Chapter 413: The Willow Tree
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
There was silence in the airplane cabin, except for the continuous whirring of machinery.
Through a small window, the blue sky was visible and there were fluffy white clouds beneath.
"Professor Fang, in another half an hour, we will reach Mountain Ocean City!"
Beside him, there was a scientist, Old Li. He laughed as he spoke. "That is Professor Fang's hometown, right?"
"That's right... many years have passed since then!"
Fang Yuan was donned in a lab coat, wore glasses and gave off a scholarly vibe. No one would be able to associate him with the team leader of Dragon Team, the God of Thunder.
It was an ancient trick for martial artists with cultivation to make use of their muscles and internal energy to alter their appearances. This was nothing difficult for Fang Yuan.
As for his appointment as a professor? Since the completion of the design for the Demon Restraining Cuffs, Fang Yuan had been approved to be a professor with almost no resistance.
Now, he gazed deeply out of the window and was lost in his thoughts.
'Is Professor Fang thinking about your hometown?'
This colleagues looked at him and gave friendly smiles without interrupting him.
They were clueless that Fang Yuan was actually reading through his stats window:
"Name: Fang Yuan
Essence: 3.5
Spirit: 9.9
Magic: 9.9
Profession: ???
Cultivation: ???
Technique: [Elemental Spiritual Energy Cultivation Spell (Grade 3 (99%))]
Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 5)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 1)]"
'The improvements brought to my body after killing Ma Kunyuan's possessed body and absorbing the spiritual energy from Green Phoenix Mountain is too great...'
Seeing this, he was extremely satisfied.
With his special ability to have fixed stats and his own strong physical body, he almost had no limits in this world, which was something that others could never imagine.
After removing the restrictions on his own body and assimilating into the world, he would be able to increase his cultivation as long as he was given energy to absorb!
'It's a pity... The Green Phoenix Mountain was mainly covered in the strength of the god dao and most of it is being wasted... Hopefully, Mountain Ocean City will not let me down...'
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The plane flew through the clouds and descended. On the horizon, a huge airport appeared.
Fang Yuan and his colleagues alighted from the plane and a group of people hurriedly rushed towards them. The one leading the group of people was a middle-aged soldier in military uniform. "Hello guys, I am the person-in-charge here and my name is Wu Tie. We've waited for quite a while!"
"Hello!"
Fang Yuan stretched his hand out. "We have brought the best botanist from the base and hope that we will be of help to the situation!"
"You are... Comrade Fang Yuan! This is great!"
Wu Tie was initially suspicious after seeing Fang Yuan's young looks as he led the group of scientist. However, after realising that it was Fang Yuan, he was overjoyed. "Great... our city is finally saved!"
"Oh? Has it reached such a stage already?"
Fang Yuan raised his glasses. "Let's get on the car. Tell us about it along the way."
"Rumble!"
The jeeps roared to life and a line of 10 jeeps drove on the roads.
They were on the outskirts of Mountain Ocean City. After 10 minutes, the silhouette of a city appeared on the horizon and Fang Yuan could see a few familiar looking buildings.
At the same time, the accompanying Zhao Daniu shrieked.
This was because a layer of fog was slowly spreading, engulfing almost half of the city.
"Is this the power of the Thousand Year Willow?"
Closing his eyes, Fang Yuan could feel an immense amount of spiritual droplets gathering around the city, forming a swirl.
In the middle of the white fog, there was the silhouette of a jade-green tree covering half the sky. It was full of energy and life.
"That's right... After the second occurrence, other than the increased appearance of mutants, there are also natural changes and mutated plants..."
Wu Tie had an uneasy look on his face. "Some animals are even better adapted than us in absorbing spiritual energy... Of course, the biggest winner is nature!"
After the second occurrence, there seemed to be the appearance of a few mysterious plots of land on earth.
Some of these lands were originally dangerous. Together with the increase of spiritual droplets, they became perilous plots of lands which had to be avoided at all costs.
Other plots of lands only became dangerous after the second occurrence. From then on, these lands began to spread far and wide.
It was unfortunate that one of these lands was in the middle of a city.
"Its index number is M-95 and it is a willow tree. It was originally an old tree in the North Park of Mountain Ocean City and it was rumoured to be more than 1,000 years old. After investigations, it was found out that although it had already withered, after the first occurence, the tree started to revive and recover. Therefore, it was not removed from the park and appeared completely normal. Who would've known that after the second occurrence, this willow would start to spread out? Within a short period of time, its roots had already spread throughout the entire North Park. It also began to release a thick fog which was unable to be dispersed. In the fog, there is an intoxicating agent and the fog has already covered half of the city..."
"Before this, we have already sent people in hopes that the willow tree could be destroyed. However, our efforts were futile and even the fire-type mutants could do nothing about it... Until now, we have already evacuated over 300,000 people from their homes. The destruction this willow had caused to our economy and our properties are too much to calculate!"
