Survival in the game world begins with Biochemical 2

Chapter 395: Butterfly stroke in a manure pit? But I refuse!

Chapter 395: Butterfly stroke in a manure pit? But I refuse!

Dark black sludge was flowing on the ground, with pieces of yellow-brown unknown substances floating on the surface. A strange and nauseating smell was floating around.

The surfaces of the grass, trees, and the remains of buildings here are all covered with an indelible stain, and the semi-solidified growths seem to be the second skin of the environment.

Although the trees were dense, even the treetops were covered with sludge that dripped from time to time. The leaves that were soaked in the dirt blocked out the sun, completely blocking the already scarce sunlight. The entire forest was dark and difficult to see.

Naturally, this place is the famous Fran Fortress, commonly known as the Fran Cessation, a strong contender for the honor of the most disgusting map in Soul III.

Looking at this refreshing natural environment, V couldn't hold back his excitement.

“…You just said we were going this way?”

V is not someone who cannot endure hardships. When necessary, she is very capable of taking action. However, the poisonous swamp in front of her is obviously beyond the endurance limit of a normal person.

Even Aiji, who had seen a lot of the world with Li You, was embarrassed when he saw it: "This swamp... is different from the Demon King's courtyard. It's bigger, smellier, and more... stimulating to the senses."

As he said this, Edge couldn't stand it anymore, so he retreated to the ladder at the back and couldn't help but dry heave.

The extremely pungent smell of the poisonous swamp in the Farran Fortress was indeed a torture to her extremely keen senses.

V followed her back, reaching out and gently stroking Aggie's back to help her relieve the symptoms.

In fact, not to mention the two of them, Li You also relied on the effect of the gas mask embedded in the collector's suit to stand in front of this poisonous swamp without changing his expression.

As for Yuzu, he showed no reaction at all, and even squatted on the edge of the poisonous swamp, stretching out his tentacles to touch the poisonous sludge flowing on the ground.

But he immediately said, "Ugh... it stinks."

Even Yuzu commented like this, but he won't be affected.

V looked at the muddy ground again and finally said, "Um... Li You. I just remembered that I forgot to wear my lucky underwear today. Please open the door for me. I will go back to the camp and come out later."

Li You glared at her: "Don't even think about running away!"

And what kind of excuse is that? Can you please be more careful?
Aside, Aiji finally recovered and returned to Li You, covering his mouth and nose: "I may need a gas mask, otherwise I can't move around here."

Li You naturally would not refuse. He took out a spare gas mask and gave one to Edge and V respectively.

He added, "Be patient for a moment. Our only goal in coming to the Fran Fortress is to retrieve the magic scroll that was lost here. Once we get the scroll, we will leave immediately."

V nodded first, then remembered something: "Didn't Hawkwood say that we need to extinguish the three bonfires in the fortress in order to go to the church of the Fran Undead Squad? Are we not going?"

Before returning to the Faran Forest, Li You also talked with Hawkwood and obtained information about the Faran Fortress from him.

Although it's actually useless.

At this time, Li You waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about it! Just go through the door on the other side of the Crucifixion Forest. We are not here to learn street dance, so we don't need to pay attention to the entry test of the Fran Undead Team."

V: "?"

What the hell is street dance?

But she was already used to Li You's style, and she knew without asking that it must be another strange reference of his, so she just said: "In that case, then..."

She looked at the poisonous swamp outside again, her expression twisted for a moment, and then she said, "...Then let's go quickly."

Li You pretended not to see it: "Let's go."

He nodded to Yuzu beside him, and Yuzu growled and his body began to expand again!

V: “…!? What are you doing?”

Under her surprised gaze, Yuzu's body changed rapidly. A dark chitinous shell wrapped around his body, and legs, a scorpion tail, and giant claws grew out, making Yuzu look like a crustacean that combined the characteristics of a scorpion and a crab.

One of Yuzu's second-stage forms, the Venomous Scorpion.

"What is this...?" V couldn't help but ask.

Li You glanced at her and said, "Didn't I tell you before that this area is just like the Demon King's Courtyard, and is extremely poisonous? No matter what, I can't let you just walk in like this, right?"

"Yuzu's scorpion form is immune to these poisonous swamps, so it's best to have him carry us."

V: "…Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

Li You laughed: "Isn't this just to see if you have the determination to jump into the cesspool?"

V: "...Fuck you."

All in all, with the grapefruit carrying everyone, the originally disgusting flange pit no longer seemed so horrible.

