Nyoi-Bo Studio

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  The wave of attacking monsters was blocked by Dumby just like that. Dumby was like a resilient reef that held no matter the fierceness of the waves around it.

  Da Zi took advantage of that barrier and rushed toward the Blue Iron Kidney Fern. The two antennae on its head collided, and upon contact, a silk-like electric spark shot outward in a ball of electricity.

  Da Zi had eaten a fulfilling meal the day before, and it felt fresh and great, the electric elements in its body fully recharged.

  Crackle.

  The ball of electricity turned into an electric net that came down and covered the Blue Iron Kidney Fern.

  A loud groan came from the overwhelmed fern monster as its body was burned to a crisp.

  Multiple vines roots tore up out of the ground, pulling the Blue Iron Kidney Fern out of the soil. The roots were covered with multiple black holes the size of a pea, and as the fern monster began running away in a frenzy, these holes sucked in air, sounding like the quick inhale of someone about to sneeze.

  The leaves of the Blue Iron Kidney Fern flipped over, and a chill went down Gao Peng’s spine as he saw the backs of the leaves. It was comparable to the first time he witnessed the face of the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede.

  The backs of the leaves were completely covered with greyish-brown blotches that looked like hollow eyes. And as he looked closely, Gao Peng could see the small moving spores within the holes. If he were afflicted with trypophobia, he would definitely have fainted at the sight of those countless, unevenly spread holes.

  Then the air that had been sucked in through the roots shot out from the holes, ejecting countless sporangia. In an instant, the sky was filled with a myriad of floating sporangium, and in the very next moment, the sporangium exploded, and countless roe-like spores burst into the air. They fell to the ground like raindrops, so quickly that Da Zi didn’t even have time to dodge.

  The spores that fell on Da Zi’s carapace quickly expanded into something that looked like moss. Thin, green vines grew instantly from the moss and extended outward. The threads bunched together and stabbed down, trying to puncture Da Zi’s shell.

  Da Zi growled and a layer of electric energy swept through its carapace. The thin, green vines and moss instantly turned black, and after a few waves of electricity the parasitic spores on Da Zi’s body were completely cleaned off.

  However, the spores that fell on the surrounding ground grew, covering the soil with a thick layer of moss. Countless thin vines crisscrossed over the ground and absorbed the nutrition from the soil in an instant. Then they began chasing Da Zi as if they were intelligent beings, trying to trap Da Zi in place.

  Gao Peng saw that the condition of the Blue Iron Kidney Fern had changed to [Minor Injury (Angry)]. It must have taken a very long time to accumulate so many spores, so it was no wonder that the Blue Iron Kidney Fern was angry.

  On the other side of the battlefield, the Yellow-Spotted Black-Eared Wolf struggled to get up. Blood vessels filled its eyes, and the wolf opened its mouth. A thick and sticky saliva fell off the corner of its mouth and onto the ground, where it began to move on its own. The parasitic Blue Iron Kidney Fern Sub-Body shook its feelers.

  [Monster Name]: Blue Iron Kidney Fern Sub-Body

  [Monster Effect]: Absorb surrounding energy to heal external and internal injuries of the host.

  [Side Effects]: The monster will become calm and lose its free will while under the command of the Blue Iron Kidney Fern.

  The wound on the head of the Yellow-Spotted Black-Eared Wolf immediately stopped bleeding and started to heal.

  The kidney fern was originally a type of traditional Chinese medicine with healing properties. Gao Peng remembered that the kidney fern had been originally used to treat cuts, but here, it had turned into something that healed both internal and external injuries. Clearly, the effects had been greatly strengthened.

  Gao Peng was a little surprised. He never would have thought that the parasitic sub-body would have such miraculous effects that it could even provide regenerative abilities to its host.

  Unfortunately, the side effect was that the host would become a puppet of the Blue Iron Kidney Fern.

  There was no way Gao Peng would allow himself and his familiars to become the puppets of this monster.

  One after another, monsters that seemed to know no pain came rushing toward Dumby. Dumby swung the worm monster in its right hand.

  Rip!

  The worm monster’s body finally gave out and tore in the middle, its upper part nothing more than a red pulp as it crashed to the ground, breathing its last breath.

  The monsters were beaten down by Dumby again and again, but they kept getting up and rushing forward as if they felt no pain, and their wounds and injuries continued to heal.

  But over time, their bodies began to change. It seemed the energy within the Blue Iron Kidney Fern Sub-Body was limited, and the pace it absorbed nutrition from the air and soil could not keep up with its healing speed, so the sub-body began absorbing the blood and fluids within the body of its host monster as well.

  The monsters began drying up, turning into mummies.

  “This parasite sure is cruel,” Gao Peng mumbled to himself. The kidney fern and spores had to absorb nutrition from the air and water in its environment to survive, but this evolved version of the plant seemed to be directly absorbing the nutrition from the blood vessels of the host.

  To survive, to become stronger, monsters had evolved to use all kinds of weird and unimaginable methods. It had only been a few years since the Cataclysm, and unusual abilities like this had already appeared. If evolution continued at such a pace, what kind of creature would eventually emerge from the evolution?

  Bang!

  One of the host monsters was knocked down and did not get back up this time. The blood within the host body could no longer sustain the needs of the sub-body. The sub-body quickly fell off the back of the monster and turned into a seed-like spore before disappearing into the earth. It then quickly grew roots and sprouted, slowly growing up out of the earth again.

  Fighting the sub-bodies would be an endless cycle, so Gao Peng asked Dumby to cooperate with Da Zi to pursue and kill the Blue Iron Kidney Fern.

  The remaining monsters could no longer threaten him. Although Stripey had not yet evolved into a Commander tier familiar, it wouldn’t have any problems bullying these minor monsters.

  Stripey rushed forward arrogantly and swung its prismatic shield-like limbs, sending several monsters flying. Stripey crushed them in an instant and went berserk. It was the first time it had felt such dominance, and it wanted to relive that feeling, but unfortunately the remaining few monsters had already been defeated. So instead, Stripey jumped onto the head of one of the incapacitated monsters and continued striking its head with its spider claw. The monster had been defeated long ago, but Stripey just kept hammering it.

  The Blue Iron Kidney Fern wasn’t fast enough to outrun Da Zi. Da Zi’s sickle-like maxilliped cut like crazy, snapping branch after branch from the fern. The leaves danced in the air.

  The main body of parasitic monsters was indeed weak, and without any host monsters to protect it, it couldn’t fight back when faced against Da Zi.

  After defeating the Blue Iron Kidney Fern, Gao Peng searched among the many roots and vines and found a wood-attribute monster core crystal. When he examined it though, he saw that in the center of the core crystal was a green thread that looked like a mycelium.

  He sighed and carefully put it in his pocket. But this made him feel a little anxious, so he called Silly over and put it in Silly’s space dimension.