Chapter 34
[I have already acquired a premium mutant plant called "Round Nut"!]
[“Round nuts” loyalty has increased dramatically, reaching 100%!]
Qian Hui looked up in surprise: "Xiao Guo!"
The giant nut's assistance was timely; a bunch of extinguished fireballs fell, having no effect whatsoever.
Then, it slid again, and with a "bang," it fell down onto the bushes. Its oval shape made it able to withstand attacks over a larger area, making it almost like a thick wall.
Upon seeing this, all the mutated plants were stunned for a moment, and then launched an even more ferocious attack.
The nuts have awakened!
The carrot almost got knocked off by the nut, so it quickly changed its position and stood up straight, but it was still very excited.
It immediately activated its berserk skill, unleashing an even denser barrage of spikes like an orange rain curtain, its accuracy unaffected by any obstacles, targeting every single enemy.
[A mutated plant has entered a berserk state near you. Please take cover! (From the "Carrot" encyclopedia)]
Chili pepper's berserk skill was temporarily unusable, so it jumped to the ground and joined the battle.
The potato conjured a homing missile, while the corn frantically tossed corn kernels at the ground, tilting its head back and cheering, "Awooooo!"
The little bamboo shoot, carrying a durian, approached the remaining three and swung his knife to strike.
Despite its small size, it has excellent jumping ability. The thin bamboo knife seems to weigh a ton, and it can throw out a copy knife at any time, catching the opponent off guard.
The durian grew to twice its size, its thorns becoming even sharper, and suddenly knocked one of the people down.
It had only been a few days since it joined the plant team, and it spent all its time following the carrot. It wasn't even very close to fennel yet. But now, as if encouraged by the enthusiastic atmosphere, it was also very excited.
Seeing the rain of radishes falling from the sky, it acted impulsively and used its own charged attack.
[A mutated plant has entered a berserk state near you. Please take cover! (From the "Durian" encyclopedia)]
It shuddered, releasing a colorless and odorless gas with a 95% hit rate, quickly locking onto its target.
Three or four people fell one after another on the other side, but they were still putting up a stubborn resistance. By the time they realized something was wrong, it was too late.
Zhao Xing felt dizzy and his vision began to blur. He could vaguely see a group of durians rushing towards him.
He forced himself to tell the others, "Cover your mouth and nose! Take your medicine quickly!"
Who would have thought that the charged attack of a durian would be a colorless and odorless poisonous smoke... completely catching everyone off guard.
The team member who had been there earlier swallowed an antidote and tried to use airflow to disperse the poisonous smoke.
His companion was wounded by a tracking missile, and he was momentarily distracted when a carnivorous plant that had forced its way into the woods bit off his arm.
The screams echoed all around, jolting Zhao Xing's muddled mind awake.
His special ability is a rather unique physical ability, which allows him to transform his limbs into invulnerable metal. He is the strongest overall and also has the ability to command a team.
He originally brought with him a superhuman and a sonic device to target Nan Tingjin, and he felt that his chances of winning were at least 70%.
Furthermore, being in a restricted area gives them an advantage. The others from Blackridge Mountain Base didn't come along, so what exactly happened here is up to them to decide.
Zhao Xing even had a backup plan: one of his team members had a small alien plant hidden on him, which he would take out when the opportunity arose and say that he had found it at the base.
In short, Zhao Xing believed he had made sufficient preparations before setting off, and Wen Jue also agreed to his plan.
The team that went out to track sunflowers last time brought back photos and some remnants of plant attacks. They had actually made some guesses about the number of heterogeneous plants that were working together.
However, many of the remains were mid-level mutated plants. Even with the addition of the man-eating flower and the carrot, two top-level mutated plants, they probably wouldn't be able to repel the horde of zombies.
Therefore, Wen Jue guessed that it must be Nan Tingjin.
For some reason, he helped them.
