Chapter 338: Carboniferous Period 10

Just when Perry Yates thought it might be some unknown species of dragonfly, the creature suddenly stopped, hovering in mid-air. In the next instant, a golden light flashed from its wings.

Several golden Wind Blades shot from the dragonfly’s wings, hurtling toward the fleeing players.

The players dodged swiftly, not allowing the Wind Blades to hit them.

Two of the Wind Blades struck the ground, instantly carving two deep gouges in the earth.

The remaining Wind Blades slammed directly into the surrounding trees.

A massive tree, so thick it would take several people with outstretched arms to encircle it, was sliced clean through.

The friction from the Wind Blade slicing through the trunk created sparks, and in an instant, the tree burst into flames.

Seeing this, the red dragonfly that had been hunting the players seemed to panic. It hastily changed direction, abandoning its pursuit.

Once the area grew quiet, Perry Yates jumped down from the tree. She used her Abyssal Roots to scoop up soil and smother the fledgling flames.

Then, she looked in the direction the dragonfly had fled and gave chase.

Obviously, while the insects of the Carboniferous Period were huge and fierce, they couldn’t possibly create Wind Blades with their wings. That meant the dragonfly just now was definitely something special.

However, the dragonfly flew far too quickly; Perry Yates couldn’t catch up even with her plant-tracking ability.

By now, the sky was growing darker. Perry Yates looked around and decided to find a place to rest.

This time, she opted not to place her Safe House on the ground.

Finding a sturdy, thick branch, Perry Yates took out her Safe House.

The moment it appeared, the Safe House’s form changed, transforming from a little red cottage out of a fairy tale into a treehouse.

As a five-star card, changing its form to adapt to its surroundings was its most basic ability.

Once inside the Safe House, Perry Yates took out the card that was wreathed in black energy.

The card was still floating inside the cage formed by the Dodder Vine, and the black energy emanating from it seemed even denser than before.

The face of the card depicted a bizarre-looking clown. Through the wisps of black energy, Perry Yates felt as though the clown might come to life at any moment, which gave her the creeps.

Seeing this, Perry Yates rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and put the card away.

‘I have to get my hands on an identification item, and fast.’

So far, the only identification item she had seen belonged to that female player she’d encountered before—the one with Moon Shadow Stealth.

The identification item in that player’s hands could appraise a five-star card, so its own rank had to be three-star or higher.

With this in mind, Perry Yates went outside, placed her hand on the tree trunk, and closed her eyes, conveying her request to the tree.

Compared to finding a “special plant,” the task of finding a person should have been much more difficult.

Perry Yates had just been thinking it would take several days to get any reliable information, but to her surprise, the moment she finished describing the physical features of the person she was looking for, the very tree she was in responded.

‘Found her already? So fast?’

‘She couldn’t quite believe it. Could it be the wrong person?’

Still, she decided to check it out tomorrow. For now, it was best to get some rest.

「The fourth day of the game.」

Early in the morning, after packing up her Safe House, Perry Yates moved quickly toward the location the plant had shown her yesterday.

By this point, the forest fire from before hadn’t been extinguished; in fact, it was burning even more fiercely.

It was because of this fire that the living space for both players and the giant insect-beasts had shrunk.

Perry Yates could clearly sense that, compared to the past few days, the probability of encountering players and insects had significantly increased.

The ground was littered with the corpses of insects and players, all of whom had died gruesome deaths.

After about half an hour, Perry Yates finally found the person she was looking for.

However, it seemed she had arrived at a bad time.

The female player’s expression was ice-cold, and her body was covered in blood. Around her lay the corpses of several insects, as well as other players.

When Perry Yates arrived, the woman was in the middle of looting item cards and supplies from the dead players’ bodies.

This gave Perry Yates pause. ‘Should I reveal myself? What if she tries to kill me to tie up loose ends?’ (Whether she’d succeed was another matter, of course.)

Besides, judging by the expression on the female player’s face, the probability she’d kill her on sight was quite high.

After some thought, Perry Yates decided it was best to wait until the woman left the area.

And so, she tailed the woman, watching as she found a small stream, took off her soiled clothes to wash them, and then put them back on.

As for her clothes being wet, the humidity was so high that it hardly mattered if they were dry or damp.

Only then did Perry Yates deactivate the effect of her Silver Cross and deliberately make a sound to reveal her presence.

“Who are you?”

Hearing the voice, the female player instantly grew wary.

She looked at Perry Yates, a flash of killing intent flickering in her narrow eyes.

“Relax, I don’t mean you any harm. I just want to ask for your help with something,” Perry Yates said with a blink.

“And why should I believe you?”

As she spoke, the female player sized Perry Yates up. She was full of vigor, with not a trace of fatigue on her face. Most importantly, her clothes and hair were perfectly dry.

She also gave off a dangerous aura; this person was a threat.

“If I meant you harm, you never would have seen me coming. I would have just attacked,” Perry Yates said, pointing at the woman’s feet.

Only then did the female player notice that her feet had, at some point, been ensnared by a plant sprouting from the ground.

The plant looked small and thin, as if it could be snapped with a single tug.

However, when she tried to move, she discovered in horror that the plant had somehow entered her body and was now growing inside her very blood vessels.

Now, if this person wished it, they could make the plant burst her blood vessels at any moment.

“What do you want?” the female player asked through gritted teeth.

She recognized that in her current state, she was in no position to refuse.

Now, her only hope was that the person before her would keep their word and let her go when this was over.

“I’d like to borrow your Identification Card,” Perry Yates said, holding out her hand, clearly expecting the woman to hand it over.

Hearing her mention the Identification Card, the female player’s heart sank.

She had only used her Identification Card once since this all began.