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Vernon quickly took two steps back, tossing a specially made tall nut from his hand.

Activate plants!

This is one of the best Druid spells that Vernon learned and used.

After receiving the activation energy, the high-nut nut became enormous, standing like a wall in front of Vernon.

Reed reed reed!

Five large holes suddenly appeared on Gao Nut's body. Fortunately, these holes did not go straight through the front and back, but stopped in the middle.

Then Vernon found that strange feeling from the beginning returned, and within seconds he lost all control of the high-nut, and pus began to flow from the high-nut as it dissolved.

Cherry Bomb!

Vernon tossed a bunch of bright red cherries at the slightly cracked Tall-nut wall, then turned around and transformed into his animal form – Grayhawk!

Amidst the continuous explosions, a Gray Eagle fled at top speed. As it passed the data interface, the Gray Eagle tightened and loosened its claws, grabbing the universal reader.

That's overestimating me. This thing has mutated a bit too much. It's not that I have a good effect on it, but rather that it has a good effect on me!

As Vernon fled, he glanced back at what was behind him. Corrosive plants surged from the passage, engulfing the small defensive positions he had begun to set up like a tidal wave.

As a druid, Vernon can indeed control some mutated plants, but only if the degree of mutation is within his control.

Plants like these, which appear to have been corrupted by C'Thun, are a completely different story. They can't be restrained at all. All his spells and all the living plants are just free kills in front of him, corrupting him one by one.

Of course, this didn't come without a price. Human willpower has its limits, even for an old dog like Sergei, whose loyalty is beyond imagination. After devouring a whole patch of plants, the life force he absorbed caused the activity level of the progenitor virus in his body to reach its maximum.

The T-virus, which allowed Sergei to maintain a human form and temporarily be considered a vegetative state, became completely useless under this imbalance.

Progenitor virus strain: I want it all, including T-viruses and normal cells!

The progenitor virus began to devour everything in its path, and plant roots sprouted from Sergei's feet.

I can no longer be a human being; this is my final act of loyalty, Spencer!

Sergei gave up resistance, sacrificing all his strength to the progenitor virus plant implanted in his body.

With a whoosh, the rampant plant burst forth from its cells, completely engulfing Sergei. Then, the excessive growth capacity brought about by the consumption of various derivative viruses caused the plant to grow wildly.

The lush green plants pushed through the reinforced concrete, broke through the layers of floor and ceiling inside the virus center, and directly transformed this virus research center into a magnificent botanical garden. And in this botanical garden there is only one plant, which is the ancestral plant!

With a snap, the glass of the ground-level building at the virus center shattered, and the Gray Eagle flew directly out, landing on the ground and transforming into Vernon.

Vernon's only consolation now is that he left all the soldiers on the ground when he went in. After discovering that the entire building was shaking, the soldiers left the virus center in advance. Otherwise, they would have all turned into nutrients for the giant plants, just like the researchers who hadn't had time to evacuate.

Looking at the plant that was over ten meters tall with its branches waving, Vernon swallowed hard. Including the part below ground, the plant was already nearly a hundred meters tall and was still growing rapidly. They were about to fight a boss.

Chapter 235 Spell Bombardment

The enormous growth of the progenitor virus plant attracted the attention of everyone else in the city.

"What...what is that?!" An Alice clone wearing clothes taken from a nearby store was so shocked that she could only mutter to herself.

In the face of this enormous plant, they seemed to have become tiny ants, filled with fear, panic, and utterly powerless to resist.

At this moment, the clones recalled from the implanted memories the fear of the progenitor virus.

The ancestral plant grew larger and larger, with a single vine hanging down from the main trunk reaching hundreds of meters in length.

As the vines began to sway, chunks of cement flew directly from the tops of the surrounding buildings, demonstrating to everyone present that there is no such thing as being all bark and no bite; there is only genuine integrity.

Suddenly, the ground began to crack, and the sound of a massive earthquake emanated from underground, with the tremors clearly felt throughout the city.

Immediately afterwards, thick roots surged out from the ground, completely destroying all the man-made structures on the ground.

Alice was carried one by one on the shoulders of the soldiers, and then, with the help of nano-biochemical suits, the soldiers began to leap rapidly through the ruins of the entire city, dodging the collapsed buildings and the scattered, deadly rocks.

The only thing capable of fighting such an enemy is the Titans... but where are the Titans?

Alice 12581 rested comfortably on the shoulder of the soldier guarding her, and like a child, she began to daydream for no reason. Her eyes swept across the sky as if a giant who could turn into light might suddenly descend from there.

Although Alice 12581 was awakened prematurely, she knew in her heart that such a thing was impossible; giants and the like did not exist.

