Chapter 30
As the modified vehicle got closer to the forest, the enormous object inside became increasingly clear.
Qian Hui slowly opened her eyes wide: "That is..."
Three plants perched on his shoulder; the chili pepper and the bamboo shoot looked on with curiosity, while the carrot's expression gradually shifted from confusion to delight.
It longed to ride the spikes and fly over immediately, but Qianhui stopped it.
"Don't run around!" Qian Hui tucked the carrot into her arms and looked ahead at the road. "We'll be there soon."
There are no humans nearby, so we still need to be careful; the plants must not be seen.
The vehicle continued driving and came to an iron gate.
The iron gate was unattended, with only a detection device attached to the lock. The screen of the device was completely covered in dust, and very few people usually came by.
The scent of a top-grade exotic plant approached, and Nan Tingjin got out of the car alone, shutting down the instrument just as it was about to transmit a signal to the base.
He took out the key, opened the iron gate, and then returned to the car.
On the other side of the iron gate is a forest, its edge enclosed by a high wall, becoming part of the base, stretching as far as the eye can see.
At intervals along the top of the wall, watchtowers were built, with guards on duty in shifts. Anyone attempting to trespass into the base's restricted area would be immediately detected.
The iron gate was unguarded, and one could enter from the inside and pass through unimpeded.
After passing the road sign that read "Restricted Area," Nam Ting-jin drove his car into the mountains.
There was no path in the woods originally, but as the modified vehicle approached, the trees and vegetation slowly moved to the sides, automatically filling in and smoothing out the uneven ground, creating a path out of thin air.
Qian Hui knew this was Nan Tingjin's special ability and looked out the window curiously.
As they approached their destination, the enormous shadow standing amidst the mountains and forests slowly revealed its true form.
It is extremely tall, much taller than the largest carnivorous plant, and from a distance, it appears round and resembles a giant gray-brown egg.
Qian Hui murmured, "Xiao Guo..."
Even though it looks a little different from before, he can be 100% sure that it is the same plant in the courtyard.
His former friend, Round Nut.
Qian Hui suppressed her excitement, but the carrot in her arms couldn't wait any longer and pulled out its thorns, shooting straight out.
This time, Qianhui didn't stop him. Carrot darted through the woods, leaping and gliding faster than a car, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Chili peppers and bamboo shoots stayed quietly beside Qian Hui. Chili peppers sniffed outside; the air smelled clean.
This is the territory of the Blackridge Mountain base. There are no humans, no zombies, and apart from the scent of grass and trees, there is only a faint... nutty smell.
However, the scent of this top-grade exotic plant is not strong. Whether it is deliberately concealed or for some other reason, it only smells slightly stronger than that of a high-grade exotic plant.
A few minutes later, the vehicle finally arrived near the round nuts.
Qianhui quickly got out of the car and saw that Carrot was standing next to Nut's huge body. She turned her head and looked over.
It was further away, and its black bean-like eyes and face revealed no emotion, yet seemed to convey a hint of loneliness and worry.
Qian Hui felt inexplicably flustered and quickly ran over.
"What's wrong?" He picked up the carrot and looked up at the giant nut.
"Xiao Guo?" Qian Hui raised her voice slightly and called out, reaching out to touch the shell of the nut.
The outer shell is rough, feels warm to the touch, and has several scratches and marks on the surface.
There were even bite marks from zombies, which must have been there for quite some time but had not completely healed.
Qian Hui called out "Xiao Guo" again, and finally realized that something was wrong.
Nuts didn't respond to him; it didn't even move.
Confused, Qian Hui walked half a circle around the giant nut and called out again, "Little Fruit!"
Carrot tugged at his sleeve and shook his head.
I just tried it myself; I even flew up to the top of the nut's head and patted it a few times.
The nut remained motionless, silent and unresponsive, and its eyes and mouth could not be found.
Its current state makes it seem as if it has hidden its true form inside its outer shell.
At this moment, Nan Tingjin stepped forward: "It hasn't been moved for a long time."
Qian Hui looked at him, feeling uneasy and helpless: "What...what's wrong with it?"
“I don’t know,” Nan Tingjin said truthfully, “maybe it’s asleep.”
This exceptional exotic plant appeared shortly after the apocalypse.
