CHAPTER 555: CHAPTER 291: FIRE BOOK 3

Ding Junyi looked at the dense fungal network beneath his feet and couldn’t help but say, "I recall an experiment that used the splitting fungal network of Physarum polycephalum for designing urban subway networks. This fungal root system acts like a substantial information network that can transmit messages. Now, the whole of Yijin City is covered in it, like what I said..."

"Ah, you mean each of these fungi might be a sensory terminal, like a monster’s tentacles, watching us?!!" Luo Yang was the first to react, his expression turning somewhat grim.

"If the mycelium is conscious, yes." Ding Junyi answered calmly.

The words sent chills down everyone’s spine instantaneously.

Lu Xingchen impatiently broke a strand of fungal vine with his foot, feeling as though some energy was flowing within it, and grumbled, "I really want to burn it all clean."

"Hey! Are you trying to kill us all?!" KIKI immediately exclaimed and spat at him, "You weren’t brought along to cause trouble, so don’t mess around."

"Ah~" Brother Huo shook his head helplessly.

At this moment, Ah Bai suddenly retreated a few steps, leaning beside Ning Jing.

"What’s wrong, Ah Bai?"

Ah Bai pointed at the abandoned cars scattered around: "They’re... all watching us."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately looked up and strangely discovered that the surrounding human fungi seemed to have multiplied, moving with a soft clicking sound that seemed to be pulling themselves closer.

"They’re closing in?"

"We haven’t turned on any lights."

"It’s not just the lights. The heat and biological energy we’re emitting have made them see us as prey."

"Mycelium?"

"Let’s hope so," Ding Junyi slightly frowned and said, "If it’s just the mycelium’s instinct, that’s simpler, but if not, we’re in big trouble."

Lin Xian, who was devouring quickly, said, "Don’t move. If they keep coming closer, we’ll devour from the air!"

Click, click, click~

Click, click, click~

As the seconds ticked by, time reached 20:10, and the surrounding atmosphere began to become eerie. More and more humanoid shadows stood in the dark, moving slowly, their joints emitting bizarre and subtle sounds, gradually closing in on the central convoy.

The team formed a defensive circle around Lin Xian, looking vigilantly at the approaching human fungi.

Swish~ Swish~

Cars continually disappeared under Lin Xian’s remote devouring, with miscellaneous items from the cars falling to the ground, leaving behind empty fungal frameworks.

During the devouring, Lin Xian noticed that all the internal components of these survivor vehicles, which were originally functioning well, seemed to have aged by ten years, even though the information in the Fire Book was no more than ten days old. This made him increasingly wary of the mycelium. If the Infinity were tangled with such a thing, it would be disastrous.

"They’re getting closer!" KIKI urgently said.

"Let’s go up!"

Lin Xian immediately shouted, and KIKI quickly took seven people up into the air, rising several meters high. Before long, the spot where they had been standing was filled with the surrounding human fungi.

At this point, Lin Xian had devoured over half of the convoy’s vehicles, with the materials at the decomposition center continuously expanding. Meanwhile, his Mechanical Source Point and devouring proficiency were rapidly increasing.

Lin Xian finally fulfilled his wish to devour the parking lot. In fact, it had been a long time since he had conducted such a massive devouring. If the situation weren’t so eerie, he could have completely devoured all the cars in the parking lot by relying on remote devouring.

"Lin Xian!"

KIKI shouted to him, "Look below!"

Focusing on devouring, Lin Xian glanced downward, finding that beneath the dense footfall of human fungi, the tangled fungal mat’s root system seemed to be glowing slightly, with a dim reddish halo flowing like blood within it.

Everyone noticed this phenomenon, with the red flowing becoming brighter and clearer, the red light deepening, as if the whole fungal network on the ground had blood flowing through it, rhythmically breathing across the entire area.

Seeing this scene, Lin Xian also sensed something ominous. He immediately stopped devouring, intending to have KIKI raise everyone higher to avoid danger. Just then, in his peripheral vision, a floating luminous fungus suddenly descended beside his shoulder, emitting a white and pink lively glow, its delicate cap as featherlike as down or a dandelion.

Lin Xian’s eyes immediately intensified, and KIKI cried out in surprise.

"Lin Xian, watch out!"

As soon as she spoke, KIKI instantly erected a large Telekinesis Shield around everyone. The floating fungal cap was jolted by Telekinesis, bursting into countless white specks, like a fantasy mist.

"They’re above us!"

The group looked up and realized that countless small white and pink fungal caps were descending from below the dark cloud, shaken open by the Telekinesis Shield. A sand-like mist enveloped their heads, quickly falling onto the human fungi below.

Suddenly, those human fungi underwent violent mutations, with vast amounts of white mycelium frenziedly emerging from the human fungi, quickly expanding explosively, tearing apart bodies and limbs, leaving only heads rolling away. Then, the entire human fungi transformed into an eerie mushroom over a meter tall, adorned with terrifying tumors. From the neck, mycelium grew into magnificent caps. Swaying in the wind, countless spores dispersed everywhere.