Chapter 48

As a superior exotic plant, peas don't actually need crystal cores; they're eaten as snacks.

It's very crispy and can also fill your stomach.

It finished eating in a few bites, patted the leaves and crumbs off its hands, and continued to peer out.

In the distance, under continuous ranged attacks, the zombie horde slowed down, and the human team successfully retreated behind a low building.

Pea looked at them with disdain. There were quite a few of those humans, and they should all be superhumans. How could they not be able to defeat a group of zombies?

As it observed, it considered whether it should go and cause some trouble to slow down the human group.

Once the zombie horde catches up, the two sides will start fighting.

And those explosions yesterday, weren't they made by these people? So brazen in zombie territory...

The big pea was itching to get started, but suddenly its eyes lit up and it tilted its head back to sniff.

It smells like the Zombie King...

Which zombie king is it? Big Pea became alert, temporarily abandoning his previous thought, and quietly hid in a corner of the ruins.

Since the Zombie King is here, I can't approach him rashly. It would be bad if I were attacked by both human superhumans and the zombie horde.

Big Pea calmed down and observed patiently for a while, seeing the human group gradually retreating to another intersection.

Several modified cars were parked at the intersection. They got in and drove away immediately.

After the humans left, the zombie horde stopped and did not pursue them.

The leading high-level zombie roared, and the horde of zombies slowly dispersed and retreated.

The zombie king never appeared.

The big pea was puzzled and found it a bit strange.

It had previously encountered a zombie king in a more distant area and even fought with it.

When a zombie evolves to the level of Zombie King, its intelligence reaches its peak. It no longer possesses the low-level desire to kill and eat, but instead tries every means to expand its horde.

Those human superhumans who were just now, if they could be transformed into zombies, would most likely be mid-to-high level superhumans. Surprisingly, the nearby zombie king wasn't tempted and didn't come out to stop them from escaping.

Although the apocalypse has been over for several years, many humans now choose to end their own lives or perish together with zombies at the last moment in order to avoid turning into zombies. By dying, they will not become walking corpses.

But even with the zombie king clearly present, and so many human superhumans intruding into its territory, it remained completely unmoved.

Unless, it has other important matters to attend to, or is guarding something more important.

Big Pea's eyes immediately lit up with excitement. He tried to conceal his presence as much as possible and followed one of the high-level zombies from a distance.

It wanted to see what this zombie king was up to.

Big Pea remained cautious, not getting too close, and saw two high-level zombies walk together through the ruins and enter a collapsed building.

It quietly hid itself in place, casually plucked two weeds from the side, and put them in its mouth to chew.

Inside the building, two zombies shoved through the rubble and debris to reach a more spacious area on the inside.

The Zombie King was also here; its entire body was pitch black, almost blending into the shadows along the wall.

Two zombies knelt before it, lowered their heads and growled, reporting the situation outside.

The human group must have accidentally wandered in; they quickly retreated and fled.

The alien plant that attacked the horde of corpses yesterday has not yet appeared.

Those strange plants killed some wandering zombies in the surrounding area yesterday, and the residual scent on their corpses was very familiar.

—These were the mutated plants that stole the sunflower, successfully withstood the horde of zombies, and even injured the Zombie King 03.

Now that they've arrived here, they provocatively blasted a large number of zombies to death, leaving behind a conspicuous crater before making their escape.

The zombie king was furious, but also calm, and chose not to pursue them.

The alien plants, like the human group, are likely unaware of the situation here.

The Zombie King raised his hand and gave commands to the two high-level zombies.

Lead the remaining zombies to continue guarding the outside and try to hide.

The advanced zombie received the order and turned to leave the low building.

Outside, Big Pea glimpsed the horde of corpses nearby gradually disappearing into the ruins.

Three or four other zombies, carrying things on their backs, also crawled into the collapsed half-building.

What is that? A human corpse? Do zombies store food?

A completely dead body will rot if left for too long, but zombies probably won't mind.

Big Pea felt increasingly nauseous, so he patted his head and dismissed the terrible thought.

Anyway, these zombies are behaving very strangely; they're definitely plotting something.

