Bone King: Welcome the Birth of the King.

Chapter 422 The Extermination Operation Begins - Tree Spirit Pines
—Mid-Moon.

August 7, Kahn Village.

now!

As the village closest to the Tob Forest, it has temporarily become the base for the Adventurers' Guild's "slaying of unknown plant-type monsters".

Kahn Village is a small village with only 25 households. It was established to prevent unexpected risks caused by monster disturbances.

Anli arranged for everyone in the village to temporarily relocate to "Ye Lantier" for safety, and she originally planned to pay for it herself.

Following the captain, she had saved up more than 2000 gold coins in less than a year.

Other valuables were also harvested in the hilly areas.

This is the amount of gold coins she could accumulate in the village... no, the entire village couldn't accumulate in hundreds of years.

but.

Captain Lajus of "Blue Rose" directly used the "suppression budget" to resettle the villagers of Carne Village.

The village chief's room was a bit more spacious.

The members of "Blue Rose," Anri, and the captains of twelve other adventurer teams were gathered in the room.

"The items provided by the Mage Guild have finally arrived."

Gegland's sharp gaze swept over everyone present, and his square face revealed an expression that suggested he was finally ready to show off his skills.
"A lot of time was wasted."

Five days have passed since the last Adventurers' Guild meeting.

The adventurers present understood the principle of "speed is of the essence in war," but the reason it had been delayed until now was due to the problem of magical items.

The "unknown plant monster" possesses mental control abilities, and if this problem is not resolved, the extermination team will suffer fatal consequences.

Magical items that can resist "mental influence" are not only expensive but also extremely rare. Even "Steel-level" adventurer teams may not all be equipped with them.

Not to mention the other adventurers!
"Blue Rose" is clearly an exception; none of the members are simple, so naturally they would not lack items for mental resistance.

"Captains, please."

Lajus was fully armed, a blue rose-shaped magical hairpin adorning her smooth blonde hair, her expression serious.
"After five days of preparation, the Adventurers' Guild and the Mage's Guild have gathered a batch of magical items, but they still cannot equip all members. However, they have enough potions for mental resistance."

"Therefore, please have the captains distribute the magical items to the key personnel."

The last meeting was attended by Laksil, the president of the Mage Guild, because we needed to borrow items from the Mage Guild.

That's right.

It is "borrowed", not purchased.

Magical items are too expensive, and even with the support of the Adventurers' Guild and the Mayor, the funds are not sufficient.

"I understand."

"Do not worry."

"It is our honor that His Excellency Lajus is personally in command."

"..."

A series of soft laughs rang out.

A slight smile appeared on Lajus's tense face.

The adventurers have diverse personalities, and this is the first time she has led such a large adventurer team. She was worried about various troublemakers, but it seems that none of them have appeared.

"Anli, is there anything else on your end?"

Lajus turned his head and asked Amway gently.

"Free Will" and his team are all Steel-level adventurers. Even though their leader did not appear, Anri would still need to inquire about him.

"Oh, no."

An Li straightened her spine and quickly waved her hand.

Lajus nodded slightly.

"What a pity, I thought I would be able to meet Team Leader Tang."

"The other party is a genius alchemist."

"The finest 'Regeneration Potion' possesses healing effects surpassing even second-tier healing magic."

"Yes, if Team Leader Tang is involved, everyone's safety should be elevated to a higher level."

Quiet whispers rang out among the team leaders.

Compared to Tang Zheng's strength, what everyone present was most concerned about was his title of "genius alchemist".

From this perspective!
Tang Zheng's strategy was successful. His identity as "Adventurer Tang" made people pay more attention to his title of alchemist than his actual strength.

"Captain..."

Anli also felt a pang of regret; without the captain, she always felt a little uneasy.

During the meeting, she secretly contacted the captain and asked him about this issue.

The captain does indeed want to help.

However, Miss Cuiye was unable to leave, and the distance between the hilly area and the Tobu Great Forest was also far.

Even if the captain sets off immediately, he won't be able to get here in such a short time.

