Chapter 242
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Chapter 242: Mysterious Hunting Spot
The Fresnel team advanced slowly, continuously recalibrating their path. Suddenly, Wang Xiao, who was leading the group, felt an unusual sensation beneath his feet.
It was a distinct bulge, oddly conspicuous on the expansive wilderness.
As a superpowered individual with a physique that set him apart from ordinary people, Wang Xiao’s resistance at the consciousness level was not particularly robust. Although he could still think as he walked, he often felt disoriented.
When Wang Xiao came to a halt, the others behind him showed a noticeable delay.
They instinctively continued forward before realizing something was amiss and also stopped, turning their attention to their leader.
Wang Xiao picked up an object from the ground and examined it closely; it was a package that the team had dropped.
Upon opening it, he found it contained nutritional paste and fresh water, everything one might need.
This…
The half-functioning minds of the group fell into deep thought. The pressing question was whether this stuff was safe to consume.
First of all, where did this come from?
Aside from occasionally hearing prompts from Lin Qingliu through his helmet, the rest of the team felt that this incident was somehow connected to Nian.
Wang Xiao inevitably recalled the late-night advice Lin Qingliu had given before they left the city, but he couldn’t voice it now.
After all, delivering items over such a vast distance was something only a superpowered individual like Nian could achieve, according to their understanding.
But that guy Nian should have already… right?
So, with the origins of this item still a mystery, it made it somewhat difficult to swallow.
"How about we vote by raising our hands?"
The Puppet Master, who was controlling Fresnel’s body, tentatively suggested.
At that moment, although she appeared to be the Captain, she lacked the decisiveness and authority to make such potentially life-threatening decisions, and she instinctively sought to rely on her teammates.
She couldn’t relinquish control of the body to let Fresnel take charge again, even briefly, as doing so would trigger an immediate backlash of weakness that would affect the entire team and prevent her from performing another possession operation soon.
As the others were about to raise their hands to vote, Wang Xiao interrupted the impending decision:
"I have an idea. I’ll eat it first, and then you all can observe.
"My body has been enhanced by my abilities, giving me strong resistance to negative effects like toxins.
"If nothing happens after I eat it, then everyone else can eat. If there is a problem, you can leave me behind and continue forward."
With that, Wang Xiao, not wanting to burden his teammates with moral pressure, retrieved the nutritional paste and water without consulting anyone. He took large mouthfuls and swallowed them down.
Fifteen minutes later, after the initial digestion and absorption of the food in his stomach, Wang Xiao not only felt no negative effects but also experienced a sudden clarity in his mind.
He turned his neck and looked around, noticing that the other three teammates were staring at him in a daze.
As he shifted positions, their gazes would gradually follow him a few seconds later.
Wang Xiao looked up at the sky and was shocked to see that the sun had already set, and they had been completely unaware of it until now.
The erosion from the biological field was astonishingly terrifying…
Now fully alert, Wang Xiao felt the horror of what they had just experienced. Without Fresnel’s abilities the previous night, they had nearly been wiped out by those aggressive, mobile plants.
If the erosion continued, the five of them would likely not survive the night.
As the sun was about to set, Wang Xiao quickly organized the food distribution, assigning portions to each person and ensuring they ate under his supervision.
Soon, as the sky darkened, several members of the team regained their consciousness.
Seeing this, the Puppet Master wanted to end the possession, as prolonged duration could harm the original body. However, Wang Xiao rejected the idea.
He intended for the Puppet Master to maintain the current state until they reached Hope City, a cautious approach to prevent any weakness from Fresnel’s sudden awakening from hindering their journey.
As for dragging the life pod with the body inside, it was no longer a significant concern for Wang Xiao.
With the decision made, Wang Xiao had, unknowingly, become the most influential member of the team, second only to Fresnel.
The explosion of the Energy Battery and the recent events had subtly earned him considerable prestige within the squad, and the others began to instinctively rely on this introverted yet dependable teammate.
The group traveled southward under the starry night, encountering no obstacles along the way.
—
Upon seeing everyone return to normal, Lin Qingliu took Fulan and left the desolate wilderness.
“Master, what shall we do next?”
“Good question, but remember, it’s not about what we do together, but what you and I will do separately.”
Fulan’s cat face showed surprise:
“Master, are we really going to split up?”
“You don’t seem scared at all; that’s good. I thought you might say something cliché like ‘Are you abandoning me?’”
“Of course not! Fulan has an excellent memory. You said before that I could start hunting in the wild once I reached the Second Level.”
“Still thinking about your hunting, I see.”
In his wooden state, Lin Qingliu shook his head, feeling the cat was living up to his expectations.
They landed on the ground, and Lin Qingliu pointed in the direction they had come from:
“I need to recover my share of the loot, and you can begin your ‘hunting’ as we planned. Now, repeat the task list I assigned to you.”
“Fulan received it!
“The first task is to use my unique body, which isn’t affected, to survey the terrain around Hope City and report back periodically to assist in map-making.
“The second task is to search for human relics or settlements while surveying, as well as other living beings that haven’t been assimilated by the mycelium.
“The third task is to investigate the locations of extraordinary beasts within the mycelium ecosystem and attempt to communicate with them…”
“Hmm, not bad. Do you remember the safety precautions and avoidance strategies?”
“Of course! Don’t provoke the mycelium carelessly, and if there’s danger, I’ll contact you through my blood.”
“Very good. Go ahead! I know you’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”
“Yay! Goodbye, Master~”
Fulan leaped from the wooden arm to the ground and quickly vanished into the dry grass.
Lin Qingliu retraced his steps, locating Wang Xiao’s discarded armor through the connection in his wooden fingers.
He fitted the armor onto the wooden body and began running toward Hope City.
