Chapter 36 Mutant Seed Dollface
Wang Li rushed to Cheng Zhiyu's place and found that they were still busy. She breathed a sigh of relief and stood outside to wait.
Inside, Cheng Zhiyu and his group were somewhat surprised to find that there was tap water in the base. Some areas of the water had been polluted, but as an official base, the higher-ups had reacted quickly and protected the water source, thus preventing it from being polluted.
"Finally, we have running water! I need to take a good shower!" Tian Qiao was extremely moved. Although they had Hei Ge by their side who could shower him anytime, it still didn't feel the same as taking a hot shower!
Tian Qiao turned her head to look at Xiao Hei and quickly said, "I didn't mean to say that Brother Hei's water-based superpowers are bad."
Xiao Hei: "..."
Cheng Zhiyu reminded, "We're going out later, so hurry up and wash."
Tian Qiao quickly agreed, found a clean set of clothes, and asked Cheng Zhiyu, "Do you have shampoo and shower gel?"
Cheng Zhiyu is a clean person, so he naturally brought it and just handed it to him.
Tian Qiao took it and went to the bathroom.
Tian Manman hesitated for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed about how dirty she had been, and then said, "I want to wash too."
He speaks much more fluently now, but he still speaks quickly, and even when he does speak, it's only a few short words.
Cheng Zhiyu nodded: "You guys go ahead and wash up. I'll go check out my space."
I haven't been able to access the system space these past two days because there are outsiders around.
Cheng Zhiyu said something and went to the system space. Xiao Hei glanced at the now empty sofa, flicked its tail, jumped off the sofa, and went to Cheng Zhiyu and his bedroom.
In the system space, Cheng Zhiyu first checked on Xiao Juan's condition. He had taken the silt fertilizer he had dried earlier with him when he left, and he had also applied it to Xiao Juan. Xiao Juan's life status had now reached 60%, and he estimated that it wouldn't be long before it entered the growth period.
Cheng Zhiyu gently touched the small, curled branch, wondering what it would look like when it grew up. The curled plant... could it be a vine?
While thinking, I watered the little roll.
I went to see Xiao Er and the others again. Xiao Er was still lively. When it saw Cheng Zhiyu coming, it wrapped itself around him with its branches and leaves. The leaves trembled as if it was accusing him of not showing up for several days.
Cheng Zhiyu sighed and explained, "It's really inconvenient these past two days. It wasn't on my intention not to come see you."
As he spoke, he watered the plants. The plants were very easy to coax; Cheng Zhiyu said a few words and they were immediately appeased.
Xiao Tie, perhaps annoyed by Xiao Er's constant pestering of Cheng Zhiyu, finally couldn't resist transforming into a kitchen knife and slashing at Xiao Er. Xiao Er, not to be outdone, transformed into a fireball, and the two started fighting again.
Cheng Zhiyu: "..."
He was used to it; Xiao Er and Xiao Tie were very sensible and wouldn't harm anything else in the system.
Xiao Huang and Xiao Qiang are still at level one, still tiny plants, and he carefully watered them.
Next came the ordinary plants. To Cheng Zhiyu's surprise, the watermelon had grown bigger than his head. Thinking that he hadn't eaten watermelon in a long time, he felt a little hungry. He went over and tapped the watermelon, only to find that it wasn't ripe yet.
It's so big and still not ripe. I wonder how big it will grow. The watermelon is planted next to Little Yellow. It looks just like a regular watermelon, with no change.
To Cheng Zhiyu's surprise, some of the cucumbers and tomatoes he planted were already edible. However, the cucumbers could no longer be called cucumbers; they should be called red cucumbers. As for the tomatoes, they didn't look so strange, since tomatoes are naturally red. It's just that the tomatoes planted next to Xiao Er were redder.
There are also potatoes next to Xiao Tie. The plants growing on top are black and don't have a metallic texture. However, the plants look quite fresh, which means that the potatoes below are not yet ripe. We have to wait until the plants wither to prove that the potatoes are ripe.
There's no rush to eat them now; Cheng Zhiyu is already very happy just to see that the cucumbers and tomatoes can be harvested.
He simply picked all the edible ones to prevent them from getting too old and tasting bad if they grew any longer.
