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nOn a street near the river,

nLi Chenglong and Zhou Tao moved at a faster speed than ordinary people. The two of them had changed into new clothes and were wearing human skin masks. At first glance, their disguise was flawless.

n“Soon! Soon! We’ll reach the entrance of the underground sewers in less than a kilometer.”

nThe two of them cheered in their hearts.

nThe two of them had killed four people from the seven-man armed police team and severely injured the captain of the armed police team. The two of them knew what this meant.

nNow that the two of them were definitely wanted by the entire city, they would not be able to withstand any interrogation if they left the city through the normal ways. They could only take the unconventional path.

nTheir escape route was to sneak into the bottom of the river through the underground sewers and hijack a ship or swim out of the city based on the situation.

n“The two of you, stop for a moment!”

nWhen they were only 100 meters away from the entrance of the sewer, an armed policeman suddenly shouted.

nLi Chenglong and Zhou Tao’s expressions turned cold. They suppressed the anxiety in their hearts and retracted their steps. Although their destination was only 100 meters away, it was often easier for problems to arise at the last step.

n“We’re in a hurry to buy our share of supplies for tomorrow.”

nThe two of them did not wait for the armed police officer to approach them. They took out their identification cards and told him the reason for their trip. They hoped that the interrogation would be quick, and that they could easily get away with it.

nThe armed police officer walked over to the two of them and took their identification cards. He first used a scanner to verify the authenticity of the identification cards, then compare their faces with the photos.

n“At the Hurun supermarket, there are fewer people queuing up,” the armed police officer reminded them kindly as he returned the identification cards.

nAs soon as he finished speaking, a breeze blew past. The armed police officer’s nose felt uncomfortable and he asked, “What work do you guys do? Why is there such a bad smell coming from your bodies?”

nIn the next second, before the armed police officer could react, his head was struck hard and he fell to the ground. Li Chenglong and Zhou Tao ran towards their destination.

nThe pedestrians on the street were in chaos. Li Chenglong and Zhou Tao had crazy smiles on their faces as they killed the pedestrians they encountered along the way. They even threw the corpses around to destroy the shops along the street.

nIt was not enough for the two murderers to kill the armed police that interrogated them. They also tried to create more chaos to confuse the armed police who would come to investigate later.

nAfter killing seven or eight pedestrians, the two of them quickly rushed into a small street. At the corner of a building more than 10 meters away, a sewer cover was right in front of them.

nThe reason why they had chosen this place to enter the underground sewer was because the manhole cover happened to be in a blind spot. Even if the two of them caused a huge commotion, it would be difficult to determine their whereabouts in a short period of time.

nHowever, Li Chenglong and Zhou Tao suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure falling from the sky. Before they could look up to see what was going on, their legs went weak and they fell to the ground.

nThe two of them struggled with all their might, their eyes bulging, but it was useless. They were pressed to the ground by an invisible force.

nJust like that, Li Chenglong and Zhou Tao endured the torture for half a minute. They watched helplessly as the armed police officers rushed over and handcuffed them. Only then did the pressure on them dissipate.

nChen Yiming stood on the rooftop of a high-rise building and subdued the two people who were attacking the pedestrians. He ignored them after the armed police arrived.

nSuddenly, all the major cities in the province were under martial law and entered a state of war. It was normal for there to be a certain amount of chaos in the early stages. Only by resolving these hidden dangers could Jiangnan province deal with the incoming treants with all their might.

nHe had already expected this. Coincidentally, the treant at the master realm was temporarily staying in the otherworld, so he could spare some time to suppress the evildoers.

n…

nThe chaos in Jiangnan City lasted for three days.

n“Boom!”

nIn a remote area in the wilderness, a palm about a kilometer in size descended from the sky. The people hiding there were all crushed into a pulp.

nChen Yiming leaped down from the sky and confirmed their identities.

nIn the past three days, the level of control had increased. Due to the complicated situation, there was no room for negotiation.

nIf they were found, people would be sent to capture them. Those who had the ability to escape to the wilderness also had someone waiting for them.

nOne of the people who had been turned into meat paste by Chen Yiming was a deputy mayor.

nThis deputy mayor had always been in charge of coordinating the logistics. Even if he immediately covered up all the clues pointing to him, he could not withstand a strong investigation. The day before the matter was exposed, he escaped from the city through an underground secret passage.

nHowever, after using his spiritual power to scan the area, Chen Yiming still found them and killed them all.

n“It’s about time!”

nChen Yiming pondered for a moment before rushing back to Jiangnan City.

nHowever, something strange happened. Vines covered in barbs shot out from the surrounding trees that were a few meters tall, aiming at the ground that was covered in flesh and blood.

n“This is?” Chen Yiming said in shock.

