Chapter 389

Ancient people once took earthquakes to be the earth dragon turning over.

Following this train of thought, Ji Ming figured the cause of this earthquake should be the giant vine awakened by the magic array, hidden underground, its main body and roots struggling.

If it were an ordinary person, they could only wait for it to burst through the ground, then together with Bai Xiang become the level's final boss and launch the dungeon's final battle.

But unfortunately, Ji Ming had his own way of skipping class.

Don't cry, come help!

He took out hundreds of potted plants from his storage ring, and together with Bai La smashed them on the ground.

The originally calm plants turned frenzied upon touching the floor; after absorbing the magic crystals buried in the soil, they forcibly drilled through the floor's cracks and took root in a deeper layer of ground.

These potted plants are an extension of Grisen's will; as an existence so powerful that its name can stand for an entirely new species, its life form undoubtedly far surpasses this giant vine.

Therefore, in places Ji Ming couldn't see, these saplings' roots easily entwined around the vine and began to draw its energy.

However, relying only on these minor twigs and leaves, they obviously cannot match the vine's main will; they can only act as parasites, merely weakening its combat power.

But this is only the first step of his plan, because in the next second Ji Ming, without hesitation, directly transferred the teleportation array leading to the dungeon beneath his feet.

Therefore…

Grisen: "Hey hey hey, old tree, I finally got a chance to show my face!"

Giant vine: "Oh my dear father, what the heck is this, I've broken heavenly law!"

Grisen's true form descended, having already sucked dry the dungeon's endless magic power; most importantly, he had digested the Forest God's avatar and stolen a trace of divinity from it.

Therefore, he is no longer himself, but He!

Including the underground dragon god Leinorz, along with the Cold Iron divinity that players will eventually take down, this is clearly the third deity under Ji Ming's command.

However, since this is his own comprehension, the Forest God's divinity remains unharmed; thus, although the general direction of its authority remains plants, the specifics can be chosen by him.

And after much thought, Grisen chose the authority of…

Crops?

When Ji Ming learned of this news, he couldn't help but marvel that Grisen had broadened his path, truly having both breadth and depth.

Therefore, how could this giant vine possibly be a match for Him? It could only be forcibly grafted by Grisen, who seized control of the entire plant.

At that very moment, He sent a message to Ji Ming.

【Great God, aside from this vine hidden underground, there are many strange-looking humans; how should we deal with them?】

This must be the source of those countless life signals, but why would Bai Xiang raise so many living people underground?

Forget it, there's no need to dwell on this; just mind-control them and let them find the answers themselves.

However, only when Ji Ming extended his consciousness and contacted those humans did he finally understand what Grisen meant by 'strange'.

They look like humans, act like humans, and their internal structure resembles humans, yet they differ from humans in countless ways, as numerous as cow hairs and piled up like mountains.

It's like applying a film to a phone—sure, there are no annoying bubbles to hinder use, but that's because there's a whole layer of air as thin as a cicada's wing between the film and the screen.

Not applied? It is applied.

Can it be used? It can.

Applied properly? As applied.

Moreover, this group of humans seems never to have thought since birth; if not for beast-like desires such as eating and sleeping, they would be almost like…

Wait a moment!

Ji Ming then discovered another very important problem.

——These human-like non-human beings lack a very important organ.

Whether one or the other, strictly speaking it's not that they don't exist, but that from the embryo onward they never develop, making it impossible for them to produce a next generation.

Such oddity suddenly reminded Ji Ming of the seedless watermelons cultivated by humans.

And on the surface, Bai Xiang had his last bit of resistance worn away by Ji Ming, beginning the classic process of crushing stone, reforging, and finally completing a dragon-like new cottage.

Five minutes later.

Bai Xiang, weakly slumped on the table, gasped several breaths as if reborn; after a long while, he lifted his head and adjusted his collar.

Good heavens, it feels like I just had a nightmare…

Ji Ming dropped his disguise and sat opposite him.

Go on, tell me what exactly happened here.

