Chapter 104: Giant of the Forest
“Rumble—”
Lightning flashed, dark clouds pressing down, oppressive, bolts of white light, like branching tendrils, striking the water below.
Something stood tall amidst the storm-tossed waves.
Even in the dim light, its shape was recognizable: the upper half of a television tower.
And around it, countless buildings, some collapsed, some still standing – a flooded city.
“Roar—”
A ten-meter-long fish leaped from the churning water, its massive body slamming against a residential building.
“Crash—”
The building’s old walls shook violently, dislodging several zombies, which tumbled into the water below.
Suddenly, the scene shifted. The apocalyptic rainstorm vanished, replaced by darkness.
A figure sat in the darkness, its back to the viewer, radiating a chilling aura.
As if it were the master of this realm, its presence dominating the space.
“Rip—”
The darkness shattered, revealing a swirling mass of blood crystals behind it, being drawn towards the figure, spiraling inwards, until even this perspective was consumed.
“Gasp—”
Wu Hejun sat up abruptly, now in a dimly lit basement.
The familiar basement where she’d kept the fungal zombie, now seemingly her resting place.
She stood up from the bamboo mat on the floor, walked to the table, picked up a pen, and started drawing on a map spread across the surface.
“Here… here… here… no one left… all flooded… the sea…” She muttered as she drew, the blue pen scribbling across a map of southern China, Guangdong Province.
Several cities were marked with blue, others with a red “X.”
The blue ink quickly covered most of Guangdong Province.
“They’re coming… they’re coming… the things from the sea… no… they’re not the main threat…”
Her voice faltered, then trembled. “She’s coming… the reckoning is coming… I saw her again… she’ll destroy everything…”
“Destroy everything! AAAAAH!!!”
Suddenly, she ran to the door, pounding on it, screaming. “Water! Stay away from the water! Send the planes! Kill everyone in Guangdong!”
Then, she froze, as if seeing something.
Her eyes turned bloodshot, her voice changing from terror to rage. “Luo!!! What the fuck are you doing!!!”
“AAAAAH!!!”
She punched the metal door, sending it flying, the force of the blow knocking the subordinate outside down the stairs, a spray of blood.
“Boom—”
…
“Boom—”
A massive maw slammed into her abdomen, throwing Lin Jiayao against the building-tree behind her.
The impact rattled her already fragile body, her internal organs churning.
And she lost control of her lower body, seemingly severed in the attack.
A six-meter-tall, headless bird, bitten in half.
What kind of monster…?
Sharp teeth tore at her flesh, and two other massive heads lunged towards her neck and wings.
She didn’t even have time to see what it was.
Is this… the difference in strength…?
If she wasn’t mistaken, that bald woman in the “V” windbreaker, the one who had emerged from the wreckage, was the B-rank Awakened the Voodoo Cult had sent to oversee the Guangdong purge.
This wasn’t her first encounter with a B-rank Awakened.
She had faced the full force of a B-rank’s ability before… and had been forced to restart.
Even now, that same feeling of helplessness washed over her.
She hadn’t even seen how it had attacked; that massive, red Sandworm had almost killed her instantly.
Is there nothing I can do…?
It seemed her only contribution had been destroying its flying transport and delaying its arrival.
Where could she go? The sea was below, the Voodoo Cult headquarters above, and behind her… the Voodoo Cult’s encirclement.
She had thought their plan to sweep through Guangdong was overly ambitious, but it seemed she’d underestimated them.
The Voodoo Cult had such massive flying creatures. With a few more of those, and a detection-type Awakened, they could locate every remaining camp in Guangdong within days.
And with this B-rank Awakened leading the charge, they could easily crush any resistance.
Radio commands, prophetic visions, aerial pursuit… they were serious…
Lin Jiayao still didn’t understand why the Voodoo Cult was targeting her, why their leader seemed so intent on killing her.
Even if she had foreseen her future strength, wouldn’t it be wiser to avoid her? As long as she didn’t harm her or her sister, why would she provoke her?
Before she could figure it out, the giant mushroom cap that served as her eyes was swallowed whole.
Just as she was about to sever the connection and return to her main body, to wait for the inevitable “Extraction Failed” message, she felt something… entering her body.
Not just the viscous fluid, but also the vines.
Countless vines, connected to the building-tree, now intertwined with her mangled body, held together by the green sap.
