19. Put an end to these three adorable little creatures.

Chen Shou stood to the side and said, "So, the android encountered dangerous creatures and was attacked. Is that the gist of it?"

"Hmm, perhaps..." Li Nuo sat on a folding stool and closed the diary.

Three key pieces of information swirled in his mind:
First, in the world of NieR, the black and white zones are fixed. Aside from the boundary, there is no distinct "night" in the other areas.
Second, creatures inconsistent with this world-view have likely appeared, and they possess enough combat power to wipe out an entire Resistance scouting party.
Third, something resembling an invisible air wall has cordoned off this area, trapping everyone inside.

No matter how one looked at it, the situation could be summed up in two words: "out of bounds."

Just then, a noise erupted from a nearby pipe opening. Not just Li Nuo, but Chen Shou and Maljie noticed it too.

[Side quest triggered]
[Eliminate these three plant monsters]
[Quest Level: Lv7]
[Quest Reward: 100 EXP, Useless Pedal]

"Does finding the key item mean we have to start fighting?" Chen Shou pulled a slingshot from his pocket, drawing it back with effort and holding the pose.

"Maybe not, but we'll talk later. Let’s kill them first." Li Nuo hoisted his folding stool, climbed onto an abandoned bus, and tucked a Molotov cocktail into his pocket.

Maljie picked up the AK rifle from the ground, took out his [Pot Lid Shield]—a reward from the novice selection—slung it onto his back, and braced the rifle in front of him.

He and Chen Shou fanned out, training their respective weapons on the sewer opening.

A plant monster, looking like a spineless sea urchin, slowly crawled out from the edge of the pipe. It was disgustingly grotesque, featuring a circular mouth and two tentacle-like appendages on its head that writhed like intestines. Beneath its "mouth" were delicate floral petals that looked like a skirt.

Suddenly, the monster slapped its two tentacles against the ground and launched itself high into the air. Based on its trajectory, it had chosen the largest target: Chen Shou.

Chen Shou shed his previous panicked demeanor in an instant; his pupils sharpened, and his face turned calm. He held the slingshot horizontally, aiming at the airborne monster. He held no projectile, but the moment his fleshy fingers released the string, a solid ball engraved with a cartoon bird pattern flew from the slingshot!

Even Li Nuo, watching from the bus, was stunned. "What the hell? Angry Birds?!"

As everyone knows, when an object is mid-air, it enters a state of vulnerability unless one has a double jump. So, this "bird" hit the flying plant monster, causing it to explode into a pulp.

Almost simultaneously, a second plant monster darted from the grass. They seemed to view Chen Shou as the primary target. The chubby guy knew it was likely because of his weight, but he also knew he couldn't dodge.

At that moment, Maljie stepped forward, blocking Chen Shou. He knelt, raised the pot lid, and slammed it down. "Chen Shou! Jump on the lid!"

Chen Shou immediately caught on and jumped onto the lid pinning the monster. He used his own weight, bouncing up and down like he was being electrocuted, to keep the creature pressed down.

*Click.* Maljie cocked his rifle. He jammed the muzzle under the lid and pulled the trigger. The *rat-tat-tat* of gunfire and the flash of light illuminated his Doraemon mask.

Standing on the lid, Chen Shou was gripped by an inexplicable horror. From this moment on, he might never be able to look at Doraemon the same way again.

"Where’s the last one? Let’s cook it quickly." Maljie scanned the surroundings. When his gaze swept past Li Nuo’s position, he saw the tall grass swaying. "Li Nuo! Behind you!"

Before the words left his mouth, the final monster lunged from the grass, leaping toward the back of Li Nuo’s head.

Li Nuo had stood on the bus roof for a better vantage point, so he had already sensed it. Just as the slime-filled mouth was about to bite him, he swung his folding stool, which he had been holding inverted, and smashed the monster against the roof.

He struck it again and again, like pounding rice cakes. The creature was fragile, and within a few hits, it began to leak foul-smelling sludge.

The folding stool had a 5% chance to deal explosive damage. On the tenth hit—*BOOM!*

The monster detonated. It was a small explosion, but enough to engulf Li Nuo. Reflection of the fire danced in Chen Shou's pupils; he was dumbfounded. "That stool can actually explode!?"

As the smoke cleared, Li Nuo stood on the roof, unharmed, though covered in the monster's viscous gore. The stool’s explosion had a lethal radius of less than three meters and didn't harm the user. Still, it was disgusting. The monster had internal organs; it was like a burst piece of fried chicken. Under the high heat of the explosion, the already foul-smelling slime now smelled like a can of heated fermented herring.

"Any notification that the quest is done?" Li Nuo scanned the area, spotting the first plant monster Chen Shou had hit, now shivering in the grass. As a low-level monster, it had no second phase.

He climbed off the bus, walked over, and stepped on the monster. Calmly, he drew [Zhuang Chen's Iron Rod] from his waist, stabbed it into the creature's eye, and gave it a stir.

[Quest Complete]
[Quest Reward: 100 EXP, Useless Pedal]

All three received the experience points. The [Useless Pedal] dropped from the stomach of the last monster. Li Nuo picked it up.

[Useless Pedal]
[Quality: Junk]
[Description: Every pedal carries the life’s work of an old scrap collector.]

"What is the point of this thing..." Li Nuo hesitated but tucked it into his satchel. He returned the Molotov cocktail to his system inventory.

"My reaction was too slow. If I had lit a fire at the sewer entrance from the start, or made some bombs in the Resistance camp..." Li Nuo reflected. This battle was by no means difficult; the Level 7 rating confirmed that. However, it proved that the lack of direct melee damage was their biggest problem. Fortunately, the monsters were manageable—for now.

Maljie patrolled the area, confirming the three monsters were dead and wouldn't mutate, then sat on a rock and let out a long breath. "Li Nuo, what did you mean earlier when you said these three monsters weren't triggered by finding the diary?"

Li Nuo tore a piece of cloth from his shirt to wipe the slime off his face. "The android who wrote the diary must have been attacked, which is why their limbs were severed. These three little guys couldn't take down an android, so whatever attacked the writer must be something much more dangerous."

At the mention of "something more dangerous," Chen Shou grew nervous.

Li Nuo comforted him, "Don't worry, it's fine. The purpose of these three little guys appearing was to tell us there’s 'treasure' or a hidden quest point in the sewers."

"So... are we going in there?" Chen Shou looked uneasily at the drainage pipe.

"No," Li Nuo said. "Whatever treasure is inside, the probability of dying in such a cramped space is too high. An entire Resistance unit was wiped out; we won't fare any better."

Chen Shou looked at Li Nuo’s face, which was plastered with a "couldn't care less" expression, and his racing heart settled. Since following Li Nuo and Maljie, he had spent the last twenty minutes feeling like he was scavenging for treasure on a dangerous beach.

But he didn't know that Li Nuo also had a sliver of unease lingering in his heart. He felt like he had seen these three plant monsters somewhere before. They had definitely appeared in some game—but certainly not in *NieR*.