Bab 288: Chapter 287
In the underground of the Mushroom Island, Lin was preparing for … war.
Lin had calculated the time when the fungal spheres would awaken. Though they were of different sizes, they all took the same amount of time to awaken. When the thumping sound reached a certain frequency, the creatures inside them would appear.
The creatures inside the fungal spheres weren't random creatures that could be infected. Lin had discovered that they were very organized, like a group of small soldiers and some large soldiers. They could coordinate their abilities with each other. There were also many that could swim in water and fly. Many of these creatures carried plague fungi with extremely strong corrosive properties. If they were to attack the continent, it would be quite troublesome, although the chances of them reaching there were not high.
But no matter what, Lin had to destroy them before that happened.
Lin had more predators from outside enter the underground cavern. They didn't breathe fire first, but instead sprinkled burning liquid on the ground, covering the fungal spheres and the ground around them.
At the same time, Lin had also brought in the Bacteriophages. Some of the predators brought in smaller fungal spheres for the Bacteriophages to convert and devour, providing them with more nutrients to create more burning liquid. The Bacteriophages also began to grow and devour the fungal spheres around them …
Lin had calculated how long it would take for the fungal spheres to awaken based on their beating frequency. So far, she had discovered that it would take several thousand seconds for them to awaken.
That time … was very limited.
Lin still didn't know how big the underground cavern was. It might be as big as the entire island, and there were tens of thousands of fungal spheres. Lin's forces were currently insufficient, so she had to rely on devouring to obtain nutrients and convert them into more forces.
Of course, they would awaken before Lin had enough forces.
No matter what. Let's fight first!
While the predators were sprinkling burning liquid. The Kibucha Bugs were running around inside the fungal spheres. They seemed to be observing the predators, but didn't seem to have decided to attack, nor did they attempt to interfere with the predators.
If Lin directly breathed fire, they would attempt to extinguish it, but if she breathed burning liquid, they would only watch from the side.
They didn't seem to understand. However, no matter how much burning liquid was sprinkled, it couldn't cover the entire underground cavern. It was very humid here, and some fungal spheres were naturally fireproof. The burning liquid was only used as a 'disguise'. Lin still had to prepare a more powerful attack …
At the same time, the Bechymos outside had also begun to attack the fungal forest. Lin released even more Bacteriophages from the beach and began to devour the entire island. All of Lin's forces began to launch a fierce assault on the island!
On the other hand, the fungus did not seem to be reacting at all. It was as if the initial attack had exhausted all of its awakened forces, and now they were not reacting at all.
This feeling was very strange, but the attack would not stop.
The Predators had already sprinkled flammable liquid over a vast area of the underground cavern, but how vast was it? Lin had not calculated yet. But it will get bigger …. "
They didn't ignite the fire immediately. Instead, they returned to where the Bacteriophage was. The Bacteriophage continued to grow and devour the fungal spheres nearby.
Everything was progressing slowly. With the heart-like beating of the fungus balls, the time of their appearance was getting closer and closer …
Before that, Lin was prepared to observe and understand this place more deeply.
The group of Chibucha Bugs hovered around Lin's forces. As the time of the fungal spheres' awakening approached, they suddenly began to retreat into the depths of the cavern. Lin used the Bacteriophage's nutrients to create a smaller Flyer to track them down and see what was going on with these Chibucha Bugs.
The Flyer quickly caught up with the retreating Chibucha Bugs. Lin discovered that they had all drilled into the ground. There was a small hole in the ground just big enough for them to pass through.
Because the Flyer was a small Flyer, it could also drill through these small holes that were only a few centimetres in diameter.
The cavern was naturally dark, but Lin could see the light emitted by the last Chibucha Bug that entered the cavern. These glowing fungi were scattered in their carapaces, but she didn't know what they meant.
The light emitted by each Chibucha Bug was different, but the one emitted by the leader was denser. After following the Chibucha Bug for a while in the narrow passage, the surroundings gradually widened, as if they had arrived at another cavern.
The walls of the cavern here also began to emit more light. On both sides of the Flyer, there was a kind of mushroom that emitted blue fluorescent light. They were only about a centimetre tall, and if the Flyer got too close, they would light up even more, although she didn't know what that meant.
The deeper they went, the more mushrooms there were. A large number of glowing mycelium drooped down from the top of the cavern walls like the roots of plants. Many Chibucha Bugs were crawling between these mycelium. They cut off some of the mycelium, tied them together, and carried them on their backs.
