Chapter Sixty-Seven: X-Type Mutant Plants

The enormous flower's appearance was strikingly similar to the man-eating plants seen in the game. Qin Fei plucked the bright red fruits from the top of the gigantic blossom.

[Type-X Mutant Plant Seed: Once planted, it will grow into a terrifying, defensive plant that sprays toxic spores at any intruder!]

These really were man-eating plant seeds...

Qin Fei was overjoyed.

Type-X mutant plants were considered the strongest defensive measure any player could arrange in the game before reaching the electrical age. Altogether, Qin Fei had secured eight of these seeds. With them, his shelter’s defenses would be greatly enhanced.

After he gathered the Type-X seeds, Danzi, who had been quietly staying by Qin Fei’s side, suddenly flapped its wings and soared into the sky, continuously letting out anxious cries.

It seemed to be warning Qin Fei of danger nearby.

Something was amiss.

Qin Fei’s expression changed instantly. He swung himself onto Big Nose’s back, intent on leaving at once.

Big Nose appeared to sense the threat as well; before Qin Fei could even urge it on, it turned and bolted toward the edge of the pond.

At that moment, two titan boas—one black, one red—were writhing rapidly across the ground from either side of the pond. Their scales were covered in countless irregular white markings, making them look both disgusting and terrifying.

Qin Fei had always been wary of snakes, and the instant he saw the two titan boas, his skin prickled with goosebumps.

Although each titan boa was nearly ten meters long and massive in size, their speed was astonishing. In no time, they closed the distance with Qin Fei, who was fleeing on Big Nose’s back.

Danzi stayed high above, trailing Qin Fei from a safe distance. The toothless pterosaur had almost no combat ability and could do nothing but circle overhead, calling out anxiously.

Clinging to Big Nose, Qin Fei turned, shotgun in hand, and fired at the titan boas behind him.

Clang!

The lead pellets struck the titan boa’s scales with a metallic clang.

Qin Fei drew a sharp breath.

This was absurd! His shotgun couldn’t even penetrate the titan boa’s scales.

The titan boa slowed only slightly after being hit, suffering no actual harm.

Such formidable defense...

Seeing the shotgun was ineffective, Qin Fei stopped wasting ammunition.

The two titan boas were steadily closing in on him and Big Nose.

The red boa, which was slightly ahead, suddenly coiled and sprung, sinking its fangs into Big Nose’s hindquarters.

A pained howl erupted from Big Nose, who now bore two fresh bite marks on its rump.

The effects were immediate; Big Nose’s speed began to wane.

Qin Fei frowned. It looked like Big Nose had been poisoned.

In the world of Ark, titan boas’ attacks were venomous, capable of quickly incapacitating small and medium creatures.

Qin Fei pulled a lump of sticky yellow solid from his pack and shoved it into Big Nose’s mouth.

The yellow lump was something he’d concocted by mixing white berries from the island with firestarter powder, creating a substance much like a stimulant.

It could neutralize poison, and was even more effective than white berries alone.

Under the stimulant’s effects, Big Nose recovered quickly and soon sprinted out of the swamp’s range.

The two boas stopped at the swamp’s edge, refusing to give chase further.

Clearly, these titan boas each had their own fixed territories and would not pursue prey outside their domain.

Big Nose carried Qin Fei back to the stone house.

This trip into the swamp had netted Qin Fei eight Type-X mutant plant seeds.

That meant he could plant eight man-eating flowers.

Their growth cycle was not long—about a day or two.

However, to cultivate man-eating flowers, a large supply of fertilizer was essential. Without enough nutrients, the flowers would stop growing.

The fertilizer required was processed animal dung. Burying raw dung in the soil would not suffice; it had to be fermented and converted into a form easily absorbed by the plants.

Qin Fei decided to make his own composting bin.

First, he nailed together a rectangular wooden box, then lined the inside with several thick layers of dry grass.

Finally, he piled a large quantity of dung onto the straw, covered it with the lid, and left a small gap for ventilation.

Thus, a simple fertilizer fermentation bin was complete.

Inside the sealed bin, the anaerobic environment would allow the straw and dung to ferment, gradually transforming the manure into a much more absorbable fertilizer.

As for the source of dung, with a Paleotherium under his care, Qin Fei had nothing to worry about.

Big Nose not only ate well, but produced copious quantities of dung. In a single day, Big Nose could fill the entire fermentation bin.

Once the dung was fully composted, Qin Fei would mix it with soil for planting the man-eating flowers.

He planted the eight Type-X mutant seeds around the house in different spots: one on each side of the stone house, and after piling soil on each corner of the roof, another on each rooftop corner.

Planted this way, the attack range of the man-eating flowers would cover every part of the stone house.

The plants would attack by spraying toxic spores at enemies, reaching distances of over a hundred meters—and those spores could blind foes in an instant.

Without siege engines or sulfur rockets, there was no way to breach the defenses of Qin Fei’s stone house; it was practically impregnable.

The fermentation and planting took Qin Fei an entire day.

That day, two more survivor deaths were reported in the sky.

Currently, there were fourteen or fewer survivors left on the island.

Night fell.

Just as Qin Fei was preparing to sleep, his stone house suddenly lit up with a red glow.

What was happening?

He pushed open the door and stepped outside.

Not far away, on the opposite side of the swamp in the crimson forest, a dazzling red pillar of light was slowly descending from the sky.

A red supply drop?

Qin Fei’s heart raced.

However, the red supply drop wasn’t landing within the swamp, but rather further away in the heart of the crimson forest.

Located at the very center of the island, the crimson forest was filled not with low shrubs like those at the swamp’s edge, but with towering, ancient trees.

Naturally, the dangers lurking there were far greater than in the swamp.

Qin Fei had initially planned to empty his pack, ride Danzi, and fly straight to the red pillar to claim the supplies.

But after seeing the light descending into the crimson forest, he abandoned that idea.

Marsupial lions lurked in the crimson woods.

These predators could cling to trees dozens of meters tall, pouncing from above whenever any flying creature passed by, dragging their prey to the ground.

Flying through the crimson forest on a pterosaur would be suicide.

Traveling by land was much safer.

He left Danzi in the house and mounted Big Nose, heading toward the distant crimson forest.

Qin Fei took nearly all the equipment he thought he might need. After all, he wouldn’t be the only survivor drawn by the red light, and a confrontation was almost inevitable.

He had to be fully prepared.