The apocalypse struck, and I became a druid.

Page 194

Several figures appeared at the entrance.

The woman at the head of the group was none other than Su Mingke.

The gentle and intellectual temperament she once possessed on the university campus has long been worn away by the harsh realities of life.

Because of the lack of water, her long hair seemed to have not been washed for a long time. It was dry and tangled, haphazardly tied behind her head, with a few strands of hair hanging down in front of her forehead, covered with mud and ice shards.

Her fair face was dull, her eyes were slightly sunken, her lips were dry and chapped, and she looked haggard.

The companions following him were in no better shape, each carrying a deflated backpack and looking disappointed.

Clearly, this search operation yielded little result.

"Teacher Su!" Lan Qi's eyes lit up, and he immediately went to greet her.

Su Mingke looked up and saw Lan Qi and the others covered in blood. Her heart sank, and she asked:

"Why are there only a few of you? Where are the others? Are they in danger?"

She examined the injuries on the group, her brow furrowed, her worry evident.

"The others... won't be coming back."

Lanchi's voice lowered.

Upon hearing this, Su Mingke fell silent for a long while before finally speaking.

Tell me about your exploration.

"We were exploring the forest to the north when we accidentally entered a forest full of mushrooms. The mushrooms there were very strange... We almost all perished."

Lanchi recounted their exploration.

"Just when things were getting really bad... someone came to our rescue!"

Lanchi's deep voice underwent a slight change.

"Who?" Su Mingke asked immediately.

"It was that mysterious person who took you and Professor Ye away back then. He was also in that forest. He was the one who drove away those man-eating mushroom monsters!"

"Also, that person asked me to pass on a message to you: if we can't hold on any longer, we can go find him. Professor Ye is with him too. They are... This is the token."

Lanqi handed a golden hair to Su Mingke.

"Is it Han Ning?"

Su Mingke's voice trembled as she looked at the golden hair in Lan Qi's hand.

Su Mingke carefully took the golden hair from Lan Qi's hands and asked, "What else did he... say?"

“No more…” Lanchi shook his head.

Su Mingke lowered her head, staring blankly at the golden hair lying quietly in her palm, as if it had been formed by the warm sunlight.

A faint warmth emanated from my fingertips.

She thought of the hardships she had endured along the way, the grief of her companions' tragic deaths, the despair of lacking supplies, and the heavy responsibility she bore...

In an instant, tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision.

She gripped the hair tightly, as if it were the only piece of driftwood in a drowning situation. Her shoulders trembled uncontrollably, and suppressed sobs came from between her tightly clenched lips.

This has nothing to do with the feelings between men and women, but rather it is that all the emotions that have been forcibly suppressed have found an outlet and were released at this moment.

"Teacher Su, you..."

The surrounding survivors had never seen Su Mingke so out of control, and they were all stunned.

...

Meanwhile, Han Ning and Xiao Ba, along with the two mushroom-headed prisoners, returned to the gathering area.

On the way back, Han Ning caught a few demon-eye frogs that had been contaminated by the Kuroshio Current.

Initially, spore experiments were conducted, making it unsuitable for direct use on humans.

He planned to try it out on the monster's body first.

A quiet corner.

Han Ning extended his sharp claws and slashed a 5-centimeter-long, nearly 3-centimeter-deep wound on the pitted back of the Demon Eye Frog, which was tightly bound by vines.

"Cuck!"

The Demon-Eyed Frog cried out in pain and couldn't help but tremble.

Crimson blood flowed out.

Han Ning picked up the green mushroom tissue, which was only half the size of his palm, and inserted the branching, nerve-like mycelium into the wound.

This mushroom tissue was cut from the cap of a green mushroom.

At the same time, it releases [spore symbiosis].

Huhu~

Dark green mist dissipated from the fingertips holding the green mushroom.

The intense pain immediately disappeared as soon as the mist came into contact with the wound.

Han Ning's field of vision was rapidly expanded due to the skill's effect.

The scene before my eyes transforms into a microscopic view of the dense mycelium and complex tendons of a green mushroom in contact.

The omnipresent dark green mist seemed to transform into his hands, forming tiny tentacles that, under his control, manipulated the minute hyphae and planted them on the surface of the tendons.

Affected by the clouds and fog, the mycelium came to life and attached itself to the red tendon.

