Chapter 80: Zombie Giant Elephant

Chapter 80: Zombie Giant Elephant

The next day, the team grew larger. The psychics who had just absorbed the Crystal Cores were all eager to show off their newfound strength, itching to unleash the energy coursing through their veins.

Qin Sheng kept experimenting with his newly acquired monkey claws, repeatedly stretching and reshaping them in his hands. At one moment, they turned into a fish spear, then into a willow-leaf blade, and sometimes even into a sharp-edged metal playing card that flew out and spun back.

This puzzled Ren Duoduo, who asked Ren Yuefei, "Dad, is Uncle Qin's metal ability stronger than yours? He can transform into so many things."

Ren Yuefei: "..."

Qin Sheng chuckled, "Duoduo, your dad is much stronger. I'm just a novice making a lot of noise, so I need more practice. Practice makes perfect. This method was actually taught to me by your dad—just keep practicing whenever you have time."

"These monkey claws were a gift from your Uncle Guan. They're metal-type zombie monkey claws! They're naturally suited for psychic energy manipulation, unlike ordinary metal."

Ren Duoduo understood, "Oh, Dad, I'll find you a pair too in the future."

Ren Yuefei: "...Thanks." He glanced back at Zhou Yun and Guan Yuanfeng, who were whispering at the end of the line, wondering what they could possibly be discussing so intently.

He coughed, and Jiang Rongqian, thinking he needed Guan Yuanfeng, called out, "Captain Guan, General Ren is looking for you."

Ren Yuefei: "..."

Guan Yuanfeng quickly walked over, "What's up?"

Ren Yuefei felt awkward, as if he had interrupted something, "How much longer to Deer Tail Gully? Why are we going through all this trouble to get there? Is there something special about it?"

Guan Yuanfeng replied succinctly, "Zhou Yun wants a new type of wheat seed from there. We'll arrive in about thirty minutes."

He then turned back to Zhou Yun, returning to their hushed discussion.

Ren Yuefei: "..." He had no choice but to make small talk with Jiang Rongqian, "Your special ops psychics are pretty strong, right? Do they all listen to Captain Guan?"

Jiang Rongqian nodded, "Yes, many psychics are eager to join the special ops team because they've heard Captain Guan has training methods that can make them even stronger."

Ren Yuefei casually continued, "So your special ops team has expanded, right?"

Jiang Rongqian replied, "Yes, we've expanded twice now. With combat personnel and support staff, we should really be called a special ops regiment. Many still want to join, especially psychics from other army groups."

Ren Yuefei asked, "Don't the other army groups have any objections? Your special ops team is taking all the best."

Jiang Rongqian explained, "They probably do, but the selection criteria are strict. If someone applies and passes the tests, we can't turn them away. Besides, General Tan and General Ye both support Captain Guan. No matter how difficult the mission, if it's handed to the special ops team, it gets done."

"The military has always wanted to form an all-psychic combat unit. Now... it's pretty much already like that."

He sounded a bit melancholic. As the special ops team continued to expand, more and more psychics joined. The assault team of a hundred was now entirely composed of psychics. The original non-psychic members had gradually become a minority. They shifted more toward roles like intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance, and support tasks like information technology and administration.

The team leader still cared for them, but he also subconsciously avoided assigning them to the most dangerous frontline missions. Their physical limitations were undeniable. No matter how determined they were, they had to admit they couldn't endure the same level of training as the psychics. Last year, during a five-kilometer march in full gear in the heat, several non-psychics suffered from heatstroke, while the psychics ran another five kilometers without breaking a sweat.

Once proud of their technical prowess, they now found themselves in a world where satellite communications, cloud data infrastructure, drone attacks, and cyberattacks were temporarily out of reach. Their battles were now up close and personal against zombies and mutated beasts.

Ren Yuefei's eyes flickered, but he said nothing. Instead, he continued chatting idly with Jiang Rongqian until they arrived at Deer Tail Gully.

This time, their main goal was to find the wheat seeds, so Guan Yuanfeng didn't hesitate to unleash over a dozen tornadoes and Comet to clear the area of animals before the main force entered.

Qin Sheng was a bit puzzled, "We have so many people today. Couldn't we just kill whatever comes our way? We have plenty of time. Why didn't Captain Guan leave a few for us to test our skills on?"