And the moment they connected, she felt them taking root within her, a surge of energy.
The thick, green sap dripping from above covered her, a slightly… unsettling sensation.
But the pain was gone, and her body was regenerating.
This made her reconsider severing the connection.
She saw the red Sandworm that had been devouring her retreating.
And the bald, naked woman was staring at her, wide-eyed, her mouth agape.
Lin Jiayao looked down at her body.
Countless green vines, like IV tubes, were connected to her mangled form.
No, not like IV tubes, they were actually… healing her.
She tried to move.
“Crack—”
The sound of snapping vines, like when she had first logged in and broken free.
These trees… they weren’t trying to kill me?
They were… helping?
Or were they just mindless, their “healing” just an instinctive reaction?
Lin Jiayao didn’t know, but she knew this was her chance.
“Roar—”
She roared, tore away the vines, and charged towards the B-rank Awakened.
She couldn’t outrun her; even a single bite would be a victory!
“An Awakened?!” To her surprise, the woman seemed to be questioning her identity.
“Roar—” Lin Jiayao didn’t respond, her gaze fixed on the massive, blood-red Sandworm beside the woman. She flapped her wings and, pushing off the ground with her branch-like legs, leaped.
“Whoosh—”
The combined force of her jump and her wings propelled her almost ten meters into the air. Folding her wings, she swooped down towards the naked woman, her maw gaping, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
“Swish—”
A flash of red, and Lin Jiayao’s body was split in two, falling helplessly to the ground. She hadn’t even seen what had attacked her.
“Screech—”
As she fell, she finally saw it.
A massive, blood-red mantis, its exoskeleton shimmering with crystalline light, the intricate network of tendrils within barely visible beneath its thin, membranous skin.
And there were traces of green fluid on its serrated forelegs and curved hooks.
Is that… my blood…?
This was her last thought before she crashed to the ground.
A B-rank Awakened… I couldn’t even get close…
What would happen if it were my main body facing her?
Even using all her abilities, she would probably be sliced in half by that meter-long mantis.
It seemed to perfectly counter all her control abilities: bone spikes, spores, and pheromones.
I need to choose more offensive and defensive evolutions from now on…
She’d expected to be finished off by the mantis, but after a while, nothing happened.
“Stop pretending. Come out, I know you’re an Awakened,” the bald woman said, sitting inside the Sandworm’s mouth as it carried her towards Lin Jiayao. “A real zombie wouldn’t move like that.”
Move… like what?
Lin Jiayao’s upper body, its mushroom cap turning, looked at the woman.
She hadn’t done anything unusual, had she?
“Your movements are too… human. I’ve fought many mutated zombies, sparred with many zombie trainers. I know the difference between a controlled zombie and a wild one.”
The naked woman tapped her temple, smiling faintly. “I can tell.”
Lin Jiayao didn’t reply.
She couldn’t.
“Where’s your main body? In the building? Is this your training ground? How did you tame these plant-type zombies? Relax, I just want to exchange some training tips.”
The woman seemed excited now, her words tumbling out.
“Crack—”
The massive, white, black-winged insect that had crashed earlier struggled to its feet.
Its bone plates were shattered, but its six wings were intact.
Though taking flight now would be much slower.
“Crack—”
And then, Lin Jiayao’s wings snapped off.
Her wings, her upper body, and her lower body, now separated, each scurried towards a nearby building.
Even the naked B-rank Awakened was stunned by this.
Lin Jiayao had learned, especially after encountering the Voodoo Cult leader, that everyone in this organization, from top to bottom, was a stubborn lunatic, impossible to reason with.
So, she hadn’t even bothered trying to communicate. Her only goal had been to reach the nearby building-trees.
“Buzz—”
“Boom—”
The mantis and the giant worm roared, chasing after her dismembered body parts.
“Crack—”
“Swish—”
Her torso and lower body were quickly overtaken.
But the wings, trailing vines and tendrils, had reached a building-tree.
“Damn it…” The naked woman cursed, seeing the wings merge with the tree.
She’d only wanted to exchange some training tips, and this thing… had just split itself apart and run.
And she had a feeling that once those wings merged with the tree, she wouldn’t be able to retrieve them… a strong premonition, especially after seeing its incredible regeneration speed.
Could those vines be from a B-rank healing-type plant zombie?
Were there such things?
No… it couldn’t be that simple… but right now, retrieving those wings was her priority.