nThe small trees in front of him were devouring the blood and meat with the help of the vines, making a faint gurgling sound.

nHis gaze swept across the forest not far away, and his powerful perception captured the moment when many small trees trembled slightly.

n“Eh? There are too many mutant plants!”

nThe reason for the existence of mutant beasts and mutant plants was the appearance of the space-travel passages, and their evolution was due to the influence of the otherworld. Due to their strong mobility, the mutant beasts quickly spread out throughout the wilderness.

nOn the other hand, most of the mutant plants had low mobility. When they completed their evolution near the space-travel passage, they would already be eaten by powerful mutant beasts. Therefore, it was not that there were no mutant plants on the entire blue planet, but that their numbers were far lower than that of mutant beasts.

n“The treants’ invasion has already begun!”

nChen Yiming frowned. He had passed by this area of wilderness many times, and it didn’t seem normal for there to suddenly be so many mutant plants.

nMoreover, there were no mutant plants at the master realm in Jiangnan province. This way, it was almost certain that the treants from the otherworld were behind it.

n“At the start, the true goal of the three treants who set down their roots in the strange mountain village was to spread the seeds that could grow into more treants,” Chen Yiming’s expression was serious as he thought to himself, “Although these small treants are weak, they are already a threat to those in the disciple realm, let alone ordinary people.”

nRealizing this, he immediately rushed back to Jiangnan City.

n…

nThe atmosphere in the large conference room was heavy.

nWang Ronghui projected the latest reports of the injuries on the screen. Chen Yiming, Ling Zhongyun, and Zhao Shumin looked at the pictures on the screen solemnly.

nIn an ordinary residential district, a woman was watering the flowers when the petals suddenly exploded into sharp blades. The woman collapsed in a pool of blood, and her blood was drawn away by an invisible force into the flower pot.

nThe murderous flowers sucked the woman dry and turned her into a dried corpse. Then, things returned to normal as if nothing had happened. The surveillance camera in the residential district just happened to have captured this scene.

nThe next murder:

nIn the park by the river, at night, a few old men were playing chess at a stone table by the street lamp. Dozens of vines on the grass suddenly rose up and tied up the old men playing chess and dragged them back into the darkness.

nThe passers-by who were taking a stroll retreated in panic. Some bold people took photos as they retreated.

n…

nMore than 10 such murder cases were recorded.

n“The military has submitted a request to launch a nuclear bomb,”

nWang Ronghui turned off the projector and said in a low voice.

n“Agreed!” Ling Zhongyun, Zhao Shumin, and the others had no objections.

n“I also think that’s what we should do,” Chen Yiming said.

nThe treants’ method of spreading their seeds was very difficult for humans to deal with using conventional methods. Only by turning the area around the strange mountain village into a nuclear radiation zone could they prevent the treants from spreading the seeds in large quantities again.

nThe meeting ended quickly, and Wang Ronghui left in a hurry.

n…

nAs he walked along the street, Chen Yiming saw the remains of plants falling from the sky.

nThe incident of plants injuring people quickly spread throughout the city. Most of the families who originally liked to raise flowers and plants did not dare to risk their lives even if most of the potted plants were normal.

nBesides, even if the people who loved plants were unwilling to throw them away, their families would also force them to do so.

nIn front of a flower shop, the surroundings had already been cleared. Two armed police officers held the lady boss back, and the other two armed police officers held strong acid jets and sprayed the entire shop.

nThe lady boss shouted at the top of her lungs, “How can you guys be like this! I already said that I checked them one by one. There are no plants that can hurt people.”

nThe armed police faced the florist, and no one replied.

nThere were also three armed police officers who were holding flamethrowers. Once any of the plants in the flower shop attacked them, they would kill them even if they had to burn down the shop.

nAt this moment, the white fog emitted by the acid spread out. Through the glass window, one could vaguely see the flowers and plants melting.

nJust as everyone heaved a sigh of relief, a small potted tree in the flower shop started to wave its branches to drive away the strong acid.

n“Hurry!” an armed policeman reminded his colleague loudly.

nThree armed policemen holding flamethrowers pressed the button half a second after they saw the small potted tree move.

nThree flames shot into the flower shop in a triangular formation. In the blink of an eye, the flower shop had turned into a house of fire. The potted tree struggled violently in the flames, and its sharp leaves shot out in all directions. At first, the flames were repelled.

nHowever, since it was not long after it grew up, the flower shop calmed down after 10 seconds, and only flames remained.

n“No way…”

nThe lady boss’s lips moved as she slumped to the ground. Her throat was hoarse from the shouting, and she could not believe what had happened.

nThe armed police cleaned up the scene and quickly left.

nSimilar cleanup operations were carried out in large numbers in the city.

nThe soldiers cleared out the green areas in the city, the forest parks in the city, the orchards in the suburbs, and so on. Be it the normal trees or the plants that the treants had turned into, they were all completely destroyed.

