Shen Feng could not imagine that a mere mutated plant could possess such an immense coverage area, and moreover, be resistant to fire. This was even more exaggerated, as it was equivalent to solving the plant's weakness. In the future, fire attacks would likely be ineffective against mutated plants.
"Alright, let's head back. I've gotten two days of free fruit from the Prophet. Let's leave, the difficulty here is too great!" Shen Feng sighed and chose to detour back.
Even with Shen Feng's speed, it took him a full two hours to return to the volcano. By then, Yue Hengyi had already escaped from the forest, though he looked much more disheveled, his clothes tattered, likely torn by branches during his escape.
"Sister-in-law, are the cassava good? Can I have a taste?" Yue Hengyi said shamelessly.
He had originally caught a wild boar. If the mutated plants hadn't appeared, Yue Hengyi would have already eaten his fill. However, after being attacked, he had to abandon the boar. Now that he was back, he could only shamelessly eat cassava.
"Here you go!" The kind elder sister quickly served Yue Hengyi a bowl of cooked cassava. It was full of carbohydrates, which would definitely replenish his energy, but it lacked nutrients, vitamins, protein, and certainly fat. Eating too much would lead to unhealthy weight gain.
Yue Hengyi was truly hungry. Rushing out of the forest had consumed a lot of his stamina, and he needed to replenish his energy now.
"Look at you, eating so uncivilized, not even saying thank you!" Shen Feng reprimanded him unceremoniously. Then he looked at the elder sister, "Uh, give me a bowl too. And thank you."
While eating the tasteless cassava, Yue Hengyi said, "Aren't you eating cassava just like me? What's the difference? Did you find the本体 of the mutated plant?"
Shen Feng shrugged and gnawed on the cassava, "No, the area is too large, covering over a hundred square kilometers. It's the coverage of this mutated plant. Finding its本体 would be like finding a needle in a haystack. What about you?"
"I was in more danger. You ran so fast, you just said 'split up and run' and disappeared. I suppressed the vines' movements with my abilities all the way to escape. I discovered that as long as I stayed out of the shadow's range, these mutated plants couldn't catch up," Yue Hengyi replied.
Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi squatted outside a house, eating cassava. Both had the intention of giving up, not because they didn't want to kill monsters, but because the monsters were hidden too deeply.
"We have two days, eat as much fruit as you can. We won't be coming to Southeast Asia much in the future anyway. If we miss out now, we won't get to eat it again!" Shen Feng advised Yue Hengyi.
Yue Hengyi clearly understood Shen Feng's meaning. It was evident that Shen Feng was also considering retreating. He continued, "I didn't say I wouldn't come to Southeast Asia. If the world becomes peaceful in the future, I'll bring Qin Kewe here to eat fruit. It's just too hot at night, and there are quite a few mosquitoes, which isn't great!"
They ate cassava and chatted. It had to be said that cassava was quite suitable for filling one's stomach. After eating, the feeling of fullness would last for a long time, but the taste wasn't great. It was better to grind it into starch and make pearls for bubble tea.
At this moment, Tarutz walked over. As he passed, the indigenous people all bowed their heads respectfully, calling him "Prophet." He was pleased with such appellations and attitudes, maintaining a gentle smile on his face.
"You two are back so soon. I presume you've made some progress?" Tarutz inquired of Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi.
Shen Feng nodded and said seriously, "Yes, we have a lead. In any case, we need to collect more fruit for these two days to replenish our energy. As for the fight with the monsters, we'll only know more after two days."
Yue Hengyi was very satisfied with Shen Feng's answer and couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. They were clearly ready to give up, yet they still planned to trick them into providing food and drinks for two more days. This was truly shameless.
Shen Feng was now operating with the mindset of cutting his losses while discussing important matters. Since finding the mutated plant's本体 was impossible, and he didn't have time to do it, he would seize the opportunity to eat fruit and leave. No one could do anything to him.
However, at this moment, Tarutz said to Shen Feng, "Mr. Shen, Mr. Yue, please follow me. Perhaps I can offer you some assistance."
Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi exchanged glances, both looking suspicious. They clearly didn't believe anyone could offer them any concrete advice at this point, but they still followed Tarutz. Even if the advice was useless, it was better than nothing.
Tarutz led them to the foot of a cliff and then pointed to the mountaintop, saying, "Let's go up."
Shen Feng looked at the mountaintop, which was over two hundred meters high, and couldn't help but say, "A ninety-degree cliff, how do we get up there? I'm fine, but can you manage?"
"Mr. Shen is overthinking it. This isn't a ninety-degree slope, but eighty-five degrees. Also, we're not climbing directly. There are pine trees on the cliff, and there's a rope here. Climbing up along the rope will get us to the summit," Tarutz quickly explained.
Tarutz was the first to grab the rope and began climbing. Shen Feng didn't need the rope. He used "As the Wind Follows," and with just a couple of touches on the cliff face, he could ascend directly. He was also the first to reach the summit. The summit was quite spacious, a circular area that was relatively flat. From here, one could see into the distance.
The Southeast Asian region is located at the boundary of tectonic plates, resulting in significant geological activity and numerous volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions occur frequently. Therefore, finding a volcano in Southeast Asia is not difficult, and hot springs are abundant. In peaceful times, this place would truly be a resort destination.