With an uneasy look, Wu Tie shared everything he knew about the situation. "We are suspecting that this willow has a simple mind on its own and its branches are like hands which are able to move, making it extremely hard to destroy..."
"I understand!"
Fang Yuan nodded his head. "When we arrive at the base, we will need to start collecting some data! If we still cannot succeed, we will have to use our final plan!"
"..."
Wu Tie remained silent and there was pain in his eyes.
The final plan would surely be to bomb the place, wiping the willow tree of its existence!
If the final plan were to be executed, the entire Mountain Ocean City would be destroyed as well. This was an outcome no one would want to see.
Notwithstanding anything else, the problem of hundreds of thousands of refugees created from bombing the city would have to be dealt with or it would cause a greater societal problem.
Therefore, they had to solve the problem caused by the Thousand Year Willow!
If not for this, Xi Menjian would not have sent his most precious asset, Fang Yuan, here.
After driving for a while, a huge camp appeared before Fang Yuan and company. Many green and huge tents lined the camp, making the entire place feel organised.
Outside the camp, there were concertina wires surrounding the boundaries and red warning signs were posted everywhere.
"Lecturer Fang..."
After alighting from the keep, Wu Tie could no longer hold himself back. "Chief of Bureau, Xi Menjian, has promised us to send reinforcements. Where are the highly skilled people in the Dragon Team? Where are they?"
"You must know that the intoxicating agent is extremely potent. Even if we are properly equipped with anti-poison clothing, we will not be able to last for 10 minutes. Only the mutants will be able to fight in the fog!"
Thinking about how they would know about the properties of the fog, Wu Tie's eyes started to redden. It must have been a painful lesson for them.
"Don't worry. The Dragon Team is already on its way. However, the God of Thunder likes to travel alone and will not be with us for now!"
Fang Yuan smiled.
"That's good..."
Wu Tie's eyes were filled with uneasiness.
Any superior would not feel at ease if their subordinate were to travel and do things on their own.
Being a composed person, he quickly regained his composure and did not display and displeasure. "Since that is so, I hope that they will remain safe. In the surroundings of this camp, I have already detected the traces of a few spies from the Golden Eagle Federation!"
"This unique situation will be attractive enough to attract them here..."
Fang Yuan sighed before instructing Zhao Daniu and Ye Yingzi to open the packages and start to build many instruments.
"I need to get close to the white fog and conduct a field research on the concentration of spiritual energy there!"
Fang Yuan casually took a gas mask and wore it.
"Mmm, I shall send a party to escort you!"
Wu Tie was impressed at Fang Yuan's decisiveness and how he was willing to risk his own life for research.
...
Very quickly, Fang Yuan, Zhao Daniu and a group of soldiers entered Mountain Ocean City and were on the main street.
"Sigh..."
Zhao Daniu looked at the empty streets and the tattered newspapers flying in the wind as he began to be filled with emotions.
After all, he was different from Fang Yuan and did not have the opportunity to study abroad. He had grown up here and therefore had a feeling of affection for the city.
Now that he had observed the desolate and lifeless scene, there was a tinge of sadness in his heart.
"This place gives me the goosebumps!"
Ye Yingzi held her gun tightly and scanned the surroundings on full alert.
She had never imagined that an empty and lifeless city would give her the creeps.
"This is only normal. After all, we are comparing it to the capital!"
Fang Yuan walked down an alley and a layer of white fog appeared before him. It was different from the fog of dream masters and was even more pale, giving off an ominous vibe.
"Professor, be careful. The intoxicating properties of this fog are extremely strong and there seem to be other dangers lurking in the fog as well!"
Beside him was a group leader wearing a chemical warfare suit and a gas mask. Because his voice was amplified through the mask, it sounded extremely depressing.
"Don't worry, I've got it!"
For safety reasons, Fang Yuan and Ye Yingzi were also wearing gas masks. Only Zhao Daniu did not require any protection and was unobstructed by the fog, making the rest around him jealous.
"This place... this place is alright. Let's set it up!"
Fang Yuan placed a metal rack on the ground and created a path for himself.
Ye Yingzi and Zhao Daoniu went forward to help him. They seemed experienced and not long after, a small radar-looking instrument was assembled and the wok-looking sensor was pointed towards the white fog.
"Let's fix the location! React as soon as a high concentration of spiritual droplets is detected!"
Fang Yuan looked at the needle as he started to read off some numbers. "Hmmm... There is a reading of 10 for the spiritual droplets. It should be a branch or root. Follow it... We've found it!"
"Ascertain that this is the trunk of the willow!"
"Dooo! Doooo!"
There was a vibration in the fog as though something was detected.
With that, the instrument started to give off a chime.
"Hmm, the readings at the core are hitting 999, more than what we can detect! It is confirmed..."
With a solemn face, Fang Yuan announced. "This is a Murderous Grade disaster, and its destructive force is above what we had encountered at the Green Phoenix Mountain!"