About an hour later, the group landed on a bright red structure in the Crimson Verdant Fields. Moss was welcomed by the unnamed undead origin agent who reported of their progress. During the time Moss had left, the unnamed undead virus had spread its infections throughout the tomato field, taking over tens of tomato patches and essentially conquering the Crimson Verdant Fields.

 

However, they had bump into a few problems along the way. The bluegrass virus agents Moss left behind had come across an unresolvable issue. A swarm of brownish-black armored monsters, like the one Moss encountered when he first arrived at the area, voraciously tore through thousands of bluegrass blades.

 

This wave of attack wiped out nearly all of Moss’s agents. There weren’t enough grass blades for the agents to make a comeback. Moss checked his link towards the remaining few that survived and discovered that there were less than half of what he had originally left behind when he transferred over to the tulip fields. So that's why there wasn't any significant change in his IP. The results were dissatisfying but there was nothing he could do about it.

 

For now, he should focus on the tomatoes instead of the bluegrass. He wasn’t willing to spend time cultivating on them as they were a limited resource. When Moss asked the unnamed undead virus what the other problems were, the unnamed virus agent exclaimed that they had sighted giant, two-legged monsters passing by their fields.

 

Giant, two-legged monsters? Moss mulled over what the undead agent said, a deep troubling and uncomfortable feeling churned from within him. Could it be?

 

Moss asked the undead virus agent about the monster sighting while he sent a mental image over. [Were the monsters…did they look something like this?]

 

[Ugh! The horror! Yea, those giants looked kind of like that. Why are they so ugly looking?] The unnamed gagged as it focused on the image of a typical human projected from Moss.

 

Moss didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard the virus agent describe its view of beauty. After all, he was once human too. Then, in the ‘eyes’ of viruses, was he an ugly sight to behold? Moss shook himself from the thought and asked the undead agent what exactly the humans had done.

 

[Humans? Is that what they were called? These giant monsters were just circling about the fields. We couldn’t get a real good look at what exactly they were doing, but we’re guessing they don’t mean well.] The unnamed responded.

 

[Were they carrying anything?] Moss asked.

 

[I think one of them was carrying a long, thin tree with many pointy things at one end.] The undead virus agent described after thinking back to what the human was carrying.

 

Long, thin tree with many pointy things at one end? What could that be? Moss shook with slight confusion until a flash of light marked his understanding. [Long, thin tree…could that be a pole? As for many pointy things at one end…is it a rake? Farmers!]

 

Moss had figured it out. Indeed, it was farmers that the undead virus saw patrolling around the perimeter of the fields. Some even entered their territory and destroyed a few infected hosts. Unfortunately, the undead virus did not possess the capabilities to fend off such a threat and could only sit and watch as their hard work was flushed down the drain.

 

But still, this was bad. Even Moss did not have the capabilities to defend against insects yet, let alone humans. He needed to find a way to infect higher intelligent creatures. What was the best course of action?

 

After sorting through some past memories, he recalled that he had encountered some parasitic plant while adventuring with the other heroes. There were demonic plants as well as normal plants. The demonic plants were situated near the demon lands, probably thousands of miles away so that option was unviable.

 

However, as for normal plants, Moss recalled quite a few. There was the mistletoe that scrounged off of trees as well as certain mushrooms that could attach themselves onto animals and insects. Moss had even heard about sightings of a vine that took root in dead animals. Since he did not know what that vine was called nor did he know where to find mistletoe, the next best option was mushrooms.

 

But were there mushrooms around here? That was another issue that needed to be solved. Moss turned towards his subordinates and gave out some orders. [Tully, as you have mutated into a flower virus and not a specific tulip virus, go infect as many flowers as you can within this field. I don’t know about other flowers but I’m sure tomato plants grow them. Norm, go infect some scutchgrass as well as any variations of the grass as you can.]

 

[Understood, Your Viralness.] Tully and Norm saluted and effectively moved out.

 

[Good! Lichen, you go search for this type of plant. Find any viruses infecting them and take over control.] Moss turned to his undead minion and implemented an image of a typical wild mushroom into Lichen’s mind.

 

[Got it.] Lichen saluted as well.

 

[As for you, take over the rest of the tomato viruses.] Moss scrutinized the unnamed virus agent’s status.

Though its level increased twice, Moss thought the stats were too low. [Don’t automatically show yourself. Stay dormant for as long as you can or until I give the signal to show yourself.]

 

[Your wish is our command.] The undead virus agent replied before setting off.

 

[Wait.] Moss called back and as the unnamed turned around, Moss injected some more of his DNA into the undead virus in hopes of boosting its abilities. [Since you have followed my commands so far to the tee, I shall bestow unto you some of DNA. Hopefully, this will boost your capabilities significantly.]

 

DING!

 

SUFFICIENT DNA ABSORBED

 

ASSIMILATING DNA…ASSIMILATING COMPLETE

 

MUTATION ACTIVATED

 

MUTATING….

 

MUTATION COMPLETED

This looked much better. Moss hummed with satisfaction. This undead virus’s mana is pretty high now. Maybe it’ll learn a new skill soon.

 

[Thank you for your extravagant gift. We will use it well.] The unnamed saluted gratefully.

 

[Alright. Our current goal is to play it safe. We will infect as much as we can but try not to kill off our hosts. When Lichen comes back, whether with good news or bad, we will destroy these fields and move on to another location. Understood?] Moss finished up.

 

[Understood!]