Chapter 31

Crystal cores are useful to her now, but not much, especially since she has just obtained a lot of spiritual jade, and the demand for crystal cores has been decreasing.

Gu Yuan was a little surprised, and also a little confused.

He knew that some of the mutant creatures were edible, and some parts could be made into weapons, which were more useful than ordinary weapons and could more easily break the skin of zombies and mutant creatures.

But Gu Yuan felt that Gu Qi's intention to mutate creatures was not for this reason, and also...

"Energy-containing minerals?" What can this be used for?

Gu Yuan's intuition told him that the energy contained in the mineral his sister mentioned might not be what he knew.

Thinking of some of the information he had learned earlier, Gu Yuan speculated, "Could it be that the ore also underwent a mutation after the apocalypse, and contained energy similar to supernatural powers?"

"You can say that." Gu Qi nodded slightly.

Considering that my brother is now the deputy commander of Hope Base, he should have heard about some of the things.

Gu Qi didn't keep the secret and said directly, "After the apocalypse, everything has changed. It's not just the zombies and mutants that we can see with our naked eyes, but also the minerals I just mentioned, as well as the soil and air. They are all different from before the apocalypse."

Dai Yishen and others: “……!”

"The soil and air have changed?" Dai Yishen asked in shock.

He soon discovered that his captain was not surprised when he heard this, but rather a little stunned, as if he had gotten a positive answer to his guess. Dai Yishen's mood suddenly became a little heavy. Seeing the captain's expression, he couldn't help but have a bad premonition in his heart.

You have to know that the last time I saw the captain's expression like this was when he learned that zombies and mutants were evolving faster than humans with special abilities, and that food was spoiling much faster than before the apocalypse.

Gu Yuan said with a grim expression, "No wonder not only can't normal plants be grown in the soil, hydroponics also fail, and even some of the stored seeds have undergone unknown changes. It turns out that something strange has happened to the air as well."

After these words were spoken, Dai Yishen and the others became a little heavy-hearted after being shocked.

If it is really impossible to grow normal plants in the future, and the existing food spoils faster, how many people will starve to death in the future due to lack of food?

Mutated creatures can be eaten, but only a very small number of them can be eaten, and only certain parts of them are edible, not all of them. These are not enough to sustain the survival of existing humans.

Seeing their expressions, Gu Qi couldn't help but think of some things in his previous life.

Because the land cannot grow normal plants, most of them are poisonous mutant plants, and a small number of non-toxic ones also have other side effects.

At first people thought it was a problem with the soil, but later they found that other methods were useless. Even seeds preserved in a vacuum could not grow normal plants. Either the seeds died or mutated plants were grown. Many people died from those suddenly mutated plants.

In general, food sources are scarce and existing food is rapidly decreasing. In previous lives, the number of humans who died from zombies, mutant creatures, and other means was less than one-tenth of the total number of humans who died of starvation.

Later, those people were able to survive, on the one hand because there were not many people left, and on the other hand because wood-type mutants could grow edible plants. Even if there was still a probability of mutation, the remaining edible plants were enough to eat.

Thinking of these things, Gu Qi couldn't help but recall his previous thoughts again.

The seeds will mutate after being planted. The most fundamental reason is the violent energy in the soil and air. Wood-type mutants can use their abilities to tame the energy in the plants, which is how edible plants come into being.

What if we purify the violent energy contained in plants?

In other words, can this effect be achieved by purifying the energy contained in the soil and air?

If we use a barrier to separate them, can we prevent the purified soil and air from being polluted again?

Just like her cave, the clean soil and air, the invisible barrier, and the purifying function of the cave itself, all allow the seeds she harvested to grow into normal plants in the planting area.

Gu Qi thought of another thing.

She asked with her consciousness: "Jiu Cang, can I sell the buns in the storage space?"

"Giving it to Aqi means letting Aqi do whatever he wants."

But if that's the case, does it mean that he can help Aqi earn resources again?

Jiu Cang quickly added: "As long as Ah Qi needs it, I can do it for Ah Qi every day, as much as you want!"

"That's not necessary." Gu Qi quickly declined. "Jiu Cang, you still have to help me train those little guys, and you have to take care of all the things in the cave. When the restoration of the cave gets faster and faster, you will have more things to do."

She was just thinking that the storage space was almost full of steamed buns. Even though the things inside had their own fresh-keeping and heat preservation functions, they would remain the same when they were put in and taken out, but Gu Qi didn't want to eat steamed buns every day.

Even if there are mutant animals like Xiaotu, Xiaohua and Xiaohuang to help solve the problem, it is definitely not possible to deal with so many spiritual wheat buns in a short period of time.

"Aqi is right." Jiucang nodded secretly with happiness, and then said: "I will continue to help Aqi keep an eye on those little guys, and make sure they can kill enemies on the battlefield and work in the fields!"