The captains of the various adventurer teams left separately, each carrying their own magical items and potions.

"Lord Lajus, thank you."

Anri suddenly stood up and bowed slightly to Lajus.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Lajus's eyes widened suddenly, his clear, emerald-green eyes looking at Anri with confusion.

Gegrand suddenly sneered: "You've clearly slain a legendary undead like the Soul Eater, and your deeds are constantly being told in the tavern."

Gegran grinned like a beast, leaning forward to sized up the diminutive Anri.
"The resettlement fee is just a small amount of money. Any one of those magical items from earlier would be enough to resettle your entire village."

Lajus then understood and said in a relaxed tone, "It's the Adventurers' Guild that's paying for it. Since it can be used, there's no reason not to use it."

“That’s just how Gegran is; he doesn’t have any hostility, Anri.”

"Devilish Team Leader".

“I just want her to truly understand that her current status is different from before, and that some small favors are not worth using the word ‘thank you’.”

Gegrand crossed his thick arms over his chest and spoke in a deep voice, after all, they were all steel-level adventurers.

Anli understood a bit and said to Gegran, "I understand, thank you, Lord Gegran."

“I told you, don’t use ‘thank you’ so casually.” Gegrand’s fierce expression returned.

Faced with this outwardly fierce demeanor.

Anli smiled brightly.

Although Lord Gagran looks somewhat frightening, he is actually a gentle person at heart.

One side.

Tina squinted, looking Anri up and down: "Oh, by the way, did you really defeat the Soul Eater all by yourself?"

"I'm sorry, it's not a good question to ask, but the guy we're going to deal with next might not be simple. Knowing our comrade's strength will help us make better plans."

In reality, this falls under the category of spying on others.

"Yes."

Anli became serious and replied earnestly, but did not say another word.

During her time following the captain, Anri clearly understood the importance of intelligence, and she had become a qualified adventurer.

The air was slightly still.

Tina was somewhat unwilling to give up and wanted to try to extract information from him again through language.

“Tina!” Rajus suddenly spoke, responding with a stern look. Tina sighed helplessly and shrugged slightly.

“She’s not lying.” Iver’s gaze lingered on Anri for a moment, a rare occurrence. “Moreover, she should possess a profession with special abilities against the undead.”

As an immortal, one's perception in this regard is naturally acute!
Lajus and his companions were surprised.

An Li also showed surprise, thinking to herself, "Amazing!"

10:21 minutes.

A party of 60 adventurers, including "Blue Rose" and Anri, set off into the Great Forest of Tob.

at the same time!

Deep in the northern part of the Tob Great Forest.

What should have been a green ocean of dense trees has become a withered land, a veritable "forest fissure".

Do not!
Calling it a "forest crack" is really inappropriate.

The once towering, lush trees, some tens of meters tall, had completely withered trunks, their vibrant green leaves long gone.

The branches were so fragile that they would break easily in the wind.

This place looks like a dead zone.

however.

There are two normal trees, one large and one small, standing in this barren sea of ​​trees. The smaller one is only eleven or twelve meters tall and looks no different from an ordinary large tree.

The largest one, however, was astonishingly tall, reaching over twenty meters. Compared to the normal tree, this one had a lush but messy canopy of green leaves.

Bright red flowers dot the leaves.

On the thick tree trunk, there is a gaping hole shaped like a hideous mouth, with wispy roots that look like teeth swaying incessantly around the opening.

The area around the roots is even more terrifying, with dense, root-like tentacles wriggling on and under the ground like an octopus.

This tree looks like a monster!
The small, ordinary tree's crown trembled occasionally, as if it were afraid of the strange tree beside it.

As if sensing something.

The leaves of an ordinary tree suddenly made a soft rustling sound.

next moment.

A naked figure, resembling a human female with brown skin and long, leaf-like hair, emerged from an ordinary tree.

Her name is Pines, and she is a tree spirit whose true form is the large tree next to her.