"Report 01014: The location has been moved away from the marked location."

Suddenly, Alice heard the soldier carrying her speak, and the words were accurately transmitted to her ears through the translator.

01014? It has a number too?

Alice12581 had this thought for no apparent reason. As soon as the idea surfaced in her mind, she immediately shook her head. She had long since left adolescence. What kind of crazy idea was this? More importantly, what about leaving the marked location? By the way, what is a marked location?

After crossing several dozen meters further, Alice 12581 realized that she had just passed through a yellow halo, and it seemed that she was inside the halo.

This is the marked location the soldiers were referring to, and it's also the area Vernon set in the system that needs to be avoided. To make it clear, Vernon even marked it on both the system interface and in reality, ensuring that even if someone experiences a system malfunction, they can understand the situation just by looking at it.

As for why this was done, it was obviously to avoid accidental injury.

Why would we need a Giant of Light to fight this thing right in front of us? Where did we put those things floating in planetary orbit?!

"Commander, we will use it up as soon as possible and free up the computing power again. We are really sorry," Vernon said apologetically into his headset.

If they're going to make a big move here, it will inevitably affect the progress there. To reiterate, they brought too little with them—just one shuttle cabin—which is hardly enough to meet the needs of both sides at the same time.

"No problem, Comrade Vernon. You need it more over there, and we can take a rest too. It's alright." The commander's reply was also very polite. However, rest was out of the question. Rescuing the people was the most important thing. The follow-up treatment and settlement would consume more energy and manpower.

"Captain! Everyone has evacuated!" Rogers shouted at the top of his lungs in the combat channel.

Upon hearing this, Vernon switched the control monitor to full-screen mode and checked again to make sure that all the soldiers' signals were far away from the area. He paid special attention to those with minor injuries that limited their movement and those who were seriously injured and unconscious. Indeed, everyone had reached a safe location and none of them were foolishly standing next to the isolation line; they had all left at least a buffer distance of several hundred meters.

After confirming everything, Vernon pressed the start button, then cast a Gale spell on himself, transforming into a gray eagle and beginning to fly away.

When he left the marked area and transformed back into human form, Rogers and Frank were already waiting there.

Neither of them looked well. Frank was heartbroken over the Red Queen's equipment buried underground. Before leaving, he closed the blast door and melted down the hole he had made. He didn't know how much of the equipment inside would be intact after the attack was over.

At times like this, Frank felt that he still didn't know enough and couldn't tell which were storage modules. Otherwise, forcibly removing some would at least have helped him minimize the losses.

Rogers' situation was similar to Frank's, but he was slightly better off. After all, the Tyrant production line mainly consisted of enemies, unlike Frank's side which had many high-value targets. In the beginning, he didn't intend to intercept anything useful.

"Don't be too upset, there are still blue and white umbrellas, right? We've learned our lesson this time, so this won't happen again next time," Vernon said, immediately seeing what his two teammates were thinking.

As soon as Vernon finished speaking, several huge rays, each over ten meters in diameter, descended from the sky and struck directly around the progenitor virus plant.

The energy contained in the rays easily shattered the ground, severing some of the fastest-growing and furthest branches. Then, these beams of light began to move rapidly, and a complex pattern slowly appeared on the ground.

Once the inscription was completed, the fixing array immediately took effect, and the invisible restraint reduced the twitching of the progenitor virus plant by more than half.

Ninth Ring Spell - Eternal Blazing Sun!

Immediately afterwards, a small sun exploded directly above the progenitor virus plant. The resulting gale-force winds blew in all directions, and wherever the wind swept through, the charred plants turned to ashes and disappeared into the sky with the wind.

Vernon, standing outside the marked circle, slightly raised his hand to shield his eyes from the light. The brightness was a bit too high at that moment, and getting too close would hurt his eyes.

Soon, the blinding light dissipated, leaving the marked area scorched, while outside the marked circle, at most, people suffered from heatstroke due to excessive exposure to the hot air.

"The gear setup by Morningstar Mage this time is simply perfect. He truly lives up to his name as Morningstar Mage," Vernon exclaimed, looking at everything before him.

Frank nodded in deep agreement. Many weapons used by humans on Earth can do the same thing, but the damage could never be controlled with such precision, not even if they were given the same computer from the shuttle.

Chapter 236 Some People Are Both Stupid and Evil (Part 2)

Under the ever-burning sun with its precise range controlled, the progenitor virus plant, which had just reached its youth stage, was completely doomed.

The tall branches turned to ashes without leaving a trace, while the roots and other parts hidden underground withered directly due to the excessive consumption of life energy.