As mentioned before, although the toxicity of the Fran Cessation is relatively weaker than that of the Demon King's Courtyard, the area here is much larger, the roads are more winding, and there are various hidden props and a wide variety of enemies.

Not to mention, if a player comes here, he must also pay attention to extinguishing the three bonfires.

Also, Fran Fortress is an early-stage map after all, and players’ levels and equipment are relatively poor when they arrive here.

So overall, the level of hell in the Fran Cessation is much higher than that in the Demon King's Courtyard.

However, in the face of Yuzu's dominance, those dark spots in the original Fran's manure pit became minor problems of just sprinkling water.

Yuzu not only evolved into a poisonous scorpion, but also used the ability to control the size of his body from the mutant giant whale, maintaining his body length at about eight meters, and his back height at two and a half meters. Li You and the other two were more than enough to sit on his back, and there was even plenty of room for them to play.

As for why the body was not made bigger, it was mainly because the terrain of the flange pit was not that open, and if the body was too big, it would be inconvenient to move.

"Let's go, Youzi." Li You stood on Youzi's back, grabbing the protruding spikes on his back to stabilize his body, "Push forward!"

Although he had invested thousands of hours in the game Dark Souls III, he really couldn't remember some details.

Fortunately, he still had a rough idea of ​​the locations of important things like magic scrolls.

So Li You used the mental connection to point out the direction to go to Youzi.

"Go this way!"

“Gahh ...

Because his mouth evolved into a huge mouthpart, Yuzu's voice also changed a little, but Li You could still hear that he was in a good mood.

Carrying Li You and the other two, Youzi took a step and stepped into the poisonous swamp of the Fran Fortress.

The poisonous swamp itself was not deep, the shallow water only reached the ankles, and even the deep water only reached the knees. Although its toxicity was fierce, it had no effect at all in front of the heavy carapace of the grapefruit scorpion form.

On the contrary, because the mud on the ground absorbed the sound of Yuzu's huge body moving, the group didn't even attract much attention.

Not far ahead, a group of giant slugs were scattered in the mud in twos and threes. Some were soaking in the manure pit, and some were sitting on the shore, staring blankly at the fire or the soul light ball.

Their eyesight is very poor, and they mainly rely on hearing and vibration to catch prey. Unfortunately, this time they were unlucky and could not detect Yuzu until it got close to them.

The giant slugs straightened their upper bodies and tried to spit venom at Yuzu, but Yuzu moved his legs quickly and slipped through the slugs' circle at a fast speed, crushing most of the slugs into torn pockets as he passed by.

The slugs were unable to hold Yuzu back for a moment, and the group continued to advance.

“Ugh—!?”

Further ahead, a few humanoid creatures holding dirty and rotten guns and shields, short swords, wearing tattered robes, and with twisted horns on their heads discovered the movements of Li You and others.

This humanoid creature has only a rough human shape as a whole, and its appearance is actually more like that of a beast.

They are called "Gulu" and are actually the descendants of the altar priests of the Faran Fortress. However, they have grown hard horns and are getting further and further away from human form.

But it is understandable. After all, it is reasonable for some mutations to occur after generations of people have lived in a place like the Flank cesspool.

These Gollums can still barely maintain their humanoid form, while some have completely transformed into beasts and can only crawl on all fours on the ground, commonly known as Gollum dogs.

All I can say is that the conditions at the Flange manure pit are so severe that even a dung eater would call him an expert.

On the swamp island ahead that was not covered by mud, three Grunts rushed over, making "Gawuwu" sounds and waving corrupt weapons.

Their weapons are actually highly toxic and sometimes have miraculous effects when used against humans.

Unfortunately, Yuzu doesn't buy it at all.

He just gently waved his giant claws and flicked his legs, and smashed the three Gollums and threw them away with almost no effort.

Edge and V, who were originally thinking about assisting, were a little helpless. Why did they need to do anything? Yuzu could kill them all by herself!
Li You laughed and said, "Go ahead, Yuzu!"

Yuzu: "Gahh ...

……

With the grapefruit as a "vehicle", Li You and his friends basically skipped the smelly cesspool journey and had a smooth journey.

With its firepower fully unleashed, Yuzu is like an invincible steel chariot, pushing forward with ease.

There are actually many unique enemies in the Farran Pit. Of course, most of them are variations of Gollum, but they all suffer the same fate in the end.

Look, there is a Gulu with his hands on his head on the shore with a burning fire in front. He is a freak among the Gulu, known as "Hair-washing Brother".