"The parasitic monster has been killed, Lord Tree Spirit," Pines reported cautiously to the terrifying tree spirit beside her.

As an alien species, and moreover, a tree spirit, she possesses a lifespan far exceeding that of other spirits, with only a vague concept of her exact age.

It is probably over 300 years old... or maybe more.

Age has no real meaning for an elf; her long lifespan has allowed her to know some ancient legends that have been passed down through generations.

For example, regarding "The Distorted Story of the Tree Man"

"Okay, now's not the time to think about that," Pines thought to herself.

She didn't want to stay here at all, but unfortunately, her true form couldn't move. Even as a tree spirit, she couldn't stray too far from her original body.

This led to her watching helplessly as this once beautiful place became a barren wasteland.

even!

She almost lost her life as well.

The culprit behind all this is, of course, the terrifying demonic tree that descended three hundred years ago.

During his most recent awakening.

She witnessed the thirteen heroes defeat the demon tree, which was not fully awakened, and heard the heroes promise to defeat the demon tree again next time.

"Heroes, where are you!"

Pisne screamed inwardly, filled with fear of the future.

The demon tree began to awaken again, and the nutrients in the earth and the vitality of the surrounding trees were rapidly being transformed into nourishment for the demon tree.

Pines could clearly hear the cries of all the plants.

The heroes did not appear!
The only reason she survived was because she sought refuge with the Demon Tree, which was actually partly due to luck.

Both being plant-type monsters, they possess a certain level of resistance, and most importantly...

"Wahoo—wahoo—"

The terrifying tree-man opened its terrifying root-like mouth and emitted strange, chaotic sounds.

This is not a complete language!

but.

Pines, however, could understand that the terrifying tree spirit was trying to convey the message that it wanted to eliminate the intruders and continue to provide nutrients to the demon tree.

"The wisdom of cramped living!"

Pines made this assessment in her mind.

The terrifying tree-man before them was not the Demon Tree. The real Demon Tree had not yet fully awakened; the other was merely a seed released by the Demon Tree, transformed into a monster.

There was no clear reason!

They are more like the monsters that originally lived in the forest and only had the "survival instinct".

Pines survived because she used her wisdom to demonstrate the value of enabling the magic tree to revive more quickly.

"Yes, Lord Tree Man."

After hearing the chaotic tone, Pines lowered her head and hurriedly responded respectfully, but her heart was filled with increasing dejection.

She's a bad person now!
Even though it deeply resents doing this, it lacks the ability to even pretend to comply; this terrifying tree-man can still release unique seeds.

There is a seed inside her body that has been parasitized by the other party.

If she cannot obey the other party's orders, the Terror Treant will definitely drain her life force before killing her!
"This monster has no real intelligence!"

“It’s pointless to reason with them, just like with those noisy goblins,” a desperate thought crossed Pines’ mind.

Whether the Demon Tree truly revives in the future or the heroes seal it away again, their fate will likely be grim!

"Bad guys, they're all bad guys..."

Pines raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye, looking aggrieved and on the verge of tears.

Whoosh!
A faint green light flickered.

Pines' body became ethereal and then merged back into her original form.

Although the seed parasitizing her body controls her life, it also possesses other abilities.

For example, through this seed, Pines can control most of the monsters in the forest that are parasitized by the seeds released by the Terror Treant.

This ability reminded Pines of the information she had heard from the thirteen heroes who had passed by her about the legendary undead "Death Knights".

It is said that these undead can be controlled by killing the living, which is somewhat similar to the ability of the Terror Tree.

He's practically a plant-based death knight!
Aberlein Hills, deep in the valley.

Tang Zheng put down the research materials in his hand and let out a soft breath.

"The information about Clementine and the 'Four Elements' corroborates each other."

Tang Zheng picked up the water bag, took a sip of warm water, and toyed with a frogman egg between his fingers. He pondered for a moment, "This means that the Holy Kingdom already knows about the imminent revival of the Demon Tree."

just.

The Dark Codex hasn't acted immediately. Is it waiting for something?

(End of this chapter)