Chapter 52
Qian Hui was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Nan Tingjin.
“Many bases should have received the news,” Qi Yue said. “I led a team out, so I don’t know more details for now.”
Gathering human superhumans to attack human bases... this hasn't happened in a long time.
From an outsider's perspective, the Sky Base has indeed suffered heavy losses, and if a solution isn't found, it could pose an even more serious threat...
Nan Tingjin has been missing for a while and is suspected of assisting the alien plant in attacking the Sky Base branch. It seems like it's time to demand an explanation from the Black Ridge Mountain Base.
Those who heard the secret also suspected that Nan Tingjin was actually hiding in the base, and that even though the base was now actively distancing itself from him, he still couldn't escape his fate.
The Blackridge Mountain base is also very special, as all its members are superhumans. Even if it is divided into several parts, it can still supplement the combat power of other bases.
Furthermore, the base is in a very good location, with a large undeveloped area remaining on the back mountain.
As for the people in the base, even if they don't want to be recruited by other bases, as long as Black Ridge Mountain is successfully captured and they are separated and locked up for a period of time, there are always ways to wear them down.
Nan Tingjin remained silent, his cold eyes slightly lowered, lost in thought.
He didn't answer, and Qi Yue didn't care.
Actually, I said all this to show goodwill and to offer what I felt was a necessary reminder.
At this moment, the two teams maintained their current distance, and the sunflower's healing light shone indiscriminately upon them.
Seeing that Qianhui and the plants didn't let them go anywhere else, Qi Yue didn't leave either.
He temporarily went to the back of the team, where two team members who knew some medical knowledge were examining more than ten children.
The rest of the people stayed put, resting and adjusting on their own, occasionally glancing at the strange plants opposite them.
Qian Hui fed two pills to the carrot that jumped into her arms, and said, "Xiao Jin..."
He frowned slightly, still pondering what Qi had just said.
That list of appointees is essentially a wanted notice; not only Nan Tingjin, but Black Ridge Mountain might also run into trouble.
However… Qian Hui lowered her voice and asked softly, “Why did he tell us all this?”
He was somewhat puzzled, and even felt that Qi Yue's attitude was too kind.
Although Qianhui did not want to initiate conflict with the human teams outside the Sky Base, she did not expect much more.
For example, Qi Yue said that he would not reveal the whereabouts of the plant team to the Sky Base, which surprised Qian Hui.
“You saved those people, and…” Nan Tingjin replied in a low voice, “they couldn’t beat you.”
Qi Yue is a smart man; he knows what to do at any given moment.
With the number of exotic plants around Qian Hui significantly increased, and with Nan Tingjin present, they had no chance of winning.
In the apocalypse, absolute strength is the only true voice.
Furthermore, the alien plants never attacked them and were even "forced" to cooperate under the siege of the zombie horde, showing more goodwill than hostility.
For the sake of the Sky Base and Wen Jue alone, Qi Yue wouldn't disregard everything and insist on standing on the opposite side of these alien plants.
Qian Hui nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite: "Then... can we trust him?"
Qianhui was aware that the human and zombie factions were different. For example, the game would reward him for killing a zombie, but there was no reward for killing a human.
Nan Tingjin replied, "That's acceptable for now."
Qian Hui hummed in agreement, still somewhat worried: "If he wasn't lying, Black Ridge Mountain Base..."
He felt that all of this was caused by him; if he hadn't gone to Black Ridge Mountain to search for the special-grade exotic plants, this would probably not have happened.
But the nuts were there... and by sheer coincidence, those people came knocking on the door.
Nan Tingjin is the leader of the base, and in principle he should go back to check on things, but this may well be one of Wen Jue's schemes to force him to show himself.
“Don’t worry,” Nan Tingjin said, taking Qian Hui’s hand in his and comforting her. “I will contact Yuan Ji.”
Qian Hui remembered the name Yuan Ji; she had exchanged a few words with him at the base.
He relaxed a little and nodded again: "Mm."
The two were talking quietly. The pea in Qian Hui's arms looked left and right, staring at Nan Tingjin for a long time.
Hmph... After all this time, Qianhui's boyfriend is still the same person.
The pea shrank itself, its body about the width of a palm, and when it tucked its arms and legs in, it became a round, green pea.
It turned and nudged the nut next to it: "Huh?"
The nut closed its eyes to rest, as if it hadn't heard, and then reached out to tug at the leaves on top of the carrot.
Carrot was also very tired, and slapped Pea's hand away: "Waaah..."
