Chapter 25
A murky wind blew in from outside the woods, carrying with it a stench of decay and dust.
The carnivorous plant instantly grew several times its original size and stood guard beside Qian Hui.
The other plants also gathered around, looking around warily.
Qianhui quickly fed the carrot a pill, and the petals of the sunflower next to her lit up with a warm light.
With the combined effects of medication and healing techniques, Carrot's wound on his side healed rapidly, turning into a small scar.
"Are there zombies nearby?" Qian Hui asked worriedly. "Are there many?"
He had a bad feeling. Carrots were top-grade exotic plants, and zombies could injure them...
Almost instantly, Qian Hui recalled the zombie king she had seen that day, number 03.
Carrot nodded with a serious expression.
The sunflower's warm light still shines on the entire meadow, and under its glow, it conveys the carrot's message to Qianhui and all the plants.
—The Zombie King is leading his horde of zombies, and this is their target.
It went out on patrol in the morning, flew around on a radish thorn, and was the first to spot the approaching horde of corpses.
The horde of zombies was too large, and Carrot realized something was wrong. He wanted to rush back to report the danger, but he didn't pay attention to his rear and side when he left and was hit by a wind blade.
The wind blade's energy is extremely powerful, a strength that no high-level zombie could possess. If it were a weaker plant, it would probably be killed instantly.
Fortunately, Carrot reacted quickly, and the second wind blade from the other side missed, so he quickly slipped back.
After delivering the message, Carrot glanced at Sunflower again, guessing that the horde of zombies was probably there for it.
It's even possible that the sunflower was imprisoned in the basement of the low building at the behest of the Zombie King, who also arranged for two high-level zombies to guard it.
However, it probably didn't expect that the two high-level zombies would encounter a plant team led by two other top-level alien plants, who quickly rescued the sunflower.
Now that it has discovered the sunflower is missing, it immediately came to the door, wanting to take it back.
Qian Hui said worriedly, "Then let's..."
Carrot shook his head, indicating that he couldn't leave; there were hordes of zombies all around, even more than the ones that had gathered outside the safe zone before.
It was still somewhat annoyed. The zombie king must have found a way to track down the sunflower. It should have fled overnight yesterday, at least it wouldn't have been surrounded by the zombie horde so suddenly.
But now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to fight!
The debt for imprisoning sunflowers hasn't been settled yet, do you think they're easy to mess with?
The carnivorous plant grew larger, revealing its cold, sharp teeth, and its piercing gaze swept around.
The remaining plants gathered around Qian Hui, also entering a state of readiness, ready to welcome the arrival of the zombie horde at any time.
This was the first time Qianhui had encountered such a situation, and her breathing trembled slightly.
He forced himself to calm down and opened the game store.
Being in the woods, they should have an advantage.
Under the sunlight of the sunflower, Qianhui's communication with the plants became smoother.
Having seen the horde of zombies, Carrot roughly knew their numbers and was also familiar with the surrounding terrain. It then assigned all the aggressive plants to specific areas.
The surrounding area was divided into two halves, with one half being made up of chili peppers, potatoes, and corn.
They are small in size, and their dense forests provide a natural barrier. In battle, they can either disperse or choose to cooperate.
The other half of the area is narrower, but the trees are sparsest and the space is most open, making it suitable for carnivorous plants.
The carrot will stay with the carnivorous plant. Standing on top of the carnivorous plant, it will have a clearer view and can use the sharp spikes on the plant's head as cover.
The man-eating flower has thick skin and tough flesh, making it much more resistant to being beaten up than a carrot.
The little bamboo shoot was also assigned a task. It was good at close combat, had no fixed location, and could go wherever it wanted. Its task was to take care of any stragglers.
Money trees and sunflowers stand guard in the center and around Qian Hui. The sunflowers' light covers a wide area and can provide immediate healing and energy to all plants.
The money tree, having just drunk the evolution water, can also release a transparent defensive shield to block the approaching zombies from the outer ring.
The remaining cabbages, mimosa, and apples did not participate in the battle; they hid in Qianhui's pockets.
This deployment looks very comprehensive.
Qianhui was still not at ease, so he bought a lot of skill points and added them to the plants, increasing their attack, defense, speed, etc., until the skill points reached the limit.
Several plants buried their heads in eating the skill point pills and hurriedly headed to the designated area.
