Three Plans to Destroy Bamboo

Arriving outside the Bamboo Forest once more, every member of the Third Exploration Team felt a distinct shift in atmosphere. Previously, visits here had been for rest, leaving everyone feeling relaxed; this time, however, they were here to destroy their former sanctuary, and they had no idea what kind of resistance they would encounter.

As usual, the exploration team split into two reconnaissance squads led by Qin Shuanghai and another member, beginning their observation along the edge of the Bamboo Forest.

Today, the Bamboo Forest was slightly different from yesterday.

The monster carcasses discovered the day before had vanished without a trace.

Yesterday, the forest floor had been littered with bamboo leaves, and many branches had been bare, but today, every branch was covered in leaves, and they did not appear to be new growth.

At the base of every bamboo stalk, a dark red hue had overtaken the original green, as if the plants had just finished absorbing blood and were in the process of digesting it.

Based on estimates, this Bamboo Forest covered about three mu, and given the density, there should be over five hundred stalks in total.

"I will attempt to enter first. You three or four should group up and head elsewhere to collect dry branches and hay, but do not act rashly until I return," Lin Chenxing instructed.

All the members were accustomed to Lin Chenxing's habit of leading from the front and knew his temperament, so they did not attempt to stop him.

Upon stepping into the Bamboo Forest, he detected no movement. Everything was once again quiet and safe, as if the forest's intense desire to attack had been merely a one-time occurrence.

After carefully observing the bamboo deep within the grove, Lin Chenxing noticed that the closer one got to the core area, the more pronounced the dark red color at the base of the stalks became, and the taller the bamboo grew.

Suddenly, a subtle vibration emanated from beneath the ground. Realizing he could not get any closer, Lin Chenxing quickly retreated a few steps, only then feeling the ground gradually settle into silence.

Lin Chenxing examined the bamboo bit by bit, starting from the base of the stalk with the most dark red coloration and moving up to the highest point visible to the naked eye. He discovered that the texture of this stalk was more refined than the others, appearing almost like jade.

In Lin Chenxing's judgment, this stalk was undoubtedly the core of the entire forest and its most vital component; destroying it might even render the rest of the forest a non-issue.

However, attacking the core directly without neutralizing the other stalks would invite a swarm of retaliation. It would be safer to proceed cautiously, felling and burning the bamboo from the perimeter one by one.

Thus, to avoid being attacked by the bamboo midway, Lin Chenxing quickly exited the forest and returned to the starting point.

"Captain."

The group waiting outside called out in unison.

Lin Chenxing said, "Next, we will simply toss all this dry firewood into the forest; there is no need to go deep inside to place it evenly."

The group agreed and began tossing bundles of dry wood and hay into the forest without reservation.

Afterward, Lin Chenxing pulled out a small canister of gasoline, opened the cap, lit it, and threw it into the Bamboo Forest.

When the canister hit the ground, the gasoline spilled out. As the fuel, carrying sparks, landed on the dry wood, flames erupted instantly.

The bamboo leaves in the forest rustled once more, falling in sheets as if attempting to shred the firewood and extinguish the fire before it could take hold.

However, bamboo leaves were flammable by nature. Even with their ability to slice through anything, the inherent flammability of wood was not so easily negated—unless, like the core stalk, they had transformed into a jade-like substance.

With the help of the bamboo leaves, the fire grew instead of diminishing, spreading over an increasingly wide area with the potential to consume the entire forest.

But beyond leaves and stalks, the bamboo had roots, and those roots permeated the entire underground of the forest.

Under the constant churning of the roots, they formed long, whip-like structures that lashed out at the fire. Kicking up dust in the process, they finally managed to contain the spread of the flames.

Fortunately, under this fire, over one mu of the forest had been destroyed—nearly two hundred stalks. The bamboo near the burned area had also largely lost its vitality, their stalks charred black.

The fire strategy was a success.

Next, Lin Chenxing and his team prepared the poison strategy: Glyphosate. As long as the roots, stems, or leaves of the bamboo came into contact with even a small amount of this herbicide, the toxicity would spread throughout the entire plant, accelerating their demise.

To ensure rapid results, Lin Chenxing prepared a highly concentrated solution of Glyphosate, also stored in glass bottles that would shatter upon impact, soaking the surrounding bamboo and allowing them to absorb the herbicide.

The absorption capacity of these bamboo stalks was evident from how they had handled the monster carcasses; there was no need to worry about a ten-day or two-week wait. It would likely spread through all the plants in a very short time.

After completing the work, it was time to wait.

After waiting for a full five hours, Lin Chenxing and the others finally witnessed the changes in the bamboo: a large number of stalks began to develop spots, and the leaves rapidly turned yellow and fell off.

The number of stalks showing these changes reached over two hundred, meaning fewer than one hundred remained.

Everything was going according to plan, which began to excite everyone.

The final stage of the plan was finally about to begin.

After two rounds of culling, the remaining bamboo could no longer be removed by these methods. Fortunately, the quantity was small enough that the simplest method—chopping—would suffice to eradicate them completely.

This time, they were not carrying their usual weapons; instead, each person held a single-handed axe, with a large shield strapped to their back to deflect bamboo leaves and roots.

There were no other requirements this time: simply strike the base of the bamboo with the axes. Finally, after clearing all the stalks, they would douse the ground with Glyphosate once more, repeating the process every few days until the bamboo could no longer regenerate.

The plan was perfect, provided that these bamboo stalks had no other means of attack beyond the two they had already displayed.

As everyone walked toward the remaining bamboo with their shields raised, the forest's resistance began.

The rustling of the bamboo leaves became piercingly sharp, and sheets of leaves flew rapidly toward the exploration team.

"Ding, ding, ding." The leaves embedded themselves into the shields one after another. Although the force of each individual leaf was not great, the sheer volume was overwhelming, significantly slowing the team's advance.

Finally, the bamboo leaves in the forest were mostly spent, but the shields had become a layer thicker and significantly heavier due to the embedded foliage.

The bamboo's second tactic began once the leaves were exhausted. Whip-like structures formed from bamboo roots pulled themselves from the earth and began to lash out at the group. As the roots struck the shields, a tremendous force was transmitted through the shields to their arms, halting their advance entirely.