Lichens were a symbiotic combination of algae and fungi.
Since fungi and algae were closely bound together for a long period of time, their shape, structure, physiology, and heredity formed their unique characteristics and appearance.
However, even though Meng Chao was familiar with hundreds of lichen plants, he had never seen such a strange lichen.
It grew really quickly.
When Meng Chao had scraped the tree trunk, he had scraped off the one-centimeter-thick lichen to reveal the black tree trunk.
But a few seconds later, the lichen on both sides squirmed and covered him. In fact, a dark green liquid flowed out of it, and with a speed visible to the naked eye, it enveloped the tree trunk.
It was as if Meng Chao had stuck his finger into a green ocean. No matter how hard he stirred it, he could not tear a single crack in the ocean.
Meng Chao narrowed his eyes and was about to activate the microscopic observation ability.
Suddenly, he felt pain at his fingertip. The lichen stuck to his finger hissed as if it was boiling.
Meng Chao lifted his finger and observed it carefully.
When he magnified his eyes to hundreds of times its normal size, he saw that the lichen he had scraped off was still highly active. Green tentacles that were as thin as hair shot out of it, and they looked like sprouts full of life. They were sniffing and poking around, wanting to tear open his skin and crawl into his warm flesh.
Meng Chao had spirit energy protecting his body, and his flesh was as tough as steel. Naturally, he was not afraid of the lichen's invasion.
But if he were a normal person or an ignorant wild beast, he might not be able to do so.
What would happen if a small amount of lichen crawled into his body?
Meng Chao remembered a scene the Piranha Squad had captured.
There were strange things that looked like venomous snakes, vines, and branches squirming in a Piranha Soldier's body.
When the captain had planned to force this thing into the soldier's arm and cut off his entire arm, it had tried to grow countless vines and moss to envelop his arm so that it would turn into an ugly creature that looked like a deformed spider.
'Wait.' Meng Chao suddenly realized that it was not moss.
At the very least, it was not just moss.
There was also the fat and greasy lichen that gave off the smell of rotting corpses.
Meng Chao snapped his fingers.
Spirit flames shot out of his fingertips and burned the lichen to a crisp.
However, as far as the eye could see, the entire forest was covered in lichens.
Judging from its growth rate, even if all the crystal ammunition that the expedition carried with them was used up, it would be impossible to completely burn them.
"Look, what's that?"
Suddenly, a member of the exploration team exclaimed.
Meng Chao and Long Feijun ran in the direction he pointed. They aimed their guns at the spots between the lichen-covered rocks, which were the spots with the thickest green color.
This place was like the 'nest' of lichens. Countless lichens gathered in the dark corners and formed precise spheres. They were so round that they did not seem to be natural creations.
The shells of some of the spheres had already exploded like ripened fruits, revealing the bright red pistils inside.
Something that looked like a pistil soared to the sky. It looked both like a weird fire and a ghost hand that had been skinned from below the ground. Everybody's mouth was dry and their body was cold.
"Blood Flower …"
Meng Chao mumbled.
He exchanged a glance with Long Feijun. They could both see the seriousness in each other's eyes.
Blood Flowers were the fungus-like creatures that humans found the most troublesome.
It was not an exaggeration to say that they were even more troublesome than quite a number of Apocalyptic Beasts.
Apocalyptic Beasts' individual offensive power was peerless, but they were huge, and they could only attack one spot at a time. Deity Realm superhumans could intercept them and fire railway guns at them.
The Blood Flowers themselves did not have a lot of offensive power, but they were elusive and could scatter with the wind. They could increase the monsters' fighting strength and increase the chances of them turning into the undead. They could also stimulate the mutation of the zombie virus, which would cause thousands of super zombies of all shapes and sizes to appear.
But the Blood Flowers growing in the depths of Hidden Fog in the middle of the strange lichens were the most lush and colorful ones Meng Chao had ever seen.
The lush green lichens and the blood-red Blood Flowers were two completely different colors. When they clashed against each other, they created a ghastly and terrifying feeling.
Meng Chao and Long Feijun took two steps back and nodded at the same time.
Two members of the exploration team with flamethrowers came forward and spat out Kindling mixed with monster bone powder and crystal powder.
The purple Kindling grew in the face of the storm. With the Blood Flowers as the center, it soon covered a circular area of one hundred meters.
In the raging flames, the Blood Flowers and the strange lichens grew faster and squirmed. They let out screeching sounds.
When the lichens by the side heard the sounds, they squirmed even faster. They were like waves that surged forward in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
But the strange fire was too fierce. With the strange lichens as fuel, it formed a wall of fire that burned all the way to the treetops, blocking even more lichens outside. In the end, the lichens and Blood Flowers inside the wall of fire were completely burned.
Meng Chao, Long Feijun, and the other members of the exploration team brought out a few syringes from the medical bags they carried with them.