Tang Anchen explained, "We have Captain Jiang with us today. Safety comes first."

Zhou Yun, however, knew that Guan Yuanfeng was clearly worried his scent might attract some strange creatures again, so he decided to clear the area outright. Feeling at ease, Zhou Yun walked ahead to search for the wheat grass.

Soon, he successfully found a patch of mutated new wheatgrass on the grassy slope and was thrilled. He directed Little Tang to come over and transplant the wheatgrass into nutrient-rich soil.

Ren Yuefei immediately approached and took half of it. Zhou Yun carefully explained the cultivation method to him: "Assign wood elemental ability users to be responsible in groups, set up control groups, and find some farming specialists to guide them."

"Ordinary new wheatgrass can only be used as fodder, but after mutation, through re-cultivation and finding the seeds most suitable for your local soil, we can breed wheat grains suitable for human consumption."

Qin Sheng's face twitched, dreading the thought of eating pasta every day: "Is it only wheat seeds? There should also be mutated rice seeds, right?"

Zhou Yun said, "It's easier to find primitive rice seeds for mutation. This new wheat seed has remained in Yanling, so its genes are still primitive."

They searched the Deer Tail Gully again and also collected a lot of good mutated herbs such as codonopsis, polygonatum, Astragalus, angelica, and gastrodia.

There were so many mutated herbs that in the end, they only took the best-looking ones.

Zhou Yun was very satisfied to find mutated wild poria in a wild pine forest. This is a fungus, and as long as it is cultivated properly, it can be grown in large quantities. Ancient records say that long-term consumption of poria can "ward off all illnesses, moisturize the skin, and prolong life." Cultivating it as a main beauty product would be very popular.

With another profitable project, Zhou Yun was full of joy and couldn't help but show off his new findings to Guan Yuanfeng.

Guan Yuanfeng was using Comet to burn down a nest of mutated termites. Seeing Zhou Yun's radiant expression and overflowing joy, he thought to himself how easily satisfied he still was.

Ren Duoduo was very attentive in the pine forest and found a crystal-clear amber with water inclusions, which she gave to Zhou Yun as a treasure. Zhou Yun smiled and accepted it, giving Duoduo the mutated ganoderma he had just found and teaching her the cultivation method.

This trip to Deer Tail Gully had been a resounding success for everyone. However, on the way back to the main peak, they encountered the copper-skinned, iron-boned zombie giant elephant that Guan Yuanfeng had mentioned.

This zombie giant elephant was like a moving hill, each step causing the ground to shake heavily. Wherever it went, all the beasts fled in panic, and even the birds scattered into the sky.

Its massive body was like cast iron, with exposed bones gleaming with a bronze sheen. Part of its skin was rotten, showing a rubber-like flexible texture and luster. Its long, swaying trunk raised and spewed a burst of flame.

Its eyes were turbid and crazy, and its long, sharp tusks were as bright as blades, with a purple electric arc surrounding them.

Guan Yuanfeng's pupils shrank sharply, and he took out his bow and arrow: "It has three elemental powers: metal, fire, and lightning. General Ren, take the people and retreat first. Zhou Yun, Comet, and I will cover the rear!"

Ren Yuefei did not hesitate, immediately picked up Ren Duoduo, and covered Jiang Rongqian and everyone else as they retreated to the main peak.

Qin Sheng hesitated for a moment, and Zhou Yun turned to order him: "Retreat quickly, you're only at the third level, you'll hold us back."

Qin Sheng quickly turned and ran.

Guan Yuanfeng concentrated, drew the bowstring to its fullest, and the arrow was instantly wrapped in lightning, turning into a dazzling blue lightning bolt that pierced the night sky and struck the zombie giant elephant's crimson eye.

The arrow, charged with immense lightning energy, pierced the elephant's eye, and the dark blue current erupted in a powerful explosion, blowing a black hole in one eye and revealing the thick, tough skin and the white bone beneath.

If it were an ordinary beast, its entire head would have been blown apart by now, but it only had an eye socket blown out in its most vulnerable spot.

The giant elephant let out an earth-shaking roar, its trunk raised high, and it angrily charged forward. The ground shook violently, and each step of its feet created deep pits. Its long trunk, like a cannon, aimed at Guan Yuanfeng and released a scorching flame, as if to devour everything.

