Chapter 98: Chapter 98: The Mutant Plants Underground

Walking to the trap that killed the Blood Pattern Wolf, Xu Xin glanced at it before diverting his gaze.

…A bit disgusting.

This trap was excessively brutal. He thought it was the kind that spikes upward, but unexpectedly, spikes shot out from all directions, turning the Blood Pattern Wolf into a pincushion.

The passage was long, and after eight mutant beasts died stepping on traps, Xu Xin finally saw the second door not far away.

Along the way, besides the initial spike trap, they encountered traps like the crossbow arrow trap, high-temperature flame-jet trap, abyss trap, explosive trap, and a series of others. The mutant beasts leading the way were all tragically killed by the traps.

These traps were not as simple as imagined. The crossbow arrow trap involved countless arrows shooting out from the walls and the ceiling around the stone block, covering a vast area, leaving no room to hide. Even Chang Yin, who was closest, was affected, although the arrows didn’t harm him.

Xu Xin casually stuffed all the crossbow arrows he could find along the way into his backpack.

The high-temperature flame-jet trap spewed fierce flames from the ground, and not just from the trap brick, but all blocks within a 5*5 range, rendering escape impossible. The leading beast turned to ash instantly.

The abyss trap looked like a crack in a maze, appearing pitch-black and deep when looking down. Stepping on the trap brick caused all surrounding blocks in a 5*5 range to vanish, and the mutant beast wailed as it fell into the bottomless abyss.

The explosive trap was quite straightforward, not only with a fearsome explosion range but the massive blast left Xu Xin temporarily deaf. The fire blazed before his eyes, leaving him blind momentarily after getting used to darkness. Countless stone fragments shot out in all directions as if a huge fragmentation grenade exploded in the tunnel. If not for the statues in front blocking them, he might have been done for.

Finally, after countless trials, they made it out of the black-and-white tile area and neared the second door.

“No danger now, everyone can relax a bit,” Chang Yin retracted the beasts leading the way.

“Are you sure? Better have the beasts lead to the door,” Xu Xin was cautious, the traps were terrifying, and without caution, one wouldn’t even know how they died.

“That trap route has been passed, and the ground no longer sinks,” Chang Yin stomped the smooth ground. “Relax, it’s fine, I’ll lead the way.”

As they proceeded toward the second door, Chang Yin recounted the story of the second group of survivors who came to the dungeon. Although Chang Yin didn’t assist the second group directly, he observed them closely from behind.

He told Xu Xin that the group of survivors totaled nearly thirty people, a large number, but they all ended up dead on the trap-filled path.

If a small fraction was willing to sacrifice themselves, most could have made it out, but human nature being what it is, no one wanted to sacrifice themselves for others. Not only did they fail to cooperate, but they even turned on each other. The strongest in the group forced the weakest to test the traps, and others not only didn’t stop them but fueled the fire.

Ultimately, after several deaths, the last person forced to lead the way was driven mad, running wildly attempting to bring everyone down, triggering explosive mechanisms among the crowd.

Needless to say about those caught in the blast. Even the survivors who hung far back and weren’t directly affected by the explosions ended up pierced and injured by the countless fragments, culminating in the complete annihilation of this group on the trap-laden road.

Xu Xin remained silent. The result wasn’t really surprising, people are inherently selfish and, unless it’s for family, loved ones, or due to a special sense of duty, the vast majority won’t sacrifice themselves for strangers.

After the story concluded, they reached the second door, with Xu Xin giving a gentle push, and the door slowly opened.

The scene behind the door surprised Xu Xin. It was still an upward tunnel, the walls and ceiling stone-made, but the floor was soil. Soil in this dungeon, indeed.

“You survivors are truly remarkable, what is this power?” Though Chang Yin had seen it many times, he admired it each time, unable to budge the door that Xu Xin opened with ease.

“Not as remarkable as you. Alright, tell me what’s behind this second door, you guys were stuck at the third, right?” Xu Xin eyed the soil, activating his discernment ability.

He was amazed to find this soil wasn’t contaminated but rather graded and natural.

A glow of green emerged in his eyes, even a few blue dots.

“Fertile soil!” Xu Xin’s eyelids twitched; there’s actually fertile soil (blue) here!

Good thing he brought the shovel!

“This door has some oddities, last time we were here, the final stretch was simply impassable,” Chang Yin lamented. “Before that it was normal, just some mutant plants like vines and Cannibal Flowers attacking, which is manageable for us, but the last several meters were peculiar.”

Mutant underground creatures? Xu Xin suddenly recalled something, began analyzing the map in his mind.

