"It's finally done..."
Looking at the completely deceased mutated gorilla, Mi Yao immediately slumped onto the ground without any reservations.
The surrounding mutated little monkeys and other mutated gorillas seemed to share a symbiotic relationship with it. As the mutated gorilla died, they quickly withered and perished amid screams, turning into dried corpses.
The previously noisy jungle soon fell silent.
Recalling everything that had happened recently, Mi Yao couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"The creatures on this island definitely have something special about them. Every single one possesses a vitality so robust it's hard to imagine outside. No wonder this island is called the Island of Longevity."
"After all, for most creatures, eternal life means eternal time."
Hearing Mi Yao's words, Chen Kong didn't dwell on them.
Right now, he had no mind to discuss the truth of the Island of Longevity.
"Isabelle, are you alright?"
After a brief rest, Chen Kong suppressed his fatigue and walked over to Isabelle, asking kindly.
Isabelle's face was very pale due to the extreme consumption of Star Energy.
Fortunately, this kind of weakness was merely a symptom similar to physical exhaustion.
Facing Chen Kong's concern, Isabelle wiped the sweat from her forehead and replied, "I'm fine."
"Fine?"
He looked at the blackened claw marks on Isabelle's arm and frowned.
"The toxin in your body is still spreading. We must find a place to treat it quickly. Here."
Chen Kong handed Isabelle a Sweet Dream Candy. Isabelle did not refuse, taking it and eating it immediately.
With the help of the Sweet Dream Candy, Isabelle's condition improved rapidly at a visible rate.
While the group rested in place, Vivian, who was in relatively better condition, walked alone toward the corpse of the mutated gorilla.
Vivian crouched down, and a scanning device transformed from her mechanized arm to scan the remnants of the purple rose core.
As a stream of quantum data flashed in her pupils, Vivian spoke up, sharing the information she had gathered with the others.
"Parasitism. Whether it's this gorilla, the giant snake we encountered in the underground vault before, or those ordinary people in the county town, they all have a special parasitic relationship with this purple rose."
"Their terrifyingly abundant vitality is provided precisely by these purple roses."
Hearing this, Liu Ma, sitting not far away, asked curiously, "You mean, besides these monsters on the island, there's a 'final monster' capable of parasitizing a huge number of creatures?"
Vivian nodded, her expression exceptionally grave.
"Judging only from the current intelligence, your deduction is flawless."
Although Liu Ma knew the Island of Longevity was dangerous, he realized he had still underestimated the complexity of the place.
If the power of that mutated gorilla just now came entirely from a special kind of parasitism, it meant that if they continued to press forward, they would soon encounter the main body of that 'purple rose.'
"So, should we continue to advance?"
After a moment of thought, Liu Ma looked at the others and asked a very critical question.
Hearing the question, everyone fell silent.
Knowing there was greater danger ahead, advancing required far more courage than retreating.
Of course, all of this was based on the premise that Chen Kong and the others had a choice.
"But we don't have a choice, do we?"
Chen Kong looked at the group, his smile somewhat bitter.
At the beginning of their ascent, the Little Raccoon Administrator had stated that it would reappear in seven days to greet the students who successfully survived seven days on the island.
For the Island of Longevity, which was surrounded by the sea, if Chen Kong and the others wanted to leave, they had to rush back to the beach where they first landed within the specified time and board the ship to leave the island.
If they retreated now, it meant they would have to return to that constantly looping small town, missing the precious boarding time.
That would undoubtedly be suicide.
Therefore, they had no alternative.
This issue was clear not just to Chen Kong but to everyone present.
"Although we can only advance, given the current situation, everyone clearly needs a good rest. We can't rush this."
Vivian calmly offered her decision.
Compared to rashly moving forward, resting in place for a while before resuming their journey was undoubtedly the better choice.
With that, Vivian looked at Liu Ma and inquired, "Liu Ma, are there any others here besides you?"
Hearing this, Liu Ma rubbed his shoulder and replied, "Yes, but we encountered trouble before we had a chance to meet anyone else."
