Rotten Vine, The Wonderful Use of Searching!

[Retriever: Barrett]

[Current Cooperation: 57%]

[Current Searchable Scope: Information, Items, Skills]

[Search Target Confirmed: Skill (lv.1)]

[Searching...]

[Search Successful!]

[Barrett Stuart (Parasitic Form)]

[lv.1 Skills]: Rotten Vine Life*, Rotten Vine Strength*, Rotten Vine Speed*, Rotten Vine Recovery*, Rotten Vine Digestion*, Lock On*, Lock On*, Lock On*.

[lv.2 Skill]: Lock On

[Remarks]: Detected that the searcher is affected by a special power, causing skills to mutate. The Collector has issued a warning via *Remarks. Collectors must pay attention: If the searcher equips this special skill, they will be equally affected.

[Remarks]: After unlocking and equipping Rotten Vine*, the specific information for Lock On* can be viewed.

[Remarks]: After unlocking and equipping Rotten Vine*, Information Degree can be increased; otherwise, it is invalid.

"Why are they all Rotten Vine?"

"Wait, is this an Infected?"

When Cheng Ye first saw the panel information, he was wondering what kind of Old Martial System this person practiced, with such uniform skill names.

Moreover, unlike Chu Yunfeng's skill tree which was divided into different directions, Barrett's panel directly and crudely listed life, strength, speed, recovery, digestion, etc., giving a sense of a Stat Monster.

However, in the next second, Cheng Ye suddenly realized.

What Old Martial practitioner is this?

This guy is clearly a genuine Infected!

Damn it!

What's going on?

The Collector can search Infected and even extract mutated abilities after infection?!

Doesn't this mean one can directly obtain special powers comparable to Transcendent beings?

Unfortunately, before Cheng Ye could get excited, his gaze fell on the remarks below.

The words "equally affected" were like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing all impulse.

Since the side effects brought by the Infected can also be extracted equally, why bother using the Collector to search? Why not just let the Infected parasitize directly?

"No, this function..."

Cheng Ye's brow twitched, and he suddenly realized another wonderful use for the search function:

As long as the target's cooperation level exceeds 50%, wouldn't it be possible to identify if they are infected from the root through a search?

This is a divine skill!

In an instant, Cheng Ye thought of several scenarios where this function could be utilized.

For example, when on an external mission, if he couldn't be sure if a teammate was infected, he could just search.

Or, during an examination, if there was someone he wasn't sure about, he could also get a result through a search.

[Please, Collector, make a choice. If you cannot choose, you may cancel the search. After cancellation, the Charge Value will not be refunded and will be considered a failure, but you will receive double Action Points.]

The Collector panel lit up with a prompt.

Double Action Points!

Cheng Ye's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected that canceling the search would yield such an extra reward. Without hesitation, he immediately decided, "Cancel search."

Since the note explicitly stated that information could only be obtained by equipping 'Rotten Vine,' why hesitate?

He would find it troublesome even if this thing appeared in his skill bar.

"Unless one day I find a method to completely expel the Infection Source, I will absolutely not touch these skills."

Cheng Ye warned himself silently in his heart.

Impulse is the Devil. If he encountered a life-or-death crisis and lacked the abilities of the Infection Source, he might still be able to survive by relying on calm judgment.

But once he became tainted by this mutated power, it was hard to guarantee he wouldn't develop a gambler's mentality of "trading life for life" at a critical moment.

At that time, it would seem like having an extra path, but in reality, it would be a shackle on himself.

[Search cancelled, Action Points '4' (lv.1) refunded.]

The panel information flashed by and disappeared from Cheng Ye's sight after the refund.

Although he wasted a search opportunity, he inadvertently found an alternative way to identify Infected and gained Action Points at the same time.

Cheng Ye didn't feel disappointed. He immediately took a few steps back, planning to make up for his losses from another direction.

"Sir..."

Barrett, who was waiting to be questioned while leaning on the railing, was confused.

A moment of stunned silence, then a violent roar assaulted his ears. The shockwave made his eardrums ache, as if his skull were about to be ripped open by the deafening sound.