The horde of zombies was already very close. Carrot stood on top of the man-eating flower's head and instantly split into a large number of sharp spikes.
The leaves of the money tree swayed, and a translucent light green dome rose up a hundred meters away.
On the outside, a short zombie was running at the very front of the horde.
It stopped midway, twitched its nose, and hissed as it pointed at its target.
The horde of corpses followed closely behind, treading on weeds and bushes as they advanced.
Behind them, a dark figure stood on the ruins at the edge of the woods, its red eyes fixed on the area where the horde of corpses had gathered.
Several high-level zombies leading the way were the first to reach the outside of the defensive barrier, attempting to break it, but before they could even make a move, a large number of radish spikes fell like raindrops.
Immediately afterwards, bombs covered with corn kernels and chili seeds flew over one after another, exploding in succession.
Some high-level zombies reacted quickly and were able to dodge in time, but the low- and mid-level zombies behind them could not escape. Even if the carrot spikes and bombs did not hit them, the corn smoke and chili seeds released still took down many zombies.
One of the mid-level zombies inhaled the corn smoke, became dizzy, and punched its companion next to it.
His companion, already injured, was provoked and roared in retaliation.
On the other half, without the cover of dense trees, the radish thorns had a higher hit rate, each one accurately piercing the zombies' heads, causing a large number of them to fall down in unison.
The man-eating flower's stem wrapped around a tree and swung it forcefully, sending several zombies flying.
For a moment, the horde of corpses froze on the outside of the defensive shield. The plants' attacks could penetrate through from the inside, but the corpses could not advance.
Despite this onslaught, one advanced zombie managed to get close to the defensive shield and swung its claws at the semi-transparent shield.
"Smack—"
The defensive shield shattered instantly, and the advanced zombie let out a low growl, taking a small step forward only to encounter another shield.
The zombie roared angrily as a bomb with a chili seed attached flew straight at it.
It leaped aside to dodge, but the bomb seemed to have a mind of its own, also turning a corner until it crashed into the zombie's body.
The bomb and chili seeds exploded simultaneously, causing the zombie to fall heavily to the ground, suffering multiple injuries.
It rolled over and got up from the ground, and another green shadow flashed by.
The little bamboo shoot swung its bamboo blade and slashed the zombie's arm. Just as the zombie was about to retaliate, it looked up and saw the little bamboo shoot quickly slip away and disappear into the forest.
Then a second bomb flew over, this time with a corn kernel attached.
The zombie couldn't escape. Even though it was a high-level zombie, its powers were limited here, and after being attacked repeatedly, its condition deteriorated rapidly.
Just then, the little bamboo shoot reappeared and slashed the zombie's throat with a single blow.
Inside the defensive shield, Qianhui fed the money tree a pill, along with a sunflower, to quickly replenish the energy consumed by releasing skills.
It doesn't matter if one layer of the defensive shield is broken; a second layer can be added immediately. As long as the offensive is maintained, the horde of zombies cannot get too close.
At the same time, the sunflower's light shimmered, evenly illuminating every corner of the defensive shield.
As the horde of zombies reached a stalemate, two humans quietly appeared from the distant city ruins and opened their binoculars.
They were the ones who came looking for the top-grade exotic plant, the sunflower, last night. Seeing the traces near the low building and because of the sudden appearance of the zombie king, they quickly left.
But they didn't go too far. The allure of a super-grade alien plant capable of healing was too great, and the base had given orders to bring back useful information.
So the team stayed in the area and, sure enough, discovered something else.
They didn't dare drive close, so they sent two people over to check the situation.
Through the binoculars, the horde of corpses in the woods was clearly visible.
One of them asked in confusion, "Why would the horde of zombies besiege that place?"
That area isn't a base for any organization. If it were a human team going out to hunt, there would be no need for such a large horde of zombies.
"Look!" his companion exclaimed in a low voice, "It's a man-eating plant!"
The people in front quickly changed direction and, at the edge of their line of sight, spotted a deep purple head peeking out of the woods.
High in the sky, a large number of orange "raindrops" also appeared in small areas.
"That's... another top-grade exotic plant, a carrot?"
The news of the carrot attack on Security Zone 5 has been relayed back to Sky Base, including the skills and characteristics of this top-tier alien plant.