"As for what happened afterward, you've all seen it. I don't think I need to elaborate."
Vivian was not too surprised by Liu Ma's words.
In her estimation, the three of them and the pair of Liu Ma and Isabelle were likely days behind Tendo and his group in reaching this point.
Based on the strength of Tendo and his group, they must have already penetrated deep into the center of the island by now.
There was a significant distance separating them.
Although the path ahead was full of unknowns and peril, the situation wasn't entirely bad news for them.
As the saying goes, when the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up.
For them, Tendo and his group, who were far ahead, were undoubtedly those 'tall ones.'
If a problem couldn't be solved even by Tendo and his group, then they most likely couldn't solve it either, even if they rushed to the center of the island.
Half an hour later, having rested, the group set off again, walking toward the center of the island.
As they delved deeper, more and more 'traces' appeared before them.
Along the path, there were not only signs of battle.
But also the corpses of monsters similar to the mutated gorilla, and even stronger ones.
And without exception, these monsters were all eliminated cleanly and efficiently by someone.
Looking at the corpses of these diverse, but all physically massive monsters, Chen Kong couldn't help but say, "It must have been Tendo and his group."
Vivian nodded, "Yes, only they possess that kind of power."
Though reluctant to admit it, there was indeed a vast power gap between Tendo's group and them.
Enemies that required the combined effort of all five of them to barely defeat were merely powerful obstacles to Tendo's group, resolved with casual ease.
In fact, upon closer thought, the mutated gorilla that blocked them might have been too weak to dare obstruct Tendo and his group, which is why it appeared before them instead.
The disparity between people could be that immense.
"Look, what is that?!"
Just as Vivian was contemplating and analyzing the potential situations they might face next, Liu Ma suddenly exclaimed, pointing into the distance, having discovered something.
Hearing him, everyone immediately looked afar.
In the distant woods, a huge 'Pyramid' had suddenly appeared before them.
And above the pyramid, a massive, distorted vortex was condensed.
Pale purple space-time energy rippled out from the vortex like water waves, spreading in all directions.
Where the space-time ripples passed, countless tiny space-time cracks appeared out of nowhere. One glance was enough to reveal the danger surrounding the pyramid.
Soon, Chen Kong and the others could see many similar yet different images through those tiny spatial rifts.
What was similar was that most of the images appearing in these space-time cracks were scenes of Longevity County.
What was different was that the people in these scenes were all distinct.
"They are other space-time layers."
With just a glance, Vivian understood what the images in these space-time cracks were.
They were the constantly looping, overlapping space-time layers they had recently been in.
If they hadn't escaped that overlapping space-time, they might be one of the figures in those images now.
It was also at this moment that Vivian and the others finally understood why the residual shockwave from Tendo's previous battle had crossed through space and time to descend upon their area, and 'accidentally' helped them kill the mutated giant snake, solving their dilemma.
At the very top of the pyramid now, a silver-haired figure stood alone, facing a sea of monsters.
Large numbers of monsters surged like a tide, rushing forward one after another toward the top of the pyramid, seemingly desperate to drag the one standing highest down.
Among these monsters were the mutated gorillas they had encountered recently, as well as the mutated giant snake they had met in the county bank's underground vault.
However, whether it was the mutated gorilla, the mutated giant snake, or other monsters even more powerful than the two, as soon as they approached within a hundred meters of the silver-haired man at the top of the pyramid, they would be instantly twisted by an invisible vector force field, dying on the spot.
"It's Tendo."
Looking at the invincible figure atop the pyramid, Chen Kong exclaimed with some excitement.
However, before he could feel happy for long, three thick black vines suddenly shot out from a nearby space-time rift, surrounding the five of them in a triangular formation.
Clearly, this was some kind of protection mechanism for the pyramid.
If strangers approached within a certain distance of the pyramid, it would immediately retaliate.
"Watch out!"
Liu Ma charged ahead, instinctively blocking the three black vines in front of the group.