The carnivorous plant and cabbage were not around, and the sunflower was busy, so only the little mushroom was willing to pay attention to the pea, lying on the edge of the pocket and bending down to pat its head.
The pea touched the little mushroom's cap: "Huh?"
Like the cabbage before it, it was eager to know what had happened to Chihiro and how it had encountered the plants.
"Hmm..." Little Mushroom had also asked Sunflower about these things and had roughly told Pea about them.
It couldn't remember its last experience, only saying that it had slept for a long time and only woke up in the last two days.
Pea felt puzzled, but seeing the little mushroom's confused look, she didn't ask any further questions.
The plants nearby were resting. The cabbage and apple had given them medicine, and as usual, one could go to fennel or sunflower for individual comfort.
Durian stood quietly by Qian Hui's feet. A starfruit ran up quickly, looked up and tugged at Qian Hui's sleeve, making two "woo-woo" sounds.
Qianhui picked it up and held it in her hands, touching it gently.
At this moment, Qi Yue led two team members forward.
"Could we search that basement?" he asked. "Our mission is related to it, and we need to record some information."
Qian Hui thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and retreated with the plants around her, leaving enough space.
Qi Yue thanked him, let the two team members jump into the basement, and stayed on the outside.
The basement was not large. Apart from the narrow bathroom connected to the side, there were two dug tunnels for zombies to enter and exit.
The team members collected a small amount of the raw rice and flour piled up in the corner, and moved the rest out, cleaning off the damp and moldy parts, so that it might still be usable.
These things, stored in an environment like a basement, will spoil completely in no time.
No wonder there have been repeated attacks on supply convoys lately...
Most zombies have little intelligence and simply follow orders. They don't know how much supplies are needed. Once the attack is successful, they take all the supplies, and none of the humans in the group are spared.
But Qi Yue still didn't quite understand why the zombie king Black Reef would go to such lengths just to imprison more than a dozen ordinary underage humans.
The zombies were constantly hungry, yet they managed to resist eating...
Qi Yue looked away, unable to bear thinking about what those children had gone through.
Fortunately, the rescue was timely. The three youngest children were in very poor condition; a few days later, they might have died in the basement.
Then he saw a strange zombie corpse lying on the ground to his side.
Qi Yue approached, bent down to examine it, and grabbed the zombie's bare, skeletal arm while wearing gloves.
He looked at it carefully and was about to call another team member over to take a look when a green shadow suddenly jumped in.
Qi Yue looked up and saw a chili pepper standing in front of him, with a small bamboo shoot next to it.
Chili pepper, her eyes wary, and together with bamboo shoot, ruthlessly dragged the zombie corpse away.
Qian Hui stood not far away: "You can't touch it... I'm going to burn it."
He remembered the descriptions in the plot and always felt that using the flesh and blood of zombies to increase the probability of gaining superpowers... was a bad thing.
Chili peppers and bamboo shoots happened to have just returned from digging up the crystal cores and could help dispose of the corpse.
Qi Yue quickly stood up: "Okay."
Two plants dragged the zombie corpse to an open space, the bamboo shoot threw out many replica bamboo knives, and the chili pepper lit the chili seeds.
The zombie's body immediately burst into flames, emitting a strange smell.
Qian Hui was finally relieved. Seeing that Qi Yue was behaving himself, her impression of him improved.
He spoke up first, saying, "That's used to... raise advanced zombies with superpowers."
Qian Hui would certainly not explain how she knew; if Qi Yue asked, she would just give him a few vague answers.
Qi Yue had no time to pay attention; his face was full of shock, and after a long while, he murmured, "So that's how it is..."
That explains it... Humans almost always awaken their superpowers after adulthood, as minors have weaker constitutions and cannot withstand the changes brought about by superpowers.
The Zombie King wanted to raise high-level zombies with superpowers, so choosing young minors was the safest option. They were immature, timid, and unlikely to commit suicide to avoid turning themselves into zombies.
If there were a way to ensure that all these minors awaken supernatural abilities...
A high-level zombie with superpowers is at least three times stronger than an ordinary high-level zombie that only gains physical enhancements.
The Zombie King Black Reef went to great lengths, all for this reason.
Looking at the flames not far away, Qi Yue's feelings became even more complicated.
This accident was more serious than anyone had anticipated.
But it was Qian Hui and the alien plants around him who successfully stopped the zombie king, Black Reef.
Qi Yue raised his head again and said sincerely, "Thank you."
Qian Hui hugged the plants in her arms tightly and replied softly, "You're welcome..."
He turned to look at the dozen or so human children, a hint of concern in his expression.
