Found You

Pfft!

Casually killing a Soldier-level Tiger Mastiff, Yang Wu had already slain more than ten ordinary Soldier-level Monsters on the mere hundred-li journey from the supply base to the county city.

The stretch from the Northern Military Region to County City 0231 was almost entirely wilderness, with quite a few scattered Soldier-level Monsters but very few General-level Monsters appearing.

"But where is it?"

Yang Wu leaped onto the roof of a toll station, took out his binoculars from his backpack, and looked toward City 068.

What lay before him was either overgrown fields or stretches of gray, desolate forest. Following the highway toward the city, there was also a tunnel ahead.

To determine the location of the Plant Spirit, Yang Wu had immediately ruled out the area between the supply base and County City 0231.

Most of this route consisted of fields and was close to the Northern Military Region. If a large number of monsters had gathered there, there was no way they could escape the military's satellite surveillance.

"A strange fragrance?"

Yang Wu jumped down from the roof and continued along the highway toward City 068.

Three hours later.

Inside the ruined tunnel, Yang Wu kicked aside a monster corpse at his feet. Monsters emerged from this tunnel from time to time, the vast majority of them weak Soldier-level Monsters.

But he had also encountered three Elementary Beast General Level Monsters, and even one Intermediate Beast General-level Monster.

Generally speaking, General-level Monsters were huge, but there were exceptions among smaller creatures such as cockroaches, rats, and spiders.

Before the Great Nirvana, these creatures had already been relatively small. After mutating, even if they became General-level Monsters, they were still much smaller than other monsters of the same level.

After killing the last Soldier-level Cockroach Monster blocking his way, Yang Wu emerged from the tunnel. Looking at the abandoned city so close before him, he felt rather helpless.

He was almost at City 068, yet he had not smelled even the slightest strange fragrance. There had been no shortage of rotting stench along the way, though.

The simulation had provided two very direct clues.

First: a strange fragrance.

Second: a strange medicine resembling a Blackwood Branch.

He could not count on the clue of the strange fragrance. More than two months had passed, so the timing simply did not match.

That made sense. If a strange fragrance had truly been spreading during this period, other martial artists would have discovered it long ago. How could it have been left for his simulated self?

Suddenly, Yang Wu recalled the Tier 3 Rat Tide that had erupted in County City 0231 in the original work. If it had been launched in fury after the Rat Beast leader failed to seize the Plant Spirit—

Then the Plant Spirit must ultimately have been taken by someone else. Perhaps another monster, or perhaps a human martial artist.

"War God Lu Gang?"

The original work had not mentioned Lu Gang's true cause of death. It only said that when the Rat Tide erupted, three War God Level martial artists entered the wilderness. Lu Gang had then been surrounded layer upon layer by the endless rat tide and plunged into its vast ocean.

Under the rat tide's crazed, no-holds-barred assault, Lu Gang, who possessed Intermediate War God Level strength, had fallen without even leaving behind a corpse.

But that did not seem right either. With Lu Gang's Intermediate War God Level strength, if he wanted to flee after obtaining the Plant Spirit, the rat tide could never have caught up with him.

As for risking his life to venture deep into the center of the rat tide out of greed for the Plant Spirit—

Yang Wu could only say that although the Plant Spirit was immensely tempting to an Intermediate War God, it was not enough to make one risk certain death to fight for it.

Someone like Yang Wu was even less likely to risk his life over a mere Plant Spirit. Rather than take such a risk, he might as well build a good relationship with Luo Feng.

Having ruled out the tunnel and the fields, all that remained were several forests.

In the simulation, after Yang Wu seized the Plant Spirit, the enraged Rat Beast leader had launched a beast tide against the nearest city, County City 0231.

Then the wild forest closest to County City 0231 was highly likely to be where the Plant Spirit was located.

In truth, satellite surveillance was not as mysterious or powerful as ordinary people imagined.

Thick cloud cover, smog, buildings, forests, tunnels, and the like could all limit satellite detection to varying degrees.

The obstructions in a forest might not conceal the activity of several Advanced Beast General-level Monsters gathering together, but that alone was not worth the military region diverting satellite resources.

Every military satellite had its own purpose. They were either used to monitor King-level Monsters or to investigate potential beast tides.

After locking onto his target.

Yang Wu stood up and immediately headed toward his destination. But when he arrived, he was dumbfounded!

How was he supposed to search this?

The forest before his eyes had stumped Yang Wu.

How was he supposed to search it?

After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and decided to use the dumbest, most primitive method—

A carpet search!

He acted at once. Yang Wu slung on his backpack, carried the Po Jun Spear, and charged straight into the forest, searching bit by bit according to the areas he had marked out.

Although forests were not as dangerous as abandoned cities, they were far more dangerous than wilderness fields.

Of course, that depended on the terrain. In some large mountain ranges, there were not only Lord-level Monsters but even quite a few King-level Monsters.

In less than half an hour, Yang Wu had killed one Intermediate Beast General and two Elementary Beast Generals, along with more than twenty Soldier-level Monsters.

The slaughter eventually frightened many monsters into fleeing for their lives. Though he called it a carpet search, Yang Wu was not foolish enough to search every inch bit by bit.

As long as he determined the Plant Spirit's general range, Yang Wu did not fear that it would suddenly grow legs and run away. Limited by its species, a Plant Spirit could never leave its birthplace on its own.

After vegetation transformed into a Plant Spirit, it gained rudimentary awareness, including the ability to attack and protect itself. When it sensed a threat to its life, it would inevitably protect itself at all costs.

Either it possessed offensive abilities itself, or it could confuse other monsters, or it would conceal itself with all its strength...

What Yang Wu needed to do was create chaos and gradually make it feel threatened.

Rumble...

Branches wept, the forest shook, and the earth trembled. More than a thousand monsters fled desperately through the woods, their enormous commotion making it seem as though a powerful earthquake had struck.

Behind them, Yang Wu strolled along with the Po Jun Spear in hand, driving them forward. Any monster that ran too slowly was instantly killed.

Though the number of over a thousand monsters looked terrifying, the overwhelming majority were Soldier-level Monsters, with only a few Elementary Beast Generals among them.

As for the Intermediate Beast Generals and stronger monster leaders, Yang Wu had given them special attention and killed them immediately.

Thus, the remaining Soldier-level Monsters and Beast Generals did not belong to one another's command. Otherwise, Yang Wu would not have dared drive the monsters so boldly.

"Heh, I need to add a little more fuel!"

The sky was nearly dark, yet he still had not detected the slightest movement from that Plant Spirit. If he did not speed things up, he would have to stay behind and work overtime.

Bang!

Yang Wu suddenly accelerated. A Soldier-level Monster running at the rear of the herd was instantly swept into the air by his spear and smashed into the fleeing herd ahead.

Roar... Roar...

Provoked by this, the herd fled even more frantically in every direction. Some unlucky Elementary Soldier-level Monsters were trampled to death by General-level Monsters before they could even react.

For a time, the forest shook even more violently.

"Ha, found you!"