Under the Shale (Bonus Chapter for Sui Feng Er Xia)
(An extra chapter is being offered in advance for the hall master "Sui Feng Er Xia"!)
Hmm, what's going on?
Mu Fan picked up his palm and saw that it was covered with a light reddish-brown sticky substance. He rubbed it with his fingers and found that it was this kind of slippery stuff.
What's this?
Mu Fan curiously got up and looked at the Air Root. He hadn't seen anything of that color on it when he sat down.
Seeing Mu Fan sit down and then stand up again, half-squatting, the White Hair next to him, who had just finished drinking water, asked, "What's wrong?"
There's nothing wrong with the surface...
Mu Fan grabbed another handful, and the area on his fingertips still felt cool and slippery.
Below the Air Root?
Squatting halfway on the ground, Mu Fan tilted his head and looked up.
A patch of reddish-brown, mucus-like substance had completely covered the area beneath the Air Root.
It looks a bit like magnified cellular tissue.
Mu Fan looked down at the other aerial Air Root and found similar marks underneath them.
"Come and take a look," Mu Fan beckoned to the White Hair.
Yin Shuai looked down and said in bewilderment, "What is this thing? The reddish-brown slime is disgusting, it looks like a living skin."
While Mu Fan was still thinking, a black voice suddenly rang in his ears. "Wait! You said you discovered a reddish-brown slime, doesn't it look a bit like living soft tissue, with some irregular grids on it?"
Mu Fan hummed in response, which the White Hair took as an answer.
In reality, Mu Fan was telling Hei to confirm.
"This is the fungal carpet of the Zerg Race!"
The black voice startled Mu Fan. Was this the true territory marker of the Zerg Race?
Looking up at the White Hair, Mu Fan thought for a moment and said, "Why is this slime only on the shaded side of the Air Root? I don't see it on the side facing upwards at all?"
White Hair shrugged. How would he know? This question was really unnecessary.
Mu Fan was still asking Hei.
"This means this place used to be Zerg Race territory, but it isn't anymore. There must have been a Zerg Race Zerg Nest nearby!" Black's tone was absolutely certain.
"The creep will reproduce on its own near the Zerg Nest, but it will quickly wither once it is removed from the Zerg Nest's energy supply, and will disappear completely after more than 24 hours! The large number of creeps you mentioned in the dark areas indicates that the Zerg Nest has migrated or been destroyed less than 18 hours ago!"
Mu Fan plunged one hand into the soil and wiped away all the slime.
"Captain, have you found anything over there?"
"No, we encountered a few scattered beetles, not even any guards. We've advanced almost 3 kilometers now. What's wrong, Mu Fan?"
"I haven't encountered a single Zerg on this road. It's nothing, I'm just asking."
"Oh, be careful, contact me immediately if anything happens."
After the conversation ended, Mu Fan looked at the White Hair who had already stood up and said, "Let's be careful, you stay close to me."
"You've discovered something?"
Mu Fan nodded and pointed to the location of the Air Root, saying, "I suspect these are the tracks the insects followed."
Black had just reminded him in his earpiece that if he followed the location of these remaining fungal mats, he would definitely find traces of Zeg.
However, Black's tone was also very serious, because once Zerg Nest exists, even the lowest-level hatchery, the size of that Zerg Race is something that no individual or even a few dozen people can contend with.
Mechanized forces must be deployed to carry out the mopping-up operation!
So Hei gave Mu Fan a strict order: if any signs of large-scale Zeg activity are discovered, then run away immediately!
Although Mu Fan harbored a glimmer of hope regarding those words, he said nothing and simply hummed in response.
Standing behind, the White Hair watched Mu Fan's strange behavior, his eyebrows almost furrowing together.
What does it mean to take a step and touch that Air Root?
Could it be that they're trying to find Zeg's trail based on this?
White Hair was right; Mu Fan is indeed using this old-fashioned method.
After rapidly traversing an area with a radius of several meters, Mu Fan looked at his palm and finally determined a direction.
These remaining fungal mats disappeared from the higher slope in front, but remained along the ridge.
So White Hair watched Mu Fan walk and stop intermittently, and the two began to move forward along an irregular arc.
Tracy, perched atop the giant tree behind Luo Jianjin, looked at the two green dots on the Electronic Map that had deviated from their course and asked via voice, "Little brothers, your route has gone astray."
They were originally heading in the 9 o'clock direction, but now they are heading in the 8 o'clock direction.
Mu Fan's voice replied, "The terrain ahead is uneven; we are advancing along the edge."
"Okay, be careful."
Another fifteen minutes passed, and the two, who had been walking and stopping intermittently, finally stopped because Mu Fan stopped.
"Why have you stopped?"
"That's it." Mu Fan shook the reddish-brown slime off his hands. Ahead was a large, gentle rocky slope with sparse vegetation, and there were no traces of fungal carpet nearby.
"So, can we retreat now?"
White Hair planned to walk up the gentle slope to the top, take a look, and then leave.
"Probably. We'll just have to explore that area again next time."
"Okay, I'll bury the surveillance camera." The White Hair pressed a metal ball into the soil and then walked towards the rocky area.
Mu Fan looked around and saw that there weren't many trees nearby, but rather a lot of light red weeds growing there. He had just touched the grass leaves and found nothing unusual.
At this moment, White Hair stepped onto the rocky slope.
Bang, bang, bang...
The Exoskeleton Armor made a low, resonant sound as it stepped on the stone surface.
Thud, thud, thud...
At this moment, a subtle difference caught Mu Fan's attention.
"Etc!"
Mu Fan suddenly waved his hand, signaling Yin Shuai to stop advancing.
"What's wrong?"
"Take a few steps back."
Confused, the White Hair retreated a few steps. Instead of walking straight up, he ascended diagonally from one corner of the gentle slope.
Thump, thump!
Two more identical echoes came.
"Stop!"
Mu Fan ignored the White Hair man's questioning expression and strode over.
Yin Shuai was standing on a relatively wide shale rock. Because he was wearing Exoskeleton Armor, his strides were quite large, and he covered a distance of more than three meters in two steps.
When Mu Fan got closer, he discovered that the shale rock stretched down into the red grass.
The toes lightly touched the ground.
A thud was heard, and when the finger was pressed down again, another thud echoed.
The rock is hollow underneath!
Mu Fan finally realized this, and his eyes met White Hair's. Clearly, Yin Shuai had also noticed the problem.
The two walked down the shale until they reached a patch of red grass.
At this moment, the White Hair, who was in a hurry, went in first and ended up falling halfway down.
"Holy crap, you scared this handsome guy to death! Come and take a look."
White Hair exclaimed in surprise and called out to Mu Fan.
When Mu Fan got closer, he saw that the shale rock stretched diagonally to a point about a meter above the ground before stopping.
There was a huge crack in the ground and shale, about four meters wide and one meter high.
It was simply hidden by the dense red grass.
Mu Fan peered inside and saw that the inner side of the stone wall was covered with a dense carpet of reddish-brown fungi!
Without saying a word, Mu Fan gestured for White Hair to look at him.
Even with just one glance from Yin Shuai, Mu Fan could see goosebumps instantly rise on his neck.
Stiffly turning around, the White Hair stared at Mu Fan and said, "Can I say I'm scared?"
Mu Fan shook his head. "No, stay close to me."
After saying that, he bent down and crawled inside.
"Oh."
White Hair closed his eyes and obediently followed suit, crawling into the huge crevice.
The two disappeared into the red grass.