Players, Please Board the Train

Yuan Cun was dead, and the man on the Clock Tower hadn’t shown himself yet. Not knowing his motive for killing, Xu Huo could only run forward at his fastest speed. Suddenly sensing something strange moving behind him, he turned his head and saw a small building opposite the Clock Tower gradually turning into paper—it looked more like the building’s exterior walls had turned to paper, but then the entire building folded up like a sheet of paper, collapsing into a piece of cardboard as tall as the building and falling toward the ground.

Immediately after, a second and third building followed. Connected houses snapped from one end to the other, instantly transforming into a stack of paper houses. The furnishings and decorations inside, along with a few scattered people hiding within, all tumbled out.

Then, Xu Huo saw several paper birds fly out from the Clock Tower, heading straight for those buildings that had turned into cardboard.

The paper birds’ target was clearly not those insignificant people who had fallen out of the paper houses, because right in front of the paper houses, several people had appeared out of thin air. Those people were using items to hover in mid-air, obviously having just teleported over. Facing the paper birds head-on, they hurriedly dodged to the side while simultaneously launching an attack toward the Clock Tower!

A giant water bubble descended from the sky, enveloping the entire Clock Tower. Moreover, after the water bubble landed, it continued to expand, gradually encasing the surrounding streets within it. The paper birds circling in the air slowed down due to the water, making it difficult for them to catch up with these newly appeared players. At that moment, one of them swiped a single hand through the water, and the water inside the bubble automatically formed into a water blade, slicing the Clock Tower in half!

The tower collapsed within the water. The bearded man hovered in the water, releasing a small paper fish the size of a palm. The fish, still in paper form, angrily expanded within the water, reaching twenty meters long in an instant. It swung its tail, stirring up undercurrents within the bubble.

The plump water bubble resembled an extremely soft and bouncy jelly. As the water surged inside, the surface of the bubble undulated accordingly, and it was still slowly growing.

It had only been half an hour since the Protective Wall collapsed. The residents of Clown City hadn’t even calmed down from the unbelievable shock and the panic of the impending Mutant attack when they saw such a huge wave appear in the city center. Even though the wave hadn’t burst yet, once it did, it would at least wash away several streets’ worth of houses.

So, when they saw that water bubble growing larger and larger, the residents of Clown City began to flee their homes and head for the Pillar Bridges.

The city descended into chaos. The government personnel previously responsible for rescue and suppressing the bombers were clearly insufficient now. Moreover, more than half of the army led by the General Administration Chief were buried under the Protective Wall. The reinforcements arriving later didn’t know whether to prioritize maintaining order, rushing to the Protective Wall for emergency rescue, or gathering players to figure out how to remove that water sphere.The players under the General Administration Office weren’t stupid either. Seeing that the situation was already out of control, and that there were clearly high-level players fighting inside that water bubble, they didn’t even dare to get close, let alone go over to stop it.

Therefore, many players chose to leave Clown City at that moment.

Xu Huo glanced at that giant water bubble from a distance. Unless the players could retract it completely, once it burst, it would be no less than a massive flood.

It was lamentable that Xin Lang and the others had exhausted themselves planning for Clown City’s future, never expecting Clown City would face such an unexpected disaster. Probably before those people could slowly repent and realize their mistakes amidst the infection, the fight between high-level players would destroy this city.

With things having reached this point, Xu Huo had no room to intervene either. He chose a safe spot to descend into the nest, using the ”Life Core” to melt the underground fortifications near the Protective Wall side. Then, taking advantage of the chaos, he climbed over the Protective Wall.

The Protective Wall had now become a gently sloping low hill. Such a huge commotion had long since attracted the attention of the Mutants in the cleanup area, and indeed, some Mutants were heading toward Sunrise Clown City. However, the cleanup area’s protective measures were well done, with audio equipment buried underground specifically to control Mutants. After the incident, the equipment automatically activated, startling away any Mutants that approached with high-frequency sounds.

While traversing the cleanup area, Xu Huo even encountered two groups of Mutants fleeing in all directions. He avoided the Mutant hordes by traveling through the air and smoothly reached the foggy forest area.

Only after he descended did he discover that the female player Er Gou and Si Ming were actually still trapped in the underground nest. Surprisingly, Zhuo Wangsun hadn’t left either, though the three of them weren’t staying together.

”Is anyone there... help...” the female player called out weakly, her face covered with thin blue-purple lines, deeply poisoned.

Xu Huo came down just in time to see her. Her face lit up with joy. Struggling, she tried to tear away the mycelium growing on her clothes to stand up, but the next second, she sat back down on her own, once again enveloped by the mycelium.

Xu Huo didn’t go over. Instead, he leaped from the side down to the lower level.

”Old Wu...!” a feeble shout came from above. Xu Huo kept jumping down, finally reaching the deepest part of the nest.

Unlike the upper areas covered in various colored fungi, the rocks and soil down here had only one type of very fine white mycelium. It was also different from the large patches of mycelium at the entrance, more closely resembling the form of a spider web.

He placed the Nüwa Stone on it, and these mycelium threads began to grow at a visible rate.

Thinking for a moment, he made a small cut on his palm and brought it close to the toxic fungus he had brought down. Soon, white mycelium extended from the wound, stretching out like tentacles to tentatively approach the toxic fungus. A moment later, the toxic fungus in the test tube withered.

After the mycelium retracted, Xu Huo took out the Identification Fork and gave the wound a poke. A projection appeared in the air:

”A healthy male with well-proportioned body fat and containing no toxins, with a history of long-term medication. Safe to eat...”

Indeed, even after digesting the toxic fungus, the King Fungus wouldn’t retain any toxins.

Based on the currently understood situation, the King Fungus could parasitize within the human body, automatically detoxifying without the host paying any price. It remained dormant most of the time and would automatically die after a certain period. There was no need to worry about side effects or the problem of being unable to get rid of it. It could completely be called a perfect antidote.

Was it really possible that no one knew about something like this?

After a brief contemplation, Xu Huo took a bit of the mycelium and put it into the antidote. On his way back to the surface, he used a collection item to sample different fungi and stored them in the luggage compartment. He also flipped through the Complete Fungus Encyclopedia to identify some fungi with more research value. Then, he conveniently brought out Zhuo Wangsun, who had been wandering around in the nest.

”You cleared the level long ago, why didn’t you leave?” he asked Zhuo Wangsun.

Zhuo Wangsun gave a bitter smile and pulled up his sleeve. ”I want to leave too, but I’m infected with fungus. This thing simply doesn’t exist in the game partition I’m from. If I leave, it will be very hard to find a treatment method later.”

”Do you have any antidote? I just thought that everything in nature has its opposite. Maybe there’s a fungus nearby that counteracts it.”

Xu Huo silently looked at the multicolored fungi covering Zhuo Wangsun’s arm.

Zhuo Wangsun was extremely embarrassed. ”I tried several kinds but didn’t get any results. I can only take some samples back first.”

A classic case of being so used to troubles that you stop caring.

Xu Huo didn’t say much more. He took Zhuo Wangsun along to retrieve Si Ming and the female player.