Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Mo Ka Forest

After hearing the man out, Ling Mo couldn’t help feeling relieved she hadn’t used her mental power to snatch those fruits earlier.

If that plant had launched a full 360-degree, no-dead-angle attack, even if she could duck into pocket space, she still couldn’t guarantee she’d avoid every single spike.

A young man from the two-men-two-women team stepped up. “After we succeed, how are we splitting it?”

“Let me say this first—I’m not doing an even split. I’m not giving my work to other people.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the skinny man and the chubby man, both of them looking pitifully battered, and the girl in the white dress. Then it shifted to Ling Mo and the short-haired girl beside her.

The first two rounds were one thing, but anyone who still dared to move alone in this round had to be holding a trump card.

And while those two girls’ clothes were filthy, their eyes were sharp and alert, with none of the exhaustion you’d expect. One look told you they’d done pretty well these past few days.

The man who’d spoken first nodded. “Naturally. The more capable you are, the more you get. Since we’ve decided to cooperate, we should introduce our talents so we can coordinate.”

The moment he said it, silence fell. Even the young man who’d just argued about splitting the loot shut his mouth.

Everyone knew it would come up. Everyone knew it was the right move. But no one wanted to be the first to reveal their ace.

The man frowned, scanning the circle, about to press them—when the young man beside him grabbed his arm and cut in quickly.

“I get everyone’s concerns. How about this—I’ll go first. I’m Feng Lang. My talent is speed.”

After that, the others followed, one by one. Without exception, their talents were combat-oriented, focused on body enhancement.

The loudest one, the guy whose game name was Jin Gang, had a talent that matched it. When activated, his body swelled, his skin turned blade-and-bullet-proof, and his strength and speed jumped dramatically.

“My talent is water talent. I can conjure water.”

“I can climb and run along walls like a cat.”

“I can create cold weapons.”

As he spoke, a long, razor-sharp blade appeared in his hand.

Ling Mo watched him closely. He was lying. His face was steady, but the turbulence in his mind spiked hard when he spoke.

When it was her turn, Ling Mo didn’t hesitate. “I can animal communication.”

She’d thought it through long ago. She really could animal communication, so it wasn’t a lie.

Every eye snapped to her.

“If you can command animals, then can you—”

“No.”

Ling Mo cut him off before he could finish. Whatever he was about to ask, the answer was no.

“And listen carefully. I can animal communication. I can’t command them.”

That part was true, too. She couldn’t even order around the three dumb sled dogs in her pocket space.

The man clearly didn’t believe her, but her refusal was absolute, and he had no choice but to swallow it.

“All right,” the leader said. “It’ll be dark soon. We need to move fast. You don’t want to spend the night here, do you?”

No one argued. Nights in Mo Ka Forest were a nightmare—just remembering the screams from other players was enough.

Ling Mo stayed in the back, quiet, listening as they tossed ideas around.

She didn’t think they’d produce anything useful. It was all wasted breath. No one trusted anyone, and everyone was holding something back.

In a situation like that, everyone wanted someone else to rush in first and take the hits so they could swoop in and profit.

The problem was, nobody was stupid.

Sure, the harder you worked, the more you got—if you lived long enough to claim it.

After all that “discussion,” the final plan was simple: improvise.

Ling Mo stared at them. Of course.

She glanced at the sky. It was already edging toward dusk. While they’d been arguing, she’d found herself a place to hide for the night.

Still, she followed behind them with the rest. The longer she stayed, the more convinced she became: these people were unreliable.

They crouched in the grass, eyes locked on the fruit above the plant, even their breathing subdued. One look after another flickered between them—silent shoves, pushing someone else to be first.

Even Jin Gang, who could turn his skin blade-and-bullet-proof, didn’t dare move. That alone said how terrifying the plant’s attacks were.

Ling Mo kept herself behind a thick tree trunk and reached out with her mental power, trying to communicate with the plant.

Most of the time, plants couldn’t be communicated with. Their actions were instinct—nothing like an animal’s thoughts.

But trying cost her nothing.

Just as she expected, there was no response.

She was about to give up when a faint signal brushed against her senses.

Ling Mo jolted. It really could respond.

She tried to catch the thread and pull it closer—but before she could, a heavy thud sounded. A snow-white spike slammed into the tree beside her.

The force was horrifying. If that had hit a person, it could’ve skewered two or three bodies in a line.

This wasn’t a weapon. It was a massacre machine.

The clearing erupted into frantic shouting and filthy curses.

“Shit!

Don’t run this way!”

“Ahhh! Its spikes can grow fast!

Help—I got hit!”

A moment ago they’d looked so sure that teamwork meant success. Now they scattered like birds, each of them sprinting for their own life.

No—some people still had time to think. Using someone else as a shield came fast when panic hit.

Jin Gang grabbed the skinny man with one hand and the chubby man with the other and hauled them in front of him like portable cover.

Ling Mo had stayed at a distance, tucked near the rear, and from her angle she saw it all clearly. It started with the girl in the white dress shoving the two men forward.

Then Jin Gang seized the opportunity and turned them into his meat shields.

The girl’s motive was obvious: the vegetable basket.

The skinny man realized what she was doing and snapped. In a desperate, ugly move, he shoved the vegetable basket right up toward the plant.

Ling Mo’s eyes narrowed. Without hesitation, she swapped it with a vegetable basket in her hand that had zero points.

No one noticed. Everyone was running for their lives, and all vegetable basket looked identical. If you didn’t check the points, you couldn’t tell them apart.