Big Pea became increasingly curious. Now that it was also a bit hungry, it peered around, looking for a lone zombie to kill, dig out the crystal core, and take a bite.

On the other side, several modified cars were parked in a secluded corner.

The zombies didn't pursue them. After confirming that it was safe, Qi Yue contacted the base using a communicator to report the mission's progress.

They came here to search for a missing team.

Two days ago, the team was responsible for transporting supplies to another base. On the day they passed through this area, they suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Similar incidents have occurred several times recently. The strangest thing is that not only have the people in the team disappeared, but the supplies they are carrying in their vehicles have also vanished.

Initially, some traces were found, which seemed to be the work of a zombie attack, but zombies would not be interested in those supplies.

Then some people suspected that it was done by superhumans from a certain base in order to steal supplies.

In the apocalypse, supplies are extremely important, especially food, which is one of the most expensive commodities.

Currently, the environment in various places is not good, and only two or three bases have stable food production, which needs to be sent to other bases regularly.

Now that this has happened, more than one base has been affected, and even the commission for dispatching goods has increased significantly.

Afterwards, all the major bases received requests for assistance, and Yun Chuan Base was no exception. It just so happened that Qi Yue didn't want to get involved in the conflict between Sky Base and the alien plants recently, so he accepted the assignment and came to investigate.

"It's almost certain that it was done by zombies," Qi Yue said to the other end of the communicator. "The specific reason is still unclear. The zombie king is also there, so we don't know which one it was."

Based on their different physical characteristics, all the recorded zombie kings have their own code names, and their special abilities also differ.

Upon hearing Qi Yue mention that there was also a zombie king, the person on the other end of the communicator said worriedly, "Then you should come back as soon as possible. The mission is not mandatory."

Furthermore, Qi Yue's discovery of the horde of corpses and the zombie king is already a significant breakthrough. They can return first and then return with more people to investigate later.

Qi Yue responded and cut off the communication.

He gazed into the distance, his brow furrowed.

The horde of zombies showed no intention of chasing them, and the zombie king didn't even show his face, which was very unusual.

Qi Yue instinctively felt he couldn't just leave like this. After a moment's thought, he made a decision: "Go back and take another look... This time, be careful and stay far away."

He was the team leader, and the others had no objections.

As a precaution, several modified cars circled around halfway, preparing to approach from another direction.

—

Inside the woods, Qianhui was helping the cactus remove its helmet and wiping it with a thick towel.

The cactus was playing by the lake not long ago when it accidentally fell in. Luckily, the morning glory reacted quickly and pulled it out in time.

But it was wet, and the fleece inside its helmet was also wet, so it ran to find Qianhui looking aggrieved.

The cactus has many thorns, so after wiping them off, let it sunbathe a bit.

Chili peppers also came to help, using the heated chili seeds to dry the helmet.

The cactus sat obediently to the side, waiting. It now particularly loves its helmet and has to wear it all the time.

Once the helmet was completely dry, Cactus couldn't wait to put it on, hugging Qianhui's hand and rubbing against her, and also hugging Chili.

Qianhui watched it turn its head and run away happily, just then Carrot returned from the other side of the woods.

It leaped swiftly among the branches, then landed abruptly, standing firmly in front of Qian Hui, raising the two unfamiliar plants in its hands: "Woo!"

Qian Hui: "...Let go!"

Carrot brought back a mango and an asparagus this time. The asparagus was held by the leaves on top and didn't move, looking dazed.

The mango was small, and the entire back of its neck was in the carrot's hand. It twisted its limbs wildly, trying to break free of its restraints.

The carrot obediently let go, and the asparagus sat down on the ground, looking around blankly.

The mango was very bold; it swung its fist at the carrot and punched it hard in the waist.

But the mango's level shouldn't be high, and its attack wouldn't be able to harm the carrot at all. The carrot pointed into the distance and gestured a few times: "Woo woo!"

It was amazed by the mimosa's evolved abilities. Sure enough, there were two mutated plants in the direction it pointed. When it arrived, the two were fighting next to a flowering bush, and they were indeed covered in the fragrance of flowers.

