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The driver was unknown; the vehicle gradually approached the wall, seemingly intending to crash into and stop the Banyan Tree.
Lou Yu leaned most of his body out of the car window, his eyes fixed on the rolling ball of air roots by the wall, a purple light flashing in his hand.
Knowing the power of Lou Yu's abilities, the Banyan Tree pulled Tao Qiu out of its Root and used her as a shield.
At this moment, Tao Qiu was only the size of a palm, half of her body was stained with her own blood, her eyes were downcast, and she looked like she was dead.
The aftereffects of that sleeping potion's floral scent were very strong; Tao Qiu didn't even have the strength to grow larger right now, otherwise she wouldn't be wrapped up by the Banyan Tree and running around like this.
He struggled to lift his eyelids and met Lou Yu's eyes, which were filled with anger and heartache.
Clearly, the Banyan Tree's tactic worked; Lou Yu dared not attack it.
"Daddy! Save Daddy!" the Third Cub cried out, Lou Yu's eyes also reddened.
The best opportunity was fleeting. Fearing he might hurt Tao Qiu, Lou Yu didn't dare to make a move, nor did he dare to ram the car. Banyan Tree ran faster than a rabbit and was about to turn into a small alley.
It's very narrow inside; a car definitely can't fit.
The Banyan Tree used Tao Qiu as a shield, but it didn't have time to shut him up, so Tao Qiu once again used all his stored strength to shout.
"Lou Yu!!!"
He only uttered those two words, but they were of one mind; how could Lou Yu not understand his meaning?
Just as the Banyan Tree, Lou Yu, with tears in his eyes, unleashed the ball of supernatural energy in his hand.
The Third Cub let out a piercing scream.
As the ball of light hurtled towards them, Tao Qiu was dragged back by the Banyan Tree and hidden again among its Root. Then, the two of them were blasted away together.
Tao Qiu's gamble paid off. The Banyan Tree had been arranging this for so long, investing so much time and effort; it couldn't just stand by and watch him die like that.
The aerial root ball flew out and crashed into the wall, but the Banyan Tree stubbornly held on. Before Lou Yu and his group could drive over, it dragged the half-destroyed Root ball into the alley.
Although the Root provided some protection, Tao Qiu was still seriously injured. Combined with the effects of the sleeping potion and the fragrance of the flowers, after hearing the screech of tires screeching against the ground, Tao Qiu's consciousness was plunged into darkness.
Tao Qiu didn't know how long he had been unconscious. When he woke up again, he heard the whistling wind and smelled the damp scent of grass and trees. The Banyan Tree had actually carried him to the wilderness and was still running wildly for his life.
He moved slightly, silently sensing the state of his body.
The effects of the sleeping potion and floral scent wore off, and his strength returned; he could grow larger at any time.
However, after weighing the options, Tao Qiu decided to maintain the status quo for now and wait for an opportunity to act.
After running for most of the day, the Banyan Tree, which had been running wildly, finally stopped.
The cage of Root spreads out, bathed in sunlight, a verdant expanse, but upon closer inspection, beneath the various grasses and vines lie the ruins of human-built structures.
The Banyan Tree must have known Tao Qiu had awakened all along. Now, dragging its broken trunk, it stood where what seemed to have been the top floor had been, gazing at the ruins below, and said enigmatically, "Do you know what this place is?"
Tao Qiu coughed twice, feigning weakness, "Do you think I should know?"
He was injured in the Shen Family's greenhouse, and later he and the Banyan Tree were beaten by Lou Yu. At this moment, his feathers were disheveled, and his whole body was covered in blood, looking like a plush toy that had just been picked out of a garbage dump.
The Banyan Tree seemed quite pleased with Tao Qiu's half-dead state. 'Still feeling dizzy and weak all over? The medicinal effects of that floral fragrance should last at least a week, and you've already inhaled so much. Only a day and a night has passed; there's still plenty of time.'
Tao Qiu feigned anger, her voice hoarse as she spoke, "Despicable and shameless."
"A human once said the same thing about me. His soul should still be in these ruins beneath our feet, killed by me too. After I eat you, you and he should have a lot in common to talk about."
Tao Qiu understood after a moment's thought and said sarcastically, "This place becoming like this is also your doing, isn't it?"
If the Banyan Tree had a face, its expression at this moment would be one of smug delight. 'Yes, the Central Base wasn't the first base I destroyed, and they weren't the first humans I deceived. Do you think a mutated monster who's practically illiterate could have helped the Shen Family develop the Awakening Reagent?'
Upon hearing Banyan Tree's words, Tao Qiu immediately recalled what Lou Yu had told him before: the successful development of the Awakening Reagent at Yong'an Base was inseparable from the research equipment and documents they had unearthed from the basement of a small base that had long been destroyed by mutated monsters.
