Chapter 24

Lin Tu's attention was fixed on the shrub, where an intense, overpowering life force radiated from within.

"Ah!"

Panic erupted as pedestrians scattered, screams filling the air. Some tried to flee in their cars, only to crash into roadside trees. Others abandoned their vehicles and ran, plunging the street into chaos.

The car swayed as branches hoisted it upward, its occupants scrambling to escape. Those in the back managed to shove the doors open and drop from a height of a meter, landing hard. They wanted to rescue the driver and front-seat passenger, but it was clear those two weren't as fortunate.

The driver, in particular, had been pierced through the shoulder blade from the start. Compared to the iron in the car, the iron in human blood was far easier for the shrub to absorb. Its branches, thin and dense like countless mouthparts, lunged at him eagerly. He managed only a few screams before his face went deathly pale and he went still.

"Help!" The girl caught by the branches screamed in terror. Spotting a few players standing out among the chaos, unnervingly calm, she summoned a burst of strength from somewhere deep within. Enduring the pain, she tore off the branches clinging to her and ran desperately toward them.

Behind her, the unsatiated branch slithered after her like a snake, greedily giving chase.

"Shit!" Even the players were startled for a moment.

Zhang Jie snapped back to action and reached into his pocket for a tool, but the woman beside him, tense with fear, gripped his hand tightly, making it impossible for him to move. He quickly shook her off and fumbled more urgently in his pocket. But the more anxious he got, the more he came up empty—he couldn't even find his own pocket.

Zhang Jie suddenly remembered: it was so hot that he'd taken off his jacket. He habitually kept his tokens in the easily accessible pocket of his outerwear, and to avoid looking uncool, he'd handed the jacket to one of his underlings to hold.

In other words, Zhang Jie currently had neither special items nor even the most basic weapon on him.

He stared blankly at the mutated plant's writhing silhouette in midair, a deep terror welling up in his chest.

He took a step back, ready to flee, when he saw Lin Tu pull off her sunglasses and tuck them into her pocket, stepping forward.

From her parasol, she drew out a meter-long blade (in reality, a torn token), gripping it in her hand, the edge facing the mutated plant, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.

"Save me!" The girl, seeing someone advance voluntarily, ran toward Lin Tu as if she'd found a savior.

"Get down!" The moment Lin Tu spoke, the girl understood and flung herself flat on the ground. The wicked branch, suddenly losing its target, lunged straight forward and slammed into Lin Tu's blade.

A series of "sree sree" sounds came as the blade scraped against the branch—like metal colliding with metal, nearly sparking.

"Damn!" Zhang Jie exclaimed. "Isn't that just a regular thirty-point blade? How could it possibly kill that mutated plant? Isn't she just going to her death?" He turned and demanded of Luo Yongzhi, "You said she was some big shot—"

Before he could finish, Lin Tu twirled the blade in her hand. With her strength, a simple flick produced a beautiful arc of steel.

She aligned the blade with the branch trying to wrap around her waist and struck down hard. A crisp, resounding crack echoed, and the branch was cleanly severed.

Zhang Jie's unfinished sentence died in his throat. He stared in stunned silence, a flush creeping up his face.

Granted, a thirty-point blade couldn't match a D+ rank monster, but if the tool wasn't enough, sheer strength made up for it. With strength like hers, what more could he say?

"Great blade, Sister Lin!" Luo Yongzhi cheered.

He ran over to help the terrified girl to her feet and was about to call Lin Tu to leave when he saw her walking, blade in hand, toward the mutated shrub. A branch sensed the danger and lashed out at her. Lin Tu repeated her move, quickly hacking off another chunk of the shrub's body.

"She... Luo Yongzhi! What is she doing?!" A skinny man behind Zhang Jie asked in shock.

"Probably trying to wipe out this plant," Luo Yongzhi replied, scratching his head. He pulled the girl to a safe distance, then took a steel rod from his backpack and followed close behind Lin Tu.

Zhang Jie and the others hadn't yet decided whether to help when, with Luo Yongzhi's assistance, Lin Tu quickly closed in on the shrub's base and slashed through the main trunk connecting the branches to the roots.

The car crashed to the ground with a loud bang, already corroded and twisted into a mass of scrap metal. The man who'd escaped from the rear seat crawled and stumbled over, desperately trying to save his possibly-still-alive friends.

Seeing the plant dead, the onlookers who had kept their distance finally stepped forward to help, though none dared approach Lin Tu's side.

Lin Tu paid them no mind. She crouched down and used a gardening trowel to dig into the soil beside the shrub's roots, revealing black, rust-smelling tendrils beneath. She hacked off one root, scooped up a clump of dirt, and produced a sealed bag from somewhere, placing both root and soil inside.

"Is this the task that player who specializes in plant props posted?" Luo Yongzhi asked, still catching his breath.

Lin Tu grunted in acknowledgment and motioned for him to leave.

Seeing the two heroes about to walk off without a word, the people who'd helped just now quickly called out, "Hey! Thank you so much! Could you leave us a name? We'd like to repay you later!"

Clearly, these people had no idea doom was approaching.

They only thought the weather was unbearably hot, and maybe some plants had mutated and started attacking people. The government would soon take care of it, and they'd still have a chance to thank Lin Tu for resolving what would otherwise be a safety incident that would've caused an uproar in a peaceful society.

Lin Tu had been about to leave directly, but for some reason she thought of Nora. She paused mid-step. "No need to thank me. It's hot out—go home and stay indoors."

The group nodded in agreement.

Zhang Jie watched Lin Tu stroll past with an air of casual ease, grinding his teeth but not daring to vent his anger.

"Come on, let's go rent a place." Zhang Jie no longer dared to antagonize Lin Tu. He snatched his jacket back from the underling behind him, his mood only slightly mollified.

Author's Note removed.