Cordyceps Life (5th Update)

Their gaze fell upon the Conqueror within the storage space, its attributes emanating from it.

It has the exact same attributes as the Conqueror I'm currently using, even the same firepower.

Excellent, excellent! This can be sold to pay off debts...

Cai Cai and Fatty already have gold-tier firearms, so it's not necessary to give them to them. Ruolin, Kou Mei, Aji, and the others don't rely on Assault Rifle that much.

We must sell it! We absolutely have to sell it!

A true man is free of debt!

Carrying their Power Sword, they continued onward, venturing deeper into the Land of Revival.

"Drop!"

A message came from Zhang Ruolin: "Ding Han, have you entered the Land of Revival?"

"It's in!"

"How was it? Exciting, wasn't it?"

"It's alright."

I grinned. "The first thing I encountered upon entering the Land of Revival was a Golden Chaos Beast BOSS, which dropped a Golden Conqueror. I'm not going to keep this gun for myself; I need to sell it for money. I spent all my savings on the bionic robots last time, and then bought a batch of Expansion Crystal, so I owe Old Ma 10 million. I need to pay it back as soon as possible."

"That's true, Old Ma has it tough too. He's constantly being bossed around by ruthless bosses in the Player Black Market and barely makes any money. He doesn't even have a wife yet..."

That's terrible.

I expressed my deepest sympathy. "Ruolin, what are you doing?"

"The seven of us set off today, teaming up to farm some mutants in the southern part of the Lost Land. For some reason, suddenly a large number of mutants gathered in the adjacent map of the Lost Land, as if they had been summoned."

"It's most likely the work of the warp."

I frowned and said, "When you're killing monsters, be careful not to just grind. Take the opportunity to explore things related to the warp as well. This is very important for us to understand the warp and even defeat it."

"..."

Ruolin didn't say anything.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Ding Han."

She smiled slightly, "I've noticed that you're really developing more and more of a leader's aura, unlike Cai Cai, who's like an idiot. Fatty, Aji, and the others aren't far from being idiots either, and Faye and Kou Mei don't think that far ahead."

"Maybe it's because I've had a lot of contact with them. Please don't flatter me too much; I'm just a slightly outstanding solo player, not some player leader."

Ruolin you say it's not, then it's not. I'll listen to you."

After ending the conversation, both parties continued to focus on leveling up.

I took out my Off-road Motorcycle and sped across the Land of Revival for over a hundred kilometers, and surprisingly, I didn't see a single monster!

This is strange. The map is clearly marked in blood red, indicating it's an S -S-rank Map, comparable in danger to the Lost Land. Yet, there's such a large area of empty space without any monsters. This is highly unusual!

It can only be said that if most areas are free of monsters, then the monsters that spawn in the few remaining areas will be extremely ferocious!

After a few minutes, I stopped driving and reached out to put the Off-road Motorcycle back into the storage space.

Ahead, a series of strangely large trees appeared...

These trees don't look like trees at all, but they look a lot like the peanut trees I saw in the countryside when I was a child. But how could there be Peanut Tree that are five meters tall, with thick branches and trunks, flowering and bearing fruit, and the fruit they bear is somewhat similar to peanuts?

Etc...

Not similar at all!

As I approached, I discovered that the fruits hanging on the trees were actually moving. Upon closer inspection, they looked like worms wriggling in the wind, and these worms seemed somewhat familiar.

Some resembled scorpions, some resembled exploding insects, some resembled mother insects, and some even looked like Caliban, hanging from a tree by a blood-red vine, constantly writhing as if in great pain.

What the hell is all this?!

I suspect I ate some kind of mushroom, because I can even see these weird things.

"Ding Han, wake up!"

He slapped himself and opened his eyes to look again.

Nothing had changed; before me stood a five-meter-tall "Peanut Tree," its branches laden with "peanuts" that moved and resembled Zerg units.

It seems that all of this is true.

So I took out my phone and snapped a bunch of photos, then sent these strange pictures to the Guide, Zhou Jihuan.

"Old Zhou, did you see that?"

"I saw it."

Zhou Jihuan's voice was grave. "These things... are they in the Land of Revival?"

"That's right."

I nodded. "Those things hanging on the tree are definitely insects, right?"

"Yes, it really is an insect."

Zhou Jihuan gritted her teeth and said, "Damn it, Ding Han, don't you think this thing looks like something we're familiar with?"

"Cordyceps?!"

This is the only answer I can think of.

"Right!"

Zhou Jihuan nodded and said, "Cordyceps is formed because the insect is infected by a fungus, then becomes diseased and dies. The fungal hyphae use the insect's internal tissues as nutrients to grow, becoming a strange life form that is neither an insect nor a grass. The only difference between the photos you took and Cordyceps is that the insects on the tree still seem to be alive."

"So how exactly did this thing form?"

