Chapter 112: Kanan’s insane plan

"Dead?" Telah asked. She didn’t understand Kanan’s reasoning. No, it wasn’t that she couldn’t understand it; it was that it made no sense.

"Yes. Just think about it. After your village was overrun by the Verminus Plant, your chief became wild, taking everything to the extreme. Risha can clearly tell the difference between a living and non-living creature, so if we combine what she told me with the actions of your chief, then it all points to one thing."

"What?"

"A perfect host! Haha! It’s so simple! The Verminus Plant is looking for a perfect host! It had found it with Chief Woton, but after he died, for the second time, it started looking for another host. This is why the attacks from the Verminus Plant have been more frequent!"

"U-Um, if that’s true, then why was your village attacked by the Verminus Plant before our people attacked you?" One of the witches asked

"Well, that’s a simple answer: the Verminus Plant was trying to expand its reach of power. Think about it. The Verminus Plant can already control dead bodies, so it wouldn’t even need to keep any of you alive. The reason why it did was that it wanted to find perfect hosts like Woton."

"I’m not following." Another witch said while raising their hand.

"Listen. The Verminus Plant started off as a normal parasitic plant that fed off living beings. Once it tasted living beings with spirit energy, it began to evolve. Once it started to evolve, it gained intelligence. This is when it came to the conclusion that it needed to protect itself. So boom, it made an army. But this army is full of dead people and dead animals. It’s easy to kill the dead, so it changed plans. It needed to find people who could host it without any drawbacks. Woton was a success."

"But you said Chief Woton was dead," Telah replied, remembering what Kanan had said before.

"Yes, but his mind and spirit were still there. This is why he was able to act the same without drawing any suspicion. The Verminus Plant’s next goal was to corrupt our village, but that failed, and Woton’s body was destroyed. Now, the plant is working harder to find another perfect host."

"But what would the Verminus Plant need a perfect host for? Why would it need to protect itself?" This question still bugged Telah, as Kanan didn’t provide an answer to it.

He searched his brain to try and answer the question, but so far, nothing was coming up. He understood that the Verminus Plant would need to protect itself from any type of danger, but as for why, he didn’t know.

The only thing that he could think of was that every Verminus Plant seemed to build on the information from previously infected people, as if it were a hive mind.

’Wait! Hive mind! That’s it! It’s a hive mind! It’s trying to protect its main body! It’s working in overdrive mode, gathering as many forces as it can so it can overrun the village and find a perfect host. This way, it can protect its main body. So, if it wants to protect its main body, it should be somewhere around here, close by.’

Kanan beamed with excitement, the realization of what was going on making him feel like a genius.

"I know what we need to do! And summon any sorcerers that you can!"

---

Kanan’s plan was simple, but difficult at the same time. To ensure the safety of his people, he ordered more guards and warriors to be stationed around the wall, while hunters would be on standby.

The Village was already in alert mode, a code black, so the mobilization wasn’t slow in the slightest.

He did make a few changes to the people posted on the wall, however.

Men and women like Alue, people who could control nature, would be stationed on the wall. Kanan ordered them to use their power to connect with the grass, the roots, plants, and other flora around the village so they could sense what was going on.

To aid with this, he used his own power to amplify them, allowing their range to be extended and their strength to become greater.

Then, Kanan had the members of the Typhon Tribe combine their abilities with the people who controlled plants, allowing the spirit energy to mix. This way, when the Verminus Plant does come, the Typhon Tribesmen and the plants connected to the Nemean Tribesmen would feel their presence.

Finally, Kanan reached out to the sorcerers. They were vital to this operation. Not only could they sense spirit energy, but they could see it and command it. Therefore, they would be amazing lookouts.

Combined with everything else, Kanan was confident that this threat would be over before it began, sort of.

"And y-you’re sure that this plan will work?" Alue asked, shaking on top of the wall.

"Positive. Once the Typhon Tribesmen sense that the Verminus Plant is near, we’ll wait for its army, however many there are, to march onto our territory. Once they do, you and everyone else who can control plants will puncture, grab, or touch as many corpses as you can with nature. Once that’s done, the sorcerers will channel their power into your plants, then command the corpses to die...again. And you’ll be amplified by my power."

"I-I’m not trying to sound like a downer or anything, b-but this sounds like a stretch."

"Oh, it is; don’t think it any other way. I have absolutely no idea whether this plan will work or not, but it’s better than nothing. Besides, that’s just phase one of the plan."

"Phase one? What’s phase two?"

"We burn everything!"

"W-What? Isn’t that dangerous?"

"Absolutely, but it’s better than being overrun by a parasitic plant that will kill anyone in its way."

"I guess. W-Well, I’m just a bit scared, that’s all."

"Don’t worry, Alue. I know."

"T-Thanks. What’s next?"

"Next? Well, for now, all we have to do is wait. The enemy will come to us, and when it does, we’ll be prepared. Hopefully."