A drone took off and flew in front of the three military vehicles, transmitting the situation in front to the remote control screen in real-time, and also to the tablets in the hands of Ye Changming and Yan Shengbian.
Before mutation, Shicheng was a metropolitan with countless high-rise buildings, but now most of them were in ruins.
Mutant plants such as sedge1
were growing out of the buildings, breaking the buildings from the inside, so much so that they looked shaky from a distance.
Even without mutant plants, more than 40 years were enough for these buildings to be covered with weeds and vines. Compared with other places, the mutant plants in Shicheng were extremely quiet, most of them were gentle and would not hurt people. No one knew why.
The Central Agricultural Research Institute was also looking into this but has not found any answers. In recent years, in addition to looking for new bases, the Alien Kill Team was also looking for mutated plants similar to those in Feeding City. Unfortunately, all the higher-level mutated plants they encountered were killers who liked blood and flesh.
Wei Li secretly glanced at the screen on the tablet in Yan Shengbian’s hand next to her, and her scalp tingled.
Looking at the visuals made a new giant phobia awaken in her, she felt that her little chickens were adorable.
She looked out the window at the weeds that were taller than a person. When the wind blew, the white fluff on them floated up. She wanted to reach out and feel the wind outside the window.
Her thoughts drifted again to the past, imagining what it might have been like before the mutation—before the towering mutant plants had taken over, people could roam the fields freely. It was hard to imagine now, with the landscape so choked with twisted vegetation.
As they approached the old park where the A-level Dragon Claw Locust tree had once thrived, Ye Changming passed a data file to Yan Shengbian. “Satellite photos of Tingshi City in the past three years,” he said, his voice steady. “There was a missing section in December last year, but it wasn’t noticed during the winter months.”
Yan Shengbian activated the optical brain and skimmed through the satellite monitoring images. The Dragon Claw Sophora japonica had vanished sometime last year, but because the surrounding plants and trees had withered during the cold months, no one had realized the extent of the loss.
Wei Li, absentmindedly observing the data, muttered, “I’m afraid it wasn’t a natural death.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them. The car was sealed tightly, making her voice much clearer than she intended. Both Ye Changming and Yan Shengbian turned to look at her. Flustered, Wei Li quickly averted her eyes and gazed up at the roof of the vehicle, pretending as if she hadn’t said anything. Realizing the roof blocked her view, she shifted her attention out the side window, desperate to avoid their stares.
Yan Shengbian’s calm voice broke the awkward silence. “That’s possible,” he acknowledged with a small, almost indulgent smile. “We haven’t reached our destination yet, so anything could have happened.”
The team continued to push forward without incident, their journey quieter than usual. In the back of the military pickup truck trailing behind, Zhi Mingyue grew increasingly restless. He nudged Tian Qixiao, who was monitoring the drone. “Nothing happening up ahead?”
Tian Qixiao, without lifting his gaze from the screen, replied, “No. Everything’s clear. No abnormal movement.”
Kun Yue, leaning casually against the fender, pulled down his face towel and popped a piece of gum into his mouth. “The high-level mutant plants here won’t attack people. Everything’s fine.”
Zhi Mingyue gripped his rifle tightly. “It’s too quiet. There has to be something lower than a B-level mutant plant around here that’ll try to ambush us.”
Kun Yue raised an eyebrow, smirking as he looked at Zhi Mingyue’s rifle. “I think you just feel itchy.”
Before Zhi Mingyue could respond, Tian Qixiao interrupted, his voice steady. “We’re almost there.”
The banter immediately ceased as the soldiers prepared themselves. Guns were checked, and their stances shifted to heightened awareness. The air seemed to thicken with anticipation.
Before the mutation, the dragon claw locust tree was an ordinary green landscape tree in an ordinary park.
After the mutation, it occupied the entire park. Because the tree trunk was too high and the branches and leaves were too dense, all the plants and trees covered by it lost light and gradually died. The longer the mutation lasts, the stronger the plant is, and it keeps on expanding covering a larger area. But this A-level mutated dragon claw locust had not changed much. Feeding City was unusual, and the anomaly was insignificant in the eyes of the central base. A group of people rushed along the old road in the park to the place where the dragon claw locust originally took root.
Ye Changming raised his hand and pulled up the scarf, revealing only a pair of black eyes. He moved his right hand and signaled for the team to disperse and check the surroundings. The park was full of weeds, and the soles of their shoes made a rustling sound when they stepped on the ground. In addition, insects chirped around them.
“Captain, it’s just ahead,” Tian Qixiao controlled the drone to hover over a large pit and looked up at Ye Changming. Ye Changming raised his hand, and the two people in front immediately went over to scout the way. After confirming that there was no danger, they brought Yan Shengbian and Wei Li forward.
“This…” Wei Li looked out and couldn’t help but sigh, “The pit is so big!” A huge pit appeared where the A-level mutant dragon claw locust had taken root. It seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, and there was no grass around as if something had blocked the plants from growing.
Yan Shengbian stood beside Tian Qixiao and asked him to control the drone to fly around again. He still couldn’t find any trace of the A-level dragon claw locust, not even a dead branch. He didn’t believe that a giant mutant plant would simply vanish; there must be some signs. Yan Shengbian was about to walk toward the pit, but before he could take a few steps, he was suddenly pulled back by Ye Changming.
