'So many treasure chests, so why isn't the system giving any prompts anymore?'
'Could it be that the system thinks these chests are too low-level? After all, they are all level-one wooden chests, so they aren't worth mentioning?'
'Or maybe...'
'That team of players already opened all the chests?'
Ethan's thoughts were unsettled.
———
At the same time, the players moving through the botanical garden also noticed the white eagle flying across the sky.
After all, the white eagle was covered in flames. Even in the dark, it was hard not to notice it.
"A phoenix!"
One of the female players below pointed at the white eagle and shouted, "Look! It's a phoenix!"
"Shh!"
Another cold-looking female player quickly covered the cute girl's mouth and said, "Don't shout! We don't know if that phoenix is a fierce beast or if it's just passing by. What if it notices us and swoops down to attack us?"
"Yeah, Nini!", the flat-headed male teammate quickly added, "That big bird looks dangerous. We shouldn't cause trouble. Let's hurry up and clear out the treasure chests in this weird forest and leave."
The cute girl with shoulder-length bobbed hair nodded repeatedly before saying in a wronged voice, "Wuwu! Sorry, Sister Nana, sorry, Brother Kas."
"Nini, in a place like this, you absolutely have to be careful, understand?"
The man named Kas lectured her while constantly turning his head to look south.
But right then—
Shhk!
A cone-shaped ground spike suddenly burst out from underground.
It pierced straight through Kas's foot along with his shoe.
"AHHHH!"
Kas screamed, but quickly covered his mouth and didn't dare make another sound.
The cold woman named Nana immediately protected Nini and retreated backward as she said, "Get out of this area! This is Ground Needle Grass. Once it senses vibrations on the ground, its spikes will break through the surface and pierce our feet!"
"Yes, Sister Nana!"
Dozens of people backed away.
Even though Kas was in so much pain that tears streamed down his face, he still didn't dare move carelessly. He could only ask the female leader for help.
"Nana, save me!"
"None of you move. I'll go save him."
After speaking, Nana pulled out a greatsword as tall as a person from behind her back. Then she rushed toward Kas in several quick steps and swung the greatsword in her hand—
Slash!
Nana dug out a huge pit in the ground with a single strike.
Only then did she lift him out together with the surrounding dirt and leap back beside Nini in a few steps.
At that moment, Kas finally screamed.
"AHHHH!!"
"Brother Kas, bear with it!"
As Nini spoke, she started chanting in a strange tone. Along with her chanting, blue light appeared in her hands. Once the light gathered into a glowing sphere, she placed it onto Kas's injured foot.
"It hurts! It hurts!", Veins bulged on Kas's forehead from the pain as he said, "Why does it feel like the Ground Needle Grass in my wound is sticking tighter and tighter to my foot?"
"Ah!"
Nini quickly covered her mouth and cried out, "I forgot to remove the Ground Needle Grass before healing Brother Kas."
"Now... now the Ground Needle Grass has grown together with your foot, Brother Kas. What do we do?"
"..."
Everyone was speechless.
Kas's eyes went wide and the veins on his forehead bulged harder as he roared, "Nini!!"
"Sorry! Sorry!", Nini apologized over and over, "Brother Kas, I didn't mean to! I just didn't react in time..."
"Shh!"
Right then, the cold leader Nana suddenly made a silencing gesture and said, "I hear movement underground. Don't make any noise."
Everyone nodded repeatedly.
Even Kas could only bite down hard on his lower lip and not dare make a sound.
Pop!
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The next second, countless Ground Needle Grass spikes burst out from underground at the same time.
And these spikes were much longer than the one that pierced through Kas's foot earlier. Some even reached over a meter long.
In an instant, several teammates who failed to dodge were pierced straight through by the suddenly emerging Ground Needle Grass.
Nana quickly swung the greatsword in her hands, cutting down all the Ground Needle Grass around her. But no matter how strong she was, one sword couldn't handle hundreds of grass spikes. Just one wave of attacks took the lives of five of her teammates.
"Everyone gather around me, now!"
Nana shouted.
Only then did everyone react and quickly crowd around her.
Slash!
Slash! Slash!
Nana swung her greatsword again and again in a frenzy.
But even so, the Ground Needle Grass still kept growing without stopping.
"This won't work! I can't hold on much longer!", Nana shouted, "Take Nini and retreat now! I'll stay behind! Nini is our only healer. Nothing can happen to her!"
"Sister Nana, then what about me?"
Kas immediately understood that he was probably the one being abandoned.
Of course he refused to accept it.
After all, it was only a foot injury. As long as Nini was around, he could recover at any time.
How could he accept dying here like this?
"It was because you weren't careful that we entered the Ground Needle Grass territory. And your blood attracted the Ground Needle Grass, so for everyone's sake, I can only give up on you."
Nana's expression remained cold, but there was still a trace of reluctance in her eyes.
The moment Kas heard that he really was going to die here, a vicious look flashed through his eyes. He immediately wrapped an arm around Nini's neck while she was still trying to heal him and shouted, "Sister Nana, you forced me into this! If you don't get me out of here, I'll drag Nini down with me!"
"You!"
Nana was furious, but the endless Ground Needle Grass already kept her too busy to handle. She had no spare energy to deal with a teammate's betrayal.
And as more and more Ground Needle Grass appeared, there were still gaps in Nana's defense no matter how hard she tried.
"Ah!"
Another teammate behind Nana died.
Kas's fear had reached its limit. The arm around Nini's neck tightened harder and harder from panic. Soon, Nini's face turned purple-red, and she was about to suffocate.
"Kas, let go of Nini first. I promise I'll find a way to get you out!"
Seeing this, Nana quickly tried to persuade him.
But Kas had already fallen into panic and refused to listen. He only shook his head desperately and shouted, "No! You won't! You cold-hearted woman! You already decided to abandon me! If I don't hold onto Nini, you'll definitely run away with her immediately. I won't trust you anymore!"
"Urgh... Urgh..."
Nini's face had already turned purple. She couldn't breathe at all. She desperately hit Kas's arm with her hands.
But Kas still didn't react.
"Nini!"
Nana watched as the light in Nini's eyes gradually faded, but there was no way she could break through the encirclement while bringing so many people with her.
However, just as she was nearly falling into despair, a flash of sword light suddenly swept past her eyes.
"Fast Sword Style!"
Slash!
The next second, Nana saw the arm that had been choking Nini fly into the air with drops of blood still attached to it.
[🎉 Shoutout to Salty, Steffen, what_iz, julien and archer for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]