It was just the rootstock, nothing special, but she had a feeling something was wrong.
She dug carefully along the roots for a while, and the more she dug, the more alarmed she became. The roots all over the ground were woven into a net-like structure.
Previously, everyone was busy digging for crystals, and they wouldn't have cared even if they found this kind of root.
But now...
She found the direction the rhizome was coming from and dug along it. Cheng Zhen noticed that she looked strange, so he helped her dig.
After a while, the two finally found a main root, which was hidden very deep and would never be discovered by an ordinary person digging for crystals.
"What's this?"
Cheng Zhen sensed it but didn't detect any signs of mutation.
Jiang Wan had a guess in her mind, but it was too early to say. She asked Jiang Xiaoxin, "Is there anything special about it?"
Jiang Xiaoxin sensed it carefully and shook her head, saying, "Everyone's crying because the oxygen stone is gone."
Cheng Zhen casually remarked, "Plants seem to understand the survival strategies of an oxygen-deficient apocalypse better than we do. We had no idea such a large oxygen stone was here!"
Just then, the huge oxygen stone over there was unearthed, and Jiang Wan went over to take a look: "But these roots haven't even touched the oxygen stone yet."
Oxygen stones themselves do not emit oxygen; they need to be processed by humans.
Even if a plant's roots and stems are close to oxygen stones, it cannot breathe oxygen directly.
"Come on, dig." Cheng Zhen looked around for a while and suddenly gave the order.
Unable to guess the truth immediately, we could only continue digging along the roots.
Because they dug so deep, they also unearthed a lot of crystals. The townspeople didn't dare to snatch them, but they were envious, so they all joined the digging team.
In no time, a trench one meter deep and half a meter wide was dug.
Following the direction from which they came, Cheng Zhen narrowed his eyes: "Did they come from the wild?"
Jiang Wan frowned and said worriedly, "It seems so, but wild plants are basically dormant or mutated without oxygen. How could they suddenly grow so many roots and weave such a large net?"
The thought that they were standing on a net that could mutate at any moment and attack humans sent chills down their spines.
Cheng Zhen scanned his surroundings, his dark eyes growing serious. Just as he was about to order everyone around to be dispersed, Jiang Xiaoxin suddenly sensed something: "It ran away!"
The two were wondering, what had run away?
Cheng Zhen sensed a powerful force.
He suddenly turned around, his whole body tensed instantly, and he gathered his energy like a cheetah as he rushed towards the edge of the protective shield!
But the other party retreated very quickly, and he didn't even see what it was before the powerful magnetic field formed by that energy disappeared completely.
Jiang Wan's side also quickly dug up the head; the root broke off in one place, and the rest were nowhere to be found.
She took out her professional tools, collected samples, and analyzed them in detail.
Cheng Zhen walked over with a solemn expression: "I need to go to the wilderness. I'll take you back first."
"Okay." They had dug up a lot of crystals, and the huge oxygen stone was handed over to the city guards. She was also eager to go back to do experiments, so she took Jiang Xiaoxin's hand and headed back home.
However, it was clear that Cheng Zhen's field trip did not go smoothly, and he returned empty-handed as it was getting dark.
"Didn't find the mutated plant?" Jiang Wan came out of the laboratory and saw him coming back.
Like him, she suspected that the roots were influenced by the mutated plant.
If that's true, then this level of mutated plant should be the first time they've ever seen anything like it.
However, when he chased after them, he did not see any high-level mutated plants with powerful energy.
Cheng Zhen boldly speculated: "Perhaps what we encountered was not a mutated plant."
"What could that be?" Jiang Wan was surprised. She couldn't understand what else, besides mutated plants, could cause the remaining roots and stems under the soil to unite and weave into a net.
Cheng Zhen shook his head. It was precisely because of the unknown that he felt for the first time that the dangers of the oxygen-deprived apocalypse were far greater than they had realized.
"What progress have you made on your end?" Cheng Zhen asked her.
Jiang Wan washed her hands and, while applying hand cream, said, "I guess it's Canadian goldenrod. Only its roots and stems can have such tenacious vitality, but words are not enough. I need to go to the field to check it out tomorrow."
Actually, her speculation was not without basis, because initially, there were Canadian goldenrods in this area outside the city. Besides the mutated ones, there were also many unmutated ones, growing scattered around.
Although she explained the pros and cons to Tong Guang, and he ordered the plants to be eradicated, it was clear that this man was not very meticulous in his work, especially since it was outside the city. He was even less likely to care and probably only had the plants cut down on the surface without dealing with the underground roots.
The remarkable thing about Canadian goldenrod is that even with just a few fibrous roots, it can grow tenaciously and vigorously, and before long, it can reproduce and spread into a large area.
"Okay, then I'll go out with you tomorrow."
Cheng Zhen nodded in response, looking at her carefully protected hands, and secretly memorized the scent, thinking that when he had time to go to the city, he would get her some more of this hand cream.
In an apocalyptic world lacking oxygen, these kinds of items are basically sold out and never replenished.
But she has storage space, so she doesn't worry about taking up too much space if she buys too much; she can stock up and use it slowly.
Thinking this, he naturally followed her into the room. Jiang Wan was surprised: "What are you doing?"
Now that the war is over, is this man really that free?
Cheng Zhen's reaction was completely subconscious. The aura emanating from her was so healing to him that he couldn't help but want to get closer and didn't want to stay away at all.
But I definitely can't say that; if I do, people might think I'm a pervert.
So he touched his nose and said, "I'll go check on Xiao Shu."
Fortunately, there is still such a ready-made reason.
Since they wanted to see their own child, she felt she had no reason to refuse. She also needed to check if Jiang Xiaoshu had woken up, so she turned around and went into the bedroom first.
When she left, the heating was on full blast, and you could feel the warmth as soon as you entered the room. On the bed piled with soft, fluffy down comforters, the two little ones slept with rosy cheeks, quiet and well-behaved, and very cute.
Suddenly, a pair of eyes snapped open. Jiang Xiaoshu woke up, glanced at the man standing with her mother, gave a disgusted look, and then looked only at Jiang Wan: "Mom, I'm hungry!"
She unconsciously started to act coquettishly. Jiang Wan smiled slightly. That's more like it. She's clearly a three-year-old child, but she insists on acting mature, composed, and old-fashioned. It's not endearing.
She ruffled his fluffy head and said, "Then Mommy will dress you."
As the two were talking, Jiang Xiaoxin, who had slept well, also woke up. This time, she wasn't grumpy when she woke up. She was very happy to see her brother awake, jumped out of bed, hugged him, and said happily, "Brother, you're awake! That's great!"
Jiang Xiaoshu held her adorable younger sister tightly in bed, but her eyes suddenly turned to Cheng Zhen, her gaze cold: "My sister needs to get dressed, what are you still doing standing here?"
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