Chapter 259: Giant Creatures 17

Day twenty-one of the game.

Perry Yates opened her eyes early in the morning. Seeing the room was still dim, she couldn’t help but frown.

’I don’t remember drawing the curtains yesterday.’

She turned her head toward the window, and in the next instant, her gaze met a pair of glowing green, beastly eyes.

"AHHH!!!"

Perry Yates let out a subconscious Scream, and the piercing sound seemed to startle the creature outside as well.

As the beastly eyes moved away, she finally saw clearly what that thing was.

It was a gigantic tabby cat. It was staring intently at her, its mouth open in a hiss that served as a warning.

Everyone knows that cats are adorable creatures, while tigers are terrifying.

And yet, while the creature before Perry Yates was a tabby cat, it was hundreds of times larger than normal, and the sense of menace it exuded was no less than a tiger’s.

Without a moment’s hesitation, acting on pure instinct, Perry Yates commanded the plants around the villa to attack the tabby cat.

Despite its enormous size, the tabby cat was exceptionally agile when facing Perry Yates’s attack.

Realizing Perry Yates was a difficult opponent, the tabby cat left the area in a few powerful leaps.

Watching the tabby cat retreat, Perry Yates finally breathed a sigh of relief and headed downstairs.

Downstairs, Amber Sheridan was clearing out the plants that had grown into the house that morning.

He had, of course, heard Perry Yates’s Scream, but he knew the tabby cat was no match for her, so he hadn’t interfered.

"Looks like these plants are growing even faster," Amber Sheridan said, pulling a weed up by its roots from a crack in the floorboards. The weed itself was only a few centimeters long, but its root system stretched a full half-meter into the ground beneath.

Moreover, the roots seemed to have a mind of their own; once free from the soil, they began to wriggle.

The roots slowly coiled around Amber Sheridan’s arm. At first, nothing happened, thanks to the barrier of his sleeve.

But once the roots had wrapped all the way up to his shoulder, they suddenly tightened, and a sharp, intense pain shot through his arm.

Realizing something was wrong, Amber Sheridan immediately used his other hand to tear the roots from his arm.

Only then did they realize that the roots had pierced through the fabric and dug deep into Amber Sheridan’s skin.

Seeing this, Perry Yates rushed over to help. Working together, they pulled the plant’s roots out of his arm.

As the roots came free, they brought bits of flesh and blood with them.

The blood dripped onto the floor, and upon sensing its scent, the surrounding plants began to grow wildly, shooting up from a few centimeters to several dozen in the blink of an eye.

Only after she had treated Amber Sheridan’s wound did Perry Yates have time to deal with the plants.

By all rights, this shouldn’t be happening. She had already "negotiated" with the local flora yesterday. They weren’t supposed to grow back, especially not inside the house.

Perry Yates tried to communicate with the plants again, but this time it wasn’t so easy. They simply refused to communicate with her—or perhaps, they were incapable of it.

A single phrase echoed in her mind: ’So hungry, so hungry, so hungry...’

Perry Yates knew that some plants "eat meat."

It wasn’t just a trope from television shows—burying a body in the garden really does make the flowers bloom more vibrantly. It wasn’t a lie.

By that same logic, these plants needed nutrients to grow, and it was clear the nutrients in the soil were no longer enough to satisfy them.

Just then, a piercing roar echoed from the distance, and the ground began to tremble with it.

Perry Yates and Amber Sheridan went outside. Although it was some distance away, with their enhanced vision, they could still see clearly.

In the distance, a massive elephant was battling a plant.

"What’s an elephant doing here?" Amber Sheridan said with a frown.

"Probably escaped from the zoo," Perry said. "When I was looking at the map earlier, I saw this city has a massive zoo. It’s got a huge number and variety of animals. Rumor has it the director got his start in pig farming, so any animal that ends up in his zoo starts breeding like crazy."

In all likelihood, this elephant was one of the escapees.

Facing the elephant was a writhing banyan tree.

The banyan’s branches grew wildly, lashing at the elephant’s body. Not only that, but its roots erupted from the ground like thick pythons, striking at the elephant’s most vulnerable points.

Two completely unrelated creatures were now locked in a life-or-death struggle.

"Let’s go take a look," Perry Yates said. "We might be able to pick up the spoils."

The game forums had actually summarized a few patterns for when cards tended to appear.

First, there were special individuals; the more unique the creature, the more likely a Rare Card would drop. Second, powerful individuals also had an increased chance of dropping a card.

Beyond that, two individuals locked in combat were also very likely to produce a card.

Given how fiercely the elephant and the banyan tree were fighting, the probability of a card drop was extremely high.

Hearing this, Amber Sheridan nodded.

To be honest, he was also short on cards. Because of that auction invitation Perry Yates had, card prices in their area had doubled.

Previously, players would sell off low-level cards or ones they couldn’t use, but now, fewer and fewer people were willing to do so.

The two of them made their way to the vicinity of the elephant and the banyan tree. The ground here looked as if it had just gone through a violent earthquake, a testament to the battle between the two behemoths.

They didn’t just stand by and watch. After all, the longer the fight dragged on, the more likely it was to attract other Dealer Players, and perhaps even a Dealer Hunter.

"I’ll hold back the banyan tree. You take the elephant. Let’s try to end this quickly," Perry Yates said to Amber Sheridan.

"Right," Amber Sheridan agreed with a nod.

Since the banyan was a plant, the only way to kill it was to destroy its roots.

Perry Yates raised her hand, and countless diamond spikes materialized around her. At her command, they all shot toward the banyan tree’s trunk.

Each impact gouged a chunk out of the banyan’s trunk. At the same time, Perry Yates was constantly eroding its roots, preventing it from absorbing nutrients from the soil to heal its wounds.

’I have to admit,’ she thought, ’after all the games I’ve been through, this one suits me the best.’