Murray's hallucination lasted over a hundred minutes, during the entirety of which, Mir had to gag him and press him down on the ground. Murray had lost control over his bodily functions halfway through the hallucination, opening his eyes wide and shouting profanities at invisible enemies.

Mir couldn't help but worry that he wasn't going to make it to the end of the road, the peak of the Evolution Standard Scale. His reaction to the hallucinations was going beyond what would be considered normal.

"I'll be fine. It happens to a lot of people when they're close to reaching the peak," Murray had said to placate Mir, not that he believed his older brother.

"Let's move first. If anyone is tracking us through extraordinary methods, for example- tracing the diary, they'll be able to find us here."

Mir's suggestion was reasonable. Both of them chose to move deeper into the mountain clusters, keeping a good distance from the rivers nearby. Murray sent a good portion of his bees to drive the raft towards a junction of streams ahead while making a large detour. If any of their pursuers found the raft, they'd end up looking for them in the wrong area.

Mir had to use a staff to walk, since his right leg was still heavily injured. The bandage he had wrapped around it was already totally soaked in blood. He was frequently drinking water in the hope of avoiding dehydration and blood loss. But the heady sensation that began to assault him on the way to their next camping destination told him that he needed something more than just water. He needed better medicine, a professional's advice, and a long rest.

As he stumbled for the umpteenth time, Murray turned around and checked the wound on his leg carefully. The gloomy expression on his face told Mir that he had reached the same conclusion.

"I'll go look for medicine in the nearest data tower. Let's get you to our next hiding spot first."

Mir couldn't reply. Visiting any data tower right now was tantamount to walking into a trap. But there really was no choice left for him.

Carrying the backpacks filled with dead snakes in one hand, and using his other shoulder to provide support to Mir, Murray trudged on stubbornly despite being injured himself.

For the first time in his life, Mir felt that perhaps the reason why Murray almost always succeeded in reaching his goals wasn't just because of his talent and luck.

His older brother had a willfulness so powerful that Mir could only hope to match when he was under the influence of his diary.

It took them a little over an hour to go around the valley and head up to a mountain peak filled with some plants that sported thick thorns all over their trunks.

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It was an ideal place to slow down an enemy. The two of them suffered through many painful pokes to reach the top of the peak, where they found a small clearing occupied by a large tent.

Exchanging a tense look, they walked over to the tent. There wasn't anyone around or inside. A worn mattress, an empty bottle of insect repellents, a pile of ash and spoiled meat were the only notable things there.

"Abandoned? Convenient for us, I suppose." Mir muttered.

"Too much visibility to airborne scouts, though. If you're gonna hide, hide inside and don't come out unless you sense someone approaching the peak. And..."

While speaking, Murray walked over to the edge of the peak and looked down.

"There's a waterfall below. Just climb twenty meters down using the weeds and vines. From there, it would be relatively safe to jump into the water. This really is a good place to take shelter in. No wonder someone has already camped here."

Mir hobbled over to the mattress and dropped on it like a dead log.

"Murray. Are you still planning to go visit a data tower?"

"Yeah, of course. Why are you asking?"

"I have a better plan."

Murray turned towards him sharply. Waving a hand, Mir began to explain.

"When I was fighting the Witchweed, I saw one aspect of its ability that I hadn't really focused much on at that time. To keep its hosts alive, the parasite plant can create tiny seeds that can transform into sacks of healing fluids when necessary. It's how the plant attaches and detaches itself to the body of its host. Reno wouldn't have survived if the hole that the plant had made in his foot wasn't healed so neatly. So I suggest that you pay a visit to the place where I've ordered the Witchweed to hide."

Murray sighed. "Mir, how do you think that plant was able to communicate with you?"

"What do you mean?" Mir said, puzzled.

"Plants can't grow eyes and ears, Mir. At least, a mere grade- 2 mutation won't let a species make such a huge evolutionary leap. That Witchweed was clearly using the perception of the host girl it was feeding on to understand what you were telling it. Then it was using its mental connection to the girl to relay what it wanted to say to you."

Mir had guessed something similar, but hearing it being confirmed still stunned him for a moment.

"Even if I return now to ask that plant for some of its seeds, it won't understand anything I say. It might even treat me as its next prey," Murray explained demurely.

"It won't do that. I told it to not hunt anything for a while," Mir said in reply.

"Doesn't that make it worse? Even if I throw a human at it to parasitize so that we can communicate like you did, it won't hurt the medium."

"...Gaaaah!"

Frustrated, Mir yelled at the sky above and closed his eyes, trying to think of a new solution. Murray was about to take his leave, only to suddenly come to a stop.

"Mir," Murray called out faintly. "We've been ignoring an issue. I think it should be resolved before I head out."

Mir raised his neck from the mattress curiously. Murray walked up to him and knelt down.

"Describe your Hybrid image to me. What does it look like?"

"...The what?"

"When a Transcender becomes the master of a grade- 1 mutant beast, in other words, a controller, an image of the creature forms inside his Soulslot. Usually one can review it whenever they concentrate on imagining the creature they've bonded with. As for a grade- 2 creature, the image formed inside the Soulslot isn't of the creature, but of a Hybrid form mixing both the controller and the controlled. You shouldn't be unaware of this!"

"Oh! I get it," Mir said with a nod. He had indeed checked out his Hybrid form back when he had bonded with the Witchweed. But not really knowing what to do about it, he had put the matter out of his concerns. He had been far too occupied since then with saving his life.

Closing his eyes, Mir tried to visualize his own body. After several seconds, he found himself looking at a half-human, half-tree figure surrounded by infinite darkness.

But immediately, he noticed an issue. This Hybrid form of his body looked different from the past. All of his hair had transformed into haustoria, the number of egg-sized warts on his skin had grown significantly, and an external layer of bark had grown over his skin, practically covering most of his body. A thick root had perforated out through the skin in his lower back, taking the shape of a gator-like tail.

While he was reeling from the shock of seeing the changed form, the Hybrid's closed eyes trembled.