Chapter 479: Crash
The force sent everyone in the cabin sprawling. A shrill alarm immediately blared.
“It’s an SS-class mutant plant!” Lu Weiyi instantly launched a psychic attack, but after the long journey and significant power drain, even someone of equal level had difficulty fighting a mutant plant. His attack barely harmed it—instead, it only enraged the plant further, and the vines wrapped around the aircraft tightened with increasing strength.
“The rotors are damaged—!” Xia Ming shouted urgently.
He didn’t even need to say it—part of the aircraft visibly caved in, and the bulletproof glass, which was said to withstand gunfire, shattered instantly. Under the strong winds, the shards flew everywhere, cutting into exposed skin and drawing blood.
The mutant plant began swinging the aircraft like a giant pendulum. Everyone inside was tossed around violently. The soldiers quickly adapted, but Song Xiao passed out immediately.
“Prepare to jump!” Jin Diao roared.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the cabin door was ripped open. Anyone not secured was immediately flung out in different directions—one launched forward, the next thrown backward.
“Where’s the wood element—?!” Jin Diao shouted, gripping the cabin door with one hand and slamming the cockpit area with the other. “Get out—NOW—!”
The door was torn off. Jin Diao held onto it and plummeted toward the ground, his voice echoing in the air.
“Lu Weiyi—!”
Right after, Xu Sa was thrown out. Even though Liu Rui moved quickly, he couldn’t keep up. He jumped out with all his strength but could only watch as the distance between them widened.
“The fuel tank’s damaged! Everyone get out—now!” Xia Ming howled as he launched himself from the aircraft.
Lu Weiyi quickly commanded Little Green to store the valuable medical supplies into his space. In the end, he was the only one left on the aircraft.
The plane wasn’t flying high to begin with, and under the pull of the mutant plant, the crash was nearly instantaneous. Just as Lu Weiyi exited the cabin, the aircraft burst into flames and exploded, the fireball expanding visibly.
As he retreated into his storage space, he caught a glimpse of parachutes scattered across different locations—and a swarm of predatory mutant birds already closing in.
*
The aircraft had exploded. If Lu Weiyi exited the space now, he’d still be mid-air. Even under cover of night, he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t be spotted.
After some thought, Lu Weiyi decided to wait half an hour before leaving. The darkness would help conceal him, but more importantly, he needed that time to prepare his parachute.
The plane had been at least a hundred meters above the ground, tangled in the mutant plant. If he jumped without preparation, there’d be no time to react.
Lu Weiyi frowned slightly.
After eating, drinking, and recovering his energy, he unfolded the parachute in advance and, taking a deep breath, exited the space.
The moment he emerged, wind and rain slammed into him, cold enough to pierce bone.
Lightning flashed across the night sky. The wind and rain howled together, and his parachute was immediately blown several meters off course. Since he hadn’t been far from the ground to begin with, within a few seconds, the chute got caught in a tree, dozens of meters up.
Lu Weiyi used his psychic sense to gauge the distance below. He struggled and swung like a pendulum.
The thick foliage shielded him from most of the rain, but his movements rustled the branches, disturbing the forest’s small creatures.
In the darkness, he heard rustling all around. Enhancing his vision with his ability, he was able to make out faint outlines of the surrounding wildlife.
At a glance, Lu Weiyi quickly re-entered his storage space, detaching himself from the parachute just in time. As he entered, he could still smell the fetid breath of a giant mutant snake coiled around the branches, jaws open for a bite.
The stench of blood made it clear the creature had eaten its share of flesh.
Lu Weiyi wasn’t sure where the others had landed. Going out now would be extremely dangerous. Not only might he fail to find them, but his own stamina would be further drained. He decided to rest in the space for the night and look for them after sunrise.
He hung his wet clothes on a tree branch and climbed into the treehouse occasionally used by Taotao for sleep. Delicate new shoots gently reached toward him, and Lu Weiyi comforted them by patting the trunk below.
He set an alarm and quickly fell asleep.
*
Elsewhere in the jungle, Xu Sa lay spread-eagled on a thick branch, more than ten meters above the ground. Fine sparks of electricity crackled around his body, connecting to the lightning striking down from above. The arcs of electricity formed a net that lit up the surroundings, making him glow like a giant light bulb in the darkness.
Crackling electric currents finally converged on Xu Sa at the center. He alternated between frowning and sighing in comfort—he looked practically deranged.
After being flung from the aircraft, his parachute had completely failed to deploy, and he crashed directly into a tree trunk. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and immediately surrounded himself with lightning, using the strong current to break branches and cushion his impact.
Even so, he suffered some internal injuries. He couldn’t make any large movements, and after hours of using his powers in battle—and previously exhausting his ability to protect himself—his power was now completely depleted.