Afraid of scaring the two unfamiliar plants, Qian Hui quickly took out some food: "Didn't I tell you, we can't just grab them..."

Carrot quickly shook its head, indicating that it wasn't grabbed directly.

It first asked Mango and Asparagus if they wanted to go with it, saying there would be delicious food there.

The two plants initially didn't believe it, but then the asparagus became interested, while the mango wouldn't let it leave and insisted on continuing their fight.

Carrot then brought both plants together, being careful along the way so as not to damage them.

Asparagus's eyes lit up when it saw the cookies. It sidled up to them, grabbed three cookies, and ran off quickly.

Mango tried to chase after him, but Qianhui stopped him, punching the cookie in his hand and making a small dent, then brought it closer to smell it.

Upon discovering it was food, it accepted it, cautiously looked around, and then, while nibbling, burrowed into the dense grass to hide.

Regardless, the encyclopedia successfully lit up two new ones. Qianhui picked up the carrot and said, "Next time... be gentler."

Carrot nodded and reached out to touch the pocket of his coat.

There was a movement in the pocket, and the little mushroom woke up at that moment.

The carrot made a "woof" sound, and Qian Hui looked down. A little pink mushroom popped out from the edge of the pocket and yawned.

It was already three or four in the afternoon. Qian Hui touched the little mushroom's umbrella cap: "Are you awake?"

The little mushroom hugged Qian Hui's fingertips and kissed them, then climbed onto his palm.

The carnivorous plant, which had been waiting nearby, quickly took out the food it had prepared beforehand.

It was still crushed biscuits, shredded jerky, and dried fruit.

It ate a little of the mushrooms, but the dried fruit was hard to cut into small pieces, so it picked up one, took a big bite, and gave the rest to the carnivorous plant.

Once the little mushrooms woke up, the other plants gradually gathered around them.

After another nap, the little pink mushroom was even more energetic and nimbly leaped down from the grass.

The carnivorous plant watched intently, ready to catch the mushroom with its leaves at any moment, and only breathed a sigh of relief when it saw the little mushroom land steadily.

The apple and the succulent ran quickly closer, and the succulent circled around the little mushroom, wanting to play with it.

Little Mushroom turned to look at Qian Hui, who said, "Go."

With Qianhui's approval, the little mushroom was led away by the little succulent, and the two plants ran off together.

The carnivorous plant and nuts will guard the little mushroom, and the chili peppers are also there, so the surrounding area is very safe.

Even so, Qian Hui was still not at ease and secretly observed for a long time.

The little mushroom wandered around the neighborhood first, watching the little cabbage learn to practice boxing from the cabbage, and then crawled inside the cabbage shell that wasn't enlarged to play.

Then, Corn took it to the lake to watch the four-leaf clover and pumpkin catch fish.

The little pink mushroom is so cute and cuddly that it hugs everyone it sees, and all the plants love it.

Then, Potato showed it how to feed cherries. Two landmines were thrown, and Cherry jumped up and caught them accurately.

The little mushroom clapped its hands in a very gracious gesture, then ran over and climbed onto the cherry's head, hugging its stem and swaying back and forth.

As night fell, the little mushroom sat on a tulip leaf, holding a cookie crumb and munching on it.

After half a day, seeing that it had become quite familiar with the plants, Qianhui finally felt relieved.

Chili also gave the little mushroom the crystal cores she had stored away, but the little mushroom only took two bites and then stopped eating, and there was no sign of its skill bar recovering.

But as long as it's safe and sound, it doesn't matter if it can't use its skills.

Qianhui handed over the bottle cap filled with water, while feeding the starfruit and dragon fruit in her arms, and Potato lay beside her whimpering.

It fed the cherry too many bombs and mines in the afternoon, and its energy was almost depleted.

Qianhui picked it up and fed it two mana-restoring pills.

When it was time to go to sleep at night, the little mushroom followed the carnivorous plant into the cabbage shell.

It slept in the fennel's coat during the day and slept with the plants at night.

The softest layer of the cabbage was used to make a little nest, which the small mushrooms and succulents could just fit inside.

Before going to sleep, Little Mushroom yawned, came to the Cabbage Shell door, and waved goodnight to Qian Hui: "Mmm!"

