Geothermal ferns and caterpillars

Seeing that Chen Yu had already gotten out of the car.

The girls quickly followed.

But as soon as they stepped onto solid ground... the long-lasting warmth they had enjoyed made them extremely ill-adapted.

The freezing air was like fine ice needles pricking their exposed skin.

"Phew."

"Phew."

It was no exaggeration to say that Chen Yu's group was practically a bunch of walking white mist.

They drew the gaze of everyone outside the glacial crevice.

"Oh my gosh, it's way too cold, and the wind is so strong, it's howling."

Wang Mengmeng grumbled.

Li Mengyao also shivered uncontrollably: "Chen Yu, can we find that prototype machine a bit faster? If we really stay outside for twelve hours, I'll definitely freeze into a popsicle..."

Chen Yu, walking at the very front, said, "Mhm, look ahead."

As he spoke, everyone looked toward the crevice—

The entrance wasn't naturally formed; it looked more like it had been torn open, with jagged edges.

A narrow slope extended downward, leading into the dark depths.

The howling wind surged up from the bottom of the valley, whistling and swirling snow... "There's no light source down there, get your flashlights ready."

As Chen Yu spoke, he took a high-powered flashlight from his personal backpack and pressed the switch.

The beam pierced the thick darkness, illuminating the path ahead.

Without waiting for anyone, Chen Yu walked straight down.

Zhang Wanyue, Deng Yuxin, and the others immediately took out their flashlights, and the team began to move downward.

They were the first team brave enough to go down.

Seeing this, the other students looked at each other, hesitating.

"Holy crap, they... they really went down?"

"Isn't that too reckless? Who knows what's down there..."

"Just standing at the mouth of this cave looking in makes my legs go weak..."

"Stop arguing! What do we do now? Just stand here and watch?"

"Let's, let's wait and see a bit longer?"

"Right, right, wait, safety first..."

In the end, it was only the second night of the apocalypse.

Everyone hadn't fully adjusted to the rhythm yet.

It was normal to be timid and normal to be cautious.

But Chen Yu's experience told him that the first to act gains the advantage; the more one dawdles, the more likely things are to go wrong.

Of course, there was another team that dared to go down.

Wang Mengmeng recognized them as the Directing Department's team... "Chen Yu, there are only six people behind us..."

In the pitch black, there was only the light of the flashlights.

Li Mengyao tightly gripped Wang Mengmeng's arm, walking with stumbles.

Walking at the very front, Chen Yu spoke calmly, "Isn't that even better? Once we take the three prototype machines, we won't have to worry about this freezing disaster anymore."

After descending for about ten minutes, the passage opened up slightly.

But the temperature seemed to have dropped even further.

Chen Yu suddenly stopped, his beam of light freezing on the ice surface not far ahead.

There, several clusters of glimmering warm orange light shone stubbornly.

"Holy cow! geothermal ferns???"

Wang Mengmeng exclaimed in excitement; these were the treasures explicitly mentioned in the mission that could provide warmth!

The thick, fleshy leaves shimmered with luster, and the warmth they emitted caused a small circle of ice around them to melt into wet puddles, like a miracle!

"Encountering treasure as soon as we come down! It really pays to be the first one down!"

Almost simultaneously!

A hushed exclamation also came from behind and to the side!

It was the Directing Department's team!

They had also discovered the geothermal ferns. Their flashlight beams swept over chaotically, revealing faces turned blue and purple from the cold, yet filled with greed!

The atmosphere tensed up instantly!

geothermal ferns were not just portable heaters; they were also the key to resisting the Absolute Zero Wave. Everyone wanted them!

The Directing Department's team consisted of four men and two women!

The men were fairly strong, but the women were indeed not as good-looking as those from the Acting Department... "Grab them!"

One of the boys roared in a low voice and lunged toward the clusters of geothermal ferns!

"Chen Yu!"

Zhang Wanyue spoke up anxiously, seeing that Chen Yu wasn't in a hurry at all!

But Chen Yu waved his hand: "Wait and see."

He indeed wasn't in a hurry.

On one hand, possession isn't just about who grabs it first.

On the other hand, he felt it wasn't that simple.

And the facts were exactly as he expected... just as the boy's fingers were about to touch the geothermal ferns!

*Rustle rustle...*

A faint, dense sound suddenly came from deep within the rock crevices where the geothermal ferns were rooted!

Then, under the illumination of several flashlight beams!

Dozens of "caterpillars" as thick as arms swarmed out!

They had slender bodies with only a constantly opening and closing suction cup at the tip!

They were extremely fast and had a clear purpose!

They lunged straight at the boy reaching for the ferns!

This scene was enough to make one's scalp tingle!

"What the hell are those?!"

The boy was terrified and tried to pull his hand back, but it was too late... several of the nearest worms suddenly sprang up!

The suction cups attached to his exposed fingers with a "snap"!

"Ah—!"

A layer of white frost rapidly spread and continued up his arm!

He shook his arm frantically, but the worms were attached extremely firmly!

Under the flashlights, more worms were swarming toward him from all directions; the scene was terrifying to the extreme!

"Get away! Burn them! Worms are afraid of fire!"

His teammates were in a panic, pulling out lighters, but they couldn't get a flame at all!

"Help! Help!"

Chaos erupted instantly!

The people from the Directing Department's team no longer cared about gathering geothermal ferns and retreated in a panic!

They scrambled and crawled away to a distance!

They finally stopped seven or eight meters away from the geothermal ferns, which seemed to be a safe distance!

Clearly, they were deeply traumatized!

And the boy who had acted first had been abandoned... with several worms attached to him, he looked like he had been dead for a while.

"Chen Yu, are those caterpillars guarding the geothermal ferns?"

Nearby, Deng Yuxin asked seriously.

Chen Yu nodded: "Probably. Getting the geothermal ferns won't be easy..."

"Then what do we do?"

"Are we just going to watch and not be able to get them?"

Wang Mengmeng was a bit unwilling; she could feel the surging heat radiating from the geothermal ferns.

If they could get them, they probably wouldn't have to fear this icy world.

"Everyone, step back and turn off your flashlights, leaving only mine. I need to test a theory."

Zhang Wanyue suddenly spoke, while adjusting her flashlight to its weakest setting.

The brightness was only at a level... where one could barely see.

Chen Yu seemed to have thought of something as well and slowly turned off his flashlight.

Wang Mengmeng and the others followed suit.

After just a few seconds, everyone noticed that without the stimulation of the light beams, those transparent worms were once again attracted by the warmth of the geothermal ferns.

Most of them crawled back into the rock crevices around the fern clusters.

The boy's corpse was still being dragged.

However, the rock crevice wasn't wide enough for an adult's body to pass through, but the worms were incredibly strong, dragging the boy until he was a mangled mess of flesh and blood just to pull him back in.

In other words, the geothermal ferns were their lifeline, so naturally, they wouldn't give them up to anyone else... "Wh-what kind of monsters are these?"