27: Chapter 27 The Abandoned Town of Vines

What a peculiar smell.

Wang Ting involuntarily wrinkled his nose. Under the effects of Corrupted Olfaction, his sense of smell was far sharper than that of ordinary people, making him even more sensitive to the scent permeating the air.

This was a unique, sickly-sweet stench left behind by plant erosion and decay, resembling a rotting smell mixed from decayed walls, wood, branches, and leaves.

Signs of human activity were completely concealed amidst these flailing vines, as if the entire town had been swallowed up by them.

"Although the air smells bad, there is no problem, this environment can be explored."

There was nothing unusual with his body, and the trait of Photosynthetic Straw had not triggered either, allowing him to make a quick judgment.

"We must hurry up."

Five minutes was not a long time; if he wanted to explore the environment, he had to speed up.

His gaze swept over the surrounding environment, and he found himself standing in the courtyard of a dilapidated house, with the floor passage looking like a worn-out security door right behind him.

The house he was located in should be on the edge corner of the town, not far from just entering the town. Looking to one side was the vast suburban wilderness, and looking to the other side were rows of dilapidated buildings.

Wang Ting carefully inspected the appearance of the house. It was a single-story detached house with an American-style inclination.

The wooden main body of the house had been completely covered by vines. Most of the house's walls were still relatively intact, but the tiles on top had been pushed off by the vines, revealing several large broken holes.

Weeds and vines filled the front yard of the house, and the car parked at the door was now rusted and completely occupied by vines.

Wang Ting waved the machete in his hand, severing the vines blocking his front, and prepared to explore along the small courtyard to the outside.

Just as he severed the vines, he suddenly stopped his movements. A rustling sound came from behind him, as if something was rolling across the tiles.

Sensing the source of the vibration behind him, he spun around abruptly, only to see a Parasitic Fungus Vine pouncing toward him from the roof.

His gaze locked onto the attacking monster like a falcon, and the machete in his hand slashed directly across. Before the Parasitic Fungus Vine even hit the ground, it had already been split into two.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and muttered: "It seems there are quite a few monsters in here too."

Wang Ting did not stop his movements because of the monster's attack. He quickly chopped down the vines in the yard, carving out a path big enough to step on.

His gaze swept across the other corners of the yard. At this moment, no other monsters popped out, so his heart settled down a little bit.

Under the disturbance, no other monsters appeared, so the area near this house was temporarily considered safe.

He walked onto the road along the newly carved path, looking toward the center of the town along the road. The long driveway was also covered with quite a few vines at this time, most densely on both sides of the curbs, spreading all the way to the houses on the roadside, and least in the middle of the road. Streetlights and abandoned vehicles could not escape either.

Vines covered everything, and the deeper he went into the town, the higher the coverage of vines, and their thickness became increasingly astonishing.

The endless vines were like a giant vine monster, using vines as tentacles to swallow the entire town into its own body.

[Thorn Vine Beast cataloging progress 1%]

The suddenly appearing cataloging prompt gave Wang Ting a start. He took a deep look at the depths of Vine Town, as if countless eyes were staring at him from deep within the vines covering the town's buildings.

'It seems the monsters here are not limited to just the Parasitic Fungus Vine.'

There was not a trace of hesitation on his face, nor any intention to continue exploring. He turned around and walked toward the stairs behind him.

The 5 minutes were up; the remaining things were certainly not something he alone could explore.

"The 5 minutes are almost up, and that kid has not come out yet. Could something have happened?"

Someone among the Guard Team members muttered softly. Although Wang Ting had some minor fame, in many people's eyes, he was far inferior to Zhao Tianhao.

Zhao Tianhao, standing to the side, stared closely at the stairs and said without hesitation: "If someone who broke through the human limit once cannot even stay for 5 minutes, it would be useless for the likes of you to go in. Do not look down on others."

Just back in the Vine Oasis, Wang Ting's neat and decisive actions when killing the Parasitic Fungus Vine and his calmness like a killing machine had left a deep impression on him.

This was a powerful competitor.

Zhao Tianhao mentally tagged Wang Ting. He was not a fool either, so naturally he would not underestimate his opponent.

Just as his words fell, footsteps could already be heard coming from the stairs.

The steps were steady and powerful, and Wang Ting's figure gradually walked out of the shadows.

Holding a rifle in one hand and dragging the corpse of a Parasitic Fungus Vine with the other, he walked to the lower half of the steps and gave a toss. The corpse of the Parasitic Fungus Vine rolled down the stairs, finally landing in front of everyone.

