In the command center of Rongcheng, people were still awake. Hundreds of them were analyzing the battle situation, searching for ways to break through the predicament. However, they were facing a siege by zombies, a battle they had never encountered before. Thus, no one knew what to do. The Corpse King's hiding was also too perfect, making it impossible to find any trace of it.
Normally, any army suffering more than a tenth of casualties would consider retreating. This is because army commanders would consider the losses and how to deal with them. But the Corpse King did not consider these. To the Corpse King, ordinary zombies were consumables. After losing them, a trip to other cities would immediately provide new troop sources. However, humans could not do that. Facing zombies like a locust plague, the soldiers were retreating steadily.
General Wei sat in his chair, rubbing his temples, unable to think of a suitable solution. Even missiles, one of their trump cards, had been used, but the zombies had not retreated. Could it be that only nuclear warheads could kill so many zombies?
At this moment, five young men and women in military uniforms walked in. One of the men said resolutely, "General, please allow us to go to the battlefield. As long as we find the Corpse King, the battle will be our victory!"
"Yes, please allow us to go to the battlefield!" At this moment, a woman also stepped forward and said loudly, "Zombies are not unafraid, but the Corpse King is. The reason zombies charge tirelessly is entirely due to the Corpse King's control. As long as we kill the Corpse King, the remaining zombies will be scattered like sand!"
General Wei shook his head and said sternly to the five people, "You are all important培养对象 of the Ability Administration. I will not allow you to go to the battlefield until the Corpse King's trace is found. You are Rongcheng's last trump card. If you appear, the Corpse King will definitely become vigilant."
The five young people fell silent. General Wei was right; they were Rongcheng's last trump card and must not appear easily. If they scared the Corpse King, it would be even harder to find it later.
These five young people were all key培养对象 of the Ability Administration. They were all third-tier ability users, far surpassing ordinary people. It could be said that they were the most perfectly evolved people among humans. Under normal circumstances, they would serve as bodyguards for important figures. However, after discovering Rongcheng's crisis, the headquarters quickly dispatched these five people to achieve a surprise victory at a critical moment. If they could kill the Corpse King, then ability users would shine in subsequent battles.
Qin Kewei looked around and suddenly asked, "By the way, why don't I see Jin Ziju? Isn't he your bodyguard too?"
"He has a special mission. If all goes well, he will bring a group of people back to support us," General Wei replied casually.
In fact, General Wei had also heard news from headquarters that Shen Feng was preparing to counterattack the mutated plants in the mist. If successful, Shen Feng would bring artillery to their rescue. However, General Wei did not hold much hope. With the zombie horde still around 3.5 million, even with 2,000 reinforcements, the impact might not be significant.
After much thought, General Wei still felt helpless. Who would have thought that when Shen Feng and his group were sent to intercept the zombies, they would encounter mutated plants along the way? Now that the zombie horde was at the city gates, further interception was futile, unless the Corpse King could be killed. Otherwise, Rongcheng's crisis would not end.
Originally, according to the previous deductions, artillery would have been used to intercept the zombie horde as it advanced. Even if they couldn't eliminate the horde, they could weaken its numbers. But now, the zombie horde had become increasingly massive, directly surrounding Rongcheng.
If possible, General Wei also wished for a carpet bombing. Even zombies could not survive large-scale artillery fire. However, with such a massive zombie horde, stretching for tens of kilometers and encircling Rongcheng, the area was basically filled with zombies. Carpet bombing was unrealistic.
...
Meanwhile, a group of people who had entered the underground world were very lucky. The piece of ground they were on fell entirely, crushing two treants. A huge crack also appeared around them, extending from the top to the bottom, with a width of over a meter. Everyone quickly hid in the crack, not daring to move. The entrance to the underground cave was also sealed by large rocks and soil. Some survivors who had prepared to escape were trapped inside.
After the underground world collapsed, more than thirty treants were crushed. The heads of these treants, which were large tree burls, were actually their vital points. The falling rocks hit the burls, instantly breaking them. Pink gelatinous fluid flowed out, and the treants fell to the ground, clearly dead.
For this, Shen Feng couldn't help but sigh at his good luck. He had fallen from a great height and was unharmed. It was simply a miracle.
