The next day, on the outskirts of Port French Fries, members of the Jungle Corps carrying chainsaws and bolters were on duty.
Although the wild overgrowth in the forest had stopped, the danger had not been completely eliminated.
In particular, the rampantly expanding flora had stirred up mutants active in the area, causing the danger rating around Port French Fries to skyrocket.
Several patrolling drones had even spotted a massive carnivorous mutant with a danger level of 60 in the forest!
Such extremely dangerous mutants had originally ranged deep in the inland forests, but now, drawn by the migration of beast herds, they had been lured near Port French Fries.
This situation was beyond the control of the broodmother in the forest as well; it couldn't directly command a specific mutant where to go.
Currently, several checkpoints leading inland had been closed, and only players or individuals holding passes were permitted to pass through.
In fact, at a juncture like this, aside from the Jungle Corps' Ranger Squad, hardly any players would venture deep into the forest.
After all, even if death wasn't permanent in the game, the death penalty was still enough of a headache.
Even so, despite the official website and VMs having raised the region's danger index and recommended level, there were still hardheaded players who refused to heed the warning, throwing themselves toward wherever danger lurked.
For instance, at that very moment, three low-level players just past Level 20 stood before the checkpoint gate.
The NPC officer on duty checked their VMs and confirmed beyond doubt that all three were shelter residents.
Seeing their clueless expressions, however, he offered a well-meaning warning.
"The map's current recommended level has been temporarily bumped up to Level 40. If a player's level is ten levels below the recommended rating, insurance only pays out half; twenty levels below, and insurance only pays a quarter. You'd better think this through."
The leading player grinned. "We know the score, bro."
The other two players chimed in as well.
"No need to worry about us."
"We take full responsibility for ourselves."
Hearing them put it that way, the NPC said nothing more, marked their VMs as approved, and offered a respectful military salute.
"Go ahead. Good luck."
[Party: Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog, Just Want to Quietly Screw Dogs, Handsome Enough to Drop Frames. (Approved!)]
Having completed the registration, the party leader beamed and saluted back, then rushed into the forest with his two companions in hot pursuit, terrified someone else might beat them to the loot.
Watching the trio vanish into the woods, the officer couldn't help glancing at the Jungle Corps brother beside him. "Will they be alright?"
The guy encased like a tin can was an experienced player himself; he could guess what those three rookies were plotting with his eyes closed. Yawning, he replied, "Probably trying to farm contribution points. Don't worry about 'em—just let 'em play however they want."
Snapping a photo didn't actually award many contribution points unless they secured high-value specimens or dropped materials.
Simply put, you had to be able to win the fight.
These guys were still too green; after dying a few times, they'd come to their senses.
The NPC officer: "..."
Meanwhile, the three players who had passed the checkpoint had already penetrated deep into the jungle.
Just as the veteran had predicted, all three reckless youths were out to farm contribution points.
Thanks to this wave of rampant plant growth, many mutants originally lurking deep in the forest had spilled into low-level zones. From another perspective, though, wasn't this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
Never again would so many high-level mutants appear in a low-level area!
To minimize equipment loss, they carried only LD-47s and a few white phosphorus grenades. As for armor, they wore only stab-proof vests, skipping even the basic exoskeleton.
This getup could only be described as dirt-cheap—the kind where any onlooker knew at a glance that these bastards hadn't planned on returning to their save point alive.
Yet as they pushed deeper into the jungle, drums began beating in their chests despite themselves.
"Hey, why is it so quiet here?" Just Want to Quietly Screw Dogs, who had held his tongue the entire trek while scouring the corners of the forest, finally couldn't resist muttering. "Didn't they bump up the recommended level? There's not a peep..."
"Shut up and listen for footsteps." Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog shot him a glare, remaining on high alert. Yet the more attentive he was, the more panicky he felt inside.
This was totally wrong.
After the recommended level had been raised, the map was actually quieter than before.
The mutants that used to prowl this area had gone somewhere, as if vanished into thin air.
Or rather—
They were hiding.
At that thought, Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog felt his heart thumping wildly, adrenaline surging.
Yet terror accounted for only half of that adrenaline rush.
The other half was pure ecstasy!
There was only one thing capable of making every mutant in the forest hide—
A boss had spawned nearby!
Watching his team leader's fanatical expression, the pug player named Handsome Enough to Drop Frames grew increasingly panicked.
He was the only Perception-type in the group. Although his level was only in the twenties, he was serviceable enough as a scout.
