Chapter 868: A Zoo of Rich Variety
The giant python was far more imposing than it had initially seemed, and the height it suddenly raised its head to was taller than Xu Huo's own height. He sidestepped, pulled out the "Crimson Sword," and with a swift slash, cut it in half at the waist.
A large amount of blood splattered onto the surrounding plants. The seemingly harmless leaves and branches suddenly trembled, rapidly absorbing the blood on their surfaces. Stimulated by the blood, they unfurled, groping to wrap around the snake carcass on the ground and drag it deep into the undergrowth.
As the vegetation opened and closed, something that looked like a cave flashed into view. That should be the main body of the carnivorous plant; this entire area was its hunting ground.
This carnivorous plant didn't move very fast, so even if it had encountered Xu Huo, it couldn't have successfully coiled around him. However, it did leave countless needle-tip-sized fuzzy particles on his protective suit.
Because he was equipped with "Oxygen Supply," Xu Huo couldn't smell these plants. He took out a simple device purchased from District 011 and tested it, finding that the fuzzy particles released by these plants contained a mild toxin.
It couldn't take down large animals; the main prey of these plants should be smaller creatures.
He observed the surrounding situation and found that, aside from the python he had just killed, no other large animals were approaching, drawn by the scent of blood.
Looking at the fuzzy particles floating in the air, he roughly guessed the reason. No matter how much animals evolved, they still needed to breathe. Having these fuzzy particles enter their respiratory organs wouldn't be pleasant, so under normal circumstances, animals wouldn't want to get near this place.
Dealing with large mutated animals wasn't actually that difficult. Their senses of smell and hearing were highly developed, and both could be exploited. Xu Huo had specially formulated scent agents, but they weren't suitable to use right now.
While irritating scents could drive away some mutated animals, they could also anger them and cause a backlash. Using them in a primeval jungle teeming with mutated animals involved too many uncertain factors.
However, this white ball mission with a 25% difficulty rating wasn't going to be easy to complete. First of all, aside from the python he had just encountered, he had hardly found any other reptiles in the vicinity. To complete the mission, he would have to expand his search range and leave the shelter of the pod tree.
He had been randomly teleported forward, so he didn't know how those who had successfully completed the mission before and returned had done so. But since the mission area was this large, there should be more than just this one place where pods were placed.
Xu Huo equipped the "Silent Figure" and moved forward, giving way to large ferocious beasts in advance. After his evolution rate increased, his spatial perception range had expanded again. So, within the few minutes of sound concealment, he successfully found a lizard.
After using the "Note Launcher" to take down the lizard, which was almost as long as a person, Xu Huo first recorded a video. Then he put on gloves, turned it over, took several close-ups of its belly, and wrote a "①" on its back with a pen that wasn't easy to wash off.
To ensure it was a "living" reptile, he woke it up again after filming and placed an apple in front of it.
The lizard, which had been knocked out and then woken up, was clearly a bit angry. It sniffed the apple in front of it, then smashed it to pieces with a single claw before swishing its tail and leaving.
It was clear that it was in good health.
But by this time, the duration of the "Silent Figure" had expired.
Xu Huo brushed off a venomous spider that had crawled onto his face mask and looked around. The vegetation was too dense, obstructing his view and dulling his senses. The plant branches and leaves pressing against him sometimes blurred his perception. In ten minutes, he had been attacked by venomous insects no less than ten times, and once, they even pierced his protective suit.
Even carrying the King Fungus, he didn't dare to be careless. He simply put on two layers of protective suits and applied a toxic agent on the outer layer.
He hadn't gone far when he felt the ground tremble again. There were also traces of small animals fleeing through the grass, all seemingly running away from one direction.
Grabbing a string and ascending into the air, Xu Huo used the tree canopy to conceal his body and looked into the distance. Nearly a kilometer away, the jungle was shaking, as if large animals were fighting, but he didn't hear any animal roars.
He watched for a while and was about to leave when he felt something land on his arm. Looking down, he saw a red snake as thick as a finger. Its pair of venomous fangs were stuck in his protective suit, and it was struggling desperately.
This was a specially evolved venomous snake. Its entire body was bright red with no other patterns, but it had two pairs of white eyes arranged side by side.
The venom on the protective suit hadn't taken it down, and of course, Xu Huo hadn't been taken down either. Man and snake faced off. Xu Huo took out his communicator and made a full recording of it. Afterwards, he looked at the tree canopy, which was almost free of venomous insects, found a small cage, applied a sticky agent to the bottom, and then threw the snake inside.
The little snake hissed energetically in the cage, but its tail was stuck, limiting its range of motion. It followed Xu Huo's hand as it turned around, and finally received a sticker with "②" written on it.
Xu Huo tied the cage to his waist and re-entered the forest, walking away from the location of the earlier mutated animal fight.
Perhaps because the commotion over there was too great, the nearby animals had all fled. He didn't find any other reptiles, so he considered looking for a nearby water source.
Just as he was about to change direction, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and reflexively raised the "Eye of the Dead" in front of him. The next second, a huge beast's claw struck the sword, sending him flying backward three meters. Then, a green-skinned tiger as tall as a man leaped out from the forest, opening its mouth to bite his head off!
"Ding!" Xu Huo released a burst of flame, and the furry mutated beast was instantly engulfed in fire. It howled and rolled on the spot, and then the vines hanging from the giant trees began to descend rapidly.
Xu Huo initially thought this was another mutated plant, but he soon saw fangs resembling those of a mammal among the vines. Along with the falling leaves and vines, the ground also shook violently as it rose.
Realizing he had entered the open mouth of some giant creature, he quickly materialized the "101 Emergency Evacuation" card, wedging it between the two rows of closing teeth. As he slipped out, he retrieved the item and used his trait, "Straight Line Distance," to teleport a hundred meters away before turning back to look:
It was an animal the size of a small floating island. Its physique looked more like a marine animal, but its body was covered in greenery, making it hard to see its true form. After swallowing the burning tiger, it quietly settled back onto the ground. Once the rustling of the vegetation subsided, there was no sign that any large animal had been active there.
"Lucky me," Xu Huo said, patting the small cage on his waist. He climbed back up a tree to look for a water source, but this time he was more cautious, as some animals had evolved to easily conceal their breathing sounds, making them harder to detect in advance.
The vegetation was too dense, and finding a water source wasn't easy. However, at that moment, he unexpectedly discovered a line of monkeys, each with a small bucket tied to its tail, moving through the trees in single file.