Chapter 414: Parasitic
Since there were Murderous Grade supernormal people, naturally there would be Murderous Grade disasters.
Such a thing that destroyed a city, affected hundreds of thousands of people and could not be annihilated except if it was extensively bombed would be a Murderous Grade natural disaster.
"This willow tree does not know how to conceal itself... if it maintained its previous state and waited for the third occurrence... it would most likely rise to Calamity Grade! Humans would not be able to do anything to it."
A Murderous Grade natural disaster affected an area, whereas the range of a Calamity Grade natural disaster would be the entire country or even realm!
"Tzz! Tzz!"
"Tzz! Tzz!"
Suddenly, the instrument pointed towards the white fog and was emitting an ear-piercing noise in the silent environment.
"It’s the willow? It has discovered we are probing it, retreat!"
Fang Yuan swiftly kept the instrument and was the first to run away.
After all, the order this team received was to protect Fang Yuan’s safety with their lives. If Fang Yuan did not leave first, none of them could leave unless they were a deserter.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
The team leader at his side took out his gun. His voice was rather frightened as he said, "I have already requested for aid from the headquarters, they will be coming soon!"
"Boom!"
Near the boundary of the white fog, the cement roads ruptured and numerous spiderweb-like cracks appeared.
Not only that, the cracks kept extending like a black coloured centipede. The cracks were charging towards where Fang Yuan and team were at.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The ground continued to rupture and a giant black shadow emerged from the cracks. It was like a long whip that swung crazily.
"Smack!"
As the ground tremored, a few soldiers who could not dodge it fast enough were smashed into pieces.
Furthermore, it was as though the black shadows were alive as they kept sweeping towards the remaining of them.
"The willow tree’s rhizomes? Can they spread till here? No... no way, this is just a... parasitic body!"
Fang Yuan’s eyes sparkled and he shouted, "Daniu! Go!"
"Haaa!"
Zhao Daniu’s entire body swelled and his skin turned into a green and rock-like colour. He extended both his arms forward and grabbed it.
"Smack!"
The root was like an iron whip and smacked Daniu’s arms, producing an extremely dull noise as though it hit something tough.
"Gotcha!" Zhao Daniu exclaimed delightedly and he then pulled backwards continuously.
"Rumble!"
A spot on the ground rose up and formed a big bulge. There was even a chattering noise from within it, as though there was a living animal inside it.
The nearby rhizomes were provoked at once and they immediately let go of the others and aimed Zhao Daniu.
"Smack! Smack!"
Although the rhizomes could rupture the ground and break bones, they had no effects on Zhao Daniu. When they landed on his body, his skin turned white momentarily and there were no marks nor injuries left on it.
"Haha... come out!"
Zhao Daniu laughed. The veins on his arms bulged out as he strongly exerted his force.
"Bang!"
The bulge erupted and a strange living creature appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.
"Chi chi! Chi chi!"
The creature had the appearance of a gigantic white rat which was almost as large as a buffalo. Its snow-white fur had hints of grey and there were large amounts of rhizomes emerging from underneath its skin. It was truly disgusting and horrifying.
"This... why does this look like it is parasitised!"
Fang Yuan stroked his chin, "Unless these rhizomes are the true mutated organisms... Do willow trees have spores? No... it seems like... willow catkins!"
"Professor Fang, be careful!"
A panicky voice could be heard from the communication device, "That is the willow tree’s parasitised mutated body! Based on our observations and research, it should be infected by those white coloured catkins..... As long as a living object is parasitised, it would immediately become a terrifying biological weapon!"
"I was right, it is the willow catkins!"
In Fang Yuan’s eyes, large amounts of fine willow catkins had already covered the entirety of this rat’s body.
Furthermore, the catkins even covered the rhizomes and were like insects crawling towards Zhao Daniu.
"Burn it!"
The soldiers in the team could finally react. They took out their flamethrowers and started burning the rhizomes.
"Flaming!"
Under the searing flames, large amounts of white coloured willow catkins ignited at once. The roots rustled and let out a wail and numerous burnt patches appeared along with large amounts of fluids blasting out.
"Snap!"
The giant white rat immediately broke off its rhizomes and tried to turn around to burrow into the ground as it saw the situation was not in its favour.
"Attack!"
"Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!"
However, at that moment, more than ten blazes of fire were shot and landed on the rat’s body in an instant. There were many holes in its body as though it was a honeycomb.
"Dead?"
Fang Yuan slowly walked forward and thought, "Normally, such parasitic species were at most Mortal Grade mutants and 80% of them would stand no chance against me. However, against Ghosts Grade mutants, even if my stats were not restricted, it would be super troublesome to fight against them!"
"Professor, such an organism is extremely dangerous! Even if the parasitic body has died, there are still copious amounts of microorganisms inside its body!"
One of the soldiers immediately went forward to stop Fang Yuan.
"It’s okay..."
Fang Yuan took out a pair of tweezers and searched inside the rat’s pool of blood. He then picked up a strand of willow catkin.
Its body was thinner than a strand of hair and it was still wriggling about, as though it had a life of its own.
