After fooling around for a while, the conversation finally turned to the three months during which Chu Tian had been missing. This was also the main thing they had come out alone to discuss this time.
Chu Tian first gave a brief account of what had happened during those three months, leaving out the parts that would make them worry. Whenever he mentioned something dangerous, he glossed over it, so he soon reached the part about meeting Quan Xiaoyu.
What he most wanted to talk about, of course, was the space, the fruits, and the silverfish. Thus, he quickly steered the conversation toward the fruits’ effects. He also hoped that, during this trip, both Li Nan and Bai Mingxi could enter the space and try the fruits for themselves.
Then there were the silverfish. To explain their effects, Chu Tian had no choice but to bring up the incident of his eating the fish.
Although Chu Tian had left out many details, Li Nan and Bai Mingxi were still on the edge of their seats as they listened. However, when the story reached the latter half, Bai Mingxi finally burst out laughing. He slapped his thigh and laughed so uncontrollably that he could barely catch his breath.
“HAHAHAHAHAHA… That’s what you get for eating random things! Hahahaha… I’m dying! Even you have days when you’re this stupid!”
“…”
That wasn’t the point at all, okay? Chu Tian was speechless.
Wasn’t the point supposed to be the silverfish’s effect on the mutation of beasts?
Just then, Bai Mingxi, who was leaning against the window and laughing, suddenly felt the car window shake. When he turned his head, he found himself face-to-face with a hideous visage baring its teeth.
Bai Mingxi’s laughter immediately turned into terrified shrieks.
“Damn! A zombie!”
He was a noncombatant, so naturally, he could only count on the two people in the front seats to handle this sort of thing. He couldn’t help wondering, though: Xiao Yu and Xiao Ning, those two little tyrants, were crouching right on the roof of the car. Why hadn’t they attacked or even given a warning?
Yet at that moment, Chu Tian brought the car to a stop.
As Quan Xiaoyu got out, he said helplessly, “I asked the doctor to look after him for two days, but he ran off and came here on his own again.”
His tone made it sound as though he were talking about a child so mischievous that the adults had no idea what to do with him.
Xie Mingxuan!
Quan Xiaoyu had originally intended to leave him at the base for a few days. Although zombies might not need rest, Quan Xiaoyu wanted him to get used to being in an environment filled with so many humans.
Xie Mingxuan had always exercised considerable self-control, and he liked eating mutated beasts, so there was nothing to worry about in leaving him with Xiao Ziran for a few days.
And yet, he had still chased after them on his own.
Only then did Bai Mingxi and Li Nan remember that Quan Xiaoyu had this particular fellow with him. Strictly speaking, Xie Mingxuan could be considered the savior of the entire upper echelon of Dawning Base.
Who would have thought that something he had wanted to do but failed to accomplish when he was still human had now become possible…
Xiao Yu and Xiao Ning were quite intelligent. After the battle at the training ground, they had realized that Xie Mingxuan wasn’t an enemy, so they hadn’t attacked him.
Before long, Xie Mingxuan was brought into the car and squeezed in beside Bai Mingxi. He looked at Bai Mingxi, then at Quan Xiaoyu in the front seat, his expression somehow both aggrieved and unfriendly.
Hey! Bro! Shouldn’t I be the one feeling aggrieved here?!
Bai Mingxi immediately felt as though ten thousand alpacas were stampeding through his heart.
And so, five people squeezed into one car and continued on their way, with the conversation still focused on the silverfish.
Chu Tian explained his idea, then made it clear that they obviously couldn’t simply take the fish to Xiao Ziran as they were. They would have to return to the space and think of a way to process them into something that didn’t look recognizable as fish and, preferably, had no fishy smell.
“Are we going to catch fish again?” Quan Xiaoyu remarked with a laugh. “Aren’t they your own kind? How can you bear to kill them?”
He was teasing Chu Tian about how the silverfish had become so attached to him after his transformation.
“Pfft—”
Bai Mingxi burst out laughing. Since the story about the silverfish had been told in full, both he and Li Nan knew the whole sequence of events. This time, however, he didn’t dare laugh too loudly. After all, the Zombie King was squeezed right beside him!
Chu Tian ignored Bai Mingxi. He stared at Quan Xiaoyu in surprise before sighing, “Who on earth has corrupted you?!”
He had discovered that Quan Xiaoyu had recently developed a new talent for making sarcastic remarks.
Quan Xiaoyu merely smiled and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The car immediately sped up.
An abandoned electronics processing factory outside Town X.
The sign hanging outside the factory had fallen into such disrepair that only a few blurry characters meaning “processing factory” could still be made out. The iron gate had also toppled crookedly to one side, making it look as though the factory gates had been flung wide open to welcome visitors.
Perhaps because Xie Mingxuan was with them, they hadn’t encountered a single zombie along the way.
After they arrived at their destination without incident, the ones who appeared exceptionally excited were, unexpectedly, the two tiger cats and Xie Mingxuan.
All three howled in unison, looking as though they could hardly wait to charge inside.
“What do we do now? Go in?” Bai Mingxi asked Chu Tian.
“Where are the monsters holed up?” Chu Tian asked in return instead of answering.
