The dead forest has come back to life.
Standing at the top of the observation tower, Chen Yan's breath almost stopped. Through the high-powered binoculars, the once-barren forest that had once covered the land like a massive black scar was now undergoing a spine-chilling 'rebirth.'
Not lush greenery. It was surging. It was distortion.
As far as the eye could see, countless dead, twisted tree trunks and branches were being brutally kneaded, stretched, and expanded by an invisible giant hand! The bark peeled off in sheets, revealing the constantly writhing, proliferating, and fusing dark brown and emerald green wood fibres beneath! These fibres intertwine and like living creatures, forcibly binding and fusing the once-independent dead trees into even larger, more grotesque aggregates. On some trunks, massive, tumour-like woody growths swell, their surfaces cracking open to ooze viscous deep-green sap. Some growths even burst with a pop, releasing twisted branches covered in sharp wooden spines, resembling living thorns!
What was even more spine-chilling was that at the edge of that writhing, mutating 'living forest,' countless slow-moving zombies, as if responding to an unspoken command, were steadily, mindlessly walking into the writhing, mutating trees! The moment they stepped in, the growing wooden fibres and thorn branches wrapped around them like greedy giant snakes! The sharp wooden thorns deeply pierced the rotting flesh, and the deep green liquid flowed into the wounds!
The zombies, bound by the vines, trembled violently but did not struggle. Their bodies underwent terrifying changes at a visible pace—their skin rapidly lost its remaining moisture, becoming as dry and cracked as tree bark, turning greyish-brown; their muscle fibres hardened and lignified; joints were fixed and locked by proliferating woody structures; in the hollow eye sockets, the cloudy eyeballs were forced out, replaced by two clusters of tiny, odd plant-like tissues resembling new buds, gently swaying within the eye sockets!
In just a few minutes, a zombie that was once relatively 'intact' is transformed into a human-shaped 'tree' still twitching slightly, enveloped, consumed, and assimilated by the growing woody fibres and thorns! It had become part of this terrifying forest, its branches twisted and limbs stretched out at bizarre angles, like a tormented soul eternally imprisoned within the trees!
Along the edges of the entire dead forest, countless such 'human trees' were being 'created.' The entire forest was expanding and proliferating outward in an extremely bizarre and terrifying manner! Deep green mist spread out from the depths of the forest, carrying the strong scent of plant decay and a sweet, fishy odour, slowly devouring the surrounding wasteland like a living creature.
'Are they... evolving?' ' Lei Zhen's voice was dry and hoarse, filled with disbelief and horror. His hands trembled slightly as he held the binoculars. 'Turning zombies... into trees? What the hell is this thing?!"
Lin Lu's face was as pale as paper. She clung tightly to the cold railing of the observation tower, her knuckles turning white from the force. "It's not evolution... it's... transformation! A… forced symbiotic fusion! Those green fluids… are the medium! They're expanding their territory! In this way!"
A chill unlike any he'd ever felt before gripped Chen Yan to the bone. He understood. He understood why the zombie hordes' attacks were becoming more organised, why there were now "vine arms" and "spitters" with plant-like characteristics. Zombies were never isolated individuals. They were tools and fertilisers controlled by some massive, plant-like entity! That writhing forest was the true entity! The hive! The true source of terror in this apocalyptic world!
'Iron Dome' was never facing scattered zombies, but a plant-based ecological weapon awakening with terrifying proliferative and assimilative capabilities! Their goal is to devour everything, purify everything, and incorporate the entire planet into that deep green, writhing realm of terror!
Chen Yan abruptly lowered his binoculars, his gaze sharp as a knife, exuding a resolute determination. He looked at Lei Zhen and Lin Lu, his voice firm and unwavering:
'Prepare the "Drill Dragon"!'
'Target: Coordinate point, Deep Bunker!'
'By dawn tomorrow, I want to see what's on that "hard drive"!'
'Boom... Click... Click click...'
The dull drilling sounds echoed through the narrow, deep tunnel filled with the heavy scent of engine oil and rock dust, like the labored breathing of a dying beast. The thick alloy drill bit struggled to rotate and advance through the hard rock layers, emitting a teeth-grinding friction sound. Fine gravel and dust fell steadily, coating the sweat- and oil-stained faces of Chen Yan, Lei Zhen, and several other rugged team members.
The air was stiflingly hot, like a steamer. Under the heavy protective suits, sweat had already soaked through the inner garments, clinging sticky to the skin. Everyone wore simple filter masks, their bloodshot eyes fixed intently on the constantly rotating drill bit and the fluctuating depth readings on the instrument screens beside them.
'Depth… 1,500 metres… rock layer structure abnormally dense… drill bit severely worn…' The team member operating the instruments reported in a hoarse voice, his anxiety evident.
