Chapter 69 - 65: Becoming Monsters

Chapter 69: Chapter 65: Becoming Monsters

"AHHH—"

A piercing scream echoed throughout the military camp.

Lian rubbed his eyes and climbed out of his far-from-soft bed.

Sophie also opened her eyes and immediately shielded the fishbowl.

The two of them walked out of the tent, one after the other.

"Kob, what happened?"

Lian asked. Sophie also looked at him curiously.

Captain Cobb frowned and said,

"Robson and the others... when they woke up this morning, they... they... they turned into monsters. They look a lot like..."

"Like what?"

Seeing Kob stammer, Lian felt a vague sense of foreboding.

"Like Tree Monsters!"

Kob finally gritted his teeth and said it.

Lian froze. ’Robson turned into a Tree Monster? What in the world is going on?’

"Take me to them."

Lian and Sophie followed Kob to the source of the commotion.

A green-topped, thirty-person tent was now heavily surrounded by Guards.

Three or four monsters rushed out of the tent. Their skin had become like dry bark and their limbs had turned to wood. They looked like newborn Tree Monsters—truly horrifying.

Most importantly, they couldn’t make any human sounds. It was as if they’d lost the ability to speak, capable only of low, hoarse roars.

Besides the few that had charged out, one could see through the open tent flap that the inside was also full of such monsters.

The Guards couldn’t believe their eyes. Just yesterday, these had been fellow humans, partners who had fought alongside them, comrades who had celebrated their victory together around a bonfire. Now, they had turned into these grotesque figures.

"It’s a curse! The Tree Monster Curse from the Bone Forest! Because we killed the Tree Monsters, we’re going to become Tree Monsters!"

A terrified old veteran exclaimed.

Lian glanced at the old veteran, and Captain Cobb immediately explained, "There’s a legend in the Bone Forest that the Tree Monsters are protected by the Spirit of the Forest. Anyone who kills a Tree Monster will be cursed. We’d never encountered it before, so we thought it was just a rumor."

"Yes, that must be it! We’ll all be cursed! We’ll all turn into monsters!"

The old veteran shouted.

Lian tilted his head. As if on cue, Kob chopped the old veteran on the neck, knocking the loud old man unconscious.

Even so, the old veteran’s words had planted a seed of fear in the hearts of the Guards.

’Are we all going to turn into monsters?’

They looked at each other, terror in their eyes. The Long Spears in their hands gave them no sense of security.

Lian carefully observed this group of Guards. They were the very same Elite Guards who had helped him handle the Heart of the Tree Monster yesterday.

At this moment, a red entry had appeared above each of their heads.

[Tree Monster Curse]After cruelly killing the Heart of the Tree Monster, one will suffer a curse from the Spirit of the Forest. The body will gradually turn into a Treant and eventually become a part of the forest.

’So this Bone Forest really does have a so-called Spirit of the Forest!’

’As long as it’s a red entry, this will be easy.’

’For me, this isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, it’s a great opportunity to quickly farm some Points.’

A smile appeared on Lian’s face. He walked in front of the Guards and announced loudly,

"Everyone, there’s no need to worry. I once studied under my teacher, Pinocchio, and learned how to treat this condition. This isn’t a curse, just a strange illness called ’Tree-man Disease.’ The pathogen comes from certain specific Tree Monsters, so people who fight them have a chance of being infected. But it is curable."

When the Guards heard that it was a disease and not a curse from the Spirit of the Forest—and a curable one at that—hope reignited in their eyes, and their panic subsided.

"As expected of Lord Lian. Your teacher, Pinocchio, must be a truly great Doctor."

Kob couldn’t help but exclaim. ’He wished so much that he could have the opportunity to meet the esteemed Pinocchio. For such a great man to appear in a small place like Blueberry Town and teach Lord Lian such supreme Medical Skill... this must be the legendary treatment reserved only for protagonists. Lord Lian is truly worthy of being the successor chosen by Lord Moria.’

The Guards all looked at Lian with admiration.

Sophie looked down, confused, at the fishbowl in her arms. Inside it, ninety-eight goldfish and a single tadpole seemed to gaze back at her with equal curiosity.

They all seemed to be wondering, ’Just who is Pinocchio?’

Lian ordered the Guards to tie up the out-of-control "infected" and bring them into his tent one by one.

"Sophie, please stand guard at the entrance. I don’t wish to be disturbed while I’m performing the Healing."

Lian said.

Sophie nodded slightly and stood at the entrance of the tent, holding the fishbowl with a serious expression.

The first to be treated, Robson, looked at Lian nervously. Although his limbs were bound, his bright eyes could still dart back and forth.

"Robson, no need to be nervous. This is just a perfectly normal treatment."

Lian soothed Robson like a seasoned doctor who’d been practicing without a license for thirty years. He reached out, pinched Robson’s mouth open, and poured the anesthetic in.

This juice, extracted from the Heart of the Tree Monster, could make a target dizzy the moment it entered their mouth. There was almost no delay, making it a top-grade anesthetic.

’Hmm, experiment proves that just three drops are enough to make a Guard fall unconscious.’

Lian mentally noted this useful piece of information.

Then, he grabbed the bouncing red entry above Robson’s head.

His current Speed was so fast that you could see afterimages. An ordinary red entry couldn’t escape his demonic grasp and was easily caught.

Of course, there were occasional slip-ups, like when he failed to control his strength and yanked out the hair around the red entry as well.

With the red entry removed, Robson’s body gradually returned to its human form.

The only difference was that this once Beautiful Youth was now bald on top.

Lian believed that the Beautiful Youth’s hair would grow back quickly, even if it wasn’t so neat.

[Entry Points +200]

The Points gained from clearing one curse weren’t much, but the advantage was that this curse was very easy to acquire, and eliminating it didn’t consume too much Physical Strength.

After Robson was sent out, new "patients" were brought in one after another.

The vast majority of them, like Robson, ended up bald on top.

Therefore, the Guards concluded that this was a necessary part of Lian’s treatment for ’Tree-man Disease’.

The hair on top of the head had to be completely shaved off for the Tree-man Disease to be cured.

After clearing the entries from all 30 cursed Guards over the morning, Lian had earned 6,000 Points, bringing his cumulative Entry Points to 22,000.

After finishing lunch, Lian gathered all the Guards and had Sophie take down the ice wall.

"Everyone, next we advance to the second sector! This time, our goal is zero casualties! Please follow my orders strictly! Let’s crush the Bone Forest!"

"Crush the Bone Forest! Crush the Bone Forest! Crush the Bone Forest!"

The Guards raised their Long Spears and shields, letting out a roar that echoed through the forest.

Birds and beasts were startled by the sound and took flight into the sky.