Chapter 106: Chapter 100: Monster Tracks
Monsters frequently attacked the hospital, but none had ever stayed, and the number of monsters inside the hospital was actually decreasing, likely due to the monsters from outside.
Upon hearing this, Su Han felt somewhat able to judge the situation; if their strengths weren't far apart, then it would be manageable.
"Old Zhu!"
"Boss, what do you need me for?"
Zhu Xiong quickly approached, and Su Han, giving him a glare, said, "Stop joking, let's go lie in wait."
"Wait for what?"
Zhu Xiong was utterly confused, and Su Han said, "To find you a second Angel Envoy."
"There's such a good thing?"
Zhu Xiong's eyes lit up, while Su Han then said to Cao Yubao, "Dean Cao, you come with us two as well."
Taking Cao Yubao was merely incidental, conveniently making him a hostage.
After all, if Su Han and Zhu Xiong temporarily left, then only Zhao Yimin, Cheng Xiyuan, and the others would remain here.
Though these survivors had crossbow arrows and wore iron armor, their strength was only at First-level Intermediate, so for safety, Cao Yubao stayed close to Su Han's side.
Without their leader, this group of survivors naturally wouldn't cause trouble.
The three of them made their way to the hospital's main entrance where two terrifying figures suddenly appeared before Cao Yubao.
He was exceedingly startled, his body trembling nonstop. These two figures were far more terrifying and unstoppable than the Meat Mountain Demons they had seen inside the hospital before.
"Run fast!"
He lowered his voice, grabbing Su Han and Zhu Xiong to quietly leave the place.
"Hehe, old man, why run? They're our monsters,"
Zhu Xiong, however, firmly grasped Cao Yubao's arm, and said with a chuckle.
Cao Yubao didn't forget to pull them along even when trying to escape; this old fellow was still quite decent, apart from his expensive registration fee, seeming truly to have a hint of a healer's benevolence.
Cao Yubao was stunned, "These, these are your Angel Envoys?"
He looked towards Su Han who was dressed in black armor; many people had not seen Su Han's Angel Envoys.
Su Han merely nodded, then asked, "Do you roughly know which direction that monster comes from?"
Cao Yubao furrowed his brows, the wrinkles on his face tightly pressed together, contemplated for a long time, and said, "Probably from the direction of Mingxin Road; every time there's noise, it's from there. We dare not venture out of the cafeteria building, we can only judge by the sounds."
Knowing the rough direction, Su Han suddenly had a notion, and fifty Tree-born Worms immediately searched in that direction, moving swiftly underground.
Having deployed the Tree-born Worms, Su Han then checked on the Fusion progress of the two Angel Envoys—the Ancient Worm Tree had now reached 73%, while the Scorpion Spider Demon likewise wasn't slow, the Essence of Flesh having reached 65%.
Cao Yubao, seeing that Su Han had no other actions, speculated that there must be some methods he was unaware of.
However, he did not ask; at his age, having been a medical expert for many years, he naturally had the composure not to pry into others' secrets.
He hesitated briefly, then asked, "Can you first talk about the condition of the injured? If it's urgent, I'm afraid..."
He had only two concerns—the condition of the injured, something he indeed wanted to know, and the other was about treating the injuries, a critical time to demonstrate their value. If they aren't efficient and delay treatment, they could easily be resented by everyone involved.
When Su Han suddenly heard his question, he paused for a moment, then said, "Combat injuries, external wounds have been controlled, but there might still be internal damage; the person is in a comatose state with a slight fever."
Cao Yubao frowned, Su Han's description left too many possibilities, he asked gravely, "Severe collisions and fractures, especially in the head?"
"There should be some,"
Zhu Xiong inserted himself into the conversation, and said, "That day, they were hit in the head by a Split-mouth Worm. If not for the iron armor, they might not have survived."
He had commanded the combat that day and knew the situation better than Su Han.
Cao Yubao remained deeply troubled, "It's hard to judge, if there's cranial damage, surgery might be needed. Luckily, he's a Contractor; otherwise, an ordinary person might not have lasted this long."
"Su Han," Cao Yubao said earnestly, "besides bringing people back, you also have to take some of the medical supplies and equipment from the second floor of the integrated building; otherwise, we won't be able to treat them."
"Don't worry,"
Su Han replied, then continued, "We'll take the necessary supplies; we've brought two trucks."
As time passed, the bodies of the monsters on the ground gradually vanished, their bones fusing together with them.
The flesh directly increased the Fusion progress of the Essence of Flesh, while the bones also transformed into materials and nourishment.
Finally, after half an hour, the Ancient Worm Tree was the first to complete its Fusion.
[LV2 Essence of Flesh Fusion completed, Ancient Worm Tree gains Skill Advancement: LV2 Tree-born Worms, Self-Healing·Intermediate]
Experience tales at mvl
Two skills had advanced in succession, and the massive trunk of the Ancient Worm Tree had grown even larger, now standing around thirty-four or thirty-five meters tall with a girth that was terrifyingly robust, and its presence had deepened significantly.
'So the effect of the Essence of Flesh falls upon the fleshly body and related skills, I see.'
