Chapter 317: Chapter 305: An Alternative Advancement Method for Middle-level Plant-Type Superpower Users
The group waited in a daze inside the lab. Only Flora Bloom sat on the floor, her eyes closed, looking as if she had everything under control.
The man-eating flowers outside had buds as large as washbasins, making it far too difficult for Cynthia Grant to establish communication with them. One small misstep and she could be swallowed, which would be disastrous.
’But I could find a way to collect these walking man-eating flowers. I could plant a circle of them outside the fence of Villa Three. Impervious to water, fire, and blades... munching on any little rascals that come by, one by one. The thought alone gives me a sense of security.’
However, the sight of the man-eating flowers suddenly pulled Flora Bloom’s memories back to the fifth year of the apocalypse in her past life. Man-eating flowers had once been her combat plants, but that person’s flowers were much, much larger than the ones outside now.
Huang Li, a Plant Element user.
She was the one who told Flora Bloom that Plant Element users could advance in this way. In the fifth year of the apocalypse, humans and zombies were locked in a war of attrition. Animals were no longer docile as they once were; they had become the dominant force in the world.
Back then, she had to defend against Middle- and High-level zombies that could appear at any moment, while also watching out for carnivorous animals that might suddenly ambush and devour her for dinner.
It was Huang Li who saved her when she was nearly killed by a massive swarm of bloodthirsty bats. Unfortunately, Flora had ties that bound her at the time, so she didn’t accept Huang Li’s invitation to leave Mirefall with her.
’I wonder how this life’s Huang Li is doing now.’
Flora Bloom’s network of sentient plant roots had already covered a third of the underground beneath Morhaven. Although this botanical garden wasn’t far from the safe zone, the entire area around it was already blanketed by the roots of her sentient plants.
Through Flora Bloom’s spiritual link, the sentient plants were clamoring for some unknown reason, all wanting to surge toward a specific spot in the botanical garden. If Flora Bloom didn’t have absolute command and control, these sentient plants would have definitely disobeyed her and headed in the opposite direction of the lab.
This was especially true for the Rose vine. Its roots extended directly to the ground beneath the lab where Flora Bloom and the others were. In less than ten minutes, it had bored a hole under them, sprouting a new vine from beneath the lab that slowly grew thicker and longer.
In half an hour, it had already grown to the same size as the main body of the Rose vine back at the base.
Cynthia Grant stared at the Rose vine before her, her eyes nearly popping out of her head. "Whoa, Flora, I’m so jealous! This Rose vine of yours is too strong! How did it get here so fast?"
Flora Bloom shook her head. "This is just a branch; its strength isn’t comparable to the main body. However, if its branches split off and grow, they can eventually become existences identical to the main body."
"Can it handle the man-eating flowers outside? I counted when we were escaping earlier—there are nine of them. What are our chances?"
Flora Bloom nodded. "It can definitely keep the man-eating flowers outside busy. We can use the opportunity to escape. There’s something in this botanical garden, but we aren’t prepared for it this time. Let’s head back to the base first."
Cynthia Grant’s expression fell. "Aww, and I thought I could get a plant-type battle pet today!" Then her eyes lit up. "So, Flora, when are we coming back?"
’Come back?’
Flora Bloom already had a plan in mind. ’This place is completely covered in vegetation, with evolved man-eating flowers on the outskirts. Plus, my sentient plants are warning me—there has to be some kind of boss-level creature deeper inside the botanical garden.’
’Who knows how many other powerful things are on the way into the garden? And I can’t forget, right next to the botanical garden is the zoo. In the apocalypse, neither animals nor plants are anything to be trifled with.’
’If we run into danger we can’t escape from, I won’t have the luxury of looking out for others. I can only come here by myself, or with people like Yan Yan who already have the spatial imprint. That’s the only way they won’t drag me down.’
Of course, if Flora Bloom said all this to Cynthia Grant, the girl would definitely chew her out and wouldn’t let it go. So, she just nodded and agreed, "Let’s head back and plan our next move."
Following Flora Bloom’s command, the Rose vine continued to grow. Nourished by her spiritual water, its roots grew thicker and longer, extending beneath the ground outside the lab until they merged with the root system of the other sentient plants.
The roots of the sentient plants sprouted tender shoots that densely packed the earth beneath and around the lab. The green shoots grew rapidly. As Flora Bloom watered the new Rose vine indoors, all the interconnected roots vied with each other to absorb the nourishment.
Soon, the outdoor shoots grew strong and healthy. Some turned into long, slender blades of green grass, with wildflowers blooming here and there. Others transformed into new Rose saplings, which then grew from saplings into vines.
The climbing Rose grew with incredible speed. As long as they received enough plant essence to fuel their growth, it wouldn’t take long for them to become colossal, towering plants.
The movements of the nine man-eating flowers, their heads the size of washbasins, as they roamed outside the lab soon alerted the superpower users patrolling the mountains of the botanical garden.
But for some unknown reason, a vast expanse of green grass suddenly sprouted from the valley floor—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a sea of grass. Each blade in this field was taller than a person and incredibly tough, pressing in on the superpower users who tried to break through.
Once inside the grass, the superpower users lost all sense of direction and sight. They couldn’t see each other, and as they walked, they discovered that the ground beneath their feet was moving backward. They walked for what felt like an eternity but were unable to leave the valley at the foot of the mountain.
Finding themselves back at their starting point in an instant, the superpower users finally realized this was no ordinary grass.
"Something’s strange. Everyone, don’t rush off. Let’s observe for a bit first!"
This team of superpower users consisted of thirty-two people, and the lowest Superpower Level among them was Middle Level. If they had made it to the lab right now, Flora Bloom and her group would have likely met their end in this botanical garden.
One of the Fire Ability Users in the team grew impatient. He charged into the field of grass, his body wreathed in towering flames, intending to burn down the tall grass blocking their path.
But to his surprise, the moment he entered the grass and his Fire Element Energy touched the blades around him, a surge of green and dark-blue Water Energy enveloped the flames and swiftly devoured them completely.
Plants are naturally afraid of fire, and this holds true even for sentient plants. However, this patch of grass had long been irrigated by Flora Bloom’s spiritual water, imbuing it with a trace of her Water Energy. The moment it was attacked by fire, its self-preservation instincts would activate the latent Water Energy hidden underground to extinguish the flames.
And so, the other superpower users watched as their Fire Ability User companion’s figure vanished into the tall grass. A long time passed, but they saw no sign of a fire starting.
"Why isn’t he back yet? Nothing bad happened to him, right?"
"Impossible! Plants are most afraid of fire. Even those strange plants in the mountains were afraid of fire. Otherwise, we never would have made it out!"
"That’s true. No matter how tough these weird plants are, they still have to be afraid of fire! Let’s wait a bit longer!"
So, the thirty-one of them waited, but there was still no sign of their companion’s return.
Meanwhile, the Fire Ability User inside the grassy field was bound hand, foot, and body by the tough blades of grass. The grass tightened its grip, squeezing harder and harder until it even began to cut into his flesh.
Blood began to stream steadily from his body.