After picking them, he took some and left the system space. Tian Qiao and Tian Manman were quick; they had already taken a shower.
Cheng Zhiyu put down the tomatoes and cucumbers, gave them a brief explanation, and went to the bathroom.
When they came out, Tian Qiao and Tian Manman were already eating, and Xiao Hei was also holding a tomato and munching on it.
The little black dog is a clean freak. Because tomatoes have juice, it uses its water-based superpowers to clean itself while eating them to prevent the juice from getting on its fur.
Compared to Tian Qiao and Tian Manman, who always have their mouths full of filth, she is infinitely more elegant.
As soon as Cheng Zhiyu came out, Tian Qiao hurriedly said, "Chengzi, you should try this tomato!"
Cheng Zhiyu raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"
He was so busy he didn't even have time to eat.
Tian Qiao handed him a clean one and exclaimed, "It's so sweet! I've never eaten such a sweet tomato before. It's like a cherry tomato, but bigger and tastier."
Even Tian Manman couldn't help but nod repeatedly.
Cheng Zhiyu wondered if it was really that exaggerated. He took a bite and found that Tian Qiao was not exaggerating at all. It was really delicious. As soon as he bit into it, the sweet juice filled his mouth. It still retained the original flavor of the tomato, but it tasted even better.
Well, tomatoes used to be better suited for stir-frying, and not very tasty as fruit. But this tomato is perfectly fine to eat as fruit.
After eating it, my body warmed up. It was already dark, and the temperature was a bit cold.
It's so delicious! No wonder Little Black was wagging its tail as it ate; it looked so happy.
As for the cucumber, he also tried it, and it tasted much better than the original cucumber, but it wasn't as amazing as the tomato.
As they were eating, Little Black's ears twitched: "Someone's coming from outside."
Cheng Zhiyu washed his hands, looked through the peephole, and saw that it was Wang Li.
He then told Tian Qiao and the others to pack up and get ready to leave.
When the door opened, Wang Li smiled as she saw them come out.
Cheng Zhiyu said, "Why didn't you knock before you arrived?"
Wang Li explained, "I just arrived, and it's not yet time for our appointment."
Tian Qiao leaned closer and asked, "Sister Wang, are there any lively spots at your base at night?"
Wang Li glanced at the short sleeves Cheng Zhiyu and the others were wearing and felt cold for them, but these people seemed completely oblivious to the current temperature.
She couldn't help but feel a little envious. She wore the cotton-padded coat that she had painstakingly saved up points to buy, but she was still cold.
Hearing Tian Qiao's question, she quickly replied, "Yes, of course, our base has a gathering every night. The authorities have set up a special place where people in the base can trade with each other, using points or supplies."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Zhiyu and the others became quite curious. While asking Wang Li to lead them there, they inquired, "What kind of unusual things are there?"
“That’s strange. Then you can only find people with superpowers. People with superpowers go out to do missions. After completing the missions given by the authorities, the remaining items belong to them.” Wang Li explained, “Some people will take out what they don’t need and trade it at the market, but the prices are all high.”
Cheng Zhiyu asked, "What do ordinary people sell at their stalls?"
Wang Li: "Ordinary people usually have a skill, such as being good at cooking. You can give them ingredients and let them cook it. There are also shoe repair, sewing, and making clothes."
After all, ordinary people can't go out on missions like people with superpowers. They're fine if they encounter ordinary zombies, but if they encounter zombies with superpowers, they're just going to die.
Cheng Zhiyu nodded, thinking it was pretty good. Although ordinary people couldn't find supplies, they could still earn points if they had skills or were willing to do things that superhumans found troublesome.
Tian Qiao, being a foodie, immediately inquired, "Is the food you cook good?"
Wang Li nodded: "Delicious!"
She was a little embarrassed: "I know the old lady who cooks. I heard that she used to run a restaurant, and later turned it into a hotel."
Unfortunately, the apocalypse came not long after the old lady's hotel opened. Wang Li felt that if it were her, she would have collapsed. After all, it had been a long and difficult time to build up her business. From a restaurant to a hotel, the old lady had spent more than 20 years, and she had worked her way up from a girl in her twenties to a woman in her fifties.
