Chapter 335

Chapter 335: Robbers

After essentially confirming the facts, Lin Qingliu felt little sentiment.

In fact, this outcome had long been anticipated.

If even the old professors who had endured the trials of the Old Era and had exceptionally strong wills could not resist the daily erosion of will, how long could these new era humans without relevant abilities hold out?

Moreover, the will of the mycelium had different attitudes toward these two groups of humans.

The will of the mycelium sought to acquire the knowledge within the minds of the humans from the Old Era, so its methods were naturally more gentle.

In contrast, the most valuable aspect of the superpowered individuals was their superpowers…

Having experienced many events related to human struggles, he cared more about how to help the living continue to survive than mourning the dead.

The sounds of countless extraordinary beasts converging from the forest behind him signaled the start of the beast tide.

The battle was about to erupt. The roles among the three Fifth Level extraordinary beasts were clearly defined. The first to appear, the "demon," possessed incredible physical strength, while the other two specialized in telekinesis and arson.

This setup could easily form half a team of adventurers even in a Western fantasy world, let alone in a sci-fi battle.

The flame giant stepped forward, and a massive fire instantly engulfed the trees beneath his feet. The flames spread quickly, as if to cover everything.

In the hellscape where flames obscured the sun, the horned demon appeared to merge seamlessly with the environment.

Its body seemed forged through countless trials, showing no reaction to the scorching heat, while the feathered serpent had a portion of its feathers singed and charred.

Countless strands of mycelium converged like streams, forming pipelines to deliver nutrients to the giant continuously manipulating the flames.

Watching the inferno that threatened to purge the world, Lin Qingliu recalled the "Bomb Man" he had once faced.

Compared to the will of the mycelium now, the Bomb Man’s control over fire seemed like a child playing with a lighter.

Yet his potential was evident; unfortunately, he had perished before fully realizing it outside Hope City.

On the other side, the high-temperature flames did not hinder the feathered serpent; instead, they enhanced all of its attacks with fire.

In an instant, fiery feathers rained down from above while flames swept upward, and the sneaky horned demon darted in and out of the inferno. Lin Qingliu felt like he was a character from another world, fighting against the protagonists as a dungeon boss.

However, the ones under the most pressure were not Lin Qingliu facing three foes alone, nor the three extraordinary beasts, but rather… countless pitiful low-level mycelium and plants.

Though they were part of the body of the will of the mycelium, they were being consumed directly like stored glycogen.

The battle between one human and three beasts in the forest resembled a demolition team raiding illegal buildings, akin to a tornado destroying a parking lot, with everything swept away mercilessly.

As the fire tornado engulfed him, Lin Qingliu turned into a cloud of white fog and vanished from sight, only to emerge from a whirlwind of chaos, now split into three identical forms, each launching attacks at the three extraordinary beasts.

This was the ability he used during the invasion of the spire; at that time, he was only facing humans, so he could hold back a little, but now, facing these creatures, Lin Qingliu had no intention of sparing any effort.

After acquiring the ability Divided Thoughts, his skill in creating and using clones had reached a new level.

The only issue was that his main consciousness remained tied to his current body and could not freely transfer between terminals and the cloud like Infinite Scroll.

However, once Fulan’s ability level increased further, this issue would be resolved.

Top-tier battles often used the simplest methods; as the battlefield environment decayed to a point where life below the Fifth Level could hardly survive, the nature of combat also shifted.

The biological fields of the extraordinary beasts could not pollute Lin Qingliu, and his low-level hypnotic ability could not forcibly log them out, leading to a primal and bloody struggle.

The three extraordinary beasts, taking advantage of their home ground, displayed utter disregard for bodily damage, especially the flame giant, which recklessly plundered nutrients from the forest, burning itself in the process.

Lin Qingliu, with his ability to absorb through the Blood and Flesh pathway, acted like a ruthless robber, breaking in and looting without restraint, taking everything and making the most of the situation.

To be fair, Lin Qingliu had much more leeway here than in Hope City; after all, he could act with abandon here, while in Hope City, he had to consider whether his punches would turn someone’s home into a junkyard.

Countless milk-white, minuscule mycelium sprouted from the ground, wildly expanding and absorbing any available nutrients.

Most of them would be incinerated in their first moments, but a tiny fraction managed to escape the initial onslaught and gathered their remaining energy to supply the extraordinary beasts.

The thick humus in the forest, which had been the stored reserves of the mycelium ecosystem for ages, was now being recklessly consumed by the mycelium responsible for nutrient absorption.

Lin Qingliu resembled a detestable tax collector, taking away the long-accumulated wealth of countless mycelium with every move.

Being merciful to one’s enemy is cruelty to oneself; Lin Qingliu harbored no intentions of showing kindness. Since the will of the mycelium had decided to wage war, it must be prepared for a significant backlash.

Even if it wasn’t, he would make that wish come true.

The life force belonging to the mycelium absorbed by him would still need to be digested and replenished in cycles before it could be used; thus, a portion of the loss would need to be withdrawn in advance.

In this unrestrained struggle, where both sides revealed no concealment, the forest could no longer bear the burden.

As if reaching a critical point, all ecosystems began to collapse suddenly, with decaying corpses turning to dust in the storm.

In just a few minutes, the vast area of the forest had become desolate.

Under the reckless consumption of both sides, the trees decayed and died, and signs of desertification appeared on the ground.

From above, a tiny white dot emerged within the vast mycelium ecosystem, representing the fire-blackened forest, an area devoid of any living beings apart from the three humans and three extraordinary beasts.

After the firestorm subsided, the Lin Qingliu who forcefully summoned two small clones for a three-on-three confrontation once again faced off against the three extraordinary beasts.

Yet, he seemed to see a hint of pain on the faces of the extraordinary beasts—a suffering that resembled that of humans losing their possessions.