This time Ji Ming actually wronged Bai La; at least from his perspective and intel, Bai Xiang was indeed only recently dispatched from the Deep Forest mainland to the Hui Guang Kingdom.

Therefore, the existence of a secret base completely covered by plants here is because Bai Xiang had been carrying out a secret task not disclosed to outsiders in this place.

And the core of this secret mission was not to cultivate giant vines in enemy territory, nor to raise faux humans underground, but…

To fuse the two together?

Upon hearing the other's explanation, the first thing Ji Ming thought of was the poisonous snake's venomous stinger tail.

Indeed so; this is one of the products of this research!

Although due to a certain harem anime male lead and the absurd world will's heaven-defying manipulation, Yangyue World has become a large-scale MMO game, in reality it is ultimately not a game, and lacks any balance whatsoever.

Therefore, the tail that the church specially installed on the poisonous snake to assassinate the princess can only be used three times, fundamentally because many technical hurdles remain unsolved.

But if it hasn't been overcome, we must find a way to overcome it; however, research involving both plants and animals, and many fields that relate to the soul, is extremely dangerous—one slip could cause a catastrophe—so what should we do if something goes wrong?

What else can we do? Naturally, like their fellow world travelers, we place the dangerous research in others' hands, then sell the hazardous waste to poor small countries that lack the capacity to process it, merely to earn a pittance of foreign exchange this way.

In other words, they deliberately placed this mountain here; anyway, dead comrades don't burden the poor Daoist, this is the heartland of Hui Guang, and if anything happens, Hui Guang people must take responsibility—what's it to me?

Biological experiments… so those people sealed in the underground space are your test subjects?

Bai Xiang's expression turned awkward for a moment.

No, strictly speaking they are not 'people'; they are another product of my research—artificial lifeforms created by reconstructing plant matter from human tissue, possessing only a very short lifespan.

As for why they were born… I have always been researching how to create perfect life, but I never succeeded, only producing these things that look like humans but aren't; after thinking it over, I could only repurpose them as test subjects for new research.

Heh, the otherworldly version of a lab rat…

Unfortunately, Yangyue is a world with a very low bottom line, so Ji Ming had to switch the topic.

"The researchers of this thing aren't only you, right?"

"Yes, out of the twelve Flower‑rank envoys, seven are already involved; only those who truly cannot take part in the research—envoys whose IQ is so low they're almost ordinary humans—are being repurposed for other uses."

Du She: Damn, don't speak so aggressively!

Ji Ming thought for a moment.

"And they…"

"Their expertise in this domain isn't as good as mine, and they aren't as… indecisive as I am, so they use live subjects. After all, Shen Lin Wang Guo has been at war for years… sorry, they aren't short of that."

Ji Ming remained silent for a long while, then suddenly gave a smile.

"Then you should thank your past research on perfect life! If you're not using those short‑lived, moth‑like specimens, even if I manage to pull you over from the Deep Forest, the first thing I'd do is eliminate you!"

Bai Lixiang hurriedly nodded.

"Understood!"

Mind control is a means, not an end; Ji Ming is not Yuri, and he doesn't have that habit of forcing others to call him Master and pay him homage.

So after overturning Bai Lixiang's Deep Forest faith, he didn't further manipulate his mind.

Or, in Ji Ming's view, there is something that wins loyalty more than forceful control: catering to someone's preferences.

For example, Du She is a lunatic who likes to play, so let her become the Deep Forest Church's biggest insider and cause a big stir.

And Bai La craves strength, so let him see what the theoretically strongest life form in this world looks like.

So, Bai Lixiang is a scientist passionate about studying perfect life, so...

"Come, allow me to introduce to you what may be the only perfect life in the world today."

"Perfect life!"

It is said the Supreme Deity has this thing in hand; not only Bai Lixiang, even Bai La is already itching with excitement.

After all, as Brother Xiangzi's most loyal subordinate, he knows exactly what his superior likes; after hearing him mutter about this for years, he also has a keen interest in such things.