“The last few meters can’t be called mutant plants, they’re mutant beasts, all intermediate or above, with some even reaching high levels. You must know high-level mutant beasts are something we can barely handle ourselves, impossible to lead the survivors to the next door.” Chang Yin grew increasingly frustrated. “Maybe this damned place simply doesn’t want us to leave.”

After reviewing the map, Xu Xin felt slightly relieved.

He had a conjecture about why the last stretch was particularly tough for the previous survivor.

The area Xu Xin was currently in was long beyond the three-kilometer range, with most of the trap-filled path already outside it.

If his protection radius is the same as others, I’m afraid that stepping onto this soil will attract powerful underground monsters emerging from the ground.

The survivor’s treehouse location isn’t the same as his, but it’s probably similar, all within this area. The last few dozen meters must be outside of his treehouse protection range, which is why so many difficult monsters appeared.

“Anyway, let’s give it a try first.” Xu Xin put on the iron armor suit from his backpack, grabbed his spear, and stepped through the gate, onto this soil.

The path wasn’t very long; at a glance, the gate ahead was only over two hundred meters away from Xu Xin.

No plants were growing on this soil; after all, it’s underground, without sunlight, where most plants can hardly thrive.

On Xu Xin’s shoulder, Keke woke up. Lying on Xu Xin’s shoulder, she rubbed her eyes.

“Woo!” Suddenly, Keke cried out and poked Xu Xin’s face.

Xu Xin knew that this was the sound indicating impending danger. He stepped back, and a vine as thick as an arm, covered in red thorns, emerged from where he had just been. Having anticipated it, Xu Xin impaled it with his spear, piercing the vine through.

The vine struggled a bit after being pierced by Xu Xin, and then suddenly became brittle, shattering all over the ground.

Just like on the surface, within the treehouse’s protection range, even underground, those attacking the treehouse’s guardians must pay with their lives.

“That’s right, that’s how it was last time too. It shattered as soon as it emerged, but the last few dozen meters were practically impossible to traverse.” Just as Chang Yin strained against a vine that had sprouted at his feet, he easily tore the vine out, ripping it into two.

Xu Xin looked at the Little Leopard following behind and pointed forward: “Go ahead and handle these mutant plants.”

The mutant leopard trailing behind Xu Xin nodded without hesitation, then sprang forward, sprinting rapidly as mutant vines and flowers emerged from the soil in its wake.

But the leopard was too fast; by the time these mutant plants emerged, the leopard had long gone ahead.

“Woo!” Keke was startled by the leopard’s speed.

As the fastest-running animal, it took less than ten seconds to reach the door two hundred meters away. Behind it, a line of mutant plants had been alarmed, emerging from the soil, unable to find a target of attack, merely circling in place.

Xu Xin couldn’t help but laugh at this sight. Before he could make a move, the leopard began to run back.

These mutant plants started attacking the leopard, but the leopard was too quick and agile, deftly dodging all attacks, returning to Xu Xin’s side in just a few seconds.

“Well done!” Xu Xin praised.

The leopard raised its head proudly and lay back down at Xu Xin’s feet.

Looking ahead, Xu Xin noticed that those plants that had attacked the leopard remained frozen in their attacking poses, reminiscent of how the Copper Box Vine attacked him during jungle exploration.

“Turned into onion rings?” Xu Xin pulled out a crossbow and fired at the nearest mutant plant.

The crossbow arrow precisely hit the stem of this giant pitcher plant, snapping it with a crack; the arm-thick stem broke instantly, and the huge leaves used for trapping prey fell to the ground in pieces.

“Is this… settled? Why aren’t any high-level mutant monsters appearing near the gate? This is different from last time.” Chang Yin’s voice was full of surprise and a faint quiver of joy.

Xu Xin reloaded, firing at a vine in the distance, which, too, shattered immediately.

“Little Leopard, run again.” Xu Xin told the leopard behind him.

Unhappy with the nickname “Little Leopard,” the mutant leopard grumbled but still followed Xu Xin’s command, dashing back and forth.

This time, only a few stray mutant plants emerged, which the leopard swiftly crushed with its paws.

“Looks like there’s no danger; let’s go.” Xu Xin smiled. To him, this third stage was a breeze.

“This, this…” The Chang Yin Family looked at each other, puzzled, but still followed Xu Xin forward.

Passing by those completely brittle mutant plants, Xu Xin used his iron sword to cut them all apart. It’s always wise to finish them off, just in case they somehow revive.

Using his identifying ability, Xu Xin shoveled two fertile plots of soil (blue) within the area, packing them into his backpack. Unexpectedly, the dungeon had soil resources–this was an unexpected delight.

Ultimately, without any danger, Xu Xin and his group reached the third door.