Qi Yue said gently, "Don't worry, they have all taken the medicine to treat their injuries and will be taken back to the Yun Chuan base for proper protection."
Qian Hui nodded, then heard him say, "This mission involves too many things, I must report the truth..."
The team secretly searched the area, encountered alien plants and a zombie king, and ultimately rescued all the trapped children.
It also includes all the actions of the alien plants, and who exactly killed the zombie king Black Reef.
Qi Yue didn't want to take credit; he wrote down what he knew, and whether others believed him or not was their business.
“But I can guarantee,” he paused, “that these coordinates will be kept secret and will not be known to outsiders.”
In this way, even if the Sky Base knew that the team had encountered alien plants, it would not know their location.
Immediately afterwards, Qi Yue asked, "Should I organize the remaining information and send it to Chief Nan for review? If there's anything that's inconvenient to include, you can let me delete or modify it."
Qian Hui looked at Nan Tingjin, who replied, "Okay."
Qi Yue immediately stepped forward and handed over his communicator.
Nan Tingjin accepted the message, and the two sides exchanged channel numbers via their transponders before returning them.
At this moment, the two team members in the basement finished their investigation, and several modified vehicles from behind also drove over.
The children are not in good condition and they need to return to base as soon as possible.
Qi Yue bid farewell to the two, saying, "If you need anything in the future, just let me know."
Just then, the plant team that had been eliminating the remaining zombies on the outskirts returned, and it was time for Qianhui to leave as well.
He watched Qi Yue and his team return to the group and carried all the human children into the vehicle.
Subsequently, several modified vehicles quickly drove away from the scene.
The plants also crawled into the giant man-eating flower's mouth one by one, and Qianhui and Nantingjin sat on its nape, heading in opposite directions.
Before leaving, the carnivorous plant wandered around the neighborhood. Potato, having regained some energy, threw out several bombs, trying to erase the traces left by the plants.
The zombie's body was already burned beyond recognition; if it were bombed a few more times, no remains could be found.
After blasting everything, Potato fed Cherry another landmine before crawling back to rest.
—
Leaving the city ruins, the carnivorous plant chose to return to the forest it had been in before. By the time it reached the familiar lakeside, it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon.
Qianhui fed the plants lunch and then checked their condition in the encyclopedia one by one to make sure they were all safe and sound.
Two or three new plants were participating in the battle for the first time, and they were a little scared at this point. After being hugged and comforted, they felt much better.
After resting for so long, the wounds on Nuts' body have basically healed, with only a shallow mark remaining on his stomach, which was probably the most serious wound at the time.
Qian Hui touched him tenderly, and Jian Guo rubbed against his hand to indicate that he was fine, then tilted his head and bit the biscuit that Xiao Bao Cai fed him.
The little cabbage was very busy. After feeding the nuts, it went to the cabbage and massaged the cabbage's arm.
The carnivorous plant and carrots were tending to the little mushrooms, while the giant pea perched on a nearby tree, peering around.
Not long ago, Qianhui gave a special introduction to it and all the other plants, which helped the peas better understand the current situation.
Simply put, Qianhui found several plants in the courtyard and also kept many new plants with her.
So many new plants...
The big pea chuckled and jumped off the branch.
It wandered around the neighborhood for a while and quietly came up to the potatoes and corn.
During the battle against the horde of zombies, Potato finally unleashed its charged attack. Unable to contain its excitement, it insisted on telling Corn about the process in detail, even neglecting to eat many pieces of candy.
Corn didn't want to listen, but because she had done the same thing before, she lay on the grass, lost in thought.
Big Cherry on the other side listened with great interest, clapping enthusiastically from time to time.
After saying it twice, Potato grabbed his water bottle and gulped down a few mouthfuls. When he turned around, he noticed a large pea standing to his side and behind him.
Pea was Qianhui's friend whom she had found this time, and it was also a top-grade exotic plant. Potato quickly stood up and greeted it: "Woof!"
The corn and cherries came closer and also let out a "whoosh".
However, the big pea remained motionless, its round eyes looking blank, as if it had been frozen in place.
The three plants waited anxiously for a while, but the pea still didn't react.
Corn took a half step back and couldn't help but whisper to Potato, "Is it already asleep standing up? It doesn't have eyelids, so..."
Potato was inexplicably frightened, so he mustered up his courage and reached out to poke Big Pea.
Just as it touched the giant pea, the giant pea in front of it suddenly burst open like a ball.
"whee!"
The potato and corn were startled, especially the potato, which yelled and turned and ran away quickly.
