Chapter 258: 174. Giant Cage

The next day, at 6 a.m.

The trainees gathered early in the playground and, led by Lu Tianrong, boarded a military bus disguised on the outside, slowly making their way out of the military area.

Their destination was a coastal forest hundreds of miles away.

The branch of the Divine Plant Cult mentioned in the mission was hidden in that coastal forest.

…

On the bus.

Lin Zichen felt that a team of twenty people was a bit too many, not convenient for command.

So, he subdivided the team into four smaller squads.

They were the Shan University Squad, the Beijing University Squad, the Military District Squad, and the Mech God Squad.

With this division, the five people in each squad were very familiar with each other, which facilitated cooperation.

And as the overall team leader, he would only need to command the four squads when the time came, greatly reducing the pressure of field control.

…

An hour later.

The vehicle smoothly reached its destination.

When Lin Zichen got out of the bus, what caught his eye was an endless expanse of dense forest.

Everywhere he looked, there were towering trees tens of meters high.

Among them, many exceeded a height of a hundred meters with branches stretching out for tens of meters and dense foliage that seemed to blot out the sun, resembling the world trees of mythology.

“Xiao Chen, the trees here are so tall, they seem even taller than those in the tropical rainforests,” Shen Qinghan said, looking up at the forest front of her in disbelief.

Ma Xiwei frowned and said, “Trees in domestic forests usually reach their limit at about 20 meters, and the exceptionally tall ones are at most around 40 meters; the trees here are growing abnormally.”

Li Moyu said with a smile, “Abnormal is good; it means we haven’t come to the wrong place. This is definitely the lair of that branch of the Divine Plant Cult.”

Zhu Shishi from the Mech God Group approached Lin Zichen and took out a drone, asking, “I’m thinking of sending a drone in to scout the path, what do you think?”

Lin Zichen replied, “That sounds good.”

With the team leader’s approval, Zhu Shishi immediately controlled a drone to fly deep into the forest.

Lin Zichen said to everyone, “Let’s go, everyone follow the drone.”

After speaking, he took the lead and disappeared into the forest.

Seeing this, the others quickly followed suit.

Lu Tianrong, the instructor, followed as well.

He was only responsible for acting as a safety officer from the rear and would not participate in the attack.

On the way forward.

Lin Zichen kept observing the surroundings and noticed that the vegetation in the forest was thriving exceedingly well.

It appeared as if it had been treated with growth hormones, growing in a manner that defied normal logic.

But these were not the focus.

The focus was whether there were any exotic plants among them.

With this thought in mind, Lin Zichen continued to spread his senses and observe carefully as they advanced.

However, after advancing for several hundred meters, he saw no exotic plants.

Instead, the towering trees that blotted out the sun became even more numerous along the way.

After moving forward a few hundred meters more.

Zhu Shishi, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and turned to inform everyone:

“About 300 meters ahead, there’s a bamboo building that covers at least a thousand square meters. Unless we’re mistaken, that bamboo building should be the main base of that branch of the Divine Plant Cult.”

“…”

Some looked to Lu Tianrong, hoping to get confirmation from him that the bamboo building was indeed the main base of the branch of the Divine Plant Cult, but Lu Tianrong did not respond.

Others turned to Lin Zichen and asked, “Brother Chen, what’s the plan now?”

Lin Zichen said, “Zhao Yuanzhong from the Military District Squad and Gao Mu from the Beijing University Squad, both of you have integrated the genes of the Armored Earth Dragon, follow me in a frontal assault.”

“The five members of the Mech God Group will be in charge of long-range fire support, accurately hitting the enemy with bullets.”

“The rest should follow closely behind and join the assault.”

After briefly explaining the arrangement, Lin Zichen immediately started heading towards the bamboo building.

Zhao Yuanzhong and Gao Mu immediately followed suit.

The others also sprang into action, charging together towards the bamboo building.

Lu Tianrong, following at the rear, reminded them, “There’s no need to leave anyone alive on purpose, your own safety is most important.”

…

Moments later.

Lin Zichen led everyone to the front of the bamboo building.

“Enemy attack!”

A sentry on the walkway of the bamboo building spotted the attacking Lin Zichen and his team, immediately shouting to alert his companions inside the building.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a “bang” resounded!

The sentry’s head exploded, spattering gore all over the ground.

It was Zhu Shishi from the back of the team who made the move, taking out the sentry with a single long-range armor-piercing bullet.

The first shot had been fired.

The firefight officially began!

“Whoosh!”