However, while excitedly watching the Supreme Deity's envoy lift the black cloth, he was stunned.

Because what the black cloth concealed was a glass tank, and inside the tank crouched an enormous, ultra‑black, terribly ugly… toad!

And when it saw the Supreme Deity's envoy, it puffed out its bulging, round eyes and let out a sharp, grating howl.

"Dad! Dad! You came to see me again! Dad!"

Ji Ming (quietly): "You're not a fathead fish, have you really become a toad?"

"No, Dad! This is a frog! A frog! Dad… ahhh!"

The toad suddenly emitted an earth‑shaking wail, because a person had leaned over its tank, pressing its face against the glass into a pancake, as if to use it as a meal ticket.

"Oh my god, it really is a perfect life!"

"Dad! There's a lunatic in our house! Dad!"

"..."

Ji Ming's hard‑won aura, belonging to the Supreme Deity's envoy, was crushed to pieces by the toad's repeated "Dad" cries.

He could only place his hand on the fish tank first.

"Quiet, quiet, he won't do anything to you; he's just a researcher."

"Huh? He won't slice me up, will he? I heard the Pioneers like to eat dry pot dishes."

"No! Um... Bai Lixiang, how did you tell this was a perfect life? It looks... not really like one; I thought you'd question me."

"Because this."

Bai Lixiang's face seemed glued to the glass; he blindly fished a notebook from the bracelet on his right wrist and handed it to Ji Ming.

Ji Ming opened it and found his own research notes on perfect life, which included a passage explaining why perfect life first appears as a fathead fish and then as a toad.

Because this is essentially the human embryo, or the rough course of biological evolution: first fish, then amphibians, then reptiles, then birds that shouldn't have existed, mammals… and finally intelligence emerges, becoming humans.

In other words, the next step for this cheap big kid is to become a gecko, then a sparrow, then a mouse, and finally a brat.

【Wait, Savior, you admit he's your big kid, can't you hope the child will become better?】

【For example, first become a T‑rex, then an eagle, then an elephant, and finally a divine king or immortal emperor.】

"... Thank you, I thought you would say become Ellie."

【You said it.】

After witnessing the splendor of the perfect life, Ji Ming sent someone to let Bai Lixiang thoroughly tour the dungeon and get a rough sense of the Pioneers' sphere of influence in the barbarian plains.

After encountering so many like‑minded individuals, reservoirs of knowledge, and senior researchers,

Bai Lixiang: Deep Forest deity? What is it, not even a Greysen grain! The sky has no second sun; in my heart there is only the Soul‑spirit Throne as a sun!

Faithfulness and sincerity are beyond words.

"Sir, whatever you want can be done with a single sentence! Do you want to set the entire Deep Forest Church ablaze? Rest assured, I'll arrange it immediately!"

Whoa, that's way too loyal!

"No, no, no, don't rush. I'm a cautious planner, and I'm not at that fast‑track stage yet."

Grabbing the Bai Lixiang who was about to explode with the other Flower‑rank envoys, Ji Ming spread out the map and began explaining to him.

"For certain special reasons, our Soul‑spirit Throne is engaged in deep cooperation with the Holy Light Church; in other words, the squad currently marching north is, to some extent, under our protection duty."

"But now the Deep Forest Church is sending forces to assassinate Princess Eleanor in that squad; this is absolutely unacceptable to us. If the princess dies, we lose a crucial ally. Understand?"

"Understood!"

Bai Lixiang nodded firmly.

"My assignment is to take part in this assassination, monitor the erratic Du She to complete the mission, so I'll turn back and eliminate her, doing everything to make this second suicide a failure!"

"No, no, no, don't rush; I haven't finished speaking!"

Although Ji Ming indeed found Du She's self‑designation disgusting, he's not the petty Wendy‑go, so he wouldn't crush someone alive just because a follower repulsed him.

Wendigo: Fuck, can this be compared!? If you're able, make a figurine for yourself and give it to her, do you still have a day when you're doing it?