Not the Island We Agreed On

Bai Zhu stopped the moment he stepped into the jungle.

He looked down at the dead branch he had snapped beneath his foot.

Crack.

The sound had barely emerged before it was as if someone had smothered it under a blanket. The latter half died in the air and did not carry far.

Bai Zhu lifted his foot and stepped on another one.

Crack.

It was the same.

He stood where he was and looked around.

"Fine. Silent Land really lived up to its name."

He raised a hand and knocked on a leaf beside him, one wider than his entire body.

The veins bulged beneath its surface, and it felt like leather. Deeper in, vines hung between the trees, the thickest as wide as water buckets, their surfaces covered in tiny barbs.

Bai Zhu took half a step back.

"Who was in charge of landscaping this forest? Did they feed it steroids?"

No one answered.

After a pause, he answered himself.

"If Milluki were here, he'd definitely say this stuff could be sold to plant hunters."

Once he said it, he felt the words were unlucky and raised a hand to pat the trunk.

"Young master, don't go dying on me. You still owe me money."

[Exploration Achievement: Collect Unknown Vegetation 0/3]

Bai Zhu looked at the giant leaf, then at the barbs on the vines.

He drew his knife and used its tip to pick off a small piece of leaf.

After leaving the plant, pale green sap seeped from the leaf's edges. When it dripped onto the ground, bubbles rose from the soil.

Bai Zhu's hand froze.

"Damn, it's a biological weapon too."

[Unknown Vegetation Sample: 1/3]

Bai Zhu wrapped the piece of leaf in bark and stored it in his system backpack.