Zhao Xing was also wary of Chili Pepper, having already instructed his team members to be extremely careful and to immediately retreat outside its charging attack range if anything seemed amiss.
However... he severely underestimated the other side.
The plants worked together seamlessly, displaying a combat power far exceeding their level. For example, Zhao Xing had seen the mutated chili pepper many times before and was quite familiar with it.
But in such a short time, its strength has at least doubled, and it has even learned to attack in groups.
And that giant nut...
It had been wandering here for years, often falling into a deep sleep, and even Wen Jue had given up on the idea of bringing it back to the base for research.
But how did it... wake up? And quickly unite with the plants?
Having maintained its enormous size for several years, it showed no signs of being consumed. Its hard outer shell could withstand anything and was far stronger than ordinary energy defense shields.
Two more team members fell to the ground, and the rest suffered injuries of varying degrees.
Zhao Xing's hands trembled as he said in the real-time communication, "Retreat immediately!"
We need to escape this place as soon as possible. If we return to the Blackridge Mountain base, we might be able to gather more manpower, or we can think of another way later.
Zhao Xing didn't have time to investigate why the people from Black Ridge Mountain Base hadn't come up yet. The giant nut had moved; they should know that.
He led the remaining team members, fending off the attacks while trying to retreat in the direction they had come from.
Upon noticing their attempt to escape, Carrot shouted, "Woo!"
But the plants were all on the other side, and the ranged attacks couldn't stop them in time.
The next second, the giant nut suddenly stood up and easily leaped to block the team's path.
The carrot, caught off guard, suddenly fell to the ground.
Durian happened to be nearby, so I rushed over to help it.
Nuts shook its body, preparing to crush the humans.
Zhao Xing's arms turned into metal, forcefully supporting its massive body.
The other team members reacted quickly. Since the nut had moved from its original position, they could attack other plants and force it back.
At this moment, the corn couldn't hold back any longer.
It was inexplicably anxious, as if a ball of fire was burning inside it, and it wanted to spit it out in one breath, so it pounded its chest hard.
Upon seeing this, Potato quickly stepped away, fearing that Corn might have accidentally inhaled the durian's toxic fumes and was somewhat disoriented.
But then, the corn instantly grew dozens of times larger and spat out a large clump of yellow matter.
[A mutated plant has entered a berserk state near you. Please take cover! (From the Encyclopedia entry for "Corn")]
It was a huge piece of corn, with a translucent outer layer that looked like jelly, which it hurled at the human team opposite them.
The corn jelly was fried to pieces, and the sticky, corrosive substance stuck to their bodies, greatly hindering their movement.
After vomiting up this large clump, Yumi returned to its original shape and patted its belly.
Finally, I feel comfortable...
At the same time, Chili came to a short distance from the group and looked at Zhao Xing and the other humans.
Chili remembered Zhao Xing, and coincidentally, there were a few others in the team who had participated in the mission to capture it.
The period after it was captured was the most painful time for it. It was locked up for research, and its skills were forcibly activated with drugs. Afterwards, those people tried to tame it, which caused it a lot of suffering.
When she successfully escaped, Chili secretly made up her mind that she would definitely seek revenge on these humans.
Chili pepper's eyes were filled with anger, and the grass beneath her feet cast large shadows.
The carnivorous plant came up behind it, letting out low growls.
Upon seeing them appear together, Zhao Xing realized something, and despair appeared on his face.
[A mutated plant has entered a berserk state near you. Please take cover! (From the "Chili Pepper" encyclopedia)]
[A mutated plant has entered a berserk state near you. Please take cover! (From the Encyclopedia entry for "Carnivorous Plant")]
Two powerful shockwaves swept around, but Nut jumped away in time, shielding Thousand Fennel and the other plants.
The wind howled through the woods, snapping many branches and sending leaves flying high into the air.
Qian Hui was held in Nan Tingjin's arms, her eyes closed and her hands tightly gripping his sleeve.
When everything finally came to a standstill, the surroundings suddenly became very quiet.
it's over?