Looking at the lush scenery in the distance, Shen Feng suddenly noticed something unusual. In the northern area, a giant tree rose straight from the ground, estimated to be over a hundred meters tall. Previously, the tallest trees globally were no more than sixty to seventy meters. Now, trees easily grew over a hundred meters. If they had grown after the apocalypse, this tree had grown incredibly fast.
"Mr. Shen, look, this is what I wanted to tell you about. Do you see that large tree on the horizon? Every night, an electromagnetic signal appears in the direction of that tree! And the direction from which this signal appears is the approximate location of the monsters," Tarutz said, pointing to the towering tree in the distance.
"Damn it, why couldn't you have said so earlier? You had to wait until we got hurt and came back to say it!" Shen Feng said irritably.
Yue Hengyi also pointed to his torn clothes and said, "You're not being honest. Do you know the dangers we encountered searching for the monsters? Let me tell you, this monster isn't a mutated animal, it's a mutated plant!"
"Mutated plant? No wonder we've never seen the monster's true form. So it's a mutated plant. Hiding in the rainforest, it's indeed difficult to find!" Tarutz realized with a start. It seemed the monsters in New Guinea were mutated plants, which were difficult to deal with.
Shen Feng looked at the towering tree in the distance and said, "It seems this towering tree is the mutated plant's本体. Only by finding a way to cut it down or burn it can we truly eliminate this danger."
"Forget it, it's impossible! Our bonfires were extinguished. It's clearly impossible to burn such a massive tree, and felling it is also impossible. Let's plan for the long term," Yue Hengyi said, sitting on the ground and staring blankly at the distant forest.
Yue Hengyi's "plan for the long term" was simply one thing: "Give up."
Tarutz explained, "Actually, this entire forest you see is actually just one tree!"
"One tree? How do you explain that?" Shen Feng asked.
Tarutz said, "This is a tropical region. In the rainforest, banyan trees can create a forest from a single tree. When a banyan tree grows large, it sprouts aerial roots from its branches. These are tree roots that grow in the air, absorbing moisture and nutrients. When they reach the ground, they can also grow into large trees. However, they are actually connected to the mother tree. As more banyan trees grow and more aerial roots emerge, eventually, one large banyan tree forms an entire forest."
Shen Feng finally understood. The mutated plant he and Yue Hengyi had encountered was, from beginning to end, just one entity. Its coverage area was simply too vast; it could be considered the largest organism on Earth.
"At night, I'll go over there to see when the electromagnetic waves on the tree appear," Shen Feng asked.
"It's when the moon reaches its zenith. An electromagnetic wave will appear for an hour, and after an hour, the electromagnetic wave will disappear," Tarutz quickly replied.
With this clue, Shen Feng had an idea. The rest of the day was spent continuing to eat fruit. At dusk, Shen Feng set off, carrying a gasoline can. He pondered why his fire had been extinguished during the day. It must have been because the fire was too ordinary and easily put out. But with gasoline, it would be different. Even on water, gasoline could burn.
"I want to see what kind of mutated plant is capturing people everywhere. If a fire made of firewood can be extinguished, what about a fire made of gasoline?" Shen Feng thought to himself.
Yue Hengyi stood at the doorway and shouted to Shen Feng, "Go early and come back early! Don't push yourself. If you can't win, just come back. There's no need to risk your life!"
Shen Feng shrugged, said nothing, and left like a ghost, his speed so fast that he was barely visible.
Shen Feng located the direction of the towering tree and advanced by stepping on the leaves. Even carrying the gasoline can, it was no problem standing on the leaves because Shen Feng also had the skill "Water Walking," which allowed him to walk on water. Standing on leaves was naturally even easier.
The closer Shen Feng got to the towering tree, the thicker the surrounding trees became. Vines hung down from above, and many of them had water droplets.
The climate in the rainforest could change instantly. While on his way, it suddenly started raining. In the dense rainforest, it became pitch black. Shen Feng stood on the leaves and looked down. Apart from the sound of rain, nothing could be heard in the forest. There were no insect chirps or bird calls. Shen Feng was quickly drenched. He didn't use "Wind King Barrier" to block the rain, as wasting stamina for that would be unwise.
When Shen Feng arrived near the towering tree, he was startled by the scene before him. Next to the towering tree were thick, sturdy trees, with trees over twenty meters tall everywhere. From these trees, vines and roots hung down, and at the ends of some roots, animals were suspended. There were humans and mutated beasts, all hanging below the roots. Fine roots formed cages below, enclosing the animals. Some roots had even extended directly into the bodies, seemingly absorbing nutrients.
Seeing this scene, Shen Feng immediately recalled the plants confined in the laboratory in Yuzhou, which also extended cages from above. Captured animals were stuffed into the cages, and finally, their bodies were corroded by digestive fluids within the cages, eventually becoming energy to power the treants.
"Holy cow, are there treants here too?" Shen Feng quickly looked around, trying to see if there was any danger.
If he found treants, Shen Feng would naturally turn and flee without a second word. He might be able to kill one or two treants now, but facing a large number of them was something he couldn't handle.
The rain did not last long. After half an hour, the rain stopped, and the clouds dispersed, allowing the moon and stars to reappear overhead.
Taking advantage of the night, Shen Feng quickly poured gasoline, dousing a circle around the base of the tree. There wasn't much gasoline left in the can. This tree was too massive, with a diameter of ten meters and an immeasurable height. The surrounding trees were no match; none could compare to the towering tree.