CHAPTER 939: CHAPTER 938: ASUNA’S UNUSUAL BEHAVIOR

Fang Zheng originally thought that this matter would be over just like that, but soon, he realized he was thinking too simply.

"Take a rest, get ready to regroup, next we’ll start cleaning up the core zone of this level."

Putting away his weapon, Fang Zheng glanced at the bodies of creatures disappearing around him, then gave a loud order.

"Eiriri, go scout ahead, but be careful, most of the creatures on this level are plants, be mindful of the sides of the road, and be extra cautious about any plant."

"Got it, Mr. Fang Zheng."

Hearing Fang Zheng’s command, Eiriri nodded, then swiftly activated the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear and disappeared into the forest like the wind.

"So nice..."

Watching Eiriri’s soaring figure, Yuki couldn’t help but sigh, then she cheerfully came to Fang Zheng’s side, gazing at him.

"Mr. Fang Zheng, can you make one for me too? I also want to fly in the sky..."

"I also think... it seems quite fun..."

Leafa came over at this time, cautiously raising her hand to speak.

"It’s not easy, it requires a long period of training to manage it."

Fang Zheng did not oppose them using the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, but he planned to observe the situation further. Moreover, not everyone is suitable to use such a thing. The use of the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear requires a good sense of space and reaction capability from the user, basically a pilot’s fundamental requirements.

If you can’t spin on the spot a hundred times and still walk a straight line to the end, then giving you the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear is sending you to your death.

"I will consider it... alright, when we reach the fiftieth floor, I’ll let you try it out to see which of you can master it."

"Okay!"

Hearing Fang Zheng’s answer, Yuki and Leafa exchanged excited glances, then cheered while reaching out to high-five, before running off with smiles. Watching their departing backs, Fang Zheng helplessly shook his head. Then he looked towards Asuna on the other side; at this moment, Asuna was standing not far from the front of the team, lost in thought.

"Mr. Fang Zheng!"

At this moment, Eiriri descended from the sky, landing in front of Fang Zheng as lightly as a swallow.

"I’ve finished exploring, there aren’t any particularly troublesome creatures in front, but we need to be cautious of the Man-Eating Plants."

"Man-Eating Plants?"

"Yes."

As she spoke, Eiriri took out a drawing—on it was clearly drawn a flower larger than a person.

"They seem to hunt for food using their roots, and they are very stealthy. In short, we should be cautious."

"Understood."

Fang Zheng nodded, then turned to Asuna.

"Asuna, organize the team, we’ll continue moving forward, watch out for the plants on the ground!"

"........."

However, Asuna did not respond as she usually would; she just stood there, unmoving.

"Asuna?"

Seeing Asuna’s reaction, Fang Zheng curiously walked over and patted her shoulder, and only then did Asuna shudder and come back to her senses.

"Huh? Mr. Fang Zheng? How come..."

"We need to organize ourselves and get ready to move on."

Watching Asuna, Fang Zheng repeated what he had said earlier, then looked at her.

"Are you alright?"

"I’m fine, I was just daydreaming..."

"...Alright, you’ll still lead the team, be mindful of the roots on the ground."

"Yes."

Asuna also recovered at this point, she reached out and slapped her face hard, then drew the rapier at her waist, looking at the others behind her.

"Move forward, let’s go!"

Upon hearing Asuna’s command, the others quickly stood up, reorganized their formation, and continued to move forward.

In front of them was a field blooming with flowers; as far as the eye could see, large patches of colorful flowers swayed with the wind, and the sweet fragrance of flowers drifted through the air, putting one in a good mood. Because of this, the girls’ tense mood relaxed considerably.

However, within this beautiful scenery, danger also lurked.

"Whoo!!"

Just as the group walked through the flower field, suddenly a few things that appeared to be transformed plants leapt out, waving their branches and leaves to attack Fang Zheng’s party. Not only that, these plant monsters also sprayed pollen around their bodies that could trigger various debuffs; this way, as soon as players engaged in battle, they would inevitably come into contact with the pollen and suffer from the debuffs.

If it’s something like sleep, it’s manageable, but paralysis and frenzy are quite lethal debuffs.

However, fortunately, Fang Zheng’s team did not worry about this trivial issue.

"Attack!"

Shouting the command, Fang Zheng lifted the pitch-black greatsword in his hand and gave it a strong swing. The next moment, the greatsword in Fang Zheng’s hand suddenly split, transforming into a long whip blade that whipped forward, slicing through the pollen-filled area directly onto the plant monster’s body.

At this point, the other girls with shapeshifting weapons also quickly sprang into action. Black Cat shook the parasol in her hand; the parasol quickly extended, then broke apart like nunchakus. Black Cat reversed her grip and struck forward with a horizontal sweep, knocking another plant monster to the ground.

As for the third plant monster, it couldn’t even display its power before it was shot down by a barrage of arrows fired by Shinong and Gabriel from afar, breaching its defenses.

Incidentally, even Fang Zheng did not expect that Gabriel, who lazes around all day, surprisingly surpassed Shinong in archery skills. She could even fire three arrows at once and shoot curved arrows that could turn... If Shinong’s talent is innate, then Gabriel can be considered inhuman.

But precisely because of this, Gabriel had completely detached herself from the front-line troops, hiding in the back just BIUBIUBIU... This could be considered a mastery of laziness.

For the Dark Moon Sword, these ordinary plant monsters posed no threat anymore, and they were mostly wiped out with a few blows, leaving only the last one...

"Haa!!"

When the last plant monster was low on health, Asuna hurriedly thrust her sword, striking the plant monster’s core area.

However, Asuna did not notice that when she struck with her sword, stabbing the plant monster before her and depleting its health to zero, her right foot stepped on a root that seemed to be unremarkable on the ground.

And in the next moment...

"Ahhhh!!"

Accompanied by a scream, the root playing dead on the ground suddenly jerked up like a startled venomous snake, winding around Asuna’s right leg and lifting her directly into the air!