But the old lady was surprisingly optimistic. She said, "What's the big deal? I should be grateful that I haven't lost my skill. I can still make a good living with it now."
The old lady's cooking skills are indeed excellent. Many people with superpowers bring back ingredients from her. Whether they exchange a portion of the ingredients or use points, the old lady always manages to live a good life.
The old lady was a kind person. Once, Wang Li smelled the old lady cooking at her stall and couldn't resist the urge to eat. The old lady took pity on her and shared some of her food with her.
This is the apocalypse, so the quality of food is questionable. After that, Wang Li became familiar with the old woman.
Occasionally, when she's lucky enough to get some ingredients, she'll ask the old lady to cook them for her. It's not about connections; objectively speaking, the old lady's cooking is always exceptionally delicious.
Tian Qiao's mouth watered, and he looked at Cheng Zhiyu.
Cheng Zhiyu: "..."
Not only Tian Qiao was staring at him longingly, but Tian Manman and Xiao Hei were also looking at him.
He was speechless: "Let's go get some more ingredients."
They soon arrived at the base's market. Cheng Zhiyu and the others were somewhat dazed when they saw the people coming and going. For a moment, it felt as if they had returned to the pre-apocalyptic world.
The market at the base was indeed bustling.
The stalls of people with superpowers and ordinary people are set up separately, and they can be distinguished at a glance. People with superpowers will have a cloth in front of them with all sorts of things on it.
Most ordinary people sit there alone with a sign in front of them that says what they can do.
Cheng Zhiyu and his group arrived at the superpowered individuals' stall first. The stall had all sorts of things on it, mostly things they had collected from outside, such as daily necessities and clothes.
Cheng Zhiyu and the others all had these things, but they weren't particularly interested.
Soon, they saw a stall surrounded by several people. Tian Qiao, who loved to join in the fun, ran over to take a look and then excitedly ran back.
Cheng Zhiyu: "What did you see?"
Tian Qiao quickly said, "That stall is selling lamb, they have half a lamb carcass."
When Xiao Hei heard that it was meat he had never eaten before, he perked up and asked Cheng Zhiyu, "Is mutton delicious?"
Cheng Zhiyu nodded: "It's delicious, but the person who makes it has to be skilled."
He couldn't guarantee it would taste good if he were asked to cook it, but the old lady Wang Li mentioned was very skilled, so he could give it a try.
As they walked over, they heard someone say to the stall owner, "How many points per pound is this?"
The stall owner glanced at the other person: "Don't you remember the points?"
The other person asked, "So, what do you want?"
Stall owner: "Food."
The other party had nothing to say.
Resources are scarce these days. Points are easy for people with special abilities to obtain, but food is a different story. Even if you have points, you might not be able to exchange them for food.
The stall owner probably had a whole sheep but couldn't finish it, so he wanted to switch to other food that would keep longer.
The other party dawdled for a while, and seeing that the stall owner wouldn't budge, they had no choice but to leave.
Just as Cheng Zhiyu and the others were about to go forward and ask what was going on, a baby-faced man nimbly slipped inside.
Tian Qiao angrily said, "What are you doing?"
The baby-faced man smiled sheepishly: "Sorry, I was just too greedy. Don't worry, I'll only buy a little bit."
Seeing the other party's reaction, Tian Qiao couldn't say anything more. Oh well, at least there was half a fan.
The stall owner glanced at the baby-faced man and asked, "How many do you want?"
Baby face: "Half a pound, oh no, three ounces."
The stall owner looked at him with a "Are you kidding me?" expression and said, "Go away, I'm not selling."
The baby-faced man panicked: "Why won't you sell? I'll trade you food!"
The stall owner, after hearing this, decided to give him a chance: "What will you exchange it for?"
The baby-faced man pulled out two crumpled apples: "Fruit! What's wrong with that? Rare, isn't it!"
The stall owner was immediately disappointed. If the apples were fresh and juicy, he wouldn't have bothered, but he didn't want the wrinkled ones. He waved his hand and said, "No trade!"
The baby-faced man got impatient: "Why not trade? What I trade isn't about what you want, but what I have. Look, you've been waiting for so long, has anyone offered you food in exchange?"
The stall owner ignored him, mainly because the baby-faced man's words were too infuriating. If it weren't for the base's rules against making a move, he would have beaten him up long ago.
