Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 107: Tree of Life

Jun watched as the mutated carrier fully turned its head as if mocking him. With its face facing him, the mutated carrier actually smiled. It smiled! If a disfigured slimy face being stretched to the side as if goo could be considered a smile, then it probably smiled.

Jun fired a few shots towards the carrier's body, then fired towards the plant. He was not expecting them to actually hit but as something to make the carrier give up taking the other fruit. If the mutated carrier chose to pick the fruit, it would be gunned down. Considering that its skin was slimy, it should be a rather tough enemy to deal with on melee. His blunt weapon would surely deal less damage to that while sharp blades would have increased damage. Thankfully, the M16 rifles had sharp bullet heads.

After firing five shots. he deactivated the skill. Five roars came out from the rifle's muzzle and flew towards the carrier.

The carrier not knowing what a gun was stretched its hand forward, resulting in multiple bullets hitting it. Jun received damage notification and knew that he dealt good damage on the carrier.

"Go back and tell those fishermen that its safe now. Lead them towards the shore and wait for me there," said Jun.

The carrier backed off but remained on the small island after Jun's continuous firing.

"There are still other enemies probably swimming underwater. We'll provide cover!" Nik said.

"The other carriers are probably dead. May be used as fertilizers, so that plant could bear fruits. You focus on treating the injured and give them some food. Your squad would deal with any trouble that might come from the land. Wait there." said Jun, then headed towards the small island while dishing out random fires.

The mutated carrier squealed after being hit a few more times. When Jun reached the island, the carrier jumped into the water and dove deep disappearing on his view.

Jun searched and ran from side to side to look for the carrier but failed. He then walked towards the plant and reached for the fruit. When suddenly, a figure pounced on him from the water. Tides come and go following the carrier wherever it goes. The tides slapped Jun's body every time he dodged this 'flying fish'.

On the carrier's next jump, Jun plotted something. He stopped the time just as the carrier flew out from the water and started firing until the rifle made clicking noises. Both of them received energy drain from moving on the stopped time, yet Jun smiled triumphantly. He aimed higher in advance since he knew that the carrier's speed was topnotch. When he resumed their perception of time, the mutated carrier's body shook as numerous bullets hit its body that plunged towards the water.

Jun then stored his M16 and brought out a white revolver. He waited for the mutated carrier to jump again, but true to some assumptions that it was intelligent, it seemed that it had learned its lesson. Jun took the fruit and placed it on his pockets. He then walked a few steps forwards to look for any signs of the carrier.

All of a sudden, a huge wave brought the carrier into the island. It stood five meters in front of him. It was bleeding non-stop but it was visibly healing. The bullet holes on its body were slowly shrinking yet the brilliance on its yellow eyes was slowly dimming.

The mutated carrier snarled and wave its hands in the air. Jun frowned not knowing what it was doing. He raised his revolver to shoot but was interrupted by a wave from his side. The wave disappeared and he aimed once again. Before he could fire, another wave came and soak him up once more. The same thing happened a few more times and he could feel his body feeling torn apart due to the waves alternating from both sides. He continuously got slammed by the waves, making his body feel weak. He was forced to retreat backward and was already drowning from the non-stop tidal waves when he felt relief. He heard the carriers growls and snarls from the other side. He opened his eyes to see the carrier opening its mouth widely. He could feel the aggression and worry in its every roar.

Jun then looked around his surrounding, only to realize that he was beside the tomato-like plant that bore those otherworldly fruits. It seems like the mutated carrier treasures this plant and wouldn't risk destroying it.

"Should I thank you for saving me?" Jun muttered towards the plant as he chuckled.

Jun stood back up, feeling up his sore body. He then ate the fruit he stashed earlier in front of the carrier, angering it further. Afterward, the carrier waves its hands yet no tides came to hit Jun.

Jun raised his eyebrows as he thought, "Is it using a skill or telling me to get out of here?"

With the increase in energy, he could feel his stomach heating up and expanding. Though it didn't bloat up, he could feel that he has more space for more food in the future.

After ignoring the carrier continuously, it decided to charge towards Jun, making him smile. He raised his revolver to shoot but his vision was blocked by tides that continuously alternated from both shorelines. The water never reached his place but it was enough to obstruct his vision.

"Good one. You want close combat? Hah! You better make this fun!" said Jun as he swapped his revolver into his bone hammer. He sluggishly walked forward but still brought the hammer up to his shoulders. The wall of tides came closer and he channeled energy into his hammer. The energy output he usually channeled was one per second yet now, he fueled it with five per second. He swung the flaming bone hammer towards the water. The whole island immediately became filled with steam after the two elements clashed. The two of them saw each other in the middle of the mist. The scalding feeling was something Jun already experienced after fighting the fiery mutated carrier, so he wasn't that affected. But for the water mutated carrier, it was literal hell. It was the first time it felt so hot making it squirm on where it was standing. Its skin shriveled from dehydration causing its movements to slow down.

Jun took advantage of this and hammered down the carrier. His strike was blocked by another wave but the searing heat further slowed the carrier.

Jun increased the output and channeled ten energy per second. This time, though the carrier blocked the hammer using another tidal wave, the hammer went through and hit the slowed mutated carrier right in its chest. Hissing sounds filled the area as the carrier's chest got burned.

Jun sighed in relief. He raised his bone hammer to deal the final blow. But the carrier won't go down without a fight! It raised both its arms and pulled the water towards them. A huge tidal wave came from the side. From its size, it would surely push the two of them into the water, allowing the mutated carrier to move freely underwater while having Jun at a disadvantage.

Jun quickly reacted by taking out a bone spear from his dimensional storage and stabbing it on the carrier's stomach. He made sure that it was deep enough, so both of them wouldn't be washed off the island.

The tidal wave fell and the land we lay on visibly lessened. The shock from the continuous wave of flowing water made Jun shudder.

When the waters calmed down, Jun remained the only one alive on the small island. The body of the mutated carrier slowly disintegrated to dust, only leaving a small blue book on where its body used to be.

Jun picked the blue book up, then became a bit surprised as he reads its name, Water Bending Manual.

[Water Bending Manual]

[Description] A manual that harnesses the techniques needed to be learned before gaining the power to control the element of water.

Jun felt surprised and happy getting an unexpected loot. To be honest, when he saw the carrier's body dissipating, he thought that he couldn't get any loot since it was an established fact for him that you need to loot manually to obtain resources. It seems like there's another way to get some loot but it would be too hard for anyone to use since you need to exhaust all of the enemy's energy. People could die just trying out this method and it isn't even a surefire to obtain loot.

Jun stored the book in his dimensional storage. He has no plans of learning it since he already has numerous skills that are using his energy. The skill book would then become useless unless he consumes a lot of energy increasing treasures.

On that note, Jun turned towards the plant on his back. He knelt down and viewed its description.

[Tree of Life]

[Description] The Tree of Life from the legends. It grows infinitely as long as it receives life. The Tree of Life withers after 100 years and returns to becoming a seed. The Tree of Life can only grow on the Land of Ophir, located in the Garden of Eden.