pertwk Chapter 290 The World Is About to Undergo a Tremendous Change
Chapter 290 The World Is About to Undergo a Tremendous Change
The giant funnel-shaped structure hangs more than ten meters in the air, with the barbs on the inner wall trembling slightly and the opening at the bottom opening and closing.
Staring at the strange vegetation before them, no one dared to move.
Miller and his few surviving soldiers all held their guns, but their fingers were not on the triggers; they did not dare to fire easily.
Helen stared intently at the "flower," her pupils contracting slightly.
"This is... a man-eating plant?"
Compared to the others, Lin Fan was relatively calm. He tilted his head and examined the strange plant in front of him, feeling that it was similar to the carnivorous plant in his memory.
Of course, this is only a tiny bit bigger...
"Don't move."
He lowered his voice to stop the crowd.
He had previously observed that these mutant plants were sensitive to heat sources and dynamic targets.
Everyone stood still. Although the funnel-shaped opening of the giant carnivorous plant was facing them, it did not immediately launch an attack.
It's very likely that it's sensing something.
"Go around it."
Lin Fan made a gesture, indicating that everyone should slowly move to the left to avoid being directly under the giant root.
The group looked at each other, then chose to follow his instructions and carefully moved sideways.
One step, two steps, three steps...
However, the funnel-shaped opening of the large flower slowly turned as they moved, always facing the densest part of the crowd.
But there was no attack.
As the group moved slowly, they got closer and closer to the side entrance of the administration building.
However, just as everyone was less than thirty meters away from the doorway...
A wounded soldier behind Miller let out a muffled groan.
Although the sound was not loud.
But given the tranquility of the environment, it's already enough.
As if receiving a signal, the funnel-shaped opening of the large flower suddenly contracted, and then it swooped down towards Lin Fan and the others at an extremely unreasonable speed.
"Scatter!" Lin Fan shouted.
The soldiers fell to either side.
Instead of retreating, Lin Fan took a step forward, unleashing the power of calamity from his right arm, and punched the edge of the funnel opening.
Dark red energy spread rapidly along the petal-shaped structure, and the parts that came into contact with it withered and carbonized at an extremely fast speed.
But this giant plant is too big.
The rate of carbonization cannot keep up with the rate of regeneration.
The funnel opening was deflected and crashed onto the ground, sending up a large amount of gravel.
The rhizome shook violently, and then a second funnel-shaped opening emerged from the other side, lunging at it from a completely different angle.
Lin Fan dodged to the side, and at the same time kicked the bottom of the second funnel opening.
The power of calamity poured in once more.
This time he learned his lesson and didn't try to destroy the entire structure. Instead, he focused his efforts on attacking the connection between the rootstock and the large flower.
That joint is much more fragile than the flower itself.
With a "click",
The second funnel-shaped opening, along with a section of stem over two meters long, broke off completely, fell heavily to the ground, twitched a few times, and then remained still.
The giant rhizome emitted a low tremor.
However, at that moment, a third flower bud split open at the top of the giant stem.
"Are you fucking never going to stop?"
Lin Fan cursed upon seeing this.
If there hadn't been outsiders present, he probably would have revealed his Godzilla form and stomped the plant to death.
Now he could only helplessly shout at the crowd:
"Everyone, run!"
Lin Fan's voice pierced through everyone's hesitation.
Miller was the first to react, grabbing the wounded soldier and rushing towards the side entrance of the administration building. Helen followed closely behind. The rest of the team didn't hesitate and took off after them.
Lin Fan covered the rear.
As he retreated, he used the power of calamity to clear away the vines and tendrils that sprouted along the way.
Twenty meters.
ten meters.
five meters.
Helen was the first to reach the side door and swipe her access card. The soldiers filed in.
Lin Fan was the last to enter.
The moment the door closed behind him, a heavy thud came from outside the door.
But this door is a safety door in the nuclear power plant's administration building; it is reinforced with steel and is more than ten centimeters thick.
The thorns of the vines made several sharp scratches on the door panel, but they did not penetrate it.
The impact lasted for about thirty seconds, then gradually stopped.
Only then did the group, who had been breathing heavily, finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Miller leaned against the wall and slid down onto the floor.
He glanced at the pistol in his hand; the magazine was empty, but he had no recollection of ever running out of bullets.
"Mr. Lin," he looked up at Lin Fan, his throat dry, "what exactly are those things outside?"