The stall owner looked at Cheng Zhiyu and his group: "You also want to exchange for farmed succulents? How many, and what will you use in exchange?"
The baby-faced man didn't leave. He decided to wait there until the stall owner realized no one was willing to trade with him, at which point he would naturally give in.
However, Cheng Zhiyu said, "I'll take half of it."
Cheng Zhiyu didn't think too much about it. They all had big appetites, plus Xiao Hei, and they finished half a carcass of pork in one meal.
The baby face immediately fell apart. After all these changes, do you even understand what you're eating?
However, he noticed that Cheng Zhiyu and his group seemed to be newcomers to the base. Wang Li was standing next to them, and the baby-faced man remembered that she often brought some new superhumans to the base, which made him even more certain that Cheng Zhiyu and his group were newcomers.
The baby-faced man rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.
Upon hearing this arrogant tone, the stall owner asked, "What are you going to use to exchange?"
Cheng Zhiyu: "Eggs, and others."
Using only eggs would require exchanging too many. He does have a lot of eggs here, but taking out too many would arouse suspicion.
Upon hearing this, the stall owner was somewhat tempted. Eggs were quite cheap before the apocalypse, but they were much harder to obtain afterward.
He looked Cheng Zhiyu up and down and asked, "Where are the things?"
Cheng Zhiyu: "It's at my place. If you agree, I'll go get it."
Of course the stall owner agreed. He had originally requested that the stall owner only accept food in exchange, which made it difficult to sell the food. He had finally found someone with plenty of money, so of course he agreed.
He immediately hoisted the meat onto his back and said, "Let's go find a place to exchange it."
Half a mutton can be exchanged for a lot of things. Although there are rules at the base, some people inevitably break them. There are many people coming and going here, and it's easy for others to notice that he has exchanged something, which might attract unwanted attention.
Even though I've left now, people will still speculate, but seeing it with your own eyes is different from guessing.
It suited Cheng Zhiyu's idea not to exchange things here, so they found a less crowded place where Tian Qiao waited with the stall owner while he and Tian Manman went to get their items.
Wang Li consciously moved a distance away and did not follow.
Babyface wanted to go with her, but was afraid of being beaten, so she could only stay with Wang Li.
A moment later, they completed the transaction. Tian Manman carried half a mutton on her back, and Tian Qiao quickly found Wang Li and asked her to take them to the old lady who cooked.
The baby-faced man looked at the half-eaten mutton, and upon hearing that they were looking for the old lady, he immediately swallowed hard and leaned closer to Cheng Zhiyu: "Friend, can I switch the mutton with you?"
Cheng Zhiyu glanced at the baby-faced man: "Use your two apples?"
Babyface: "No, no, no, we don't need apples. You've just arrived, right? If you need anything, take me with you. I'll make sure you don't get scammed."
Tian Qiao laughed: "Good heavens, even the apples are gone."
Seeing that they didn't believe her, the baby-faced man became anxious and his face turned red: "You have to believe me! Taking me along is really worth it."
Before Cheng Zhiyu could say anything, Xiao Hei suddenly said to him, "Take him with you."
Cheng Zhiyu was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Okay, then you'll come with us later."
Tian Qiao didn't understand why Cheng Zhiyu would believe the baby-faced man, but since the other party had said so, he remained silent.
The baby-faced man immediately became happy: "Friend, you have good taste. Don't worry, you definitely won't regret taking me along."
They arrived at the old lady's stall quickly. Luckily, she had just finished preparing the ingredients for the previous customer. When she heard that Cheng Zhiyu and his group needed to process half a lamb, she immediately took away the sign she had placed in front of her stall, accepted Cheng Zhiyu's order, and wouldn't take any other orders that night.
The woman with half a mutton racked her brains and named a few dishes: "Braised lamb chops, roasted lamb leg, and a mutton stew."
The rolls are made from dough. This requires flour, and the old lady even confirmed with Cheng Zhiyu and the others that they had flour before deciding on this dish.
The old lady provided the seasonings, and Cheng Zhiyu and his team provided the side dishes. In the end, the old lady charged for one pound of mutton, which was not expensive and quite a good deal.
