In the center of the island, there stands a deformed black twisted tree with four people hugging each other. It is no more than five meters high. The twisted tree trunk is like a patient who has fallen into madness, twisted, deformed, and chaotic!

The branches have no leaves, only bare trunks, like a twisted sword piercing the void.

There is a large open space on the edge of the black twisted wood. There are no black thorns spreading, no dark green vines entangled, as if it is surrounded by a restricted area that cannot be approached.

Jia Tao wielded the scarlet energy blade, chopping the black thorns blocking the way. The direction he was heading towards was the weird black twisted tree.

The five people moved forward for a certain distance without encountering any attacks from insects and beasts along the way. Rustling sounds came from all directions. Nie Xiu, who was walking behind, suddenly looked back and his face suddenly became ugly.

"Stop!" Nie Xiu shouted.

The frightened Snake Ghost and Sun Ye stopped at the same time. They followed Nie Xiu's gaze, and their expressions also became extremely ugly.

Sun Ye carefully took out the revolver from his waist, while the snake ghost closed his eyes and stuck out his forked tongue, as if sensing something in the air.

Qi Yuan stopped and looked back, only to realize that the passage Jia Tao had just opened had been quietly closed at some point, making it impossible to see the way he came.

The chopped black thorns took root on the ground like living creatures, and then connected with the surrounding black thorns at a speed visible to the naked eye, completing the blockade of the passage.

This process lasted no more than five minutes. Qi Yuan saw with his own eyes a section of black thorns pierced into the soil, then spread towards the surrounding thorns, and then became entangled together like water and milk.

"what to do?"

The sudden change made Sun Ye no longer cover up, and his eyes became fierce.

"Ghost snake!" Nie Xiu shouted in a low voice.

The ghost snake slowly opened its eyes, shook it slightly, and its eyes were a little solemn.

"There is no scent of other insect beasts around. Maybe these thorns interfere with my perception."

After saying that, the ghost snake pulled out a dagger and chopped off the black thorns next to it.

brush!

The black thorns suddenly sank down, and the half-cut thorns fell off. The other main bodies of the thorns bounced upward fiercely, and the dark red spikes scratched the snake ghost's arm, leaving a subtle white mark.

.

Ghost Snake's pupils shrank, and when he walked to the section of road that had just been closed, he waved his hand and slashed it with his knife.

It is also a two-part cut, but this time the depth of the black thorns sinking is obviously much smaller.

"The original black thorns are very hard, and their blocking strength is equivalent to two layers of black-toothed rat fur. The newly grown black thorns have weaker defense, but their hardness is comparable to the fur of a black-toothed rat." Ghost Snake said of himself.

judgment.

Nie Xiu frowned and thought for a moment, then said in a low voice:

"The insect detector shows that there is only one insect beast in the entire central island. It is hidden in the twisted wood in the center. The thing we want is also inside. Although these black thorns are strange, they will not actively attack. There are

The existence of Jia Tao, even if they take root, cannot trap us. Since we have already come here, I suggest we continue to go deeper and get the things before leaving!"

"The blind man's asking price is too outrageous. That VCP-2 biological agent cost us a full 100,000 yuan! A death harvest plus a motorcycle, even if we add the reward for clearing the swamp, we can't make back our money!"

"If we can get the thing inside, not only can we get back our money, but we may also get a few second-level potions in the shelter!"

Second level potion!

Sun Ye and Snake Ghost's breathing suddenly became rapid. Although there are laboratories at the Iron Chariot gathering point that can produce ability potions, most of them are first-order potions. The output of second-order potions is very low, and the Iron Chariot laboratory

The ability to make potions is too low quality.

The second-level potion of Iron Chariot has only a 50% probability of awakening the ability, a 30% probability of failure, and a 20% probability of causing genetic collapse.

Even if the second-level ability is successfully awakened, it will severely damage the stability of the gene. The next time the ability potion is used, the probability of causing gene collapse will skyrocket.

Far inferior to the ability potions produced by the Black Steel Sanctuary's biological and mechanical experiments.

The awakening success rate exceeds 90%, and it will not damage the genetic stability, and can accurately awaken the designated extraordinary abilities!

The huge difference in quality between the two is directly reflected in the price, which is nearly ten times the price difference.

However, the quantity of ability potions smuggled out from the shelter is very limited. Most wilderness hunters have no channels, and even if they have money, they cannot buy suitable potions.

Although the three of them climbed the blind man's line, the other party's asking price was also very high. With the strength of the three of them, even if they frequently went on hunter guild missions, they could not afford the high price of purchasing second-level ability potions.

Therefore, the three of them have been hunters for nearly ten years and have reached the threshold of a C-level hunter in a narrow escape. Only Nie Xiu has mastered two second-order abilities, and both of them have only mastered one second-order ability.

The second-level ability potion was like the temptation of the devil. Even Sun Ye, who was thinking of retreating, gave up his thoughts and nodded in agreement with Nie Xiu's suggestion.

Snake Ghost nodded, and his cold vertical pupils glanced at Jia Tao and Qi Yuan who were also whispering in front of him.

"Continue to let them clear the way, and then take action when we return. We must not let them leave alive, otherwise the news will leak out, and with our strength, we will not be able to save that thing."

"Don't worry, before I kill them, I will let them play their role well and help us clear these damn thorns."