Of course, Liang Bingwen felt they should thank the two treants below. Without their bodies acting as a buffer, it would have been difficult for them to survive the fall from such a height.
After the cave ceiling collapsed, light entered the underground. Although the light could hardly penetrate the white mist directly, even after passing through layers of mist, it could still illuminate the underground! Seeing that the sky was getting darker, it became impossible for Shen Feng and his group to escape. This was because the treants were returning to the cave one by one. Although the cave entrance was blocked, the top of the cave was so open that it was not difficult for them to return.
At this moment, Shen Feng was looking for an escape route. The top layer of the underground cave had collapsed by more than half, and the entrance was also blocked. The sky was so dim, and the surrounding mist had begun to close in. There was no way to find a path to the outside. At this time, Shen Feng could only hide in the crevices of the wall with everyone else.
The fluorescent fruits emitting a faint blue light played their role, illuminating the surroundings. Therefore, Shen Feng could still see the environment clearly.
However, at this moment, Shen Feng suddenly became puzzled. Didn't treants rely on sound to move? Why would they need these glowing fruits for illumination inside the cave? Treants had no eyes, so light was unimportant to them. Yet, the underground space was filled with many fruits used for illumination.
As Shen Feng was wondering, the ground vibrated again. Everyone hiding in the wall crevices was very worried. If the walls suddenly closed in, they would all be crushed into meat paste. That would truly be a case of "green hills having the honor to bury loyal bones!"
Fortunately, the earthquake came and went quickly. However, in the center of the cave, a crack suddenly appeared, and a strangely shaped object emitting red light flew out from the crack. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that there was a slender root stem beneath this strange object.
Shen Feng was stunned by this sight, not expecting that there was something beneath the underground cave.
At this moment, the strange object in the center began to vibrate and expand. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that this object was like a heart, beating continuously. What was originally an irregular sphere in everyone's eyes now resembled a heart as it began to beat.
Shen Feng's arm was suddenly pulled by someone beside him. Shen Feng looked back in confusion and saw Liang Bingwen pointing at a cage that had fallen to the ground not far away. The treants were moving towards the cage on the ground. Inside these cages were many animals and people. The previous explosion had caused these cages to fall to the ground. All those who could run had run away. The remaining people were either half-dead or had partially digested corpses.
The treants reached out and picked up the people or animals on the ground. They used vines to tie them to their branches again. This was very strange. These people or animals did not make any sound, yet the treants could accurately locate them.
Shen Feng felt something was wrong. Didn't treants have no vision? Why could they easily find these animals?
Shen Feng looked back and saw the "heart" located in the center of the cave. The heart was still beating, and an eye had appeared on it at some point. It was a vertical eye, and as it opened, it was scanning the surroundings of the cave!
Wherever the heart looked, the treants would immediately follow its gaze to pick up the animals or corpses on the ground and hang them up.
At this moment, Shen Feng understood everything. It turned out that the core of these mutated plants was this heart hidden underground. The treants were all controlled by this heart. Furthermore, the fluorescent fruits growing in the tree hollows were not mere decorations but were grown to allow the heart to see the surrounding scenes.
Shen Feng had never imagined that a beating heart would grow an eye. It was already strange for a plant to have a heart, but then to grow an eye made it even more unreasonable. Many animals did not have eyes, yet at this moment, a plant had both a heart and an eye, which was completely illogical.
Suddenly, at this moment, Shen Feng discovered an escape route. It was a hidden corner in a nearby dead end. Shen Feng sensed wind from this dead end, and where there was wind, there was an exit. Shen Feng pointed to this dead end, his meaning clear: they should escape from here!
In this dead end, a large rock blocked the line of sight of everyone, and it could also block the line of sight of the plant heart. Therefore, as long as they were not discovered while moving forward, they would most likely escape successfully!
Shen Feng acted immediately. If they stayed here, they would be discovered by the heart sooner or later. Escaping now was the most appropriate course of action.
Shen Feng and his group cautiously escaped, trying not to make any noise. At this time, over seventy treants were picking up corpses on the ground and did not notice their situation. Moreover, the plant heart was looking in another direction. This was a good opportunity to escape.