The sea of fire engulfed the area, instantly igniting the nearby trees and grass. The trees twisted and curled into charcoal under the licking flames, and the branches and leaves crackled and turned into ashes. The wind fueled the fire, and the flames soared into the sky, dyeing the horizon a blazing orange-red.

From the high point of the main peak, Ren Yuefei and the others looked over and saw the firelight reddening half the sky, with thunder rumbling and the giant elephant's roars echoing through the mountains, startling countless birds into flight.

Jiang Rongqian was somewhat uneasy: "Why haven't the captain and the others retreated yet?"

Ren Yuefei said, "They must be planning to hunt that giant elephant. Three elemental powers, I've never seen that before."

Qin Sheng said, "It can't be killed, right? It's electric itself. How can Captain Guan kill it? Electricity can't kill it, wind can't move it, and we can't rely on Doctor Zhou's ice, can we? Its skin is so tough, and its bones are all metal. How can ice penetrate? Comet's fire can't burn through it either. They should scatter and retreat."

Ren Yuefei frowned and asked him, "Have you seen Doctor Zhou in action?"

Qin Sheng paused, then said, "A few times, out at sea, he was incredibly powerful."

Ren Yuefei said with a meaningful tone, "Look at Captain Guan. He usually protects Doctor Zhou the most, but at critical moments, he would rather let us all leave and keep Doctor Zhou behind."

Qin Sheng recalled how Zhou Yun had told him to leave earlier and fell silent.

Sometimes he felt that he was already very strong, but in front of Captain Guan and Doctor Zhou, he always seemed like a younger brother.

He looked up and saw dark clouds gathering in the fire-reddened sky.

The air was filled with the smell of scorched earth and ashes. A massive ice shield materialized in the air, blocking the flames that were spewing towards Guan Yuanfeng. Comet lunged in front of the giant elephant and sprayed another burst of fire into the exploded eye socket.

The giant elephant became even more furious, swinging its trunk to catch Comet, but it couldn't keep up with Comet's speed at all.

Guan Yuanfeng took the opportunity to nock another arrow, aiming at the other eye. The bowstring sounded, and the arrow shot like a meteor, but this time the giant elephant swung its long trunk and deflected the lightning-infused arrow, which had no effect on its tough hide.

Numerous small animals fled the burning forest, while Zhou Yun frowned at the spreading mountain fire. He reached out his hand, and the surrounding temperature dropped sharply. The cold air and the rising flames created a misty haze.

Enormous snowflakes began to cascade densely from the sky. The snowflakes fell continuously into the raging fire, and the fire gradually weakened until it was extinguished.

The snow continued to fall, and the snow on the ground became thicker and thicker.

As the temperature dropped, the giant elephant's movements began to slow down. Its heavy legs sank deep into the snow, making it difficult for it to move.

"Boom!" With a loud noise, Guan Yuanfeng summoned lightning again. The powerful current coalesced into a thick electric serpent, fiercely lashing at the giant elephant's wound. The giant elephant's body trembled, and it roared again, but it still didn't cause much damage. Instead, it raised its trunk and also summoned lightning, striking at Comet, which was still attacking its eyes.

Comet dodged like the wind, and Zhou Yun waved his hand, condensing countless sharp icicles from the air, shooting them at the giant elephant. At this time, a strong wind blew, and countless snowflakes fluttered in the air, spinning and dancing, like a dream.

In the midst of the snowflakes, no one noticed countless tiny dandelions floating in the air, light as feathers, their fluff shining with a soft and mysterious light, silently infiltrating the giant elephant's roaring mouth, wildly swinging trunk, and the ear canals under its giant fan-like ears.

The dandelion seeds entered the zombie elephant's body, quickly took root and sprouted, frantically absorbing the rotting energy from the zombie elephant's body, and then rapidly grew, their branches and leaves flourishing, blooming countless golden flowers, which quickly matured into snow-white puffballs, and then split open again.

Countless dandelion seeds turned into countless white fluff, landing and taking root again in the zombie elephant's body, repeating a new life cycle.

