The once lush and spectacular mushroom forest had become dilapidated. The mushrooms were decaying, falling to the ground from time to time. Upon closer inspection, it was evident that the interiors of the mushrooms had been hollowed out by insects, a consequence of the ability-user Qian Bufei's actions. Chang Jianyi and Qu Zhaoqian had also contributed to the forest's decay.
Previously, it wouldn't have mattered how many mushrooms were cut down from the forest canopy, as the mushroom forest could recover in a very short period. Shen Feng and Qian Bufei had discovered this phenomenon when they led soldiers into the mushroom forest for reconnaissance. The growth rate of the mushroom forest far surpassed that of ordinary plants, although fungi were not plants.
At this moment, the bacteria sprayed from the helicopters had infiltrated the underground mycelial network. Chang Haojie directly controlled the clouds to the opening created by Shen Feng's explosion. Qu Zhaoqian then unleashed his abilities, causing large areas of the mycelial network to die off. It turned out that the mushrooms and mycelia on the surface were not the true body of the mutated fungus; only the mutated mycelial network underground could be considered the fungus's core. If this continued, with the camp holding the front line and Qian Bufei using his abilities above the forest, the underground mycelial network would also rapidly rot.
As Qian Bufei and the helicopter team admired the gradual decay of the mushroom forest from the sky, his communicator suddenly rang. After listening, he heard news from the camp: "You should pause your attack for now, but there's no need to rush back, as the mutated fungus has surrendered. Negotiations are currently underway."
Upon hearing this, Qian Bufei became anxious and immediately spoke out to prevent it: "No, we absolutely cannot accept their surrender at this time. We've lost so many people. If we accept their surrender now, won't our brothers be disheartened? Moreover, we have a massive advantage right now. Even if they don't surrender, we can still achieve victory. We must not accept it now."
At this moment, Qian Bufei was very dissatisfied with the decisions of the camp leaders. He had spent two months preparing to achieve victory directly at this time, yet now the leaders were preventing him from continuing his offensive. He couldn't understand it at all.
While Qian Bufei was fuming, the leaders began to explain through the communicator: "How could we not consider the soldiers' feelings? We are doing this precisely for the soldiers' sake. Because the mutated fungus is at its absolute weakest right now, it has offered to restore all those who were parasitized to normal. Rather than completely killing the fungus, it's better to let it go in exchange for the soldiers' recovery. Furthermore, we've already decimated the beast tide today. Under these circumstances, we can attack at any time."
After hearing the leaders' explanation, Qian Bufei was finally convinced. Saving the lives of his comrades was more important than the great achievement of killing the mutated fungus. The recovery of four thousand soldiers would undoubtedly be a tremendous boost, something that could not be ignored.
"Then try to gain the upper hand during the negotiations. In any case, I don't want to have to attack the mushroom forest again in the future. It's too painful," Qian Bufei said to the leaders.
If it meant his brothers' recovery, Qian Bufei could accept it. However, this did not mean Qian Bufei was willing to watch the mutated fungus recuperate and regain its strength later. If the mutated fungus recovered, defeating it would not be a simple matter.
However, the camp leaders had already considered the situation Qian Bufei mentioned. They directly stated: "Don't worry, we've already considered this. We will make the mutated fungus underground leave. Then, Ruili will be naturally recaptured."
Qian Bufei quickly agreed and then called for Chang Haojie and Qu Zhaoqian to stop: "Two young heroes, stop now and await the results of the negotiations. I know you are very strong, but please stop for now?"
Chang Haojie and Qu Zhaoqian could only stop their attacks reluctantly. Although they were ability-users, they could not act on their own at this time. They had to stop and lie on the white clouds, silently enduring the falling rain. Their clothes were already soaked, but as ability-users, a little rain wouldn't cause them to catch a cold.
Finally, the negotiation results came out. The mutated fungus underground would first de-parasitize half of the people, and after the mutated fungus evacuated Ruili, it would restore the remaining half of the controlled soldiers.
The negotiation process lasted for several hours and then concluded. However, even though the negotiations had ended, the fungus underground could not leave just like that. A massive mycelial network was hidden underground, and its movement relied entirely on mycelia. Even if it wanted to leave, it would be very slow, as ordinary fungi could generally not move.
For fungi to spread, they typically do so by dispersing spores. Once the spores appeared, they would be carried by the wind. After landing, the spores could reproduce. However, a massive mycelial network tens of kilometers wide was underground, and leaving at this point was not an easy task.
The camp decided to wait for a while and also allow the recovered soldiers to recuperate during this waiting period. Furthermore, the scientists realized a very important issue: once the fungus underground left, the ground would collapse, and this section of road would have to be rebuilt. This was a problem that ordinary people could not solve.
"Prepare to rebuild this section of the highway, and also make more preparations for the future," the leaders finally made their decision.
A few days later, the mushroom forest had severely rotted. The once spectacular mushroom forest gradually disappeared under the action of rain and bacteria. The underground mycelial network was the core. Generally speaking, as long as the mycelial network was intact, the mushrooms on the surface could continue to grow. However, now that the mycelial network was about to leave Ruili, the mushroom forest on the surface naturally no longer needed to be maintained.
