Finally Doing Some Recon

Ash walked through the Verdant Necropolis with a new addition to his majestic look.

Before, his shoulder just kept bleeding, and he kept coughing up blood.

But now, crimson vines wrapped around his feet, and the bleeding on his shoulder had finally stopped.

Not that it would change anything about the bloody smell he emitted because his clothes had been soaking up all the blood.

What had happened to him? 

Just say he had an encounter with carnivorous weeds that lived on the ground.

Oh, and he also met the cousin of the hallucinatory mushroom. Adding two new diseases to his codex.

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4. Strangleweed's Vengeance (Strangleweed)

A virulent strain derived from carnivorous flora exhibiting hyper-aggressive parasitic bloom behavior. Host tissue is partially overwritten by semi-autonomous vascular root systems.

+Symptoms:

-Subdermal Vascular Bloom : Sudden growth of thorned vines beneath the skin.

-Pain Responsive Regeneration : Vines harden and lash outward under physical distress.

-Localized Tissue Decomposition : Minor necrosis around active vine clusters.

+Ability Unlocked: Spitegrowth (Active)

Generate thorned plague vines from under the skin. Can constrict, impale, or entangle targets.

5. Fangrot Neuro Hallucinogen (Fangrot Wolf)

A neurotoxin harvested from an ambush predator that manipulates prey through phantasmal doubles and cognitive bleed. Toxin interferes with sensory processing, creating reality distortions in the infected target.

+Symptoms:

-Cognitive Echo : Targets experience delayed or duplicated perception.

-Reality Misalignment : Victims see copies of themselves or others performing false actions.

-Auditory Phasing : Speech echoes or overlaps, inducing confusion or panic.

+Ability Unlocked: Hallucina Plague (Active)

Inflicts plague-induced illusions upon a target. Visual and auditory hallucinations manifest as the user's clones.

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While he was gathering the berries for his disease splicing, Ash had stepped onto an unassuming weed patch.

A very bad idea, now that he thought about it.

The weed grew, stabbing Ash's feet. And vines began to grow out of his feet.

Fortunately, with the plague endurance and toxic surge skill, Ash was able to free himself from the carnivorous weed.

He had to suffer a little from the vines changing his body structure, particularly his feet, but with the benevolent god's blessing, Ash soon adopted the vines as a part of his body.

He even used the vines before his body became immune to them to close the wound on his shoulder using their necrotic tendency, saving him the trouble of constantly bleeding out.

As for the second new disease, Ash got it while searching for the verdant wolf to extract its venom for the splice.

He met another kind of mutated wolf, one that had mushrooms growing out of its back instead of colorful flowers.

At the time, Ash didn't feel any kind of venom or poison entering his body, but it turned out the first mushroom had saved him from more hallucinations from the spores of the wolf mushroom.

'Mushrooms and their hallucinations… I guess I understand now why junkies loved them so much.'

Ash opened up his codex,

[Source 1 : Inputted. ]

[Source 2 : Inputted. ]

[Catalyst : ]

He had successfully gathered the two sources of the base for the splice.

And right now, he only needed the catalyst. 

What he wanted was a boost to the toxic surge skill. He had fought 2 more wolves so far, and he found that what he was most lacking was his offensive skill.

As a former student athlete, he could easily dodge the one-dimensional attacks of the wolves.

But in terms of attacking back, Ash found it to be more difficult, even with the current toxic surge.

When he unlocked the vines with his ability, the problem was slightly alleviated.

He could now strangle or incapacitate his enemies using the vines.

But his punches and kicks were only a bit stronger than ordinary humans, the null humans, if he wanted to be specific.

And for one of his goals, being only a bit stronger than the null wasn't ideal.

Ash had spent two full days in the Verdant Necropolis. The first day was spent gathering the ingredients for the splice and gaining two new diseases.

During the second day, he spent it doing reconnaissance.

Quite ironic, considering it was what he was forced to do by the government. But he did it willingly now.

But Ash was glad that he did it.

The flowery and mushroom wolves, the berry, the mushroom, and the carnivorous weeds were only the weakest of threats in the Verdant Necropolis.

There were dog-sized moles that had all kinds of plant parts growing all over their bodies.

There were huge plants that had giant sacs, one that spat acid whenever it felt threatened.

Ash could even recognize aerial creatures, ones that he had never seen the shape of, but recognized their eerie calls that echoed at certain parts of the forest.

As for more carnivorous plants? The Verdant Necropolis was their home.

There were so many different kinds that grew inside the forest that Ash had now become hyper-aware of the wildlife surrounding him.

'I wonder if those vegans would be fine eating these carnivorous plants. They ate more flesh than any human with a carnivore diet…'

But Ash didn't avoid them at any cost either.

In fact, he was currently making his way on one of the carnivorous trees that he had spent hours watching.

Other than the fact that the tree had some kind of venom or poison that Ash wanted to have for himself, he had decided that the tree would be the catalyst of his choice.

The tree could shoot out thorns that carried venom over a distance.

Inflicting its targets with venom without even coming over to bite them.

'If I used the thorn as the catalyst, then would I be able to shoot empowered thorns on my own!?'

Just thinking of using his vines to catch an enemy, then riddling them with thorns from afar, made Ash almost forget to cough up the blood pooling in his throat.

A smile bloomed on his face. Imagining John's face filled with venomous thorns almost made Ash skip on his feet while walking through the cursed mutated forest.

Ash soon arrived in the carnivorous tree area, watching his step as he inched closer and closer to his target.

'Now the problem was, ladies and gentlemen, how the heck do I kill a goddamn carnivorous tree?'