Suddenly, a whooshing sound ripped through the air.

Lin Zichen accelerated swiftly, moving into the bamboo building at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye.

The others, seeing this, pushed themselves to their limits and charged in after him.

“Boom!”

Lin Zichen didn’t take the front door. He broke through a wall and barged into the first floor.

A Divine Plant Cult follower hiding behind the door, aiming for a sneak attack, jumped at the sound of the crashing wall.

But before he could turn around, Lin Zichen’s fist smashed into the back of his head, causing it to burst open on impact. He died instantly.

Without any hesitation.

Lin Zichen immediately reached out to touch the body and thought: Devour!

[You have devoured a strand of “Ferocious Great Eagle’s” life essence]

[“Eye of the Sky” strength +1%]

Hmm?

Seeing these two pieces of information emerge in the void, Lin Zichen paused for a moment.

Then, a wave of excitement surged through his heart.

Devouring an exotic beast that has already opened its album enhances the corresponding biometric attributes?

The “Survival of the Fittest” biological attribute is even more useful than I thought!

It can only be said that the system’s biometric attributes are different from the rest!

Quickly, Lin Zichen suppressed the excitement in his heart.

With a powerful thrust of his calves, the next moment he leaped on the spot, “bang” — smashing through the ceiling and charging to the second floor alone.

On the second floor were three Divine Plant Cult followers, fully armed and ready to fight to the death.

Seeing someone suddenly burst through the ceiling from downstairs, they were startled and immediately rushed to kill this uninvited guest.

Facing the three attackers, Lin Zichen didn’t even move.

His gaze intensified.

He released an extremely terrifying biological intimidation.

In an instant, he flattened all three into meat pancakes.

Then, touching each of their bodies, he thought: Devour!

[You have devoured a strand of “Octagonal Iron Ox’s” life essence]

[Octagonal Iron Ox Album: 8%]

[You have devoured a strand of “Shadow Night Cat’s” life essence]

[Shadow Night Cat Album: 42%]

[You have devoured a strand of “Living Dead Slugs’ ” life essence]

[“Rapid Self-Healing” strength +1%]

Sure enough.

Devouring an exotic beast that has opened its album can strengthen the corresponding biological attribute.

A smile emerged on Lin Zichen’s face.

At that moment, intense fighting could be heard below.

“Boom!”

“This person’s biological level is as high as an ordinary eighth order, be careful!”

“I can’t hold on, back me up!”

“Damn!”

“He’s not dead yet, finish him off!”

It sounded like the rest of the team had rushed into the bamboo house and started fighting with the followers of the Divine Plant Cult.

Listening to the conversation, it seemed that our team had the upper hand.

Lin Zichen sensed for a moment and found Shen Qinghan’s figure downstairs in the lobby.

At this time, Shen Qinghan, together with Li Moyu, Luo Yongjian, and Ma Xiwei, were collectively attacking a Divine Plant Cult follower whose biological level was as high as an ordinary eighth rank.

The battle seemed to be in their favor and looked like they would wear down their target in a few minutes.

After watching the fight downstairs for a while.

Soon.

Lin Zichen extended his senses outside the building and discovered that the battle outside was far more intense than inside, turning into a complete melee.

Five from the military district plus five from Shan University were crazily clashing with six followers of the Divine Plant Cult. The ground shook with dust and stones as they fought.

The strength of the military district and Shan University was clearly no match for that of the Divine Plant Cult.

But with the fire support from the five from Ji Shen Group.

They managed to suppress the Divine Plant Cult on one side.

The tide of battle turned more and more in their favor.

Taking down the Divine Plant Cult was just a matter of time.

Seeing such a promising battle situation, Lin Zichen couldn’t help but wonder, “Isn’t the sectarian who’s biological level is as high as an ordinary ninth rank completion supposed to be here?”

Just as he pondered this.

Suddenly, the bamboo house underneath him started shaking violently!

No, it wasn’t the bamboo house shaking!

Instead, the entire ground below the bamboo house was trembling!

Lin Zichen immediately flashed out of the bamboo house.

Following that, he was surprised to see the sky had changed!

All the towering trees surrounding the bamboo house had somehow uprooted themselves eerily.

As if they had gained sentience, one after another, they quickly moved toward the bamboo house, eventually surrounding it completely.

Thick tree trunks encircled on all sides, dense foliage crowded the space above, forming a massive cage, plunging the entire bamboo house into darkness.

…

PS: I’m begging for monthly and recommendation tickets!