However, Vernon and his team were not yet finished with their work. As the highest-ranking leader present, he needed to check on the condition of the progenitor virus plant and see if they could recover anything useful.

Frank and Rogers continued their work. One led a team to rescue the Red Queen; such a well-protected underground location should still have a lot of survivors after such an explosion. The other led a team to clear out the remaining bio-weapons. They didn't want to be caught off guard and get groped by the surviving Tyrant; that would be incredibly embarrassing.

"Brother Cong, let's go pick up some trash together." A soldier waved to Wang Cong and said, his words vividly describing what they were about to do.

“You go ahead, the captain told me to stay behind and take care of the victims.” Wang Cong sighed.

Wang Cong also wanted to scavenge for trash. What boy wouldn't enjoy picking through the rubble to find something of value? What's more, the items they were going to collect were quite technologically advanced, which would have made it even more fun. Unfortunately, orders came first.

After seeing off his acquaintances, Wang Cong glanced at Alice 12581, who was actively cooperating with the team to command all the clones, and felt a mix of emotions.

As a soldier, gaining the trust of a victim is undoubtedly the greatest honor, but why does this person only trust him? It makes the captain look at him strangely, as if he has done something wrong.

While Wang Cong was thinking, he suddenly saw Alice, who was dressed fairly well, walk over from outside with her head down.

I glanced at the friend-or-foe identification system. These Alice clones, tentatively identified as victims, were marked as neutral individuals in the system, but the one that had just appeared didn't seem to belong to the marked group.

Ordinary people like them would find it difficult to distinguish the subtle differences that clones may have due to various factors, but the system is different. It is very easy to identify them, and the probability of error is less than one in ten thousand.

Wang Cong stared at Alice for a while, but he didn't find any dangerous items on her. There were no guns, not even a knife. But it was still necessary to report this.

After reporting to the internal platform, Wang Cong received a response from Vernon, which simply meant that as long as this newcomer obeyed orders and did not make any dangerous moves, there was no need to worry about him for the time being.

After all, a freakish scientist wouldn't just create one batch of clones; this might just be one of the clones that escaped from somewhere.

After receiving the order, Wang Cong lowered the muzzle of his gun slightly, but most of his attention was still focused on the newcomer.

Alice breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Wang Cong's actions. She wasn't sure if the soldiers could distinguish her from the other clones, since they had just launched that kind of attack; who knew what other strange technologies they might have? But it seemed they hadn't recognized her.

With this in mind, Alice slowly approached Alice 12581, who looked somewhat like a leader.

"Is there anything I can help you with? Are you on your period? I have some tampons here, I found them at a nearby store. Did you bump into something on your way here?"

Alice 12581 said to Alice with a slight smile, indicating that she was in a pretty good mood.

Furthermore, although they are clones, their actual personalities and bodies are not exactly the same, and this difference will become more and more obvious over time, since they are actually only just born.

Just like her, once she was safe, her true nature began to emerge. She had a rather cheerful personality, with a touch of unrealistic fantasy, while some clones were more withdrawn and preferred to stay quietly by themselves.

“No, I am the real me,” Alice whispered. “I led you away from these soldiers. I’ve observed that most of them…”

"Why run away?" Alice 12581 asked rhetorically.

Alice looked at Alice12581 in disbelief, "Because...because of freedom?"

“We’re much freer now than we were in the cloning pod, and you seem quite free, though this freedom doesn’t seem to be all that great.” Alice 12581 said, taking a bottle of water from the ground and handing it to Alice. Alice’s lips were chapped, clearly indicating that she hadn’t had any drinkable water for some time.

Alice took the water bottle, completely stunned. She had considered the possibility of being discovered if her infiltration failed, and the possible consequences of a failed escape, but she had never thought of these things. Alice didn't seem to want to run; in her mind, such a thing should never happen.

"Actually, I can understand some of your thoughts, because we share a memory." Alice12581 patiently explained to Alice, after all, Alice was risking her life to save them, even though it wasn't necessary.

"But I truly believe they are different. Not every unit truly puts people first. Even in the most dangerous times, they never abandoned anyone. More than a hundred of us sisters escaped from underground thanks to them. This is simply unbelievable in the soldiers I remember."

"The time I truly exist in this world is only..." Alice 12581 glanced at the dial of a watch she had picked up, "...only a little over two hours. I can't explain it in any grand way, but I think that if you want to take all your sisters away just for the sake of freedom, that decision is definitely wrong."

"And, Ms. Alice, what is true freedom?" Wang Cong suddenly asked. With the aid of the nanosuits, he could hear Alice and the others very clearly.