Argan Grasslands, Children of Argan Tribe
Moon Key sat in her tent. Shortly after the new rule was released, cries of surprise erupted outside one after another.
"Everyone, look!"
"How is this possible? These grasses..."
"Heavens, hurry and call the shaman!"
Hearing this, Moon Key glanced at the slightly bulging bottom of the tent and stood up.
Just then, the tent flap was pushed open from outside. Tribe Leader Jie entered with a grim expression and said, "Moon, come out and take a look. The situation is bad!"
Moon Key stepped out of the tent and was immediately shocked by what she saw before her.
The wild grass that carpeted the plains was growing at a visible rate! These blades, which had been at most a few centimeters tall, had grown a noticeable amount in mere moments. If this pace continued, they would soon reach a person's shins.
Everyone in the tribe was panicked, at a complete loss for what to do. If these weeds kept growing nonstop, they would be buried alive before long!
"Moon, we have to do something!" Jie said nervously, sweat beading on his forehead as he paced back and forth. "Damn new rule. The grasslands are too vast to escape in time, and we certainly can't afford teleportation items..."
Moon Key frowned deeply. The rule explicitly stated that all plants would enter a phase of explosive growth during the rule period. This instantly transformed the tribe's grassland home from a peaceful refuge into a deadly trap fraught with danger.
And with several dozen tribe members trapped here, escaping would be as difficult as a rabbit with its leg caught in a hunter's trap.
"Don't just stand there, everyone! Use your abilities and items to clear the weeds underfoot!" Leader Jie called out loudly.
The crowd exchanged uncertain glances. Some possessed offensive abilities or items, but using them for weeding would be laughably inefficient—worse than a lawnmower.
However, the tribe had come here specifically to escape modern industry. What lawnmower would they have?
"Burn it!" one tribe member blurted out in panic. "Use fire to burn it all!"
"Are you crazy?! We'd all be burned to death!"
"Our camp is near the water source. The ground is very damp, and the grass is wet. Fire won't catch!"
"Why would the Fire Thief release a rule like this... waaah... I thought staying away from human industrial society, in a place like this, would be safest..."
Watching the weeds grow before their eyes, the fear in everyone's hearts was indescribable. Some people covered their faces and wept.
They looked to Leader Jie, but he was at a loss as well.
Then their gazes all turned to Moon Key.
"Moon Shaman, please use your prophetic ability to tell us what to do!"
"Yes! Only Moon Shaman's prophecy can save us now!"
The entire tribe placed their hopes on Moon Key. Only her mysterious ability held any promise. Everyone else's abilities and items had clearly defined effects—none of them could solve this crisis.
Leader Jie also looked at Moon Key with hopeful eyes. "I know it might not work, but please, try."
Moon Key nodded. Even though she didn't hold much hope herself, everyone was counting on her. As the tribe's shaman, she had to at least make an attempt.
She sat down directly on the grass. The moment she did, the sensation of wild grass surging beneath her became even more intense.
Taking out her crystal ball, she activated her ability to divine the solution to this rule. The light in the crystal ball flickered on for an instant before extinguishing.
This was a sign that the prophecy had completely failed.
She lifted her gaze. The fear of the rule and the desperate will to survive were reflected in everyone's eyes. It made it hard for her to speak the result of her failed prophecy.
After a moment of thought, she once again infused Mind Power into the crystal ball, but this time she changed the prophetic question.
Instead of asking for the solution to the rule—which was too vast and bound to fail—she asked, "What must the 'Children of Argan' tribe do to survive?"
The crystal ball glowed with light, and scenes only she could interpret swirled within it.
Moon Key stared intently. When the light faded, she stood up and said to everyone, "We cannot overcome this crisis on our own... But if we seek help from outside, there may be a glimmer of hope."
...
"Green Hell... Just the name of this new rule doesn't sound good."
After hearing the newly released rule, Guan Tong felt it was dangerous just from the word "Hell" in the name.
The content of the rule, however, was somewhat vague and confusing.
All plants would undergo explosive growth during the rule period, but different types of plants would exhibit different forms of growth. This broad summary made it difficult to intuitively grasp the actual threat of this rule.
Just as he was about to check the hidden rule, his ears twitched slightly, and his gaze shifted toward the jungle not far away.
