149: Chapter 143 The Second Level Passage

Chapter 143: Second-Floor Passage (Seeking Subscriptions)

Although the Pig-headed Farmer had been dealt with, the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds awakened because of it did not retreat; instead, they closed in to slaughter the entire squad at an even faster speed.

The exploration squad's gunshots had merged into one continuous roar, swapping magazine after magazine as they continuously strafed the approaching Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds.

A large number of Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds rushing at the front were struck by bullets; their figures stiffened, and they instantly tumbled to the ground, crushing patches of wild grass.

However, after a batch of Scarecrows fell, the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds behind them filled the gap at an even faster speed without the slightest bit of fear.

The squad members' strafing speed was certainly not slow, but there were simply too many Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds pouncing over at the same time.

Step by step, they closed in from their original distance of several hundred meters, reaching within a range of a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

Within the range of a little over a hundred meters, there was no longer any obstruction from weeds, and the speed of their assault suddenly surged; wanting to completely kill them all at this point was already impossible.

Faced with this situation, Wang Ting remained unhurried and immediately moved his figure rapidly to the front of the formation.

Vine Core Space—

He projected the Vine Core Space, and within the 20-meter projection range, a massive number of vines rose from the ground, surging competitively like countless dark green pythons flooding into the real world.

He urged his primary plant control ability, and the projected vines, under his control, were growing rapidly and continuously spreading outward.

Having undergone reinforcement from multiple physical traits such as the Vine Beast Body, Power Vine Heart, and Night Demon Body, his physical fitness had greatly increased, and the extraordinary factors within his body were already incomparable to before.

Supported by the majestic extraordinary factors, the vines grew rapidly, becoming increasingly thick and continuously extending in length, soon spreading to the limit of his control range—100 meters.

The countless extended vines resembled a woven large green net, covering the surroundings of the squad until it enveloped the entire farmstead.

At the same time, he pushed his Psychokinesis to the limit, causing psychokinetic fluctuations within a 300-meter range to spread out, enveloping the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds within.

The figures of the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds within range suddenly sank as if a large stone had been pressed onto their shoulders, and their charging figures seemed as though they had fallen into a chaotic swamp, making their advance increasingly difficult.

When a portion of the Scarecrows rushed within the 100-meter range, the vines sensed the prey approaching and, under Wang Ting's manipulation, fiercely launched a strangulation like venomous snakes.

Starting from their feet, the vines gradually wrapped around their trunks, tightly entangling the bodies of the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds bit by bit, just like a python locking down its prey.

"Open fire and kill them!"

Employing his methods, Wang Ting hard-crowd-controlled nearly two to three hundred Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds all at once. The two types of monsters struggled frantically, wanting to break free from the restraints and charge at the team, but how could the vines' restraints be broken free so easily?

For a time, they all became live targets trapped in place.

Everyone was struck speechless by Wang Ting's method, but knowing the opportunity was rare, they immediately opened fire to kill them one after another.

With Wang Ting pulling out all his stops at this moment, suppressing so many monsters was by no means an easy task.

As he simultaneously utilized two abilities and massively spawned vines, the extraordinary factors within his body were consuming rapidly, making him perceive a trace of pressure.

He needed to finish the battle quickly; he commanded the two Servant Beasts to directly pounce into the midst of the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds, and the two began to frantically slaughter the monsters around them.

On one side, the Giant Claw Night Demon fought with sharp claws, tearing apart the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds before it, while on the other side, it occasionally blasted a shot using the crawler machine gun on its right arm, blowing the clustered Scarecrows into pieces.

Although the Vine Spider Nurse had two sections of vine tentacles broken, it still had two remaining vine tentacles continuously strangulating Scarecrows. Coupled with its sharp spider legs acting like long spears, it continuously slaughtered towards the monsters, clearing out the monsters before it within a few breaths.

With a movement of his own figure, Wang Ting also arrived at the area in the front-left where Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds were concentrated.

Now, the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds were all entangled by the vines around them, letting out piercing roars as they wanted to pounce onto him.

His peripheral vision swept past the spot where he stood; there were twenty to thirty Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds surrounding him.

"It just so happens to serve as nourishment for recovery."

A red vine phantom immediately emerged around Wang Ting. The moment the Bloodthirsty Poison Web trait was activated, he began to slowly absorb the blood of the monsters within range, converting it into his own strength.

The monsters around him were still not numerous enough; even if he swallowed them slowly, it was merely like a trickling stream, unable to match his current consumption.

Wang Ting simply went on a killing spree and directly activated another trait.

Mouth of Greed—

A ferocious giant mouth emerged behind and to the side of him, looking malevolent and terrifying. It instantly opened its bloody, tooth-filled maw and swallowed a Scarecrow into its belly.

The Mouth of Greed rapidly digested the Scarecrow's body, and before long, it transformed into a wisp of energy that merged into his body. In the process of recovering his physical strength, it was also strengthening his body bit by bit.

For the Mouth of Greed's swallowing, recovering physical stamina and energy was merely incidental; reinforcement was the core of this ability. Now, stacked with the Bloodthirsty Poison Web, Wang Ting's sustained control time instantly prolonged significantly.

