Chapter 237 Psychedelic Forest
At nine o'clock in the evening, dark clouds covered the moon.
Su Xia drove the mecha across the dark sky, leaving a long tail.
The destination was just ahead. It was a low-lying forest area with dense and tall vegetation. Under the cover of night, the vegetation was connected into one piece, and it was impossible to see what was inside clearly.
The mecha slowly slowed down and landed on a small hill outside the destination. The heavy mechanical body crushed many bushes, and its alloy legs dug deeply into the dead branches and leaves on the ground.
“Quack…quack…”
A resting frog was scared away and croaked before jumping away.
Lights lit up on the left and right sides of the mecha's mechanical helmet, and the orange-yellow light illuminated the area in front of it, spreading until it was swallowed up by the jungle shrouded in deep darkness.
Countless dark red data appeared in front of Su Xia's eyes.
The surrounding dead leaves, fallen trees, flowers, plants, mushrooms, etc. appeared in his eyes one by one, and each plant and animal was followed by a different annotation.
In the task bar, the rescue mission still has not disappeared.
This means that Longcheng's exploration team is still trapped in the dangerous area ahead.
Su Xia turned on the mecha's weapon system, selected [Flare] and [Flare], and clicked to launch.
"call out--"
"call out--"
Two bullets instantly rose into the air, making sharp sounds under the night sky, and flew towards the dark sky in the front left and right respectively, illuminating an area each.
Su Xia stood there, waiting quietly.
If the people in Longcheng can see it, it means they are not far from the periphery of the danger zone, and the rescue operation will be quite easy, which is equivalent to a free mission reward.
But after waiting for several minutes, there was no response.
Su Xia activated the power system again, controlled the mecha, and flew into the sky.
“Buzz!”
The orange and blue tail flames are particularly dazzling under the night sky.
The mecha was moving at an extremely fast speed, causing a series of explosions in the sky above the danger zone.
Su Xia selected several high-explosive bombs in the weapon system, calculated the time, and released them over the area.
Boom! Boom!
More than a dozen bombs exploded in mid-air. The explosion was earth-shaking and powerful. The instantaneous flames illuminated the entire night sky, and the rising smoke looked like white mushrooms.
This horrifying sound and vibration should be felt by any living creature in the nearby area.
As expected, in the mountains and forests in the normal area in the distance, countless resting birds were awakened, flapping their wings and taking off in the jungle, flying to farther places.
"roar--"
From deep within the dark hills, there were a few sporadic roars of wild beasts.
The animals were all alarmed and either fled in all directions or huddled in their caves trembling.
For many animals with low intelligence, the sound of the explosion is similar to the thunder on a stormy night, which is the power of nature.
Su Xia hovered above the dangerous area formed by the alien plants, waiting quietly, hoping that the people of Longcheng could give an answer.
However, after a few minutes, no one responded.
Those members of the Dragon City exploration team who were trapped deep in the jungle seemed to have disappeared.
Su Xia flew to another area, turned on the weapon system, and looked for a moment at the various weapons carried by the mecha, but ultimately chose not to continue firing.
This area is so large that you can't see the end of it at a glance. Even if all the weapons in this mecha are fired, there may be no response.
【landing】
Su Xia controlled the mecha and slowly descended to the periphery of the alien plant area, intending to go in and take a look.
He released most of the nanobots and let them search around.
[Searching for traces of human survival ...]
【search……】
【……】
These little robots are loyal and reassuring.
Su Xia also gradually went deeper, at a neither fast nor slow pace.
When the spacecraft crashed, the prize cabin and part of the plant cultivation cabin fell into this area, and various alien plant seeds in the cabin took root and sprouted.
The climate of this planet is very suitable for plant growth.
This place is located in the southwest of the continent. Before the war, it was endless mountains with little human activity.
Over the past two decades, these alien plants have spread across the area like a cancer, occupying the sunlight, water, soil and space of other local plants, growing wildly and frantically devouring every inch of soil, with almost no natural enemies to restrain them.
“Invasive species?”
Su Xia thought of this word and felt that it was very suitable to describe these alien plants.
If it is not controlled, in a few years, perhaps the entire southwestern mountainous area will be swallowed up by these plants and become a terrifying and silent forbidden area.
By then, many resistance groups hiding in the mountains had to leave.
Normal humans cannot withstand the toxicity of these plants.
Su Xia noticed that in the outer area, alien plants and local plants were still growing together, and not every alien plant was poisonous.
Except for the ones Hal mentioned, all other plants are normal.