Qianhui looked up and saw Carrot rushing past the human corpses on the ground in another direction.
Durian followed closely behind, and the two plants disappeared into the forest in the blink of an eye.
"radish!"
Qianhui quickly caught up and saw that the carrots and durians were not far from the mountain road below, attacking another group of humans.
There were five people in total, and they were all dressed in Sky Base uniforms.
They weren't traveling with the group ahead, and they looked rather odd, with one of them appearing to be being protected by the rest of his companions.
The man had gray hair, but his face made him look younger; he was about fifty years old and was wearing a light-colored coat.
Qian Hui looked over and met Wen Jue's gaze.
Under his gaze, even though he was a complete stranger, Qian Hui felt a sudden sense of fear for no reason.
He began to have difficulty breathing, and his shoulders trembled slightly.
These five people must have witnessed the battle just now, but because they were not far enough away, they were not affected by the charged attacks of the chili peppers and the man-eating plants.
Carrot was the first to spot them, initially mistaking them for backup or remnants of Zhao Xing's team, and thought he should take care of them as soon as possible.
But it soon discovered that these five people... no, these four people were very strong.
The carrot had just unleashed a charged attack not long ago, so there weren't enough carrot thorns, but the durian could also launch a ranged attack.
It jumped up and spun around, its sharp spikes shedding their outer shells layer by layer and flying outwards.
The remaining plants also rushed over, and with the sunflowers there, they still had the energy to continue fighting.
However, the other side reacted extremely quickly. One of them raised his hand, and two thick boulders popped out of the ground, blocking all the attacks.
His superpower is similar to Nan Tingjin's, except that he can only manipulate inanimate objects such as stones.
Immediately afterwards, two people carried Wen Jue and another companion on their backs, and with the last person remaining, all three were physical ability users.
Without lingering in battle, their leg muscles bulged, and they leaped down from the forest.
After landing steadily, jump again to reach the location where the modified car is parked at the bottom of the mountain.
The group was well-trained and swift in action, escaping at an extremely fast pace.
The giant nut was itching to try and stop it when it suddenly heard the little cabbage's exclamation.
Qian Hui was pale and nearly fainted.
Nan Tingjin frowned and helped him sit down under a tree.
The plants quickly gathered around, and the little cabbage peeked out of Qian Hui's pocket and hugged a section of her hem.
The sunflower's light remained unchanged, while Potato frantically rummaged through his backpack for the unfinished panacea.
The giant nut shook its body, then "whoosh" shrank and rolled over with a "gurgle gurgle".
Qian Hui took the medicine given to her by Tu Dou, but her body was still trembling uncontrollably: "I don't know..."
It seems that he felt very uncomfortable after seeing Wen Jue.
Disgust, fear, and a mix of other negative emotions, along with fragmented, blurry double images flashing before her eyes, made it even harder for Qian Hui to breathe.
He paused for a moment, then forced himself to stay alert: "I'm probably just tired... It's okay, I'm not injured."
Carrot came closer and touched Qian Hui's cold hand.
Its eyes were filled with worry as it glanced in the direction Wen Jue had fled, and it quickly made a decision.
"Woo-woo!" The carrot waved and called to the carnivorous plant, signaling it to prepare to lead everyone away.
Those five people looked sinister. Their companion was in trouble, yet they didn't come to help. I wonder how long they had been observing from the shadows.
However, even if they chased after them immediately, it would probably be too late, as the modified car parked there was very close to the iron gate.
But don't forget, they're still in a base full of human superhumans.
The fact that they were able to successfully eliminate Zhao Xing's team far exceeded Carrot's expectations.
It originally thought that reinforcements from the Blackridge Mountain base would arrive halfway through the battle.
Carrot had already planned to kidnap Nan Tingjin... but this step of the plan didn't come in handy.
Urged on by it, the plants quickly tidied up their things.
The little bamboo shoot paused abruptly as it passed the group of human corpses.