I frowned, then suddenly thought of something and said, "Why did the main system name this map 'Land of Revival'? What is it referring to that is resurrecting? Obviously, this map is related to the Chaos Faction in the warp. But what is the relationship between the Zerg and the Chaos Faction? Could the Great Devourer's entry into the Earth's core and its devouring of the mother planet's core be related to that as well?"

"Depend on..."

Zhou Jihuan's expression was clearly not good. "If it really is related to the Great Devourer, then our Star Abyss's problem is really serious. Just think, all the signs indicate that the Zerg are not native to the home planet, but most likely came from the warp. Since both the Zerg and the Chaos Faction came from the warp, what is the relationship between the two? And what is the relationship between the Great Devourer and the Chaos Demon God?"

He grew increasingly alarmed as he spoke, "Damn it... could these cordyceps be related to an infection of some kind of life form deep within the Earth's core, or the core of the Great Star Eater? If so, the humans living on our home planet will face far too many crises; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they'll suffer countless disasters."

"..."

I paused for a moment, thinking of Lin Qingying, Lu Xiaobei and Cheng Shuang, as well as Old Ding, Zhao Yihang, Chen Xiaoman and others far away in Tengshan.

Their seemingly peaceful lives are actually quite fragile.

"It shouldn't be that bad, right? Huan-ge, your thinking is too far off..."

I couldn't help but feel a little scared. "I hope it's not like that..."

"I also hope it's just my own nonsense."

Zhou Jihuan, "Ding Han, be careful in the Land of Revival. Also, collect as many samples as possible and bring them back. I'll take them to the research department above for study. This is very important, since there aren't many people capable of entering the core area of Land of Revival."

"Knew."

After ending the call, I looked up at the road ahead again.

Just as I took another step forward, the nearest "Cordyceps tree" began to move. Its leaves rustled in the wind, and its roots, like squid tentacles, kept churning the soil and actually started to move. Meanwhile, the insects hanging on the tree began to squeak and squeak, looking quite menacing!

Finally, its health bar appeared!

Cordyceps Life, Level 75, Cyan BOSS!

The strength isn't high, which is reasonable. Insects that can be invaded by fungi are weaklings. Only the strength of S6 is reasonable!

Just then, a bell rang in my ears—

[Congratulations! You have triggered the Scenario Quest "Peanuts Growing on Trees, Clean Up the Contaminated Cordyceps" (S-rank)! Quest details: The core ecosystem of our home planet has been invaded and polluted. Ecosystems that have existed within the Earth's core for billions of years have been released by the Great Devourer. The insect swarms have suffered a backlash from the core ecosystem, giving rise to this extremely twisted existence. Please kill 10,000 Cordyceps Life. Upon completion of the quest, you will receive a very generous reward!]

Good heavens, 10,000?!

I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Yes, it really did require killing 10,000 cordyceps. This task treats people like animals, not human beings!

I had been hoping for the best, thinking that maybe I could finish work early today and go home to be with Lin Qingying.

Now that this task has been assigned... well, forget about today, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to get home tomorrow night!

Of course, from a player's perspective, this is definitely a good thing. These monster-hunting quests are the main way to level up. The Experience Points provided by 10,000 Cyan BOSS are not insignificant. In addition, clearing out the junk from 10,000 Cyan Treasure Chest can greatly alleviate my current financial difficulties. After all, I still owe Ruolin 2 million, and I need to pay it off as soon as possible.

It's not a good thing to delay repaying debts; it erodes friendships and the trust of others.

At that moment, the Peanut Tree suddenly swirled around, and the insects on it squealed and opened their gaping maws, as if they wanted to tear me apart.

It's hard to imagine that such an arrogant Cyan BOSS still exists in version 4.0. Are they usually this brave?

With a swing of its Power Sword, it began "weeding" its home planet!

As the sword flashed, several branches and twigs of the Peanut Tree were continuously severed, causing a series of Crippling Blow. Once the branches were cut off, the insects hanging on the tree lost their nutrients, quickly wilted, and withered away in the blink of an eye.

It seems their life essence has long been drained. The reason they can still shout so loudly is because of the nutrients provided by the Peanut Tree. Once the nutrients are cut off, they reveal their true form, just like grasshoppers in autumn.

"Drop!"

Zhou Jihuan sent another message: "Ding Han, remember to collect as many samples as possible. Not just the Cordyceps Life, but also any other random things we encounter later. Collect as many as you can. I'll use these samples to claim credit later, and I estimate I can get a lot of world contribution points. These world contribution points can also help strengthen the players in Huaining City, making Huaining City bigger and stronger, and gradually becoming the strongest prefecture-level city in the Player Faction!"

"6, Brother Huan..."

I almost burst out laughing, "Don't worry, we'll collect them."

As he spoke, he took out an empty bottle from his storage space and put in a portion of the cordyceps' roots, leaves, and the only remaining empty shell of the insect.