Qian Hui was with Nan Tingjin. Little Mushroom glanced at Nan Tingjin twice, then turned around and went back to sleep.

The cabbage bowl next to it was also full of plants, the sunflower's light dimmed completely, and the cabbage lights in the grass went out one by one.

Qian Hui leaned against Nan Tingjin's chest, still not sleepy.

The game interface in front of him was open, with a total of 72 illuminated illustrations.

Many of them were plants found in the forest where the man-eating flowers were located. At that time, Qianhui only had man-eating flowers around her, and she encountered the most plants.

Some plants that you've only seen but haven't formed a bond with can still be added to your encyclopedia; you're still 28 plants short of completing the task.

It's not a good idea to have the carrot go outside to "catch" things every time. Qianhui thought she could find some time to go to another part of the forest alone, or just bring one or two plants with her.

The more plants he knows, the more likely he is to find those that will follow him.

However, with more plants to care for, more money is needed in the bank account.

Qianhui also tried to designate this forest as the site for the base, but it showed that the safety index was low and did not meet the standards.

Furthermore, the base location cannot contain any unfamiliar plants, zombies, or humans. In other words, other plants in the forest must be driven away, the base must be built, and then people must re-enter.

Noticing that Qian Hui was lost in thought again, Nan Tingjin asked in a low voice, "What are you thinking about?"

Qian Hui whispered, "I want to build a base... a plant base."

He looked up, his expression serious: "Xiao Jin, how did you build your base?"

Nan Tingjin answered truthfully, "I don't know."

He wasn't the first leader of the Blackridge Mountain base, but Qianhui needed a base, and the quickest way was to select an existing target and attack it directly.

The branch of the Sky Base could have been used with difficulty, but the message from Yuanji said that the base was later destroyed and all traces left inside were completely disappeared.

"Attack...attack and occupy?" Qian Hui's voice trailed off after hearing Nan Tingjin's words. "Isn't that a bit inappropriate..."

A habitat once inhabited by humans may not be suitable for plants, but he also knew that things couldn't be rushed.

Nan Tingjin stroked Qian Hui's silver hair: "No rush."

Qian Hui gave a vague reply and reached out to hug him.

He spent both nights with Nan Tingjin and did not spend time with the plants.

Chili and Corn had some complaints about this, but since they couldn't defeat Nan Tingjin, they had no choice but to compromise for the time being.

Since the two reaffirmed their relationship, they seem to be much closer than before.

But Qianhui doesn't really know how to date; she relies entirely on intuition.

Qian Hui nuzzled against Nan Tingjin's neck and whispered, "Xiao Jin, you're so warm."

He slipped his hand inside Nan Tingjin's coat, instinctively wanting to move closer to something warmer.

Nan Tingjin held Qian Hui's hand and kissed his cheek: "Go to sleep."

Qian Hui, oblivious, obediently hummed in agreement and nestled dependently in Nan Tingjin's arms.

He was enveloped by a familiar scent and quickly fell into a deep sleep, his breathing becoming calm and even.

—

The next morning, when Qianhui woke up, she found chili peppers and small cabbages beside her.

They mostly came at night, ignoring Nan Tingjin beside them, and skillfully snuggled into Qian Hui's arms to sleep.

A moment later, the carnivorous plant arrived with the little mushroom.

The little mushroom had probably just woken up; it hadn't seen Qianhui all night and missed her terribly.

The carnivorous plant put the little mushroom down, and the little mushroom lay down beside Qian Hui's neck, hugging a strand of his hair and continuing to sleep.

Not long after, the carrots arrived again.

Its eyes were slightly anxious. It tugged at Qian Hui's sleeve, pointed in a direction, and stuck a shrunken mimosa plant on its head.

Qian Hui quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

The sunflower followed closely behind, using its light to convey the message of the mimosa.

Just now, it sensed a large number of zombies gathering in the distance, with the aura of human superhumans mixed in among them.

The scene appeared somewhat chaotic, with hordes of zombies and human superhumans attacking each other.

There seems to be... an unfamiliar, top-tier exotic plant, which might be dangerous.