The common dandelions, which could be seen everywhere in the fields and mountains, now densely grew in the zombie elephant's mouth, throat, abdominal cavity, heart, and lungs, places that had long since rotted. The soft and resilient plants even grew from the throat and nasal cavity into the skull, quickly finding the source of the zombie elephant's energy, the huge Crystal Core. They unhesitatingly wrapped around it, and their fine and flexible roots cut off the connection between the Crystal Core and the zombie elephant's brain tissue.

Pure wood element energy flowed through the zombie elephant's body. The zombie's original energy, which was in conflict with the life force contained in the wood element energy, decayed and withered, while the wood element energy flourished and grew, symbolizing the cycle of life and death, the power of nature.

The zombie elephant's roars grew fainter, its movements became slower and stiffer, as if it had returned to the state it was in when it was first infected. Its remaining eye became cloudy and sluggish.

Its trunk sagged weakly, and its limbs struggled to pull out of the thick snow. Its strength rapidly drained away as it lost the supply from the Crystal Core.

Guan Yuanfeng nocked another arrow, this time gathering all his strength and psychic energy. The arrow turned into a thicker pillar of lightning than before, piercing the zombie elephant's other eye.

"Boom!" With a deafening thunderous roar, the zombie elephant's massive body heavily fell into the snow.

The drifting snowflakes settled on the lifeless, massive body, burying it, rendering the tranquility and peace of eternal sleep.

By evening, Guan Yuanfeng and Zhou Yun returned to the observation station, bringing back the giant elephant's tri-element Crystal Core. The huge Crystal Core contained golden, purple, and red light threads, shining brilliantly. Everyone took turns admiring it, marveling at it.

The next day, Guan Yuanfeng and Ren Yuefei took people back to the giant elephant's corpse to divide up the useful parts. The elephant's hide, bones, and tusks were all highly valuable materials, indestructible and filled with psychic energy.

Zhou Yun stayed at the observation station with Ren Duoduo to sort and process the mutated herbs they had collected.

At dinner that evening, Qin Sheng described the scene to Ren Duoduo: "That elephant just died yesterday, and today its body is already covered with mutated plants. The elephant's corpse, as big as a hill, is covered with dandelions blooming with yellow flowers. When the wind blows, the fluff fills the sky, it's so beautiful!"

Qin Sheng found it hard to describe the scene. The forest, burned to charred branches and leaves, still had snow that hadn't completely melted, but it was already covered with green grass sprouts. The decaying corpse was covered with vibrant green leaves and yellow flowers, full of life.

Everyone was shocked when they saw it, and with his limited cultural knowledge, it was hard for him to describe the touch of that moment.

Ren Duoduo was somewhat fascinated: "The yellow flowers on the battlefield are especially fragrant."

Zhou Yun: "..."

Qin Sheng: "..."

Something seemed amiss.

Ren Yuefei smiled and said, "Duoduo, practice your wood psychic abilities well; planting dandelions should be easy."

Ren Duoduo clenched her fist to cheer herself on: "I want to be as strong as Doctor Zhou!"

Killing the zombie elephant significantly boosted the team's morale. A week passed in the mountains, and Guan Yuanfeng closely monitored Zhou Yun, relieved to find that he no longer exhibited the scent leakage from that day.

However, Zhou Yun instructed Guan Yuanfeng to absorb a Crystal Core every two days, gradually consuming the king-level Crystal Cores, the ginseng monster bird, and the elephant's Crystal Core obtained from the mountains.

Each time he absorbed, Zhou Yun would perform acupuncture on Guan Yuanfeng, using wood psychic techniques to clear his meridians and regulate his psychic energy.

Guan Yuanfeng always slept particularly well after Zhou Yun's acupuncture sessions, feeling exceptionally energetic the next day, his psychic energy eager to be expended.

The mutated creatures in Yanling, with their strong survival instincts, seemed to recognize the presence of powerful hunters in the mountains and eventually avoided them.

Within a week, they had gathered a substantial amount of mutated herbs, venturing deeper into the mountains. Zhou Yun was pleased to find a large, mature mutated yew tree and integrated its essence into his own Crystal Core.

One day, while routinely dissecting prey and organizing herbs, Guan Yuanfeng received a phone call.

Upon returning, he furrowed his brows and instructed Jiang Rongqian: "Prepare two helicopters, select fifty assault team members, and gather necessary supplies. We have a mission, departing tomorrow. Arrange it quickly."