When that small base was still there, it housed a highly capable research team. Based on the surviving data, it's certain that they developed the Awakening Reagent almost ten years earlier than the Shen Family.
When the small base was attacked by mutated monsters, the team that came to the aid of the Central Base included members of the Shen Family.
Then, the Shen Family, who had previously made little progress in scientific research, took the lead in developing the Awakening Reagent.
Could it be that the place he and the Banyan Tree are currently standing in is the ruins of that small base?
What the Banyan Tree said next confirmed Tao Qiu's guess.
'After the mutated monsters that besieged the human base retreated into the mountains, I witnessed the deaths of far too many of my kind. Although I had a premonition that I still had more than twenty years to live, I was still unwilling to simply wait for death to come.'
'Besides my ability to sense and absorb most of the beneficial energy in the world—a special ability—I can also store my consciousness in a section of Root. Even if it's severed from my physical body, it can find a place to re-take root and grow. So, I left the forest and came to this base.'
'Humans are really easy to fool. At the time, that research team was also studying whether it was possible to tame mutated monsters, so I sneaked into a bunch of plant seedlings and was personally raised by the researcher. By acting close to and loyal to him, he thought he had succeeded and even called himself my master.'
'They wanted humans to join their mutated army, so I guided them in researching Awakening Reagent. I not only volunteered all the materials I possessed, but also went into the wild with them, protecting them while helping them obtain more materials from higher-level mutated monsters.'
Upon hearing this, Tao Qiu understood. According to the timeline, the people who took the materials from the old Fox Clan chief back then were the researchers from the Banyan Tree and the small base.
The Banyan Tree's story continues.
The research quickly yielded impressive results, much to their delight. Unfortunately, my acting skills were still rather rudimentary at the time, and I was inadvertently discovered by a researcher claiming to be my master. They weren't prepared to abandon the Awakening Reagent research, but they had no intention of letting me go.
'I don't want to die, nor do I want my scheme to be exposed. To save myself, I have no choice but to open the gate, let in those mutated monsters that still crave human flesh, and devour them all...'
The Banyan Tree spoke with utter innocence, as if it were the true victim.
Tao Qiu rolled her eyes inwardly, speechless.
Tao Qiu could guess what happened next without the Banyan Tree saying it.
Using the condition that it could help the Shen Family research the Awakening Reagent, the Banyan Tree reached a cooperative agreement with the Shen Family Head who came to their rescue. It then secretly went to the Central Base and began another of its scams.
To secure her position at the Central Base, Banyan Tree must have destroyed all the experimental data before human support arrived. However, she didn't expect there to be a copy in the underground safe, which was later found by Lou Yu and his team.
Banyan Tree picked up the "dying" Tao Qiu and gently shook him. "The reason I brought you here is twofold. First, absorbing the energy from your flesh and blood will take time; the base isn't safe or suitable. Second, I wanted to revisit my first successful scam. You and the researchers at this base both shaped me at different stages. Having you die in the same place is a kind of fortuitous connection."
Tao Qiu was lifted into the air, which gave him a clear view of the Banyan Tree's current condition.
When the Shen Family's greenhouse was destroyed, only about two meters of its aerial roots escaped. Later, it was blasted by Lou Yu's supernatural power, and now only about one meter of its main root remains. It looks like a piece of unburnt firewood. Even the Root that is holding Tao Qiu is not newly grown.
Even if the Banyan Tree is a high-level mutated monster with the ability to absorb energy to grow, it will still experience a period of weakness once it is injured.
Even someone with Tao Qiu's powerful self-healing ability needs at least one or two days to fully recover from a serious injury.
Judging from the two battles at Yong'an Base and Shen Family Greenhouse, the Banyan Tree's main attack method is to continuously produce aerial roots, and using superpowers also requires physical strength and energy.
But look at it now, where is the strength and energy it still possesses?
Several of its Root buried in the shallow soil nearby; this is most likely how the plant-type mutated monster recovers.
Tao Qiu slowly raised her head, her pale green eyes looking at the Banyan Tree.
"You always talk a lot for a reason. In the greenhouse, it was so I could inhale enough fragrance. And this time? Are you not only out of energy, but also almost out of stamina? Are you afraid you won't be able to kill me in one blow, so you're using this time of idle chatter to recover your strength?"
"You chose to stop here not just to reminisce, but also because you discovered there are no high-level mutated monsters nearby. After you ate me, you need time to recover, and you need to make sure no mutated monsters attack you during this time... Am I right?"
The Banyan Tree did not answer; only the rustling of leaves in the wind could be heard around.
Tao Qiu chuckled softly, her voice no longer weak as before.
"Looks like you were...? I guessed right. Let me tell you something else. When you were lurking near the Yong'an Base and the valley, you must have investigated what abilities I have. But from what you just said about the effects of the flower fragrance lasting a long time in my body, I knew... you probably didn't hear... that I have a very strong self-healing ability."