Alien Species Invasion? I Kill Them Back.

Chapter 114: Chapter 112: What About Me?

The group returned to Sanqing Hall to rest.

The atmosphere was heavy and subdued.

Feng Ling’s gaze swept across each of their faces—

Pei Xianjue was fraught with worry, likely fretting over how to burn the tree.

Baozi kept her eyes on Pei Xianjue, clearly worried about her.

Li Qing’s gaze was lowered, his face expressionless, looking completely detached from the situation.

Huangfu Miaomiao glanced around, her eyes periodically flicking toward the doorway.

Feng Ling followed Huangfu Miaomiao’s gaze outside. The Cat Spider and the Cat Owl were tearing at the spider carcasses on the ground, devouring them mouthful by mouthful, leaving behind only empty skulls.

These spiders were like hermit crabs, using the skulls of various creatures as their shells and scuttling about with the bones on their backs.

Feng Ling guessed they could spread disease just like the black bugs, but since the group had eaten the purple fruit, they were unaffected.

’Since the Maze’s creation, no one has ever come in here. These spiders probably don’t even have natural predators. Who knows how many tens of thousands have propagated by now...’

As she mulled this over, Feng Ling broke the silence. "We’ve witnessed two of the Boss’s forms. The first, the mud statue, possesses a Spiritual Suppression ability. The second, the old crone, can also unleash Spiritual Suppression, control poisonous bugs to spread a plague, and create illusions for nearby creatures after being injured. This is very similar to the situation in Fox Village."

She glanced at Li Qing before continuing, "The administrator told us before that the Maze is a large-scale genetic testing ground. So, can I interpret it this way? The game system extracted data related to Sanqing Mountain and Taoist culture, then seeded this place with a batch of genes. The creatures here then began to mutate and evolve. Foxes had a high affinity for genes related to psychic illusions, which led to the evolution of Fox Village. The same logic applies to Oxhead and Horseface and the skeleton spiders. Creatures that fit the Maze’s theme were allowed to remain, while those that didn’t were eliminated."

Li Qing raised his head slightly to look at Feng Ling. "What’s your point?"

Feng Ling deployed her Teeth and Claws, snagging a skull from the doorway and tossing it into Huangfu Miaomiao’s arms. "I think I might know what the Boss’s third form is."

Huangfu Miaomiao’s face lit up. She cradled the skull, instantly fond of it. She was going to pick the scariest one to make a mask.

Pei Xianjue asked, "What’s the third form?"

"Creatures that evolve within the same Maze tend to have overlapping genetics," Feng Ling said. "Like illusions, viruses, and... being part-human, part-beast, and gigantic."

"You mean the third form will be like Oxhead and Horseface?" Pei Xianjue’s expression grew grave.

"More than that." Feng Ling shook her head gently. "My guess is that not only will it be similar in size to Oxhead and Horseface, but it will also possess Skills like Spiritual Suppression, plague-spreading, and disorienting illusions. And it will be able to resurrect itself endlessly. To put it simply, it’s the king of this genetic testing ground—the strongest monster."

Upon hearing this, Pei Xianjue let out a laugh.

It was a laugh of helplessness, of despair.

"Then has everything we’ve worked for these past two days even meant anything?" she murmured.

"Without our efforts these past two days, we wouldn’t have this intel," Feng Ling said calmly. "Destroying the fruit tree will stop its resurrection. The grenades can interrupt its suppression ability. Baozi can help us stay clear-headed. And eating the fruit grants resistance to the plague. We have solutions for all of those. The only problem now is the illusions. Once you fall into one, it’s incredibly hard to escape."

Huangfu Miaomiao reminded her in a low voice, "The rest of our fruit isn’t ripe. It might not be effective against the plague."

Feng Ling thought for a moment, then summoned the Cat Owl.

She tried to convey an instruction to the Cat Owl: go up the mountain and pick fruit.

