Chapter 483: Reunion
“Got it!” Tang Bai didn’t waste words. He turned to discuss with several team leaders, made quick adjustments, and within moments the group was on the move.
The sloped passage stretched downward for dozens of meters, shrouded in total darkness—nothing like the subway tunnels people imagined from before the apocalypse.
Fortunately, the tunnel was wide enough to allow two vehicles to travel side by side, so space wasn’t an issue. The convoy moved slowly, and the headlights illuminated everything around them clearly.
At first, everyone remained alert, but when they realized only the occasional small rodents or burrowing animals appeared—and in surprisingly low numbers—the team gradually relaxed.
Some leaders from Pingjin Base even began discussing the logistics of constructing more underground tunnels.
*
At the same time, Lu Weiyi was trudging forward in his soaked clothes.
Last night’s rain had increased the jungle’s humidity, and his tightly wrapped body was now drenched in sweat. His hair dripped, and his cheeks were flushed red.
Thanks to the salt-sugar water he kept drinking, he didn’t feel unwell.
His mental energy tendrils scouted far ahead, allowing Lu Weiyi to avoid all unnecessary combat. He had even deactivated the psychic shield around him that kept bugs away, just to maintain peak ability strength—for the sole purpose of ensuring he had enough power to face off if that SS-level mutated plant appeared.
From time to time, falling bugs would hit his body. Even though he was wrapped tightly, the soft, squishy sensation still clearly transmitted through. The hairs on Lu Weiyi’s body had been standing on end the entire time, keeping his nerves in a state of constant tension.
When violent energy fluctuations erupted a kilometer away, they were instantly detected by his spiritual sense.
Lu Weiyi climbed a tall tree and saw that there was a battle happening around the rocky landing point. The distance was too great for him to identify what kind of abilities were being used, so he couldn’t determine whether it was a fight between mutated beasts or if their teammates were involved.
The towering jungle between them just happened to block the view. Within visible range, various powers were flying through the air, and the invisible waves of energy were toppling large patches of trees.
Lu Weiyi frowned in thought, then climbed back down and continued on his way.
—
Meanwhile, near the rocky area, a golden eagle was fighting with an ability user.
More precisely, it was locked in battle with an SS-ranked mutated plant and countless mutated vines being controlled by a wood-type ability user.
The golden eagle had landed directly at the rendezvous point and spent the night resting in a crater it had smashed open, using the aircraft’s door as cover.
The surrounding area was eerily silent—something almost impossible in a post-apocalyptic jungle. In such an open space, not attracting even a single mutated bird was highly unusual. Feeling uneasy, the eagle decided to leave as soon as dawn broke.
It left a message for its teammates and headed in the direction where it remembered most of them had fallen. However, before long, it found that the mountaintop was encircled by a bald patch of land, bare of trees, rocks, or soil—completely covered by a winding plant crawling across the ground.
Compared to the surrounding mutated plants and oversized animals, this particular plant looked alarmingly ordinary—as if it wanted to label itself “not like the others” on every leaf. Its leaves were only slightly larger than fingernails, and its pale green flowers were about the size of fingertips, blooming like tiny azaleas.
The flowers hung in clusters, with slightly different colors in different areas. If not for the identical branches and leaves, one might think these were entirely different species.
Yet, not a single insect could be seen on its leaves. It didn’t have the eerie sentience many other mutated plants displayed—no stretching stems or expanding blossoms. It looked like the most mundane, pre-apocalypse plant that anyone could step on without notice. The giant golden eagle stared at the low-lying field of plants, its feathers prickling with a deep, creeping fear.
The mutated plant that had attacked their aircraft had moved too fast for the eagle to get a clear look. Holding its beak, the eagle cautiously took a small breath—there was no floral scent, only the fresh, clean air left by last night’s rain.
The eagle carefully retreated, pulling back from the mutated plant. Since the plant hadn’t made a move, it didn’t attack either. It simply changed direction and tried to go around, only to find that the entire area was completely surrounded by this species.
The eagle lit a red smoke flare in the surrounding area, hoping to warn teammates of the danger. Just as it was about to use its power to blast a path out, two fire dragons erupted—one from the distant forest and one rushing straight toward the eagle’s location.
Where the fire dragons passed, the previously motionless plants instantly parted, clearing a path at lightning speed—so fast that they weren’t even scorched.
Without time to think, the golden eagle used the blazing path to dash toward the source of the battle.
From a hundred meters away, the once “peaceful” mutated plants were now a scene of chaos. The soil had turned dark red and black. Even the green flowers and leaves were now tinged with crimson.
Where the mutated plants had been torn up, there were piles of exposed bones—some human, some animal—all mixed with soil and rotting flesh. The stench of decay filled the air.