Chen Yan leaned on a specially made metal crutch, standing behind the drill rig. His twisted leg bore the brunt of his body weight, causing constant dull pain, but he seemed oblivious to it. His gaze was fixed on the drilling direction, his eyes hiding a storm of suppressed emotions. Time hung over them like the Sword of Damocles. On the ground, the 'Iron Dome' was unprecedented pressure! The intermittent radio transmissions pieced together a hellish scene:
Deep green mist swirled like a living creature, closing in relentlessly; wherever it passed, even the rocks began to sprout bizarre moss-like growths; The 'human trees' transformed by the "forest" act like living siege engines, hurling wooden spikes ablaze with eerie green flames from the distance; Even more terrifying are the 'giant tree people' corpses, fused with vines and wooden shells, resembling mobile fortresses, advancing with heavy, slow yet unstoppable steps, closing in on the Iron Dome's outer defence perimeter! Every collision caused the steel fortress to emit agonising groans! Lin Lu's voice came through the static-filled radio, her forced calmness unable to hide her exhaustion: '...The steel plates of the third defence line have been corroded by acid! We need reinforcements! ...Medicine...is running out! There are too many casualties...'
Every minute, someone dies. Every minute, the 'Iron Dome' teeters on the brink of collapse.
'Drill through it for me!' Lei Zhen, his eyes bloodshot, roars at the crew operating the drill, his scars twisted with emotion, 'Use every last ounce of strength! You must drill through it for me!' He clutched a fire axe covered in deep green viscous substance, which he had just severed from a 'Digging Vine' attempting to burrow through a side rock crevice.
The drill's roar grew more frenzied, accompanied by a mournful wail as if it were about to break apart. The rock layer in front of the drill bit finally seemed to give way!
'It's broken! The drill pressure has dropped sharply!' the operator screamed suddenly!
'Stop drilling! Prepare to breach the wall!' Chen Yan ordered sharply, his heart pounding.
The drill slowly came to a halt. Dust filled the air. The team members quickly moved forward, using high-pressure water jets to flush the drill hole and cool the equipment. A narrow, jagged opening, barely wide enough for one person to crawl through, appeared in the hard granite wall. Behind the opening lay... a pitch-black, bottomless void. A chill, dry air, heavy with the scent of metal and electronic components, surged out of the hole, far colder than the air in the tunnel.
"I'll go first!" Lei Zhen pushed aside the team members who wanted to investigate, secured his fire axe to his waist, grabbed a flashlight and a loaded shotgun, and was the first to crawl inside.
Chen Yan followed closely behind. The narrow hole scraped against his body, its edges sharp . When he finally emerged from the other side of the hole, his feet landing on the cold, hard metal floor, the beam of the flashlight instantly pierced the darkness before him.
This was a massive, spherical metal chamber. The dome was extremely high, and the smooth metal interior walls had no visible lighting fixtures. Only a few emergency exit lights embedded in the walls emitted a faint, eerie green glow, like the eyes of a beast lurking in the darkness. The space was unusually vast, with a massive cylindrical structure rising straight to the dome at its centre, its surface covered in dense network of pipes and cooling grilles. In front of the cylinder stood an isolated control panel, adorned with buttons and interfaces. The entire space was filled with a dead, abandoned, and cold atmosphere, with only the air circulation system emitting an extremely low, almost imperceptible hum.
'Safe!' Lei Zhen's voice echoed in the empty space, carrying a reverberation.
The team members entered one by one, their powerful flashlights sweeping across the vast spherical space, illuminating the smooth, cold metal walls and the floor made of the same material.
'Find the main control! Find the interface!' Chen Yan's gaze immediately locked onto the massive cylindrical structure at the centre and the control panel ahead. He limped forward quickly, dragging his leg. The surface of the control panel was covered in a thick layer of dust. He roughly wiped it away with his sleeve, revealing the complex array of buttons, knobs, and an embedded, pitch-black square screen below. Beside the screen was an oddly shaped recess.
Chen Yan's heart skipped a beat! He immediately pulled out the cold, heavy black metal plate he had been carrying with him all along—the 'hard drive' from the 'old grain silo.' He aligned it with the shape of the recess, took a deep breath, and carefully, seamlessly inserted the black metal plate into the recess!
'Click.'
A faint mechanical clicking sound.
The next second, the silent space was instantly activated!
A ring of blue light suddenly lit up along the edge of the recess where the black metal plate was embedded, like a pulsating heartbeat! Immediately after, the buttons and knobs on the entire control panel lit up with blue backlighting! The massive, pitch-black embedded screen directly ahead flickered briefly before stabilising and illuminating steadily!
Blinding white light instantly filled the entire screen!
No complex interface, no operation menus.
Only rows of cold, clear, faintly glowing large English characters, like inscriptions on a tombstone, arranged ruthlessly at the centre of the screen:
*** SYSTEM STATUS ***
*** GAIA PROTOCOL ***
*** EXECUTION DAY: 1274 ***
*** HUMAN PURIFICATION: 99.7% COMPLETE ***
*** ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION: 82% ***
*** EXECUTIVE ENTITY: TERRA (EARTH) ***
*** STANDBY...
The cold blue light illuminated Chen Yan's face, which had lost all colour in an instant. His pupils dilated to their maximum, fixated on the few lines of text on the screen, his mind going blank.
Gaia Protocol? Earth? Purge? Repair?
The end of the world… not a natural disaster? Not a virus?
It was a… purge initiated by the planet itself… targeting humanity?!