Because it would jump on people and scratch their heads crazily, and the damage was not low, so newbies were often sent back to the campfire by its hair-washing skills. Then it hit Yuzu.

"Gah——!!"

The oddball Gulu howled as usual, wanting to jump onto Yuzu's back and give him a hair-washing service, but unfortunately Yuzu had no hair at all, so he was immune to his special skill...

Well, that's not really the case. In fact, this thing didn't even make it onto Yuzu's back. It just jumped into the air when it was grabbed by Yuzu at a speed that was totally inconsistent with its appearance.

And when Youzi pushed harder, the shampoo guy gave her a 50% discount.

But then, without even a moment of mourning for the shampooer, the person who immediately arrived at the battlefield was the strongest among the Gollums, Elder Gollum!
Elder Gollum is tall, covered with long hair, and has a ferocious head, like a giant werewolf.

They also have their own symbol, which is holding a thick tree trunk in their hands as a weapon. This thing is their staff.

It's not the kind of magic wand that a stone wizard uses. This tree trunk can really cast magic.

When Elder Gollum slammed the tree trunk heavily on the ground, the shadows of the souls swallowed by the Fran Fortress would be released, transforming into dark red illusory skulls and biting at the enemy.

Because of their spellcasting action, Elder Gulu is also called "Dung Puller". Combined with the special environment of the Fran Fortress, this name is indeed appropriate, and they are indeed a considerable threat.

But they hit the grapefruit.

Youzi was also interested in this relatively unique enemy. So when the two dung-pulling elders arrived, Youzi's eyes lit up, and he roared and rushed over quickly!
There were still more than ten meters to go when Youzi opened his mouth, and dense golden arcs of electricity gathered and then shot out from his mouth!

The slender arc beam hit the forehead of the first dung-puller, directly creating a very deep hole. The high temperature of the arc even burned the hair around its head.

Before the two Gulu elders could react, Yuzu had already arrived in front of them, opened his mouth, and spewed out a large flame!

"Whoosh-"

The flames swept across the bodies of the two dung-pulling turtles. The dirt and long hair on their bodies were turned into ashes under the burning flames.

The two Gulu elders were still struggling, but Yuzu had already pounced on them and pinned them to the ground. His giant pincers pierced their bodies, and flashing arcs of electricity penetrated into their flesh!
The bodies of the two Gulu elders began to tremble violently and they struggled frantically, but Yuzu held them down tightly and the Gulu elders had no chance at all.

After a while, the two Gulu elders stopped moving.

This time, Li You on Yuzi's back also put down the Echo in his hand helplessly.

It seems that Yuzu really doesn't need any assistance.

The reason why the Gollum clan can dominate the French cesspool is mainly because there is no foreign invasion here and they have undergone adaptive evolution.

But even so, the Gollum clan only has a high level of poison resistance, and does not have the ability to be completely immune.

However, they are used to moving in poisonous swamp areas and their movements are not restricted, which is also a big advantage.

Unfortunately, all these advantages of theirs turned into disadvantages in front of grapefruit.

In his scorpion form, Yuzu is immune to poison, cannot be slowed down, can shoot lightning from a distance, and can breathe fire at close range, not to mention his thick carapace and deadly venom.

Li You suddenly realized that this form of Yuzu, except for the shape, is just a high-end version of the French Ring Shrimp Fire King!
It’s not unfair that the Gulu clan lost.

"Let's go, Yuzu." Li You patted the Yuzu shell under him, "The first scroll is just ahead."

But Yuzu did not respond immediately. Instead, he paused and then dragged the bodies of the two Gulu elders in front of him.

Li You: "?"

Yuzu then spurted out flames again! The flames burned away the filth and messy hair on Elder Gulu's body, and even roasted the dry flesh underneath until it was 70% cooked.

Then, Yuzu swung his giant pincers, tore off a piece of roasted flesh, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Li You: "......"

Are you quite particular?
But Gollum is also a humanoid creature, so he can’t eat like this!

Fortunately, Youzi did not forget the agreement with Li You, so he did not really treat the sweet and sour barbecue as a feast, but only swallowed the necessary part and spit out the rest.

Li You also breathed a sigh of relief and touched Yuzi's carapace.

"You're so sensible. Let's go get the scroll first. When we get back, I'll prepare some real barbecue for you!"

Yuzu was visibly happy, and responded with, "Ouch!!"

He then drove Li You and the other two forward, and soon found a small piece of land in a corner of the Fran Fortress that was not submerged by the poisonous swamp.

There were also three Gollums wandering around here, but they were easily dealt with by Yuzu.