It turned its head and saw a small pink object peeking out of a human's pocket, looking timidly outside.
Under the tree, Qian Hui leaned against Nan Tingjin's chest. When she looked up, she saw that Jian Guo was standing alone not far away.
When it shrinks, it's about the size of a palm. Unlike other plants, it doesn't have leaves curled up like hands and feet. Its dark eyes are small and round, and its mouth is pursed into a line.
Perhaps because it had only just woken up and was already dazed when it participated in a battle and encountered many unfamiliar plants, it was somewhat bewildered and did not immediately approach them.
Qian Hui's nose tingled, and she reached out her hand to it: "Little Fruit..."
Nuts' eyes lit up and he jumped into Qian Hui's arms.
Qian Hui hugged it tightly: "Don't be afraid... Did Xiao Guo hear us coming?"
Nuts rolled happily back and forth in his palm, and finally let out a soft "hmm".
It heard Qianhui's voice, and it seemed to hear Sunflower's voice too...
But the nut itself had been hidden inside the shell for a long time and felt like it was about to collapse. It wasn't sure if it was just its own auditory hallucination.
Later, the sound of fighting nearby reminded Nuts of his days in the plant courtyard.
At first, it was quite sluggish, but when the fireball was thrown at it, it reflexively moved towards it and fully woke up.
"I'm so glad you're alright," Qianhui said tenderly, stroking the nuts. "We'll take you away from here."
Nuts hummed in agreement again, and the corners of her mouth slowly curved up a little.
Qian Hui held it carefully and then looked at Nan Tingjin.
"Xiao Jin," he leaned closer to Nan Tingjin and asked nervously, "would you like to come with me too?"
Qian Hui initially planned to hide herself so that she wouldn't be discovered by the people at Sky Base, and also wanted to avoid the "conflict" mentioned in the plot.
But things didn't go as planned... The deaths of those humans here would cause trouble for Nantingjin.
And his ultimate, original fate...
Qian Hui was very worried, and only by having Nan Tingjin accompany her could she feel at ease.
With hopeful eyes, he asked again, "Okay... I can protect you too!"
Nan Tingjin raised his eyes, and after a moment replied softly, "Okay."
—
Just as the giant nut awoke, someone spotted it from afar outside the iron gate.
"Am I seeing things...? Did that strange plant move?"
"I think I am too..."
"Look! It's really awake!"
“What’s going on?” the captain frowned. “Could they be after that alien plant… but that doesn’t make sense.”
The giant nut has been there from the beginning, and the other bases know it's definitely not from Skybase.
Or... did Zhao Xing and the others do something to deliberately awaken the giant nut?
The captain was quite surprised that Wen Jue came in person this time, but since Nan Tingjin didn't want to show his face, he and another captain didn't bother to care too much and wanted to get rid of these people as soon as possible.
This situation has now exceeded expectations...
Soon, someone took out their binoculars and saw the continuous "rain of radishes".
His tone was grave, and he quickly said, "Something's not right. There are other plants too."
"Let me see." The captain immediately took the binoculars and checked the situation halfway up the mountain.
The giant nut did indeed move, lying down in the forest and crushing many trees.
Large scatterings of radishes fell in showers, and a flash of purple appeared in the shot.
Man-eating flower?
The captain was startled.
What's going on here...? How did a carnivorous plant end up in the base's restricted area?
At this moment, Shan Jun, who was standing to the side, said in a deep voice, "They may be in danger. Let's go and check on them."
A small number of people agreed with him and wanted to reopen the iron gate.
"Wait," the captain said, blocking the iron gate. "What's the rush... They're here now, they can go wherever they want, and now we have to clean up their mess?"
The captain was already holding back his anger. No matter how high Wen Jue's position was, he was abusing his power and treating someone else's base like his own backyard.
Besides, everything was fine before they arrived; the alien plant that trespassed into the restricted area might have been their doing.