"Mutant plants," Lin Fan said succinctly.
"I know it's a plant! I'm asking, how did it suddenly turn into this?"
"The radiation leak from the nuclear power plant catalyzed some kind of biological mutation."
Helen answered for Lin Fan, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.
"The specific mechanism is unclear, but what is certain is that the genetic structure of these plants has completely deviated from the normal form. They possess the ability to actively hunt and the instinct for group cooperation."
Miller was stunned by this explanation and stood there for two seconds.
"You mean...we might be trapped inside the building by a bunch of weeds?"
"You're not wrong to think that way." Lin Fan dusted himself off and then turned to walk towards the control room.
The group walked down the corridor to the underground control room.
This is the safest location in the entire administration building, surrounded by reinforced concrete walls on all four sides, and the door is a hydraulic steel door.
Lin Fan instructed Helen to continue monitoring the external situation, while Miller's men took inventory of the wounded and remaining supplies.
Miller's group was still in bad shape, including three wounded, one of whom had his thigh pierced by vines, and two of whom had fractured ribs after being whipped.
Although they are not going to die immediately, they have lost their ability to move in the short term.
As for military force, after deducting the ammunition consumed earlier, the remaining ammunition is enough for another small-scale skirmish.
But bullets are basically useless against those plants.
After treating the wounded, Lin Fan stood alone in the corner of the control room and entered his mental sea of consciousness again.
"Big Crow".
"Um."
"The situation is more serious than you described. These mutated plants are aggressive and exhibit organized behavior."
"I see."
Da Wu's tone became unusually serious.
"In my awakened memories, there are some records about these things."
To explain it using my memory, it means... when the native ecosystem of a planet comes into contact with an exogenous catalyst, it will enter a state of... extremely accelerated evolution within a short period of time.
Speak like a human.
"Your world has begun to evolve. Plants are just the first species to respond, followed by insects, and then..."
Da Wu didn't finish speaking.
But Lin Fan already understood.
The world is starting to change.
But while he understood, he was also completely bewildered...
How could such a perfectly good planet suddenly mutate?
"How much longer until you get here?"
Three hours.
"Three hours? By the time you arrive, these plants will probably have swallowed my nuclear power plant whole... Is there any way to deal with them?"
"There is one."
Da Wu didn't hesitate and quickly said,
"The spores produced by the decomposition of radiation-eating algae are fundamental to the growth of those plants. You need to go to the main body of the radiation-eating algae and disrupt its spore dispersal system."
"You mean you want me to directly destroy the radiation-eating algae?"
"It's not about destroying the radiation-eating algae, it's about stopping them from spraying dust."
Lin Fan's gaze swept across the surveillance screen.
The cooling tower is located less than 200 meters from the administration building.
Before the mutation, this distance wouldn't have been anything special, but now, this mere hundred-meter distance has transformed into a giant jungle.
He glanced at everyone in the control room...
At this moment, asking these people to leave is clearly asking the impossible.
"Okay. You guys rest first."
As he spoke, he stood up.
"Mr. Lin... what's going on?" Helen noticed his movement and looked up.
"I'm going out again."
Helen opened her mouth, but said nothing.
She had already witnessed the horrors outside and also seen Lin Fan's abilities.
If a man says he wants to go out, it means he's confident.
Miller, however, stood up upon hearing this: "I'll talk to you—"
"No need," Lin Fan interrupted him. "You stay here and guard this place."
He walked to the hydraulic door and glanced back at everyone.
"I'll be right back."
Then he pushed open the door.
In the hallway outside the door, fine roots have already sprouted from the floor.
The air was filled with a rich, damp scent of plants.
Further away, the faint "creaking" sounds of the mutated plants growing could be heard.
Lin Fan took a deep breath and stepped out.
at the same time.
Raccoon City, Monitoring Room.
Night Owl had tried countless times, but he still couldn't get in touch with Lin Fan.
He put down the microphone and turned to look at the screen.
In the footage, the two 100-meter-tall, pitch-black behemoths have crossed the coastline and penetrated deep into the American interior.
"Brother Xiao, there's new information!"
Just then, an observer exclaimed in surprise.
"Those plants... are turning green."
Upon hearing this, Night Owl walked over and leaned closer to the screen.
On the screen, the drone transmitted back footage showing that the once barren land was growing vegetation at an extremely fast pace.
And the color of those plants... wasn't a normal green.
It's a fluorescent blue-green color...