The Cat Owl flapped its wings and let out an agitated hoot, showing its irritation and reluctance. It seemed to know there was danger on the mountain and didn’t want to go.

’It’s because it’s starting to get smart,’ Feng Ling thought.

There was a lot of truth to the old saying: a newborn calf doesn’t fear a tiger.

She remembered taking these two little ones to the Alien Species’ hotel. Faced with a Knight Mutant dozens of times their size, they had pounced on it without fear, tangling it up and biting relentlessly. Now that they were older, their courage had strangely shrunk.

Feng Ling stroked its snow-white head. "When the foxes went to steal the fruit, the Maze Master didn’t react, the Minotaur didn’t wake up, and the spiders on the tree did nothing. Don’t tell me you’re less capable than a fox?"

The black Cat Cat Spider hissed from the side, sounding like a person with a hoarse throat trying to laugh.

The Cat Owl was furious. It let out a sharp screech at the Cat Spider, then flapped its wings and flew out of the Three Pure Ones Palace.

It circled once in the air, then flew toward the summit.

Feng Ling narrowed her eyes slightly. As the Cat Owl flew into the distance, she immediately closed her eyes, following her mist markers back to the mud statue—it was still sitting serenely on the dais inside the tower.

Feng Ling withdrew her point of view from the Ancient Tower and focused on the colossal tree.

The Cat Owl arrived at the location even faster than her tracking. It grabbed a fruit from the treetop, trying to pull it free, but its talons were too strong. They pierced the fruit’s flesh, and juice dripped down to the ground.

It tossed the mangled fruit away in disgust and aimed for another.

This time, it was smarter. Instead of yanking the fruit, it gripped the branch tightly with its talons and used its beak to gnaw through the wood. Once the bough snapped, it snatched the fruit-laden branch and flew away.

The Minotaur was still wandering on the mountain path, not having returned. The skeleton spiders in the tree were motionless. The Maze Master inside the tower showed no reaction at all.

’It worked.’

Feng Ling opened her eyes and gave a nod to the others, who were all watching her intently.

Pei Xianjue breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems that just picking the fruit won’t cause any problems."

Baozi’s expression relaxed as well. "I guess even the Maze has to leave you a way out."

"Picking the fruit doesn’t harm the tree, after all." Feng Ling looked at Pei Xianjue. "We’ll gather some fruit for our own use. Tomorrow, I’ll handle killing the Minotaur and luring away the Maze Boss, and you’ll be in charge of burning the tree. Can you do that?"

Pei Xianjue’s heart sank as she realized the heavy burden now resting on her shoulders.

The fruit tree had to be destroyed, otherwise, all their efforts would be for nothing. Moreover, Feng Ling’s part of the plan was far more dangerous than hers; she had no right to refuse.

Pei Xianjue looked into Feng Ling’s eyes and nodded, her expression tense.

"After the Minotaur is killed, the Maze Master will certainly leave the Ancient Tower. You use that opportunity to burn the tree. But how do I signal you...?" As this occurred to Feng Ling, her brow furrowed.

"Our phones!" Pei Xianjue hurriedly pulled out the special phone issued by the Hunter Project.

"But don’t our phones lose signal in the Maze?" Feng Ling asked.

"They don’t get a cell signal, but we can use their local network function. Each phone is an independent signal source." Pei Xianjue immediately sent a message to Feng Ling.

Feng Ling took out her own phone and, sure enough, saw a new unread message.

"Good. We’ll use our phones to communicate tomorrow," Feng Ling said. "I’ll be taking Baozi with me, so you’ll be on your own when it’s time to burn the tree. If you run into danger, no one can help you. You’ll have to find a way to get out of it by yourself. Can you do that? If you don’t think you can, we’ll make a new plan."

Pei Xianjue’s expression faltered for a moment, but then she said with determination, "I can do it!"

Huangfu Miaomiao, seeing them finalize the plan in just a few sentences, hesitated before looking at Feng Ling. "So, uh, what about me?"

’What part am I responsible for?’

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