The exposed root systems of the mutated plants were a ghastly white, stained black from long-term exposure to blood soaking into their fibers.
Even though the golden eagle prided itself on having endured many disgusting missions, the sight of a battlefield made entirely of corpses and bones still made it want to vomit.
“Captain…”
Following the voice, the golden eagle saw two other fire-type ability users from their team—Zheng Hong and Meng Huan—fighting off the mutated vines.
The two stood back to back, using both their abilities and melee weapons to keep the swarming mutated plants at bay. Between them lay an unrecognizable, severely injured person.
The mutated plants kept trying to sneak toward the unconscious figure, only to be burned back by fire again and again.
Dozens of thin, blade-like metal strips flew out from the eagle, slicing through the plants. A spinning ring of metal formed around it, protecting it as it moved to the other three. Once in position, the metal ring expanded, shielding all four of them.
Only then did the eagle get a good look at the person on the ground—it was Xia Ming.
His body was riddled with pinprick-sized holes, so dense they made one’s skin crawl. Blood oozed from each one, soaking him like a giant bleeding gourd.
The nearby ground had been turned into a hardened stone-like layer to prevent more mutated plants from attacking from below.
“Who the hell did this?!” the golden eagle shouted, eyes red with fury.
He looked like he was ready to kill whoever was responsible on the spot.
Now that the golden eagle had joined the fray, the three formed a triangle to better shield Xia Ming at the center, preventing any mutated plants from reaching him.
“It’s that damn plant,” Zheng Hong growled, hurling a flame at yet another vine creeping toward Xia Ming.
After landing, Zheng Hong and Meng Huan hadn’t been far from the rendezvous point. They had been near the forest edge.
Zheng Hong had immediately cloaked himself in flames and ran toward the forest exit. Along the way, he didn’t encounter any attacks from mutated creatures. Most animals fled at the sight of a blazing fireball.
Meng Huan, who had planned to build a temporary shelter and leave at dawn, saw the bright fireball and quickly joined up with him. The two fire-users teamed up and safely reached the edge of the forest.
Just then, they both spotted countless mutated plants slamming downward onto the ground. Beneath the crashing roots, they glimpsed a humanoid stone figure, covered in thick roots. As chunks of rock crumbled off, they saw it was wearing the same combat uniform as theirs.
Unlucky Xia Ming had landed right in a nest of mutated plants. Realizing immediately that he was no match for them, he condensed the surrounding mud and soil to form a hard shell around himself—something too dense for plants to penetrate—and began running in the opposite direction.
Since the plants couldn’t use their roots to attack, they twisted themselves into ropes and lashed at him instead. The massive impact repeatedly knocked him to the ground, shattering chunks of the stone armor on his body. Each time, he struggled to get back up and kept running.
But the stiffness and weight of the stone severely slowed him down.
With his powers being drained rapidly, it became harder and slower for him to reform his stone armor. One of the roots found a crack and burrowed into his body.
Not long after, the combination of physical exhaustion and power depletion caused Xia Ming to slow down just enough for the mutated plants to exploit the opening. Countless roots and vines pierced through the cracks in his armor and invaded his body.
By the time Meng Huan and Zheng Hong arrived, Xia Ming had already been wrapped up like a cocoon by the mutated plants. Blood dripped down from the vines, staining the cocoon a vivid red. A small pool of blood had already formed beneath him.
The two didn’t recognize who it was, but since no one else should be there except their teammates, they acted immediately.
A giant fire dragon circled the cocoon. As the flames forced the plants to retreat, they revealed the near-death figure of Xia Ming lying on the ground.
“Get… out…” Xia Ming murmured weakly as Meng Huan helped him up.
At that moment, the mutated plants had already turned their attention toward the three of them. Zheng Hong carried Xia Ming on his back while Meng Huan cleared the path. Though the flames around them kept the plants from getting close, they barely caused any real damage. The plants just kept coming, as if they were impossible to burn out completely.
They had failed to save their comrade and were now trapped themselves.
Before losing consciousness, Xia Ming used the last of his power to harden the surrounding earth, preventing any further root attacks from one direction.
Seeing that they were now completely surrounded by mutated plants, Zheng Hong finally realized the reason he’d been able to leave the forest so easily earlier wasn’t because he was strong—it was because there were no high-level mutated plants in that area.
Now, even with their A-level fire powers, they could only burn so much. The flames were more of a deterrent than a true weapon—the plants instinctively feared fire, but it wasn’t enough to drive them away.
They were now certain: this was the same mutated plant that had attacked their aircraft. Remembering Lu Weiyi’s final warning, the two exchanged glances, fully understanding the gravity of the situation.
A-level ability users versus an SS-level mutated plant—even if they had aggressive powers, it was only effective against enemies of the same tier. Crossing two levels to fight their way out was basically a fantasy.
