Bluffing at the Limit

Beneath the vivid crimson flower lay layer upon layer of tangled roots, with countless corpses piled below. Their limbs were pale and slender; they were all girls transformed into zombies. The entwining vines planted Seeds of Honkai within their hearts, then flourished once their emotions collapsed. New Honkai energy was born from the corpses and eventually summoned back by this flower. By greedily absorbing this newly born Honkai energy, the rose had grown so luxuriantly.

"It's clearly a plant, yet it's doing a gardener's work."

Zhao Bai frowned as he looked at Kiana. "Well? Seeing this hellish sight, do you feel physically sick?"

"This young lady clawed her way out of a pile of zombies."

Kiana gripped her twin pistols tightly as she answered.

What was this flower nurturing? The moment it opened a path to its center, it meant it was fully prepared. The vines blocking their advance lost all meaning in that instant; it had absolute confidence that it could kill them.

Of course, that was merely an illusion brought on by its sudden surge in power. This rose had no clear understanding of its own strength; it was simply getting carried away.

As a chef, Zhao Bai possessed a sense of smell far beyond that of ordinary people. The moment he entered this Botanical Garden, he noticed the faint floral fragrance permeating the air. It was some kind of neurotoxin, meant to numb its prey's nerves.

This flower only had the appearance of a plant. Its essence had long since transformed into that of an apex predator.

Even so, the situation remained entirely under control.

In Zhao Bai's eyes, no matter how gorgeous or eerie this flower was, it was still only a flower. He had once refined fragrant essential oils from flowers, and this one would be no exception. The problem was that a flower growing atop corpses was nauseating no matter how beautiful it might be.

Zhao Bai would not use it to make fragrant essential oil.

He would utterly destroy this flower.

In his armory was a barbecue tool called Heavenly Fire Judgment. When necessary, it would transform into a torch. Its violent flames could burn sand into glass, then burn glass back into transparent sand. This was merely a flower; it could not possibly withstand his wrath.

The plan was simple. Once the neurotoxin rendered Kiana unconscious, he would take out Heavenly Fire Judgment and end everything.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kiana fired her twin pistols in rapid succession. Purple light struck the petals with dull thuds, but the blood-red petals remained completely unharmed, firmly protecting whatever lay within.

Zhao Bai held his breath while Kiana panted heavily.

Time passed second by second.

The neurotoxin spread with alarming speed. Kiana's gaze drifted, and she gradually grew weak. Dark green vines lashed out at high speed. Zhao Bai reacted swiftly, yanking Kiana to his side. She immediately braced herself against him, like an old woman who had found a cane.

"Can you see me clearly?"

Zhao Bai asked several times in succession without receiving any response. At last, he was completely at ease. The long blade quietly slid down as his right hand reached into the unfathomable subspace.

"From now on, count down the little life you have left."

Zhao Bai raised Heavenly Fire Judgment. Violent holy light rapidly gathered within its barrel.

As if responding to his cringeworthy declaration, the crimson rose suddenly trembled. Its tightly closed petals bloomed one by one. A peerlessly beautiful girl stretched her body freely amid the mucus. She stretched lazily, her slender waist resembling the stem of a plant.

Was that... a human?

A... human with one nose, one mouth, two eyes, and two ears?

Zhao Bai felt like he was finished.

Chapter 9: Bluffing at the Limit

"Humans are always so foolish and ignorant."