It was as if they were collecting these mycelium to eat.
As they went deeper and deeper, Lin discovered that there were not only mushrooms on the ground, but also moss-like plants. They seemed to be relying on the light emitted by the fungi to survive, and the fungi didn't devour them. But where did the fungi get their nutrients from?
The Chibucha Bugs?
The Flyer arrived at a spacious area. The ceiling here was high enough that it could fly completely and observe the environment. In addition to the fungi and moss, there were also a large number of Chibucha Bugs. They were scattered all over the cavern, and they were all doing the same thing — cutting the mycelium and piling it up in the center of the cavern.
Beside the mycelium were many small white worms, which should be the larvae of the Chibucha Bugs.
They did indeed feed on the fungi, but the fungi ignored them. Besides their shells, there were no fungi in their bodies.
Lin had a conjecture about their lives. It seemed that although this group of Chibucha worms lived in symbiosis with the fungus, they weren't controlled by the fungus. They couldn't send messages to the fungus, nor could they help the fungus fight. Their attacking behavior should be purely for self-protection.
It was amazing that a creature could survive such a terrible 'plague'. They probably used some method to prevent the fungi from harming them, just like how the Chibucha Bugs in the Twisted Jungle could control the growth of fungi. But for a creature as terrible as the plague fungi here, it was already good enough that they could protect themselves.
Now, the time for the fungus ball was up.
Crack ….
A large number of the fungus balls began to crack, and various fungal monsters crawled out from the cracks. Their bodies were covered in a thick layer of mycelium.
Not every fungus ball woke up at this time, but Lin estimated that thousands of them had already woken up. Their awakening time seemed to have been 'set'. Every batch had the same time, and only a few of them woke up alone.
As soon as these creatures appeared, they immediately charged towards the Bacteriophages. They continuously roared, but no one could sense any anger from them. However, it was unknown whether or not the Plague Fungi were actually angry, but they clearly couldn't tolerate Lin's presence here.
As these creatures ran on the ground, they were covered in a large amount of flammable liquid. They also splashed the flammable liquid all over the fungus balls and their companions.
The plague fungi had never seen flammable liquid before, so they didn't associate it with a threat. Instead, they rushed madly towards the Flyer.
Now, a large number of fungal monsters had appeared around the Flyer. Their bodies, especially their legs, were covered in flammable liquid.
Let's begin! The entire cave is about to become fragrant!
At that moment, the bombs Lin placed on the ground exploded. The high temperature produced by the fusion of the explosive components ignited the flammable liquid on the ground. The flames instantly spread and burned!
The entire cave was shrouded in high temperature by the surging flames. The flames climbed up the bodies of the fungal monsters, causing them to roar and howl madly in the flames. They began to charge around aimlessly.
Even though some of the creatures could secrete flammable liquid to resist the flames, they couldn't resist the high temperature around them. In the flames, the flesh and bones of these creatures slowly separated and fell off. One by one, they fell to the ground.
Lin noticed a strange phenomenon. After being attacked by the high temperature of the flames, the infected creatures seemed to have temporarily lost control. They stopped charging and instead ran around, causing them to suffer even more casualties.
As the flames continued to burn, the cave began to experience a lack of oxygen. The oxygen in this place didn't seem to be enough to begin with, and as the flames continued to burn, the oxygen in the cave gradually decreased. Some of the fungal monsters that successfully avoided the flames also collapsed due to the lack of oxygen.
Lin had long expected this to happen, so both the Flyer and the Flyer had backup air sacs in their bodies. Moreover, the Flyer itself didn't consume much oxygen.
Now that the flames were slowly extinguishing, only a large pile of bones and various charred substances were left in the cave. It was almost impossible to tell what they were originally.
The Flyer took this opportunity to collect all the ashes and debris in the cave. They threw the ashes and debris to the Flyer to decompose. The Flyer once again began to grow.
Before the oxygen supply was restored, the Flyer might grow several times in size. Lin had successfully dealt with the siege this time and obtained a large amount of nutrients. However, the plague fungi would definitely pay attention to the flammable liquid next time. She might not be able to use this trick twice.
The places where the flames didn't spread were still echoing with the sound of heartbeats. However, it would take about a day and a half for them to wake up. That way, Lin would have more time to prepare.
"Phew …"
Bechymos suddenly heard a strange noise in the sky above the island outside … It was a strange noise.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone