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Chapter 163: Alchemy Plant?
After Ronin completed the hand seals, he spat a tiny spark of fire that plunged straight into the basement.
At that moment, Vanessa slowly emerged from the shadows behind him.
Looking at Ronin's back, Vanessa only had one question: "You call this an infiltration?"
Ronin's main body turned to face her. "Yeah, I noticed an anomaly, so my methods had to change slightly. Just watch!"
As he spoke, the small fireball sailed past the burning monster corpses, landing deep within the lower level. The moment it hit the ground, an even more intense inferno erupted from the sphere.
In a mere instant, it swept across every inch of the lower space visible to Ronin!
When the flames surged toward the stairs, a wall of earth rose up, blocking the fire from reaching them.
But before the view was cut off, Ronin's Sharingan clearly saw that every single monster touched by the flames had ignited like a torch!
His guess was probably right.
With her view blocked, Vanessa looked at Ronin in confusion, wondering what exactly he had discovered.
"Let's leave for now. We can come back a bit later. I figure by then, the corpses down there should be completely burned away." Ronin turned and walked back the way they came, showing zero intention of explaining.
This only deepened Vanessa's confusion.
Before exiting the building, however, Ronin's Shadow Clone dragged the corpse of a raptor-like monster out with them.
Muhuell and the others were puzzled to see them return so quickly.
Given the time elapsed, it didn't look like they had conducted a deep exploration. Was the underground space just that small?
And what was the deal with Ronin's clone carrying a monster corpse?
The Shadow Clone dumped the heavy corpse in front of the group.
"Vanessa and I didn't go too deep. I discovered something unexpected before entering the lower level, so I paused the exploration," Ronin explained.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Clone had finished its hand seals. Without giving Muhuell a chance to ask questions, it spat a Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu directly onto the monster's corpse.
The fireball quickly dissipated, but the corpse on the ground burned vigorously.
Watching this, even Vanessa, who had followed Ronin out, realized the anomaly.
"This corpse... isn't it burning a little too well?" Mashuel voiced everyone's doubt.
"Exactly!" Ronin nodded.
He had noticed this while his Shadow Clone was using the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. These monsters were incredibly flammable.
Particularly the first monster that had charged near him; after falling, the way its body reacted to the extreme heat didn't resemble a normal human or animal corpse. Instead, it looked more like ignited charcoal.
When the Shadow Clone deliberately removed its gas mask, the smell wasn't the typical stench of burning flesh, but a pungent, acrid odor reminiscent of incompletely burned plant matter.
Ronin also noticed that his Fire Style ninjutsu was exceptionally effective against them. It seemed that once lit, these monsters wouldn't easily extinguish. It was like lighting a bundle of torches.
That was why Ronin had chosen to unleash the wider-ranging Searing Migraine. Now, all he had to do was wait.
Though, if they actually went down there right now, it would be baking like an oven—the temperature wouldn't be survivable.
He explained his theory to the group.
Looking at the burning corpse, they believed Ronin's words, though they were still quite astonished.
"If all these monsters share characteristics with plants, then their survival conditions are definitely an unknown variable." Muhuell was already contemplating whether they should leave the ruins and call in experts from the Hunter Association.
A major discovery like this, if reported by a Hunter, could easily elevate them to a Single-Star Hunter.
"Let's finish exploring first. If information about the monsters here leaks out, V5 and the Association will likely lock this place down, making it extremely difficult for us to investigate anything further." Muhuell made his decision after brief consideration.
Next was the patient wait.
An hour later, Ronin led the team back to the underground entrance.
When the stone slab was removed, a wave of heat washed over them.
"With this temperature, we can forget about going in for a while," Muhuell said, slightly exasperated.
"I actually have a way to cool it down quickly," Ronin offered.
The method was simple: directly flood the lower level using Water Style. The massive volume of water would act as a heat sink, rapidly absorbing the underground heat.
It might cause some impact to the structural integrity of the lower level, but it didn't really matter—the Fire Style had already destroyed whatever could be destroyed anyway.
The group was continually amazed that Ronin could transmute his Nen into water, even those who had witnessed his battles at Heaven's Arena.
Massive volumes of water poured from Ronin's mouth, flooding into the subterranean space.
The intense heat was swiftly carried away by the flood. While it didn't drop the temperature to comfortable levels, it was enough for the squad to enter and explore.
Furthermore, having discovered the monsters' weakness, the weapons in Golem's hands changed. The gatling gun was swapped for a flamethrower.
Ronin took his place back in the middle of the formation, while Golem led the charge down into the underground.
High-intensity flashlights illuminated everything in the dark.
The water had not only taken the heat but also pushed the charred monster corpses deep into the cavern. As far as the eye could see, not a single living monster remained. Instead, deep within the space, a tunnel sloped further downward.
Following the tunnel, they arrived at a large metal door.
Carved into the door were figures wearing long robes, fervently kneeling before a plant that slightly resembled a banyan tree.
Hanging from the plant were round fruits. Where the fruits had burst open, larvae of the monsters Ronin and the team had encountered could be seen crawling out.
The group looked at the mural, exchanging glances.
They hadn't expected Ronin's guess to be spot on; the monsters living in the building really were connected to plants. They were born directly from them.
But Ronin's attention was fixed on a corner of the mural, which depicted various bottles and jars. Someone was handling them, as if conducting various experiments.
Another Dark Continent entity surfaced in Ronin's mind.
The Alchemy Plant, Metallion!
Could the plant depicted on this door—the one birthing monsters—be the alchemical product of the Dark Continent?
Then another thought struck him.
Could that very plant be behind this door?
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