Global Fog Survival

Chapter 76: Encounter with the Lord-level Mutant Again

“Boss, use your unbeatable analysis skills to think of a solution!” Li Chou’s expression was on the verge of collapse. After running for over ten minutes, coupled with the terrifying sound of a woman crying echoing in his ears, his mental state was inevitably affected. Especially now that their hope seems shattered.

Compared to him, the servants and others with all attributes at or above 2 were noticeably better off. The difference in attributes was just a fraction, 0.2 or 0.3, but at this moment, it felt fatal to him. If this continued, he would likely be the first to die.

“Li Chou, take the potion first.”

Each person carried an “enhancement potion” made from “Sunlight Mushroom*10 + Flesh Mushroom*1” as a backup. Each small bottle was about 50ml, with a minimum application physique of 2. The effect temporarily boosted basic attributes to 3 if they weren’t already there, lasting fifteen minutes. The downside was that after fifteen minutes, attributes were halved for half an hour, and there was intermittent, unconscious “praising the sun” depending on the individual’s condition. It worked fairly well, though it was ineffective for Sanna, whose strength no longer required it; drinking it had no effect, positive or negative.

After Colin spoke, he took a deep breath to relieve his tension and looked toward the temporary safe spot. There was no other choice now. Or rather, there was never any choice from the beginning. Who could have guessed that out of three answers, only one was a real option?

“Forget it, everyone, take the potion. We’ll push through.” Colin quickly walked while taking a stone vial from his inventory, uncorking it, and drinking the pink “enhancement potion.” It tasted bitter, with a distinct mushroom spore, meat, and rotting stench—very unpleasant. But after drinking it, Colin and the others felt a surge of strength in their muscles, and their mental state became refreshed. Although he didn’t have a status panel, Colin could vaguely feel his attributes surpassing 3, thanks to the half-day of life blessings and title bonuses he still had.

With the sound of stone bottles hitting the ground, the entire team’s condition rapidly recovered. They went from walking quickly to jogging, then to a full sprint, with Colin leading like a wolf head through the olive forest. The temporary safe spot was about two kilometers to the left, and they would definitely have to go through a wave of trees to get there. With luck, they might only get hurt; without it, some might die on the way.

“There are many stones here, watch your steps.” Colin instructed, waving his right hand to clear branches and vines as he led the way. Sanna followed half a step behind, with Li Chou and the others carrying lamps further back. Colin wasn’t showing off by leading; he had “Mental Pierce,” which could instantly kill a living olive tree with a glance. Without this, even Sanna would need physical contact to deal with them, causing delays that could lead to the team being caught in the endless onslaught of living olive trees.

However, just as Colin finished speaking, a sudden sense of danger hit him. An almost stripped-bare living olive tree charged at him in a ferocious and crazed manner. But Colin acted as if he didn’t see it, waiting until it was within ten meters. “Look at me!” Colin’s eyes locked onto it, his gaze turning pitch-black and deep. The distorted olive tree immediately stiffened, its cries stopping abruptly as it fell dead on the spot.

For such weakly intelligent abnormal beings, even if they weren’t mutants, “Mental Pierce” was extremely effective. But this attack could only be used three times a day, a significant limitation. Colin didn’t spare the fallen tree another glance, continuing on as if the matter was settled. A large number of living olive trees surged forward, but due to their twisted structures, many got stuck on each other. Only a few pursued Colin’s group, quickly dealt with by Colin and the others.

They were getting closer to the temporary safe spot, but then a breath of air from ahead made Colin’s body tense, his cells alert. Almost immediately, he realized what was ahead: “Lord-level mutant!” Everyone stopped abruptly, clearly sensing the aura and understanding the situation. Colin noticed that all the olive trees here had lost their vitality, dead and withered in the soil.

“Lord Colin, this…” Sanna was surprised by the situation. This almost meant they had walked into a dead end: countless living olive trees behind, an unreachable forest edge outside, and a lord-level mutant at the only safe spot.

“I was foolish, really. I knew triggering tasks would definitely lead to a lord-level aberration, but I didn’t expect the system’s tasks to be the same,” Colin thought, frustrated. He then activated the hint system.

?You discover a fearsome aberration here, but upon brief contemplation, you notice something amiss—you’re close to it but haven’t been attacked…?

Reading the hint silently, Colin realized he was less than three hundred meters from the creature. If it were a “Mourning Watcher,” they would have been affected from over a thousand meters away, and it could attack from five hundred meters.

“Something’s wrong with its state… Let’s check it out.” Colin decided to proceed, and after a few steps, they emerged from the olive forest back onto a relatively wide dirt road.

The breathing ahead made everyone feel much heavier, as if anemic, their heads light and feet heavy. About thirty meters ahead, they saw the lord-level mutant! Under a ten-meter-tall olive tree was a three-meter-tall humanoid creature, bound by black metal-like material growing from the tree, covering most of its body and piercing it with numerous swords and arrows like a corpse filled with weapons from a battlefield. Some olive branches grew from its exposed skin, and it had been asleep for a long time.

Colin observed it and, after a brief hesitation, squinted:

?An incomplete mutant, its body partially transforming into an olive tree, retaining some human features.?

?You realize it might have known the priest…?

Just as Colin finished reading the hint, a dreadful aura descended, making everyone’s shoulders heavy. The creature opened its eyes.