Therefore, the horde of zombies was attacking two top-tier alien plants...
No, it might be three.
The two exchanged a glance, both recalling the horrific scene outside the low building the previous night.
Perhaps... the sunflower was taken away by those two exceptional exotic plants.
However, in the years since the apocalypse, the super-grade exotic plants have been living independently, and only the man-eating flower and a mushroom have been seen appearing together.
Apart from that, I've never heard of them working together.
But once the mutated plants begin to learn to cooperate...
The two did not act rashly, but retreated to a more distant location to transmit information to the base.
Soon, the base replied, instructing the squad to remain on the front lines, having learned of the horde's attack.
In the woods, Qianhui held a sunflower and glanced at her bank account balance.
The notifications for successfully killing zombies are piling up, and my balance is constantly increasing: 1000 for a low-level zombie, 2000 for a mid-level zombie, and 4000 for a high-level zombie...
The money spent on skill points was quickly recouped.
Even so, Qianhui was still uneasy.
The game had already alerted us that the zombie king's trail had been discovered, and it turned out to be number 03.
Qian Hui had seen it from afar last time, and this time she could vaguely sense its presence, but she didn't know exactly where it was.
He looked around, his breathing a little unsteady.
The sounds of the horde of corpses seemed to be right next to my ears, their roars and screams layered upon each other, creating an impenetrable atmosphere.
There are far too many zombies, and there may be even more, while the plant team only has a few main damage dealers, and the zombie king is still hiding in the shadows and has not yet shown himself.
Just to be on the safe side, before the battle began, Qianhui and the plants devised a second escape plan. If things got bad, they should not linger in the fight; leaving as soon as possible was the safest option.
Qian Hui, nervous and uneasy, lowered her head and asked, "Xiao Kui..."
The sunflower's light instantly intensified, transmitting the information about the surrounding plants back to it.
In the woods to the left, chili peppers and corn were mixed together, and several chili-corn balls were made. The new weapon was quite powerful, and it successfully repelled the horde of zombies not far away.
On the other end, Potato was alone, throwing bombs outwards, making a super-large landmine, and excitedly burying it in the ground.
The little bamboo shoot went outside the defensive shield and quickly darted through the woods, constantly searching among the horde of corpses.
Finally, it spotted a small, high-level zombie hiding behind the bushes, its large nose twitching from time to time.
The evolution of zombies is reflected in their appearance. This advanced zombie has an unusually large nose, which most likely indicates that it has an extremely powerful sense of smell.
If I'm not mistaken, it tracked down the sunflower.
The little bamboo shoot identified its target and quickly approached.
Although this zombie is of advanced level, it's similar to a mimosa plant in that its combat power isn't high.
Upon seeing the bamboo shoot, the zombie knew it couldn't win and immediately turned to try to escape, only to be stabbed in the back of the neck by a flying bamboo blade.
The little bamboo shoot leaped over, slid down onto the zombie's head, and easily sliced open its nose and chin with another bamboo knife.
The advanced zombie fell to the ground and died. Little Bamboo Shoot put away his knife and quickly returned to the defensive shield.
On the other side, the carnivorous plant opened its mouth and bit seven or eight zombies at the same time, then tilted its head back and swung it around.
The carrot sat on the back of its neck, its split radish thorns having the widest attack range, striking zombies in all directions.
The plant team's offensive continued unabated, growing stronger with each battle.
Suddenly, however, Qianhui sensed a strong unease and looked towards the woods.
A dark shadow fell from the sky and landed steadily on the ground.
The zombie king finally appeared, stepping slowly forward over the corpses beneath his feet, only to be stopped by the defensive barrier.
It tilted its head to examine it and extended a finger.
The moment the fingertip touched it, a crisp "snap" rang out, and the defensive shield shattered.
A new layer of defense appeared immediately afterward, less than a centimeter away from the previous one.
The Zombie King withdrew his hand and bowed slightly.
The next moment, its body suddenly sprang up and flew over a large grove of trees.
"Smack—"
The defensive shield shattered again, and the Zombie King landed, appearing in front of Qian Hui only two or three meters away.
Qian Hui's pupils contracted sharply, and her body trembled slightly from an instinctive fear.
In just a few breaths, the zombie king arrived directly in the center.
Caught off guard, all the plants hurriedly opened two new covers, one in its original position and the other to wrap up the zombie king.
However, this was not enough to trap the zombie king. It raised its hand and unleashed a wind blade, shattering the defensive shield and simultaneously slashing a wound on the carnivorous plant that was trying to approach.
The man-eating plant showed no sign of backing down and opened its mouth to strike fiercely.
The zombie king dodged in time, but his shoulder was slashed open by sharp teeth, and then slowly closed up and healed.
All the radish spikes and bombs were redirected, and the Zombie King raised his hand again, creating a chaotic wind wall around him that blocked out the vast majority of the attacks.
While doing these things, its eyes remained fixed on Qian Hui, ignoring other plants and the new wounds on its body.
It was as if they were confirming Qian Hui's identity, whether he was one of their own kind, or estimating his combat strength.
In short, its target is Qianhui.
All of this happened too fast; because the plants were distracted, the horde of corpses drew closer.
The defensive shield was shattered, and the carnivorous plant was surrounded by dozens of zombies that surged up. Its stem was unable to move, and another zombie climbed onto its body, trying to grab the carrot on its head.
The carnivorous plant was about to unleash a charged attack, but Qianhui wasn't far enough away and might be accidentally injured by the shockwave.
The same thing happened on the other side; Little Bamboo Shoot wounded a high-level zombie and ran away with Chili Pepper.
A moment later, the zombie king moved again.
It unleashed a wind blade, aiming it at Qian Hui's neck.
"Bang--"
With a loud bang, the money tree hurriedly opened several layers of its protective cover, only to find that it had not been hit.
The wind blades vanished inexplicably, and the zombie king was suddenly flipped over by an invisible force, crashing heavily into a tree not far away.
It stood up, its scarlet eyes looking over.
Nan Tingjin stood in front of Qian Hui, his expression cold and hard.
The zombie king let out a low growl and raised both hands at the same time, but it quickly felt its body being bound and its superpowers could not be used smoothly.
It roared and tore open its skin without hesitation, with wind blades seeping out from the gaps in its body.
The carnivorous plant rushed over and used its body to block it, but at the crucial moment, the money tree also completely erupted.
Countless defensive barriers, layer upon layer, were shattered and then quickly regenerated.
Carrot gritted his teeth, his beady black eyes practically spitting fire.
[A mutated plant has entered a berserk state near you. Please take cover! (From the Encyclopedia entry for "Carrot")]
A dense rain of radishes fell in an instant, piercing the skulls of every zombie with a 100% hit rate.
At the same time, the ground began to shake.
The leaves were blown by the wind and sand, the tree trunks were cracked, the broken branches were covered with mud, and even the corpses of dead zombies were all mixed together.
Everything was under control; the ground, like surging waves, spread outwards, engulfing and submerging the horde of corpses.
At the center of the wave was Nam Tinh Jin.
The earthquake intensified, but the zombie king remained standing in the same spot. The number of tears on its body increased, and the wounds multiplied under the attack of the carrot thorns.
The wind blades surging from within the body gathered together, but could not advance an inch further.
But the Zombie King resisted Nan Tingjin's control, his twisted arm recovered, and he slowly stood up straight.
It moved forcefully, its body swayed, and it disappeared from the spot.
Through the chaotic wind wall, Nan Tingjin squinted.
The wind grew stronger, and the sunflower urgently called for all the plants to return. A huge explosion rang out outside, and the landmines buried by the potatoes were stepped on by zombies.
In the chaos, Qian Hui couldn't see anything. He reached out and grabbed Nan Tingjin: "Xiao Jin?"
Nan Tingjin glanced sideways, and the wind suddenly stopped, the churning ground becoming still.
Qian Hui's breathing trembled as she slowly looked around.
A large area of the once lush forest was now empty, with vegetation uprooted and the pungent smell of earth filling the nostrils.
The Zombie King has disappeared.
The horde at the front was completely incapacitated, with only a few scattered individuals at the rear attempting to escape.
Carrot wanted to chase after it, but Qianhui stopped him.
"Radish," Qian Hui fed it a mana-restoring potion, "Never mind it."
The carrot had just used its charged attack and was now at its weakest point; the other plants had also sustained some damage.
The zombie king escaped, but the plant team also urgently needed to rest.
The carnivorous plant opened its mouth, intending to lead everyone away, but the chili pepper still refused.