"There are no major problems with the air quality and environment, and activity safety can be guaranteed for a short time. The basic environment is visually an abandoned town covered in vines. Most areas have vines and Parasitic Fungus Vines, and I suspect there are other hidden monsters as well. It has a certain level of danger, but the entire town has exploration value."

Hearing this, a flash of passion crossed the bottom of Zhao Kun's eyes: "It is good that we can move around. Next, it depends on everyone. Wei Dong, you take the lead, lead two squads in, and clear out a temporary stronghold. Zhao Hu, you take people to set up camp here at the Vine Oasis; we are going to build a temporary camp. Dong Hu, you take a squad back to the Shelter and transport at least seven days' worth of food. Do you all understand?"

"Understood."

Zhao Kun's orders made the entire team operate like gears.

The troop transport trucks surrounded the four sides of the Vine Oasis, and using them as the center, they began to set up a temporary camp.

Dong Hu drove back to the Shelter, preparing to transport more supplies.

After organizing his equipment, Wei Dong immediately led his squad into the Floor World to begin the second round of exploration.

Although it was a new Floor World, Wei Dong and the others obviously had experience exploring Floor Worlds, and their movements were very deft. About half an hour later, a signal that it was safe to enter came through.

Zhao Kun, bringing Wang Ting and others as the third batch of people, entered the Floor World once again. At this time, Wei Dong was organizing his subordinates to conduct further exploration and clearance.

"Zheng Yunkang, lead your team to check the surrounding two houses, and then cordon off this area."

"Zhao Tianhao, lead your team to check all the houses behind us, do not leave a single corner unchecked. Pull up all the vines in the yard, and check thoroughly even if you have to dig three feet deep."

"Understood."

The team split into two. Zhao Tianhao opened the house covered by vines. The door panel was damp, but still relatively sturdy, not rotting at a single grab.

He pushed open the door and entered the room. The indoor floor was covered with sporadic vines that drilled out from the underground, pierced through the floor, and spread across the entire house.

A rustling sound immediately came over, and a Parasitic Fungus Vine pounced from the living room.

There was not a trace of panic on Zhao Tianhao's face, as he had been prepared for a long time. Facing the pouncing Parasitic Fungus Vine, he directly raised his hand and fired a shot. The bullet passed through its core, directly knocking it to the ground.

He waved his hand, and two Guard Team members behind him walked up, turned to the right, and searched toward the rooms.

The left side was still his own responsibility to search.

The area of the house was not large. Led by Zhao Tianhao, in less than ten minutes, they searched every corner of the house and found only one Parasitic Fungus Vine.

This was good news; at least the distribution of these monsters was not dense enough to make people want to retreat.

Outside the yard, Wang Ting saw Wei Dong arrange for his men to cut off the dense vines and pile them all together, pour flammable materials, and set a big fire. The vines burned with crackling sounds, emitting the smell of burned plant juices.

The search progress of the houses on both sides was very fast. Although some Parasitic Fungus Vines were disturbed, they were quickly killed. Before long, centered on the house where the stair passage was located, with the houses on the left and right sides as cover, all three houses were cleared out.

The dilapidated vehicles entangled by vines on the street were ordered by Wei Dong to be pushed to the center of the road. Two cars were connected end to end, forming a crude isolation belt.

All three houses were equipped with sentry lookout points and firepower points to monitor the surrounding environmental conditions, guarded by Guard Team members.

On the sides and back of the houses, Zhao Tianhao also led people to block the doors and windows to prevent monsters from taking advantage of loopholes to launch sneak attacks. After a short period of modification, a temporary stronghold centered on the houses and extended by the road was forged.

Wang Ting suddenly opened his eyes, scanning vigilantly toward the depths of the town.

With the end of the road as the core and the surrounding houses as auxiliaries, terrifying and dense vibrations were coming from all directions, and the entire block became completely restless.

Many monsters hidden in this block were completely awakened now because of the sounds of the fight just now.

Rustling sounds continued to come from all directions, like a tide. In the distance, vines shook one after another, and Parasitic Fungus Vines drilled out from a large number of vines, rushing toward the temporary stronghold like wolves and tigers.

Everyone wore a solemn expression. Wei Dong spat a mouthful of saliva onto the ground with a fierce look: "Whether we can hold this place or not depends on this wave."