Jiro Hirayama frowned and said, "It's not just the smell of burning plants—there's also the scent of burning animal fat and blood. Did you conduct a large-scale hunting operation here?"
Molly Yun's bodyguard's expression changed slightly, clearly exposed by Jiro Hirayama's observation.
But after that, Jiro Hirayama refused to say anything more. He turned around, opened his case, and began preparing reagents from his bottles and jars.
Cecilia Gu and the others were used to Jiro Hirayama's ways, so they didn't press him further. They simply continued to gather information from the others.
Molly Yun had been missing for three days straight.
Three days is enough time for a lot to happen.
Cecilia Gu just couldn't understand why her sister would leave the camp alone and enter the forest by herself.
Did she discover something?
Or was she lured by something?
Or did something affect her mind, causing her to make a wrong decision?
Everything was an unknown.
After Cecilia Gu and her group settled in, their team took over from Molly Yun's people and began searching, bit by bit, along the possible path Molly Yun might have taken.
"No, the magnetic field here is interfering with the signal too much." Charles Yin looked at the compass in his hand and said to Ben behind him, "Make several copies of the map we got from Hans—everyone gets one. Remember, keep no more than five meters between each person. Be careful at all times!"
Before Charles Yin finished speaking, a bodyguard's scream rang out from nearby: "Ahhhh—"
Everyone immediately rushed toward the direction of the scream.
From a distance, Charles Yin saw a massive vine wrapping around a man's body, dragging him quickly toward the depths of the forest!
Damn it!
Man-Eater Tree!
Its disguise actually fooled us!
Charles Yin dashed forward and stabbed his dagger fiercely into the trunk.
The dagger, coated with solvent, began to corrode the tree branch as soon as it made contact!
Charles Yin moved with incredible speed. After several strikes, the branch instantly lost its grip and fell limply to the ground.
The man escaped death, crawling away before gasping for breath, "Thank you, Mr. Yin!"
"Be careful!" Charles Yin warned, "This is the Primal Jungle—it's not like any forest we've dealt with before. This place has existed for tens of thousands of years, and many species here are unknown. You can't judge the plants and animals here by what you know from outside. Many seemingly harmless plants are actually death's scythe!"
Charles Yin tended to say more to his own men.
These were his trusted subordinates—lose one, and that's one less.
That's why, whenever something happened to them, Charles Yin would risk everything to save them.
"Yes, sir." The man sat on the ground, letting others check his wounds and apply medicine.
Ben hurried over and said to Charles Yin, "This Man-Eater Tree is different from the species we've encountered before. I just found a lot of remains in its main root. Luckily, none of them are human."
Charles Yin nodded immediately, "Don't tell Cici about what happened today."
"Yes, sir," everyone answered in unison, their voices filled with tension.
They all understood that if Mrs. Yin found out there was a Man-Eater Tree here, she'd be worried again.
Everyone envied the relationship between the CEO and Mrs. Yin.
They always instinctively wanted to protect each other.
"Keep searching ahead," Charles Yin ordered. "Spread out in combat formation. I'll go check out that tree."
"Sir, let me go instead," Ben stepped forward. "I'm more familiar with biology."
"No need, I can handle it myself." Charles Yin drew his dagger and carefully inspected the tree. "I'm carrying reagents prepared by Jiro Hirayama. As long as it's a plant and still alive on this planet, nothing can withstand the corrosive effect of these chemicals."
That's the pride of a biochemical expert!
Jiro Hirayama could have a drink to celebrate.
Seeing Charles Yin insist, Ben didn't press further. When the team spread out, they all headed in Charles Yin's direction.
If Charles Yin made any sudden moves, they'd be able to back him up immediately.
Charles Yin moved nimbly through the jungle, leaping ahead.
Standing in front of the massive Man-Eater Tree, he couldn't help but gasp.
The tree's canopy spanned several hundred square meters, its layered branches forming a giant umbrella, with not a single blade of grass growing beneath it.
This single tree had reached out tens of meters to snatch one of his men.
Charles Yin picked up his binoculars and studied the tree closely. At its base, he saw a pile of white bones—clearly the remains of prey.
