Chapter 254

The Reapers were about to die.

Under the constant assault of the locusts, Lin had managed to cut down several hundred 'Plague Locusts'. They were relatively weak and defenseless, but just like their name, they were a terrifying plague.

The moment a locust was cut down, its severed body would release countless fine powders. These powders were very similar to the 'fungus dust' used to propagate fungi. Since the Reapers' eyes were used for long-range vision, they couldn't clearly see the microscopic scene at close range, so Lin didn't notice the powders at first.

These 'fungus dust' powders had a characteristic that fungi didn't possess. They had a very strong adhesive ability, sticking to the Reapers' wings and blocking the Reapers' nozzles. After that, the 'fungus dust' began to grow rapidly. They directly absorbed the internal organs and blood of the locusts that stuck to the Reapers' wings, then began to grow into various shapes and sizes. Some took the form of 'mushrooms' like fungi, while others took the form of 'blankets' that constantly spread like a carpet. At the same time, they also created a dissolving fluid that attempted to penetrate the Reapers' hard shells and enter their bodies.

These creatures attacked in a similar manner to fungi, but their growth rate and nutrient absorption rate were much faster than fungi. They continuously drilled through the Reapers' hard shells, then pierced into their bodies, pierced through their internal cells, and rapidly absorbed them.

The Reapers' bodies didn't have any special resistance. For the sake of rapid flight, most of their cells were muscle cells, while only a few of their gland cells were capable of secreting chitin. However, they couldn't stop the explosively growing fungus. The fungus quickly corroded the Reapers' bodies and blocked their nozzles. They then grew layers of mycelium on the surface of the Reapers' bodies, completely enveloping them. The explosive locusts wrapped themselves around the Reapers' bodies. In the end, the Reapers couldn't continue flying. They fell from the sky into the sea.

Since the Reapers' eyes had also been corroded, Lin couldn't use them to see anything clearly. Since the fungus inside her body was still explosively growing, she would probably die soon.

So that was how it was. These locusts seemed to be the carriers of this powerful fungus. They probably had some kind of special symbiotic organism. The locusts provided the fungus with mobility, while the fungus corroded other organisms. Finally, after devouring the entire island, they used the locusts to leave.

At present, Lin could not tell what level of intelligence they had, nor did she know if they were a division of labor species. They might just be eating all the time.

However, the fungus that grew so fast could indeed be called a 'plague'. Lin had yet to fully understand the fungus, a new type of organism. Moreover, this fungus was much stronger than the ones in the Twisted Jungle. They could even drill through the hardened shells of the reapers, although they didn't have any anti-corrosive properties.

If that was the case, the army would need to make some adjustments. But there was no time for that now.

Drifting plagues, they had already appeared above the sea. They were about to reach Lin's island.

But since that was the case, it was time to test the infectious ability of the plague.

The white beach was filled with cannons, which were commanded by Lin's brainworm. The swarm of purple locusts that blotted out the sky had already approached the sky above the beach, ready to attack at any time …

"Fire."

At this moment, all the cannons unleashed the warheads inside their bodies. These warheads were formed by dissolving and reforming the shell-fragments into sharp shapes. These warheads were equipped with rotating nozzles that could directly crush the target.

Lin had the brainworm observe the situation of the entire battlefield. The brainworm's attack seemed to be very accurate. The limbs of the locusts that were shot by the cannons kept falling down, the fungus inside their bodies scattered like a sandstorm on the beach.

The fungus that was scattered on the beach had no nutrients and couldn't grow. Some of the fungus that happened to stick to the limbs of the locusts suddenly began to grow rapidly. They grew long threads, or grew into pompom like spheres, but before they could reach the cannons, they quickly stopped growing. The nutrients in the limbs and remains weren't enough for the fungus to grow.

Then, it seemed that they did indeed use the locusts as nutrients to grow, but only after the locusts died.

However, the swarm of locusts did not stop. They ignored the turrets and rushed towards the green, mossy plain behind the beach. They slammed into the ground and … died.

The swarm of locusts smashed themselves into pieces as fast as they could, dying on the mossy plain.

Was this suicide? Were they using suicide to grow the fungus?

Even though the locusts were committing suicide, there was a pattern to it. Their bodies didn't pile up together, each of them slammed into an empty spot where there were no locusts, causing the bodies to be densely packed together. Soon, white mycelium sprouted from their bodies. The mycelium extended outwards and covered the moss on the ground. The surface of the moss was quickly corroded by the fungus. The fungus then extended inwards, extracting nutrients from the moss to grow more fungi.

These fungi grew at an unusually fast speed, but Lin noticed a special characteristic. When they consumed the moss, they didn't grow as fast. The fungi that grew from the bodies of the locusts were the ones that grew faster than normal organisms. Perhaps there was some special element in the bodies of the locusts that accelerated the growth of the fungi.