These vines were tougher than those on the gorilla, covered in barbs, emanating a suffocatingly cold aura, and the faint golden law runes entwined around them glowed eerily in the morning light.
Bang!
Liu Ma's gold-fused arm took the attack from the left vine head-on. The barbs dug deep into his skin, and a dark green toxin rapidly spread from the wound, staining his golden skin black.
"This toxin can erode Star Energy!"
Liu Ma grunted, simultaneously warning the others while trying to shake off the vine wrapped around his arm.
But the barbed tip on the vine not only easily pierced the defense of his golden body, but the embedded barbs also clung tightly to his muscle, continuously draining the Star Energy from his body, proving quite troublesome.
At the same time, the vine on the right lunged toward Isabelle.
Its speed was far beyond what an ordinary person could imagine.
Even more troubling was that these vines seemed to possess a degree of 'intelligence'!
Bang!
Chen Kong's Star Energy bullet was just fired but was agilely avoided by the vine.
"Mi Yao, cover Isabelle!"
Chen Kong fired continuously at the vine while quickly moving to Isabelle's side, shielding her behind him.
On the other side, without Chen Kong's reminder, Mi Yao's Pixel Light Shield promptly unfolded, blocking in front of Isabelle.
The bizarre vine whipped the light shield, emitting a loud 'bang.' Most of the shield's pixel blocks disintegrated, Mi Yao was shaken back two steps, and a trace of blood spilled from his mouth.
The Star Energy absorption efficiency of these vines was far more troublesome than he had anticipated.
Not only that, but the vines grew stronger after absorbing Star Energy!
The wound on the vine, which had been hit by Chen Kong's Void Pattern bullets, not only healed rapidly after absorbing a certain amount of Star Energy but also quickly sprouted two new, thin tendrils, swiftly wrapping toward the nearest target, Chen Kong.
"Be careful, it can absorb Star Energy and regenerate!"
In a flash, Chen Kong quickly sidestepped to dodge.
The thin tendril scraped past his tactical uniform, tearing a slit in the fabric. A scratch appeared on his skin, and a feeling of numbness instantly set in.
These vines even carried a paralyzing toxin.
"Retreat! These are not the monsters from our side!"
Vivian shouted while pulling Isabelle back.
Mi Yao's Pixel Light Shield unfolded again, acting like a calm, high-level player who knew when to draw the 'aggro' of the BOSS and when to provide essential cover for the 'shooter' in the team.
Bang!
With the sound of shattering glass, Mi Yao's Pixel Light Shield was, as expected, immediately shattered.
Fortunately, the appearance of the light shield gave Chen Kong valuable breathing room, allowing him to quickly put some distance between himself and the surrounding vines.
At the same time, Chen Kong also noticed the difference between these vines and the ones he had seen parasitizing other creatures earlier.
On the surface of these newly appeared vines, many intricate, pale golden patterns were clearly entwined.
Chen Kong and the others were not unfamiliar with this pattern.
Because a similar pattern was on the back of each of their hands.
It came from the 'Golden Chrysanthemum' they had obtained earlier at the county hospital.
Clearly, the Golden Chrysanthemum, symbolizing life, and the Rose, symbolizing death on the island, were fundamentally part of these vines!
Bang!
Fighting and retreating, Isabelle strained to condense an ice blade, attempting to freeze the vine's activity, but the ice blade instantly melted upon contact.
Liu Ma's gold-fused skin had begun to fade. The dual erosion of toxin and the law runes made his body increasingly heavy.
Mi Yao's game console screen began to flicker, his pixel energy becoming highly unstable.
Vivian's mechanized arm also experienced a brief stutter, seemingly affected by some force.
In stark contrast to their struggle, the silver-haired man standing atop the pyramid was not only facing hundreds more of the bizarre vines but also had the spare energy to resolve the countless monsters constantly charging at him from all directions.
His expression was cold and relaxed.
The gap between the two sides was completely solidified at this moment!
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