[Blue bellflower: a kind of bellflower that blooms all year round. It was discovered by a human exploration team more than a thousand years ago. It has very high environmental requirements and cannot survive in heavily polluted areas. On some civilized planets, it is often used as a soil and water testing plant.]
[The petals are blue or dark blue, and emit blue fluorescence at night]
As soon as she entered the area, a flower emitting blue fluorescence attracted Su Xia's attention.
These flowers are like blue wind chimes, clustered together, with more than a dozen flowers in each cluster. They sway gently in the night breeze, like the rolling blue waves, beautiful and moving.
Su Xia opened the screenshot function that came with the game system and took a few screenshots of the scene in front of her.
If discovered by players, this place will probably become one of the popular check-in spots in the game.
Of course, at this stage, players do not have the ability to cross the mountains and jungles, and the various high-level beasts in the mountains are enough to give them a hard time.
Su Xia continued to move forward, and under the illumination of the soft blue fluorescence, one special alien plant after another appeared in his eyes.
He seemed to have walked into another world.
[Death Pepper: It is much spicier than ordinary peppers. It is a plant that challenges the limits of biological taste. It was discovered by the Ace people of the "Ace Civilization" in the starry sky]
[Note: The Ace civilization is a civilization that emerged from an extremely cold planet. The humans in this civilization are generally tall and fat, with a thick layer of fat and hair that has not fallen off. They are similar to the snow monsters and snowmen in many strange legends.]
【……】
[Black Tango: Plants with musical cells can sway to the rhythm of music]
[Hat grass: When mature, it grows into the shape of a hat and is loved by many children]
[Sweet Palm Tree: The fruit resembles a human palm and is extremely high in sugar...]
【……】
Su Xia stopped moving forward and after confirming that there was no danger around, he temporarily left the mecha and collected some samples of various alien plants around him for future research.
Perhaps it was his natural adventurous nature that made him try taking a bite of the death pepper.
"call……"
A spicy feeling rushed straight to my head, my blood boiled, sweat covered my forehead, and my whole body felt like it was on fire.
Su Xia immediately took out a few bags of pure milk and drank them in big gulps.
However, after drinking two bags of milk, the spicy feeling still did not go away. It seemed to stick in his mouth and esophagus, burning him with pain, as if he had drunk some corrosive liquid.
"Aliens are just so strong..."
Su Xia exhaled several times and could already imagine how powerful the Ace civilization was.
At this time, the system sent him a prompt.
[Maybe you should try the sweet palm tree fruit next to it]
Seeing this hint, Su Xia took action immediately and reached out to pick fruit from a small tree nearby.
This small tree is only about one meter tall, but it has strong branches and is laden with fruits. The red and green fruits, the size of a child's palm, fill the treetops.
“Crack!”
Su Xia took a bite and it was crisp and sweet, with a fragrance mixed with mango and peach. The juice exploded in her mouth, instantly relieving the spiciness brought by the death pepper.
To deal with alien stuff, we have to rely on another kind of alien.
He ate the fruit in two bites, leaving only a coin-sized core. He was still not satisfied, so he picked all the dozens of fruits on the tree with a wave of his hand.
There were still some fruit trees around, but time was tight, so Su Xia did not continue picking and returned to the mecha to continue searching.
at this time……
Shi Sishi and others are on their way.
“Buzz——”
The tall mecha began to move, with orange lights illuminating the front, and slowly moved deeper into the area occupied by alien plants.
The further you go in, the more alien plants appear.
"With so many strange plants, didn't the Dragon City Exploration Team find anything unusual?" Su Xia couldn't help but think, "Did they not notice it because they were in a hurry? Or is it that there weren't many abnormal plants in the place where they entered the jungle?"
Logically speaking, those guys from Longcheng Academy are all really talented.
With their knowledge, they shouldn't be so careless unless there is a problem within the expedition team.
The danger level in the periphery is not high. Some small animals can be seen roaming around. These plant fruits from alien space also provide rich food for the small animals.
After walking for more than ten minutes, Su Xia finally saw a plant that Hal had told him to be careful of.
Withered vines.
[You have discovered the dangerous plant "withered vines", please be vigilant and take precautions]
This kind of vine is almost identical to the illustration in the "Star Encyclopedia". It is gray-black all over and has many wrinkles on the surface. Many of them hang down from trees. They look like ordinary withered vines and have a strong camouflage ability.
Only when you look closely can you discover that its surface is covered with a sticky liquid.
Some of the vines are full of dark red fruits.
The surface of these fruits is bumpy and they look a bit like sweet potatoes. Some of them have bite marks left by animals.
The animals here must have adapted over the years and know that the vines of this plant are poisonous but the fruits are edible, so they carefully avoid the vines.
