79: Military investigation

After speaking, the pilot detected no other Advanced monsters nearby and landed the warplane in an open area close by.

The two members cautiously approached the massive fungal nest, stopping roughly at the entrance of the residential complex.

The pair, dressed in protective suits, peered inside with binoculars, observing the movements of the creatures within.

When viewing it from the warplane earlier, it didn't seem like much; at most, one might have thought the fungal nest building was exceptionally large.

But now, seeing the appearance of the fungal nest up close, a chill rose in both of their hearts.

It clearly had the appearance of a residential building, yet its outer walls were covered in flesh and blood.

"Old Wang, how can there be a fungus as miraculous yet disgusting as this? These chunks look like meat that was just sliced with a kitchen knife. Could this thing also be a result of mutation and evolution?"

Of the two, one Soldier who was taller and more robust swallowed hard and asked with confusion.

"Isn't that a stupid question? Humans, as well as other animals and plants, can evolve because of the rr virus, so why would it be strange for a fungus to evolve? Just treat it as a mutated mushroom."

The other, slightly shorter Soldier replied. Though called short, he was still 1.8 meters tall, but he appeared small in comparison to the two-meter-tall giant beside him.

"True, what you say makes sense."

The tall Soldier laughed heartily.

"Before the outbreak of the rr virus, the world's largest mushroom existed in Ohio, America. It covered an area of 9 million square meters, and its Mycelium could extend beyond 23 million square meters."

"After genetic evolution, that giant mushroom in America is even more exaggerated in size; it has expanded to a hundred times its original size, and the maximum range of its Mycelium has even come to occupy one-fifth of the total area of Ohio."

"Many plants and monsters feed on this mushroom and its Mycelium, which to a certain extent reduces the rate of monster invasions into human cities in Ohio."

The shorter Soldier spoke eloquently, and the tall Soldier nodded repeatedly as he listened.

"Let's first observe whether this thing will attack proactively."

The shorter Soldier suggested.

"Attack what?"

The tall Soldier made a cheeky, witty remark.

But the shorter Soldier ignored the tall Soldier's lame joke and took a remote-controlled car out of his tactical backpack, driving it toward the location of the fungal nest.

Driving for about 500 meters, the remote-controlled car arrived in front of the fungal nest.

The shorter Soldier watched it at close range through the screen on the controller, his breathing becoming somewhat rapid.

The remote-controlled car cruised around the perimeter and then discovered the location of the gate to the fungal structure.

The entrance seemed to be covered by a thin, blood-colored membrane. Through the membrane, one could vaguely see the scene inside the building.

The shorter Soldier operated the remote-controlled car and pressed a button; a small laser emitter extended from the car's body.

He carefully cut a hole in the membrane just large enough for the remote-controlled car to enter, wanting to go inside the building for a detailed inspection.

The scene inside was even more shocking to him.

All the architectural structures, including the walls, floors, and ceilings, appeared to the shorter Soldier to be composed of living, pulsing flesh, organs, mucous membranes, and nerve bundles.

They seemed to have a life of their own; their surfaces appeared stained with blood, looking exceptionally moist. Dense, blood-red Mycelium loomed in and out of sight like blood vessels, and they even twitched slightly.

The state of these flesh buildings was like rotting, diseased, suppurating putrid meat; the surface flesh was covered in ulcers, and there were mysterious secretions from the wounds.

Even through the screen, the shorter Soldier felt he could smell the nauseating stench of decay and the fishy, foul odor of flesh.

"It's truly physically discomforting to watch."

The shorter Soldier retched slightly, while the tall Soldier beside him watched with great interest, nodding continuously.

"Forget it, let's just quickly collect some samples to take back and leave immediately."

The shorter Soldier operated the remote-controlled car, collecting some flesh samples from the ground and walls, then stuffed them into the car's storage compartment.

Then, without delay, he maneuvered the remote-controlled car to return.

After the remote-controlled car returned, the shorter Soldier looked at the blood-colored liquid stains covering the car's tires and let out a sound of disgust.

Fortunately, he was wearing a protective suit and gloves, so he was not worried about direct contact.

After quickly stuffing the car into his tactical backpack, the two immediately left the residential complex open space and returned to the warplane.

"How did it go? Did you encounter any danger?"

The team members inside the warplane asked with concern.

"We didn't encounter any danger, it was just nauseating. You can watch the actual footage yourselves."

The shorter Soldier took out the memory card from the remote controller and inserted it into the warplane's computer to play it.

"Ugh..."

When everyone saw the footage the shorter Soldier had just recorded, they all felt somewhat uncomfortable.

But there was no major reaction; after all, as Soldiers who had fought in the Wilderness Area for years, what kind of bloody scenes hadn't they seen?

It was just that seeing buildings they were familiar with in daily life completely changed into such a disgusting style made it hard not to feel a sense of immersion.

"From current observations, this type of fungus likely won't proactively attack other organisms, nor does it exhibit other overly abnormal behaviors. It's just a bunch of things that don't move; we can treat it like plants."

"Alright, let's take the samples back first."

With a series of operations by the pilot, the black warplane took off and returned to the North Military Region.

...

When Qiao Yu woke up again, it was already night.

Qiao Yu was originally unaware that the Investigation Team from the North Military Region had investigated and sampled the fungal nest.

Once his memories were synced with the fungal nest, he became vigilant.

"I didn't expect that even after changing cities, I would still be targeted by the official authorities."

"It seems the official authorities must have some means of detection. Come to think of it, it makes sense. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure; how could they wait until death is imminent to strike back?"

Qiao Yu thought for a moment and understood.

Apart from major cities, in smaller cities, whenever a monster of Lord Level or higher was born, the authorities would send Martial Artists to exterminate it, using absolute strength to suppress it and nip potential top-tier monster forces in the bud.

After the upgrade, the fungal swarm and the Fungal Squad had significantly increased in strength.

First was Qiao Yu himself; his current strength had already reached the High-level Wargod Rank.

Every time the System upgraded or the fungal nest upgraded, Qiao Yu would receive a portion of energy as a gift, without needing to spend additional fungal swarm numbers to raise his Rank.

Fortunately, the official military did not explore deep into the fungal nest; otherwise, the Fungal Squad and his latest information would have been exposed to the official authorities' view.