"Keep going, the thorns behind are catching up soon," Nie Xiu said.

"Snake ghost, be careful of Jia Tao. I suspect he is approaching us deliberately and has other purposes!"

The corners of Snake Ghost's mouth cracked, revealing a cruel smile.

"Don't worry, the two of them can't make it through the waves. Jia Tao's semi-mechanical weapon, which is an energy weapon, is still somewhat powerful, but his speed is too slow and he cannot exert the power of this mechanical arm."

"As for that Qi Yuan, he's just a little guy who thinks he's smart. Without Death Harvest, he can't even break through my snake scale defense. Even if they join forces, I can easily kill them!"

Nie Xiu nodded lightly. The snake ghost's second-level ability is speed enhancement, and defense enhancement is only the first-level ability. However, when he was still an ordinary person, he swallowed the flesh and blood of a second-level snake-like insect beast and caused genetic mutation.

The characteristics and abilities of some snakes are that a layer of fine scales grows on their body surface, and their defense power is not much weaker than the first-level defense enhancement. The snake scales combined with the first-level defense enhancement are almost comparable to the second-level defense.

A first-level transcendent is basically unable to break through his defense. Although Jia Tao can, his speed is too slow and he will not be a match for Ghost Snake.

"Be on guard. If they do anything strange, kill them directly without any hesitation." Nie Xiu gave a few final instructions in a low voice.

Ghost Snake nodded and quickly closed the distance between Qi Yuan. With his speed, within three meters, Qi Yuan didn't even have a chance to take out his gun.

The approach of the ghost snake interrupted the whispers between Qi Yuan and Jia Tao. Qi Yuan still maintained a gentle smile, but Jia Tao had a trace of confusion and doubt in his eyes.

"keep going!"

Under Ghost Snake's urging, Jia Tao continued to wave the energy weapon and opened a path in the direction of the twisted wood. Qi Yuan followed him slowly, not looking like he was in danger at all, but like he was out for an outing.

Although the black thorns were hard, they did not have much resistance against Jia Tao's energy-condensed weapon. Soon a group of five people reached the edge of the central twisted wood.

The moment he walked through the thorny jungle, an icy chill spread from the soles of his feet, as if what he was stepping on was not the ground, but a piece of thousand-year-old ice.

Nie Xiu and others also noticed something strange on the ground. The ghost snake stabbed the ground with a dagger, but with all its strength, it only penetrated an inch.

"The ground has been completely frozen!" Ghost Snake said in a deep voice.

When Nie Xiu heard this, he was not surprised at all, and his eyes became even more intense.

"I guessed it right, it's right here! The thing is inside!" Nie Xiu couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Qi Yuan glanced at the three people and found that they didn't seem to care that they heard things they shouldn't have heard. Only Ghost Snake still stared at him and Jia Tao with cold eyes, as if he might attack at any time.

Nie Xiu stretched out his fingers and tapped on the trunk of the twisted tree, making a hollow sound, and faint intermittent echoes could be heard.

The trunk of this twisted tree, which is hugged by several people, is actually hollow!

"Cut a gap here that can be entered!" Nie Xiu suddenly said to Jia Tao in a commanding tone.

Jia Tao lowered his head, pursed his lips, and his body was trembling slightly, as if he was about to make a move. However, when he raised his head, he happened to see Qi Yuan's eyes glancing over, and the whisper they had just spoken suddenly appeared in his mind.

Sun Ye's gun muzzle has quietly moved over, and Ghost Snake is also holding a dagger, standing behind Jia Tao. As long as he makes the slightest move, the next step will be a fatal blow from the three of them.

Jia Tao hesitated for a while, then finally gave up his original plan and waved his robotic arm to start cutting the black twisted wood in front of him.

Compared with the black thorns, the black twisted wood hugged by several people is much harder, and even Jia Tao's energy weapons cannot cut it at will.

I tried several times in succession, but the result was only a few deep scorch marks on the hard trunk of the twisted wood.

"The hardness of twisted wood is stronger than the third-level defense, and my energy weapons can't cut it." Jia Tao said with a gloomy face.

Ghost Snake swung his dagger and slashed hard on the twisted wood, but only left a shallow scratch.

"The trunks are also frozen."

Qi Yuan raised his head and glanced at the top of the twisted wood. When cutting and beating the twisted wood just now, the echoes came from above.

"The trunk is hollow, and there is a gap on it. It should be possible to enter from above." Qi Yuan said suddenly.

Nie Xiu glanced at Qi Yuan in surprise and suddenly smiled.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Why should I be afraid?" Qi Yuan asked, pretending to be ignorant.

"You are all second-level ability users. Even if there are insect beasts inside, you are still no match for us!"

"Hey -" Nie Xiu chuckled, "Since you said you can go in from above, I won't make it difficult for you. You can climb in first, and as long as you help us take things out, I will give you five thousand when we get back."

piece."

"What's inside?" Qi Yuan asked.

"You'll know when you get in."

Nie Xiu did not answer directly, and Qi Yuan did not ask further questions. He just glanced at the tall twisted wood and said:

"The trunk of the twisted tree is hard and smooth. I can't climb up. I'll probably have to use a ladder."

Nie Xiu judged the height of the twisted wood.
To be continued...