Su Xia saw with his own eyes that a wild boar grunted as it gnawed four or five fruits in a row. Its movements were agile and not even a trace of venom was touched. Its cool appearance reminded him of Pumbaa in "The Lion King".
After a while, Su Xia suddenly heard the wailing of a small animal.
"na...na..."
In the area illuminated by the mecha's orange-yellow light, a weak fawn appeared.
The little deer was stuck on the vines, with half of its body stuck and unable to break free.
“This is what a deer sounds like.”
Su Xia left the mecha, made sure there was no major danger around, and walked over on the dead leaves on the ground.
Seeing him appear, the deer's cry became more urgent and its struggle became more intense.
After getting closer, Su Xia grabbed the deer's legs and pulled hard. The sticky part of its body and the vines actually pulled out translucent silk threads.
The mucus secreted by this vine is incredibly sticky.
"na...na...na..."
The little deer felt pain and cried out louder, struggling desperately, the sound giving people a two-dimensional feeling.
After Su Xia pulled it open with force, she found that the skin at the contact point had begun to ulcerate and the wound area was very large.
He took out a needle of healing potion, injected it directly into the deer, and then threw it away.
“Bang!”
The little deer was obviously frightened. After it was freed, it ran away immediately. Its four hooves flew so fast that it disappeared in an instant.
Su Xia stood where she was, carefully observing the fruits on the vine with the help of the mecha's light.
The more you look at it, the more it looks like a sweet potato.
It’s just that sweet potatoes grow in the ground.
He picked a fruit and took a bite. Even the taste of its rawness with a hint of sweetness was similar to that of sweet potato.
Su Xia ate a lot of raw sweet potatoes when she was a child. At that time, her family was poor and she was hungry, so there was nothing she could do.
Our family is not poor now, because our entire home is gone.
“Crack…Crack…”
He tore off more than ten fruits, threw them into the storage space, then returned to the mecha and continued moving forward.
Just like that, after advancing for nearly two hours in the strange dark jungle full of various alien plants, several nanorobots in the distance finally fed back useful information to Su Xia.
[Many repeated knife marks were found, which may be the marks of getting lost in the jungle]
Su Xia immediately rushed over to check.
In that area, knife marks can be found on a large tree at regular intervals.
The knife marks were still fresh, having been made recently.
It was obvious that someone had gotten lost here and was trying to use these traces to remind himself and find his way.
It is difficult to tell the direction in the jungle and you can't see the sunlight when you look up, so it is normal for ordinary people to get lost.
[Found a pile of ashes]
[Discovering the skeleton of a wild animal]
【Discover toilet paper】
【Discover the candy wrapper...】
【……】
Under a large tree with scratches, Su Xia saw traces of a campfire.
The fallen leaves around here have been cleared away, revealing the bare ground. The person who lit the fire obviously didn't want to cause a forest fire. There were some cleanly eaten animal bones around the ashes.
"Strange, just a trace of a person's existence."
Su Xia observed carefully and found something unusual.
"The Dragon City exploration team consisted of nearly a hundred people. It is impossible that the traces they left behind were limited to these few, unless they got separated in this forest."
Many news stories about people getting lost, losing contact, and dying in the jungle emerged in Su Xia's mind.
Even for professionals, once they go missing in the remote mountains and forests, the hope of returning alive is very slim.
There is no other way at the moment, we can only search along the knife marks on the tree trunk.
Time passed slowly, and more than an hour passed.
It's already past midnight.
Just when Su Xia was about to log off to have a midnight snack, he finally made a breakthrough.
[An adult human was found, suspected to be in hallucination]
[There are a lot of psychedelic soul grass growing in this area, please pay attention to safety]
Based on the feedback from the nanorobots, Su Xia prepared the antidote in advance and slowly approached the area.
There was indeed a human being in that area.
An adult man in his thirties, with short black hair, ordinary facial features, and ordinary clothes. He looks like an ordinary person. He is completely inconspicuous in the crowd and you can't remember him even after looking at him several times.
He seemed to be sleepwalking, his eyes slightly closed, walking aimlessly in the area, mumbling to himself.
"Psychic power, war, death, massacre..."
"It turned out to be just a dream..."
"Elementary school classroom...school..."
“…”
This guy was poisoned and hallucinating, unable to extricate himself, wandering around the area in confusion.
Judging from the words he said, he was probably back in his elementary school classroom in the hallucination, thinking that everything he had experienced over the years was just a dream.
If no one helps him, he will probably be forever obsessed with these illusions until his death, and become the nourishment of these psychedelic soul grasses.
Unfortunately, dreams must eventually end.
