dark moon

Chapter 18 Worse Than Death
"I think, Macajeron, I may have misunderstood you. The fire-breathing device at the gate is probably not a trap, but its design. Of course, even if this is the case, you should find it in advance. If you don't find it, it must be Your dereliction of duty.”

"Those four flamethrowers just covered all the space after the gate was opened. Is this just a way for people to escape? I'm afraid not necessarily, it is very likely that they are targeting those plants."

"The high temperature burns all plant particles in the air, whether spores or pollen, and will be reduced to ashes in the flames. Frogs wear special insulated and fire-proof clothing to enter and leave the ruins. The measure is simple, but also very effective. It is difficult for plants to Invade the interior of the ruins.”

"Oh, I understand." Mia nodded coldly, "I froze the flames, and we didn't close the door in time, so they followed."

"Yes, they're coming, but there's good news."

"Boss, I don't want to hear your good news at all." The halfling said with a bitter face, "Your good news is always followed by worse news. My heart trembles when I hear you say good news."

"If you don't listen, you have to listen." Xiu Er said with a glare at him, "If they are really what they are called... oh, group life, then they have restrictions on sharing their souls and thoughts. Although I don't know This restriction is due to distance or something in the air, but the plants in this ruins should be unable to cooperate with those ghosts outside."

"So mushrooms are not hostile?" Moria said thoughtfully, "The number of them is too small, and they cannot even carry out the most basic thinking?"

"Well, the above is what I thought of last night, which makes me very nervous." Shuer frowned and said, "As for the good news, we can verify it now. If they are really too small to think about, then it must be We will do our best to expand the scale, that is, we will try our best to reproduce.”

"Wow", the eyes of the seven people were unanimously focused on the bookshelf that was broken in half. The answer was obvious. If the number of mushrooms really increased a lot overnight, then the possibility of Shuer's guess would be It has been raised to a dangerous level.

"Let me see." The body always moves before the brain. This is Macajerun's evaluation of Moback. It must be admitted that this evaluation is very appropriate. The dwarf was the first to rush over and lift the bookshelf.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." The tongue-smacking sounds came from different angles, and it was obvious that everyone had the same reaction to the results of the inspection.

At the bottom of the bookshelf, there were only three mushrooms growing in the corners. They were very inconspicuous and could be easily overlooked. However, after just one night, more than half of the bottom of the bookshelf was covered with mushrooms. I don’t know how many mushrooms were growing in layers. It's so densely packed that it makes people feel trembling.

"What the hell?" The dwarf threw the bookshelf out subconsciously. Although he didn't directly touch the pile of mushrooms, just the thought of touching the bookshelf where they grew made people want to chop off their hands.

"Huh", Xiure rushed forward like a whirlwind, caught the bookshelf and carefully placed it on the ground.

"It's not a big mistake to be careful, Mia."

"Cas, Sora." The mountain elf pointed with his gray finger, and the bookshelf was instantly swallowed up by a ball of flame.

"At least now I can be sure that they are indeed working very hard." Shuer stared at the flames, shook his head and sighed, "Working hard to expand their numbers."

"But one thing is fortunate. Their efforts have not yet yielded results. Well, as everyone thought, you have noticed it. We can't feel any malice from them."

"This means that the number they have just now and the intelligence they have assembled are not enough to support their hostility, you think so." Seeing Shuer nodding in affirmation, Mia said expressionlessly, "Then I I don’t understand why you are so nervous.”

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I know what you mean. They have already come in and begun to take root and sprout, increasing their numbers. Even if I burn all the mushrooms now, no one can guarantee that they are all burned out. There may still be some seeds left. Out of our sight, it grows again.”

"Yes, and it's not very likely. I think it's an inevitable result. What do you think, Moria?"

"The vitality of plants is very strong, and the desire to survive is also very strong." This time, the smeared on the leaves turned into hot sauce, "As long as there is a little chance, they will try to survive."

"That's right." Shuer nodded, "So it will be difficult for us to prevent them from occupying this last position."

"But, does this have anything to do with us?" Mia asked politely, "This is not our world, and it is just a projection, not even reality. Whether plants can break through the frog's defense has nothing to do with us. .”

"Indeed, they will proliferate little by little, but so what? How long can we stay here? Three days or five days? After we get a satisfactory harvest, we can go home. There is no need to worry about their occupation rate. ?"

"Even if their number increases and it will affect us, then burn them. The outside of the ruins is very dangerous because there are too many plants to burn, so we can only bear their various attacks. But here The difference is that the ruins are isolated from the outside world, so no matter how many plants there are, there will be no difficulty in burning them."

