Ghastly Mutated Tree

The collapse of the ten-story-tall outpatient building caused a sensational rumble. Not only the zombies inside the hospital, but those in the vicinity also were attracted by the sound. In the dusty ruin, several beams of colorful light were shining, two of which were the most dazzling.

*Cough, cough*

"Shit, replace Jiang Shang! Light? Where is the light? Get ready for healing"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As the dust dissipated, they saw more than a dozen of thick tree roots either brandishing in the air or smashing the ground. Jiang Shang, covered in blood, was taking the lead, maneuvring two ribbons. As he moved in the speed of light, two golden ribbons kept defending the roots aiming at his teammates. Shen Rui, the fire superfunction possessor, was fighting side by side with him. Lei Dashan, Feng Zhijian, and Zhu Ziyu, the earth superfunction possessor, of the Loser Squad were all more or less injured, yet none of them flinched.

"Shit, Yifan, watch the light and space guys. Weiming and I will take the place of Jiang Shang."

Supporting Xiu Jie and the space superfunction possessor of the Loser Squad, He Yongyi rose from the debris. You Dong also conjured his dual blades despite being injured and charged at the enemies with Chen Weiming, an ice superfunction possessor. They cut down the relentless roots coming at them along the way to finally get close to Jiang Shang. "Jiang Shang, we need healing. We'll keep stalling this cursed mutated tree."

Yes, it was a mutated tree. Their medicine collecting operation was going well. Without encountering a single level-3 zombie, they'd finished searching two pharmacies. But right before they left the place to reunite with Xing Feng, these thick tree roots burst out of the ground all of a sudden. They were startled at first, but thanks to the experienced Shen Rui, they regained the composure and started fighting back the roots under Shen Rui's command.

But the problem was not only that these roots were sturdy, but they also seemed to be willed. They kept diving into the ground and re-erupting from other places. They threw their superfunctions at nothing many times. Even Jiang Shang got injured. When the foundation of the outpatient building was completely destructed by the roots, the building collapsed. Hadn't they gone out of the building in time, they would have been crushed or buried.

"No."

While blood was oozing from the wounds on the shoulders, waist, legs and arms, Jiang Shang still refused to withdraw from the battle with a stiff upper lip. Focusing on the brandishing roots, he controlled his ribbons to fend against the attacks with accuracy. He'd pretty much disabled a couple of roots. If he pulled out at this point, all his efforts would be wasted.

"But you're too badly injured. You'll die if you don't fall back."

"Shit! What the hell are you doing? Go back to your position and heal!"

You Dong and Chen Weiming were, after all, Loser Squad members, they couldn't give the stubborn guy a commanding tone, but Shen Rui wasn't. He approached them, taking over the roots that Jiang Shang was dealing with by force. Jiang Shang, however, was still hardheaded. He didn't respond to anything from anybody, all he did was keep fighting the roots. Right before swearing popped out of his mouth, what Yun Che said suddenly hit him. He yelled, "Do you want to go back alive to see Ye Xingchen or not?"

Yun Che told him on the train previously, "if Jiang Shang gets too stubborn, just mention Ye Xingchen, he'll listen". They didn't take what Yun Che said seriously because they thought it was ridiculous. In fact, even now, Shen Rui wasn't so sure if Jiang Shang had taken in his words. When the guy was in combat, he became a whole different person, powerful yet obstinate.

"Hmm?"

After a pause, Jiang Shang retracted the ribbons and jumped out of the battlefield.

"God damn!"

Dumbfounded, Shen Rui cursed in secret, You Dong and Chen Weiming didn't have any idea what to do either. The change of his attitude was too quick and abrupt. At least he could have said something but he just left without notice. He just straight up screwed them up in the blink of an eye.

"Heal."

Anyway, the most wounded guy had pulled out. Xu Yifan, who was protecting the light and space teammates shouted out loud. Xiu Jie was terrorized, he stared blankly at Jiang Shang who was dashing at him. He didn't do anything until Jiang Shang stopped in front of his face.

"What the hell are you looking at? Heal! Now!"

He Yongyi, the space superfunction possessor yelled. If this chickenhearted, dull, slow healer was a Loser Squad member, he would have given him an earful. Jiang Shang was the best among them. Right after he retreated, the frontline boys started to feel the tremendous pressure. If this went one, all of them would become the nutrition for the mutated tree.

In contrast, Jiang Shang who was in desperate need for healing just gawked at Jie Xiu as if a large pet was waiting for treats. He looked nothing like the fierce guy from a second ago.

"Yeah… I…"

Although Jie Xiu recovered his wits, the look in his eyes was still complicated. He wanted to quit if he could but as soon the idea sprouted, he remembered what Yun Che on that day and the image of Yun Che striking at him with his blade.

"I'll heal you."

With a start, Jie Xiu stepped forward to heal Jiang Shang. He didn't have the gut to not heal Yun Che anymore, he was truly afraid of him.