Skull?

He instinctively reached for the point of pain on his forehead, but his fingers found not red or white, but a viscous black-green liquid continuously oozing from the bullet hole, carrying a nauseating, rotten, fishy stench.

I.

This.

Is.

Confused thoughts exploded in his mind. At this moment, he suddenly realized his vision had detached from the first-person perspective, now seeing his own body from a third-person overhead view.

Where his head should have been was empty. From the jagged edge of his neck, clusters of green vines erupted, like boiling asphalt, intertwining in the air to form the outline of a distorted human face.

I, I've been infected?

The instant this realization dawned, memories sealed deep within his mind surged forth like a tide.

Within the City Ruins under the setting sun.

A dilapidated Dajinbei car screeched into a dead-end alley. The doors burst open, and eight people stumbled out, their terrified gazes fixed on the alley entrance.

In the last rays of the setting sun, a green vine monster over ten meters tall slowly materialized. In the center of its massive body, a distorted human silhouette flickered, like an insect trapped in a spiderweb, silently conveying a terror that struck directly at the human heart!

Everyone opened fire frantically. Dense gunfire erupted, bullets raining down on the monster, only to create black craters on its tough vine skin.

The monster thrashed its python-like tendrils. Each strike precisely plucked one person from the crowd, tearing them apart in mid-air, blood and shredded flesh raining down.

Seven people, six people, five people...

As his companions died one after another, fear washed over Barrett like a tide.

When he was the only one left, under the vacant, despairing eyes of his fallen comrades, Barrett's legs gave way, and he knelt on the ground.

He lacked the courage to fire back, nor the nerve to end his own life. He could only kowtow repeatedly to the monster, his voice trembling as he begged for mercy.

The monster paused for a moment, then extended a tendril, sliding it into his body through his nose and mouth.

And these memories had been sealed away in the deepest recesses of his consciousness until this very moment.

He only remembered escaping by chance, unaware that he had long since become the monster's puppet.

So, I died long ago?

So, I haven't been human for a long time?

His gaze fell upon Cheng Ye, who was standing outside the isolation chamber, firing his weapon. A twisted grin suddenly appeared on the mangled face bound by vines in mid-air.

The scattered vines, as if receiving some command, surged madly through the gaps in the isolation chamber's bars.

The other three people in the same isolation chamber as Barrett felt a surge of terror, but soon, they discovered green vines drilling out from their own skin.

Memories then surfaced. It turned out that during their days of isolation together, they had already been infected by the Rotten Vines within Barrett's body. The painful memories of the infected parts had been selectively sealed away!

"Damn it, why are these Rotten Vines so hard to kill?"

The host whose head was blown off by bullets seemed to have no impact on the operation of the Rotten Vine's root system.

Furthermore, one infected person had suddenly become four. Hundreds of vines squeezed into the narrow space between the bars, attempting to surge out.

Fortunately, the isolation chamber's quality was excellent; the bars didn't budge. Otherwise, Cheng Ye would have unhesitatingly turned and fled.

"Still standing there? Hurry up and call for help! Are you watching a show?"

After emptying a magazine, Cheng Ye reloaded with one hand and noticed Raven and Owl still frozen in place.

Called by him, the two finally snapped back to reality.

Raven scrambled towards a nearby pillar, crashing into it as he slammed the alarm button.

Owl was even more decisive. He darted to the back of the corridor and grabbed a device resembling a fire extinguisher.

"Sir, let me!"

Shouting loudly, Owl twisted the valve, picked up the nozzle, and charged forward. The moment his thumb slammed down on the trigger...

BOOM!

A jet of flame carrying the scent of sulfur erupted. Orange-red flames licked the green vines like living creatures. The roots that had been frantically drilling through the bar gaps instantly shriveled into charcoal, and the splattering black droplets carbonized and smoked in the flames.

A strange burning sound arose, not a crackling, but a crisp sound like bones shattering, mixed with the hissing of expanding gas within the vines, as if countless trapped souls were screaming in the fire.

"It's not a water gun, it's a flamethrower?"