Corn followed closely behind. The two plants panicked and scurried to Qian Hui's side, crawling into his arms on all fours.
Qian Hui thought something had happened and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
Potato clung tightly to his arm, her eyes filled with terror: "Waaah..."
The big pea... exploded.
It looks like it poked me...
But when the potatoes and corn cautiously peeked out and looked over again, the big pea was standing perfectly fine behind the tree, clutching its stomach and laughing hysterically.
"Hehe, woohahaha!"
Only the cherry stayed where it was and circled around the pea.
It was quite excited when it heard the explosion, but it turns out it wasn't...
Disappointed, Big Cherry turned and jumped away, returning to Potato's side.
Qianhui looked at the pea, then at the potato and corn, who looked terrified, and immediately guessed what the pea had done.
He said sternly, "DouDou!"
Big Pea stopped laughing, obediently came over, and consciously placed its round head next to Qian Hui's hand.
Qian Hui hadn't seen it for a long time, and considering that its body hadn't fully recovered, she couldn't bear to say anything harsh. She just patted its head and said, "Alright, don't scare them."
Big Pea nodded obediently and poked the potato and corn with his hand: "Woo woo."
The two plants finally came to their senses, and then, feeling that their reaction was a bit embarrassing, they took the initiative to leave Qianhui's embrace.
The little mushroom, having finished eating, was led by the man-eating flower to find Qian Hui, and went back to sleep in his pocket.
Qianhui packed her backpack again and looked up to see that several plants were already playing with the peas.
On the grass by the lake, there were more than a dozen cloned giant peas scattered around. Potato carefully wandered among them, searching for the real one.
The eggplant also came closer to a large pea, examined it carefully, and then hesitantly poked it.
"Smack—"
"whee!"
Eggplant hesitated for a second, then cried out "Ah!" and took several steps back, accidentally falling into the lake. It was quickly pulled up by morning glories and soft vines.
When the corn and potatoes saw this, they pounded the grass and laughed loudly.
The remaining plants did not participate in the game and rested nearby.
After watching for a while, Qian Hui came to Nan Tingjin's side.
Nan Tingjin sat under the tree and reached out his hand to him. Qian Hui leaned into his arms and closed her eyes to rest.
Too much had happened that morning, and he was quite tired, so he drifted off to sleep.
When she woke up again, the sunlight was no longer intense, and the plants that had been playing by the lake had gone elsewhere so as not to disturb Qianhui.
Qian Hui yawned, rubbed her eyes, and saw a communicator next to Nan Tingjin.
He asked, "Have you managed to contact Yuanji?"
Nan Tingjin remained silent for a moment, then replied, "Yes."
Noticing Nan Tingjin's unusual mood, Qian Hui felt uneasy: "What's wrong? Is the situation not good?"
Nan Tingjin remained silent, seemingly hesitant.
Qian Hui slowly sat up straight. After thinking for a while, he made up his mind and said, "If you want to go back... I'll go with you."
Nan Tingjin looked up at her, and Qian Hui reached out and hugged him tightly.
“It was…it was me who took you from the base,” his thick eyelashes trembled, “so I’ll go back with you.”
Qian Hui had this idea as early as when Qi Yue mentioned that the Black Ridge Mountain base would be attacked.
Nan Tingjin is the leader; he cannot simply abandon the base and his subordinates inside.
“And,” Qianhui added, her eyes sparkling, “I’ll bring all the plants with me, so I can protect you!”
Upon hearing this, Nan Tingjin smiled, his usually cold expression softening considerably.
He stroked Qian Hui's hair and lowered his head to kiss her: "Okay."
—
Meanwhile, at the Black Ridge Mountain base.
Yuan Ji sat in the chair, his face gloomy.
His subordinate stood aside and reported the current situation to him: "We contacted nine bases...only one responded, and the rest...we haven't heard from them."
Yuanji was not yet ready to take the initiative to bow down and show goodwill to other bases, so he sent his subordinates to find out their attitudes first.
So, out of nine bases, only one responded?
Do these people really think Wen Jue is their savior?
But to get him to open the base gates and let the Sky Base people in, he'd have to die here!
Yuan Ji took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
However... once the Sky Base gathers enough superhumans to besiege him, he will most likely die here.
He sighed helplessly, when suddenly he heard the communicator on the table beep.
Yuanji was in a state of agitation and waited for a long time before picking it up.
He looked down and suddenly stood up from his chair.
The subordinate, confused, asked, "Team...team leader?"
Yuan Ji shook off his previous gloom and dejection. He gripped the communicator tightly, his expression somewhat distorted: "Finally back..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
