The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

Wang Chen took it and looked at it... It was a fragment. Dark red, with a texture somewhat like tree bark, but with fine lines on the surface, like blood vessels. The edges of the fragment were irregular, as if it had been torn apart from the inside by something. He flipped it over and saw a line of small text, a residual message from the system.

【Crimson Vines (Lv10 Purple → In Progress → Dead)】

"Advancing?" Zhang Qiang leaned closer and saw the words. His pupils contracted slightly. "Was this vine just advancing?"

Wang Chen's brows furrowed slightly, then slowly relaxed, and the corners of his mouth even turned up slightly.

"Failed to advance," he said, his tone carrying a sense of relief and certainty. "This thing went wrong during its advancement and killed itself. No wonder it went berserk, no wonder it suddenly withered."

Zhang Qiang glanced at him but didn't refute. Although another thought flashed through his mind... what if it hadn't failed to advance? What if someone had killed it?... But he didn't say it aloud. He understood the expression on Wang Chen's face: Wang Chen needed an explanation, an explanation that would lessen his fear. Admitting that the vine died from its failed advancement was much easier than admitting that someone could kill a level ten monster.

"Luckily." Wang Chen tossed the fragments on the ground, clapped his hands, and said, "This thing died on its own, saving us a lot of trouble. Pass down the order: everyone search this area and report any valuable supplies found immediately. Anyone who dares to hoard them will be executed without mercy."

"Yes!" the crowd roared in agreement.

The crowd dispersed, swarming like ants into the withered vines, searching through the ruins and dead branches.

Wang Chen stood in the open space, hands behind his back, watching all this, a smile appearing on his face for the first time in several hours.

He thought to himself that the failure of this thing to advance had actually given him a great advantage.

......

Meanwhile, at Ash University in the distance, at the moment when the scarlet vine was on its last legs and struggling for its life, the emerald green vine deep within the campus suddenly trembled.

It seemed to sense something.

All the branches stood up at the same time, like countless snakes raising their heads, slowly turning towards the direction outside the campus... towards the direction where the scarlet vines were...

Its main vine emerged from the ground and tentatively extended a short distance out of the campus, hesitating as if worried about some kind of retaliation.

But it soon discovered that the aura that had once made it wary was rapidly weakening.

Without further hesitation, it began to frantically probe outwards.

Just as Su Mu's final shot pierced the core of the scarlet vine and the system notified him of the kill, the vine in the campus area seemed to have been switched on.

All the branches contracted simultaneously, vanishing instantly from the walls, the ground, and the tree trunks, as swiftly as the receding tide. The emerald green vines disappeared from every corner of the campus… retreating from the windows of the teaching buildings, sliding down the outer walls of the dormitories, and tearing away from the iron fences of the perimeter wall. They converged beneath the ground, surging underground at an astonishing speed, like a giant green python slithering through the earth.

A few minutes. Just a few minutes.

The emerald green vines traversed several kilometers of urban space from beneath Ash University, reaching the area where the scarlet vines were located.

A crack appeared in the ground.

Emerald green vines sprouted from the ground, like thirsty beasts finding water, and they plunged into the withered branches of the scarlet vines without hesitation.

The dead branches throughout the area began to tremble violently.

Those grayish-brown, withered branches, devoid of all life, seemed to have their last remaining energy drained from their bodies the instant they came into contact with the emerald green vines. Their color changed from grayish-brown to grayish-white, from grayish-white to powder, which was scattered by the wind.

The remains of the scarlet vines disappeared piece by piece. Not from decay, not from weathering, but from being literally drained dry... Every branch, every fragment, every remaining cell of energy was plundered clean by the emerald green vines.

Meanwhile, the emerald green vines themselves are undergoing some subtle changes.

It was originally emerald green, like the tender buds sprouting in early spring, bright and clear. But now, its color has begun to become complicated.

A hint of scarlet emerged from the roots of the vine, spreading upwards along the main vine like a vein. The red was not a cover, not an erosion, but an inlay... as if a thin red line was seeping from the inside of the vine, intertwining with the original emerald green.

Emerald green and scarlet crimson intertwine, entwine, and merge, forming a strange and beautiful pattern in the twilight. The pattern is like an ancient totem, like some kind of mysterious rune, like a poem written by nature on the vines with the two most extreme colors.

The entire vine is shimmering with color, its red and green hues complementing each other, exuding a bewitching beauty that is impossible to look away from under the dim light of the sky.

.....

Half an hour later, in the direction of Ash University.

Su Mu stopped when he reached the school gate.

Not right.

The last time he ran out of here, the inside of the school gate was crowded with lush green vines, densely packed like a living wall. But now... the school gate is wide open, the door frame is empty, not even a single green branch remains. The cracks in the ground are still there, but there's nothing inside them, only dry soil.

Su Mu frowned and went inside.

The campus was eerily quiet. He walked through the school gate, along the tree-lined path, past the teaching buildings, and all the way to the dormitory area... The area that had once been covered in lush green vines was now spotless. There were traces of vines on the ground and marks on the walls, but the vines themselves were gone. Not a single one.

Su Mu stood on the open ground in the dormitory area and activated his regional perception.

Ash City - Ash University Dormitory Area

Monster Level: Lv1-Lv6

[Estimated Quantity: Moderate]

[Danger Level: Low]

The high-level vine's mark is gone. It has disappeared from the area perception, replaced by several low-level monsters... zombies, corrupted students, and stitched monsters, all between levels one and six.

Su Mu's brows furrowed even more. Had the vines escaped? Or had something else happened?

Su Mu crouched down and touched the soil on the ground. It was dry. But the last time he came, the soil in this area was wet... not water, but some kind of viscous, resin-like liquid. Now there was nothing left.

Did it burrow underground? Or did it leave completely?

Su Mu stood up and walked around the campus for another half a turn, but found no trace of vines.

He had no choice but to give up and turn away from Ash University. Wherever the vine went, he didn't have time to track it down. It was getting late; he had to find a suitable place to stay before nightfall.

......