From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!

Chapter 254 - 245: Something’s Not Quite Right

It was impossible to tell if it was an aftershock or the mutant plant’s death throes, but the ground began to tremble violently once more.

Soon, the ground cracked open, forming a spiderweb of countless fissures.

Inside the off-road vehicles, the drivers stared intently ahead, wrenching their steering wheels to avoid the hazards and escape the area as quickly as possible.

However, the mutant plant’s counterattack was too ferocious. Countless thick, long roots burst from the earth, thrashing wildly and lashing out at everything on the surface with no discernible pattern. Mud and stones flew through the air. A deluge of broken branches and vines, torn from the surrounding hillsides, rained down upon the convoy.

Several vehicles failed to dodge in time. They were struck by heavy debris, leaving large dents in their frames. Even the bulletproof glass began to show faint cracks.

If this kept up, the vehicles would be completely wrecked.

Yet, this was only the beginning.

Ye Junhan’s attack seemed to have thoroughly enraged the mutant plant.

Its main body began to move deep underground, rapidly devouring the energy of the other mutant plants in the area.

Soon, the roots bursting from the ground grew thicker and longer by a significant measure.

Viewed from above, the once-open area now resembled the set of a fantasy film, completely surrounded by a dense forest of thick, long roots twisting and lashing about.

"Shit!" one of the team members cursed, gripping the steering wheel for dear life and slamming the accelerator to the floor.

It was the darkest hour, just before dawn, and to make matters worse, the rain was now torrential. Even with the windshield wipers working frantically, they couldn’t keep a curtain of water from forming, severely obstructing the drivers’ vision.

Yang Liu struggled to control the few remaining drones in the sky, calmly shouldering the heavy responsibility of scouting a path forward. "Break out toward our nine o’clock."

In the time it took him to speak, another drone was swatted out of the sky by a root and crashed to the ground.

Yang Liu didn’t even have a moment to deploy more drones.

He had to remain completely focused on the screen in front of him, desperately trying to find an escape route for his team.

But they were surrounded by a dense thicket of writhing, attacking roots. The convoy’s path seemed to be completely blocked. The screech of tires and the crunch of impacts echoed over the comms as drivers swerved to avoid obstacles.

At this rate, not even their top-of-the-line off-road vehicles would hold out for much longer.

Yang Liu was getting anxious.

If the convoy consisted only of Special Service Team members, they could abandon the vehicles and fight. But the reality was... they were also protecting several researchers who had no combat ability whatsoever.

In a situation like this, these ordinary people couldn’t possibly survive without the protection of the vehicles.

Just then, Ye Junhan’s calm voice cut through the static of the comms again. "Three... two... go!"

Ye Junhan dropped to one knee. Gripping his blade with both hands, he unleashed another strike toward their nine o’clock.

The cold steel of his blade carried the fury of a thunderstorm, cleaving countless mutant plant roots in two at ground level.

In that instant, an opening was torn open in the nine o’clock direction.

The Special Service Team always worked in perfect concert.

The moment Ye Junhan struck, the heavy armored off-road vehicles leading the convoy charged toward the opening, with the remaining pickup trucks right behind them.

"Hold on tight." Bringing up the rear, Wei Heng gripped the steering wheel with one hand and drew his Superpower Gun with the other. He lowered the driver’s side window and leaned out. "Shen Yue!"

One of Shen Yue’s hands shot out from his own driver’s side window, quickly conjuring a swirling tornado.

BANG—BANG—BANG—

After the three shots rang out, the bullets Wei Heng fired flew in a triangular pattern toward the nine o’clock position. They rapidly atomized into a red mist, which was then caught and dispersed by Shen Yue’s tornado. The wind broke the mist into countless smaller vortexes that slammed into the roots attempting to surge back and block their escape.

The specially formulated chemical from the research institute had some effect; the wildly thrashing roots froze for an instant.

The last few vehicles seized that moment to accelerate and punch through the gap.

But at this moment.

"Watch out!"

Qi Xiang screamed, her eyes fixed on the path ahead. Her pupils dilated in terror.

It was too late.

A massive fissure had appeared out of nowhere. As they watched the two vehicles ahead of them plummet into the chasm, the two cars behind them screeched into a 180-degree turn, swapping ends in an instant.

In doing so, Shen Yue’s and Wei Heng’s vehicles were once again caught in the mutant plant’s encirclement.

Wei Heng’s vehicle, now leading, managed to avoid the chasm in a heart-stopping near-miss.

But Shen Yue’s vehicle wasn’t so lucky. During the turn, it crashed headlong into a lashing mutant root. The entire front end caved in before another thick root slammed into its side, flipping it over.

The immense force of the impact sent the vehicle tumbling across the trembling ground. The occupants were thrown about violently inside; Liu Jia and the others were knocked unconscious. Only Shen Yue, still in the driver’s seat, remained awake, but the violent jolting made it nearly impossible for him to even grip the steering wheel.

Thankfully, Wei Heng’s vehicle was just up ahead.

Amid the violent tremors, Wei Heng managed to conjure a wall of earth, which barely managed to halt Shen Yue’s tumbling truck. The earthquake was relentless, however, and the earthen wall quickly disintegrated.

But that single second was all they needed.

A gale of wind righted the overturned vehicle, setting it back on its wheels.

Without a second to look back, Shen Yue floored the accelerator and sped desperately toward the northeast.

At the head of the convoy, Ye Junhan took a heavy blow to his back. He spun around and slashed toward the northeast, carving a path to survival for them.

As the rain poured down, the first light of dawn finally broke in the east. The two off-road vehicles weaved precariously between the pincer-like attacks of innumerable roots.

Under Ye Junhan’s cover, Wei Heng and Shen Yue’s vehicles finally managed to break through the encirclement.

But more and more thick roots were now coiling around Ye Junhan.

Meanwhile, inside the two vehicles that had fallen into the chasm, the side doors were pinned shut by rock and debris. The Special Service Team members inside began kicking violently at the roof. Once, twice...

But the Special Service Team’s vehicles were always the best-equipped in the military. Even after several kicks, the roof remained stubbornly intact.

"Dammit! If only that kid Liu Hao were here," Zhuo Xing grunted, landing another kick.

It was just their luck that neither of their vehicles had a Gold Element user aboard.

"Count your blessings," a teammate from the other vehicle retorted, kicking as he spoke. "We’re lucky we weren’t buried alive."

"Alright, save your breath and keep kicking. Mr. Ye is holding them off up there all by himself," Zhao Qingxiao said, his face deathly pale. He was trying to use his spiritual power to help Ye Junhan control some of the mutant roots from below.

The others fell silent, focusing all their energy on their kicks.

A few minutes later, the roof finally gave way.

"Go!"

Zhuo Xing, being small, was the first one out. After helping pull his teammates onto the roof of the vehicle, he realized something wasn’t right.

They were surrounded by a dense thicket of roots.

But while the roots swarmed all over the vehicle, they strangely made no move to attack them.

’What’s going on?’

The team members exchanged wary glances, their grips tightening on their weapons.