Life Game In Other World
Chapter 441: Leave This ’High Priest’ to Me (Vote for Me for Monthly Ticket)

Chapter 441: Chapter 441: Leave This ’High Priest’ to Me (Vote for Me for Monthly Ticket)

It was about one in the afternoon when the middle-aged man came to find He Ao, bringing both He Ao and Ennie back toward the clan chief’s cabin.

"Has the Merck clan grown impatient lately, and could they possibly launch an attack soon?"

On the way, He Ao asked softly.

"It’s possible," the middle-aged man nodded. "I will order an increase in our defenses. Mr. Pete, rest assured, our clansmen are all adept at war. Even if the high priest of the Merck clan came in person, we would be able to hold our ground against them."

"Better safe than sorry,"

He Ao said with a smile, softly.

"Indeed."

The middle-aged man also nodded in agreement.

He Ao knew the middle-aged man was humoring him; the man had his own pace and arrangements and wouldn’t change the entire camp’s defensive posture based on a single comment from him.

And after all, it was just a speculation without concrete evidence.

Still, thanks to He Ao’s reminder, the middle-aged man might pay a little more attention.

The trio quickly arrived in front of the clan chief’s cabin.

The middle-aged man opened the door for He Ao, who sat down with composure in the same spot where he had sat that morning.

"Young Pete mentioned a solution to the Human-eating Mushroom problem. Could you perhaps share it with us?"

The elder clan chief, sitting at the far end, looked at He Ao and spoke slowly with a smile.

"I once came across information about these Human-eating Mushrooms in the wilderness of Dawn City. Dawn City refers to these mushrooms as Phantom Mushrooms, and the information included methods on dealing with them,"

He Ao said with a smile, "However, it has been a long time since the area around Dawn City has seen Phantom Mushrooms active, so not many people are aware of this method. It was only by a fortunate coincidence that I obtained it.

"The method itself is not difficult, but I am personally very curious about the Phantom Mushrooms. I noticed that you seem to be researching these mushrooms in the hospital. What is it about this mushroom that is so peculiar and unique?"

"Speaking of peculiarity, the life state of the Human-eating Mushroom is indeed strange,"

the elder clan chief said slowly, "Generally, mushrooms are fungi and, as we currently understand, fungi share a common origin with algae and belong to eukaryotic organisms with complete nuclei.

"The reproduction, growth, and some physiological characteristics of the Human-eating Mushroom exhibit typical fungal traits, yet they lack a complete nucleus."

The elder clan chief paused for a moment, "In fact, they don’t even have a pseudo-nucleus where a concentration of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) typically gathers. Their genetic material is not solely deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as in other cellular life forms.

"Their genetic material includes both deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), which are uniformly dispersed within the cell."

"From our current understanding, the cells within the bodies of exotic beasts typically mutate, evolving unique organelles not found in other organisms.

"We do not yet know if these organelles are related to their Transcendent abilities, but most exotic beasts do possess such extraordinary organelles that are unlike those of ordinary life forms.

"However, under normal circumstances, these unique organelles found only within the cells of exotic beasts are limited to one or two, and the specific organelles differ from one exotic beast to another.

"Yet, within the cells of the Human-eating Mushroom, there are nine completely different unique organelles,"

the elder continued, pausing for a moment, "Among these nine unique organelles, we have recognized three types previously seen in other exotic beasts. We suspect that the remaining six organelles might also come from various other exotic beasts."

Speaking so much at once was a burden on his aged body; he grasped the water glass under the table, lifted it slowly, and took a sip of water.

"Phantom Mushrooms can absorb the organelles from other exotic beasts?" Ennie scratched her head, trying to grasp the concept that the elderly man was explaining, which was precisely the content she had studied in high school biology, and she subconsciously began to ponder it.

"Or did someone intentionally implant these organelles into the Phantom Mushrooms? But is it really possible to implant the organelles of one organism into another without killing it?"

"Don’t underestimate the mysterious power of the Transcendents," the Elder smiled and nodded, "Your guess is very accurate. Our current hypothesis is a combination of your two guesses."

"A mysterious being ’created’ the Phantom Mushrooms."

He Ao said slowly.

"Ah?"

Ennie clearly didn’t catch on, as this was somewhat beyond her current knowledge system.