It ate the medicine Qian Hui fed it, and dragged along corn and potatoes, to find the nearby dead mid-to-high-level zombies, intending to dig out all the crystal cores.
These are all spoils of war!
Little bamboo shoots were also helping out. Little cabbage, carrying an apple, popped out of the backpack, lifted a small wooden basin used for washing faces, and put all the crystal cores it found into it.
After finally digging out and storing the crystal cores, Qianhui and Nantingjin entered the mouth of the man-eating flower, and the plants jumped in one by one.
The carnivorous plant looked around and then chose a direction to leave.
Meanwhile, far away in the ruins outside the forest, the Zombie King stared intently at the man-eating flower's back, his blood-red pupils filled with extreme rage.
—
[The fourth faction conflict has ended. Congratulations on our victory! Reward: 200 Prestige Points]
After escaping the woods, the game notification finally arrived, albeit belatedly.
Qian Hui read the message over and over again, still feeling a bit scared.
The number of zombies is simply too great. With the zombie king's assistance, the current plant team alone cannot kill it.
Without Nan Tingjin, the plant team would have been in even worse shape.
Fortunately, none of the plants were seriously injured. The sunflowers recovered quickly after taking the medicine, though they were somewhat tired and needed time to rest.
However, the balance gained from this battle was very generous, increasing by a full... 80,000!
At that moment, another game notification popped up.
[Trigger a plot point to obtain the original ending for the Superior Mutant Plant, the Sunflower.]
[Sunflower, a top-tier mutated plant, origin and age unknown. Its unique healing ability gives it a gentle nature and low combat strength. Several years after the apocalypse, it was captured and imprisoned by the Zombie King (number 03), and later discovered by a human with supernatural abilities. It died from injuries sustained during the struggle for its life.]
Qian Hui's breath hitched, and she silently closed the message, not wanting to tell the other plants about it.
So... if they fail, the consequences could be more serious than we imagine.
Qian Hui felt even more frightened, but also extremely fortunate.
Thankfully, he found the sunflower in time, and thankfully, they won.
Just like with the carnivorous plant, he changed the original fate of the two plants.
Seeing Qian Hui sitting there blankly, not saying a word, as if she had been frightened and hadn't recovered yet, Carrot came over to comfort her.
It let out a few "woofs" and cursed the zombie king, saying it would find a chance to twist its head off sooner or later!
Also, the team performed very well this time!
Carrot praised all the plants, including Nantingjin.
Thanks to his intervention, the zombie king was able to escape so quickly... In short, Carrot's impression of Nan Tingjin changed drastically, and his gaze towards him became much friendlier.
The other plants lay scattered about, having won the battle. Although they were exhausted, they all seemed quite happy.
Chili lay comfortably asleep on the backpack full of crystal cores.
Potato pulled Corn along, asking if they had heard an explosion, because it had hidden a huge landmine in the woods.
Qian Hui rested her face on her knees and touched the carrot leaves: "Mmm."
The carnivorous plant continued its forward march without slowing down, and a few rays of sunlight pierced through its slightly open teeth.
A familiar presence drew near, and Qian Hui looked up.
It was Nan Tingjin.
Nan Tingjin reached out his hand, and Qian Hui hesitated for a moment before snuggling into his arms.
"Thank you," Qianhui asked softly, "Are you hurt?"
“No,” Nan Tingjin replied, “Don’t be afraid, it’s safe now.”
Qian Hui hummed in agreement, then wrapped her arms tightly around Nan Tingjin's waist, feeling his warm body temperature.
After a while, his thoughts gradually calmed down, and he relaxed. Then he heard Nan Tingjin ask, "Have you thought it through? Are you coming back with me?"
Qian Hui looked up at him, but did not respond for a moment.
“I’ll take you to find the top-grade exotic plant,” Nan Tingjin said softly, adding, “I can protect you.”
[You seem to have won some promises from the opposing faction; a seed may grow into a towering tree. Reward: 50 Prestige Points]
Qian Hui stared blankly for a while, looking confused.
Nan Tingjin couldn't help but lean down and kiss him on the cheek.
The kiss was light, fleeting, a way Qianhui was used to and comfortable with—pure and gentle, without any forcefulness or ulterior motives.
He waited patiently, and Qian Hui's eyelashes trembled before she finally nodded: "Mm."
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