Doomsday: I can see the health bar, kill monsters and drop treasure.

Chapter 665 Fusion Mutated Plants
Although the 800,000 people at the Red Maple Base were successfully evacuated, it does not mean that they are safe.

It will take them at least three days to reach the new base. They will definitely encounter many dangers along the way, so they will need the escort of Wang Tao and others.

Xiao Jin quickly caught up with the main force.

Looking at the crowd of people below that looked like a tide of corpses, everyone on the golden eagle was a little shocked. It was obviously the first time for them to see such a large-scale population migration.

Wang Tao was a little worried that too many people would cause chaos and affect the marching speed, but after a closer look, Wang Tao was relieved.

Although there were many people below, they were divided into small squares by the mutant plants. There were soldiers guarding each small square to ensure that they would not have any problems. As long as these small squares were fine, the entire large square would naturally be fine.

This is easy to say, but actually very difficult. Without mentioning the various details, Wang Tao still couldn't figure out how these small square formations received and executed the orders from above.

All electronic devices have long been unusable. The Hope Institute has been researching new communication equipment. Although it has also developed things like crystal energy watches, these things can only be used within the Changhe base and cannot be used outside the barrier.

So Wang Tao was very curious about how the people at the Red Maple Base could effectively carry out orders from above.

Could it be that the Red Maple Base has developed a device that can communicate outside? Or have they discovered equipment or biological weapons similar to the [Sensing Ring]?
Qu Shilin was obviously also very interested in this aspect, so she asked Wang Tao to ask.

"Okay, let's go there."

Wang Tao ordered the golden eagle to fly to the front of the team. The senior executives of the Red Maple Base were all at the front.

Soon, Wang Tao saw Xiang Bo and others. They were all sitting in the "leaf car" without a roof, which was very conspicuous.

Seeing the golden eagle flying over, Xiang Bo and others all showed relieved smiles on their faces.

Wang Tao and his team were covering the rear. Since Wang Tao was fine, it meant that their retreat was very successful.

"On behalf of all 800,000 people in the Red Maple Base, I thank Mr. Wang!"

"Thank you, Mr. Wang..."

After Wang Tao landed on the leaf car, Xiang Bo immediately led a group of senior executives to bow deeply to Wang Tao.

If Wang Tao hadn't brought so many experts with him, it would have been impossible for them to evacuate the Red Maple Base quickly. Every minute of delay would increase the danger. Even if they could evacuate by then, it would probably be a one in ten chance of survival.

"You are welcome."

Wang Tao accepted his greeting with a smile, then asked in a somewhat strange tone:

"Why can't I see Han Youlin? Didn't he come out a long time ago? Did something unexpected happen?"

At the Red Maple Base, Mayor Xiang Bo is just an executor. The real decision maker is the military. Commander Han Youlin is the actual controller of the Red Maple Base.

So Wang Tao was a little surprised that he hadn't seen Han Youlin. Given his status, he shouldn't have gotten into trouble, right?

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Wang. Commander Han is in the headquarters."

Xiang Bo quickly explained.

"Command?"

"It's in a red mushroom in the center of the team..."

Xiang Bo pointed to the center of the crowd.

This time they evacuated, not only the people left, but also the mutant plant houses that could be moved away. Some of the mutant plants were still alive and could walk easily. Han Youlin was inside one of the living mutant plants.

"Tsk tsk... Your method of controlling mutant plants has improved greatly. They can even leave the base!"

Wang Tao sighed.

These mutant plants are actually controlled by humans, but in order to control them, they need to transmit brain wave signals to the mutant plants. There is a special mutant plant underground in the Red Maple Base that can act as a medium for transmitting brain wave signals, so they can control it freely in the base. However, these special mutant plants are only found underground in the Red Maple Base, and they cannot be transplanted. Once transplanted, they will die.

Wang Tao guessed that they must have thought of a successful transplant method? The fact that their small squares could communicate with each other in real time might also be related to this.

"We didn't expect this, actually. Commander Han figured this out..."

Xiang Bo had a look of relief on his face. If it weren't for these mutant plants that served as vehicles and carried a lot of things for them, their transfer speed would definitely be much slower.

However, Wang Tao keenly noticed that when Xiang Bo talked about this issue, the faces of people like Tu Lizhen, the leader of the Liehuo Gang, looked a little unhappy.

