57: Chapter 57 Plant Growth

When the brand-new ambulance drove into the Outpost Camp, Ren Chuan had already strode quickly to the gate of the stronghold.

Even with his steady personality, when he saw the scene of ten hulking men squeezing out of the huge ambulance, he couldn't help cursing, "You damn Xiang Nan, does this town really respawn vehicles? Where is that place? I'll take people there."

Ren Chuan was truly anxious to the point of turning red-eyed; the entire camp currently had only three old, battered vehicles.

One was specifically used in the Outpost Camp to communicate with the Shelter, and could not be moved casually.

The other two were 'recombined' cars that had just been assembled not long ago; one of them was a truck, and not even a heavy-duty truck, just a pickup truck.

The other one was entirely a family car; although slightly modified, it could manage to squeeze out a cargo bed, but its load capacity was limited.

With several hundred people in the entire camp, the transfer of supplies all depended eagerly on these few vehicles.

He wished there were a few more vehicles so the camp could operate faster and build itself up better.

"Don't dream about it, that place is not safe, and things like cars should respawn randomly; there's no guarantee there will be a second one."

Xiang Nan patted Ren Chuan's shoulder disrespectfully, the smile on his face completely unable to be contained.

Hearing Xiang Nan say this, Ren Chuan calmed down a bit and looked toward Wang Ting: "Captain, is that place really that dangerous?"

"It's at Hall Hospital." Wang Ting nodded, "Hall Hospital should be a supply point; the fixed respawning supplies inside are quite numerous, but it is also very dangerous. There is a monster called Vine Parasite Corpse, whose strength is somewhat higher than the Parasitic Fungus Vine. Moreover, besides the Vine Parasite Corpse, there is another monster called Vine Skull. Its strength, defense, and flexibility of movement are all above the Thorn Vine Beast, and it is also an elite individual, with more than one of them."

The Guard Team members left behind at the stronghold gasped sharply upon hearing Wang Ting speak this way, a hint of horror in their eyes. Looking at the safely returned Guard Team members, they felt a bit more disbelief.

Their gazes seemed to say, just how much great fortune did you have to run into to return completely unscathed?

Feng Bo shook his head: "Don't look at us being able to return; it was all because the captain killed that Vi—Vine Skull, otherwise our squad would have suffered a total wipeout."

He was still not quite accustomed to the name. Although the captain always named monsters fittingly, as if he had known their true names long ago, the word still felt somewhat unfamiliar and horrifying to him.

"Being able to return is a good thing." Ren Chuan offered a word of comfort, but his gaze was soon attracted by Xiang Nan and the others' backpacks—bulging backpacks that looked just like the bountiful fruits of a harvest.

His eyes narrowed slightly: "What supplies respawned?"

Xiang Nan grinned: "Medicines, first-aid supplies, and some food."

Ren Chuan grinned: "Good, good, good, these things are all in hot demand."

The squad members were safe and sound, and all the collected items had been brought back.

Xiang Nan and Feng Bo were responsible for connecting with Ren Chuan, sorting out the items, keeping what was urgently needed, gradually distributing some that needed to be allocated, and letting Ren Chuan sort out a bit at a time those used for trade.

Subsequent matters did not require Wang Ting to lift a finger; Ren Chuan, Feng Bo, and the others would organize all the collected intelligence and handle the subsequent affairs well.

Wang Ting returned to his own room and took off the rifle and machete he was carrying.

The furnishings inside the wooden cabin were very crude, consisting merely of a bed, a table, and a few chairs. Compared to the crudeness of Zhao Kun's residence inside the town, it was by no means inferior.

[Collector: Wang Ting]

[Life Rank: Tier 0]

[monster points: 461 points]

[Recorded Monsters: Scarecrow, Rot Soil Hound, Sand Scorpion, Zombie, Lizard Hound, Parasitic Fungus Vine, Thorn Vine Beast, Vine Parasite Corpse, Vine Skull]

461 monster points...

This was the first time Wang Ting had harvested this quantity of monster points.

Even with Wang Ting's composure as steady as an old dog, upon seeing this number, he still couldn't help breaking into a smile, feeling a surge of joy in his heart.

"The monster points given by the Vine Skull for exchange are even higher than those of the Thorn Vine Beast, no wonder it was so difficult to deal with. But this is a one-off deal; Vine Town might not necessarily have more new monsters."

Although there was some regret, Wang Ting knew that this was the norm for the golden finger of the Monster Collector.

