Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 6069 - 5085: Fate of the Fighter (31)

This farce is far from over.

The Agents are at a disadvantage against the Assassin’s Union Ninjas, mainly because they are unfamiliar with ninjas. So here’s the question: who in the world is familiar with walking and biting flowers? Certainly not Zombies, right?

The Assassin’s Union Ninjas had never seen such things either. These well-trained killers even thought they were hallucinating, with some starting to take drugs to dispel illusions and force themselves to calm down, only to get bitten on the arm. Blood and excruciating pain told them this was no illusion; there really were biting plants.

As for what makes these plants different from the plants Pamela previously created, it’s probably that those plants could only use their own parts, like cabbages using leaves to hit people or pumpkins jumping up to smash people, without the ability to grow new parts.

However, the Extremis Virus elevated the upper limit of plant magic, enabling plants to synthesize more types of parts using their own cells, such as growing a row of teeth on petals, thorns on stems, making flowers spray corrosive slime like Peashooters, and even synthesizing venom to spray.

The competition mode between plants and animals is different; in the absence of a food chain, plants mostly don’t rely on hunting for survival, instead relying on survival and reproduction abilities. Innumerable plant species have evolved different seeding methods to spread their seeds farther.

Under such circumstances, plants do not have high aggressiveness, even famous aggressive plants like pitcher plants mostly adopt a passive mode and are rarely proactive. This is the main reason Pamela’s attacking plants couldn’t go further.

Once stronger animal traits are endowed to plants, they acquire the need to hunt like animals. And once there is a need to hunt, they must proactively equip themselves with efficient killing tools. Fangs and venom, common animal weapons, become even more deadly when appearing on plants.

Animal growth and reproduction capabilities are far inferior to those of plants. A tiger’s body type may be larger than its peers, but under normal growth logic, it is impossible to grow two heads or eight claws. Even with supernatural force assistance, growing like this is meaningless and does not enhance combat power.

But if a rose with teeth grows a dozen or so heads, it becomes completely different. The natural compound growth form of plants, coupled with continuously growing aggressive parts, is akin to a meat grinder, instantly shredding the ninjas from the Assassin’s Union.

Talya had just fallen off the wall when she heard a rustling sound beside her. She steadied herself and turned to look, seeing the rose that had slammed her against the wall earlier, its branches sprawling all over, with countless fanged rose vines standing upright and crazily munching on the surrounding ninjas.

The ninjas indeed wanted to use escape techniques to bypass them, but the plants had spread everywhere. Climbing plants like roses and rugosas had vines not only covering the ground but also on the ceiling. The European hydrangea inflated bigger and bigger, its initial diameter of one or two meters now close to three, like a rolling stone crashing around the scene. Babies’ breath further evolved a self-destructive ability, and once it inflated to a certain extent, it would suddenly explode, similar to a fragmentation grenade.

Talya initially thought she was hallucinating, but her reaction was quicker than the ninjas’. She immediately realized someone might be manipulating the plants to cause trouble.

"Set it on fire, burn it!" Talya shouted.

The ninjas promptly took out their flints, clearly prepared to attack the warehouse. It was certainly not feasible for ninjas to destroy those supplies, setting a fire was best. So they not only brought ignition items but also gasoline, starting to pour it around.

Iron Man watching the commotion on the rooftop frowned, saying, "Trouble, these flowers can’t withstand burning, moreover there’s so much material in the warehouse."

"The materials won’t get burned." Brainiac said, "They can’t breach the plant’s defenses, they can’t enter the warehouse at all."

"But if this fire goes on, there won’t be much of the plants left, then the materials are still at risk. Shouldn’t the agents stop them?"

"No need," Brainiac shook his head, "soon you’ll understand the strength of plants."

As Brainiac said, the ninjas indeed wanted to directly pour gasoline onto the materials, but the problem was they couldn’t get in. The warehouse doors and windows were sealed with plant vines, now the entire warehouse appeared green from afar, with vines overlapping layer upon layer.

The interior of the warehouse had spread more severely, anyone daring to teleport inside would immediately be shredded by the violent vines, so most ninjas were hovering outside the warehouse.

They poured gasoline onto the flowers and vines, igniting flames. Unsurprisingly, the fire roared, let alone the fragile herbaceous plants, even woody ones couldn’t withstand the burn, flames devoured all the flowers, igniting a grand fire around the warehouse.

The agents’ faces turned grave, wanting to stop the assassins from setting the fire, but the plant attacks were indiscriminate. As soon as they approached, they were attacked too, so they could only watch the Assassin’s Union apply fire tactics.

Talya breathed a sigh of relief, even if these plants were riotous due to magic, they couldn’t overcome inherent flaws with one fire, they were defenseless.

Due to the intense flames, the ninjas didn’t dare rush in directly. They kept waiting for the fire to subside before Talya dared to slowly approach the door.