Anyway, no one has set foot in the restricted area for years; it was they who insisted on going in.
If anything really happens, the blame lies with the Black Ridge Mountain base for its negligence in allowing the alien plants to sneak in.
"You..." Shan Jun couldn't find the words to refute for a moment, but there were still people on his side.
The remaining group shared the same ideas as the captain, while others felt it was better to ask the leader's opinion first.
Shan Jun's position was slightly lower; he was only one of the squad leaders. With the main captain present, he had no right to open the iron gate.
Just as the standoff was reaching its conclusion, a modified car sped up and stopped on the side of the road.
Yuanji rolled down the car window: "Why are you all standing here?"
The captain asked in surprise, "Weren't you sent out on a mission? How come you're back so soon?"
Yuanji gave a vague reply: "There's been a situation, so the assignment has been rescinded."
He looked up at the distant mountains and forests, keenly sensing something amiss: "What's going on over there?"
The captain stepped forward and whispered a few words.
Yuan Ji rushed back and must have known about the intrusion into the Sky Base. With Nan Tingjin not around, he was the one in charge, and everyone around him was waiting for his decision.
Yuan Ji pondered for a moment, then glanced at the communicator in his hand.
After a moment, he suddenly smiled and said, "The restricted area is so big. If they want to search, let them search. Just leave one person here to guard it. The rest of you can go do whatever you need to do."
"Captain Yuan," Shan Jun said anxiously, "but..."
"But what?" Yuan Ji's gaze swept over, carrying a chilling coldness. "Think it over before you speak."
Dan Jun took a few deep breaths and lowered his head: "No."
Seeing this, no one else had any objections.
They pretended not to see or know about the situation on the back mountain.
Yuan Ji selected a subordinate to guard the iron gate, and to immediately send a message to notify the Sky Base personnel as soon as they came out.
Then, the crowd dispersed.
After an unknown amount of time, only one modified car returned.
The subordinates quickly opened the iron gate, and the superhuman responsible for protecting Wen Jue looked around, his expression grim: "Where are your people?"
Shortly after the giant nut awoke, they planned to return to Blackridge Base to request additional support.
But by then there was only one person left outside the iron gate, and Wen Jue was still unwilling to leave.
He is protected by four superhumans, each of whom plays a crucial role. If any one of them is distracted, he could be put in danger.
So the group had no choice but to continue waiting, which dragged on until now.
"Oh, the captain said the back mountain is too big, and you'll definitely be delayed for a long time," the subordinate said blankly, "so he sent the others back first."
No sooner had he finished speaking than his subordinate's communicator beeped.
He looked down and exclaimed in shock, "A top-tier exotic plant... escaped from the restricted area?!"
On the other side, the giant carnivorous plant shook off the people chasing behind it and easily scaled the wall.
It moved nimbly, landed steadily, and quickly disappeared at the end of the abandoned street.
As usual, the remaining plants were hidden inside the mouth of the man-eating flower and taken away from the Blackridge Mountain base.
Qian Hui, holding a few plants, leaned against Nan Tingjin's chest.
His mind was still foggy when he received a notification from the game.
[The fifth faction conflict has ended. Congratulations on our victory! Reward: 500 Prestige Points]
This message means they are safe now.
Qian Hui finally relaxed, closed his eyes, and gradually fell asleep amidst the slight swaying.
In a daze, he had a dream.
In my dream, Nan Tingjin was there, but the surrounding scenery felt somewhat unfamiliar.
Qian Hui looked around blankly, unable to remember where she was.
Nan Tingjin was right in front of him. He asked in a low voice, "Why won't you see me? Do you hate me?"
Qian Hui was stunned for a moment and wanted to ask what had happened.
But he couldn't control what was happening in his dream, and he felt very nervous, so he quickly replied, "No..."
Nan Tingjin then asked, "Have you thought it through? Be with me."
Qian Hui lowered her head, her heart racing: "It's only been a day... I haven't made up my mind yet."
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