"Yes, we suspect that these Human-eating Mushrooms were created by some Higher Being as an experimental product,"

the Elderly said in a calm voice.

"Then what are we?" Ennie finally sorted out what her father and the Elder were talking about, and she looked at the Elder with some surprise, "Culture mediums?"

Phantom Mushrooms absorb human flesh and blood to grow and reproduce.

For some reason, Ennie felt fear for the first time about this world she had grown up in.

He Ao turned around, touched his daughter’s head, and showed a smile, comforting the daughter who was gradually seeing the true nature of the world.

Ennie looked at her father’s steady cheeks, and her shoulders, which had been slightly raised from tension, slowly relaxed.

She smiled at her father, signaling him not to worry.

Meanwhile, the Elder had turned his gaze to He Ao, "Our current research findings are just these, as for the Higher Being behind the Human-eating Mushrooms, that’s not something we can touch."

Although they couldn’t touch the Higher Being, they still had to destroy the Phantom Mushrooms.

Although it was an experiment of the Higher Being, if the Phantom Mushrooms lived, it meant that the Wilderness Wanderers would face either a life of displacement or death. The Wanderers had nowhere else to retreat to.

"My information says that the way to deal with Phantom Mushrooms is very simple," He Ao turned his head and replied, "Burn them. The ashes of the Phantom Mushrooms burn very easily, which can create an extensive wildfire."

"The flames’ roasting will make the ’scent’ of the Human-eating Mushrooms even stronger,"

the Elder rasped, "Even if just a single mushroom is roasted, a C-level Transcendent might not be able to resist such a scent, and when the Human-eating Mushrooms gather, the temptation will be exponentially stronger. If we set fire, we will have to resist the allure of the Human-eating Mushrooms and also face the exotic beasts."

What the Elder referred to were the difficulties they would encounter when burning the Phantom Mushrooms.

When Phantom Mushrooms are roasted, they emit an even stronger scent, which induces the person who sets the fire to eat them, thus avoiding being turned to ashes and continuing to grow and sprout inside the body of the person who lit the fire.

However, it’s also possible not to use living people to set the fire, but to use robots instead.

But there is no network signal in the wilderness, and even a slightly farther distance will encounter strong interference. Even if a relay is used to relay the signal, it will still be interfered with.

This means that the distance between the controller and the robot cannot be too great, and the combined effect of temptation from the clusters of Phantom Mushrooms and the area of temptation is considerable. The controller is likely to still be within the range of the Phantom Mushrooms’ allure.

The solution to this, then, is to have a sniper ready to shoot the controller at long range when they are about to be tempted."

And the second problem mentioned by the Elder is that the attraction of Phantom Mushrooms increases dramatically when they are clustered together. If they catch fire, the accumulated temptation of the Phantom Mushrooms will also become stronger.

Then perhaps the entire mountainside will be filled with the aroma of Phantom Mushrooms being roasted, and while people nearby might evacuate, the wild exotic beasts roaming the mountains will not obey humans.

And if an exotic beast eats a Phantom Mushroom, it could also cause the burn plan to fail.

"We can set up a defensive line around the perimeter and clear out any exotic beasts that come through. As long as we prepare enough fuel, the speed of burning the Phantom Mushrooms should be quite fast."

He Ao pondered for a moment before replying in a calm voice, "It seems that the members of the Andavi family are naturally able to resist strong spiritual temptations?"

Indeed, he had noticed long ago that the souls of the Andavi family members were much more compact than those of other people.

In the third-floor hospital, researchers from the Andavi family walked near the Phantom Mushrooms without feeling any significant attraction, even though the mushrooms were not far away.

Although there was only one Phantom Mushroom, and it was enclosed in a glass cover, the fact that the Andavi family members could resist this temptation still said something.

The hair color of the entire Andavi family tended to be light, and the young man from the Merck family whom He Ao had brought also had lighter hair. That young man might have some Andavi blood in him, which could explain why he was able to walk along the edge of the area covered by the Phantom Mushrooms.

This characteristic might be related to the secrets hidden by the Andavi family. He Ao did not know what those secrets were, but he knew the Andavi family should be able to act on the edge of the Phantom Mushroom area to block the exotic beasts attracted there.

Doing so would cause considerable loss to the Andavi family.

But not dealing with the Phantom Mushrooms would result in greater losses.