They were vaccines.
They were also cell enhancers that could fight against Blood Flower spores.
Monsters were evolving, and so were humans.
Monsters could use biochemical technology to create Blood Flowers, zombie viruses, Deification Capsules, and thousands of other terrifying things.
Humans' "shields" and "armor" were also continuously being upgraded. They developed all sorts of vaccines and medical medicine. In fact, they could reverse the situation and extract the essence from the zombie viruses and Blood Flower spores to get rid of the negative effects that caused humans to go berserk and retain the ability to allow humans to surpass the limits of their lives.
Shick! Shick! Shick! Shick!
The exploration team members finished injecting each other. As the glistening yellow medicine was injected into their bodies, the cold and clear feeling brought them some psychological comfort.
"Look, there's something over there!"
The strange lichens and Blood Flower spores that had been burnt black suddenly revealed a bright silver object.
It looked a little familiar. It seemed to be some sort of metal component.
Meng Chao threw his chain saber.
The shining golden heavy saber tore through the burnt lichens and Blood Flowers with the precision of a scalpel, revealing the remains of a bunch of runic symbol machines.
Eight runic symbol machines that were missing limbs were piled up together, and it looked like a tomb.
There was a mechanical arm stuck in front of it, and it looked like a tombstone that had no words written on it.
"It's the temporary tomb Big Sis Ya and the others built!"
Meng Chao and the exploration team members felt their spirits lift.
Before Lu Siya disappeared, she had sent a video to the rear saying that they had found a cave based on the information left behind by the Piranhas. Inside it were the remains of the Piranhas who died.
When Lu Siya and the others discovered it, the remains had already been gnawed by pests until they were beyond recognition.
In order to prevent the remains of the victims from being further damaged, they dug an extremely deep grave and temporarily buried the victims. They planned to move the victims to the Cemetery of Martyrs after human beings occupied the Hidden Fog Desolate Domain.
"When Big Sis Ya and the others dug the temporary tomb, there weren't so many strange lichens and Blood Flower spores around it, or else, they wouldn't have chosen this place," Meng Chao mumbled.
"This means that the lichens and Blood Flower spores only grew after they left. No, they squirmed and migrated here.
"Could it be that they smelled the scent of human remains and wanted to eat our victims?
"Impossible. How much energy can a few human remains provide? Compared to the amount of energy needed for the lichens to travel such a long distance, it's not even worth mentioning.
"Or could it be that the strange lichens and Blood Flower spores are controlled by some sort of intelligent creature and are biochemical weapons of the mastermind of the monster civilization?"
When they realized this, the group could not help but wipe off their cold sweat. That was close.
Fortunately, they had arrived in time and burned all the lichens and Blood Flower spores around the tomb.
Otherwise, when the spores of the Blood Flower grew more prosperous, its hyphae would very likely extend to the underground and wrap the corpses of the victims, turning them into undead creatures.
The fighting strength of a few humanoid undead was not worth mentioning.
But the descendants did not want to see the corpses of human heroes being humiliated.
Unfortunately, they still had a mission to complete, so it was impossible for them to dig out the victims' remains and take them away.
They could only set up a trap around the tomb and place more than ten incendiary bombs that would explode at any moment.
If the lichens and Blood Flower spores spread over, they would burn them to ashes again.
The discovery of the tomb allowed them to match their current environment with the map drawn by Piranhas and Lu Siya's teams.
Based on the map, they confirmed their current coordinates and the path to the sinkhole. They also followed Lu Siya and the others' original path to escape from Hidden Fog.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely uproot all the strange lichens and Blood Flower spores and completely destroy the monster civilization!"
Long Feijun led everyone and saluted the tombstone with Dragon City's emblem carved on it.
At that moment, an explosion suddenly came from not far away, along with a lot of gunshots.
It came from the direction where Kun Peng had been forced to land!
The group looked at each other, and their hair stood on end. They quickly maintained their battle formation and returned to provide reinforcements to Kun Peng at the fastest speed possible.
But when they returned, the small-scale battle had already ended.
The exploration team members who guarded the portal were unharmed.
However, their faces and bodies were covered in steaming mud.
A group of monsters that were not big had fallen at the edge of the swamp. All of them had turned into hornet's nests.
The captain of the squad guarding the place said that one of Kun Peng's crystal engines had exploded just now, and it had ignited the methane in the depths of the swamp.
The biogas explosion startled some of the monsters, but they did not attack the humans. Instead, they fled in panic.
But the paranoid exploration team members treated them as moving targets.
"So, there are still some monsters here."
Long Feijun had two exploration team members drag back some monster carcasses.
Everyone cast their gazes on Meng Chao.
Everyone knew that he was a veteran harvester with great skills.
The role of coroner naturally belonged to him.
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