"What happen to you guys?"

Wang Tao was a little confused, and then asked directly.

Tu Lizhen hesitated for a moment, then as if she had made up her mind, she rolled up her sleeves.

Wang Tao's pupils suddenly shrank.

The last time he met Tu Lizhen, her arms were white and tender, and looked no worse than those of the little girls. But now, her forearms have turned dark brown, and are pockmarked, like... tree bark! However, her upper arms from the elbows are still white and tender...

"your hands……"

Wang Tao grabbed her arm directly and it felt like tree bark.

Qu Shilin and others also widened their eyes, not knowing what was going on.

"The price of gaining strength..."

Tu Lizhen's face showed some pain, but she did not hide it and told Wang Tao and others about it.

The mutated plants in the Red Maple Base have always been controlled by the military. After such a long period of control, there must have been a lot of gains.

Some time ago, Han Youlin's subordinates developed a method to make themselves stronger without getting promoted - fusing mutant plants!
It sounds like a weird thing to fuse humans with mutant plants, and it is indeed not a weird thing, and there will be many side effects. But it can really improve combat effectiveness!

This increase in combat power alone can offset all the side effects.

Originally, Han Youlin and the others were not sure whether to use this method. After all, it was only theoretical. Even if the side effects were ignored, there would still be certain risks during the fusion.

But the sudden appearance of catastrophic creatures disrupted their rhythm and also made Han Youlin's hesitant mind firm up - no matter what means, as long as he can become stronger, it is good!
Therefore, Han Youlin summoned a group of people including Tu Lizhen, who were all senior executives of the Red Maple Base and the strongest group of people. Improving their strength was naturally the best choice. Although this method of improving strength seemed unorthodox, the cost was not low, and weak people could not bear it, so they had to come.

Although all this is voluntary, there is a high probability that there are still catastrophic creatures outside. If they do not improve their strength, they will not be able to go out.

At present, if they want to improve their strength, they can only rely on accumulating crystal cores to advance to the sixth level, which is also the safest method. But they are only at the fifth level, and when there are sixth-level disaster-level creatures outside, they can't go out at all, and there is no way to hunt fifth-level creatures.

And no one knows whether those disaster-level creatures will suddenly come to the Red Maple Base. With the terrifying effect of disaster awakening, the monsters don’t even need to come in. Just a walk around the gate of the base can kill countless people.

But if they have the combat power of the sixth level, then it will be different. Maybe they can even hunt down the sixth level disaster level.

So they had no choice but to choose this seemingly unreliable method of becoming stronger.

So, they first selected two people to fuse the mutant plants. After making sure there were no problems and that their strength had indeed increased a lot, the remaining people continued to fuse.

I have to say that those researchers are very capable. Their fusion with the mutant plants went smoothly this time without any accidents.

Although the process was painful, their combat effectiveness was indeed improved a lot, far beyond their previous level.

But before they started going out to hunt the sixth-order catastrophic creatures, an earthquake suddenly occurred.

Facing a natural disaster like an earthquake, their hard-earned strength seemed ridiculous. Although Wang Tao finally proved that this was not a real earthquake, but a monster, this seventh-order destructive monster made people even more desperate!

This incident almost made Tu Lizhen and the others depressed.

Later, magma appeared and the forest was set on fire. They were forced to move, and Tu Lizhen and others didn't think much about it. Moreover, at this time, the effect of strength improvement came into play, and their mood also improved a lot.

But after they successfully evacuated and survived the first wave of danger, they discovered that the mutant plants they had fused had undergone some changes. It was these changes that made Tu Lizhen look a little unhappy.

"Originally, I only fused one hand. My right hand turned into a plant hand, which can be inserted into the ground to absorb nutrients from the earth, thereby quickly recovering from my injuries. But after a night of hard work, my entire forearm has also turned into a plant... Fighting will cause the plant transformation to intensify..."

When she said this, there was a hint of fear in Tu Lizhen's eyes.

It's just that her forearm has turned into a vegetative form, which is not actually that scary, but I'm afraid that this type of vegetative form will continue to spread, and eventually turn her entire body into a mutant plant!
If that were to happen, would she be alive or dead? Even if she was still alive, would she still be her...

