Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the branches and leaves, bringing a touch of warmth to the damp forest.
But this good fortune didn't last long. Dark clouds gradually obscured the sun, and dense raindrops fell continuously, splattering onto the tips of the vegetation, forcing them to bend their slender bodies.
Thump.
A foot wearing combat boots stepped on the damp grass. Illumi's expression was grim. Ever since it started raining, he felt the atmosphere in this forest had changed.
"Be careful, I have a bad feeling."
Beyond was the same. He held up his palm, signaling everyone to slow down and proceed cautiously.
Ahead, five Avenger soldiers continuously swung their machetes, clearing the vegetation blocking their path so that Illumi and the others could pass easily.
Soon, the group of fifty, led by Sammy and his large ears, arrived at a river.
"It's a river. I wonder if the water is potable."
Sophia, a virus Hunter, squatted by the river. She pulled out an ampoule from her backpack, put on disposable protective gloves, and submerged the ampoule in the water. She withdrew it when it was about one-third full.
"Check it."
Illumi looked to his left. On Sloth's burly body, a cute boy sat, swinging his legs.
Beep, beep...
Pride received Illumi's order. He took out a tablet from the giant backpack on Sloth's back and tapped lightly on the screen.
Bang!
An Avenger soldier stepped directly into the river, bent down, and cupped some river water with one hand, standing still in a daze.
At this moment, on the screen of the Ranger Neuro-Mechanical Helmet, the water analysis data continuously changed, finally confirming it to be Class I water quality, meaning it was completely uncontaminated.
"Class I water quality, potable."
Pride responded to Illumi. At the same time, he lightly swiped his finger across the screen, making the Avenger soldier return to the shore.
Thud!
However, when the Avenger soldier returned to the shore, its steps paused. It raised its suppressed rifle and fired a shot into the water.
The gunshot instantly drew the attention of Beyond's group. They looked at the river beneath the Avenger soldier's feet, their expressions wary.
Pew, pew, pew...
But then the Avenger continuously fired at the water, emptying a clip in just five seconds. The Avenger quickly reloaded and was about to continue firing when...
"Let him come up. Don't waste bullets."
Illumi commanded. He had already seen what was in the water. Although the Avenger's backpack contained a lot of ammunition, there was no need to waste it on this kind of thing.
Under Pride's control, the Avenger soldier, ignoring the attacks from the water, directly stepped back onto the shore.
At this point, everyone saw that about ten vicious-looking fish were fiercely biting into the flesh of the Avenger's thick calves. After coming ashore, the Avenger drew a steel knife from its waist.
Hiss!
Streaks of light flashed. All the fish biting his leg were cut in half. The back halves fell to the ground, but the mouth halves still clung to his calf.
The Avenger soldier directly used the back of his knife to hit them off one by one onto the ground.
"Are those piranhas?"
A man wearing a baseball cap came to the Avenger soldier's side, squatted down, pulled out a dagger from his calf, and poked at the piranhas that had been cut in half.
"But they seem to be mutated."
This baseball-capped man was named Shepherd. He was a marine biologist Hunter in Beyond's team, specializing in researching various alien marine creatures and mutated organisms.
He pulled out a bottle from his backpack and put the mutated piranha corpses, cut in half, into it, planning to take them back for research.
"How do we cross the river? Do we clean up the piranhas first, or just cross the river like this?"
The baseball-capped man stood up and looked at Beyond.
"Don't worry about it. It's just some piranhas; the army will figure it out."
Beyond stroked his chin. They were the vanguard investigation team, and there was a thousand-person investigation team behind them. But even so, they shouldn't have to deal with such small problems.
After speaking, Beyond also glanced at Illumi and King Bradley.
"Let's go."
As Illumi spoke, his figure blurred and he instantly appeared on the opposite bank of the river.
"So fast."
Beyond's expression hardened, but as soon as his words fell, Sloth's figure also instantly vanished, appearing on the opposite river bank. And Pride, who was still sitting steadily on his shoulder even at such a speed.
"Hey, hey, his speed is fast enough, but why is that big guy's speed also so fast!?"
Sergio, with shoulder-length white hair, his cheeks twitching, pointed at Illumi, then pointed at Sloth, who had appeared on the opposite side. He twitched his lips and complained.
The others in the team also opened their mouths, looking stunned.
Bang!
And as he was complaining and others were surprised, the Avenger soldiers leaped high, easily crossing the five-meter-wide river with the help of their prosthetic limbs.