Jiang Rongqian promptly responded and left to make arrangements.

Ren Yuefei asked him, "Is it about Cangshan City?"

Guan Yuanfeng turned to Ren Yuefei: "You know about it too?"

Ren Yuefei said, "It's too significant to overlook; all the army groups are discussing it. I heard they specifically requested you?"

Guan Yuanfeng replied, "Yes. They have completely taken control of Cangshan City, detained the city lord, and sent a notice to the alliance, willing to follow the alliance's orders but demanding that I personally negotiate the terms."

Zhou Yun, upon hearing about Cangshan City, was startled. As Guan Yuanfeng spoke, a memory buried deep in his past life surfaced.

Cangshan City, bordering the Golden Triangle, quickly fell to become a zombie city after the apocalypse, but was forcefully controlled by the drug lord city lord, Li Xiong.

The most famous event in his past life was when over a dozen mutated psychics rebelled, captured Li Xiong, and sought help from the Survivors' Alliance Government, hoping to rid themselves of the poison from the mutated opium poppies.

Li Xiong had captured thousands for experiments, using mutated opium poppies to create high-purity extracts, which then activated psychic abilities and controlled the cultivation and production of mutated opium poppies, using them to enslave psychics.

He learned of this long after the event when he was summoned to the Psychic Research Institute, where the elders lamented the incident, mentioning it as a known method to activate psychic abilities in ordinary people, but with obvious side effects—activated psychics would become heavily dependent on the mutated opium poppies, with unknown physical side effects.

The alliance dispatched representatives and experts from the Psychic Research Institute, yet they were unable to discover a cure or a method to break the control. The rebelling psychics, likely due to immense suffering, deeply distrusted the Psychic Research Institute and the alliance.

For unknown reasons, the rebelling psychics, in despair and rage, set fire to the entire city lord's mansion, burning down the fields of mutated opium poppies and the illegal factories producing poppy extracts, including the dozen rebelling psychics, who perished in the flames.

Ultimately, all the mutated opium poppies were destroyed, and the formula for activating psychic abilities was lost. The Golden Triangle was overrun by mutated creatures and zombie hordes, too numerous and fierce for the alliance to manage, and the research was discontinued due to poor public opinion.

At the time, unaware of the true nature of the Psychic Research Institute, he thought they were mourning the tragedy of the dozen psychics.

In retrospect, they were clearly mourning the lost formula and mutated opium poppies, lamenting the loss of a method to mass-produce controllable psychics.

He pondered whether, in his past life, Guan Yuanfeng had also led the negotiation team.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but curse inwardly, only to look up and see Guan Yuanfeng watching him, a look of guilt on his face.

Ren Yuefei suddenly spoke up, "Yuanfeng, you're already the one in the spotlight. They say the tallest tree catches the wind. Now that all the psychics look up to you as their leader, if I wanted to control the psychics, the first thing I'd do is take you down."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

Ren Yuefei continued, "We're all on the same side here, so I'll be straight with you. You're attracting too much attention. Not only do you control all the psychic abilities in Central Base, but even the psychics in the distant Cangshan City near the Golden Triangle are specifically asking for you. But think about it, the temptation to use this drug to control all psychics is huge, right?"

"They definitely don't want to solve this so-called poison; they want to master the method of activating and controlling psychics."

"If I'm not wrong, the Psychic Research Institute's team of experts is going with you on this mission, right?"

"If you go now, something is bound to happen. This matter is too sensitive. Once you're in, you'll either end up as a villain in history books or be forced to become a martyr."

"I advise you, either take Doctor Zhou and come back to Jing Nan with me now, or put your phone on airplane mode and say you have no signal in the mountains, cut off by mutated creatures, and drag this matter out."

The room went quiet.

Guan Yuanfeng couldn't help but look at Zhou Yun, who silently returned his gaze.

After a moment of thought, Guan Yuanfeng replied, "But precisely because of this, I must go, right?"

"If such dangerous things exist, they should be stopped before they grow."

He looked at Zhou Yun, as if responding to Ren Yuefei while also explaining to Zhou Yun, "If I don't go, no one else will."

The room fell silent again, and Ren Yuefei let out a chuckle, "True, if it weren't for this 'who else but me' mindset and your willingness to lead, you wouldn't be Guan Yuanfeng."