nIn the blink of an eye, the city had completely lost its green color, leaving only the grayish-white color of steel and concrete. A sense of decline was felt throughout the city.

nMost people were forced to stay at home. Even some teams hunting mutant beasts did not dare to leave the city easily. This was because if the city was like this, the wilderness was probably even more dangerous.

nChen Yiming walked around casually and realized that there weren’t any big problems. He prepared to leave Jiangnan City and rush to East Lake City.

nAfter they started an all-out war with the treants, he would not be able to move around freely. He would take advantage of the time he had left to comfort his family.

nSuddenly, he sensed that something serious had happened. He turned to look towards the horizon.

nHalf a second later, the clouds were dyed red by the flames. A red and black mushroom cloud slowly rose up, and the yellow and white air currents turned into a ring that spread out in all directions.

nAfter a while, the sound of thunder and tremors from the nuclear explosion finally reached Jiangnan City. The ground visibly shook.

n“It’s a nuclear explosion!” a pedestrian shouted as he covered his face.

nMost of the pedestrians stopped in their tracks and stared blankly in the direction of the nuclear explosion.

nA nuclear bomb.

nBefore the birth of the martial masters, this was humanity’s strongest trump card. However, even now, it could not be ignored. It was one of humanity’s strongest trump cards.

nFor example, stopping the treants from spreading their seeds through the air was very troublesome for the country’s martial masters. They was not as effective as nuclear bombs in this case.

nImmediately after, a second mushroom cloud rose up. A few seconds later, a third one rose up.

nNot everyone understood the seriousness of the treants’ invasion of Jiangnan province, but the nuclear bombs explained everything. This time, the three consecutive explosions not only announced the official start of the war with the treants, but also caused the seriousness of the war to be deeply ingrained in their hearts.

n“I hope the nuclear radiation can kill as many ordinary treants as possible!” Chen Yiming prayed in his heart. He didn’t stay any longer and rushed towards East Lake City.

nAccording to the estimates given by the military, there was a high chance that Jiangnan province would not be able to defeat the treants in a head-on battle.

nTheir only advantage was that they were fighting on their home ground. Once the nuclear bombs were dropped, the area around the strange mountain village would be enveloped by nuclear radiation. The weak treants would not be able to break out of the radiation zone.

n…

nIn the Chen family house, Father Chen, Mother Chen, and Chen Yingying had already decided to stay at home and not go anywhere.

nWhen Chen Yiming returned home, they were watching the news and paying attention to the nuclear explosion.

n“Brother, you’re back. They really dropped a nuclear bomb!”

nChen Yiming was taking off his shoes when his sister ran over, her face full of shock.

n“Didn’t you see the three huge mushroom clouds?” Chen Yiming rolled his eyes at his sister.

n“But why did they launch the nuclear bombs?” Chen Yingying refused to give up and continued to ask.

nChen Yiming glanced at the television. “Didn’t the news say that an alien plant species called the treants has invaded Jiangnan province?”

nChen Yingying received an affirmative answer and nodded.

nSometimes, the news on television might not be completely true, but she knew that Chen Yiming was an important person. What he said must be true.

nChen Yiming walked towards his parents on the sofa and instructed, “There are people protecting the Chen family in secret. As long as you stay at home and don’t run around, there won’t be any problems.”

nMother Chen had a serious expression on her face as she nodded and said, “Don’t worry. Your father and I aren’t going anywhere. We won’t cause any trouble for you.”

nFather Chen, on the other hand, wanted to say something but hesitated.

nChen Yiming sat down on the sofa. Seeing Father Chen’s dilemma, he asked, “Dad, did your friends in the square ask you for insider information?”

nFather Chen had retired early. His hobby was to go to the square and chat with others, so he naturally made a group of friends.

nFather Chen sighed and said, “They’re just ordinary friends. If it’s not convenient, then forget it.”

nChen Yiming knew the insider information, but he didn’t want Mayor Hong to visit him again. He smiled and said, “It’s still far away from East Lake City. Even if a war breaks out soon, it will be limited to the encirclement established by the military with the six large sects as the boundary.”

nFather Chen heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. “I see. Then it’s fine. I have a few friends who were frightened out of their wits. They have packed their belongings and almost went to join their relatives in another province.”

nAt this moment, Chen Yingying suddenly interrupted, “Brother, the teacher from the martial arts school asked me to cultivate at home. How should I reply?”

n“Stay at home for the time being.”

nChen Yiming nodded. He could understand the martial arts academy’s actions. At this moment, he didn’t want his sister to run around.

nIn any case, with Chen Yingying’s mediocre talent, it would not affect her much if she wasted some cultivation time. It was better to rely on him to think of a solution.

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