Free Web NovelChapter 196: Mycelium Groove
The Eagle Union headquarters was already visible from where they parked their vehicle. The problem was everything standing between them and the building.
Towering trees covered the entire path, their branches tangled together while thick vines hung from every direction, turning the entrance into something closer to a living wall than a forest.
"Was this place always supposed to look like this?" Otis asked, glancing at Arthur.
Arthur nodded. "Yes. Eagle Union intentionally cultivated it as a natural defense against outsiders foolish enough to attack their headquarters. They know which paths are safe and which ones will get you killed."
His gaze slowly swept across the forest. "But they’ve grown way too much. Look at those lianas and the trees. We passed dozens of forests on the way here, and all of them had already started drying up for autumn."
He pointed ahead. "But these are still completely green. That means something happened." freewёbnoνel.com
Arthur rubbed his chin while staring deeper into the forest. "It’s weird... the serpent lianas are still moving."
His eyes followed the long woody vines that slowly twisted around the trunks like giant snakes searching for prey.
"Should we be worried?" Jace asked after putting on his PPE suit. "Are those snake vines venomous?"
Even with the protective equipment covering their bodies, none of them felt particularly safe.
Arthur shook his head. "No. They don’t use venom. According to this book, they kill by strangling anything unlucky enough to wander too close."
He flipped through several pages before continuing. "This entire forest patch is called Mycelium Groove. It’s formed by multiple aberrant species living in complete ecological symbiosis. They share nutrients, protect one another, and function as a single organism."
"In other words... they’ve become one giant aberrant."
Arthur suddenly stopped talking. His face slowly lost its color.
"Shit... I should’ve finished reading this before we got here."
"Calm down." Jace grabbed his shoulder. "You’re the brain of this team. Without you, we’re completely fucked."
Arthur took a deep breath and forced himself to settle down. "Okay... I can do this."
He lowered his eyes back to the book and continued reading until something finally caught his attention.
"I think I understand."
The other two immediately looked at him.
"Since they’ve evolved into one massive aberrant ecosystem, they function almost exactly like a real forest. They even have a mycorrhizal network."
Seeing Otis’ confused expression, Arthur explained further.
"It’s an underground network created by fungi that connects plants together. You can think of it as something similar to a neural network in the brain."
He tapped the page. "In this case, the network allows every organism inside the Groove to share nutrients and act together, luring humans and aberrants in before draining their blood. They also control the perfect time to start withering and dried up to start hibernating in the winter."
Arthur slowly looked toward the endless greenery. "I think something is wrong with that network. According to Leon Miller’s notes, we need to locate the brain fungus controlling the entire Groove if we want to understand what’s happening."
"Do we really need to?" Otis interrupted. "We’re here to investigate the three missing agents. Sure, Jade wants to know why Eagle Union disappeared too, but I seriously doubt this tiny patch of forest could wipe out more than eight thousand of their members."
He crossed his arms. "Something much bigger has to be involved."
Jace narrowed his eyes before suddenly laughing. "Oh? Are you scared, Otis?"
"Damn right I am!"
"Maybe it couldn’t kill them directly. But what if it has something to do with their disappearance? Maybe there’s an unknown parasite living here that can control people’s minds and turn them into brainless zombies waiting to be eaten." Jace shared his opinion.
"Or," Arthur added thoughtfully, "the parasite drove them insane and made them kill each other. We won’t know until we investigate."
Otis looked from one teammate to the other before letting out a long sigh. "Oh, come on, guys. It’s three of us against hundreds of aberrants and whatever parasites are hiding in there?"
"I don’t want to die young."
Jace simply patted him on the back. "We don’t have a choice."
He adjusted his rifle and took the first step toward the living forest. "Let’s move."
They continued forward, choosing not to head straight toward Eagle Union Headquarters. Instead, they circled around the outer edge of the forest, hoping to examine the condition of the fungi first and figure out what had happened to both the Mycelium Groove and the aberrants living inside it.
The deeper they went, the more aggressive everything became.
Serpent lianas repeatedly lashed out from the trees, trying to wrap around their bodies, while the ground occasionally turned soft beneath their feet before suddenly opening into pools of shimmering liquid filled with scattered bones.
"Careful," Arthur warned as he pulled Otis back by the shoulder. "That has the same effect as acid. It dissolves humans into liquid, and that’s how the Groove absorbs nutrients."
"Goddamn it, Arthur!" Otis shouted. "You should’ve told us that before we almost stepped into it!"
Instead of answering, Arthur did something that immediately alarmed his teammates. He unclipped his mask and took a deep breath.
"What are you doing? Put your mask back on!" Jace ordered.
Arthur ignored him. "Do you smell that?"
Otis and Jace instinctively sniffed through their filters.
"It smells... sweet."
"Almost like rotten fruit," Arthur finished.
"So what?"
Arthur slowly looked around the forest. "That smell means decomposition. This forest is rotting and dying."
"If the entire ecosystem is decaying instead of being completely destroyed, then something must have disrupted the fungi controlling the network. Maybe parasites hijacked it."
He looked toward the towering trees. "And there’s something else. We haven’t seen a single giant fungus. While the central fungi should be as large as the trees themselves. They should be everywhere."
Jace slowly nodded. "That... actually makes sense." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"Shh." Otis suddenly crouched behind a tree, his face turning pale. "Get over here."
The seriousness in his voice made the other two immediately follow. Carefully peeking through the bushes, they finally spotted movement.
At first glance, it looked completely normal. At least to Arthur.
A mutated leafcutter ant, nearly the size of an adult human, marched across the forest floor carrying massive chunks of leaves and something white.
"That’s normal," Arthur whispered. "Leafcutters collect organic material. They used to gather leaves, but after mutating they started using human meat and carcasses as compost for the fungi they cultivate. It’s not unusual if they’re feeding fungi with—"
His voice stopped. His eyes shifted to the fungus on the tree trunk, the color was abnormal. Instead of the familiar pale white, it had turned a sickly shade of green that pulsed faintly beneath the surface.
At the same moment, the ant froze and then its head slowly turned toward them before they let out a sharp hiss. The surrounding bushes exploded with movement as more ants emerged from every direction and charged straight at them.