Countless hyphae adhere to the muscle, and the wound is repaired by the healing effect inherent in spore symbiosis.

A strange little mushroom with a dark green exterior has appeared on the back of the Magic Eye Frog.

Once implanted onto a living organism, the green mushroom fully revived, with countless mycelia wriggling slightly, sensing the surging energy within the host's body and beginning to absorb the nutrients it needed.

Coo~coo~coo~

The tiny mushrooms are like straws, with their milky-white stems swelling up, allowing a large amount of nutrients to be absorbed into their bodies.

Then, its size increased at a visible rate, from being incomplete and half the size of a palm to swelling up to the size of a palm.

Finally, as if it had eaten its fill, wisps of green smoke sprayed from under the canopy, and it swayed its head.

The magic-eyed frog below looked drained, sickly, and lay on the ground.

As an organism cut from a green mushroom with a certain degree of command, this newly grown mushroom organism on the back of the Magic Eye Frog has not yet shown any signs of intelligence.

Han Ning touched it; the surface of the umbrella cover had hardened slightly, and the overall color had become darker.

As for the effect...

Aside from the fact that the Magic Eye Frog had lost a large amount of its power, he hadn't discovered anything else and could only observe it for a few more days.

Next, Han Ning planted a purple mushroom on another magic-eyed frog.

Then plant green and purple spore powder on the remaining Magic Eye Frogs, and plant two different colored mushrooms on the same Magic Eye Frog.

Lock them up and wait for the day the magic-eyed frogs mutate.

The next morning, Han Ning had just finished breakfast and, as usual, released his natural blessing onto the ink-scented wood and some experimental plants.

Just as I was about to check on the condition of the few magic-eyed frogs I had caught yesterday, I saw Chairman Wu walking over with light steps, his face showing a hint of barely suppressed excitement.

"Boss, the first draft of the diving suit is finished!"

Chapter 224 Ready to go

"You guys stayed up all night?" Han Ning asked in surprise, glancing at the wall clock.

Judging from Chairman Wu's expression, he doesn't look like he just got up.

"Yeah, I stayed up for a little while."

"Let's not talk about that anymore. Let's talk about the wetsuits. The effect of those things is a bit beyond our expectations. Do you want to go and take a look?"

"Let's go," Han Ning said decisively.

The group soon arrived at a valley with deep water outside the cave.

This area was originally a path leading deep into the mountains, but it has now been flooded, forming an area resembling a small lake, with an estimated depth of several tens of meters, which is perfect for testing.

Several people had already gathered on the shore, including Professor Ye, Lin Qianqian, Cheng Rui, and several core members of the study group.

In the middle was a wooden box about half a person's height.

Chairman Wu stepped forward and opened the box, inside which were several pieces of clothing neatly folded.

This is a tight-fitting bodysuit made of multiple layers of specially treated leather and lining, with a thick, semi-transparent gel-like substance coated on the surface, which is the same gel that comes out of plum fruit.

"This is a simple diving suit."

Chairman Wu picked up an item and showed it to Han Ning.

"The outer layer is double-tanned black snakeskin, the inner lining is specially treated soft animal hide, and the middle is filled with fluff to increase warmth. The most important thing is this gel coating. We have evenly applied it and let it seep between the inner and outer layers, especially thickening it at the joints and sealing areas."

He pointed to the collar, cuffs, and hem of his trousers:

"We tried to implement an inward-rolling sealing design in these areas, combined with the adhesiveness and toughness of the glue, in the hope of preventing external water from entering as much as possible. But to be honest, how long it can withstand under deep water and high pressure still needs to be tested in practice."

"Yes, pressure resistance and sealing are the key and also the difficult points."

Han Ning carefully examined the evenly applied, rather thick layer of gel.

"You've created a prototype so quickly, that's very efficient. Where are the testers?"

"Here." A young man of medium build, who looked somewhat nervous, stepped out from the crowd and nodded humbly to Han Ning.

"Hello, Boss Han."

"Hello."

“He is A Dong from the logistics team. He is an ordinary person we selected from the Panshi settlement area.” Chairman Wu didn’t say much more.

However, Han Ning estimated that A Dong might have joined the Biyun Gathering Area by performing such dangerous missions as a pledge of loyalty.

Ah Dong was clearly prepared; he took off his jacket, revealing a short-sleeved outfit underneath that was easy to wear as a wetsuit.