Wang Ting took out flying knives from his bracelet, walking toward the monsters while controlling the flying knives with Psychokinesis. The flying knives were incomparably agile, weaving between the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds and kicking up sonic booms. In just a few breaths, the heads of several Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds around him had already been severed by them.

Controlling blades with Psychokinesis was an even more thorough slaughter for the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds. With Wang Ting entering the game in person, his speed of killing monsters now surpassed that of the Giant Claw Night Demon and the Vine Spider Nurse.

With Wang Ting suppressing them, under the successive cooperation of the exploration squad and the Servant Beasts, in a mere 10 minutes, the several hundred surrounding Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds were all completely killed.

The gun barrels were steaming with hot smoke, and the ground was full of bullet casings. Under high mental concentration, the armed soldiers suddenly let out a sigh of relief as a sense of exhaustion instantly washed over them, and they were panting heavily from fatigue at this moment.

Xiang Nan moved his slightly stiff arms and let out a breath: "That was satisfying to fight; this floor is pretty much cleared out now."

Feng Bo reminded: "Don't speak too soon yet. Check the monster corpses; make sure to finish off any that aren't dead, and then search the manor thoroughly."

Feng Bo was indeed cautious. After having everyone tidy up their equipment and resting for a short while, he proceeded to inspect the crisscrossing corpses of the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds.

The life and death of Rot Soil Hounds were very easy to judge, because this type of monster would turn into a pool of sludge after death. Although it emitted a foul stench and the smell made people very uncomfortable, at least life and death could be told at a glance.

The Scarecrows were different; they required careful inspection to avoid suddenly jumping up for a counter-kill.

After a round of inspections, Feng Bo also tallied up the number of killed Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds.

Excluding those directly devoured by Wang Ting, there were a total of 187 Scarecrows and 124 Rot Soil Hounds killed at the scene.

If Feng Bo and the others had to deal with this quantity alone, lacking cover, they would probably only be able to retreat in dejection and then choose a tactical approach of clearing them out step by step.

Being able to clear out the Scarecrows and Rot Soil Hounds in one go now was no less than suppressing an abnormal riot. The entire floor would become much safer, basically comparable to the Scarecrows Farm floor. As long as they didn't actively clear large areas of wild wheat thickets or reclaim wasteland to expand territory, simple patrols and activities wouldn't attract more monsters, and the overall environment was relatively safe.

"Check the rooms of the manor."

Feng Bo led people to inspect the rooms of the manor. The entire manor only had three main buildings, and the structure was not complex, making it not troublesome to search.

After the walls of the barn were smashed open by the Giant Claw Night Demon, it appeared slightly tottering. Squad members quickly entered and scanned around, discovering that inside the barn, apart from being covered in thick dust, there were no other special items.

The toolroom opposite was the same, scattered with a large number of hoes, shovels, and forks. Aside from these things, there was nothing else.

Feng Bo led several people into the main house to search, his footsteps light as he explored cautiously.

Since the Pig-headed Farmer came out from here, there might still be other monsters hiding inside.

After the squad members approached, beneath their footsteps, the flooring emitted creaking sounds and puffed out a bit of dust. Not only was the floor covered in dust, but every location in the rooms was also blanketed with a layer of heavy dust.

As soon as Feng Bo and the others entered, they instinctively covered their noses. A pungent, foul odor rushed over them, just like a pigpen piled high with feces, and this smell was identical to the scent on the Pig-headed Farmer's body.

Xiang Nan swept his gaze around: "Everything here is rotted; it must have been smashed by that pig-headed monster. However, aside from the monster just now, it doesn't seem like there are any other monsters."

The main house was in a state of utter ruin, with collapsed tables and damaged walls. Aside from the kitchen location which was still relatively intact, basically everywhere was a scene of dilapidated wreckage.

Feng Bo's men took a turn around the living room first. Although the kitchen was intact, there was nothing of value, and there wasn't even a shred of food.

He directed his subordinates to move closer toward the direction of the rooms, preparing to thoroughly investigate them.

If the rooms also had no issues, then this place could be considered safe.

The smell in the first two rooms was very pungent, and the doors were completely destroyed, squeezed open with a large broken hole; it seemed this place had been treated as a lair by the Pig-headed Farmer.

Pinching his nose, Xiang Nan checked them once, but he was directly overwhelmed by the stench and hastily finished up, exiting the rooms.

There were no other things in the first two rooms, only a thoroughly chaotic appearance.

Feng Bo walked alone to the location of the master bedroom. The door here was unexpectedly intact; although covered in dust, there were no traces of damage, prompting him to instantly feel astonished and giving rise to a trace of anticipation in his heart.

Click!

He opened the door. Gazing inward along the doorway, his pupils suddenly constricted slightly, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.

Right in front of him, a dilapidated security door had unexpectedly appeared.

The metal door had a pale and antiquated appearance with faint traces of rust, exuding a sense of being out of place.

"There really is a passage leading to the second floor?!"

He took a deep breath, and immediately his heart was filled with hard-to-suppress excitement, even more excited than when they had completely wiped out the Scarecrows just moments ago.

"Quickly go call the leader; we've really struck it rich."