“Team Leader Yan,” Ye Changming reminded him, “I’ll go over.” The mission of the Alien Killer Zero Team this time was to ensure that Yan Shengbian would not encounter any accidents. Yan Shengbian frowned, then took out a test tube from his backpack and handed it to him: “I want to test a tube of soil at the edge.” The soles of his black military boots sank into the dry yellow mud.
Ye Changming walked to the edge of the pit. The drone above his head quickly landed, the lights turned on, and it flew over him into the huge pit. Ye Changming squatted down, grabbed a handful of yellow soil at the edge of the pit, and placed it into the test tube.
“Captain!” Tian Qixiao, who was standing behind, suddenly shouted, “There is…” Before Tian Qixiao could finish speaking, Ye Changming had already noticed something strange. The drone seemed to hit something beneath the huge pit, producing a “click.” He held the test tube and quickly stood up. However, something had already emerged from beneath the pit.
“Zheng——” Before everyone could see clearly, they saw a flash of white light. Ye Changming had already drawn his Tang sword and slashed it horizontally. The cold blade was fierce and unstoppable, and the flying object was cut in half. The yellow-brown half of the scolopendra fell to the edge of the pit, its mouthparts opened as if it wanted to bite something, with thin limbs on both sides of its body.2
“Is that… a termite?” Yan Shengbian looked at the one-meter-high head of the scolopendra that had fallen to the ground and barely recognized what it was. Wei Li bit her finger and stared at the huge corpse of the scolopendra termite. She was so scared that her face turned pale, and she didn’t forget to say, “Is there a termite nest underneath?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Changming, who was closest to the pit, noticed something and quickly turned around: “Kun Yue, Zhi Mingyue, take them away.” At the same time, Ye Changming threw the scolopendra test tube in his hand, which was caught by a team member. The team member immediately turned around and tossed it to Kun Yue. Before Wei Li could react, she was…
Under the scorching sun, the lush dark green sedge plants are as huge as mountains, swaying in the wind from time to time. Looking down from a distance, it looks like a huge green wave flowing.
“So far, no A-level mutant plant has died peacefully.” Yan Shengbian pondered for a moment, raised his head, and said slowly, “If this dragon claw locust tree dies, it will be the first mutant plant to die naturally since the mutation, which is of great significance.”
“Ten years ago the mutations were too chaotic, and a lot of information was lost.” After getting out of the car, Yan Shengbian looked at the weeds and trees all over the park, “But this park only had this A-level mutant dragon claw locust tree thirty years ago. I guess it was once a small sedge that mutated within the last ten years .”
Wei Li was at a loss. She didn’t expect that when she came to Shicheng, the first thing that she saw was not mutant plants but mutant animals.
Zhi Mingyue dragged her by the collar and retreated.
On the other side, after Kun Yue caught the test tube, grabbed Yan Shengbian and retreated. Tian Qixiao carried his bag and ran with them. At the same time, he took out another drone, threw it into the air, and controlled it to patrol the safety of the retreat route. In contrast, Yan Shengbian was extremely calm. He contacted the army on the other side of Sicheng and asked them to come here for backup. The termite was no taller than three meters, but it would be unimaginable if there were more termites underneath…
At first, only plants mutated, and the animals mutated later. Compared to the rapid increase in the size of mutated plants, the size of animals was much more limited. The Alien Killer Zero Team has eliminated several mutant animals, but most of them were alone. Now, nine people were able to temporarily suppress the termite colony with firepower, but more termites were still coming out of the pit.
Ye Changming looked at the endless stream of termites crawling out in front of him. He slightly turned his wrist to adjust his grip on the Tang sword, and ordered the people behind him “Get into the pit!”. He fixed a rope on the ground and jumped into the pit. Soon, other team members also jumped in.
Ye Changming untied the rope around his waist and put on the night vision goggles. The bottom of the pit was several times larger than the pit mouth. Termites taller than a person were crawling out of the tunnel. When they saw him, they began to spit out acid. He dodged the acid coming towards him, stepped on the wall of the cave, twisted his upper body, and used the sword to cut off the termite’s head. The head rolled on the ground, but its mouthparts were still secreting acid, which scorched the ground beneath it. “Captain!” Several team members followed one by one.
“Find the queen.” Ye Changming said quickly. The bullets in their guns have a suppressive effect on mutant plants, but for mutant animals, they are just ordinary bullets. If they don’t aim for the vital parts, the animals will not die immediately. Nine people entered the deepest cave while shooting. There were countless larvae and breeding termites inside. The abdomen of the queen in the middle was extremely swollen, and there was a pair of yellow and black membranous wings on her chest.
As soon as they came in, the queen turned its head and stared at Ye Changming with a pair of compound eyes. Her mouthparts suddenly opened wide and made a strange noise that lasted for less than five seconds. Ye Changming pulled out a pistol and shot at the queen’s mouth. The strange noise disappeared instantly. “Now!” The team rushed towards the queen ant, but they were still a step too late. The sleeping termites were awakened. These termites flapped their long wings to attack them.
“Stop them!” A team member quickly covered for Ye Changming held a gun and fired wildly. Ye Changming, holding a sword, rushed towards the queen, bypassing the countless larvae. Probably sensing a real threat, the queen flapped her wings and tried to fly, but her abdomen was too swollen. Soon, the termites found that the queen was unable to fly, and scrambled to protect the queen. Ye Changming held a gun and shot at the termites in mid-air.
If someone observed closely, they would find that every shot he fired hit the center of the termites’ head; with precision. The termites that came one after another could not stop him. Before long, Ye Changming approached the queen.
