socalfunplaces Chapter 77 Garbage Collection Cart
Chapter 77 Garbage Collection Cart
Following the ascending stone steps, Luo Lan quickly retreated back to the "Flower Sea Cave" on the second level of the Rift Ruins.
No one extinguished the fire that Luo Lan had started earlier, and the scene on the second level of the Rift Ruins was completely different from what it had been half a day ago.
The once magnificent sea of flowers that covered the entire giant cave is now just a scorched wasteland.
The ground was covered with a thick layer of charcoal ash, which made a crisp cracking sound when stepped on, and occasionally you could step on the still warm remnants of roots and stems.
The smoke hadn't completely dissipated. Grayish-white smoke drifted slowly along the ground, not very concentrated, but pungent.
There was also a sour smell in the air, which was the chemical residue left after the acid from the mimicry flower fairy and other plant monsters was ignited and evaporated at high temperatures.
However, the fire did not spread to all areas.
The edge of the second-level cave was far from the route Luo Lan had taken when he launched the spider mines, so only the outer edge was touched by the flames.
Some of the plant-like monsters that grow in rock crevices and dark corners are still stubbornly alive.
The broken vines sprouted new shoots from the scorched soil, and several large, trumpet-shaped flowers swayed slightly in the smoke.
With [True Sight lv.1] activated, Luo Lan quickly scanned the area.
The ground was covered in charred remains, filled with the chaotic aura of plants and magical beasts.
The charred remains of these plant-like magical beasts contained a low amount of chaotic matter, far less than the fragments of the Rift Core, but their quantity was abundant.
Unlike when you first enter the second level of the Rift Ruins, where you have to fight against plant monsters in a sea of flowers.
Now, most of these plant-like magical beasts have turned into charcoal.
If it's free, why not take it?
Reaching the edge of the second floor, Luo Lan grabbed a sturdy, still-living vine-like monster and slashed horizontally with his broadsword.
"Shuashua——"
With a flash of the sword, the other slender vines that had tried to entwine were also severed and fell into the thick layer of ashes.
Luo Lan mobilized the remaining pale holy light within his body, which intertwined with the purified chaotic energy. A ghostly blue soul fire leaped from his fingertips, landing directly on the pile of severed vines.
"Assembled corpses... garbage truck."
Amidst the sound of plant fibers twisting, the thick vines began to weave and intertwine on their own, quickly forming a wide-bottomed wooden "basket".
Then, several thin vines extended from the bottom of the basket, supporting themselves on the ground like deformed arthropods.
This simple undead construct has no combat capabilities.
It could only clumsily use its thin vines to keep pushing forward on the ground.
Luo Lan gave these dedicated sanitation workers who collect wreckage a very fitting name—garbage trucks.
Their sole purpose is to collect the various plant and monster charcoal scattered throughout the second level of the Rift Ruins.
He used vines to sweep the scattered plant monster charcoal into his "basket".
This is for Luo Lan to concentrate on [condensing] transformation and absorption.
The ghostly blue soul flames lit up one after another. Luo Lan repeated the process, producing more than a dozen more "garbage trucks" in one go.
After recovering some of the holy light energy within his body, which was almost completely depleted again, Luo Lan waved his hand.
These ugly wooden, undead structures were left to scatter and search for charred remains in the second-floor ruins, now free from the threat of monsters.
Efficiency is paramount, and saving time is the primary objective.
Luo Lan himself, carrying his sword, walked towards the edge of the second level of the Rift Ruins, stepping on the crunching ashes.
There, there was also a type of low-level plant-like magical beast that Luo Lan had previously bombed many times with spider mines.
These low-level, mindless plant-like magical beasts, because they grew on the edge of the second level of the Rift Ruins, were not affected by the fire and a few still survived. This is Luo Lan's main target on this second level.
This plant has only one thick, long stem, at the top of which grows a huge flower, with a fruit sac in the center whose surface is covered with small holes.
The flower buds were filled with a thick, yellowish-green liquid. The overflowing liquid seeped out in strands, and when it splashed onto the ground, it corroded a small area where no flowers or plants could grow.
【Name: Acid-corroding Throat Flower】
[Tier: Black Iron]
[Skills: Acid Lv.2, Spray Lv.1]
Although this [Acid-Eroding Throat Flower] is only a low-level plant monster of the Black Iron rank, its innate [Acid Liquid lv.2] skill has a concentration and corrosiveness second only to the [Acid Liquid lv.3] of the Bronze rank [Mimic Flower Fairy]'s original form.
The skill [Acid] has been personally tested by Luo Lan in previous battles, whether it is used to directly attack enemies, corrode armor, or be used as a flammable liquid in conjunction with explosives.