...It wasn't his imagination.
Guan Tong was sure he heard a dense rustling sound.
It wasn't the sound of an animal moving through the forest, its body brushing against the vegetation. It was the sound of the forest itself—the plants themselves.
It was the sound of them growing!
Guan Tong was somewhat astonished. The effect of "explosive growth" was so powerful that he could directly hear the sound of plants growing. Even though his perception was far sharper than an average person's, this was still a bit excessive.
If the sound of plants growing was audible, the speed of their growth was naturally terrifying.
"...This valley bottom might not be safe anymore."
Guan Tong thought to himself. This wild valley lacked nothing except... plants. Would his shelter here be affected by this rule?
He wasn't the only one with this thought. Coal Ball, who had been lying beside him, had already arched its back, staring warily at the forest with bared teeth and hissing.
It seemed the cat had also realized that its usual stomping grounds were undergoing some significant change.
"Swoosh!"
The next moment, it turned and darted straight back into the shelter room. Guan Tong was very surprised.
Animals were more sensitive to danger than humans. Had it sensed some kind of threat? But with Coal Ball's current build, even if the plants went wild, could they actually hurt it?
Guan Tong felt something was off. He opened his Terminal Panel to check the hidden rule.
[Hidden Rule Twenty-Two: Predatory Photosynthesis]
[Hidden Rule Content: After various types of plants reach a certain stage of explosive growth, they will no longer rely solely on sunlight for photosynthesis. They will actively absorb the heat, moisture, and carbon-based organic matter from surrounding living organisms, converting them into their own growth energy.]
[Note: If a Venus flytrap starts targeting humans, will humans feel fear?]
"So... that's it."
After reading the hidden rule, Guan Tong understood why Coal Ball had run into the shelter.
Without a doubt, the cat had sensed that the crazily growing plants in the forest would soon not be satisfied with absorbing just the energy from the sun and rain. They would start absorbing the energy from other living things as well.
The animals in the forest, and even... humans, would become their targets!
No wonder this was a survival-type rule. For humans, if the plants they saw everywhere became aggressive, their own safety would become very hard to guarantee.
He wondered if the officially built shelters were safe enough...
Guan Tong hurried back upstairs, opened his computer, and posted a thread selling the hidden rule.
"For Sale: Secret Intelligence Related to the Twenty-Second Doomsday Rule"
Details: Intelligence price, 500,000 Ascension Coins.
As soon as the post was made, the buyers who had been keeping an eye on him sent private messages to place orders.
Just like the previous times, the number of buyers was eight.
But unlike before, according to Scarface's account, Han Qiu's purchasing criteria for the hidden rules sold on the website was "buy every single one without fail."
This meant that among these eight accounts, even if one wasn't Han Qiu himself, it was one he controlled remotely.
"Should I check the IP addresses of every account?"
With no news from Scarface for a long time, Guan Tong was getting anxious. He considered investigating the buyers one by one.
After thinking it over, he decided against it.
Even though no one could supervise him, unless he encountered a user deliberately causing chaos on the site, he wouldn't actively use his authority to investigate users' private information.
Besides, given Han Qiu's cautious nature, since he didn't trust the Ascendant Home website, he would have thoroughly cut all ties with the account holder. Even if Guan Tong could find the account's location, he wouldn't be able to track Han Qiu down through reverse investigation.
...
Beixing, Countermeasures Research Office.
Inside the meeting room, a symposium on how to deal with the new rule was underway.
A Data Officer was giving a report: "Since the rule was released, plants around the world have been growing at an explosive rate. Some have even broken through their own genetic limitations."
The staff member's report was accompanied by videos playing on the large screen. Everyone in the room listened and watched with rapt attention.
In the video, some plants that were originally only able to grow a few dozen centimeters tall were now breaking through their limits under the rule's influence, showing a deeply unsettling growth transformation.
Some herbaceous plants, which normally took a long time from germination to seeding, were now rapidly fast-forwarding through the entire process in the video. At this rate, short-cycle plants seemed able to complete their growth cycle in no time.
For example, a rice paddy shown in the video, which normally had a three-month growth cycle, now appeared to complete the entire cycle in just two or three days.
A rice paddy going from germination to harvest in just two or three days—what did that even mean? This wasn't just hormone-level speed anymore; it was ghost story speed!
