23: Natural disasters, man-made calamities!

No one would doubt humanity's armed forces on the surface.

In everyone's eyes, those immobile plants were simply the clumsiest targets.

Until—a certain type of moving plant appeared.

The Rain Water ultimately seeped into the ground.

And below the surface, plants also existed.

And this type of plant deservedly became the ultimate beneficiary of the Beginning of Spring rain.

"Judging from the video footage from the scene, it seems to be some kind of vine!"

Li Qing, who was attending the video conference, spoke softly.

He rubbed his temples; it was late at night again. Ever since the Beginning of Spring rain, he had barely had any time to sleep.

One emergency after another was relentlessly draining his energy.

He had planned to catch some sleep today, but unexpectedly, a major incident had occurred in the Yunnan-Guizhou Region mountains.

A type of moving plant, hidden underground, had begun fighting the mechanical army.

And judging by its combat power;

The mechanical army seemed a bit ill-adapted to the environment, as the opponent was underground after all.

They hadn't failed to use bunker busters to bomb the area.

But failing to find the core of this plant meant all efforts were in vain.

"Soon, remnants of this vine will be delivered to all your Research Institutes," said the person seated in the main position in the video.

"The Imperial Capital here suspects it's a vine. Everyone study it and examine its characteristics."

Upon hearing this.

The heads of over a dozen Research Institutes across Great Xia all nodded.

"Alright, the meeting is adjourned for now. Please draw your conclusions after you receive the remnants."

Finally, the video conference ended.

Very soon.

A military plane landed at the Suzhou and Hangzhou airport.

Heihu successfully received the sample.

Li Qing immediately began his research after receiving it.

He was puzzled: why wasn't it transported sealed?

He then placed it in a sealed container to operate on it.

First, he moistened it with water.

However, something terrifying happened.

This remnant moved!

"It's alive!"

In an instant, Li Qing was shocked.

This remnant, as hard as an old tree root, was actually alive.

Furthermore, right before his eyes, it absorbed moisture and grew thread-like structures.

It was growing.

Growth in this state...

If so, its main body must belong to...

mycelium!

"Damn it!"

Li Qing immediately took off the gloves he was using inside the sealed container.

He made a call to the Imperial Capital and immediately roared;

"That's mycelium!"

"It's alive! Notify everyone that they must handle it inside a sealed container, otherwise—"

Before he could finish, Li Qing was horrified.

The remnant wasn't in a sealed environment when it reached him!

The person on the other end was first stunned, then their voice was almost a sob;

"It's... it's too late. No one thought the remnant was mycelium, and it wasn't transported in a sealed environment—"

"It's over!"

The phone slipped directly from Li Qing's hand.

The mutated mycelium from the Yunnan-Guizhou Region, spread across the country due to human action—a Natural Disaster!

Man-Made Calamity!

---The laboratory was silent as a ghost domain.

Li Qing looked at the mycelium in the sealed container, trembling all over.

Actually, this couldn't be blamed on anyone.

mycelium has its own form, but under this mutation, this mycelium resembled a vine. Furthermore, the remnant they received had been retrieved from a massive fire.

Logically, if it were mycelium, it should have been cooked.

Unfortunately.

This matter defied common sense.

A boiled egg might really turn into a chick!

Damn it, it was impossible to guard against!

"Director, what's wrong?"

Heihu heard the sound of the phone dropping and hurried in to ask.

Li Qing frowned deeply.

What was done was done; anger was useless.

mycelium spores had already drifted into the air, and after absorbing moisture, they would rapidly grow and expand.

Moreover, the characteristic of mycelium is that even if only a tiny bit remains, it will regenerate.

It was nearly impossible to completely eradicate it on a physical level.

In that case, there was only one path.

Potion!

A potion specifically designed to counteract it, dissolving it into the water system. As long as the potion's lethality was strong enough, even if the mycelium spread nationwide underground, it could be completely killed!

"Prepare yourselves, I need to initiate a video conference."

Li Qing said.

The atmosphere in the video conference was heavy; everyone must have discovered the problem.

Therefore, the core of the subsequent discussion was the potion.

[Within three steps, there must be an antidote]

This ancient proverb became the central focus.

Finally.

Only the person who tied the bell can untie it.

Head towards the Yunnan-Guizhou Region!

---"Ye Su, the official sector has a very important mission right now. Do you want to participate?"

Zhang Hui quickly sent a message to Ye Su.

The headset was still in use, but Zhang Hui generally wouldn't disturb Ye Su.

"What mission?" Ye Su asked.

He figured he should first inquire about the official details; participation could be decided later.

Zhang Hui, however, didn't immediately mention the mission but instead talked about another aspect of merit;

"Here's the thing: the official sector will always issue missions, but they won't let you do them for nothing."

"Therefore, a system for merit rewards has been established."

"Currently, it's divided into Minor Merits and Major Merits."

"The value of a Minor Merit can be calculated monetarily: one Minor Merit is worth one million. As long as you participate in a mission, regardless of the outcome, the minimum reward is one Minor Merit."

"Next is the Major Merit. A Major Merit is valued at ten million."

"Of course, using merit to exchange for money is a loss. I will give you a table later that lists the merit exchange rates."

---Zhang Hui explained clearly that this was essentially an official bounty system.

One point was particularly interesting.

Major Merits could be exchanged for items on the Minor Merit exchange list, but Minor Merits could not be exchanged for items on the Major Merit exchange list.

And the truly striking item on the Major Merit exchange list was;

light orbs treasure chest!

It's safe to say that trying to accumulate Minor Merits by mixing in with the crowd to exchange for the truly high-value light orbs treasure chest was completely out of the question.

In addition to that.

At the very top of the Major Merit exchange list was, surprisingly, a Divine Weapon worth 10 Major Merits!

Holy cow.

The state apparatus really is something else.

They have resources.

"The reward system is quite comprehensive. Now, tell me about the mission?"

Ye Su said.

"Alright, this mission is to head to the Yunnan-Guizhou Region mountains to investigate something that can counteract a certain type of mycelium. Just for going, the minimum reward is one Major Merit."

Zhang Hui said.

Minimum of one Major Merit.

Such a high premium?

Then the danger of this mission—'mycelium?'

'Holy crap, mycelium!'

'On top of the plant mutation, mycelium is practically cheating!'

'For the official sector to offer such a high reward for this mission, doesn't that mean even they find it tricky?'

"Zhang Hui, honestly, is that mycelium something even the official sector can't handle?" Ye Su asked.

Zhang Hui was startled for a moment, then said;

"The situation is worse. Due to some reason, this mycelium has already spread across the entire country."

Ye Su was instantly stunned.

Natural Disaster!

Man-Made Calamity!

"Spread nationwide? What about Suzhou and Hangzhou?" Ye Su asked.

To ensure he could still receive future letters, Ye Su was very concerned about the safety of Suzhou and Hangzhou.

What if he wasn't in Suzhou and Hangzhou anymore and couldn't receive future letters?

"Suzhou and Hangzhou is included in that list."

"Heh heh... I accept."

Ye Su shook his head and gave a wry smile.