Apocalyptic World: Surviving with my husband and my cute little babies-Chapter 300: Mutated Tree

After a few seconds of admiring the strange, lustrous tree, Oslo then activated his [Speed] ability and dashed forward for a closer look.

He reached the edge of the sinkhole in an instant and leapt down without hesitation. The moment his feet touched the ground, his eyes widened.

In the shaded area below, countless roots twisted and coiled together, forming grotesque cocoons that tightly encased something hidden within.

The exaggerated part was that there were too many to count.

Curiosity stirred within him wanted to know what’s inside of those cocoons. But before he could move closer, the ground exploded.

Boom!

A sea of roots surged upward, twisting and interlocking as they formed a massive cage around him.

Oslo reacted instantly, wind blades screaming through the air as he slashed at the encroaching prison—but the roots barely trembled.

They were far sturdier than he expected.

"F*ck..." he cursed as the roots tightened, sealing him in as they began forming a cocoon around him.

In that suffocating moment, realization finally struck him as he recalled what he had seen earlier.

’So this is how those cocoons are made... trapping living beings.’

A shiver ran through his body as the truth finally revealed—the mutated tree had turned this entire area into its hunting ground.

Just as his vision began to blur, the Golden Tablet Mark reacted on its own, forcefully pulling him inside the space.

Thud!

He was suddenly tossed out by the Golden Tablet, landing roughly in front of Uncle Anthony and Ramon, who were preparing to head toward the Southern Inventory Sector.

"What happened to you?" Uncle Anthony asked, eyeing the disheveled Oslo.

Oslo let out a long sigh as he brushed the dust off himself. "Rough day... Tsk. I ran into a terrible mutated tree."

"Really? That’s the first time I’ve heard of a new mutated creature during your journey," Ramon replied, clearly intrigued by the discovery.

"And I hope it’s the last," Oslo retorted, clearly not a fan of the experience.

Uncle Anthony quickly helped him to his feet, and Oslo began recounting everything he had witnessed.

He first described the mutated tree as eerie... yet strangely beautiful.

It flourished alone despite the extreme heat, but it was extremely dangerous, as it attacked without mercy.

It used its roots to strike with lethal, frightening force, forming cocoons around those it captured.

And judging by the countless cocoons surrounding it, the tree had likely already claimed many victims.

"Here, I took a picture. See for yourselves," Oslo said, handing them his phone.

The two examined the image carefully. It showed a massive tree hidden inside a sinkhole.

Aside from its lustrous leaves—pure green and full of life—nothing seemed wrong at first glance.

If this were before the apocalypse, it might have looked completely normal.

But now, with the ongoing disaster, such overwhelming vitality felt deeply suspicious.

The real question was what allowed it to remain so healthy—and what it had done to achieve that state.

After hearing Oslo’s full explanation, a chill ran down their spines. The answer seemed obvious. It was probably feeding on living beings.

"It’s good you came back safely after encountering something like that," Uncle Anthony said seriously.

"Ha! It nearly trapped me. Luckily, Paradise pulled me inside; otherwise, I’d be another cocoon right now..." Oslo lamented.

Then suddenly he frowned. "I think I forgot something..."

"Maybe you were supposed to report this new discovery to Ethan? If so, don’t waste time—we also need to check the inventory," Uncle Anthony suggested.

But Ramon shook his head, and replied. "Report? Ethan’s busy right now. You know Elena finally woke up. I suggest holding off for now. Let their family spend some time together."

"Sister-in-law is finally awake? That’s great news!" Oslo exclaimed happily.

Finally, Ethan might stop torturing them during training... at least for a while, since he would probably be busy doting on his wife and children.

However, Oslo still felt that he had truly forgotten something. "I don’t think it’s about the Chief...."

"By the way, where’s your buddy, Xander?" Uncle Anthony finally asked.

The two were inseparable whenever they were assigned a task together, so Uncle Anthony couldn’t help but wonder about Xander’s situation.

Oslo suddenly froze, realization striking him.

"Sh*t... Xander! That’s what I forgot!" he exclaimed. "I’ll talk to you guys later — I need to go back out now."

Without waiting for their reply, Oslo then vanished from space, appearing right next to Xander.

And there it was Xander, angrily pulling the roots out of the ground with all his strength.

"Hey, Xander. Let’s leave for now. No matter how many times you pull them out, they’ll just regrow," Oslo called out.

Xander raised a brow, clearly annoyed by Oslo’s sudden return. "Oh, you’re back... How’s the situation up there? Is there a way we can destroy it?"

"Don’t even think about it," Oslo replied. "I tried cutting it down, but it had no effect."

As he spoke, he released sharp wind blades that sliced through the roots trapping them.

Whoosh!

The roots quickly disintegrated.

From this, Oslo concluded that the roots sent from afar by the mutated tree were much weaker, while those near its main body were far more durable and difficult to destroy.

"Let’s retreat for now and come back later to check another path. This route is definitely a dead end," Oslo continued.

Seeing how serious he was, Xander finally nodded.

The two of them vanished shortly after, leaving behind the enraged roots whipping wildly in every direction, as if furious at losing its prey.

Inside the space, they rested while waiting for Ethan to become available.

They were tempted to sneak a visit to see their little nephews, but considering how Ethan might react, they quickly dismissed the idea — otherwise, they would surely end up with even harsher training.

******

Meanwhile, Elena finally entered Paradise.

After being unable to move for so long, she felt blissful simply walking again.

She then slowly headed toward their house, carrying the now-awake Baby Leo in her arms.

A gentle smile curved her lips as she watched Leo happily squirm against her chest.

"Do you like it here, baby?" she whispered softly. "This will be your home for many years to come... but we still need to go outside sometimes, okay? It’s not good to stay inside Paradise forever."

Baby Leo waved his tiny hand as if agreeing with whatever his mother decided.

Seeing his adorable antics, Elena gave him a big smooch before continuing forward, her husband following behind, carrying the other two boys who were still sleeping peacefully in his arms.

She wished these peaceful days with her triplets could last forever.

But she knew nothing ever stayed the same.

Outside, the world had entered a new era — and the real battle would soon begin.