"So it's a mutated tree!"

Maybe Jie Xiu got lucky or Yun Che ran a little late. When Jie Xiu started healing Jiang Shang, Yun Che fell from the sky. Jie Xiu's hands shook and his mouth twitched, the moment he noticed Yun Che taking a glance at him, he increased the power of superfunction in case he gave him a hard time again.

"Captain Yun!"

"Che!"

People who were slowly losing were excited to see him. They were somehow relieved.

"You guys have been fighting really hard. Now listen to my words, retreat from the battle one by one."

Yun Che knows how to deal with a mutated tree very well. His slim body zoomed into the net of roots like a ghost. Instead of attacking the roots, he struck at the trunk from a distance. Although the waves of strike weren't even causing any damage to the bark, he didn't cease to keep lashing at one spot.

"Fire, earth, retreat. Gold, ice, fire at it with me."

Jumping swiftly from one root to another, Yun Che commanded the battle while fighting. Waves and lightning kept hitting the same spot. You Dong and Chen Weiqing seemed to understand his strategy, they moved out of the roots' attack range and fired bullets and ice shards at the same spot, too. Shen Rui, the fire superfunction possessor got back to absorbing the power from crystal nucleus and waited for healing when he saw Yun Che coping with the roots by himself.

"Che!"

Several minutes later, Leng Yehan came out of the building next to them. Without being ordered, they intended to rush at the roots. Yun Che yelled at them, "Don't come over! Only long-range attacks! The number of people decides the variation of the mutated tree's roots. The more people it could reach, the more its roots varied. I can cope with the roots on my own. Just attack its trunk until it's pierced through. Once it loses heart, it'll stop being aggressive."

The mutated tree got its energy from the earth. General attacks wouldn't kill it. It could only be defeated by taking out its heart which was in the middle of its trunk.

"Che, can you give us a heads-up moving forward?"

Zhou Yuze whined as he set back the roots while retreating. Compared to him, Leng Yehan and the other two guys were calmer and quieter. When they got out of the roots' stretch range, they conjured superfunctions to assist Yun Che after getting a clear look at the direction of Yun Che's lightning.

Crack! Crack!

The unbreakable bark started fracturing under the intense superfunction attacks. Foul smell wafted through the air. Dark green goo seeped like bleeding blood as the barks shed. That should be the stuff that stank.

"Carry on, three layers left!"

"What the heck?"

They were all fuming when Yun Che told them there were three more layers of bark. One layer had already exhausted them, peeling the rest three layers must be a wringer. This was not a mutated tree, it was a monsterous tree. It was a tougher opponent than the level-3 zombies.

"Che!"

Several minutes later, Yu Wenqing and the other two guys arrived at the battlefield. Yun Che took a glimpse at them in case they rushed into the fight like Leng Yehan. He said, "Yu, take Yehan and the other guys' places until Jiang Shang was recovered. We'll take turns to attack this thing. Shen, Lei, you are about to reach level 3, find some zombies to level yourself up. Others, protect space and light, get healing from light."

"OK."

Yun Che had no extra for the rear of the team anymore. While scuffling with the roots, he still had to focus on the long-range attack, so he was being over-occupied at the moment. Yu Wenqing and the rest were mature fighters. As soon as they heard Yun Che's instruction, they stood aside to observe their cooperation carefully. When Jiang Shang was healed, the four of them stepped up and replaced Leng Yehan and the others.

Those guys didn't dawdle, they refilled their superfunction reserves by absorbing the crystal nuclei.

Crack! Crack!

More shedding barks crackled, and the stench got stronger. They could see that half of the middle part of the trunk was whittled. A lot of wood chips fell and got mixed with the dark green goo.

"The last layer."

At their fifth shift, they finally got this uplifting news. Xing Feng and Zhao Gang also came down from the lab. Zhao Gang couldn't be part of a fight like this so instead of causing trouble, he went to fight the swarming zombies. Xing Feng watched them attacking the tree in silence.

"Stop taking turns. Attack it together! I can't hold on much longer."

Yun Che sounded debilitated. Yu Wenqing and the others intensified their superfunctions instead of going for replenishment. Leng Yehan came to change the shift didn't hold back. Everybody was bombing the weakened spot as hard as possible.

Crack! Crack!

Boom!

"Stop!"

At last, the mutated tree couldn't stand anymore. It fell after making several cracking sounds. Yun Che hollered at everybody, making them all stop but he himself dashed at the broken trunk through the swinging roots. He wrapped a pink, transparent, egg-sized thing up with air superfunction

Flop! Flop!

The moment the thing was extracted from the trunk, those roots flopped to the ground as if they lost vigor.

It was finally killed!

Everybody heaved a sigh of relief. One by one, they collapsed to the ground. This was the first time they encountered a mutated plant and it was really formidable. Hadn't Yun Che been a great commander, they would have been sapped here. Compared with the mutated tree, zombie animals and level-3 zombies were nothing.