"So I really can't understand why you were so worried yesterday. Is there anything else you didn't have time to say?" "You all think so?" Shuer frowned, "Moria, you too?"

"Not that I am, I know what you are worried about." Ms. Lin Jing sighed and said with some regret, "They committed suicide."

"Yes, they committed suicide." Shuer pointed to the corpses in the corner. "This is a very safe ruins. Plants have not been able to break through it. These frogmen are warriors against plants. I believe their will is enough." Firm. Moreover, the facts rule out the possibility that they encountered the troubles we encountered yesterday and were emotionally disturbed. So, don’t you think it’s strange why they committed suicide when they had a safe fortress and a firm will? "

"It's indeed a bit strange, but I don't think it will have any impact on us." Mia was silent for a moment, but still said she couldn't understand.

"It's not over yet, think about it again, why did a few of them die here alone, and no one even took care of their bodies?"

"Mobak had already detected it yesterday. This is a very complex cave group. Macajerun also confirmed that the area of ​​​​this metal relic is very large, and it is likely to occupy the entire cave group."

"There can't be only eight of them in such a big building. There should be other people to deal with their bodies. Moreover, why did they get together and die at the entrance of such a big building? There is obviously such a large space inside Let them die, but they die here, in this transitional area that can’t even be counted as the interior of the building, but only the porch?”

"That's what makes me most nervous. To be honest, I'm really worried."

"They... can only die here?" Xiuer's question made everyone fall into deep thought, well, even the dwarves who don't know what thinking is trying to find the answer, the elf mage thought and said tentatively, "I'm afraid they Can’t go back, can’t go back, or dare not go back?”

"That's what I'm worried about." Xiure clapped his hands and confirmed Mia's idea. "They will choose to commit suicide because what will happen next is more terrifying to them than death. They would rather die than die." I’d love to see this happen.”

"What do you think it will be?" Mia is no longer so sure that the matter has nothing to do with everyone.

"I can't be sure what it is, maybe it's what they will do, maybe it's what they will change, but it doesn't matter, the important thing is that they think it will happen, they can't resist it at all, they can only use death Prevent."

Several people looked at each other in confusion, and the pressure on their hearts became heavier and heavier. There was something Xiure didn't say directly, but everyone guessed it: Since everyone is standing here like these frog people now, what is the frog people's greatest fear? What will happen to everyone?

For shadow chasers, anything can be faced, but the unknown is the most terrifying, especially the unknown involving life and death.

"Miriti." Shuer said in a deep voice, "With your knowledge, can you find a possibility that can explain the current situation?"

"There are too many possibilities, but none of them can be solved only by death." The Necromancer's face was as ugly as everyone else's. "For example, if you are infected with certain diseases, but you can isolate and treat them, there may not be any hope of cure. Another example is if you are affected by spiritual interference. They will go in and kill everyone, but they still have reason before they die, so they can take the opportunity to let the people inside control them, and then find a way to remove the psychic interference. I'm sorry, I really can't give an exact answer, I'm sorry to everyone."

"It's not your fault. My request was originally unreasonable. You don't need to apologize." Xiu Er clapped his hands and called everyone back from thinking, "This is what I'm worried about. Now that everyone understands, you don't have to think about it. .Actually, Mia is right, things may not affect us."

"Based on the fact that entrances and exits only appear in relatively open areas, since the location of the escape point is in this mountain, it is basically certain that the exit is somewhere in this ruins."

"So let's explore the ruins as soon as possible, find the location of the exit, and then we can say goodbye here. As long as we are fast enough, we don't have to worry about anything. As for whether those plants will regret it later, tsk tsk, it's none of our business .”

"Also, don't just think about finding the exit, we're here to hunt for treasure, we must not let go of anything of value, we must loot this place like locusts!"

Xiure said it lightly, but everyone knew in their hearts that the actual situation was far from that simple.According to the investigation by Macajron and Moback, there are many complicated paths in the rooms in the ruins. It will take at least four or five days to fully explore. Who knows what will happen during this period, that is more terrifying than death.

"Don't be so sad. I'm not telling you this to make you lose your fighting spirit." Shuer suddenly flew up and kicked Moback on the butt. "Cheer up. We've seen too many life-and-death crises. How can we still be attacked?" Are you scared by this little thing?"

"Remember, we are shadow chasers, no crisis can stop us."

"Okay, now that the rest time is over, let me resume my shadow-chasing state."

"Everyone, get ready to go, the exploration of the ruins begins."

(End of this chapter)