Krafft's Notes on Anomalies

"There are seventeen trees in total, and none of them are normal."

Those wedge-shaped wood chips are scattered around the fire, coming from different locations, different tree species, and different sizes. The only similarity is the same color stain erosion from the inside out. Kraft kicked them into the bonfire one by one. The undehydrated wood crackled as it burned, and then quickly turned black. The loose spots shrank and rolled up abnormally, and the burnt-smelling water vapor evaporated and mixed with the expanding smoke. group.

When people with good associative abilities saw the diseased wood chips, they invariably looked upward. The exceptionally abundant sunlight here gave those who looked up at the tree crown a kind of non-physical chill.

The branches and leaves were sparser than those in other forests, leaking extra light to the ground, but this light did not promote the growth of more low plants. On the contrary, shrubs and weeds are particularly sparse, and even those that still survive tend to look droopy and low, creating that special sense of flatness and openness.

Martin drew his sword and chopped down a bunch of mushrooms that had sprouted near the roots of the tree. He cut the umbrella cover and wood into two pieces. Only then did he realize that those tender things were not growing on the hard wooden surface, but were rooted in the almost dug out surface. At the hollow roots, filaments and wood fibers are woven into bundles pointing to the ground.

"Dig down." He ordered the retinue holding the shovel.

The shovel digs into the soil and digs out the invisible root system under the soil surface. Without cleaning, you can see the mesh-like adhesion on the mottled surface. The branches that should be tough are easily cut off, like moldy radish that failed to be dried. , showing a disgusting and corrupt softness.

The excavated mud gives people a delicate and fertile sense of vitality, depositing incredible humus nutrients, which seem to flow back from the forest and inject into the earth.

Along with the excavation, apart from these obviously unnatural images, the silent onlookers increasingly felt that something inconspicuous but important was missing.

Those insects that are active everywhere on the surface and underground have not crawled out due to human disturbance. They seem to have migrated away from the land collectively, or integrated into the land like the hollowed-out parts of the trees?

【Mushroom Forest】

Craft thought of the sight Martin described, of mushrooms everywhere, growing everywhere in sight. In fact, they have already been surrounded by fungi, but in an invisible and more sinister form. From the unknown depth of the ground beneath their feet to the canopy of more than 20 meters above their heads, fungi thrive in invisible places. .

"What is going on?" Knight Barrow observed Kraft and Martin, feeling that there was some unspoken understanding between the professor and his colleagues, which led the team here, "Some kind of tree disease?"

"Probably." Kraft took the shovel from the retinue, inserted it straight into the hole, cut off a tree root, picked it out, and easily crushed it with his boots.

The erosion and combination of mycelium in the roots is much greater than the proportion in the trunk. The infection spreads from bottom to top, forming a predatory and symbiotic attitude with the trees, turning these tall plants into part of the mycelium network, and in their decline In the process, it provides nutrients to this huge whole and promotes their expansion.

From the first appearance of the abnormal sensation in their memory to the time they set up camp, they walked on the fungus's body for at least half a day without realizing it.

"But it shouldn't have anything to do with us, right?" Hu, who was digging the hole, asked in a low voice. Being in a forest with a serious disease could not be pleasant, and he soon realized that there was something more uneasy than the discomfort at this time. "I just don't know if it will affect the wheat harvest."

As vassals of low-level nobles and reserves of knights, the retainers are far from losing their sensitivity to the land. People who have seen plant diseases will definitely remember the omen of hunger clearly. If this vision that penetrates into the land has the Contagion will be a disaster more cruel than war in any territory.

If this area were to expand, it would sooner or later affect the town of Hudson. In other words, it has already had an impact. They have heard complaints more than once about the reduced output in the forest.

"That's none of our business. Let's mention it to the house officer when we get back. No matter how much the wheat harvest is reduced, the Duke will not miss your boy's rations." Seeing that the atmosphere was getting weird again, Barrow interrupted the retinue and forced Bring the topic back to business.

"We are here to find the infidels. Maybe it was those ungodly guys hiding here that prompted Heavenly Father to punish us." He stared at the circle with his waist in his hands, then turned around and kicked the soil back into the pit and flattened it. "Everyone go back and prepare to spend the night early."

The somewhat rough attitude had a good soothing effect, or it was due to the residual power of the commanding guards on weekdays, and the camp quickly resumed operations. Barrow stood there, waiting for the crowd to disperse, and called Martin to stop.

"We agreed we were here to find the infidels, right?"

"That's right, it's that pagan religion that was particularly active some time ago." Without hesitation, Martin affirmed what he said when he set out, "You have also seen that they dare to put their hands into the church. What can they do if they continue to let it go?"

"That's weird." Barrow stared at Martin and the professor who seemed to have something to say, as if he wanted to drill a hole in his breastplate with his eyes, "Intuition, and what I mean to you My understanding tells me that this is related to our purpose of coming, but there is something inconvenient that you didn’t tell me.”

He pointed at the filled hole and stamped his feet on the floating soil. "I don't think you lied, but it's definitely different from what I thought."

From an angle that Martin couldn't see, Kraft nodded slightly with deep understanding, saying that he was half hiding and half making sure things went smoothly, which was in line with his impression of Martin.

"Then you have wronged me. I told you before we set off. These are an unusual group of pagans who master some vicious witchcraft. If you are afraid of death, don't come and join in the fun." Martin said sternly.

"Then what kind of 'evil witchcraft' is real?" Barrow looked a little surprised, but then his expression twitched, "So these."

"Yes, this may be part of the 'evil witchcraft'." Kraft answered Martin's question with a heavy tone. He had never expected such a scene and could not figure out what was going on.

"But don't think too much about them. The fact that they are still hiding in the woods shows a lot of problems. Of course, if you are afraid of regretting it now, it's still too late."

"You are insulting the most important quality of a knight." Turning back is absolutely impossible at this moment. Barrow does not think there are any problems in the Westminster area that this team cannot solve. "Just to be on the safe side, I remember that we You brought kerosene, right?”

"That amount is not used to set fire to the mountains. It won't be enough to light up this wet forest that looks like it has been soaked in water." It is also impossible to kill the mycelium hidden deep in the ground. "We have to find the source of these things."

It should be hidden deeper in this fungal forest, waiting for Kraft to discover and answer a question that comes with the new discovery.

[What does it need so many nutrients for? 】

I recommend a crime novel in the style of an American drama, "Abnormal Species Control Bureau". It feels a bit like "The Abyss Syndrome", and also incorporates some SCP elements.