You're sending max-level players to be cannon fodder?

Zhong Xun's spiritual tentacles swarmed out, simultaneously replying to the hidden one: "Yes, what would I do without you?"

Hidden is even more naive than Fang Qian; she can only understand the literal meaning and doesn't understand Zhong Xun's emotionless pronunciation at all. It's a kind of PUA that doesn't even pretend.

Hidden in his belief, he shouted, "Charge!!!"

In an instant, Xie Wencheng felt the heavy dampness pressing on his shoulders dissipate, his mind cleared from a daze, and his abundant mental energy returned.

Not only him, but every judge present felt the same way.

Everyone turned to look at Zhong Xun without prior arrangement.

Zhong Xun's eyes were firm, and his voice was clear: "Do what you're supposed to do, and leave the rest to me."

In an instant, "Bang bang bang bang!"

The plants blocking the way were blasted by bullets, their stems and leaves flying everywhere. At this distance, there was no need to be stingy with ammunition. When the banyan tree sensed the danger, the pollution concentration began to rise, and Xu Hengzhou's scanner issued a "beep beep beep" alarm.

"Ignore it!" Zhong Xun's voice was unusually clear amidst the hail of bullets: "Pollutants can't escape their survival instinct. If they were in danger, they would self-destruct. They would never have grown to this height. See the plants nearby? They're still growing. This is a trick by the banyan tree. Fire!"

The last word was like a shot of adrenaline, piercing everyone's hearts. Perhaps it was because they had been mentally corrupted for so long and were finally able to have a good fight, but upon hearing this, everyone fired even more enthusiastically.

From above, this group of people looked like an unreasonable bulldozer, cutting a clean, straight path through the ground.

Just as Zhong Xun said, the pollution concentration in the banyan tree had clearly reached the critical level, yet there was no sign of it about to explode. However, at the same time, the plants in front of them were casting shadows on everyone at a terrifyingly visible speed—

They grew taller and stronger, soon blocking out the entire view, and the shadow of the banyan tree could no longer be seen.

Xu Hengzhou pressed his calves down, the muscle lines taut and defined outside his combat suit. The next second, he launched himself into the air, his speed far exceeding the growth of plants. "We're being jammed, twelve degrees southeast, take cover!"

Xie Wencheng instantly understood Xu Hengzhou's intention. The other judges didn't need to say anything. Xie Wencheng suddenly turned around and pounced on Zhong Xun, using his body as a shield and adding a layer of pheromone barrier. Almost at the same moment, with a "boom", the incendiary bomb swept through the plant roots and stems in an explosive manner under the action of the gale.

There are special agents here that target pollutants. These plants seem to lose all vitality in the flames, and are burned and shrunken in just a few seconds.

Xu Hengzhou was almost knocked unconscious by the intense polluting energy.

However, the spiritual tentacles swept away the gloom that had enveloped him, and Xu Hengzhou felt surprisingly good when he landed.

  

"Are you alright?!" After the explosion, Xie Wencheng nervously stepped aside, and after looking Zhong Xun over, he breathed a sigh of relief. Zhong Xun's combat uniform was completely undamaged.

"It's alright." Zhong Xun sat up. "Now's the time!"

The plants that had been hit by the specially made incendiary bombs could hardly keep up with their growth rate. Now that he was very close to the banyan tree, just as Zhong Xun was planning to extract its core directly, he felt as if he had been violently hit in the chest, and he suddenly stood still.

Xu Hengzhou noticed: "What's wrong?"

Unable to explain, Zhong Xun simply roared in his mind, "Concealment!"

He didn't elaborate, but the implicit understanding was clear: its ability to pollute—to create space.

But at this moment, this space was not enveloping Zhong Xun, but rather Xie Wencheng and his group.

In the blink of an eye, only Zhong Xun remained on the ruins.

Zhong Xun took out the "key" from his chest. The strange patterns on its surface were unusually vivid. As if sensing something, Zhong Xun looked up at the banyan tree.

The leaves rustled, and a blurry memory flashed through my mind.

The scene before him changed after a couple of distortions; Zhong Xun was now standing in the wilderness, and at the horizon stood a banyan tree.

Despite being inhuman, Zhong Xun sensed a hint of welcome in the swaying branches.

"Come here..." a voice said softly.

Zhong Xun walked forward step by step.

The plants' rampant growth slowed down, then turned into a vast expanse of green grass that reached up to his ankles. Zhong Xun waded through this green wave and stood in front of the banyan tree.

It's huge and lush, with a thick trunk that would probably take ten people to encircle.

In the dim light, Zhong Xun heard the sound of flowing water.

He walked halfway around the banyan tree and found a puddle about one meter in diameter on its back.

"Is that so?" Zhong Xun tossed the handcuffs he was carrying into the room, and the pale golden light was quickly swallowed by the darkness.

A sharp pain shot through his palm. Zhong Xun looked at the key he was holding; the blue patterns on it seemed to come alive, constantly flowing.

Zhong Xun knew it was too dangerous, but after taking a deep breath, he jumped straight in.

puff-

Beneath the pool lay a hidden world, like an underwater realm stretching to the horizon. Zhong Xun swam in a circle, finally catching a glimpse of a fleeting purple light in the darkness—

That's the pattern of another key.

Zhong Xun knew there were three keys in total, and besides opening the locked room, they seemed to hold many secrets.

The deep blackness beneath his feet was like a silent gaze, as if a giant maw might leap out at any moment and devour Zhong Xun completely. From a distance, it looked like a mayfly rushing towards its inevitable demise.

Zhong Xun exhaled a few bubbles, and the feeling of suffocation in his chest intensified.

Finally, before he ran out of strength, his pale fingers touched the key.

The problem is that this thing is tightly embedded in the stone wall, and with the underwater air pressure, it is impossible to pry it out.

Spiritual tentacles supported Zhong Xun from beneath his feet, and the spiritual sea poured the last of oxygen into his body.

Zhong Xun pulled out his gun, but then worried about damaging the key.

"Use the one you have and stick it on," Hidden suddenly said.

This was the first time Zhong Xun had heard it speak in this tone.

The moment the two keys touched, a strange sensation flowed through his body. Zhong Xun could clearly feel something loosening. He removed the blue key, and the purple one fell off on its own and fell into the water. Zhong Xun caught it.

Looking at the two keys in his palm, Zhong Xun's emotions were very complicated.

"Stop looking, bro." He reverted to his half-dead tone, "No more oxygen."

Zhong Xun put the key away and swam towards the light above him using both hands and feet. But the abyss beneath his feet suddenly became heavy, and an invisible suction force pulled him down. Zhong Xun released his tentacles to resist and tried his best to climb up, but the oxygen in his alveoli was quickly squeezed out.

Click—

When he pushed himself to the limit, Zhong Xun's pupils dilated slightly.

The light dimmed in an instant, and the cry of "Hidden" seemed to come from a very, very far place. Zhong Xun's limbs floated upward with the dark current, while his whole body slowly fell.

wrong……

We shouldn't stop here.

Zhong Xun's eyes flashed with extreme struggle, but in the end, he could only exhale a few pale bubbles.

In his hazy state of consciousness, Zhong Xun saw the light above his head suddenly dim, then faintly brighten again.

No, someone jumped down.