Cooking takes time, so Cheng Zhiyu and the others didn't wait and went to buy other things first.
Cheng Zhiyu is currently looking for some seeds, as well as crystal cores for both spiritual and plant types. He estimates that plant-type crystals are relatively easy to find, but spiritual-type crystals are not so easy to find.
They were quite lucky; they encountered a superhuman who needed a wind-type crystal core, and they also had a plant-type crystal core and a water-type one.
At level one, each core is replaced with another, but at level two, the cores are generally not replaced by level one cores, so it's impossible to calculate.
The opponent only had level one weapons, while Cheng Zhiyu happened to have two level one wind-type weapons, so he simply exchanged them both.
The water-type Black is still useful.
The other party was clearly very happy to exchange two wind-element crystal cores. With these two, he might be able to advance to the third level of ability user. There are very few third-level ability users in the base right now. And every third-level ability user receives preferential treatment from the authorities.
The wind-type ability user hurriedly left, clearly unable to wait any longer and wanting to find a place to absorb the crystal core.
After Cheng Zhiyu received the crystal cores, he gave one to Xiao Hei and kept the other for Xiao Qiang later.
Next, they arrived at the seed stall, where the person selling the seeds was a plant-based ability user.
Seeing the group approach, the other party was very enthusiastic and asked, "What kind of seeds would you like to see?"
Cheng Zhiyu put Xiao Hei aside, squatted down in front of the stall, and asked, "What do you have?"
Thank you. The seeds weren't wrapped in paper, but placed in small jars. Cheng Zhiyu had already recognized some of the seeds.
The plant-based ability user said, "Wheat, corn, eggplant, cucumber, soybeans, what do you want?"
Cheng Zhiyu wanted corn, eggplant, and soybeans. He had everything else, so he asked about the prices of those three.
The other party quoted a price.
Tian Qiao exclaimed, "No way, are you trying to rip me off? How can it be so expensive?"
The plant-based ability user's eyes narrowed slightly, then he said confidently, "What's expensive? You think these are just ordinary seeds? I've improved them!"
Cheng Zhiyu gestured to Tian Qiao to calm down, then looked at the plant-based ability user: "You modified it? What do you mean?"
The plant-type ability user scoffed, and Wang Li quickly explained, "After the apocalypse, for some reason, ordinary plants can no longer grow in the soil."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Zhiyu frowned. They had never interacted with others before, so they naturally didn't know this. No wonder they rarely saw edible plants along the way; instead, the weeds and trees seemed unaffected.
It happens to be an edible plant...
"I'm a plant-type ability user. See these? I've painstakingly improved them. You can grow them in ordinary soil." The plant-type ability user seemed quite proud.
Although the plant-based species have little combat power, plants cannot grow without them, so bases generally treat them fairly politely.
Even if some superhumans think they can only do logistics and look down on them, they won't show it on their faces.
Cheng Zhiyu asked calmly, "These are ordinary seeds. What's the difference when they're grown?"
Plant-based ability user: "For example, the eggplants I grow from my seeds will be very big, as big as watermelons. Also, this soybean is a heat-resistant variety. It grows with a reddish color, but it is still a soybean. Moreover, after eating this reddish plant, you don't have to worry about it getting cold at night."
Cheng Zhiyu and Xiao Hei exchanged a glance. They didn't know that seeds cultivated by plant-type ability users would undergo such changes. They had been worried that taking out those strange plants would make people think something was wrong, but now Cheng Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems I don't need to keep it hidden anymore; I can start sharing some of it now.
Seeing the expressions on Cheng Zhiyu and the others' faces, the plant-based ability user assumed they were shocked and couldn't help but feel a little smug: "So? Want some?"
To be honest, Cheng Zhiyu didn't really want it; the other party's price was too high, and he only needed ordinary seeds to grow it in the system space.
The baby-faced man, hiding behind, noticed Cheng Zhiyu's hesitant expression and knew it was his turn to step in. He quickly said, "Don't believe him. He's lying to you. These are just ordinary seeds."
Noticing the plant-type ability user's murderous gaze, the baby-faced man shrank back but continued, "A plant-type ability user who can cultivate that kind of mutated seed must be at least level three. As for him... at most, he can only keep the plant alive."
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