In a daze, Chen Bugu felt very hot and thirsty.
He slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying on a black, charred land, where the residual heat from the ground made his palms and body feel somewhat burning.
What's going on? How did he get here?
Chen Bugu's head was heavy. He only remembered jumping off the platform with Bai Ting and others, sinking into the green lake below.
They swam hard towards the glowing center of the green water.
Chen Bugu vaguely recalled touching something, then being enveloped by a strong light, immediately losing consciousness, and only waking up here.
That's right!
Where are Bai Ting, Yan Kuan, and the others?
Chen Bugu jolted, his mind clearing up considerably. He immediately looked around but couldn't see anyone.
The land was covered in charcoal and black soil. Some tree trunks, as thick as bowls, still had sparks emanating from them, standing bare in this black, charred earth, seemingly indicating that a great fire had once swept through.
However, before he could process the mystery of his companions' sudden disappearance, Chen Bugu fell into an even greater terror.
He lowered his head and found that his palms had turned into intertwined branches, and the residual heat from the ground had already burned a black mark onto his palm.
His arms, his body, and his legs had all transformed into withered tree trunks.
Chen Bugu was stunned. He stumbled to his feet from the ground, the sudden change in his vision making him somewhat unaccustomed. He seemed to have grown much taller, estimated to be about three meters.
In a nearby hollow, there seemed to be a small puddle of water.
He quickly ran over and brushed away a layer of black charcoal ash floating on the water's surface.
Chen Bugu's face was reflected on the murky water's surface—a strange, withered face with sunken eye sockets, two pure white eyeballs that seemed to be directly embedded, yet without pupils; his nose was a triangular hole, and he had no ears; the skin on his face was identical to his current body, like a lifeless piece of wood, with only a few scattered green specks visible on his head.
He reached out, but only managed to pluck off a few small leaves. In fact, he wasn't even sure if they could be called leaves, as their shape and texture were like flower petals.
Chen Bugu tried to calm himself down and analyze the current situation.
He had entered the secret realm and was teleported to this place.
Since his storage ring and clothes were not present, he judged that his body had likely not changed; it was more probable that his consciousness had been extracted and then injected into this body, which he would tentatively call a "treant."
Additionally, he was unsure where his original body was, and he didn't know what had happened to his companions.
In his previous life, the secret realm where the Stellar Weapon 【Shocking Thunder】 appeared allowed team teleportation and exploration, but it was clear that the rules of the current secret realm were different.
Although he wasn't sure what this secret realm required of him, the most pressing matter was to see if he could find the others, as Han Badou and Lin Lin had no combat ability.
However, Chen Bugu soon realized he had been overthinking, because he might not even be able to take care of himself.
From all directions, many treants suddenly appeared. From their appearance, they seemed to be of the same race as Chen Bugu at the moment, but there were also differences.
The most obvious difference was that they had no legs; below their waist, they were still a section of a tree trunk, relying solely on countless dense roots embedded in the ground, rising and falling to move their bodies.
What surprised Chen Bugu greatly was that these treants moved very quickly and smoothly, as if gliding on water, riding waves.
Chen Bugu observed for a while; their number was roughly around 20, and their strength was unknown.
However, Chen Bugu noticed one detail: these treants varied in height. Two or three four-meter-tall treants were noticeably faster than the others.
These treants quickly approached Chen Bugu and swiftly surrounded him.
The branches intertwined on their fingers rapidly transformed, instantly turning into various weapons like swords, spears, axes, and halberds.
Chen Bugu, who had initially intended to try communicating to gather information, decided to break out first the moment he realized the other party was trying to surround him.
Gathering information and finding his companions were his top priorities, but since the other party was ready to fight without a word, there was nothing more to say.
However, until this group of treants completed their encirclement, Chen Bugu remained motionless in place. He even slowly closed his eyes.
Because he discovered something even more terrifying than turning into a treant.
His 【Space-Time】 ability had disappeared!
Chen Bugu had originally planned to use "Bullet Time" to break out first, but no matter how he tried this time, the familiar power of time seemed to have vanished.
He stood frozen, even attempting "Recall," but the power of time within him still seemed to have evaporated into thin air, with no response whatsoever.
Chen Bugu instinctively closed his eyes, trying to check his current body information to confirm whether the 【Space-Time】 ability had disappeared.
However, the familiar interface did not appear.
Chen Bugu suddenly felt a little panicked. He even suspected that all of this was an illusion again.
This time, Chen Bugu's pure white eyeballs were surrounded by a faint purple light, and 【Decipher】 was successfully activated.
Chen Bugu could even observe the treants' movements through "Inference," but even so, the world before him did not change, and the familiar power of time did not return.
It's not an illusion...
Chen Bugu began to realize the difficulty. He quickly suppressed the panic in his heart and rapidly organized the information before him.
The 【Space-Time】 ability was gone, but 【Decipher】 could still be used, which meant he could still use the three abilities brought by the eye gene lock's Deciphering: "Inference," "Weakness Detection," and "Mental Shock."
The strength of these 20 treants surrounding him was unknown for now, but the speed they just displayed was at least no less than Black Iron Four Star, and the four-meter treants were even no less than Black Iron Five-Star. From this, he judged that the shorter the treant, perhaps the weaker its combat power.
Thinking this, Chen Bugu made up his mind. The opponent was coming fiercely, and he was now in a passive position. Even if he wanted to communicate, he had to break out first, otherwise he would be at the mercy of the treants.
So, Chen Bugu ran at full speed, directly charging towards the shortest, two-meter-tall treant.
As he ran, Chen Bugu's heart sank further. Perhaps due to his bulky body, the speed he unleashed at full power was only at the Black Iron Four Star level.
Even so, he still had to run. After Chen Bugu approached the shortest treant, he immediately activated "Mental Shock."
The effect of this "Mental Shock" far exceeded Chen Bugu's expectations. Green liquid directly flowed from the small treant's eyes and nose, and then it fell to the ground, motionless.
Although Chen Bugu had not anticipated this turn of events, he would not let such an opportunity pass. He quickly rushed out of the encirclement.
The moment he broke out, he vaguely heard the treants shouting something like "demon," but before he could make out the content, the violent wind occupied his ears, even though he no longer had ears.
The next second, Chen Bugu felt his body suddenly lose balance, and his face made its first intimate contact with the scorching charred earth.
His entire head was pressed against the ground, sliding forward for a short distance. During the slide, he could feel his body rapidly being bound by vines.
Even though this strike was powerful and heavy, Chen Bugu felt little pain in his body, apart from his face feeling somewhat hot.
When he came to his senses, he realized that it was one of the tallest treants that had subdued him.
He waved his hands, and the materialized vines instantly snapped. Chen Bugu lay on the ground, trying to struggle, but found he had no way to deal with those vines.
Chen Bugu felt a bit desperate. Even if he could break free from the physical restraints, the strength of this giant treant was clearly far superior to his own.
He watched as the other treants gradually put away their weapons, transforming them back into branches. It seemed their only goal was to capture him alive.
Those treants carried the small treant, and then carried Chen Bugu.
They did not communicate, but simply carried Chen Bugu for a long time, out of the charred land, across the stream, and finally into the forest, returning to their tribe.
Upon returning to the tribe, Chen Bugu discovered that almost all the treants' feet were connected to the earth by countless roots, as if only he was an anomaly, and the way the treants looked at him only confirmed his suspicion.
A few minutes later, Chen Bugu was heavily thrown into a stone cage, and the door was heavily locked.
He tilted his head and finally saw the second treant with two feet.