Chapter 2709: Loss and Gain
"Rising to A-rank, this zone must be even more dangerous than before," Xu Huo said. "It's been seven days since you entered, and you haven't encountered a full-scale plant revival. Your records are clear—you've seen no signs of large-scale plant destruction along the way. Even if mutant plants grow quickly, those old trees dozens or even hundreds of meters thick couldn't repair themselves in a day or two. So the last zone-wide wave must have happened some time ago."
"If the upgrade isn't due to a shorter interval between zone-wide waves, then perhaps the scale has grown larger and the duration longer."
"It's also possible that a particularly unusual mutant plant has emerged, capable of causing mass destruction in an instant. If that's the case, the timing of zone-wide waves might become unstable."
Pu Yu and the others listened, a bad feeling creeping in. In a zone entirely filled with mutant plants, it would be strange if the zone-wide waves followed strict timing. Maybe both of Xu Huo's guesses had already come true here—they were just lucky enough not to have encountered them yet!
"Don't be so pessimistic," the short-haired woman forced a smile. "Maybe we're lucky, and the zone has fallen into a dormant state."
"Who knows?" Xu Huo didn't seem bothered by the "bomb" he'd dropped. Instead, he added, "I'm actually curious about what's beneath this zone. How can it grow so many mutant plants? I wonder how deep it really goes."
Pu Yu's expression shifted slightly, but Xu Huo's words seemed to be just a casual remark. He finished speaking and stood up, walking out.
The location item fell silent for a few seconds before Yan Ping spoke up. "Miss Pu Yu, whatever you're looking for, I hope you won't withhold important information. It's not just for our safety—it's for yours as well. You entered with a ticket, and you can't leave until the time is up."
Pu Yu remained silent.
Xu Huo went to check on Yan Jiayu. Most of her wounds had closed, but the scars were bumpy and unsightly. Some areas hadn't fully healed, leaving large hollows, and the pulsing veins crawled along her body like worms, looking quite horrifying.
He covered her again with the blanket, then sat back down and tried to open his spiritual realm.
The spiritual energy in this mobile zone was incredibly powerful. Even for him, it was unbearable without a jamming device—like a heavy weight constantly pressing on his brain. And this was just the undirected energy released by the mutant plants. Were there plants like the "Goddess Vine" growing everywhere here?
The "Goddess" was a plant that had gained intelligence. It could freely release its power to influence the living. Judging by the evolution level of players, its mental evolution was definitely on par with a super player—strong enough to control an entire city's population in an extremely short time.
The "Goddess Vine" was rare. Although it had said the seed in Dou Shengnan's eye was its kin, Xu Huo didn't think it could produce something identical. The mutant plants in this zone might be similar—evolving in the same direction but ending up vastly different.
Perhaps the birthplace of the "Goddess Vine" was exactly this kind of zone.
He wondered if planting that "flat bean" here would make it grow better.
Xu Huo had originally planned to use the Nuwa Stone to plant it, but after burying the seed, he hadn't had much time to rest. He couldn't just leave it in 014 or 011, so it had been sitting in his luggage compartment. Afraid it would grow too fast, he hadn't paid it much attention.
Maybe he should try planting it here?
The thought had just crossed his mind when he changed his mind.
If he used the Nuwa Stone to plant it, it might cause the other mutant plants here to grow along with it. In that case, it was better not to create extra trouble.
His spiritual realm was suppressed to a range of a hundred meters.
Feeling the pressure enveloping his entire spiritual realm, Xu Huo withdrew his spiritual power.
As for the hyperdimensional space power... He looked down at his right hand. His space evolution had been unsealed, and the hyperdimensional space power had balanced with the Water Cube on his index finger. Although he couldn't directly control the hyperdimensional space power, having this "space finger" was like gaining an extra trump card. It was worth dying twice and losing so many props and instruments.
He casually took out a few ores from his luggage compartment and touched the space power on his index finger. A faint ripple appeared on the Water Cube barrier, and then he lightly tapped the ore with his finger. The ore disintegrated on the spot.
He tried it on metal, then on props. Nothing was an exception.
He was very satisfied with the result.
Several passive life-saving props and instruments were completely destroyed, and some A-rank props he had worn for emergencies were also damaged. Even minor damage rendered items like "Inviolable Domain" and "Keep Away" unusable. The loss was enormous.
Fortunately, "Life Source" and "Pure Heart" were not damaged.
This served as a reminder: props of the same rank could be made from different materials, and super players, even without mastering time-space power, could still destroy props from a distance. Under overwhelming power, not only could the effects of props and instruments be nullified, but the props and instruments themselves could be damaged.
The "Water Cube" had defensive power comparable to super props, but now it was balanced with the hyperdimensional space power, shrunk down to his finger, and no longer had sealing capability. Without sealing, it couldn't serve as a defensive barrier. So Xu Huo needed to find one or two suitable defensive props or instruments.
Additionally, the Black Blade had been lost when he left the Clown City. He didn't have many opportunities for close combat, but he still needed a high-quality melee weapon.
He posted on the bounty platform and Under Dimension, looking to buy related props and instruments.
Of course, top-tier A-rank instruments might not be available even for hundreds of millions of White Notes, but he wouldn't be entering another instance anytime soon, so he'd give it a try.
He also searched for information about mobile zones.
Some people had mentioned such zones, but there was never any follow-up. Some posts talked at length about how dangerous these zones were and the bizarre emergencies that could occur, but there was no deeper analysis. No one had specifically explored the reasons behind the formation of these zones.
He specifically asked on the bounty platform, hoping to see if any information had leaked from A-rank wormhole points. But there was nothing. The occasional bits of information were all from players.
Xu Huo didn't believe the Game Government hadn't investigated ultra-high-energy zones. If there were no results, it must have been deliberately suppressed.
What exactly created such ultra-high-energy zones? The mutation of this zone was far too different from others...
Just as he was pondering, his throat suddenly itched, and he coughed up a mouthful of black blood laced with fungal threads.