King Bradley and Greed also leaped across the river at the same time.
"Damn it, what kind of monsters are these?"
Sergio complained again. His body carried such a large supply backpack, yet he could jump several meters high with a light leap, which impressed him a bit.
"It must be because of those prosthetic limbs on their bodies."
Cervantes looked at the mechanical exoskeletons on the Avengers. He had learned about such things before, but those were ordinary prosthetic limbs, used to help disabled people walk normally.
"But the prosthetic limbs on these guys are probably already functioning as a simplified powered exoskeleton."
Cervantes's eyes were somewhat complex. He looked at Illumi and King Bradley on the other side of the river. With such advanced technology and weapons, what was their background?
Although their identities had been confirmed in the previous meeting, he felt that Illumi and the others were still shrouded in a mist, making it difficult to fathom them.
Beyond and the others leaped across the river one by one and continued forward.
Perhaps because this area was still near the coastline, the group of fifty walked for about twenty minutes without encountering any dangerous creatures, until they arrived at an area covered in colorful flowers.
Whether it was the ground or the surrounding vegetation, and even the thick tree trunks, various brightly colored flowers bloomed, extending as far as they could see.
"It's strange, isn't it? A sea of flowers in a primeval forest?"
A man looked at the sea of flowers in front of him, a smile on his face. Although he was smiling, he dared not take a single step into it.
"These flowers look very strange."
At this moment, a black-haired woman stepped forward to observe the flowers. She put on gloves, touched them, lifted the petals to look at the stems and roots beneath them, and even stepped into the sea of flowers.
"Why?" someone asked.
"They all look a bit different."
The black-haired woman was named Natalie. She was a biologist Hunter in Beyond's team, specializing in researching the life cycles of cell genetics.
She walked and lifted flowers, inspecting the stems and roots beneath them. Suddenly, Natalie lifted a flower and turned sideways, letting her companions see clearly.
"Look at these flowers; you definitely wouldn't say they're of the same species. But they all grow on the same branch. But in that case, they must be the same species, the same plant."
It turned out that there were no roots beneath those flowers; there were only branches, just like they were grafted.
"It feels like they're constantly mutating."
Natalie shook her head, squatted down, and carefully observed the flower branches. Her delicate brows were tightly furrowed.
"Is it a disease?"
Illumi walked past her and casually asked.
"Well..."
As Natalie spoke, she snapped off a flower from a branch. It had eight petals in total, and each petal had several different colors: blue, purple, dark purple, black, and so on.
"If it happened to a human, you'd definitely think it was a disease."
Natalie plucked a petal and put it in her backpack. She stood up and continued forward.
After walking for an unknown amount of time.
Thump, thump, thump...
Illumi and his group's footsteps instantly stopped. They turned to look back, their expressions grim.
"The gunshots are coming from where we passed."
King Bradley frowned, and Illumi's expression was calm. Greed looked excited. He had been calm all along, but his temper finally flared up.
Hiss, hiss~
At this moment, a buzzing sound came from their earphones, followed by Captain Orson's voice.
"Be careful, the sea of flowers will move. They will attack us!"
Illumi and Beyond's groups were startled, but at the same time, they had a question: why hadn't they been attacked?
Ten minutes ago...
The thousand-person investigation team behind them slowly passed through this area. They advanced cautiously, following the path Illumi and the others had taken.
"These flowers are interesting."
In the expert team, a doctor, estimated to be around thirty-five years old, squatted down, his gloved fingers touching the fresh flowers beneath his feet.
"Be careful."
"It's alright. Since the vanguard investigation team chose this path, it means these flowers are fine."
Someone beside him reminded him, but he chuckled and shook his head. He took out a jar from his backpack and lightly snapped off a petal, putting it into the jar.
Clatter, clatter...
And just as he put the petal into the jar, the originally peaceful sea of flowers suddenly stirred. A large number of branches moved secretly along the ground.
"Watch out!"
A soldier protecting the doctor shouted loudly and pulled the trigger behind the doctor. Fire shot from the muzzle.
Bang, bang, bang...
The dense gunshots scared the doctor so much that he slammed his head to the ground and knelt, unable to move.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a miserable scream echoed.
The doctor subconsciously looked up and saw that the soldier who had just fired at him was actually entangled by a large number of vine branches covered with fresh flowers. The branches tightly constricted the soldier's neck, hands, and feet.
Thump.
The soldier, tightly entangled by branches and vines, could not control his body's balance and fell to the ground.
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