Lan Jin swung her arm, releasing small bursts of electricity. One by one, the scattered little lizards collapsed onto the ground, twitching under the shocks.
Seeing the overwhelming difference in power, Lao Gao muttered helplessly, "I feel like… other than Sister Lan's ability, the rest of us are useless."
Lan Jin shook her head. "No. You just haven't learned how to use it properly."
Of course, Lan Jin herself had not truly mastered her own ability either. But the lightning element was naturally powerful, and ever since her energy had leveled up, her electricity surged with far greater force. To her, it felt like she had no real natural enemies anymore.
Still, the review she had mentioned before was important. Whether for herself or for the others, it was necessary. Now that they knew mutated creatures existed, they could not face future encounters as ignorant as before. Otherwise, every new battle against an unfamiliar monster would put them at a complete disadvantage.
No one would like that feeling.
At this, Huang Jinghe sighed with relief. "Thank goodness… thank goodness there are no zombies."
Brother Zhang gave a wry smile. "You really think these things are easier to deal with than zombies? Honestly, zombies would have been simpler."
Thinking about it, that did seem true. If they went back to that moment after eating the insect powder, when everyone had gone insane, then as long as someone had awakened an ability, they would not have been forced into such a passive situation.
But reality never bent to their wishes. In the end, surviving in this chaotic world at all was already more than enough.
…
Back to the matter at hand.
Once the little lizards were downed, Lao Gao and the other two immediately stepped forward. First, they checked the outer skin, but found no crystal stones. Then they cut open the bodies, searching inside.
Strangely, there were no crystals inside the little lizards either.
"That's not right," Brother Zhang frowned. "How can there be none? The big one had a crystal. By logic, the small ones should too… Don't tell me I was mistaken?"
But the moment Brother Zhang blinked, he spotted something. Wedged high up in the roof of one little lizard's mouth was a shining, plant-type tier-three crystal. He grinned. "Well, well. These things hid them deep."
No one had expected the crystals to grow in such a place. Soon, all six little lizards had their upper-palate crystals dug out.
But now came the problem of ownership. Brother Zhang hesitated. He had promised earlier that all loot would belong to the group. Yet plant-attribute crystals were unheard of in their base.
Still, when he thought about it, the four of them really had little use for plant crystals. So Brother Zhang asked, "Do you want these plant crystals? If not, I'll exchange with you."
Tier-three for tier-three. None of the four objected. Soon, Huang Jinghe swapped the six plant-type crystals for six water-type tier-three crystals.
After packing up, Brother Zhang checked his watch, then glanced at the darkening sky. He hesitated, then asked, "It's getting late. Should we blast the rest of the forest before going down, or leave it for tomorrow?"
Lan Jin replied, "We should pass another dense grove on the way back. Let's check it first. If time is enough, we destroy everything in one go. If not, then we come again tomorrow."
Lan Jin truly did not want to climb back up again. But not everything went as one wished. More importantly, safety had to come first.
Sure enough, once they walked a while further, the truth became clear. The half of the forest not yet bombed had plants far more active than when they first entered.
It was as if the vegetation sensed that their kin had been cut down, and now they thirsted for revenge. Along the short stretch of road, countless vines and brambles obstructed them, making every step painfully difficult.
Seeing this, Lan Jin gave a grim little laugh. "If we don't deal with this, I doubt we'll ever get out."
No sooner had she spoken than a web of vines appeared ahead, woven tight across their path.
Lan Jin recalled a story she had once heard. Flowers and grass had life too. They just could not speak. If you placed two identical plants before you, praised one daily, it would flourish. Insult the other, and it would wither quickly.
So, though they could not speak, plants could still hear.
Was this vine-web not proof? Did it not form here to catch them after hearing her words?
If it had been just vines, there would be no need to panic. But the moment the web formed, long sharp thorns sprouted along the smooth tendrils. Thorns that looked sharp enough to tear flesh and bone.
Brother Zhang, who had been leading, immediately pushed them back. Lao Gao stepped forward instead, unleashing his fire ability to hold the plants at bay.
Revenge-minded or not, plants still feared fire. Just as the thorned net was about to ensnare them, Lao Gao's flames flared, driving it back.
Seizing the chance, Huang Jinghe tied a small explosive to one vine, while Ling Jiang froze the area with her ice ability. Together, the five retreated, defending as they went.
When the thorned vines reached within a meter of them, Brother Zhang quickly pressed the button.
With a deafening boom, the vines halted mid-lash. Frozen in place, they hung stiff for a moment, then slumped lifelessly to the ground.
But the blast had been too close. The shockwave left all five staggering, and Brother Zhang coughed a mouthful of blood before collapsing, limp.
Lan Jin rushed to catch him. Seeing how drained he was, she glanced around, then said firmly, "Xiao Huang, the exit isn't far. Take Brother Zhang down. We'll blast the other two areas fast and follow."
Brother Zhang struggled, "But…"
"No buts. In this state, you'll only slow us down."
Lan Jin feared he would insist, and if something truly happened, she would have no way to explain to the team waiting below.
Knowing the seriousness, Huang Jinghe bent without argument and hefted Brother Zhang onto his back.
Huang Jinghe was immensely strong. Carrying Brother Zhang and their packs down the mountain posed no problem.
As they ran toward the exit, Lan Jin called after him, "Something feels wrong. Once you're down, get in the car immediately. When we come down, we leave at once."