We are now in the tree and need to keep an eye on Haru's every move. There is no chance to start a fire, so we can only take out the dry, hard jerky to fill our stomachs.
Yesterday we marked the route we were taking, so both sides can find our position using those marks.
Haru seemed a little lost at this moment. They had lived on this land for a long time, and now that they had to leave, they really didn't know where to settle down for a while.
Even more shocking news came: we were still some distance from those Haru, but the tribe had already sent people to find us.
At first, I thought the two tribes were quite efficient, arriving so quickly. But soon, our people brought news that shattered our worldview.
The marks I made along the way led to the Haru tribe, and now the news from there is that all the trees and animal carcasses have disappeared, replaced by vast expanses of Prosodiae.
Moreover, the results of the investigation conducted by the Asaida tribe's dragon riders in the vicinity were even more astonishing: the white mycelium continued to spread to other places like a tide.
The vanished trees and animals were also nourished by these mycelia. The Protosporum algae seem to have mutated and no longer need to produce spores to reproduce.
The tribe suspects that Haru has given up and intends to use some extreme measures to deal with us.
Both tribes have now gone back to their respective tribes to evacuate their people.
Those dragon riders had personally witnessed wild birds and other animals suddenly fall and lose consciousness after staying in that pine forest for a while.
The dragon rider was unaware that these protozoa were releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide, and since carbon dioxide is heavier than air, most of it was deposited near the ground.
Any birds or beasts that are unaware of this will suffocate and die soon after entering it.
The dead birds and beasts will immediately become the objects of mycelium to absorb nutrients, and before long, these animals will be digested and absorbed until there is not a trace left.
This is also the main reason why the tribespeople did not find even a single trace of animal bones near the sinkhole.
Upon hearing this news, although we haven't figured out exactly what happened, the situation seems to have spiraled out of our control and is developing in an extremely serious direction.
I saw Haru running away the whole time, so I guess he knew the power of these Protozoa, which is why he ran away without resting at all.
Does Haru intend to destroy the world?
Damn! They really are a bunch of complete lunatics.
At that time, I was still unaware that those Protozoa had changed their physiological structure and were no longer releasing high concentrations of oxygen, but rather high concentrations of carbon dioxide.
At this moment, I still hold onto a sliver of hope: even if the world's oxygen suddenly increases, the evolution of life wouldn't be that fast. As long as we handle the situation properly, we still have a chance, or even a certain chance, not to be eliminated.
But this time I didn't expect that these fungi wanted to reshuffle the deck not just for a few animals, but for all animals that need to breathe oxygen. It's going to wipe out all life on the world.
At this moment, these Haru seem to have become insignificant compared to the immediate crisis. Haru has already made preparations to escape overnight, and I certainly can't wait any longer.
There was no time to worry about anything else; now was not the time to continue fighting Haru. According to the Haru who came to report, the mutated Protoplasta seemed to be very aggressive.
The only option is to run away and save our lives. We'll make further plans after we reunite with the leader and the others.
Without hesitation, we followed the messenger who had come to deliver the message and hurried back towards the Mila tribe.
We practically ran the whole way back. When we got tired, we slowed down and jogged a little. When we got hungry, we just ate jerky while running to solve our food problem.
After only half a day's journey, the intricate, vine-covered, and thorny rainforest landscape had completely disappeared.
What comes into view is a uniform expanse of *Pterocarya stenoptera*, densely packed on this land that was once familiar but is now utterly unfamiliar.
This place is even more eerily quiet than when we passed through the Carnivorous Forest; you can't even hear the sound of an ant stepping on the ground.
At that time, I didn't know that the mutated Protozoa would release a lot of carbon dioxide, and I thought that as long as I walked around them, I would be fine.
Perhaps because we're running forward, we need to breathe more oxygen.
Not long after arriving in this area, I felt a little dizzy, a feeling similar to altitude sickness, which only occurs when the body is lacking oxygen.
I was shocked. This wasn't the first time I'd traveled this route. I'd run it before without any problems, so why was I experiencing altitude sickness this time? Was there something wrong with the oxygen in this area?
This is the first question that comes to mind, and it's the only reason that can explain the current situation.
I quickly told everyone to stop and rest, and then I started using the fire-starting tools I had with me to test the environment by making a fire.
To my surprise, the fire that was easy to start near the jujube seaweed before took several attempts to get going this time.
I frowned, staring at the burning tinder in my hand, utterly perplexed. Even if this was an area where *Pterocarya stenoptera* and other natural plants met, surely it shouldn't be this difficult to start a fire?
To confirm my suspicion, I started to move the burning tinder in my hand closer to the jujube algae. If it was still the same as before, the tinder would definitely start to explode when it got close to the jujube algae.
However, the result was not the explosive explosion I had imagined. Instead, the tinder in my hand went out the moment I got close to the jujube.
I tried again, throwing the lit tinder directly into the forest of jujubes, but before the tinder even hit the ground, the flame was immediately extinguished by an invisible hand.
Seeing this, I gasped in shock. I had never been this nervous before, no matter how dangerous the battles against Haru had been. This was truly beyond human capability.
I knew what this meant. I immediately told everyone to get away from the protozoa and run to areas with dense vegetation. We didn't dare stop our already hurried pace.
The situation is worse than I imagined; we need to get everyone ready for the apocalypse as soon as possible.
Time has now become a giant time bomb, entering its countdown, and the players are all the living beings trapped in this world.
If we can't reverse this before the countdown ends, we will face our biggest problem: extinction!
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