However, the slow growth of the fungi on the moss was only relative. They were still much faster than normal fungi or any other organism. As expected of the name 'plague'.

A large number of locusts didn't crash into the moss ground. Instead, they flew around in circles in the air. Some of them landed on the fungus-covered corpses and remained motionless. Only a few thousand locusts died from the impact, and only tens of thousands of locusts managed to reach the island. Most of them stayed on the surface of the sea and hovered around. They didn't seem to intend to launch a full-scale attack.

Lin observed the growth of the fungi on the moss ground through the color-changing flyer. They first spread their mycelium and then grew more complex structures on the mycelium, such as mushrooms, pompoms, and other strange shapes like trees. They seemed to be of different species. Some mushrooms would expand after growing to a certain size and then explode. After the explosion, they would release a large amount of mycelium. The mycelium would be blown away by the wind, infecting the moss and other organisms further away.

When the mycelium came into contact with the exploding stingers, the surface of the exploding stingers quickly decayed. The juice that flowed out made the fungi grow continuously. As the surface was corroded, the spikes on the stingers began to fall off one by one.

The flyers observing in the air also came into contact with some of the mycelium. The mycelium stuck to the flyer's surface and began to corrode the flyer's outer shell. Lin found that the mycelium had a strong corrosive effect. It could corrode the outer shell and make it bleed. The fungus would grow rapidly by relying on the blood of the locusts. The Reapers didn't discover this effect at first, probably because the shell was too hard. The fungus could only grow by relying on the blood of the locusts sprinkled on the flyer's wings.

The flyer was stuck with a large amount of mycelium. The number of cells in its body was not enough to resist so much mycelium. It was soon corroded to nothing. The flyer's corpse that fell to the ground also became a seedbed for the fungus and began to spread its mycelium around.

Because Lin was observing more than one flyer, she could see this scene very clearly. However, the other flyers were also stuck with a lot of mycelium.

Even if a small amount of mycelium corroded the outer shell, Lin could use her cells to plug it up again. However, a large amount of mycelium wasn't enough. The flyers could only retreat.

Lin switched to using a special kind of eyeball, the 'Watcher', to observe the spread of the fungus from the plain.

The growth of these fungi was quite fast. The area covered by thousands of locusts was only less than 5% of the Moss Plain, but they had now grown to 15% of the plain. They were also constantly releasing mycelium to infect more distant targets. In less than a day, the plain would become a jungle of fungi.

This was really a terrifying lethality. No wonder the creatures here wanted to escape. Lin Sanjiu remembered that the 'Watcher's' back was covered with a lot of gravel. It was probably a way to avoid being infected by the fungi.

They didn't seem to have any intelligence. Fungi obviously didn't grow a brain, and the locusts' brains weren't that big. They only ate and converted all the nutrients into their own structure. This seemed to be the same as the behavior of primitive fungi.

Against such creatures, Lin should indeed destroy them.

But how would he do that? Lin had already thought of many ways to do this.

But it was best to observe for now.

The day slowly passed. The fungi grew more and more exuberant on the Moss Plain. They grew all kinds of strange structures like plants. Tall mushrooms with thick branches, hairy 'branches', mycelium seeds that looked like pom-poms, and the white carpet that covered the ground. Not only did they continue to spread, they also began to grow all kinds of strange structures. However, compared to plants, they were still a bit smaller. The largest mushroom was only about 2 meters tall.

But the strange thing was that they seemed to be the amalgamation of many different types of fungi, not just one. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to grow so many different structures.

Lin noticed that the locusts that were hovering above the sea and in the sky flew over. They landed on the fungi and began to gnaw on the various structures that grew from the fungi. Their stomachs swelled as they ate.

So that's how it is. Is this the relationship? The locusts allowed the fungi to spread, and the fungi would decompose other organisms and feed them back to the locusts, forming a unique symbiotic relationship.

The fungi continued to spread, but their spread was equal to their nutrients. They devoured the moss and a large number of spiny spheres before finally stopping at night. They were faced with a barren rocky plain.

There was no water in the rocky plain. There were only a few scattered trees. The fungi couldn't reach those trees, so they could only stop spreading.

Lin thought that the locusts would help the fungi spread, or wait for the wind to blow the fungal dust across the rocky plain. But the locusts continued to feast on the fungi, ignoring them. There wasn't any wind, but Lin noticed that the fungi had started to grow large mushroom structures at the edge of the rocky plain. These mushrooms weren't upright, but curved, and they were aimed at the few scattered trees on the rocky plain …

Then, the mushrooms began to expand, and finally … Boom!