After some actual combat, Luo Lan felt that the [Acid] skill was quite useful, so he decided to take advantage of the current abundance of Chaos Source Essence and get his hands on it.
Previously, all the mimicry flower demons had been completely wiped out by Luo Lan, even their ashes were burned away. This acid-corroding throat flower was undoubtedly the best inferior replacement.
Luo Lan stopped a few dozen meters away from a giant acid-corroding throat flower.
Because a large number of plant-like magical beasts had been burned to ashes in the previous fire, Luo Lan's vision was no longer obstructed by the dense vines that had hindered his movement when he first entered the second level of the Rift Ruins.
The view is extremely wide.
Luo Lan no longer needed to go through the trouble of close combat with it as before, nor did she need to dodge the acid attacks that could be sprayed from the huge heart of the Acid Corrosion Throat Flower at any time.
Luo Lan raised her left hand, and the faint glow of the five crystal fingernails beneath her hand guard had dimmed considerably.
He put his index and middle fingers together, making the shape of a pistol, and aimed it at the main branch of the clump of acid-corroding throat flowers.
A bone spur was generated from the fingertip and ejected.
"call out--"
[Bone Spur Burst Lv.2] It flew dozens of meters in the blink of an eye, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound.
"puff."
The bone spurs pierced precisely into the thick, green main stem of the acid-corroding throat flower, penetrating the branch and severing it in half.
The large corolla of the acid-corroding throat flower, filled with acid, lost its support and crashed heavily onto the grassy ground.
The viscous acid in the flower's heart sprayed out in large quantities due to the vibration, pouring onto the nearby grass and making a piercing corrosive sound, instantly burning out a small pit emitting white smoke.
Luo Lan stepped forward, bent down, and used the tip of her sword to pick up the flower, which was as big as a person, from the acidic, wet mud.
[Casting - Assembly]
[Consumed Chaos Essence: 39]
[Current Chaotic Essence: 1949]
Dense, purplish-black particles, as if alive, surged from Luo Lan's left hand and instantly flew into the giant corrosive crown of the throat flower.
The purplish-black particles rapidly converged deep within the flower's center, precisely enveloping a large, fleshy sac resembling a plant fruit, its surface covered with numerous tiny pores.
It is about the size of an adult male's head, with an outer wall made of a layer of extremely tough fibrous tissue and a surface covered with tiny pores—the nozzles for the leakage of acid secretion.
The purplish-black particles encasing the pouch gradually shrank, transforming directly into a stream of light.
It pierced through Luo Lan's thick armor, ignoring the barrier of skin and flesh, and flew straight into his body.
The sac burrows into the abdominal cavity and attaches precisely to the outer wall of the gallbladder in the human body.
The sac and Luo Lan's gallbladder were tightly fused together under the modification of the purple-black particles.
[Assembled: Acid-corroded throat flower's sour brewing sac]
[Tier: Black Iron]
[Skill: Acid Lv.2]
[Acid Lv.2: Consumes biomass energy to secrete a highly oxidizing organic liquid with corrosive acid properties. Immune to damage from its own secreted acid; acid strength increases with skill level.]
In his mind, Luo Lan quickly scanned the newly displayed skill descriptions:
[Did the body's own immune system secrete acid that caused damage?]
It says the body is immune. But it doesn't say that equipment is also immune.
Just to be on the safe side, Luo Lan removed the metal gauntlet from her left hand, which she had recently reattached.
[Acid lv.2] Activated.
The sweat pores on my left palm immediately began to seep out a thick, yellowish-green liquid.
The viscous liquid seeped out little by little from the skin's surface, gathering in the slightly concave palm, and quickly formed a small puddle.
Just as the skill description stated, there was no discomfort on the part of the skin that came into contact with the acid. The semi-liquid skin of the palm even actively formed a shallow groove to catch it.
Luo Lan flipped her palm over, flicking out the acid that splashed onto a clump of still-living short grass nearby.
"Sizzle..."
The grass blades began to turn yellow, curl, and wither from the point of contact. The speed at which the acid corrosion spread was visible to the naked eye, but it was not particularly rapid.
About three seconds later, the clump of grass was corroded by the acid into a wet, brownish-black sludge.
The effect seems quite good.
However, for Luo Lan, who often has to fight against opponents of higher ranks under high pressure, the strength of a mere lv.2 Black Iron rank skill is still a bit insufficient.
While both consume biomass energy, this acid spray, which requires close-range application, may not be as practical as the instant-cast and holy-enchanted [Bone Spike Burst] in the ever-changing realities of combat.
However, considering that this strong acid corrosion attack might be surprisingly effective in certain special situations or when facing specific high physical resistance armor, Luo Lan didn't mind investing more Chaos Essence in it.
Therefore, Luo Lan directly targeted the new extraordinary demonic organ within his body and activated [Condensation] once again.