Chapter 19 Blood Orchid
The dim light filtered through the foliage.
After hours of travel, they had now ventured into twilight.
The rainforest was growing darker, and soon it would be engulfed in complete nightfall.
"It's just ahead, in a valley. I've picked a good geographical location, we can start by depleting them from a distance," Wino said as he removed several grenade-like devices from his waist.
With his physical abilities, using these explosive projectiles could be considered a major weapon and a very effective means of long-range attack.
"Ho, that shouldn't be hard, our long-range firepower is not bad," said Jose with a relaxed face. He had always been carefree; understanding the python's situation, he felt no substantial threat to himself and, with a friendly turn to Tao Yu, the debtor, he said,
"Little brother Tao, you can see clearly at night, right?"
"Yes, the night doesn't affect me, I can keep watch then," Tao Yu responded while observing the surroundings.
Although he hadn't detected anything approaching, he could vaguely sense an unsettling atmosphere, as if something was lurking in the shadows, spying on them.
Knowing the alien would be tough to handle and worried that the two from Inner City hadn't yet experienced the brunt of combat and might be taken out in an ambush, Tao Yu still reminded everyone,
"Although I haven't found anything unusual, I always feel something's off. I don't know if it's because of my shooting practice earlier drawing attention. Everyone, be extra vigilant."
"Don't worry, who wouldn't be careful in a place where giant snakes might appear any minute?"
Li Le smiled beside Tao Yu.
"Mhm, my shooting has also reached LV2, so even if Brother Wino rushes forward, I'm confident about avoiding friendly fire," he added.
"That's good, but I still hope we keep them at bay directly; these creatures pack quite a punch."
At that moment, Wino's attention was already fixated ahead, heightening his vigilance.
As they proceeded, the density of the rainforest sharply decreased, revealing a cliff edge and the valley Wino had mentioned.
Even before getting closer, they could faintly smell a stench that grew stronger as they approached.
The cliff edge was covered in pale stone blocks, resembling granite and overgrown with moss-like vegetation.
Some of the uneven rocks had clear signs of friction, as if the moss had been rubbed off, and next to them, palm-sized scales could be seen.
These seemed to be the spots where the pythons rubbed against while shedding their skins.
The valley below the cliff was steep but manageable with caution. The valley was about a hundred meters wide, and the opposite side featured even steeper terrain, resembling a vertical forest area that was slightly shorter in height.
Following the valley's flow, a small stream stretched outward.
As everyone drew closer, the twilight sun cast its dying light into the valley.
Below the several-meter-high valley, in a pool of water, two to three dozen pythons were entwined with each other, forming a massive ball of snakes!
The sight was shocking, given the monstrous size of these pythons intertwined together.
The slippery snakes coiling over each other also evoked a combined sense of disgust from both trypophobia and megalophobia.
Such wild beasts seemed to excite Wino,
"There's even more than I saw before, haha, taking them all down should be enough."
He had been concerned about there not being enough of them, but now that worry seemed unnecessary.
Tao Yu, meanwhile, was closely examining the walls of the valley.
In short order, his keen vision caught sight of a peculiar red flower. The brilliant blossom glowed under the setting sun like a burning flame, easily noticeable even to the untrained eye.
However, everyone's attention was fixed on the pythons; no one had noticed the Blood Orchids.
"Shall we start right away?"
Tao Yu readied his gun without keeping his gaze fixed on the Blood Orchids.
Given their plan to snipe from a distance, it was highly unlikely they'd come close to the Blood Orchids, and without contact, they wouldn't realize the import of the plants.
He had a perfect opportunity to keep the spoils to himself.
Just as his supply of snake meat had run out, freeing up space in his backpack.
"You guys don't shoot first. Jose and I will handle it," Wino reminded calmly, then looked to Jose, "I'll throw first; you snipe based on the situation. The rest of you wait until Jose fires before shooting. I'll intercept the first ones that come close."
A straightforward tactical arrangement; they had never trained together, so making it too complicated would be pointless.
"You two with the good marksmanship, aim for the head," Jose advised Tao Yu and Li Le.
"Understood."
"Get ready; I'm starting," Wino said as he appeared to set a timer on his grenades by twisting them.
He showed his superior arm strength by hurling seven or eight grenades toward the massive snake ball.
Tao Yu could even see the grenades bouncing off the snakes' bodies.
The falling devices seemed not to interrupt the writhing snake ball.
But a moment later, several huge explosions nearly burst forth simultaneously!
Wino's high-explosive grenades had more power than the fragmentation grenade Tao Yu had left. The tightly coiled ball was suddenly blasted apart.
Several pythons were blown to pieces, sending blood and flesh flying!
Their close proximity compounded the damage, maximizing the grenades' lethality.
However, because they had been coiled up so tightly, some of the pythons at the core were unharmed.