As Zhang Chen's team continued to venture deeper into the dense forest, the once relatively calm woods suddenly erupted like boiling water. Countless strange birds shrieked as they flew from their hiding places among the trees, soaring high in the sky, hesitant to descend. The seemingly quiet grass also stirred with the sounds of animals running and the snapping of branches.
Zhang Chen knew this was Er Pang's [Wolf King's Majesty] taking effect. Any creature that Er Pang could instantly kill had voluntarily fled. Similarly, there were some animals that did not escape. For instance, a massive snail blocking the path ahead of the team... If Shirley hadn't pointed it out, Zhang Chen might not have noticed. At first glance, the snail's shell was covered in moss, resembling a giant rock. But upon closer inspection, one could see that this large rock was slowly wriggling...
Although the snail's size had expanded to that of a small truck, its movement speed had not improved at all. It was fortunate that it was herbivorous; if it consumed any living creatures, it would starve to death at this pace. It was evident that the snail was trying its best to escape, but the outcome remained unchanged.
"Xiao Bai, clear the obstacle... Be careful, just move it, don't kill it!" Zhang Chen quickly added, fearing Xiao Bai might misunderstand.
"Okay, Daddy!" Xiao Bai instantly leaped to the snail's side and gently tapped its head with its fist. The snail was startled and immediately retracted into its shell. Xiao Bai then kicked the shell forcefully, sending it rolling down the hillside and disappearing from view.
"Done, Daddy!" Xiao Bai happily returned to Zhang Chen's side and rubbed the snail slime off its paws onto Er Pang's fur...
"Mm, very good..." Zhang Chen said with a smile. "However... everyone must remain vigilant. I have a strange feeling about this forest!" Zhang Chen added.
The forest had been relatively normal at first. Aside from the vegetation being much taller than usual and occasional appearances of unknown giant creatures, they hadn't encountered any attacks. But as the team ventured deeper into the dense forest, the thick, mutated plants blocked out all sunlight, plunging the forest into darkness and dampness. The energy lines of the surrounding mutated plants interfered with Zhang Chen's line of sight. Everywhere he looked, there were dense, crisscrossing blue energy lines. If a predator were to remain perfectly still beneath a patch of foliage, its fixed energy flow would be difficult for Zhang Chen to detect amidst the equally fixed energy flows of the surrounding plants.
Although he couldn't observe directly, Zhang Chen could sense that from the moment they entered the deep forest, he had been targeted by some creature. However, for some reason, they had not yet revealed themselves.
"Oh, what's that? It looks delicious!" Xiao Bai pointed at a round, ruby-red apple, roughly the size of a basketball, in the distance. Zhang Chen followed Xiao Bai's gaze. Soon, a prompt slowly appeared next to the apple:
[Mutated Apple, possesses extremely high sugar content, moisture, and nutritional value. It is an extremely rare natural edible mutated fruit!]
This thing is edible!? With a flash, Zhang Chen appeared on a thick branch next to the mutated apple and plucked it.
"Wait, don't eat it!" Zuo Nan shouted urgently. "Everything in this dense forest is good at deceiving people. The more delicious something looks, the more dangerous it often is! Conversely, things that look disgusting and terrifying are sometimes food!"
"However, I advise you to stay away from all the fruits here, no matter how delicious they look, and all the creatures, no matter how harmless they appear..." Zuo Nan had managed to latch onto Zhang Chen, initially out of necessity, but now willingly. After all, in the apocalypse, strength was the only guarantee. Moreover, Zhang Chen was not a bloodthirsty maniac. Following such a powerful individual was like having a protective talisman. He certainly didn't want Zhang Chen to get into trouble. If this powerful connection were lost, he might end up like those in the Soul Organization, being kept as a slave by future powerful individuals. In the apocalypse, powerful figures with the disposition of the Soul Organization were as common as grains of sand. While Zhang Chen wasn't exactly a saint, in this environment, simply not indiscriminately killing was akin to being a sage.
"This fruit is very fragrant and sweet. You should try some too!" Zhang Chen took out a fruit knife and gently sliced the apple. Rich juice immediately flowed down the peel, emitting a sweet aroma. Taking a bite released a burst of fruity fragrance and intense sweetness. The sweetness of this fruit was different from the excessive sweetness of candy; it had a natural fruitiness, fresh and not cloying, earning unanimous praise. Soon, the basketball-sized apple was shared among everyone.
A short while later, Zhang Chen found another mutated apple and stored it in his spatial ring. At the same time, Zuo Nan also spotted a mutated apple. He didn't dare to take it himself, fearing he might offend Zhang Chen. After all, in this apocalypse, snatching something in front of a powerful person was like pointing a finger at their nose and shouting, "Come and get it!" The outcome was self-evident. Zuo Nan gently patted Zhang Chen and said, "Boss, there's another mutated apple over there!"
"Not just one, there's a whole patch over there. They say natural fruits are rare in the apocalypse, but it doesn't seem that rare to me!"
"Or maybe it's just that Boss's luck is too good, unstoppable!" Zhang Chen glanced at these apples and shook his head, saying, "These are poison apples. If you eat them, you'll die within five seconds!"
"Poison... poison apples?" Zuo Nan was taken aback. These two types of apples looked almost identical, and he had carefully examined them without noticing any difference. How did Zhang Chen distinguish them?
"Well, if you don't believe me, you can try. But I suggest you try after we find the lighthouse. At that point, your death won't cause me any loss!" Zhang Chen said calmly.
"Ah? Then I'd better not try..." Zuo Nan said sheepishly. He knew Zhang Chen had no reason to lie to him; why would he lie and not take any of these mutated apples? The cost would be too high. Moreover, Zuo Nan had heard before that for the same type of fruit, some people considered it a treasure and others a poison, with no consensus. This might be related to the similar appearance of these fruits! But... how exactly did Zhang Chen distinguish them?! He couldn't see any difference... this wasn't scientific!