Chapter 45: Bamboo Leaf Darts of the Evolved Bamboo

Chapter 45: Bamboo Leaf Darts of the Evolved Bamboo

Because the inspection team regularly sprayed insect repellent near the isolation zone, the first fifty meters of the path into the Evolved Forest were free of dangerous evolved creatures. However, after the fifty-meter mark, insects increased significantly, and the squad's pace slowed.

Even entering the forest with Hu Zifeng's well-equipped squad took two hours to reach the destination safely, twice as long as the time Xia Qing had spent entering the mountains to cut bamboo before the torrential rain.

Seeing that many bamboo shoots had indeed sprouted from the forest floor, Xia Qing was full of energy, waiting for Hu Zifeng's command.

After conducting a cautious reconnaissance of the area, Hu Zifeng finally gave the order: "When digging shoots, first make a light cut on the tip to test them. Watch out for evolved bamboo bulls or evolved moth larvae jumping out of the shoots to attack, and be wary of bamboo leaf darts from above."

Some dangerous evolved bamboo species would fire bamboo leaf darts at approaching creatures, piercing them like hedgehogs. The fact that Xia Qing hadn't encountered any dangerous evolved bamboo when she came to cut bamboo three times didn't mean none existed here. She had entered during the late winter and early spring before the rain, a time when the Evolved Forest was in a relatively safe "dormant period." After being awakened by three days of torrential rain, anything could happen in the Evolved Forest.

After confirming that the team members and Xia Qing were fully prepared, Hu Zifeng led the team into the bamboo grove to begin searching for edible bamboo shoots.

For every shoot tip she encountered, Xia Qing would carefully cut off a small piece with her knife. Only after confirming there was no evolved creature attack would she squeeze out the juice for testing. After twelve consecutive red lights, Xia Qing finally detected a yellow light.

She did not begin digging immediately. Instead, she listened and observed carefully. Only after confirming there were no dangers lurking in the soil or surroundings did she use her entrenching tool to quickly shovel away the earth and poke the bamboo culm. Once she confirmed the bamboo would not fire bamboo leaf darts, she sliced through the shoot's base in one motion, quickly peeled it, and stuffed it into a bag.

Having traveled such a long distance at great risk, she naturally wanted to take as much as possible; any inedible parts were cut off immediately.

After peeling, this shoot still weighed six pounds. A smile appeared on Xia Qing's face as she continued searching and digging.

Hu Zifeng, who had been keeping an eye on Xia Qing, nodded inwardly. As expected of a strength evolver—with that speed and strength, she was indeed suited for digging holes and manual labor.

After the group slowly advanced for another two hours, Xia Qing had harvested seven yellow-light shoots, filling one bag. As she slung the bag over her back, she heard a team member whisper in surprise over the radio, "Green light!"

Finding one green-light shoot meant there was a very high probability of finding more by following the bamboo culms. The squad immediately moved slowly toward that member. After confirming there was no danger in the soil, they began digging immediately.

After five shovelfuls, they hadn't reached the base. After another five, the shoot was as long as an arm, and they still hadn't reached the base. Xia Qing, who had never seen such a large shoot, had eyes glowing with excitement; she felt like grabbing the team member and jumping down to dig it herself.

When they finally reached the base and confirmed the shoot was longer than an adult's leg, everyone beamed with joy. Even if this was their only harvest today, they had made a profit.

After carefully observing the surrounding bamboo, Hu Zifeng gave a decisive command: "Close the copper, deploy the protective umbrella. Everyone hide under the umbrella and use iron shields for protection. Da Jiang, watch the ground at your feet."

A team member pulled a folded iron umbrella from a backpack. It didn't look large, but once deployed, the umbrella's diameter was actually over two meters, enough to cover all six people. Xia Qing and Da Jiang took the center, with the others surrounding them.

Hu Zifeng continued his orders: "Miss Xia, cut the shoots. One stroke to take them down. Try not to sever the bamboo culm to avoid overstimulating the bamboo."

"Understood." Xia Qing swung her machete at the junction of the shoot and the culm, finishing the job in one stroke. For a strength evolver, this was child's play.

This single strike directly triggered the bamboo's mechanism. Seeing the culm tremble, Hu Zifeng immediately ordered, "Everyone crouch! Iron shields up!"

The sound of whistling wind erupted as countless bamboo leaf darts struck the umbrella surface and the surrounding shields with a series of loud *bang-bang-bangs*.

