Chapter 895
Chapter 895 - 881 Heaven, Earth, and Human
1,266 words
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7 min read
"Is this really safe, Meow? Really reliable? It won’t just swallow us whole, Meow..."
"...Do you have any other options? If not, follow quietly and don’t fidget."
The one speaking was Lu Ping’an, currently in a pitch-black cramped space.
But in fact, Lu Ping’an was with the frightened, balled-up Meow because he needed Meow’s ability to help him periodically "surface periscope" and ascertain the accuracy of their current position and direction.
Right now, at this moment, the two were actually moving underground, but not by their own abilities.
"Stay calm, don’t fidget, the space is too small... This is inside Mumu’s Clone, it’s under control, it won’t digest you."
"But why does it feel so much like a giant earthworm, Meow?"
"Of course, after all, this is from the same Biological Module..."
At this moment, in the underground filled with mud, a tiny "Energy-devouring Evil Sunflower" was speeding forward.
It wasn’t even a third the size of the smallest individual before, but it had a fairly stable overall structural integrity, resembling a burrowing earthworm, yet more akin to a train on rails.
Its movement inevitably caused a slight earthquake... but the seismic waves of its kind didn’t summon any lethal Hunters, those medium-to-large-sized Energy-devouring Evil Sunflowers that were everywhere.
Even though their skin, sensitive like radar, could feel the pulse of life forms and the ripples of falling stones from several kilometers away, the seismic waves of their own kind and the reality of feeling vibrations without an energy feedback led them subconsciously to regard it as a tiny Newborn.
Avoidance has limits; "misdirection" often works wonders.
And on the exterior of this speedily burrowing "little Demon sunflower," a Meow head would occasionally emerge as a spirit body to check the direction before continuing.
"Slow down, safety first, avoid areas where the Demon sunflowers gather..."
Lu Ping’an, holding Mumu, carefully communicated with his Magic Pet to control its Clone, avoiding those larger Energy-devouring Evil Sunflowers.
It wasn’t until they actually reached the underground that they became increasingly certain that this world was utterly beyond saving... Below, Energy-devouring Evil Sunflowers not only outnumbered those on the surface by a lot, but most were also larger and engaged in rapid self-replication (breeding).
They had no real natural predators left; they were simply waiting for an outbreak to complete their harvest of the world.
Presumably, the next round of "natural disaster outbreak" would inevitably consume this world completely.
Meow was somewhat afraid, attempting to break through on her own by high-speed burrowing with her abilities... but Spiritualization was also a kind of supernatural Abnormal Ability, which leaked energy and naturally attracted trouble.
Meow almost returned to its original form underground and became an unfortunate soul buried forever... In a sense, the Energy-devouring Evil Sunflowers indeed were natural predators of beings with Spiritualization abilities like Meow, but considering the Demon sunflower’s properties are against nature, most supernatural beings would probably regard them as natural predators.
But now, the temporary team could avoid most local dangers by using the "appearance" of this Energy-devouring Evil Sunflower.
[breeding (Lower Gold Rank): When Mumu absorbs an excess of Energy, she can transform the surplus Energy into ’Seed Clones’ and control them to a certain extent.]
This stemmed from Big Cat’s Blessing ability, but was in fact also Mumu’s core ability and the way she expelled excess absorbed Energy to avoid bursting (death), yet it also held great tactical value.
After all, she could produce more types of Seeds than anticipated...
[Heavenly Fruit (Upper Silver Rank): Digest a crystal leaf and transform it into a fruit-shaped quasi-energy creature.]
When Lu Ping’an saw this clone ability, he was a bit confused at first, but he instantly understood it after watching Mumu demonstrate.
"Isn’t this just like the Twisted Tree Spirit’s tree sons..."
From a distance, he tossed out a few "fruit clones" and then caught up with a target, followed by... Boom!
This was Chris’s design idea. Mumu integrated the absorbed energy into a collective body, a quasi-explosive energy fruit, and manipulated it to a limited extent... Considering its high instability after separation from the body, in most cases, it was a very useful live bomb.
[Tree-son (Upper Silver Rank): Divide one’s body, transforming it into a clone that inherits a part of one’s traits and abilities.]
This ability originated from the "Liu Zibei Set-ticket." The strength of the Tree-man clones was linked to the main body’s strength; at the moment, it wasn’t very useful... But if her strength increased, each clone possessing most of her traits would become a terrifyingly powerful legion of combat power.
After having the "Fruit" and "Tree Bark," the last clone ability was what she was currently relying on....
[Root of the Earth (Toxic Dragon that Devours Roots, Upper Silver Rank): Root into the ground, and the roots turn into ’Toxic Dragon’ clones.]
The name might seem confusing, but upon actual use, when a few small "Energy-devouring Evil Sunflowers" appeared, everything became clear.
Originally, Lu Ping’an only wanted a heavy close-combat unit, but now, guided by Big Cat and following significant additional investment, it had become a war machine, a close-combat unit accompanied by its own legion.
She had her own expendable clones, bombers proficient in breaching, and subterranean assassins from an Energy-devouring catastrophe... When fighting alone as a powerful close-combat unit, her clones could effectively compensate for her shortcomings in various aspects.
This final underground Toxic Dragon, appearing similar to an Energy-devouring Evil Sunflower, with abilities akin to it, just.....
"...even the disgusting sensation of being swallowed is no different from the real Energy-devouring Evil Sunflower."
Now, Lu Ping’an was traveling with Meow, hiding within this last "Toxic Dragon" clone deep underground, advancing rapidly.
However, since a Newborn’s ability to discern directions is virtually non-existent, and there were no maps in this world, they could only periodically surface using "Cat power" to accurately find the direction to their intended destination.
And this final cloning ability saved Lu Ping’an a lot of trouble... Originally, his contingency plan was rather passive, sharing Mumu’s "Energy-devouring" ability to evade the Energy-devouring Evil Sunflowers as much as possible.
He even had a backup plan, then Fang Wen would build a mechanical Energy-devouring Evil Sunflower, where he could sit inside and consume the overflowing energy... Mumu’s strength spared Lu Ping’an many troubles, as the failure rates of these backup plans were quite high.
Along the way, it was much smoother than expected. Almost all the Demon Sunflowers considered them as nutritionally deficient/undeveloped kin and paid no attention... and as long as humanoid creatures walked on the surface, Demon Sunflowers within several kilometers would rush over to welcome them,
"Go, another pit, how much have they actually dug out here."
But what hindered the team the most were actually the ones they were rescuing, and the messy underground pits they had dug.
For outsiders, digging pits isn’t scary, but what is terrifying is accidentally piercing the wall of an underground palace, leading to the palace losing its support and beginning to collapse sliding downwards.
Lu Ping’an nearly got buried underground several times by the pits he dug and was forced to pull out Meow to act as a periscope for early warning.
Even so, this underground world was much safer than above ground. As they moved on, they naturally reached the planned location—the lavish underground palace complex reserved by the Luka people!
— End of Chapter 895 —