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Chapter 528: The Madness of Plants
After this encounter, every adventurer became extremely wary of the surrounding plants.
Soon, they discovered several dangerous and deadly species.
Flytraps the size of adult humans.
Their clamp-like leaves stretched open.
In the center, a pungent liquid revealed faint traces of partially digested bones and exoskeletons.
The seemingly harmless slender leaves would instantly harden as prey landed in their center.
The closing leaves would contract inward, impaling the prey and either killing or trapping it instantly.
The adventurers witnessed such predatory scenes three or four times.
Even more bizarrely, once the flytraps caught their prey, they would uproot their thick stems from the ground.
They quickly moved to a new hunting spot, disguised themselves, and waited for their next victim.
The small trees nicknamed "Brainleaf Worms" by the "Arcanist."
They were not large, but they excelled at camouflage.
When small prey passed by, they remained completely still.
When larger, unsuspecting prey approached, they would silently lunge, wrapping around the prey's head and spine.
Then, they would grow specialized spikes to pierce into the prey's body and brain.
During this process, the prey would feel no pain, and even its altered thoughts would seem completely logical to itself.
A high-level rogue fell victim to one, and for several minutes, none of his companions noticed anything unusual.
If not for Matthew spotting a "Bloodlight Calamity" above his head, the rogue might have died silently.
The Brainleaf Worms would quietly drain the prey's spine and brain marrow until its body was completely paralyzed.
Once sated, the Brainleaf Worm would abandon the useless corpse and hide nearby.
It would then wait for the next prey to be drawn to the "fresh" corpse.
These two unusual and deadly plant species were fortunately rare and seldom encountered.
The next type, however, was a completely different story.
They were encountered every few dozen meters.
Known as "Barbed Poison Thorn Beans," they were a carnivorous plant named after their fruit.
At first glance, they resembled ordinary shrubs.
The ends of the sprawling bushes bore clusters of translucent, crystal-like beans.
These dazzling beans emitted a tempting fragrance.
Several adventurers with willpower under 5 nearly fell for their allure.
Thankfully, their companions snapped them out of it in time.
Otherwise, they would have been seized by the spiny vines, dragged into the shrub, and dropped into a fleshy, grotesque maw.
The highly corrosive digestive fluids or the large, deadly venomous thorns.
Both could easily kill adventurers with a constitution below 15.
Furthermore, these Barbed Poison Thorn Beans grew in large patches.
Around them, even larger and more dangerous variants could be found.
Leading the way, Elio and Beelzebub felt increasing pressure as they advanced.
They had to remain constantly alert, with no room for relaxation.
Even the seemingly unremarkable thorns and brambles posed a potentially lethal threat.
After traveling for about an hour.
They reached a point 3 kilometers in a straight line from the base.
This painfully slow progress placed considerable mental strain on the adventurers.
Meanwhile, Matthew, who had been observing and gathering information along the way, was quite pleased with the Alice Adventurers' performance.
The veteran members had grown stronger, and new elite recruits had joined.
The Alice Adventurers now boasted an impressive average professional level of 10.
In just one year, Alice had transformed her small adventurer team into a large, elite group.
Even though they rode the wave of Bay Territory's development, their individual abilities were exceptional.
Matthew vividly recalled that the first professionals in the game had an average level of only 4.
Even the strongest top players were just reaching level 10, the peak of mid-tier professionals.
In comparison, Bay Territory's adventurers not only matched but surpassed the players in effectiveness.
They were also more obedient and easier to manage.
Unlike the players, who sought fame and power and were often unruly, these adventurers were more aligned with Bay Territory's goals.
Understanding this, Matthew decided to invest further in training adventurers.
In the future, numerous skilled, versatile adventurer teams would become a crucial part of Bay Territory's armed forces.
As Matthew reflected on this, Elio, leading the way, suddenly stopped.
A series of faint exclamations from the front instantly put the rest of the adventurers on high alert.
Yaya glanced ahead and saw a desolate patch of forest.