It’s a pity that no one has a talent for cooking, Jiu Cang thought to himself.

After checking the inventory of Lingmai flour and other vegetables, Gu Qitong said to the others with a somewhat worried look on his face, "In addition to the storage space, I also plan to sell some flour and fresh vegetables."

After a moment's thought, Gu Qi added, "They are all normal fresh vegetables, free of... impurities. They have a faint trace of pure energy, similar to the steamed buns you just ate, but their energy content is probably less than one-tenth of that."

Impurities are the violent energy that causes plants to mutate. People who currently know about this call them impurities. They are divided into toxic impurities and non-toxic impurities. Foods containing non-toxic impurities are harmless to human life after being eaten, but they will have some side effects.

“How many are there?”

Gu Yuan wanted to say that he could take the contract, but then he thought about how some of the small spaces his sister mentioned were as big as football fields. Would the things he just mentioned be different from what they thought?

Previously, he was only concerned about how Gu Qi was doing after the apocalypse and whether she had suffered any hardship. But now, Gu Yuan couldn't help but feel curious about what his sister had experienced after the apocalypse that made her feel that the storage space as big as a football field was a bit small?

Gu Qi gave a rough estimate.

The time flow in the planting area of the cave is much faster than in the outside world, especially when the spiritual energy supply catches up. The time it takes for spiritual plants to mature is greatly shortened, not to mention ordinary plants. It can be said that one crop can be harvested in a day, and some even have two crops a day.

In addition, the arable land in the planting area has been increasing. Even though she has not been planting for a long time, she has saved a lot of spiritual wheat flour and fresh vegetables.

Of course, in Gu Qi's opinion, these numbers were not large, but when she saw Gu Yuan and others' expressions change from surprise to "as expected" after hearing it, she suddenly reacted.

This is the early stage of the apocalypse, and the first echelon of superpowers is still at the third level of the apocalypse.

It is not the late apocalypse where the average psychic is at level ten, nor is it the world of immortal cultivation where there is no shortage of food.

Especially since these were fresh vegetables, and given that the land was difficult to grow normal plants, these fresh vegetables, which seemed not much to her, could be considered a considerable quantity at this time.

"Is this really not a dream?"

Seeing Gu Qi take out fresh vegetables to show them the quality, Dai Yishen couldn't help rubbing his eyes, wondering if he was hallucinating.

Does such juicy and fresh cabbage really exist?

Or do they just appear to be the same size, and are actually edible mutant plants?

It wasn't that Dai Yishen and the others suspected that Gu Qi was bragging before, but the cabbage that exuded a unique fragrance didn't look real. If Gu Qi hadn't pinched a leaf, they would have almost thought it was a jade carving at first glance.

You should know that normal fruits and vegetables are very rare on the market now, and they are basically wilted. Few are as fresh as this one, as if they were just picked not long ago.

Gu Yuan took the cabbage and said after a moment: "It is indeed an ordinary plant without any mutation."

"Can I take a look?" Dai Yishen stared at the cabbage. After realizing something, he quickly said to Gu Qi, "It's not that I don't trust you and the captain, it's just that I haven't seen normal vegetables in a long time."

The end of the world is less than two months away, but to many people it seems like two years have already passed.

"No." Dai Yishen quickly denied it and said, "I've never seen ordinary vegetables grow so well."

Gu Qi simply took out a few more tomatoes and handed them to them, "Try and see how they taste."

“That won’t do!”

Dai Yishen and others quickly refused.

"A tomato like this can be sold at least for a Level 2 Crystal Core at the base!"

"Try it." Gu Qi stuffed the tomatoes directly into their hands and said, "It's a good opportunity to help me see if there is a market for these if I open a store in the base."

Dai Yishen and the others were initially shocked by Gu Qi's irresistible strength. None of the other members of the team who had awakened their powers could possess this much strength. Should we say she was truly worthy of being the captain's sister? Both of them were so formidable, amazing in every way.

When Dai Yishen heard Gu Qi talk about wanting to open a store, he thought she was just making an excuse to persuade them, but seeing her serious expression, it seemed that she really wanted them to see if there was a market for it, as she had just said.

Dai Yishen looked at his captain with a pleading look. Should they eat the tomato or not?

It would be a lie to say that I don’t want to eat it. This tomato is literally written with “Come and eat me”. Even the fragrance seems to be saying to them “Come and eat me, I’m delicious”.

"Eat." Gu Yuan nodded.

"Why do you want to open a store again?" he asked Gu Qi. He could feel that she had just come up with this idea.

"I might want to sell more things in the future. Besides, you're the deputy base commander now, and I'm afraid someone will take advantage of this. I might as well open my own store to sell these things. Then you can just lend me two people."