several of the thickest core roots, was now bustling with activity. Survivors, clad in tattered hazmat suits or wrapped in stained cloth, gathered here like a tide. Their faces expressed a mixture of profound bewilderment, shock and disbelief, and tears of ecstasy at having survived the catastrophe and witnessed a miracle firsthand.
"A miracle! It truly is a miracle!" An old man with white hair and a face covered in radiation scars knelt on a platform of plants as smooth as jade. His hands trembled as he touched the veins beneath his feet, where a faint glow flowed. Turbid tears rolled down, dripping onto the platform, which radiated vitality, and were instantly absorbed, leaving no trace. He kissed the platform as if kissing a lost treasure.
"We...we have a home! We really have a home!" A young woman holding a baby cried hoarsely. The child in her arms seemed to be comforted by this grand vitality. He stopped crying and opened his black eyes curiously looking at the huge emerald tower canopy with golden light above his head.
"Thorns! Thorns guide us!" A sturdy man with a broken arm raised his remaining arm high, pointing to the massive aerial roots of the war banyan trees drooping from the top of the tower like a waterfall of life, shouting at the top of his lungs. His shout immediately triggered a thunderous response.
"Guide by the thorns! Life goes on! Hope lasts forever!"
"Guide by the thorns! Life goes on! Hope lasts forever!"
Cheers, cries, and prayers merged into a deafening torrent, echoing over the vibrant city and hitting the top of the Emerald Tower.
Xu Shuangyao stood quietly, her elegant vine-lined dress fluttering gently in the breeze. The golden flame mark between her brows radiated a warm and steady glow, and her clear eyes reflected the bustling crowd and vibrant city below. The compassion of the planet's will and the comfort of her guardian flowed through her heart. She could clearly feel the joy of new life and the burgeoning hope emanating from every corner of the city. These converged beliefs, like warm points of light, merged with the surging power within her, bringing a sense of fulfillment.
However, beneath this sense of satisfaction, an extremely faint, yet icy strangeness, like a poisonous snake lurking in a warm current, quietly slipped through her consciousness that was integrated with the perception of the planet.
Her gaze subconsciously shifted to the edge of the city, an area rapidly covered by giant vines and newly grown trees, once deeply contaminated by mycelium. There, beneath the surface forcibly patched together by the City of Thorns, something seemed to be...squirming?...whispering?
Just then!
“Ugh—!!!”
A shrill scream that was not like a human voice, like a red-hot steel needle, suddenly pierced the waves of ecstasy in the square!
The crowd's cheers abruptly ceased, like a flock of ducks being strangled. Countless eyes cast in terror toward the direction of the screams—the edge of the city, near a collapsed entrance to an old underground pipe network now covered in green vines!
A man in a tattered hazmat suit was frantically scratching at his face and neck! His movements were frantic, his strength immense, his nails digging deep into his flesh, leaving behind bloody scraps! Even more terrifying, beneath his exposed skin, countless tiny, black, earthworm-like hyphae were frantically wriggling and multiplying! They pierced the skin, greedily absorbing the host's flesh and blood, while spewing out a sticky, black mist of spores that exuded a strong, corrosive stench!
"Mycelium! It's mycelium! They're not dead! They're back!" The crowd erupted in horrified screams! The hope that had just been condensed was instantly covered by the shadow of death!
"Help me! Help me!" the infected man let out a final wail. His eyeballs had been squeezed out of their sockets by the overgrown mycelium. Black mycelium entwined around his blood-red eyeballs, making him look incredibly hideous. He staggered, like a puppet controlled by invisible strings, and suddenly pounced on the terrified woman closest to him!
At this critical moment!
Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!
Several sharp cracks echoed through the air! Several emerald green vines, originally serving as railings, suddenly came to life! Like the swiftest venomous snakes, they instantly entwined the infected individual, completely controlled by the mycelium! The golden veins flowing through the vines erupted with an intense, purifying light! In the entangled area, the mycelium, madly proliferating, burned like snow under the scorching sun, emitting a sizzling sound and emitting acrid black smoke!
"Roar!" The infected man roared inhumanly, struggling with such incredible force that he stretched several vines straight, groaning under the weight! The mycelium beneath his skin surged even more frantically, trying to burrow into the entangled vines!
"Be careful of the spores!" Someone pointed in horror at the increasing amount of black spore mist spreading from the infected people!
The crowd was in complete panic! Cries, shoves, and desperate curses intertwined, and the square, which had just been full of life, instantly turned into a chaotic purgatory!
Xu Shuangyao stood atop the tower, her clear eyes frozen in an instant! That cold, strange premonition had become a cruel reality! She could even "hear" the countless mycelial consciousnesses, suppressed by the vast life energy of the newly born City of Thorns, yet not yet completely purified, emitting sharp and greedy hisses like a swarm of awakened insects! They were gathering! They were counterattacking!
She clenched her fists fiercely! The golden flame mark between her brows suddenly blazed brightly! A powerful planetary will instantly passed through the giant tower beneath her feet, connecting with the entire life network of the Thorn City!
"quiet!"
A clear, majestic voice, carried not through the air but resounding directly in the souls of every survivor in the square! Like the resounding of a mighty bell, it instantly suppressed all the chaos and screams!
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