The ground, strewn with stones and bones, looked like a mass grave.
Yet, upon reaching this area, the suffocating sense of hostility from all directions disappeared.
Seeing this scene, Matthew immediately realized something and turned to the hesitant Alice, saying:
"We're almost there. Follow these tracks."
Without questioning the special mission, Alice ordered the team to move forward.
The bizarre assortment of bones on the ground fascinated the adventurers.
Insects as small as fists to as large as an adult.
Plant-like remnants.
The skeletons of towering beasts several meters tall.
All manner of skeletal remains.
The remains seemed strangely intact, not like typical battle sites, but more like a graveyard.
Metallic skeletons?
Matthew observed the metallic sheen on the remains, noting common metals like iron, copper, gold, and silver.
He also detected traces of rare magical metals like "adamantine" and "mithril."
Metallized life forms were rare in Matthew's memory.
The Catachan demiplane had no record of such creatures.
"Something's not right. Why didn't this severe metallization appear a decade later?"
"Could different teleportation points affect local species and regional traits?"
He had Yaya collect some specimens and continued gathering information as they moved.
After crossing this eerie "graveyard."
The Bay Territory adventurers emerged onto a vast plain.
The dense mist unusually thinned.
But the revealed scene made every adventurer's skin crawl.
Clusters of grass moved together, their roots dragging them forward.
Deadly Barbed Poison Thorn Beans jostled and tangled.
Crawling vines resembled tens of thousands of writhing venomous snakes.
Giant trees grew vine-like limbs that clawed their way ahead.
It felt as if all these plants had come to life, transforming into grotesque green monsters.
Adding to the discomfort, a thick carpet of green fungus beneath them devoured the slower-moving plants, absorbing them into itself.
In turn, larger plants secretly consumed the fungus, growing even more robust.
This bizarre and unsettling scene prompted Chris to mutter:
"Thank goodness these creepy things didn't attack us earlierā¦"
Elio glanced back at the mist-covered jungle, sensing that certain "rules" were causing it to transform into these living entities.
At that moment, Yaya, who had shifted into the form of a nimble bird, spotted something ahead and chirped out:
"Hey, there's a city up ahead, and these plants are attacking it."
Could anyone survive in this place?
Nearly every adventurer turned to the "Arcanist" for answers.
Clearly, the Arcanist had led them here with foreknowledge.
Were they here to save the city?
As it turned out, their guess was correct.
Matthew's goal was indeed to rescue the fortress of the Catachan people.
During his brief five or six months in the Catachan demiplane.
He had been deeply impressed by the "perilous green hell" of the Catachan demiplane and the "Rambo-like" Catachan warriors.
The Catachan demiplane was on the brink of transformation, forcing the players to leave.
When Matthew returned to the Catachan demiplane.
The once-thriving population of millions had already perished.
He found only ruins and a history of Catachan cities being destroyed over the past decade.
The timing of the plant outbreak aligned perfectly with recent events.
As such, Matthew recognized the plants' true "intentions."
"Roarā¦!"
With a thunderous bellow, Thorn, clad in a black jacket, furiously swung his three-meter-long "Ghost Claw," cleaving several twisted treants in half.
The twisted treants let out agonized screams before collapsing.
Their broken forms were trampled by countless treants and vines, dragged into the fungal carpet below, and greedily consumed.
As Thorn caught his breath, he sensed imminent danger.
He rolled swiftly, catching sight of a barrage of menacing thorns flying toward him from the corner of his eye.
"Spiny Cactus!!!"
Shouting a warning, Thorn dashed toward the twisted orc climbing the city wall.
He hadn't rested in three or four hours, but he showed no signs of stopping.
The severely depleted defensive forces no longer had enough manpower to defend the outermost walls.
He had to hold on as long as possible, buying time for the combat units to regroup.
As for the Spraying Cactus that posed a significant threat to him, he chose to trust his comrades, just as he had done countless times before.