And yet, even he couldn't sense any mutants nearby...
There was only one explanation: the trouble they were dealing with was vastly beyond their pay grade!
"Bro, you got a plan? Why do I feel so uneasy?"
Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog narrowed his eyes. "Ever heard that saying?"
Handsome Enough to Drop Frames swallowed hard. "What saying...?"
Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog grinned fiercely. "The bigger the waves, the pricier the fish!"
Just Want to Quietly Screw Dogs: "..."
Handsome Enough to Drop Frames whimpered, "Is it too late to leave the party?"
"Too late!"
It really was too late.
The instant Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog uttered those words, a muffled roar erupted from right ahead of them.
"Roar—!"
The roar seemed to shake the entire forest, making the ground beneath them tremble!
Startled, the three hadn't even had time to react before a dozen dark silhouettes darted out from the front.
Those shadows were around three meters long, shaped like cheetahs, with razor-sharp teeth protruding outside their lips like upright sickles!
Handsome Enough to Drop Frames recognized the mutant at once, freezing in terror.
"Shadowhunt Coyotes! Level 30 mutants—"
The name had been coined by the player who first discovered it; they usually ranged in the mountains a hundred kilometers away from Port French Fries. With teeth sharp enough to bite through steel plates and pack-hunting tactics, even Ranger Squads found them a handful!
Before his exclamation faded, Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog had already raised his rifle, tongues of fire spitting from the muzzle as he sprayed the oncoming silhouettes.
"Who gives a damn about the level, open fire!"
Rat-tat-tat—!
A deadly rain of scorching metal fragments ripped through the woods, slamming head-on into a Shadowhunt Coyote bursting from the brush. With a pained yelp, it dropped dead on the spot.
That burst had scored a critical hit, striking right in the head by pure luck.
"Nice one—!"
Seeing his buddy solo a Level 30 Shadowhunt Coyote, Just Want to Quietly Screw Dogs hollered excitedly and joined in the chaos to score kills, spraying haphazardly at the scurrying shadows.
Yet their fortune was short-lived.
The death of their packmate alerted the fleeing Shadowhunt Coyotes to the immediate threat!
Wild instinct warned them that if they didn't deal with these two two-legged beasts first, they'd die right here before the predator chasing them even caught up!
Driven by the desire to survive, the pack's alpha howled. Dodging a volley of fire, the fleeing coyotes actually rallied together. Abandoning their flight, they swarmed the stumbling blocks standing in their escape path!
Seeing the dark shapes lunging at him, Just Want to Quietly Screw Dogs was frightened out of his wits. Cursing "Holy shit," he reached down with his right hand for a white phosphorus grenade at his waist.
Yet before he could rip it free, a three-meter-long direwolf sprang into the air. With a feral snap, its jaws clamped around his shoulder, swallowing his entire head into its gullet.
*Squelch—*
The tearing of flesh and the sickening crunch of bone mingled together. Scalding blood sprayed two or three meters high, dyeing a broad-leaved shrub crimson!
Roused by the scent of fresh blood, the Shadowhunt Coyote threw its head back with a howl and turned toward the other dog.
Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog was petrified by the gory scene. Fortunately, his hands kept moving; he ripped a white phosphorus grenade free, pulled the pin, and hurled it.
A blinding white flash erupted instantly, forcing the beast's eyes shut.
At that exact moment, searing flames burst into sparks midair, showering half its body in dense white smoke and setting its fur ablaze!
"Awooo—!"
The Shadowhunt Coyote let out an agonizing yowl as its three-meter body crashed heavily to the ground, thrashing and rolling through the underbrush to smother the flames.
What it didn't expect was that the more it struggled, the fiercer the fire raged! Within a few breaths, the flames engulfed it completely!
Watching the motionless Shadowhunt Coyote, Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog didn't dare lower his guard. His right hand already gripped two more white phosphorus grenades, ready to throw at any second.
Right in front of him, three Shadowhunt Coyotes glared with predatory malice.
Had it not been for the sudden explosion of fire, they would have pounced and torn him to shreds already.
"Grrr..."
The leading Shadowhunt Coyote crouched low, forepaws scraping the earth as menacing growls rolled from its throat.
Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog refused to back down, glaring right back while sneaking a cautious glance to the side for backup, only to discover that Ugly Enough to Drop Frames was nowhere to be seen.
*Damn it... randoms really can't be trusted.* He cursed inwardly, completely abandoning hope of getting help from a teammate.