With only a limited number of crystal cores on him, Xu Sa didn’t dare to absorb them all at once. As soon as he regained a bit of strength, he clung to the tree trunk and slowly slid down—but then the downpour started.
Towering trees around him were struck by lightning. For the first time, Xu Sa felt what it was like to be hit by lightning. It was… kind of thrilling. But—
The lightning that landed on him seemed to be absorbable, helping replenish his drained powers.
Unfortunately, the connection felt far from pleasant due to the intensity of the current.
But in this situation, he had no room to be picky. Danger lurked everywhere, especially with that sudden appearance of an SS-class mutant plant. He needed to recover his ability fast. So, he hung himself in the tree, trying to attract more lightning.
Trees around him were blasted apart by the strikes. Some even caught fire, though the torrential rain quickly doused the flames, leaving only pungent smoke in the air.
A few hundred meters away, on the rock wall, a figure was dangling from a withered tree jutting out over the cliff. A parachute strap had hooked onto the branch, leaving the person swinging in the rain. The downpour slapped his face and slowly brought him back to consciousness.
Liu Rui’s vision was blurred for just a moment. As soon as he confirmed the area was safe, he looked immediately in the direction where Xu Sa had been thrown. He saw the glowing ball of electricity—like a beacon in the dark.
Familiarity with lightning-based abilities let him instantly recognize it as Xu Sa’s location. For now, the light made it easy to track—but if the storm ended, finding anyone again would be near impossible.
His vision extended only a few kilometers, but the dense forest in between posed a major obstacle. Liu Rui looked down into the seemingly bottomless abyss beneath him, closed his eyes briefly, and conjured a slender fire dragon to burn away the tree branch holding him.
With a creaking snap, the branch broke. Liu Rui and the parachute plummeted to the ground.
Not far away—only about a hundred meters—Li Ze heard the sound of heavy branches breaking under a crash. His sharp gaze turned toward the source. The headlamp illuminated a small patch in front of him, revealing an unconscious figure on the ground beside him, face covered in blood. It was Song Xiao, who had been with them from the start.
The original plan had been for Li Ze, a wood-type ability user, to ensure that teammates parachuted safely and stayed together. But when they were ejected from the aircraft, Song Xiao had already been knocked unconscious. The two of them rolled out together, and Li Ze had to use his powers to bind them and move safely through the forest canopy.
However, the severe shaking of the helicopter and poor visibility at night made it impossible to regroup with the others.
Now, Song Xiao still hadn’t woken up, and Li Ze had already noticed numerous predatory creatures lurking nearby. Luckily, there were no large beasts yet, but Song Xiao’s bloodied injuries would undoubtedly attract more.
It was raining, and firing a signal flare would be pointless—no one would see it. After checking his weapons, Li Ze gripped a knife, gave Song Xiao a kick (which didn’t wake him), cursed under his breath, then hoisted him onto his back. As he moved in the opposite direction of the earlier noise, he looked for a safe spot to wait out the night.
Jin Diao had landed atop a metal cabin door from the aircraft, which cushioned his fall onto rocky terrain. Thanks to the metal shield, he only created a deep crater upon impact and was otherwise unharmed.
He had landed precisely at the target location. The barren hilltop was covered only with faint moss, showing no signs of mutation.
After confirming there was no immediate danger, Jin Diao looked toward the direction of the explosion. Not only had they failed to complete their mission, but the team had also become separated. Thousands of kilometers from base, even regrouping now felt like an impossible dream.
He let out a long sigh, packed away his parachute, and kept his eyes on the glowing orb in the distance—the only thing guiding him in the dark.
At the same time, within a radius of several kilometers, some teammates were locked in battle with mutant beasts, others were hiding quietly in makeshift shelters, listening to the rain and staying alert, and a few unlucky ones had come face to face with that unknown SS-class mutant plant.
*
Capital Base
That afternoon, Zhuang Mingxu gathered briefly with representatives of the bases that had not yet departed. After everything was wrapped up that evening, he held a small meeting with his team.
“There’s no lighting in the underground tunnels—it’s pitch black all around. We’d rather move slower than risk our safety.”
“Li Zhuang, you’ll drive the lead vehicle. Du Ping and Chen Xing will go with you—stay alert to any unusual activity. Gao Yang will take Yu Mengchu, Ye Jia, and Song Xian to hold the rear. I’ll have other teams positioned nearby so there’s support in front and back,” Zhuang Mingxu assigned roles based on a fresh assessment of everyone’s abilities.
“Got it.”
Those named responded. Li Zhuang glanced over at Xu Yi.
“You three will take the middle vehicle,” Zhuang Mingxu said, looking at the Gu brothers and Lin Mo. “The rest of you can choose one of the supply trucks.”
