Chapter 563: The Super Evolution of Fungi
“The fungal infections on your body aren’t canceling each other out—rather, among the many fungi, there is one that can completely neutralize the others?” Xu Huo was slightly astonished. Evolving to this degree had completely surpassed the realm of science.
“It’s not just fungal infections; other potent toxins are equally effective,” Xin Lang said. “I’ve experimented with twenty types of A-grade pollutants and seven types of S-grade toxins. This fungus can perfectly detoxify all of them. For players moving between different game zones, this should be a pretty good defensive weapon, right?”
Of course it was.
Xu Huo’s expression turned serious. The pathogen Yu Guo carried was an A-grade pollutant, highly contagious, and could persist for a long time even after leaving its host. Back on the ship, when he had risked fighting Yu Guo, aside from the gap in player levels, he also had to constantly be wary of the pollutants Yu Guo inadvertently released.
Moreover, even now, the Seventeenth Hospital instance site remained contaminated. It was unclear whether those pathogens would continue to spread, but at least for now, he had no good way to remove the contamination, and naturally couldn’t retrieve the items scattered inside by other players.
With a thought, he whipped out the “Identification Fork” and stabbed it into the young man’s shoulder. “Don’t move!”
“A healthy male with even body fat and no toxins. All internal organ indicators score above 90 points. Safe for consumption.”
“However, cannibalism violates human ethics and culinary principles. Consumption is not recommended.”
After the identification results were projected, the young man endured the pain to pull out the fork, looking both shocked and disgusted. “Are you a cannibal player?”
Xu Huo pulled open his clothes to reveal the black number on his back shoulder, then fixed his gaze on Xin Lang. “Has the fungus really evolved to this extent?”
Xin Lang nodded. “You don’t think only humans can undergo super evolution, do you? The fungi in Clown City completed their super evolution over twenty years ago.”
Xu Huo glanced at the fungal threads still hanging on her wounds, not letting the benefits cloud his judgment. Anything that could parasitize a human body carried immense uncertainty. In other words, while these fungal threads could neutralize multiple infections and toxins, they certainly had parasitic conditions.
No parasite could be entirely self-sufficient.
Seeing his expression slowly change, Xin Lang suddenly smiled. “Are you afraid?”
Xu Huo didn’t respond, but she lowered her head on her own, cut a few more wounds on her palm, then opened the car window and stuck her hand out, letting blood drip along the way.
“Lang Lang…” Xin Hui’s eyes reddened as she looked at her, but before she could say anything, a hail of bullets suddenly struck the car. At the same time, the vehicle began to swerve wildly. The driver up front shouted in panic, “The road is rippling like water!”
“A player is coming!” Xu Huo grabbed Xin Lang, who was being shielded by Xin Hui, slapped a face-morphing mask over her to change her appearance, then told the driver to crash the car into the department store. As the vehicle flipped and tumbled, he jumped out with her.
The department store was packed with people. Many who had taken refuge there screamed and scattered when the car crashed in. Xu Huo used “Displacement Capture,” pressing Xin Lang’s head down as they ran with the crowd.
Meanwhile, several players had already charged into the building, heading straight for the car. Xin Hui, who hadn’t fled with them, suddenly leaped out of the vehicle and ran in another direction. After dealing with the two people inside the car, the players were successfully lured away by her.
Just as Xu Huo and Xin Lang were about to escape from the other side of the building, a ray barrier shot up outside, completely sealing off the crowd.
From the department store’s position, they could see several other areas also locked down by cages. Xin Lang said at that moment, “They’re all about to die.”
Xu Huo’s gaze swept over her bleeding hand. As he helped her, he discreetly gripped “Three Seconds of Life” in his palm.
The ray barrier blocking their way, along with the other cages in Clown City, vanished instantly. He led Xin Lang out of the building with the crowd and lowered his voice. “Where’s a place close to the protective wall, but with underground structures not connected to Clown City?”
Xin Lang looked at him in surprise, then said, “The protective wall is built on underground rock, some distance from Clown City. They should all be separate. But the suspension bridges at each main gate of the wall have empty spaces underneath, meant to defend against possible alien breaches.”
“Is there an underground passage?”
“I’ll take you.”
The two exchanged quick questions and answers without wasting a word. After hiding in a relatively secluded residential area, Xu Huo directly punched through the ground and jumped in with Xin Lang.
The underground of Clown City had become a fungal world. Caves were everywhere, some sealed with fungal matter, but Xin Lang could quickly determine directions and positions, not wasting any time even in the dark, rugged terrain.
“Someone’s following us,” Xu Huo suddenly said. “We’ve been targeted.”
“It’s not far from here to the protective wall,” Xin Lang said, stopping and signaling for him to go ahead.
Xu Huo also stopped. “Your plan probably didn’t include destroying the protective wall as a backup. If the General Administration manages to control the situation, what were you going to do?”
Xin Lang smiled silently in the darkness, then turned around without hesitation.
“Wait!” Xu Huo blocked her. The person behind them was fast—likely because using the super item had gotten them noticed. But buying time didn’t require Xin Lang to take the lead.
After setting up several counting grids, he took out Yu Guo’s severed hand, doused it with water, and splashed the pathogen-laden water all over the underground passage. Then he smeared it on the surrounding rocks and set a timed bomb ahead.
Next, he pulled out the Silent Figure to mask the sounds he and Xin Lang made, then took out the Awakened Puppet and tapped her on the head.
Little Pink Hat quickly emerged from the puppet, but as soon as she saw his miserable state and the surroundings, she tried to go back without a word.
“Double snacks,” Xu Huo said. “You don’t have to do anything else—just temporarily distract the person following us.”
“No way.” Little Pink Hat pouted.
“I’ll buy you a C-grade item when we get back,” Xu Huo quickly adjusted his strategy. “Don’t you want a skirt item?”
Little Pink Hat was tempted. Hugging her doll, she said, “Two! But you have to come pick me up later.”
“No problem.” Xu Huo dropped the words and left at top speed.
Soon, the two reached the protective wall. From the underground nest, they could see some metal structures piercing through the rock. Xu Huo directly placed his hand on it. The metal he touched didn’t instantly powderize but showed signs of loosening before spreading into the rock.
“It’ll take a little time,” he said to Xin Lang.
“Are there really children that young in the game?” Xin Lang asked hesitantly. “Was she forced, or did she volunteer?”
(Chapter End)