115: Chapter 115 Mutant Apple Tree

"Holy crap! Brother Ze, you know what, there really might be a possibility like that!"

Fatty perks up instantly when he hears there are treasures.

"Haven't you read Tomato novels? Don't things like ten-thousand-year divine marrow and millennium divine herbs all have high-tier monster beasts guarding them?"

Chen Ze chuckles upon hearing this, but doesn't deny it.

There are countless attribute fruits in this forest; even if they aren't the mighty elixirs from those cultivation novels, they're probably high-level attribute fruits.

"Xingzhe Sun, do you know what the strength of the Four Beast Kings is like?"

It's impossible to say he isn't thinking about the core area, and Chen Ze also wants to take this opportunity to go and explore it.

But this question truly stumped the latter.

Xingzhe Sun is just an E-rank ordinary monkey; how could it ever come into contact with such terrifying existences as the Beast Kings?

It scratches its head and spreads its hands in a proper manner.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

This time, even Fatty understands its meaning.

"Great, even the local is confused this time."

Seeing this, Chen Ze smiles faintly and doesn't press further.

The secrets of the forest core are ultimately too distant; right now, the most urgent matters are the attribute fruits and D-rank beast core.

The two men and one monkey continue moving forward.

Even though their current strength is no longer what it used to be, they are still extremely cautious, constantly alert to the movements around them.

Passing through the bushes, they officially enter the forest area.

This area was originally occupied by the Mutant Ant; now that they have migrated away, it saves them a lot of trouble.

Chen Ze takes out the mysterious beast hide. The moment he spreads it out, tiny specks of light emerge, scattered, numbering around a few hundred.

But compared to the magnificent spectacle of lights filling the sky when they first entered the forest a few days ago, the current quantity is far, far fewer.

Chen Ze's gaze flickers slightly, looking at Xingzhe Sun on his shoulder, and he speaks softly.

"Xingzhe Sun, do you still remember the location of that apple tree?"

The latter scratches its monkey head, leaps down from his shoulder, and then swiftly climbs a giant ancient tree, darting to the treetop in the blink of an eye.

"Good grief, it was limping just a moment ago, but it climbs trees so nimbly!"

Fatty exclaims with emotion.

Before long, Xingzhe Sun comes down from the tree, squeaks twice at Chen Ze, and points his finger toward the depths of the forest.

"It's right over there!"

"Alright, then let's sneak over there!"

Chen Ze originally thought the apple tree's location shouldn't be too far, but this walk takes a full half hour.

Along the way, they see plenty of ordinary wild fruits, but only two locations with mutated plants.

One place has mutated yams, but unfortunately, the entire patch of land looks like it has been plowed over by a tiller.

Let alone yams; if it weren't for some withered stems, Chen Ze would have thought they accidentally wandered into someone's farmland.

Fatty refuses to give up and searches for half a day, but stubbornly fails to find even a single piece.

The other location is a walnut tree, which hasn't been destroyed here.

The ancient tree, a dozen meters high, has lush foliage, its thick branches extending in all directions, and dense greenish mutated walnuts hang all over the branches.

Chen Ze has Xingzhe Sun go up and pick a few. The moment they are in his hands, the system immediately sends a prompt.

[Item Name: Immature Mutated Walnut]

[Item Description: Edible, but has no enhancement effects.]

Damn! No wonder no Mutated Beast is occupying it; it turns out they aren't ripe yet after all this time!

Now he finally figures it out completely: mature mutated fruits with special buff effects are definitely highly sought-after, popular resources in this forest.

Being able to successfully obtain them the previous two times was purely hitting the jackpot.

Thinking back carefully, it really is true. When picking the mutated tomatoes back then, as soon as the fruits were in hand, swarms of Mutant Ants immediately attacked.

The time they harvested the mutated red dates, they also happened to catch the monkey troop's king fighting in chaos, and taking advantage of the various factions entangling with each other, he seized the opportunity to make a move.

"Xingzhe Sun, how much further is it! You couldn't have remembered wrong, could you?"

Fatty asks.

The latter gives Fatty a very human-like sideways glance, which serves as a response to his doubt.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

"It's right up ahead!"

Xingzhe Sun waves its hand impatiently and takes the lead with its E-rank short stick.

Sure enough, after walking less than a hundred meters, a crisp, sweet, and mellow fruit fragrance wafts through the air, rich and enticing, drifting over continuously through layers of forest trees.

"It's apples! That's right, it's this smell!"

Fatty's breath hitches, and joy wells up in his eyes.

"Be careful, there are quite a few Mutated Beasts around here!"

At this moment, on the mysterious beast hide, dense specks of light are clustered together, numbering at least several hundred.

"Good grief? So many?"

Fatty says in a lowered voice.

Chen Ze doesn't answer, simply making a gesture to continue moving forward.

Passing through several intertwined branches and vines, the view ahead suddenly opens up completely.

A large forest clearing quietly unfolds before their eyes. Right in the center of the clearing, a gigantic mutant apple tree rises abruptly from the ground.

The thick trunk is towering and straight, and the lush canopy blocks out the sky and sun. Among the layers of green leaves hang bright red, plump, translucent mutant apples. The mellow and sweet fruit aroma washes over them, making people unable to help feeling a stir in their hearts.

"Good grief! Such a big tree, how many fruits must it bear?"

Fatty's pupils shake slightly, subconsciously lowering his voice as he gazes at the canopy with eyes full of amazement.

Chen Ze is equally shocked.

Compared to the jujube tree occupied by the monkey troop, this apple tree can basically be considered a Plus version; whether it's the trunk volume, canopy coverage, or the quantity of fruit, it far exceeds the former.

"Chirp, chirp!"

"Screech!"

Right at this moment, a few bird calls interrupt their thoughts.

Chen Ze looks closely and only then notices that the lights shown on the mysterious beast hide earlier are actually all kinds of birds.

[System Prompt: E-rank Mutated Crow detected!]

[Three-Dimensional Stats: Strength 22, Agility 49, Constitution 33]

[System Prompt: E-rank Mutated Macaw detected!]

[Three-Dimensional Stats: Strength 47, Agility 44, Constitution 39]

[System Prompt: E-rank Mutated Sparrow detected!]

[Three-Dimensional Stats: Strength 33, Agility 50, Constitution 22]

...

The system prompt sound rings out continuously in Chen Ze's mind like a flood of messages.

In a short span of time, it actually reports over a dozen bird species, and basically all of them are at the E-rank level.

"Holy cow! I've never seen so many species even at the bird market before!"

Fatty's face is full of disbelief.

"Brother Ze, with so many birds, if we just pick a little bit, we shouldn't get attacked, right?"

Hearing this, Chen Ze shakes his head.

"Not necessarily!"

"Didn't you see? Those birds are all organized by ethnic groups, each occupying a small area. It's obvious they have reached a delicate, tacit balance!"

Reminded by Chen Ze, Fatty quickly narrows his eyes and looks closely into mid-air.

Sure enough, the flying birds across the sky are not only distinct from one another, but the stronger their strength, the more intentionally or unintentionally they lean toward the edges of their territory, seeming to constantly guard against a surprise attack from neighboring tribes.