“Given how quickly they reproduce, I’m afraid they’ve already spread all over the surrounding area!” Bai Mingxi replied.
“Then there’s no particularly effective way to deal with them.” Chu Tian shrugged. “Let them charge ahead. Xiao Nan, remind the two little chubby ones to be careful when using their abilities and to avoid damaging things as much as possible. The same goes for Xiaoyu’s fire ability. Remember, our purpose today is to retrieve things.”
“Let them” naturally referred to the excited Xie Mingxuan and the two tiger cats. Li Nan and Quan Xiaoyu each gave their respective charges a warning, then let them rush inside.
“We’ll follow them,” Chu Tian instructed. “Silk and plants are both afraid of fire, so Xiaoyu, take the lead and use your fire ability. Be careful to control the flames. Xiao Nan, see whether you can establish communication with the spiders inside. My mental power can’t communicate with low-intelligence life forms.”
He then added, “Xiao Bai, stay close to us. Your first priority is to protect yourself. If you see anything useful, don’t hesitate to take it.”
By then, one zombie and two beasts had already charged into the factory courtyard. The two tiger cats made a beeline for the foot of a wall and began digging excitedly.
Xie Mingxuan, meanwhile, rushed straight toward the factory entrance. He darted inside and disappeared from sight.
Seeing this, Quan Xiaoyu was about to chase after him, but Chu Tian stopped him.
“Watch out for mutated plants.” Chu Tian pointed toward the spot where the two little beasts were digging, then continued, “I have a mental connection with Xie Mingxuan. Don’t worry. He’s a Level Six zombie, after all.”
Chu Tian had barely finished speaking when the two tiger cats’ digging clearly disturbed something. It seemed that whatever was underground could no longer hold back. Hundreds of thin branches burst out of the previously peaceful courtyard, all of them targeting the same thing. They surged straight toward Xiao Yu and Xiao Ning.
“Watch out!” Li Nan shouted at the two little beasts.
In truth, the two mutated beasts had much sharper instincts than humans. Before Li Nan could even warn them, they had already dodged with a backward leap. Then both opened their mouths, unleashing a simultaneous torrent of icy rain and a blazing fire dragon toward the mass of plants.
Hundreds of thin branches formed a barrier of tangled vines, completely blocking the four people’s path into the factory and cutting them off from the two tiger cats.
“Xiaoyu, burn them!”
Seeing the two little beasts’ attack, Chu Tian could tell that the plants were clearly unable to withstand the fire dragon.
Without hesitation, Quan Xiaoyu responded. He thrust his right hand forward, and another fire dragon shot out.
That’s right—a fire dragon. After his ability had leveled up again, his fireballs had long since transformed into fire dragons.
Xiao Yu seemed to realize that its ice ability was ineffective, so it leaped aside and guarded Xiao Ning from behind. With Xiao Ning and Quan Xiaoyu attacking from the front and rear, two more fire dragons surged forward. In an instant, the tree vines were reduced to a pile of ashes.
“It’s furious!” Li Nan suddenly blurted out.
“Which one? The one underground or the one inside?” Chu Tian asked.
The biggest flaw in his mental ability was that the lower an organism’s intelligence, the less influence he could exert over it mentally.
“Underground!” Li Nan shouted. His words were both an answer and a warning.
Before his voice had even faded, the ground began shaking violently. The soil that had just been scorched was torn up over a vast area, and an enormous green plant—neither quite a tree nor quite a vine—rose from the earth. Its branches moved with its body as it bore down on the four of them menacingly.
Quan Xiaoyu showed no mercy. Two fire dragons rushed straight toward it. Xiao Yu and Xiao Ning also bounded forward, leaping several times before charging right up to it. Following close behind Quan Xiaoyu, another fire dragon surged forth.
The plant seemed afraid of the flames and actually began retreating. But after whipping its branches around several times, it flung several clumps of black spheres toward them.
The black spheres then burst open, spreading across the ground.
“Damn! They’re all spiders!” Bai Mingxi shouted. Without thinking, he scooped Li Nan up and held him protectively against his chest.
The two little beasts immediately leaped over as well, positioning themselves in front of the group to protect them.
“Burn them!” Chu Tian ordered.
Scales began covering his entire body, and he charged straight toward the retreating tree demon.
Following its usual fighting instincts, the tree demon sent its branches and little spiders hurtling toward Chu Tian.
But Chu Tian neither dodged nor retreated. Whenever a branch struck his body, it snapped off on its own. Even the clumps of tiny spiders that flew over and smashed into him met the same fate.
Although the tree demon wasn’t very intelligent, it still understood how to avoid danger and seek advantage. It quickly changed targets, hurling another few clumps of spiders toward Quan Xiaoyu and the others. Then it contracted its body, apparently intending to hide underground again.
How could Chu Tian possibly give it that chance?
He rushed forward, grabbed a section of its main body, and tore. A large piece of the tree demon was ripped off in his hands.
It wasn’t that Chu Tian possessed particularly great strength. Rather, after transforming, his body was covered in thick, sharp armor, and his fingernails had become pointed claws as sharp as knives. That single strike was enough to make the tree demon understand just how formidable he was.