Everyone quickly moved behind the large rock and indeed saw a huge crack. Thus, everyone gave Shen Feng a thumbs-up. If they could not speak now, they would have been showering him with praise. Unfortunately, now they could only use gestures to express their admiration for Shen Feng.
Shen Feng shrugged, a humble smile on his face. His meaning was clear: "It's a small matter, nothing to mention!"
Shen Feng was also fortunate to have the ability to control wind, which allowed him to discover the crack leading to the outside through airflow.
Suddenly, Jin Ziju, half-transparent in a tree cage, struggled to climb out. Most of his bones were broken. He had taken a full blow from a treant, and his survival was due to his strong physical fitness. To survive, he still wanted to escape from here. At this moment, Jin Ziju saw Shen Feng and quickly waved. He was in great pain but did not dare to cry out, otherwise, a treant would come over and slap him.
Seeing Jin Ziju's miserable state, Shen Feng felt no pity. It was this guy who had abducted a thousand of his subordinates and ordered artillery to bombard him. When Shen Feng had just arrived in Rongcheng, he had also made him lose face in public. If revenge is not taken, a gentleman is not a gentleman! The most important thing for a man is face, and now was Shen Feng's chance to regain his face.
Shen Feng triumphantly raised his eyebrows and made a middle finger gesture with both hands. This international gesture was universal, and he certainly wouldn't save Jin Ziju. He wasn't a saint and didn't need to repay kindness with enmity.
Afterward, Shen Feng led his people away, preparing to leave this troublesome place. There were still over seventy treants here, and if they didn't leave soon, they would be caught!
However, upon seeing this, Jin Ziju's heart was filled with malice. "Good, if you don't save me, then you don't think you can leave either!"
Thus, Jin Ziju began to shout loudly, "Someone is escaping, someone is escaping from this side!"
Jin Ziju's shouts immediately alerted the plant heart in the center of the cave. It suddenly turned around and looked with its single eye at the person making the sound. At this moment, Jin Ziju's hand was still pointing at the group escaping through the crack. Everyone present wished they could strangle Jin Ziju. He couldn't escape himself, so he didn't want others to escape either. He was truly despicable.
At this moment, countless vines suddenly appeared and chased in the direction Jin Ziju pointed. Now, the speed at which everyone was passing through the crack was very slow. If they were caught by the vines, many would be lost. It could be said that the situation, which was initially quite good, was ruined by Jin Ziju. This guy was truly a spiteful person who harmed others without benefiting himself!
Shen Feng's eyes showed decisiveness, and he said to everyone, "You all go quickly, I'll draw their aggro!"
If Shen Feng wanted to escape, he could have done so with his speed earlier. But he was unwilling to abandon his comrades. They had all gone through life and death together; how could he abandon them so easily? Therefore, Shen Feng decided to personally attract the treants' attention.
At this time, Shen Feng still had a long sword in his hand; the other sword was already lost somewhere. He used "As Wind Follows" and charged towards the plant heart controlling the treants in the center of the cave. To draw aggro, he had to be thorough and smash the heart that controlled the treants. He didn't believe the problem couldn't be solved!
The plant heart saw Shen Feng charging towards it and immediately controlled the treants to attack Shen Feng. However, Shen Feng's speed was not something the treants could match. Even the vines controlled by the treants couldn't catch up to Shen Feng. Therefore, all that could be seen was vines flying everywhere, chasing Shen Feng's trace, but never catching him.
Shen Feng reached the plant heart and slashed down with his sword. Unexpectedly, the root stem beneath the plant heart suddenly retracted, pulling the plant heart into the soil. Shen Feng's sword missed. The surrounding treants surrounded him. Shen Feng had no choice but to continue escaping. However, his escape direction was no longer the crack behind the large rock but towards the surrounding cave walls. Shen Feng grabbed the many branches on the cave walls and quickly moved towards the cave ceiling.
At this time, the underground cave had lost its top layer, becoming a bowl-shaped terrain. Shen Feng reached the edge of the bowl and was preparing to leave with his speed. As for the others, they had all left through the crack. Shen Feng had successfully bought enough time for everyone.
However, at this moment, the plant heart that had burrowed into the soil emerged again, opened its eye, and looked at Shen Feng, who was climbing frantically. With the danger gone, the plant heart immediately began to prepare its next move.