The elder seemed to have fallen into a kind of silence. After a while, he slowly lifted his face, which was full of age spots, and said softly, "We can."

Then, he looked at He Ao. "But none of us can start a fire."

The one to ignite the fire would need to go deep into the Phantom Mushroom’s covered area to spread fuel and face the temptation of the mushrooms as the flames began to burn.

At this level, even the natural resistance of the Andavi family was of no use, and even a D-level Transcendent would be easily tempted.

And this person was crucial, the core of the entire operation. If they were controlled by the Phantom Mushrooms and turned into a ’cultivation medium’ before even starting the fire, then there would be no subsequent action.

From what He Ao felt, even a C-level could possibly die there.

However, this degree of spiritual temptation was still something He Ao could resist.

"I can go," said He Ao softly. "When the time comes, aim a Plasma Cannon at me. If I am tempted, fire it."

The hunched elder straightened slightly, seemingly shocked by He Ao’s decision.

After all, He Ao was just a passerby who happened to be stranded here. The Phantom Mushrooms did not involve his core interests, and he could have simply fled.

"What do you want?"

The elder asked slowly.

Every sacrifice must have a reason.

He Ao was willing to go to such lengths, so he certainly wanted something.

"I want to know what the Fountain of Youth is, where it is, and how to find the Fountain of Youth," He Ao said calmly as he looked the elder in the eye, speaking deliberately.

"I have already told you the legend of the Fountain of Youth," the elder responded slowly.

"I know that’s not the whole story," He Ao replied calmly. "Phantom Mushrooms have already devoured a Wanderer Camp."

The elder was silent for a moment. "We do not know if your method will work."

He Ao: "We can conduct an experiment first to see the results."

The elder grew even more silent.

In the end, he sighed heavily and said, "You know that knowledge itself can attract the attention of Higher Beings? The higher the level of the Transcendent knowledge involved, the more terrifying the Transcendent events you’ll be swept into later."

"I know."

He Ao replied calmly.

Not only did he know, but he also had more than one good friend.

The elder raised his head and looked at He Ao, seemingly contemplating something. Finally, he shook his head. "Although your soul seems very strong, your body is too weak. You won’t be able to enter the core area of the Phantom Mushrooms."

He sighed softly, "That’s that then..."

Boom—

Just then, a roaring sound of a cannon exploded in the sky like thunder.

Creak—

At that moment, the tightly closed wooden door was violently pushed open, and a somewhat young adolescent, out of breath, stood at the door looking at the elder,

"Elder, the Merck family has attacked. They’ve brought many people, and five large Mechas. Mr. Jila was ambushed and seriously injured while on lookout outside; he’s now unconscious, and the doctors in the hospital are trying to save him."

Behind the adolescent was a sky covered in dark clouds. Everything had happened so suddenly that only this adolescent had rushed over to deliver the message; he had even forgotten that he could use a walkie-talkie.

Jila was the middle-aged man who had been accompanying He Ao.

Boom—

A dazzling thunderbolt streaked across the sky, followed immediately by pouring rain. The fierce wind howled through the eaves as it passed.

The elder watched the storm outside, his murky eyes reflecting the raindrops, "Kaja..."

He turned to the adolescent, "Gather all the fighting members of the family, take up arms, and man the walls. Remember to prepare raincoats. I’ll be right there."

"Okay."

The adolescent nodded and plunged into the rain.

The elder took out a cane from under the table and slowly propped himself up to stand, then he turned to He Ao, "We’ve got some issues now, so we’ll have to trouble you to go back to the tents and not wander off."

"Is Kaja the High Priest of the Merck family? Did that C-level personally come here?"

He Ao did not move, instead he asked softly.

"Kaja’s Talent Sequences is ’Talent Sequence 65: Rain Master,’ and the Merck family excels at fighting in the rain," the elder said slowly as he walked outside. "Every time there’s actual combat, Kaja creates a rainstorm environment to create advantageous terrain for his own family."

Talent Sequence 65: Rain Master.

This appeared to be a Talent Sequence that enabled the use of area abilities. This ability to create a rainstorm seemed somewhat similar to the ’Mountain Collapse Tsunami’ that He Ao had created with the Miracle Wand.

He Ao made a mental note of this Talent Sequence, then looked at the elder and slowly stood up, drawing the prism-shaped short sword hidden in his clothing,

"How about I take care of this ’High Priest’?"