The burned plants left nothing behind, only a ground covered in ashes. There were hardly any plants at the door, and a crack in the door revealed faint glimpses of fire and thick smoke.

Pushing the door open, they walked in cautiously. Nothing was discovered at the entrance, but the warehouse was large, with the most important items likely stored at the back.

It was at this moment that Hal arrived belatedly. He looked at the tragic state of the warehouse, anger rising in his heart, and suddenly charged forward, floating in front of Talya.

"What are you doing?! "

Talya snorted softly, not wanting to waste words with him. The ninjas swarmed over, and Hal was caught in a bitter struggle.

Given that the strength of the Zero Universe wasn’t very high and the superheroes were weakened, and since this universe was extremely young with Hal debuting not long ago and lacking experience, surrounded by so many ninjas, he was unable to break free.

Seeing this, the agents rushed in as well, only to be firmly blocked outside the warehouse by the outer circle of ninjas. Meanwhile, Talya led another team of ninjas to search for supplies.

Continuing deeper in, they soon reached the area where the supplies were stored. Apart from some food items that needed freshness, everything else was mostly in place. There weren’t many items needed for the daytime wedding ceremony, but the wedding banquet was a different matter. There was no ready-made dining hall in the cathedral, so all banquet supplies and utensils needed to be prepared separately, filling the warehouse to the brim.

Talya was eager to destroy the hardest-to-acquire items, such as custom tables and chairs, guest favors, and a large batch of custom-made outfits. Once these were damaged, it would be almost impossible for the wedding to proceed as scheduled.

As she focused on moving forward, she failed to notice that in the area where flowers had been stored and infected with the Extremis Virus, tender branches began sprouting again and, within seconds, spread once more. The rich green surged like a tidal wave, engulfing the entire warehouse, and this time, the plants were thoroughly enraged.

The plant roots entwined and gradually merged into a massive tendril structure, abandoning inefficient attack methods. Countless thorny vines burst from the ground. As Talya turned around, a vine pierced through a ninja in front of her, and a corrosive slime instantly created a gaping hole in the ninja’s chest.

Screams rang out one after another. By the time Talya reacted, all the ninjas were fleeing in panic, the air thick with the stench of blood. The vines dragged the severed body parts underground, turning them into plant nutrients. Even Talya wasn’t spared; a sharp thorny vine pierced her shoulder, and the plant toxin instantly rendered her unconscious.

The agents, previously tangled with the ninjas, also fled toward the door in panic, but their speed wasn’t enough. Just as they were about to be caught, Pamela descended from the sky, suppressing the rampaging plants while rescuing Talya.

It was only then that Iron Man slowly flew down. He had witnessed the entire event and calculated that the Assassin’s Union had lost at least a hundred elite ninjas. No matter how formidable this villainous organization was, losing an elite team of over a hundred was absolutely unacceptable.

Not to mention Talya, whom Pamela had in hand, clearly appeared to be an important figure. Handing her over to the Rebirth Alliance would count as a substantial achievement. Iron Man frantically signaled to Pamela with his eyes.

Pamela rolled her eyes but still tossed Talya to him. Although Iron Man was the one who caused trouble, she wasn’t entirely blameless. Leaving the experimental version of the Extremis Virus with Iron Man was a mistake. To avoid criticism, she had to assist her colleague this time.

Iron Man delightedly took Talya to claim his prize, and the agents retreated as well, returning almost simultaneously with him. On the way, everyone glared at him, but when they met at headquarters, no one said a word.

Field agents who remained in the Rebirth Alliance were all veterans. They knew that the Assassin’s Union’s attack on the warehouse brought out all their elites, and they lacked understanding of the Eastern ninjas. Their initial encounter should have been extremely fierce; even with a superhero intervening, sacrifices were inevitable.

But the sudden appearance of the plants turned the tide with god-level intervention. They didn’t understand the ninjas, and the ninjas didn’t understand the plants, resulting in the Assassin’s Union ninjas suffering the most. Not a single person died on their side, and they even captured a high-ranking enemy, a rare military achievement.

What concerns field agents the most? Besides their own lives, it’s the welfare and benefits. The overall benefits of the Rebirth Alliance were good, but with military achievements, there would be opportunities for promotion. If they could receive a medal, overall salary, and post-retirement benefits would increase significantly.

In this battle, the agents merely showed their faces. Besides slight skirmishes with the ninjas when the plants were burned, they were mostly spectators, yet they reaped a major achievement.

In peaceful times, significant achievements were exceptionally rare. After the Civil War ended, ordinary agents seldom had opportunities for commendation. This time, with no loss and the complete annihilation of the enemy while capturing a high-ranking enemy, it was undoubtedly a benchmark of overwhelming victory destined for major recognition.

Considering this, the agents only had to pinch their noses and accept the situation. Being bitten by a tulip twice didn’t cause any fatalities, and the rampaging plants handled the most dangerous tasks for them. This demonstrated that Iron Man’s experiment was effective, leaving them no grounds to complain.