Everyone present watched the video footage, and no one found it encouraging. Never mind whether anyone would dare eat rice that completed its growth cycle in two days; the problem was that all other plants were going crazy like this too.
The video also showed some vines and climbing plants. These were even scarier. In just half an hour of filming, they had extended by about a meter!
This rule lasted thirty days. At this speed of extending over forty meters a day, by the time the rule ended, wouldn't a single vine be over a kilometer long?!
One vine stretching a thousand meters—and how many vines were there in the world? And what about the countless other plants? What kind of complex growth changes would they undergo?
"Chief!" another person urgently reported at this moment. "The hidden rule sold by the Administrator of Ascendant Home has been received."
"Speak."
"Yes, sir. The Administrator's private message said: 'The growing plants will mutate over time. They will not be satisfied with the energy from photosynthesis alone and will begin to actively plunder the energy of all living beings, including humans, to sustain themselves.'"
"!!!"
Everyone in the meeting room was stunned.
"How can this be?" one attendee murmured. "Plants plundering humans? That's just too ridiculous..."
"What's so ridiculous about it? Haven't there been cases like that before? The serial killer gardener buried his victims' bodies in his own garden to use as flower fertilizer. In a way, that's also plants plundering human energy, isn't it?"
"You're getting it wrong... This isn't 'plants' passively absorbing nutrients."
At this point, a botanist who had been invited to the meeting due to this rule looked at Gao Liangwei, who was seated at the head of the table, his expression anxious.
"Chief, if the plants are going to develop aggression over time, to ensure the safety of personnel in all cities, we must immediately clear all vegetation from both inside and outside the shelters!"
An architectural expert at the meeting said, "When the nation built the shelters, every single one had its foundations compacted. They used the best and most durable construction materials. Even standard thermal weapons can't destroy them, let alone plant roots!"
"It's better to be safe than sorry. The clearance operations must proceed both inside and outside simultaneously." Gao Liangwei's eyes were sharp as he spoke in a deep voice.
"All plants inside the shelters, including ornamental potted plants grown by the residents, must be destroyed and removed. Furthermore, each region must dispatch Ascendants and armed forces to rapidly destroy the plants surrounding each shelter. Right now, what everyone needs to consider is how to destroy these plants efficiently, safely, and on a large scale?"
As his voice fell, everyone sank into thought.
Someone offered a suggestion: "All these plants are growing wildly. Ordinary cutting or burning probably won't be very efficient. In the old days, farmers used herbicides. Maybe we could do that, or even just spread quicklime over a large area?"
"No way!" the botanist immediately shook his head in denial. "Spread quicklime over a large area? How can you even suggest that? Do you want to ruin the nation's land? Even if it successfully suppresses plant growth, the result would be severe soil alkalization over a wide area. How would we recover after the rule ends? Crops wouldn't be able to grow, and all the cities would turn into deserts before long!"
The one who had been rebutted still looked unconvinced. "We can worry about the future later. Shouldn't we treat every rule as if it were the last and give it our all? Besides, if you say I'm wrong, then you're the expert. Give us some real suggestions."
The botanist thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, "I think the method that both destroys the plants and doesn't cause devastating damage to the land is best done with high-temperature incineration. The next best option is to create an environmentally sealed enclosure, cutting off the plants' access to sunlight, water, and carbon-based materials. But that's not very realistic... unless we have some particularly effective forced dehydrating agents or photosynthesis inhibitors."
Upon hearing this, Gao Liangwei said, "High-temperature incineration is simple. Equip the armed forces with flamethrowers. If necessary, we can directly drop napalm to destroy the plants over a large area. As for specialized dehydrating agents and photosynthesis inhibitors..."
He looked at Zhang Minglu, who immediately caught his meaning.
"I will immediately use AI assistance to search the Ascendant database and screen for Ascendants with abilities of that nature."
"Also screen for those with fire-related abilities," Gao Liangwei added. "I remember there's an Ascendant of that type at the base. His name is..."
"You mean Yang Ran, Chief?" said Li Meng, who was also present at the meeting. "That kid's nickname is 'Fire God.' He can indeed generate flames over a large area. He was a member of my temporary team before."
"Yes, Yang Ran. Put him on standby. His abilities might come in handy."