The Blood Mantis, after tearing apart its captured arm, spread its wings and, a flash of red, flew towards the vine-covered wings on the building-tree.
But the severed wings had already merged with the tree.
The Blood Mantis’s blades sliced through the vines and tendrils like a scythe through wheat.
“Thud—”
The severed vines sprayed a viscous fluid, coating the Blood Mantis.
But the wounds quickly sealed themselves, new vines and tendrils sprouting.
“Swish, swish, swish—”
The Blood Mantis continued to attack, its blades a blur.
But the “wheat field” seemed to grow thicker with every slash.
And the wings themselves had disappeared, completely absorbed by the building-tree, now a part of it.
“Holy shit…” The naked woman’s eye twitched.
Since reaching B-rank, she’d never encountered such a strange opponent.
Not that it was particularly powerful, but its… methods… she’d never seen anything like it!
How do you fight something that merges with a tree? I can’t even sense its presence anymore.
Unless I find its trainer… or burn the entire tree down.
She pulled a horn-shaped bone from her necklace and stabbed it into her wrist.
“Thud—”
Blood splattered onto the bone, and it glowed with a crystalline light, tendrils and a thin membrane forming around it, rapidly building a new body.
A massive, seven-meter-long snapping turtle, its shell covered in spikes, materialized.
“Go, Mental Ember,” she said, flicking some of the blood from her wrist onto the turtle’s tail.
Her blood was more potent than ordinary blood crystals.
“Gurgle—”
The blood on its tail made the turtle’s shell glow. The blood crystals within, flowing through the membrane covering its body and into the crystalline tendril framework within, converged at its mouth.
Its massive jaws opened, revealing a bright red glow, and it unleashed a stream of fire at the building-tree.
The flames engulfed the base of the tree, spreading rapidly through the vines, a column of black smoke rising into the air. It seemed the building-tree was more flammable than she’d expected.
In contrast to the fiery assault outside, Lin Jiayao was in a… strange state.
She could feel herself merging further with the building-tree with every attack, gaining more of its power.
Each slash made her stronger.
It was… exhilarating.
Not that she was a masochist, or into… that sort of thing… but the situation was… unusual.
This login was different. She had no memories of this zombie’s abilities; it seemed to have no consciousness, no memories of its own.
Like the Blood Orb Fungus, before it parasitized a human.
Lin Jiayao felt herself becoming a part of the building-tree.
And through the vines, she could feel her body again.
Perhaps because of the fire at its base, the entire hundred-meter-tall tree began to tremble.
And as it trembled, the white fungal colonies growing on it released a shower of spores.
The white spores, like snowflakes, drifted downwards towards the flames.
But they couldn’t extinguish the fire.
As the flames began to spread upwards, Lin Jiayao felt a surge of power from the building-tree.
“Crack—”
Feeling her mobility return, she tore away the vines and stepped out.
“Thump—”
“Thump—”
Each step created a tremor, the ground shaking beneath her.
Lin Jiayao opened her eyes, stretched her limbs, and looked down.
The puddles on the ground reflected not only the flames, but also her new form.
Her body was covered in bark-like skin, dotted with white fungal colonies.
Like a giant starfish, four twenty-meter-long, twisted, branch-like legs supported her massive body. And in the reflection in the puddles below, she could see the ring of glowing green eyes beneath her circular, three-meter-wide maw.
In this quadrupedal stance, her gaze was fixed on the ground, as if looking down on the world.
And as she’d torn away the vines, the sap from the wounds had created a green waterfall, extinguishing the flames at the tree’s base, momentarily halting the fire.
And the snapping turtle’s fire attack also stopped.
Lin Jiayao could see the B-rank Awakened below, her jaw dropped, staring up at her, her eyes wide.
“Wooo—”
“Click, click, clack—”
Lin Jiayao’s massive, gear-like maw rotated as she emitted a low growl.
She raised a leg, the bark-like skin cracking as she moved, showering the ground with dust and spores, and then brought her heavy right foreleg down on the seven-meter-long Blood Crystal Turtle.
“Thump—”
The turtle’s shell cracked under the immense pressure, scattering white spores.
“Crack—”
“Ding—”
The turtle’s body shattered, a single white bone spike falling from the sky.
“ROAR—”
Lin Jiayao, triumphant, roared again, uncaring that she now looked more monstrous than any zombie, and swung her massive leg at the naked woman below.
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