137: Chapter 137 Symbiotic Zerg, Shadow Mist

This was a forest of giant plants shrouded in fog, with everything above 10 meters covered in a grey, murky mist.

When the sunlight struggled through the mist to reach the ground, it was barely a flicker, leaving the entire forest in grey tones.

However, the lack of sunlight did not affect the growth of the plants within this mist in the slightest.

The trees had diameters approaching five meters, piercing straight into the mist, their tops completely invisible.

Various umbrella-shaped fungi stood as high as three-story buildings, and one could feel a change in temperature when walking beneath them.

There were also various flowers as tall as a person, their blooms larger than three human heads combined.

Su Yang did not doubt for a second that if these flowers grew mouths, they could swallow a person in one bite.

However, although these giant plants brought a strong sense of oppression, traversing through them was not particularly difficult.

Compared to the dense forest areas where plants were packed together, the distribution of plants here gave the soldiers more space to move.

General Meng Tian had blazed a trail all the way to the location designated by the Scouts.

This was a rather special area of the forest region, where the soil transitioned from red to black.

Scattered across the black soil were these purple-black trees as tall as a person, hanging heavy with purple-black fruit the size of apples.

The yield looked quite good, Su Yang observed through General Meng Tian's vision.

One could probably get full from eating two or three of these fruits for a meal.

Judging by the number of purple-black trees in this area, shipping them all back to feed the entire army for half a month would not be a problem.

This was the first piece of good news!

Su Yang had General Meng Tian wait in place for the main force led by General Li Xin, while ordering the Scout units to disperse for reconnaissance.

Although the terrain, landscape, visibility, and other factors of the Shadow Zone were even more complex than the dense forest area, Su Yang was not too worried.

Because the Scout units had all been upgraded to level 4, with each one equipped with a Sonic Detector, they could effectively prevent ambushes by the Xenomorphs.

As the Scout units gradually moved further away, General Meng Tian dismounted and came to rest beside a giant tree.

This giant tree had a diameter of at least three meters and pierced straight into the mist, its height impossible to discern.

Unlike other trees, this one was covered in dark purple veins, and the branches that hung high above the ground were incredibly thick.

General Meng Tian casually plucked six fruits and walked to the base of the ancient tree while eating, looked around, spotted a thick root system, and sat down hard upon it.

Before he had fully settled, there was a sudden "swish" sound, and the half-meter-high root system suddenly retracted violently.

This incident not only startled Su Yang, who was sharing the first-person perspective, but even the battle-hardened General Meng Tian was left a bit bewildered.

Rustle— — — — — — — —

The entire ground around the ancient tree began to tremble; those thick, python-like branches began to shift, and sharp, needle-like spikes began to fall from above the mist.

"This tree is alive!" Su Yang's eyes widened.

"No, wait, trees are inherently alive."

"This tree is actually aggressive!"

Information about the symbiosis between Xenomorphs and plants flashed rapidly through his mind.

"Could these plants and Xenomorphs be hunting together!?"

The needle-like spikes landed on General Meng Tian's armor, emitting a series of crisp sounds.

The rain of needles was extremely dense; if it were an ordinary soldier without steel armor, they would have died under this attack in an instant.

General Meng Tian, unsure of the situation, mounted his Blazing Steed and began to charge away from the ancient tree.

The wildly dancing branches did not give him that chance.

A purple-black branch covered in tiny barbs struck out at lightning speed, moving with a velocity that didn't seem possible for something of its size.

The branch rapidly crawled up the Blazing Steed's hind legs, coiled like a python, and then gave a sharp yank.

The Blazing Steed lost its balance and immediately toppled over; General Meng Tian leaped to the side and grabbed the giant shield from his chest.

Thud, thud, thud— — — — — —

Three branches following closely behind struck the rigid shield, producing muffled thuds.

General Meng Tian pulled the shield aside and grabbed one of the branches tightly.

"Playing tricks, are you? Hand over your life!!"

He gave a fierce tug and tore that branch, which was half a meter thick at its thickest, clean off.

Hiss— — — — — — — — — —

A burst of purple smoke immediately poured out from the broken end of the branch, accompanied by a terrifying sound like a baby crying.

General Meng Tian sensed something was wrong and immediately leaped out of the purple mist's range in two strides.

"It's poisonous!"

General Meng Tian immediately reported this news to Su Yang, then took two deep breaths to metabolize and consume the toxins in his body.

Just then, the Scout units that had gone out for reconnaissance also issued a warning.

"Your Majesty, Xenomorph activity detected, Xenomorph activity detected!"

Su Yang connected to the Scouts' detection panels and saw a dense, massive Insect Swarm surging in from the west.

Indeed, this ancient tree and the Xenomorphs were hunting in coordination!!

This batch of Xenomorphs was advancing at high speed, faster than any Xenomorphs they had encountered before.

"General Meng Tian, withdraw from the attack range!"

Su Yang ordered General Meng Tian to retreat from the ancient tree's attack range.

General Meng Tian was not equipped with sharp weapons or artillery; fighting the ancient tree was a sheer waste of time.

If he were to be entangled by the ancient tree here, the entire battle would take place in the area containing the fruit.

Because the fruit could not be damaged, artillery weapons could not be used in this area, which was very disadvantageous for his side.

General Meng Tian had to retreat from the fruit area, rendezvous with the main force, and engage the enemy outside the fruit area.

General Meng Tian received the order and retreated quickly, leaving behind only the Blazing Steed, which was tightly bound by several branches.

General Li Xin, who was several kilometers away, received the order from Su Yang and immediately halted the troops to begin setting up a defensive line.

Sixty Imperial Armor warriors armed with steel shields and Chainswords formed a line in front, while forty Armored Crossbowmen were interspersed behind them, fully loaded and ready to fire.

The Skyfire Guard and Fire Dragon Guard formed ranks on the flanks, ready to provide support at any moment.

Rustle, rustle, rustle— — — — — — — —

The sound of the Insect Swarm grew closer, and the ground began to tremble slightly.

Soon, everyone saw a giant suit of armor rushing toward them from the distance.

It was General Meng Tian, who had lost his Blazing Steed!

And behind him was an army of dark purple Xenomorphs that almost blended in with the ground.

"Fire at me!" General Meng Tian shouted.

"These guys are poisonous, don't let them get close!"

General Li Xin received the order and immediately waved his hand to command, and the Crossbowmen switched to explosive arrows and began to fire.

In the previous battle at the crystal mine area, because they were fighting alongside the Elite Soldiers, the firepower of the Crossbowmen could not be intuitively observed.

But this time, Su Yang finally intuitively felt the powerful firepower of the upgraded Crossbowmen.

Forty Armored Crossbowmen fired without interruption, with each Crossbowman continuously firing ten crossbow bolts that possessed small-area explosions.

This was not shooting at all; it was a bombardment!

And it was a bombardment even more sustained and powerful than the Skyfire cannons!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh— — — — — — — — — —

The explosive crossbow bolts formed a dense web in the air, enveloping the charging Xenomorphs like the Grim Reaper.

Boom, boom, boom— — — — — —

A series of explosions erupted, and the Stinger Bug tide charging in the front row was destroyed in an instant.

Their bodies were blown apart, and countless dark purple smoke poured out from within.