In an instant, the surface became bare. The rotting mushrooms became nutrients for plants, and countless small grasses grew from the ground, creating a scene of prosperity.
One day, Qian Bufei found Shen Feng and said directly, "Mr. Shen, we plan to go to Ruili to scout the situation. Also, I have a more important piece of news to reveal to you. Do you have time to go together? There are many imported jade stones there. If you like them, take as much as you see."
Shen Feng had nothing else to do, so he called Chu Chaoyan to set off. Chang Haojie also wanted to go, but Shen Feng directly said, "You stay at the camp and read. Look at how poor your exam results are. When your sister sees your terrible academic performance, she'll get angry again."
Chang Haojie, seeing that his brother-in-law wasn't taking him along, couldn't help but grumble, "It's the apocalypse now, what's the point of studying? Strength is the most important thing at this time."
Chu Chaoyan heard Chang Haojie's grumbling and smiled, "That's because wisdom is also a form of strength. Humans are more powerful than ordinary animals because humans have brains and can think. They understand that technology is the primary productive force. Strength is diverse, and knowledge is power. You should understand this principle."
"Cheese? I haven't had it in a long time. Eating cheese can indeed increase strength," Chang Haojie said, suddenly enlightened.
"It's not cheese, it's knowledge. Bacon said that," Chu Chaoyan explained with a wry smile. Talking about these things with someone who understood nothing was like playing the lute to a cow.
"Bacon? Can ham talk?" Chang Haojie was even more confused.
"You little illiterate, you should pay more attention to your studies," Shen Feng said helplessly. It was evident that Chang Haojie's academic performance was not very good, even with a tutor. He was already in junior high school but didn't even know that Bacon was a person's name, thinking it was cured ham.
"Snacks? What snacks?" Chang Haojie's eyes lit up at the mention of snacks.
Shen Feng shook his head and left with Chu Chaoyan. With a tutor, Chang Haojie's academic performance was already so poor. It seemed that the academic performance of children nowadays would not be particularly good. However, it was unclear whether this was good or bad. Children didn't have to continue the rat race, but without a learning atmosphere, the academic performance of children nowadays was declining sharply.
After the mushroom forest rotted, a foul odor permeated the air. Shen Feng and his group could only wear protective suits. They were no longer worried about being parasitized by spores but about being overwhelmed by the stench of the rotting mushrooms.
Qian Bufei led over thirty people to set off, not for combat, but simply to gather intelligence. Moreover, even if combat were necessary, Shen Feng was in the team. Shen Feng was definitely one of the top ten ability-users in the world. It took a lot of resources to become a sixth-tier ability-user, and after the third tier, further evolution required evolution bases. Evolution bases could only be produced by laboratories, except for some mutated plants.
Therefore, there were no powerful ability-users living in seclusion in the deep mountains and old forests. Seclusion meant insufficient resources. Even the ability-users in the Lüliang Mountains were supported by someone behind them.
In fact, there were only so many named ability-users, and the number of strong individuals was evident. With Shen Feng in the team, everyone felt at ease.
Soon, they arrived at Ruili. The most famous business here was actually the jade business. The gambling on stones activity was on a large scale. The jadeite ore mined from the mining areas of Myanmar was directly sent here. Of course, after being mined, the good ore was already taken away by professionals, leaving only the inferior products.
However, after the apocalypse, Ruili was deserted. Even if there were survivors, they had long since fled. As for the jade, it was ruthlessly abandoned. This thing couldn't be eaten, it was just beautiful. In peaceful times, the value of jade was high, but in the current chaotic times, only gold and silver were precious. As for jadeite, it was just stones.
Qian Bufei, full of heroic spirit, said directly, "Mr. Shen, Miss Chu, take as much jade as you want. Just take it."
Shen Feng shook his head helplessly and said, "This stuff can't be eaten, so why take it? Just pick a few you like. It's nice to take them back as decorations, but if there are too many, it's useless. By the way, where is the oil and gas pipeline?"
Compared to jade, Shen Feng was more concerned about the oil and gas pipeline. The China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline was China's fourth energy input channel. The first three were the Central Asia oil and gas pipeline, the China-Russia oil pipeline, and the maritime oil import. It could be said that the southwest region relied on this pipeline for oil.
Qian Bufei then led Shen Feng to see the oil and gas pipeline. However, Chu Chaoyan went into a jewelry store. The place was in ruins, with cracks appearing on many houses and the streets being vast expanses of desolation.
Entering the jewelry store, Chu Chaoyan began to select gifts. Whether it was necklaces or earrings, rings or hair accessories, as long as she saw something beautiful, she took it all.
"Well, I need to give some to Chang Jianyi, my sister, and my mother-in-law. Oh, and Du Xinshi and Hua Jingran also need gifts, so I should pick more," Chu Chaoyan was very enthusiastic about picking gifts at this moment.