There was a certain stillness in the clearing as the rafflesia-like plant unmovingly stared at the sun. Kazuichi wondered whether the usual photosynthesis worked on the gigantic flower. From afar, Kazuichi could’ve sworn that the plant was just oversized. There was no indicator whatsoever that the plant was infected by the virus.

"Ah... so that’s what it was." A forced chuckle escaped Kazuichi’s mouth when he noticed the orange rock by the roots of the gigantic flower. "No wonder... there’s a meteorite ore stuck to its roots. Of course, it’s infected by the virus There was no doubt about it."

His mindset instantly changed when he saw the meteorite ore. Obviously, the plant was infected by the zombie virus, and that explained why it released a scent that attracted the uninfected.

Up until now, Amaya and Tris were still in a daze, fully affected by the weirdly sweet scent they described. They’d been unusually quiet, and their gaze was s far that Kazuichi wondered where they were staring.

It was as if they were on drugs... or something along those lines.

"Ah... I remember this certain scene somewhere." Kazuichi said to himself as he recalled an old movie he watched. He was reminded of a certain scene that gave him the idea of how to counter the current situation.

Without thinking twice, Kazuichi got two towels, letting go of Tris for a couple of seconds so he could pour water on the towel.

"I hope this works. I hope this works." Kazuichi said to himself, pressing the towel on Tris’s nose in hopes that it would filter the air... or at most, muddle the scent that greatly affected her reasoning.

As for Amaya, he didn’t bother doing anything since he was carrying her in the first place. Right now, he needed Tris to wake up so she could assist him with the predicament. He had no idea whether the wet towel would work or not, but he was confident that it would work since he had seen it in too many movies.

"Come on... come on..." Even though there were no underlying dangers around them, Kazuichi had an inkling that something bad was bound to transpire soon. That’s why he was acting with great urgency.

...

What’s going on? Am I dreaming? No, but why is my body moving on its own? This scent... smells so good. I want to smell it forever...

"Eh?!" Tris exclaimed as she finally came to. The first thing she noticed was the damp towel pressed against her face. For some odd reason, Kazuichi put a damp towel on her face, instantly waking her up from her daze.

"What’s going on, Kazuichi?" Tris suspiciously asked since there was something weird with the way Kazuichi was acting.

"You were in a daze just now. The only reason you woke up was thanks to this towel. Whatever you do, don’t remove that towel on your mouth and nose." Kazuichi briefly explained. He then pointed at the gigantic flower in the middle of the clearing.

"Remember the sweet scent you told me about? It comes from that flower. Apparently, it only affects the uninfected since I couldn’t detect the smell despite my enhanced senses." Kazuichi continued. "If you look closer, there’s a meteorite ore on its roots. That’s right, that plant is infected, and it’s luring the uninfected towards it. As to why it does that... I do not know."

"Then... what do we do now?" Tris asked.

"For now, we have to get out of here. This is beyond our pay grade." Kazuichi didn’t hesitate to say something so cowardly. After all, the gigantic flower didn’t seem to have any defensive mechanisms in place.

"Are you sure? Can’t you destroy it?" Tris pointed out. With Kazuichi’s strength, uprooting the gigantic flower should be easy enough.

At first glance, it may seem like the gigantic flower was as harmless as any regular plant, but Kazuichi knew better. His instincts told him that the gigantic flower is as dangerous as any other infected. No, it might even be more dangerous than Aberrants.

After all, how could it have survived this long without anyone bringing it down?

"No, we’re going around it. If it doesn’t touch us, then we won’t touch it. It’s the way of the wild out here." Kazuichi was in full game mode, speaking as if he was in the middle of a quest.

"All right." Tris understood the sentiment behind Kazuichi’s words and she didn’t bother arguing with him. In the first place, she had no idea what Kazuichi had to go through just to bring her back, and it made her feel a modicum of guilt.

"Let’s go,"

Crack. Crack. Crack.

As soon as Kazuichi took another step, the stem of the plant seemed to move... no... it didn’t move. Rather, it opened up, revealing a single eye in the middle of it.

Just one glance and Kazuichi felt chills run up and down his spine as he froze in place. This gigantic flower is more dangerous than he had initially expected.

"We have to go. NOW!" Kazuichi urgently declared and started running.

Without telling twice, Tris trailed behind Kazuichi. She had no idea what the threat was, but after seeing the eye on the stem of the flower, she knew she had to run as well.

"What was that, Kazuichi?" Tris questioned, her voice muffled by the damp towel she held in place on her face.

"I don’t know... but that thing spelled trouble all over that Cyclop’s eye." Kazuichi continued.

At this point, the ground started shaking like crazy, coupled with the cracks that appeared on it. Roots started protruding out of the ground.

"Don’t trip." Kazuichi then advised, pointing at the dead bodies tied up on each strand of the roots. Now they know why the seemingly harmless gigantic flower managed to defend itself. Its roots functioned as its defensive and offensive weapons, barring every threat that tried to come in, and at the same time killing those who ventured too close for comfort.

"This is crazy." Kazuichi couldn’t help but voice out.

"KAZUICHIII!" Tris suddenly screamed as one of the roots grabbed her by the ankle, swinging her in the air before slamming her onto the ground.