It seems to have been in this forest from the beginning, but it often hid and didn't show itself much. Later, when a base was being built nearby, it was attacked by a horde of zombies once.
It was on that occasion, when a large horde of zombies must have startled or angered it, that it grew to enormous size and tried to crush any creature that approached.
The super-grade alien plant is incredibly powerful. This is another giant alien plant with an extremely hard shell, seemingly unable to feel any pain.
With it around, the horde of zombies that had been besieging it failed and fled, while it maintained its enormous size and continued to roam the mountains and forests without stopping for a moment, like a giant boulder that had completely run away from its control.
Initially, because it was difficult to build a wall on the inner side of the forest, the human superhumans tried to drive it away, but failed to do so despite trying many methods.
Other exotic plants that had been hiding here, fearing they would be accidentally harmed, also fled one after another.
Later, human superhumans discovered that it only moved within this forest area and never left to go elsewhere, so they simply incorporated the forest into the base and designated this area as a restricted zone.
Later, its movement speed and frequency slowed down, from several days or tens of days to one or two months.
It has been more than seven months since it last moved, and its presence has weakened considerably.
When it is still, it is like this, without responding to the outside world.
Around this time last year, some people at the base were saying that it might be dying soon.
After being in a gigantic state for several consecutive years, even the most powerful alien plant will be exhausted.
Initially, it held off a large horde of zombies, indirectly helping the base a great deal, and its position here was quite delicate.
Wen Jue once wanted to take the strange plant back with him, but the people at the base refused. However, they didn't really want it to wake up, fearing it would cause more trouble.
But even if we wanted to revive it, we couldn't find any way.
After hearing what Nan Tingjin said, Qian Hui's breathing trembled, and she felt even more sad and heartbroken.
Previously in the plant courtyard, Nut, due to its special abilities, always had to stand in front of its companions to take the hits from the zombies, and thus suffered the most injuries.
It appears brave and fearless, never showing any fear in the face of any zombie.
The other plants in the courtyard dared not provoke it; its skin was too tough, like it was fighting a wall, and its leaves would be worn raw in just a few strokes.
But Qianhui knew that Jian Guo was actually introverted and quiet, not very brave, and liked to hide away and do various wood carvings and handicrafts by himself.
It is also very gentle, with a soft and muffled voice that sounds shy and demure.
The ring that Qian Hui gave to Nan Tingjin was carved by Jian Guo, who taught him how to carve it.
Nuts must be terrified when he gets here.
Qianhui could imagine how terrified it must have been when it encountered the horde of zombies.
There were hundreds or thousands more zombies than those that had invaded the courtyard before. In its panic, it grew to its largest size to arm itself and then hid itself deep inside its shell.
It may not even know how much time has passed, or whether the horde of corpses outside has left. As time goes by, it gradually forgets and falls into slumber.
The giant nut stood quietly. Qianhui approached, reached out and tried to hug it, pressing her whole body tightly against its shell.
He felt the warmth emanating from inside the shell: "Little Fruit..."
The game's encyclopedia entry is lit up, but the "bond" option is not shown.
Carrot squatted beside his shoulder and patted his hair reassuringly.
Chili peppers and bamboo shoots peeked out from under the hood, remaining silent.
Before coming to find this exceptional exotic plant, they never imagined things would turn out this way.
We found it, and things went smoothly along the way, but we don't know when it will wake up.
Even the calls from Carrot and Qianhui were useless... Chili sighed quietly and hugged a strand of Qianhui's hair.
Footsteps approached, and Nan Tingjin waited for a while before slowly leading Qian Hui over. He saw that she indeed looked like she was about to cry.
He bent down and hugged Qian Hui, comforting her, "It's still alive, it can wake up."
Qian Hui sniffed: "Mmm."
“It’s safe here,” Nan Tingjin added. “The wounds on its body were from the horde attack, and they’ve healed a lot.”
Since Nan Tingjin became the leader, the base has had no intention of taking this top-grade exotic plant out, and no one has dared to trespass into the restricted area.
Qian Hui hummed in agreement again and reached out to hug Nan Tingjin tightly.
"It's called Little Fruit?" Nan Tingjin stroked his back and asked in a low voice, "What kind is it?"
“It’s nuts,” Qian Hui looked up, a hint of accusation in her eyes, “I told you before.”