Cheng Ye stared in astonishment.

This move was completely unexpected. What kind of lunatic installed a flamethrower indoors?

"This is... Plan Three's Emergency Incinerator."

Owl turned, baring his teeth and smiling.

But the moment he turned to explain, a vine covered in sharp spikes suddenly drilled out from a gap in the railing, weaving through the flames like a venomous snake.

By the time Owl noticed, the tip of the vine was less than three meters from his chest!

This is bad!

This thing isn't afraid of fire?

"Get lost!"

Cheng Ye didn't have time to think. He lunged forward half a step, his sweeping leg whipping out like an iron chain, knocking the Owl to the ground.

At the same time, he reached out and grabbed the fallen Flamethrower Head. He rolled like a lazy donkey on the spot, and as he got up, he suddenly exerted force with both arms, smashing down hard on the trigger.

Whoosh.

A fierce tongue of flame erupted from the side, licking at the Spiked Vine like a giant python.

Who would have thought this thing's resistance to fire was so outrageous? Only when it bent and lunged to within two meters of Cheng Ye did its skin begin to crackle with sparks, turning into charcoal from tip to root.

Was it faking? Faking fear of fire to be restrained?

Cheng Ye's pupils constricted, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. His understanding of the Infected deepened once more.

These damned things were far more terrifying than recorded in books.

And they were indeed evolving in directions humans couldn't predict. No wonder Brother B said that caution and prudence would allow one to live longer than familiarity with the rules.

Da, dada.

An alarm blared, and over a dozen Guards rushed in. The roar of their Rifles firing in unison instantly filled the corridor.

Seeing this, Cheng Ye stopped the flamethrower, whose fuel was about to run out and whose flames were weakening. He grabbed the Owl, who had been scared stiff on the ground, and retreated rapidly.

The moment the flames died down, he saw the vines "hit" by the bullets healing at a visible speed. Green liquid welled up from the breaks, repairing the wounds like a tide, even growing denser fibrous tissue around the bullet holes.

Good heavens, what was the origin of this Rotten Vine? It was learning and evolving through contact, forming immunity to the physical impact of bullets.

However, the farce ends here.

Faced with a suddenly berserk Infected, the Guards might be slaughtered one-sidedly.

But dealing with an Infected trapped in an isolation pod? That was easier than easy.

Cheng Ye turned and walked out.

He only heard continuous roaring explosions from behind him. In less than a minute, everything returned to calm.

"Report, Inspector, Infected codenamed 'Unknown' has been successfully eliminated!"

"The Station has dispatched professional containment personnel. Cleanup is expected in ten minutes."

Raven walked out, reporting. His peripheral vision caught sight of the Owl sitting by the warehouse door, looking like a lost soul, clearly scared out of its wits.

"Codename 'Unknown'?"

Cheng Ye pondered inwardly. He hadn't expected that not only were there no records of "Rotten Vine" in the books within the Survival Library that documented Infected, but no one in Xingfu City had ever encountered this type of infection source either.

What exactly was this thing? A newly evolved infection source, or had it migrated from elsewhere?

"Congratulations, sir. Unknown infection sources always come with generous Contribution Points rewards. Judging by the attack power of that Green Vine just now, you'll get at least 40 points to start."

"Is that so?"

Cheng Ye nodded slightly.

For Inspectors, killing Infected was a more direct way to earn money than exploiting loopholes in the rules. And it was damn exciting.

Similarly, when shooting targets that couldn't move, shooting Rotten Vine was entirely different from shooting ordinary targets. Especially the feeling of adrenaline surging when he raised the flamethrower at the end, a feeling Cheng Ye couldn't help but savor and get lost in even now.

"Sir, I'll go handle the aftermath first."

Raven respectfully withdrew, not daring to ask why Cheng Ye could determine that Barrett was Infected after just a few words. To the lower-level personnel at their station, all they saw was Cheng Ye stepping forward at the critical moment and saving Owl. Among the 150 Inspectors at the station, only a handful could do that. Treating them as people, not cold, unfeeling tools. That was enough for them to risk their lives!