Chapter 94: Battle Against the Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders
Chapter 94: Battle Against the Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders
As the clicking sounds grew louder, the Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders finally emerged from the jungle. At the same time, the Centaurs began directing the Plants to fire.
The Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders charging forward were as large as large dogs, and their movements were incredibly agile. Liam was glad he had entrusted the command of the shooting to the Centaurs. Otherwise, if he had relied on his previous experience of shooting slow-moving Zombies, he would have missed these spiders entirely.
Taking advantage of the relatively low pressure on the front line, Liam carefully observed the spiders.
These spiders were not only fast but also highly mobile. Liam saw with his own eyes that not only were there spiders rushing from the ground, but some were even dropping from the trees.
The book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" had mentioned that Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders were native to the remote islands of Southeast Asia and were not indigenous to Britain. Clearly, they had no natural predators here, leading to a severe biological invasion.
Considering that these Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders were carnivorous, their hunting frequency and appetite were not as high as those of mammals. However, looking at the sheer number of Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders before him, it was easy to deduce the devastating impact they had on the local ecosystem.
Soon, the first wave of Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders that had emerged from the forest were brought down by the Peashooters. Just as Liam was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he noticed a serious expression on the Wolf's face. The Wolf then explained to Liam, "The first wave is just a reconnaissance force. The main force is coming. Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders are not ordinary animals; they have intelligence."
Liam gripped his wand and stared into the forest, where a dense chorus of clicking sounds could be heard. Liam could sense the anger of the spiders hiding in the forest.
With a sharp cry, as if hearing a charge signal, the spiders poured out of the forest in a dense, semi-circular formation, surrounding the position of the small hill. At the same time, some spiders attempted to bypass the river and attack from the rear of the hill.
Fortunately, Liam had previously used Lily Pads to deploy a batch of Plants on the water's surface, and they easily eliminated the large spiders whose movements were hindered by the current and the mud at the bottom.
Although they had neutralized the ambushers, the pressure from the front continued to increase. Not only were there more spiders, but their sizes were also growing. Some spiders as large as carriage horses even emerged from the forest.
"We just tied a dozen Cherry Bombs to arrows and shot them into their gathering area, so why did they all come out?" the Wolf exclaimed in between directing the Plants. "We just wanted to lure them out. We've done this before, but we've never drawn out so many. What's going on this time?"
Liam used Psychedelic Mushroom Spores as casting material to release the Ancient Viking Magic of Filth Suppression. As artificial dark creatures, the Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders were clearly affected. Several spiders in the casting range wrestled with each other, and their movements slowed, providing the Plants with better opportunities to shoot.
As Liam reached into his waist pouch to retrieve the Psychedelic Mushroom Spores, he asked the Wolf, "You said you've lured them out several times before. Did you also throw explosives into their nests back then?"
"We didn't have those things before. We just tied some ignited insect-repelling herbs to our arrows."
Liam thought he understood why the Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders had suddenly erupted. In the past, the Centaurs' attacks were like throwing dung into a neighbor's house. While it was unbearable, the actual damage was minimal. This time, however, the combined explosion of a dozen Cherry Bombs was similar to a cluster of grenades, clearly causing severe harm. No wonder the Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders had gone berserk.
However, it's no use thinking about it now; facing it head-on is the right move.
Liam glanced at the battlefield and saw that although the Giant Octo-Eyed Spider's attacks were fierce, their side's Plants, with their heavy firepower, along with the Exploding Cherry Arrows and Liam's own magic, had completely halted the spider's offensive momentum.
While the Peashooter's ammunition didn't cause much damage to the larger spiders' bodies (due to their spherical shape, they had poor penetration), it could easily break their legs, paralyzing them on the battlefield.
Among the Plants Liam had deployed, the Fire Dragon Grass and Potato Mines proved to be the most effective. The Fire Dragon Grass was a natural enemy to the spiders with their furry bodies; even a slight burn would turn them into blazing fireballs within seconds. The only downside was that to prevent the forest from catching fire, the Fire Dragon Grass was placed in the inner circle, limiting its attack range.
The Potato Mines, controlled by Lady Betty, were used to pinpoint the spiders' gathering points through her communication with the forest. She would then detonate the mines near these points. Although the mines couldn't kill the spiders, the explosions easily destroyed their fragile legs, rendering them combat-ineffective.
After more than half an hour of intense fighting, the forest suddenly echoed with the sound of breaking trees. The last giant spider, as large as a small elephant, appeared on the battlefield.
Upon seeing Liam and the others, the spider waved its pincers, emitting a clear, audible clicking sound that conveyed its rage.
"Morgath?" Liam noticed the surprise on Wolf's wolfish face.
"Who is Morgath?" Liam searched his memory but couldn't recall the name.
"Morgath is the Spider Queen. She rarely leaves the valley unless something major happens. It's very unusual for her to come out this time", Wolf replied.
Fortunately, the giant spider's announcement gave Liam an idea of what had happened. It turned out that the Exploding Cherry Arrow, perhaps carried by the wind, had flown directly to the nest's entrance. It had destroyed part of the spider eggs and severed two of Aragog's legs. As Aragog's mate, Morgath vowed to kill everyone and eat them.
How did a Hunt turn into a decisive battle? But since Liam was also in the encirclement and was about to be eaten, he decided to fight with all his might.
With that thought, he opened the portal to the Plants vs. Zombies World and retrieved several baskets of Exploding Cherries, which were all his recent stock.
Additionally, Crazy Dave, upon seeing the portal, contacted Liam to offer assistance. After Liam promised him at least twenty spider corpses, Dave gave him two Gatling Guns and ten thousand rounds of ammunition, as well as a small box of Grenades. These were items recently found in a military base during the cleanup of a reclaimed city. Since they weren't very effective against Zombies, Dave had decided to give them to Liam as a favor.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of a munitions factory and the long time since the outbreak, there weren't many usable bullets left. Giving Liam ten thousand rounds was already a significant contribution.
When these weapons were teleported over, Liam felt a surge of confidence, believing he might have a substantial gain this time.
(End of Chapter)
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