Upon witnessing the advancement of the two skills, Su Han couldn't help but feel elated; the Ancient Worm Tree's standalone fighting capability had grown even more powerful.
Countless vines combined with an even stronger regenerative ability, the difficulty level in dealing with it had doubled.
It hadn't been long since the Ancient Worm Tree had broken through when the Scorpion Spider Demon, after intensively fusing the corpses of monsters, completed its fusion progress.
[LV2 Essence of Flesh Fusion complete, Scorpion Spider Demon obtains skill advancement: Self-Healing·Intermediate, LV2 Coagulation Cannon]
Though it was also the advancement of two skills, the form of the Scorpion Spider Demon had not grown any larger, but beneath its iron-hard muscles, the strength it contained had certainly increased substantially.
The aura of brutality and cold-heartedness intensified, making one's spine chill and feel uneasy.
Zhu Xiong was used to such sights; after Su Han "devoured" vast resources, the growth potential of the Angel Envoy was simply unimaginable
He only knew one thing—that Su Han was going to become more and more formidable. At this moment, either of the two Angel Envoys could easily pin down his Glutton and grind it against the ground.
However, Cao Yubao's heart was filled with alarm, for it was his first time witnessing such an enhancement.
No wonder he was so powerful. If given even more time, who knows what he could become.
"Shasha Sha"
The ground rumbled, and suddenly, the Tree-born Worm that had gone ahead to scout swiftly returned to the vicinity of the tree roots.
"There's some movement, let's go."
With a thought, the vines of the Ancient Worm Tree quickly descended, reached for Zhu Xiong and Cao Yubao, and wrapped around their bodies before lifting them directly onto the branches.
Su Han himself was also hoisted up by the vines, arriving at the main trunk, high above.
The three of them settled in, while under his control, the Ancient Worm Tree and the Scorpion Spider Demon rapidly headed towards the location where the Tree-born Worm had detected the activity.
The range of activity of the Tree-born Worm was only within 600 meters of the Ancient Worm Tree, and although it had recently advanced, it had not exceeded 1000 meters, so reaching there with the speed of the Ancient Worm Tree was not a problem.
Along the way on Mingxin Road, Zhu Xiong leaned over to the still uneasy Cao Yubao and whispered, "Dean Cao, where are we headed in this direction?"
Cao Yubao shook his head. Along the way on Mingxin Road, he didn't know where to stop—perhaps a community area or a subway entrance. How could he answer?
'This man doesn't seem as fierce as he looks, just a bit too talkative.'
Zhu Xiong naturally had no idea that the old doctor would have such an opinion of him internally.
He continued to chat with Cao Yubao from time to time, looking at the Scorpion Spider Demon at the foot of the Ancient Worm Tree and the Glutton following closely behind, still keeping up, so there was no need to retrieve the Book of Blood Spirit.
Minutes later, the Ancient Worm Tree came to a halt. Cao Yubao looked at the buildings gradually revealed under the illumination of the Radiance of the Lamp Tree, and a look of surprise crossed his eyes, "It's actually here."
"Mingxin Road Market?"
Zhu Xiong looked around in astonishment and said, "Is this a vegetable market?"
Cao Yubao nodded and said, "Yes, the largest market nearby with live chickens and ducks. Many patients and their families buy free-range chickens and ducks here to fortify their health."
Longtime patients often rented homes near this hospital. Naturally, their lives revolved around this area, and things meant to fortify patients' health were brought here for sale.
Cao Yubao paused slightly before adding, "It's not just free-range chickens and ducks; I've heard that there are wild animals sold secretly here, but I've never seen them... Sigh, most health supplements are the same; it doesn't necessarily have to be those things, but there are always people trying to exploit the patients, relentlessly doing evil deeds."
Upon hearing about wild animals, Zhu Xiong and Su Han exchanged glances—damn, there really were people daring death, bringing such things into the market?
At the same time, they both considered the possibility that the creatures here were either those live ones like chickens and ducks or, more troublesome, wild animal mutant or evolved kinds.
"That thing is stopped inside the market."
As Su Han spoke, he was already controlling the vines of the Ancient Worm Tree, extending them deeper into the entire market, dispelling more of the mist.
The Tree-born Worm had enveloped the entire market, and through the ground's vibrations, it had confirmed that a massive creature was indeed inside.
"Roar!"
As the vines extended, suddenly a beastly roar resounded, the ground thundering and rumbling, the creature having made the first move against the vines.
"Over there."
The Ancient Worm Tree burst into the market, with the Scorpion Spider Demon rushing ahead and finally spotting the monster wrestling with the vines among a pile of stall ruins deep within the market.
"Such a big pig!"
Zhu Xiong's eyes widened; in the middle of the market stood a bizarrely gigantic pig that was as large as a mountain.
Four meters at the shoulder, six meters in body length, muscles knotted like rocks, fiercely twisted horns, a pair of tusk-like sharp teeth, especially the pig's face, covered with a layer of bone armor that extended from its skull along the spine to its tail, bone spikes jutting out like a suit of bone armor.
"Roar!"
The Bone Armor Giant Pig, its eyes blood-red, having seen the Ancient Worm Tree, let out an angry roar, its body's bone protrusions extending, covering its back as it charged forward.