[Fallen Zone - Isle of Longevity, East Coast]
Crack!
A charred vine in the fire-marked crater was crushed underfoot, and black charcoal fragments, mixed with the surrounding grayish-white sand, crumbled down from the edges of the person's sole.
Then, the camera angle of the series began to pull up from the shoe.
Before long, it focused on Tendo's refined face, drawn in a theatrical movie style.
He stood expressionlessly where the Rose Gentleman, Wilfred, had vanished, his pale blue eyes deep, contemplating something unknown.
During this process, the white rose petals into which the Rose Gentleman, Wilfred, had transformed slowly drifted down in front of Tendo, seemingly hinting at the old gentleman's 'dignified exit.'
However, both Tendo and the dimensional audience on Site 13 understood that Wilfred was definitely not dead.
Because of the Isle of Longevity's specific rules, coupled with Wilfred's own Star Source characteristics, this fellow was destined to be among the most difficult Star Envoys to kill, boasting maximum survival capability.
Though Wilfred never posed any substantial threat to Tendo throughout their encounter.
Tendo knew clearly that this was due, firstly, to Wilfred's lack of intent to kill.
Secondly, he was long tired of his current life.
Therefore, although he seemed to be following the ancient god's decree, he still possessed a certain degree of autonomy in its execution.
The first rebel of the Isle of Longevity referred to this very individual.
But since this was still the early phase of the Isle of Longevity plot, even Wilfred, an Isle of Longevity veteran, did not possess absolute certainty about many things.
Thus, even if he had some thoughts of 'cooperating' with Tendo.
He was unwilling to take the plunge until he was certain that Tendo had the necessary capabilities.
After all, his last bet had cost him dearly.
And those who tricked him were none other than Doctor Dragon and President Enite.
[Fallen Zone - Isle of Longevity, South Coast]
"Roar!"
On the southern coast, a deep, terrifying roar echoed through the silent island.
Soon, a 'monster' burst out from the shadows of the island's jungle.
Half of its head was a putrid human face with cloudy, white eyes.
The other half was wrapped in dark-red vines, forming a bud-like shape, with a half-human tooth embedded in the gaps between the petals.
Beyond that, the creature's body was quite unsettling.
Its sturdy, approximately two-meter-tall body was encased in a thick layer of vine armor, which was covered in inch-long thorns, with bits of dried cloth hanging from the tips.
But more conspicuous than all of this was the monster's exaggerated right arm, which was nearly as long as its height.
To the dimensional audience's astonishment, the monster raised its right arm high and then brought it down hard toward Chen Kong, who was desperately fleeing in front of it.
Boom!
In the nick of time, Chen Kong quickly rolled sideways. The monster's fist grazed his back and slammed into the beach, kicking up a shower of sand with a boom.
Although he narrowly avoided the punch, he could clearly feel intense, searing pain radiating from his back.
It seemed his back had been scraped by the thorns on the monster's vine armor.
Before Chen Kong could even push up from the ground to stand, over a dozen twisted figures surged out from the distant gray mist.
Among these monsters, some had spines so bowed by vines that they resembled a taut arch, their joints making bizarre creaking sounds when they moved.
Others crawled, dragging broken leg bones, the tangled vines at the fracture constantly oozing green sap, leaving winding trails in the sand.
Regardless of their size or appearance, they all shared one characteristic: a fist-sized, core-like 'protuberance' growing on their chest.
Chen Kong's heart sank upon seeing these incredibly strong, thick-skinned humanoid monsters.
Damn it, this is... trouble.
[Name: Rotten Vine Corpse]
[Level: Two]
[Features: Robust physique, immense strength, whole body covered by thick vine armor. The armor is covered with sharp thorns. The main vine on the chest is protected by the armor; the armor must be destroyed before the core can be attacked.]
[Description: 'Death... can also be the start of a new life.' — The Rose Gentleman, Wilfred]
Facing these more than ten Rotten Vine Corpses, Chen Kong made an instant decision.
Run! Flee without hesitation!
He might be able to contend with a single Rank 2 Rotten Vine Corpse, but with over ten surrounding him, compounded by the cursed poison in his body, running was his only option.
Thinking of this, Chen Kong instinctively looked at his right arm.
A half-finger-long vine thorn was firmly embedded in his forearm.
The thorn glowed with a faint green luminescence. The troublesome toxin seeped along the vine pattern on the tail of the thorn, little by little, into the blood vessels inside his body, constantly causing him problems.
He had sustained this injury on the East Coast beach after being unfortunately struck by the Rose Gentleman Wilfred's vines.
At the time, he was preoccupied with covering his teammates' retreat and failed to notice this small, toothpick-like object.
It wasn't until he suddenly felt numbness in his arm during his escape that Chen Kong discovered the object, but by then, it was too late. Wilfred's Rose Poison had completely spread throughout his body, and its effects were beginning to manifest.
He had tried to use 'Star Energy' or 'Void Mark' to forcefully expel the poison, but the Rose Poison acted as if it were alive, burrowing deeper into the muscle whenever it encountered Star Energy.
As for the Void Mark, although he had eliminated the Star Energy poison contained within the thorn, the Void Mark was completely useless against the other part of the poison, the purely physical Rose Toxin.
He had also considered pulling out the vine thorn, but it seemed to have been deliberately designed, as it was firmly hooking his tendons.
The slightest effort made Chen Kong feel faint from the pain.
Not to mention, he hadn't found a single opportunity to remove the poisonous thorn throughout his flight.
[Real World, Site 13, Bullet Screen Area]
'Poor Kong, this protagonist is truly miserable; every time the scene changes, he's getting beaten.'
'Strange, didn't Tendo say they should all go together? Why is Kong the only one here? When I watched the landing point plot, Kong didn't run away by himself.'
'There must have been an accident, right? Look at the injuries on Kong, and those monsters behind him. Something clearly went wrong during the subsequent escape.'
The bullet screen was still scrolling madly. On screen, Chen Kong had been forced to the edge of the reef by the Rotten Vine Corpses.
He leaned one hand against the cold reef, panting. The dizziness caused by the toxin grew stronger, and the figures of the Rotten Vine Corpses in front of him began to overlap.
Taking advantage of this brief lull, he decisively pulled out his communicator and asked the administrator on the other end the question that had been building up in his heart.
"Damn it! What the hell is going on with this landing point? Why did we run into a Calamity-level monster as soon as we arrived?"
"Also..."