Firing bamboo leaf darts was this evolved bamboo's stress response. Fortunately, its evolution level was not high, and it could not lock onto targets; after one wave of indiscriminate attacks, it stopped firing.

Taking advantage of these few seconds, Xia Qing had already peeled the green-light shoot, severed the base, and stuffed it into the bag. She shared her excitement with the team, "Once peeled, it'll weigh at least forty pounds. We're in for a feast this time."

"Bamboo shoots with meat tonight," said the fierce-looking Hu Zifeng, also looking pleased. "Does Miss Xia need canned meat?"

Canned meat was expensive, and Xia Qing naturally had no stock. "Can I trade for it?"

"Of course. One 340-gram can of pork in exchange for two pounds of evolved perilla?"

"Deal!" It was a fair trade, and Xia Qing accepted readily.

Hu Zifeng, who had been craving evolved perilla after hearing Zhang San and Tang Huai talk about it, smiled even wider.

After stowing the iron umbrella, Xia Qing looked at the patches of dark green bamboo leaves stuck in the bamboo and the ground, feeling a wave of lingering fear. Fortunately, the bamboo she had cut before the rain wasn't this specific evolved bamboo; otherwise, she would definitely have been injured.

Xia Qing was curious how Hu Zifeng had confirmed that this particular bamboo, which grew such large shoots, was an aggressive evolved species, but since she wasn't close to him yet, she felt too embarrassed to ask.

After confirming the evolved bamboo was a green-light plant, the six of them followed its culms and found thirteen more green-light shoots, though none were as large as the first one.

After digging up the thirteen green-light shoots, Xia Qing looked up and realized that this mature evolved bamboo had almost fired all its leaves away...

However, they hadn't damaged the bamboo's roots. In just a few days or after a rain, its combat power would be fully restored; anyone daring to touch its shoots or roots would be attacked by darts.

This was likely why no animals ever nibbled on its shoots.

Just as the heavily laden harvesting squad was preparing to withdraw, Xia Qing heard rustling sounds all around. Animals were coming, and quite a few! Judging by the sound, they weren't giant pandas.

Just as she straightened up, she heard Hu Zifeng's command: "Enemy contact! Form up!"

Xia Qing was momentarily stunned. Was Hu Zifeng a dual-type evolver with both hearing and vision?

The four squad members quickly turned outward, shielding Xia Qing in the center along with Hu Zifeng. Holding a knife in one hand and a gun in the other, Xia Qing didn't dare to show off; she stood in the very center, staring intently ahead.

Soon, the dangerous creatures making the noise appeared in Xia Qing's field of vision. It was a group of bamboo rats! It seemed they had long coveted the green-light shoots but had been too afraid of the evolved bamboo's attacks to bite. Seeing Xia Qing and the others digging up the shoots to take them away, these fellows had grown desperate.

Despite their round bodies and short legs, these evolved rats were extremely fast; with Xia Qing's current marksmanship, it would be impossible to hit them. She immediately put her gun down and gripped her machete with both hands.

Hu Zifeng, a level-five vision evolver, had already completed his reconnaissance. "A group of evolved bamboo rats detected two hundred meters away, twelve o'clock direction. Thirty rodent evolvers, at least ten are speed evolvers. Miss Xia, protect the shoots in place. Da Jiang, watch the ground. I'll handle the speed evolvers; everyone else, eliminate the rodents."

After the pleasant click of the safety being disengaged, Hu Zifeng's sniper rifle quickly fired its first bullet. Xia Qing saw an evolved speed-type bamboo rat leaping rapidly between bamboo stalks get hit fifty meters away and fall to the ground.

The team members also fired rapidly. The bamboo rats moved very fast, but they were continuously hit and fell, unable to get close. Xia Qing felt relieved and, along with Da Jiang, focused on the movement beneath their feet.

Bamboo rats burrow; they might attack from underground.

It was difficult to distinguish movement from a specific direction amidst the chaos, but this was a survival skill Xia Qing had practiced relentlessly. Hearing the sound of an animal digging and approaching from ten meters to the northwest, Xia Qing noticed out of the corner of her eye that Da Jiang, the hearing evolver, had not reacted. It seemed Da Jiang's hearing evolution level was lower than her own. She gripped her machete silently, waiting for the evolved rat to enter Da Jiang's hearing range.

When the bamboo rat burrowed within four meters, Da Jiang finally spoke: "Eleven o'clock, four meters, twenty centimeters underground."

A team member's muzzle lowered quickly. After a single gunshot, the digging sound beneath the soil stopped.