What made Tu Lizhen even more scared was that she felt her strength had become stronger again - the higher the degree of vegetative transformation, the stronger she seemed to be!
This kind of becoming stronger is even a bit addictive. She is afraid that she will lose control in the future, and will fight madly and become stronger, and eventually become a consciousnessless mutant plant!

After listening to Tu Lizhen's words, Wang Tao didn't know what to say.

Their ideas and choices are actually correct.

When facing a crisis, the first thing to do is to become stronger. As for what side effects may occur afterwards, that is something to be considered later. Just focus on the present.

However, after they became stronger, they encountered many things that disrupted their original plans, and the side effects of becoming stronger were a bit too great. If their entire body really became vegetative, including their brains...then they might not be themselves anymore. The real them would be dead.

Wang Tao looked at Tu Lizhen carefully again. There was no change in her health bar and attributes. Her plant-like right arm also did not show any health bar or status prompts.

Wang Tao couldn't find a solution for a while, so he could only pat Tu Lizhen's arm and comfort her:
"Don't worry too much. Come with me to Changhe Base later. I'll have the staff from the Hope Research Institute take a look at it for you. They should be able to find a solution."

To Wang Tao, this was just a comforting remark, but to Tu Lizhen, it seemed like a real opportunity.

She immediately nodded happily.

"Okay, I'm willing to cooperate with your research!"

When the others saw that Wang Tao was about to take Tu Lizhen away, they all looked at Wang Tao with some hope.

Like Tu Lizhen, they also became vegetative and spread.

"Don't worry, as long as we can find a solution, we will tell you for free."

"Thank you Mr. Wang!"

Everyone quickly thanked him.

Wang Tao talked with Tu Lizhen and others about the specific effects of body vegetative transformation, and asked them to demonstrate it themselves.

After understanding it, Wang Tao could only say that this thing was indeed something.

For example, if Tu Lizhen sticks the plant's right hand into the ground, she can quickly recover health and mana! This blood recovery speed is comparable to that of ordinary healing awakeners, not to mention that it can also recover mana, which is more useful than bringing an ordinary nurse. No wonder it can greatly improve her combat effectiveness.

To some extent, this thing is equivalent to an awakening ability, and it is a passive awakening that does not consume any energy!

Some people have mutant plants fused to their legs, which not only greatly increases their speed, but also allows them to quickly burrow into the ground. And in the process of burrowing into the ground, they recover their health and mana. Although not as fast as Tu Lizhen's recovery speed, it is safer. Once they burrow into the ground, even some mutant plants with the ability to burrow into the ground may not be able to find them...

There are also people whose arms are fused with mutant plants, but instead of piercing the ground to absorb blood and restore mana, their arms can turn into a large vine shield with super high defense. Others can hide behind the shield to block the sixth-order catastrophic attack! Although the price is that he will lose blood, as long as there is a nurse, he can block a lot of attacks...

After these people merged with the mutant plants, the abilities they gained were strange, but indeed very useful, especially when they cooperated with each other. Wang Tao had no doubt that they could hunt down the sixth-order disaster-level creatures.

But the problem is that every time they use these abilities, the degree of vegetative transformation will deepen. No one knows if they will become vegetative after using them too much, and eventually die... So now they are a little afraid to use this ability, and they are very entangled.

Qu Shilin was also very interested in this method of fusing mutant plants. She felt that this was similar to a mechanical prosthesis, a kind of biological prosthesis? Although the increased strength was stronger than a mechanical prosthesis, it was highly polluting... There was still a lot of room for improvement! She would go back and study it, maybe she could find something...

After learning about these abilities, Wang Tao suddenly became curious about what abilities Han Youlin gained after fusing with the mutant plants.

Tu Lizhen obviously knew it, but she didn't say it. Instead, she asked Wang Tao to go and see for himself, which guaranteed to surprise Wang Tao.

So Wang Tao took Qu Shilin and others to the center of the team and saw the red mushroom with many legs.

Inside the red mushroom, Wang Tao finally met Han Youlin.

At this time, Han Youlin was sitting cross-legged inside the mushroom with his eyes closed.

His head became much bigger, and there was no hair. Instead, there were a lot of thumb-thick green vines. These vines grew out from his head and then inserted into the big red mushroom one by one, like a spider web. From time to time, the vines flashed with strange green light...

"This is……"

Although Wang Tao didn't understand it, he was indeed shocked.

(End of this chapter)