Unfortunately, Nan Tingjin didn't remember, so naturally he wouldn't know the name of this strange plant.
Qian Hui took Nan Tingjin's hand again and touched the wooden pinky ring: "This is what Xiao Guo taught me to make."
Nan Tingjin responded and hugged him again: "Okay, I understand."
Qian Hui rested in Nan Tingjin's arms for a while before looking back at the giant nut.
“I have to bring Xiao Kui here,” he said. “Xiao Kui will definitely have a way.”
Nut's current condition is unusual; if it doesn't wake up, Qianhui can't give it medicine. But the sunflower's light will surely heal it and might even wake it up.
So Chihiro stayed in the woods and continued trying to talk to the nut, with carrots and peppers keeping him company.
Nan Tingjin returned to the base, bringing the sunflower with him alone; the bamboo shoots would accompany him.
The two separated temporarily, and Nan Tingjin returned to his car.
The little bamboo shoot jumped in through the window, smiled politely at him, and sat upright in the secluded corner below the car window, holding a bamboo knife.
They retraced their steps and returned quickly, bringing the sunflowers in their backpacks.
Qianhui quickly carried the sunflower to the giant nut and sat down on the grass with it.
He touched the sunflower leaves: "Little Sunflower, only you can help Little Fruit."
Just before the sunflower arrived, Qianhui and Carrot tried calling out the nut's name repeatedly and throwing carrot thorns at it, but they couldn't move the nut an inch.
The sunflower petals shimmered, seemingly surprised that the nut had turned out this way.
It extends its leaf and gently touches the nut's shell, and light spreads outward in an instant until it envelops the entire nut.
The soft light is warm but not glaring, continuously conveying healing and a sense of healing.
Carrot leaned closer and saw that the scars on the nut's shell were slowly healing.
Half an hour later, the shell was completely restored to its original state, and even the color had become lighter. Compared to its previous appearance, it was clearly more vibrant.
Qian Hui was filled with anticipation and waited for another half hour.
The sunflowers, tired from the constant intense sunlight, stopped to rest for a while.
Qian Hui fed it a mana-restoring potion and asked, "How is it?"
The sunflower shook its head in disappointment, indicating that it had not yet managed to wake the nut.
The light could heal the old wounds on the nut's body and replenish a lot of its consumed energy, but the nut remained asleep and did not respond.
Sunflower then comforted Qianhui, saying that perhaps it hadn't been long enough and that it would continue to try.
Qian Hui lowered her eyes and nodded: "Mm."
For the rest of the morning, Qianhui and Xiangri stayed by Jian Guo's side.
Nan Tingjin was also there; his communicator rang several times, probably from subordinates at the base looking for him.
Qian Hui offered to let him go back first, but he still didn't leave.
By noon, Qian Hui also had to go back; he was worried about leaving the other plants at the base.
Sunflower volunteered to stay and continue keeping Nut company.
The little bamboo shoot quickly raised its hand, indicating that it could protect the sunflowers and help them all go back.
As Qian Hui hesitated, Nan Tingjin said, "It's safe here."
No one may enter the restricted area behind the mountain without the leader's permission, and guards are stationed at all times along the outer wall.
As long as you stay within the base's boundaries, you are absolutely safe.
“Okay,” Qian Hui nodded, bought some food and pills and gave them to Xiao Zhusun, “We’ll be back soon.”
The little bamboo shoot gained many skill points and drank evolution water, greatly increasing its strength and making it clever and quick-witted.
Just to be on the safe side, Carrot also gave it a carrot thorn, so it could crush it if anything happened, and it could sense that.
The little bamboo shoot accepted the radish thorns, carefully inserted its tip into its shell, sat next to the sunflower, and waved goodbye to Qianhui.
The modified car turned back the way it came. This time, the road and trees behind it slowly returned to their original state after the car passed by, and there was almost no difference.
On the way back, Qianhui was still sullen.
Chili hugged his hand and rubbed it gently, then pointed to her leafy legs.
It wanted to reassure Qianhui that the nuts would wake up; it was just a matter of time.
Just like when it was injured and its legs were almost broken and it couldn't walk, it later fully recovered.
Qian Hui understood what it meant and forced a smile: "Mm."
At least he found the nuts, so it's not too late now.