Then, Li You jumped off Youzi's back and looked at the ground not far away.

There, there was a dried corpse on the ground, and on the corpse was an inconspicuous ball of soul light.

Compared with other special props that attract ownerless souls, the brightness of this ball of light is really low. If Li You didn’t know it was here, he might not have noticed it when passing by.

This ball of light is one of the magic scrolls that Obek needs, the Old Man's Scroll.

The Crystal Elders are great sages who have studied magic, and they are twins. They were originally teachers of the sages in the Lothric Library, but one of the brothers later became an ally of the Faran Undead Squad.

He is now also guarding the road leading to the Deep Church. According to Teacher Obek, he went to challenge the crystal old man before and wanted to open the way to the church, but was sent back to the campfire by him.

Li You has not bothered the old man yet, after all, collecting scrolls is the top priority. And this one here is the scroll that records the crystallized old man's magic.

He picked up the ball of light on the ground, and it was exactly the same as Li You remembered, it was the dark blue magic scroll. Li You could not understand any of the words on it.

He put away the scroll, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he turned to the side and looked at the corpses of mushroom people scattered in the corner.

Not Ethan Winters, but real mushroom people. Their bodies are like a king oyster mushroom, with limbs and vague facial features.

However, the mushrooms here have all turned into corpses and are almost petrified.

Li You reached out and touched the mushroom, but all he felt was coldness and hardness.

He couldn't help but sigh in a low voice: "...the dust of time."

In Soul 1, there is a map called Black Forest, which is the habitat of the mushroom clan. This big mushroom is also called "One Punch Super Mushroom" and "Mushroom Dad". It is an impressive enemy.

The Black Forest is the predecessor of today's Franzforest. Although the original Black Forest was not exposed to sunlight, it was still full of vitality. And now...

At the location where you get the golden scroll, you can find another big mushroom. That big mushroom has a name, Elizabeth. Friends who have played Soul 1 should have an impression of her.

In the first generation, she was a friendly NPC and an important figure in the magic kingdom of Urasil. In addition, the healing potion in Soul 1, "Elizabeth's Secret Potion", was named after her. By the time of Soul 3, the mushroom clan had been destroyed, leaving only the tiny remains of Fran.

This is also a unique experience that can be obtained by playing Soul 1 and Soul 3. All the prosperity of the Soul 1 era has inevitably withered after a thousand years.

Although the First Flame was waning in the first generation, heroes emerged in large numbers. They challenged the Four Kings and faced the gods, still basking in the glory of the Age of Gods.

By the third generation, the First Flame was only on its last legs, and heroes were no longer emerging. Even the level of the Cinder King kept declining.

For example, the Abyss Watcher, one of the Lords of Cinder, and the Undead Squad of Farran. They are a legion, and everyone shares wolf blood and ascends to the throne of the Lord of Cinder.

The source of the wolf blood is one of the four knights of the king, the Wolf Knight Artorius.

The Undead Squad only got a little bit of the power left by Artorius, and used it to become the Cinder King. What's more, Aldrich, who accumulated power by eating people, could even become the Cinder King. The gap between the first and third generations is obvious.

There are many other similar examples. The magnificent and huge royal city of Anor Londo in the first generation has become dilapidated and scattered in the third generation, with only the most core building left; the stories of the old people in the first generation are no longer known in the era of the third generation as thousands of years have passed.

Only a handful of people can survive from the Age of Gods to the end of the fire.

From Soul One to Soul Three, one can really feel the heaviness and desolation of time.

This is also one of the reasons why Li You particularly likes these two games.

Coming back to his senses, Li You looked at the anthropomorphic mushroom in front of him and let out a long breath.

"… Let's go, there's another scroll."

Edge and V on Yuzu's back looked at each other, and neither asked Li You what was going on with the obvious abnormality just now, but just nodded one after another.

Li You jumped onto Yuzi's back again, and Yuzi immediately stood up and continued to move forward in the direction he pointed.

It is only natural that the other scroll in the Fran Fortress is also related to Elizabeth.

It is called the Golden Scroll, and it records the magic inherited from the lost magical kingdom - Urasil.

"By the way, when we get there, you wait outside for Yuzu, I'll get it myself."

Li You suddenly said.

"Huh?" Yuzu was a little confused.

“…There is a very troublesome creature there that is not suitable for you to deal with.” Li You just said this.

As for what he was referring to? Of course, it was the iconic mascot that also runs through the Souls series, the big-eyed cute… Cursed Frog.

Are you afraid of being cursed to death?
(End of this chapter)

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like