"Once such infection spreads, it would be harder to deal with it than the willow tree... However, there seem to be some limitations..." Fang Yuan looked at the white fog and ruminated.
"Professor! The responders have arrived and they are requesting to escort us to leave immediately!"
Ye Yingzi took a step forward.
"Oh, let’s go!"
Fang Yuan placed the strand of willow catkin into a test tube. He then tilted his head to one side and looked somewhere before he finally turned around and left.
After the group of them left, the white fog rolled and was soon back to its calm state.
On top of a residential building near the area, a few black shadows appeared, "Such a pity... if they went deeper it, it would have been the best opportunity for us!"
"Don’t be foolish, Professor Fang Yuan is Chinese Country’s most important mutant researcher, it would be impossible for them to let him be in danger!" A gorgeous lady at the side laughed.
She had a hot body and was donned in a black leather suit that showcased her seductive curves. She had blonde hair, blue eyes and was the quintessential western beauty. She then continued, "Instead of being so secretive, why not let me give it a try... Chinese Country’s scientist, I’m interested!"
"Narissa, you Black Widow! Why is your brain filled with the thoughts of white fluids... What we need is his intelligence, not his corpse!" A tall blond dude beside her replied.
This Narissa awakened a very bizarre mutant type. She could strengthen herself by absorbing males’ vitality and she had already caused some panic in Golden Eagle Federation.
Once a person has his vitality drawn out, it would be very difficult for him to survive even if he was a mutant.
If her teammates did not know that her ability to syphon vitality had its limitations as it had to be done through a specific method, there would be no males willing to be in the same team as her.
"Fine, I know!"
Narissa stuck out her tongue and licked her thick and supple red lips, which made all the men on the spot felt warmth flowing near their nether region.
"Ok, we have three objectives for this mission. The first is to observe this willow tree’s ability and assess its danger! The second would be to monitor the strength of the mutants in Chinese Country! The third objective is this Professor Fang Yuan!" The team leader explained slowly. When the team leader was serious, even Narissa did not dare to retort.
"Furthermore... this time around, we have the assistance of another power!"
"Woong! Woong!"
Above the rooftop, two origami cranes appeared. It then exploded suddenly and cast the image of two persons kneeling and greeting, "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen!"
The two persons were like ancient ladies. They had a thick layer of white powder on their faces and bright red lips. They were also dressed colourfully and thinly.
"Japan’s paper shikigami?"
Narissa smiled and said, "Indeed, a group of people who like to hide themselves and do things indirectly!"
"As our true bodies are not around, we can only meet you all with such means. Apologies!"
The two shikigamis each had three fingers on the ground as they bowed again, "Also... Fang Yuan is our main target this time around and I hope you all can satisfy this small wish of ours. We will do our best to cooperate with you all in other areas!"
"Your target is Fang Yuan?"
The team leader smiled nonchalantly, "No matter how good a scientist is, without the best equipment and fellow researchers, he would not amount to anything... Our Golden Eagle Federation is the hub of modern cutting-edge technology! My main goal this time is also that God of Thunder! He is a Calamity Grade mutant and should not waste his time here... his ability would be put to the best use only if he comes to our Golden Eagle Federation!"
"Understood, we will do our best to help you all!"
As the two shikigamis spoke, their bodies sinisterly began to burn from their bottom and turned into two piles of ashes moments later.
"What a strange usage... looks like some of the supernormal cultivators in Middle Continent and East Continent are pretty interesting too..."
A mutant walked forward and looked at the piles of ashes on the ground. His eyes suddenly let out a bloodthirsty glow as he said, "I wonder how their blood taste like..."
"Jax! There will be opportunities!"
The team leader’s voice was firm and filled with perseverance like a piece of aged granite, "In this world, only power can crush everything!"
...
The atmosphere inside a conference room in the large military base was tense and solemn.
Presentations and results of data analysis played which reflected their despair.
"In conclusion... we can deduce that this demonic willow tree is at the peak of Murderous Grade! There is a possibility that it might enter the Calamity Grade in the future!"
Fang Yuan kept his presentation pointing stick and continued, "Regarding the effective methods to combat it... Professor Chen!"
"Cough cough..."
An old professor coughed a few times and presented, "I have already created its life model. According to the deductions, even missiles could only at most seriously injure it and cannot completely annihilate it. It must be paired with napalm bombs... However, the resulting pollution cannot be estimated..."
"Hence, the best way to destroy it would be to send a group of soldiers to carry and place large amounts of bombs and napalms at the core of the willow tree. Thus, this can destroy the tree and yet protect the entire city!"
Wu Tie’s expression changed as he asked, "When is God of Thunder arriving?"
"Tonight!"
"Looks like... this is our only method?"
Wu Tie’s face turned ashen as though he just aged ten years. He then muttered the meeting was dispersed.
"I’m preparing to engage in a thorough research, don’t let anyone disturb me!"
Fang Yuan asked for a laboratory as an excuse for the God of Thunder to appear later on.
As long as he had the cooperation of Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daniu, he could continue to keep up the act.