Qianhui thought that he and Sunflower could visit Nuts every day, and bring the carnivorous plant with them.
When old friends come to its side, it will definitely be able to sense it.
Qianhui even considered moving directly into the restricted forest so she could keep an eye on the nuts' condition at any time...
He hadn't forgotten the plot point hint from last night, so he opened the game's taskbar to see if there was any progress.
At this moment, the plot progress indeed increased to 20%, but a small line of text appeared below.
"Exploration of the restricted area of the base is complete."
Upon closer inspection, Qian Hui realized it was indeed a plot point triggered last night.
So it wasn't originally about premium exotic plants...
Is it about the Black Ridge Mountain base?
However, this means that there should be more plot points this time than in the previous two.
The base contains not only Nantingjin and Nuts, but also many other human superhumans, who may all be included there.
Qian Hui pondered and silently made a note of the matter.
Now that he has received a progress notification, shouldn't he find some time to visit other parts of the base?
Before long, the modified vehicle was about to approach the base's residential area. Chili and carrots were hidden in the hood, and Qianhui took out a strip of cloth and blindfolded herself.
The surroundings gradually became no longer quiet; occasionally, people would stand by the roadside talking or hurry away.
When the modified car stopped, Qianhui felt some eyes looking at her through the car window.
A strange voice called out, "Chief, you're finally back."
Nan Tingjin clearly returned, but hasn't left the base since. He was nowhere to be seen all morning, having taken Qian Hui somewhere.
Nan Tingjin opened the car door: "What's up?"
"It's nothing major. There's been a sudden increase in the number of grain transport assignments lately, so I thought I'd ask you about it first..."
The person speaking stood some distance away, glancing at Qian Hui from time to time.
Blackridge Mountain Base has a good reputation, but the commissions they charge are also very high. They are usually not contacted for assignments such as transporting food supplies.
But recently, for some reason, two small bases have come looking for us.
They said that the teams sent to transport supplies had all mysteriously disappeared en route, and the supplies had also vanished without a trace. Moreover, this had happened more than once recently.
In the years since the apocalypse, few people have done this anymore, but if they were attacked by zombies, they wouldn't be unable to find the bodies, and the mutated plants wouldn't need to steal so much food.
Therefore, they still suspect that someone did this on purpose, wanting Blackridge Mountain Base to help.
Upon hearing this, Nan Tingjin raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over them coldly: "What, do I need to teach you this kind of thing?"
The man quickly lowered his head: "I didn't mean that..."
There was really no need to ask Nan Tingjin about this matter; he could accept any assignment as long as the commission was right.
Moreover, Yuanji was also at the base, transporting several truckloads of food; he could decide whether to accept or refuse.
He just happened to be passing by and saw Nan Tingjin and Qian Hui together, and wanted to take a few more glances.
Sensing Nan Tingjin's displeasure, he quickly excused himself and left with his companion.
With no one around, Nan Tingjin walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and reached out to help Qian Hui out of the car.
Qian Hui's game interface was still open when she inadvertently discovered that the progress of the hidden mission to sneak up on the zombie camp had moved, and it had suddenly increased by 10%.
He exclaimed "Huh?" and asked in a low voice, "What was that person saying just now?"
“Some assignments,” Nan Tingjin said, carrying him into the low building. “If you want to know, I’ll take you to see them another day.”
Nan Tingjin had only said it casually, but Qian Hui nodded seriously: "Yes."
Furthermore, the fact that the super-grade alien plant within the restricted area has awakened at some unknown time suggests that he will continue to stay in the base, and it seems that he is willing to remain.
Nan Tingjin paused slightly before going upstairs and opening the door to his room.
He carried Qianhui to sit on the low cabinet by the door and leaned in to kiss his fair cheek.
Qian Hui pushed him, but couldn't budge him. She reached out and tore off the blindfold, when suddenly she heard a muffled thud from the next room.
The carrots and peppers reacted the fastest, popping out of Qianhui's hood and rushing over immediately.
The door to the next room was locked from the inside and couldn't be opened. Carrot was lying on the floor, peeking out through the crack in the door.
It seemed quite chaotic inside, with several plants running around trying not to make too much noise.
Suddenly, a potato rolled by quickly, followed closely by a durian that tried to stab it with its thorns.
Potato cried out in panic: "Waaah! Waaah!"
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