Right then, however, the tide seemed to turn.
The three coyotes squaring off against him suddenly bristled, as if catching scent of grave danger, and snarled as they shrank back a few steps.
Then, without warning, they spun around and plunged back into the woods behind them.
Confirming that the rustling had faded into the distance, Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog finally exhaled, letting his taut nerves relax.
"Damn it... talk about rotten luck today."
To stumble into a beast migration, and Shadowhunt Coyotes at that!
What puzzled him, though, was what kind of monster could terrify these wild mutts—beasts brazen enough to gnaw through armored vehicles—to such a degree.
As confusion gnawed at him, that earth-shattering roar rang out once more.
Unlike before, this time the roar brought with it a scorching blast of wind.
The scalding draft felt like the hot breath of some colossal beast, instantly making every nerve in his body taut again. He unhooked two white phosphorus grenades and whipped around.
Yet the moment he turned, he froze as though struck by lightning.
It was a lizard roughly five or six stories tall.
Its body was clad in iridescent, multicolored scales, and its two massive eyes were like the clockfaces of a bell tower.
Reared halfway up in the forest like Godzilla, every single inch of its scales radiated an overwhelming, suffocating presence!
"What... the hell is that?!"
Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog was utterly flabbergasted, forgetting even to use his VM to record the awe-inspiring sight.
The lizard didn't seem to notice him. It simply lumbered forward with slow strides, and with every step it took, the entire forest trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
Right then, as if summoned by a voice, the lizard halted its advance and swung its body around in place.
It turning around wouldn't have been an issue on its own, but with one twist of its massive rear, its barrel-thick tail swept across like a giant whip, sweeping through a hundred-meter-wide swath of forest in an instant.
"Holy sh—"
Just Want to Quietly Be a Dog didn't have time to react, or even utter a full scream, before being swatted flying by that cataclysmic tail, disintegrating midair amidst countless splintered wood shards.
Meanwhile, Handsome Enough to Drop Frames, who had dug a scrape on the spot and pressed his face flat against the dirt, miraculously survived.
He had no idea what he'd been thinking at the time; upon seeing the fleeing beasts, his first instinct hadn't been to shoot, but to find a hole and hide.
Whether due to cowardice or his Perception stat, he had somehow managed to live.
Gazing at the devastation around him, he felt his brow twitch violently.
"Sweet mother of... did a typhoon hit?!"
He clicked his tongue and lifted his head, only to freeze mid-breath.
A gigantic lizard stood right in the center of the flattened forest, its crested head held high, shimmering with iridescent light beneath the afternoon sun.
With that colossal size, putting even Scavenger in front of it would probably make him look like an ant!
*Dragon Lizard!*
The term leaped into Handsome Enough to Drop Frames' mind instantly.
With trembling hands, he grasped the camera-equipped earpiece beside his ear, snapped several photos of the unbelievable creature in rapid succession, and uploaded them to his VM.
Archive data.
Name mutant...
Done!
Looking at the "Naming Successful" prompt on his VM screen and the hefty reward for unlocking an entry in the codex, Handsome Enough to Drop Frames finally breathed a sigh of relief. This expedition hadn't been in vain after all.
A creature of this scale was far beyond what any single player could hunt down; it might take strategic-grade weapons from the Alliance to deal with it.
Just as Handsome Enough to Drop Frames dusted the mud off his pants and prepared to slip away, he was once again struck dumb by what lay ahead.
Behind the flattened, toppled woods, a towering, magnificent tree stood in the dead center of the forest!
It didn't appear to be just one tree, but rather countless trees of varying species intertwined and growing together!
It was the only thing in the entire forest taller than that colossal lizard.
What shocked him even more followed right after.
The gargantuan Dragon Lizard ambled up to the towering tree.
Like a child clinging to its parent, it lowered its cockscomb-crested head to nuzzle against the trunk, flicking its forked tongue against the roots while purring sounds rumbled from its billowing jowls.
Watching the incredible scene, Handsome Enough to Drop Frames was rendered speechless.
He suddenly remembered a post he had read on the official website forum.
It was Big Boss Ye Shi's travelogue about planet Gaia in the Alpha Centauri system.
This giant tree looked somewhat familiar...
Snapping back to reality, his eyes went wide.
"Holy shit..."
Could this be...
The Doma people's Sacred Tree?!
It was actually replicated on Earth!
Chapter 1028