It was impossible for him to encounter new monsters every day, nor could he always rely on the monster points rewarded from new monsters to improve himself.

Every monster had a total of 5 exchangeable items across 4 categories: traits, skills, creations, and vassal beasts. The monster points required far exceeded the rewards obtained from a single income. Wanting to exchange all of them actually could only rely on the continuous daily settlements.

The true usage of the golden finger, the Monster Collector, was not to recklessly disregard danger to record monsters, but rather to fight a wave and then lay low for a wave.

This approach had quite a bit of the meaning of accumulating grain broadly and claiming kingship slowly, but without a doubt, it was also the safest method.

[Items available for exchange for the Low-Level Anomaly Vine Parasite Corpse are as follows:]

[Plant Growth (Trait) 100 monster points]

[Vine Corpse Bag (Creation) 150 monster points]

[Vine Corpse Armor (Creation) 100 monster points]

[Vine Guardian Puppet (Skill) 150 monster points]

[Vine Parasite Corpse (Vassal Beast) 200 monster points]

When Wang Ting focused his attention on the list of exchangeable items corresponding to the results, soon, the two creations, one trait, and one skill available for exchange gradually surfaced before his eyes.

"The monster points required are all between 100 and 150, which is quite comparable to the Scarecrow, not a small amount either."

Plant Growth: Low-level Plant Growth intervention ability, capable of influencing the growth progress of plants within a 100-meter range, with the influence decreasing as distance increases.

Vine Corpse Bag: A special creation woven from extraordinary vine materials, capable of concealing fewer than twenty monster corpses through mysterious power; if the monster volume is too large, the upper limit of the quantity decreases.

Vine Corpse Armor: A special vine cuirass that can integrate into bones, possessing a certain power-amplifying ability.

Vine Guardian Puppet: Spirit-attached vines that can form humanoid vine puppets to fight, with a range limit of 50 meters.

Wang Ting looked over the abilities of the Vine Parasite Corpse exchange items, then revealed a smile: "There really are good things here, slightly better than the Scarecrow."

His gaze locked onto the "Vine Corpse Bag" and "Plant Growth", a look of contemplation on his face: "Such a small Vine Corpse Bag is actually able to take in the corpses of anomaly monsters; this is quite a magical ability."

Even if it could not accommodate other things, its essence remained an extraordinary creation with spatial attributes.

Wang Ting couldn't help thinking of the Vine Skull carcass that he had left behind at Hall Hospital. They had escaped too hurriedly and simply had no opportunity to dissect the Vine Skull's corpse.

That was a monster even stronger than the Thorn Vine Beast. If luck really came through, they might have been able to dissect out an extraordinary core.

However, Wang Ting only thought about it for a moment, and immediately his expression returned to its usual calmness.

Past matters could not be changed. The true function of this Vine Corpse Bag was to quickly gather physical monster bodies during their exploration.

In actual exploration, it was impossible to dissect a monster on the spot the moment you killed it. That wasted too much time, especially after everyone had killed a large number of monsters. You couldn't just stall and give up exploring deeper forward.

The Vine Corpse Bag could help users quickly kill monsters, store away their corpses, and facilitate a rapid retreat after searching the surroundings.

Only clean and neat actions could ensure the lives of the squad members.

"Except for the Vine Corpse Armor, which is somewhat repetitive for me, Plant Growth and the Vine Corpse Bag are quite useful."

Looking at the effects of these exchange items, Wang Ting revealed a contemplative expression.

Needless to say about Plant Growth, this item had to be exchanged, and its priority was even higher than the Vine Beast Body that could be exchanged from the Thorn Vine Beast previously.

Viewed individually, this was merely an ability to accelerate or suppress Plant Growth, and it had range limitations.

But if paired with the primary plant control trait Wang Ting had previously acquired, the effect unleashed would probably be enough to double his abilities.

The biggest difficulty with Wang Ting's current primary plant control was that accelerating Plant Growth over a large area was too slow and consumed too much energy, making it insufficient to support the infinite growth of vines.

But if he had the Plant Growth trait, even if it were only the lowest-level intervention ability, the benefits it brought him would be unimaginable.

Aside from that, there was the Vine Corpse Bag.

The Vine Corpse Bag could not only be used by him, but also by the exploration squad. As long as the monster corpses could be brought back, the squad's gains and exploration efficiency would also be greatly enhanced.

"Exchange for Plant Growth."