Although not a biology expert himself, Charles Yin had heard that the largest known carnivorous plant is the Malaysian King Pitcher Plant, which can prey on small mammals. The Man-Eater Tree refers to various legendary carnivorous plants, said to be large enough to kill or even swallow humans or other big animals. Despite all sorts of unconfirmed reports, there is no concrete evidence of such a plant's existence, so its existence remains a mystery.
In other words, there are no documented reports proving whether the Man-Eater Tree eats humans or not.
But faced with this tree, Charles Yin had no doubt—it could absolutely devour a human life.
Because it was just too massive!
With such a massive size, the toxins it released could easily kill an adult.
Charles Yin didn't rush or act recklessly. He retreated to a safe distance before contacting Jiro Hirayama, who was at their field base.
"Jiro, I've got something here you'll be interested in. Get over here, quick!" After sending the message, Charles Yin added, "Don't let Cici know."
Jiro Hirayama, after receiving Charles Yin's message, tilted his head to look at Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir, who were busy cooking.
Yes, the two of them were here, mostly helping with the cooking.
As for laundry, everyone washed their own clothes.
But cooking could be done together.
Cecilia Gu felt she wasn't much help, so she volunteered for cooking duty.
Naturally, Rona Muir joined in to help.
Jiro Hirayama quietly slipped out of the tent and, following Charles Yin's instructions, silently made his way over.
When Jiro Hirayama saw the massive Man-Eater Tree, he burst out in his native language, "興奮させられる! (This is truly exciting!)"
Charles Yin looked at him with a half-smile, "Worth the trip, huh?"
Jiro Hirayama nodded enthusiastically, "I can extract and concentrate it into a vial of reagent. That way, it could easily wipe out a small team!"
"Are you confident you can kill it?" Charles Yin asked.
Maybe it was just a hunch, but Charles Yin felt this Man-Eater Tree would be a huge help to him.
That's why he called Jiro Hirayama over—he believed this mad scientist could figure out a way to take down the tree.
After all, the tree was way too close to their field base.
He absolutely didn't want Cecilia Gu to be in any danger.
No way!
Jiro Hirayama thought for a moment, then said, "I can handle it, but I'll need to prepare a bit."
"Alright, just tell me what you need and I'll get it for you." Charles Yin checked his watch and said, "It's time for us to pull back. I've marked the location—it won't get away!"
Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir were chatting while cooking.
"Rona, do you really think my sister will be okay?" Cecilia Gu asked, her voice heavy with worry. "This godforsaken place—if anything happens, she's all alone. What if she runs into danger?"
Rona Muir could only comfort her, "No news is good news. We have to trust her. With her talent, she'll get through this."
"I just can't shake this uneasy feeling," Cecilia Gu said. "Charles worries about my safety and won't let me go with them, so I can only wait here for news."
"They're all doing it for you. If something happened to you, who do you think Charles would save first—you or Molly Yun?" Rona Muir said, crossing her arms. "Staying safe is the best support you can give them!"
"I know." Cecilia Gu lowered her eyes, her voice trembling slightly. "Rona, I have this weird feeling. It's like this place is calling to my soul, like there's a voice urging me to go. Do you think my sister heard it too, and that's why she disappeared?"
Rona Muir's face suddenly changed. She grabbed Cecilia Gu, only to find her eyes looked dazed.
Rona Muir dropped what she was holding and shook Cecilia Gu hard. "Cici! Cici! Wake up! Wake up!"
After being shaken violently, Cecilia Gu snapped back to herself. "Rona, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale?"
Rona Muir looked at her seriously, "Do you remember what you just said?"
"Did I say something?" Cecilia Gu looked at Rona Muir in confusion. "Weren't we just preparing lunch together?"
Rona Muir was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say.
Did she just hallucinate?
Did she just imagine Cecilia Gu was talking?
Or was there something toxic in the air, messing with her nerves?
Was it affecting her judgment?
Rona Muir instantly lost her composure and decided she needed Jiro Hirayama to check her out.
"Rona?" Cecilia Gu looked at her, even more puzzled. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing," Rona Muir quickly said, lowering her head. "I just wanted to ask if you're tired. If you feel exhausted, go rest—I'll handle the cooking."
Cecilia Gu smiled and said, "I'm not tired. How hard can cooking be? With so many people risking their lives to find my sister, the least I can do is make food for them. Rona, you really don't look well. If you're not feeling up to it, don't force yourself. I can manage on my own. Besides, there are others helping with the firewood—I can totally handle it."