Ka! Ka! Ka!
The massive cactus, riddled with yellow-brown cracks, began to swell at its midsection. Spikes, each 30 to 40 centimeters long, slowly emerged as the body expanded.
The spikes stretched over a meter long, and just as the cactus was about to contract its midsection and launch the metallic-looking spikesā
Bang!
A fiery explosion ripped through its chest "instantly."
The intense blast unleashed a terrifying shockwave.
Thousands of spikes from the Spraying Cactus were hurled in all directions, shredding over 20 twisted treants into sieves.
The seemingly unremarkable spikes contained incredibly potent toxins.
Twisted orcs hit by the spikes let out agonized screams as their bodies turned a sallow yellow, splitting apart as if hacked to pieces, fragment by fragment.
Lowering his firearm, Dale quickly ducked behind cover as dozens of warped spikes shot over his head.
Counting his remaining six rounds with a grimace, Dale gritted his teeth, reloaded his gun, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Hold on for three more minutes!"
Bang!
Evading a sweep of poisonous vines, Thorn's muscular frame deftly leapt aside.
Slashing through the chest of a twisted treant, he used its falling arm as a springboard to swing his hefty "Ghost Claw."
The slanted blade struck down, cleaving the head off a treant closing in on him. In one fluid motion, he dodged another sweep of vines.
Thorn's every dodge and strike was like a dangerous dance on the edge of a blade.
But Thorn seemed accustomed to such battles.
He calmly evaded the plant's attacks, careful not to step on the broken vines littering the ground.
He calculated every step, gauging his strength, and relied on his combat instincts to avoid distant threats.
Thorn heard Dale's call, but he was well aware of his own struggles.
The lack of food and supplies, coupled with insufficient rest, was quickly taking its toll.
Despite his resilient will, his bodyāonce capable of soloing Catachan demonsāwas approaching its limits.
But the endless wave of enemies was draining him of all energy and stamina.
Even as his body sent signals to retreat, Thorn's steely resolve kept him fighting on the wall, preventing the twisted monsters from breaking through.
Unfortunately, human strength has its limits.
As Thorn's movements slowed and his heavy "Ghost Claw" grew heavier, more twisted plants clambered up the wall.
The frenzy of plant life threatened to engulf Thorn completely!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three consecutive shots pierced three twisted treants charging at him.
The openings allowed Thorn to retreat slightly.
Sensing the mounting danger, Dale stood his ground, gritting his teeth, swiftly repositioning his aim, and firing again.
Bang!
Shards of splintered wood flew toward Thorn, who pivoted nimbly aside.
Turning the blade handle, he swung sideways, scattering the incoming wood fragments.
Feeling his limbs weaken, Thorn ignored the treants behind him and sprinted toward the stone watchtower.
With two light jumps, he dodged the spraying spikes and landed at the firing port.
Dale, half-covered in blood, had just pulled out a darkened spike and was trembling on one knee.
Gasping for breath, Thorn glanced at the sparsely defended wall behind him and gritted his teeth.
"If the hunting party hadn't gone missing, we wouldn't be in such dire straits."
Sprinkling green powder over his wound, Dale trembled in agony, his body feeling engulfed in flames. After over ten seconds of intense pain, he managed to gasp:
"The biggest problem is that the green tide is spreading faster and faster. I hope we're not the third city destroyed this year."
Thorn, his vision darkening, watched the twisted treants draw closer. Clutching the heavy "Ghost Claw" tightly, he murmured:
"We won't lose!!"
"Roarā¦!"
The twisted treants roared in response.
With dark red eyes and strange, incomprehensible sounds, they surged forward.
Dale, struggling to his feet, loaded his final two bullets, ready to cover Thorn's next slash.
Both knew they might not live to see whether the city would hold.
Just as the two prepared for a final stand, determined to take down as many monsters as possibleā
Bursts of red light suddenly erupted along the walls!
Scorching flames spread rapidly, consuming dozens of twisted plants in an instant.