Chapter 378: Chapter 177: The Cave, Fire Attack_1
“Be careful…”
Wang Tao entered the cave with Jiang Shixue.
After careful consideration, Wang Tao had decided to take a look inside. After all, opportunity favored the prepared!
His hesitation was due to the fact that he was unclear about what was in the cave. But now, having seen the Strength Mushroom, he knew the risk was worth taking.
After all, Strength Mushrooms were core ingredients for the Strength Potion (small), and with them, he would be able to craft Strength Potions himself!
The Strength Potions Wang Tao had were all looted from zombies, and he didn’t have many; he was reluctant to use them…
Xu Xiaojun didn’t come with them as he lacked Night Vision, which placed him at a disadvantage in such places. Wang Tao asked him to stay outside and keep watch over the off-road vehicle, so if there were any irresistible dangers, he could drive away with them in time.
Red and green lights glowed in the eyes of Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue as they cautiously approached the Strength Mushrooms.
The Strength Mushrooms looked similar in shape and size to Ordinary mushrooms, but upon closer inspection, one could see tiny red spots on the white mushrooms.
“Can we eat this thing…”
Wang Tao usually liked mushrooms, but he only ate the ones bought from proper sources and had never had wild ones.
The small red dots on the Strength Mushrooms looked unusual, and the introduction had mentioned that eating one would grant a temporary boost in Strength but would also induce hallucinations for a time.
Not that he was sure what it tasted like, but if it were really tasty, maybe a bit of hallucination wouldn’t matter? It wasn’t fatal anyway…
Shaking his head, Wang Tao quickly dismissed his foodie thoughts. Even if he wanted to eat it, he would have someone else try it first.
Moreover, these mushrooms were scarce at the moment, not even enough for crafting Potions, much less for eating as food…
Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue picked all the mushrooms.
A total of 14 mushrooms, and since each could be used to make 5 Strength Potions, that meant they had 70 Strength Potions! Perhaps they could trade these Potions with others or even sell them directly in the future!
Also, these mushrooms could be stored in the Space Backpack, which was very convenient.
After collecting all the Strength Mushrooms, they had reached a bend in the cave.
Wang Tao peeked around the corner and saw no danger; there were still many mushrooms growing, including some with blue spots on them.
[Defense Mushroom x1]
[Defense Mushroom: Crafting ingredient, edible. Eating it temporarily boosts Defense but induces hallucinations for a time.]
The introduction of the Defense Mushroom was similar to the Strength Mushroom, except one boosted Strength and the other Defense.
Defense Mushrooms could be used to craft Defense Potions (small), corresponding to the Strength Potions (small)!
“Let’s continue…”
They collected mushrooms as they went along, passing three bends in total and gathering 55 mushrooms and 58 Defense Mushrooms.
At this point, the path ahead finally changed.
Deep within the cave was a vast space without Strength Mushrooms but with numerous tree roots intertwined.
Wang Tao became vigilant at the sight of those roots.
Because the roots had HP!
[73426/100000]
“A hundred thousand blood, but not full… could it have been burned by fire?”
Wang Tao was curious.
Aside from HP, these roots showed no other Attributes, which reminded Wang Tao of those hundred thousand blood flesh pieces in the Night Demon’s Nest, leading him to believe there was a similarity.
Seeing the HP bars, Wang Tao really wanted to hack at them with his axe, but as he was unsure about what was below, he restrained himself.
The space here was vast, filled with roots, and among them, there were human bones, likely those of zombies. Wang Tao couldn’t quite understand the relationship between the roots and the zombies.
“Brother, over here.”
Jiang Shixue suddenly tugged at Wang Tao’s clothes and pointed somewhere.
Wang Tao turned to look, and his eyes widened in shock.
About a dozen zombies were tightly entwined by the tree roots, which were inserted into the zombies’ mouths and seemed to be pulsating… It looked quite lewd.
“What the hell is this?”
Wang Tao couldn’t understand but was profoundly shocked.
Most of these zombies were Level 1 Zombies, but there were also two Level 2 Zombies among them. They were all critically low on HP but not dead, still desperately struggling.
Wang Tao initially thought the roots were trying to kill or eat the zombies, but after secretly observing for a while, he noticed that the roots seemed to be injecting something into the zombies’ mouths, and the zombies’ HP was slowly increasing!
“What’s going on here?”
Wang Tao frowned.
Whereas Jiang Shixue’s eyes lit up.
“Brother, I smell a very fragrant scent…”
“Hmm? Could it be Zombie Culture Fluid?”
Wang Tao looked at Jiang Shixue.
“No, it’s different…”
Jiang Shixue shook her head.
Wang Tao looked back at the roots and zombies again.
So far, they had searched the entire underground space and found no other passages except for this space and a winding entrance leading upward.
Clearly, the focal point of this underground space lay with these roots.
“Shall we attack it to test it out?”
After pondering for a moment, Wang Tao threw a Throwing Knife.
[-5]
[73421/100000]
“…”
What the heck?
Wang Tao was dumbstruck; though Surgical Throwing Knives were flimsy and pretty much disposable after one use, a mere 5 points of damage seemed too low, right?
Wang Tao then unleashed a Shockwave.
[-15]
[73406/100000]