Chapter 549: Fungus World
In the middle, Xu Huo found a secluded spot to put away the "Oxygen Supply," then changed into another set of protective suits. He also gave one set to Zhuo Wangsun, telling him to replace all his carry-on items like his backpack with ones bearing the Blue Square logo.
This precaution was against Clown City.
The Mist Forest wasn't small in scope, and the two of them certainly couldn't monitor the entire perimeter of the woods. But beyond this Mist Forest, there was a Cleanup Mission Zone, a concentration point for Xenomorphs. If Xin Hui wanted to hunt Xenomorphs, she would most likely go there. So Xu Huo waited on the path leading to it.
However, he didn't expect Xin Hui to show up. Instead, two other people arrived—the female players Er Gou and Si Ming.
"They're still alive too." Zhuo Wangsun couldn't hide his surprise.
Xu Huo observed the two. Their glasses were gone, they had no wounds on them, and there were no signs of infection. Only their pant legs were covered in white fungal hyphae, suggesting they had also come out of the Mist Forest area.
"Good thing we ran fast earlier, or we would have rolled into that underground pit!" the female player complained. "What kind of hellish place is this? Even mushrooms can carve out caverns underground. No wonder so many people died!"
Si Ming looked exhausted. "Clown City isn't normal. Chances are we've fallen into a trap."
"I asked around with other warriors. The warriors dispatched from Clown City should all be wearing the same type of glasses. The styles might change slightly with upgrades, but the color is the same. How could there be different colored factions?"
"This is clearly two different groups, and they're probably killing each other."
"So what?" the female player said, leaning against a rock to rest. "You saw it yourself—Yi Mao and the others were directly mowed down by the machine gunners on Clown City. Going back is definitely out of the question. We can only complete the mission and clear the Instance."
"But where is the flag-planting spot?" Si Ming said regretfully. "We tried it in the mission zone, and now we've crossed the canyon to the outside of the Cleanup Zone, but we still haven't cleared it. That means it's not a designated location."
The female player was also puzzled. "We've almost crossed the entire Cleanup Zone without finding a designated spot. Could we have already passed it?"
"Probably not," Si Ming said hesitantly.
At that moment, the female player slapped her thigh. "I've got it! Maybe it's that pit we found earlier!"
"Look, the ground is covered with Xenomorphs everywhere—Gobi Desert, whatever—but planting the flag doesn't work. These places are basically the same. The only difference is that underground cave! Besides there, we haven't seen this kind of underground cave anywhere else. Maybe that's the designated spot."
Si Ming frowned. "But the underground is full of fungus. It might be toxic."
"Didn't we find a cave without hyphae?" the female player said, convinced she had figured out the key to clearing the Instance. "Eliminate all the impossibilities, and whatever's left, no matter how unbelievable, must be the truth. That's what everyone says."
Xu Huo stepped out from behind the tree.
"Who's there!" Si Ming shouted sharply.
"It's me, Old Five," Xu Huo responded. "Zhuo Wangsun is here too."
"You're still alive!" The female player was visibly happy. "Did you find a way to clear the Instance?"
"If we had, would we still be here?" Xu Huo said helplessly. "Zhuo Wangsun and I turned back from ahead. No luck."
Hearing this, the female player said, "Then I'm right. The key to clearing is still in that cave."
"What cave?" Zhuo Wangsun played along with Xu Huo's act.
Si Ming explained the whole story. They had stumbled into a forest full of fungal hyphae. On the way, they had lost all their tools and had no way to determine direction, so they tried to navigate by the growth patterns of the trees. But the trees at the edge of the forest were irregular—the growth state of the branches changed every certain distance. They first determined east and west and headed east, but after a short while, the branch conditions completely reversed.
"We thought that even if different worlds had different temperatures, the basic directions wouldn't change. We never imagined the forest could grow so strangely. Don't they need sunlight?" the female player marveled.
Xu Huo was speechless.
"Can these trees even get sunlight?" Zhuo Wangsun said. "With such thick fog. But the important thing isn't the direction. These are all mutated plants. Anything is possible. Judging by the rules of other game zones is completely useless."
"That may be true, but these trees still violate basic growth laws," Si Ming said.
"That's not the issue." Xu Huo interrupted their digression. "If the ground beneath the Mist Forest is completely filled with fungus and has a lot of space, then this forest is essentially floating on top. As you said, the fungus can move, which would cause the trees above to shift positions. That would naturally explain why connected forests have completely different growth patterns."
Si Ming was surprised. "Fungus can support an entire forest?"
"It can also move. That's not strange either." Xu Huo paused, then added, "We don't have any leads right now. Why don't we try the cave you found?"
"Did you really find a cave leading underground?" Zhuo Wangsun confirmed repeatedly. "Didn't you say it was covered in hyphae everywhere?"
"I got lucky." The female player chuckled. "I stepped into a hole and fell in. It looked pretty deep, but it's passable."
"Mission requirements in Instance Dungeons usually look simple on the surface, but the background actually contains a lot of information. That fungus might be Clown City's hidden information," Zhuo Wangsun said. "Since we're here, we might as well go in and explore."
Among the four, only Si Ming was reluctant. But since Xu Huo and the other two had decided to go, he had no choice but to follow.
"Don't worry too much. At worst, it's just some hyphae underground. With protective suits on, it'll be fine," the female player reassured him. "Besides, no matter how much the fungus mutates, it can't be worse than the Xenomorphs, right? If things go wrong, we can just run out."
Zhuo Wangsun also chimed in, "At least there are four of us."
Si Ming nodded heavily.
They turned back and re-entered the Mist Forest. Following the footprints they had left behind, they quickly found the cave the female player had mentioned. It was under a cluster of waist-high white mushrooms. The entrance was already exposed. Zhuo Wangsun went over and pulled up two mushrooms growing close together, revealing a cave nearly two meters in diameter.
"There's a path inside." He shone a light down. "But the passage is covered in something like mold."
"Be careful not to touch it." Xu Huo checked his protective face mask and was the first to go down.
Landing softly, he slowly straightened up and shone the light forward. The uneven passage immediately reflected a variety of colorful halos. The clump-like growths covered in fine fuzz, which looked like mold, on closer inspection were as transparent as crystals, each with its own color. When the light hit them, they displayed a dazzling array of magnificent hues.
(Chapter End)