Not long after, today's protagonist appeared and the banquet officially began.

Standing on the stage was a young woman in a red dress. She was extremely charming and had a perfect smile on her face. It was obvious that the head of the Cui family was a beauty.

Even though Cui Hongzhuang has become the head of the Cui family now, she is actually only 26 years old this year.

She came to the microphone and said, "First of all, I would like to thank everyone here for taking time out of their busy schedules to come and attend my birthday party."

"...Besides that, I have another surprise for everyone."

Cui Hongzhuang winked at the person next to her, and after that person operated something, a photo soon appeared on the big screen behind her.

Ruan Ning and Gu Yicheng were standing on the stage together. She had originally just been curiously looking towards the screen following everyone's line of sight, but who would have thought that after this glance, she could no longer take her eyes away.

Because the thing in the photo looked familiar to Ruan Ning. It was one of the mutant plants she saw at the Chaoyang Base Breeding Center.

Although there are many new varieties on display at the breeding center, Ruan Ning recognized this one at first sight because the fruit produced by this mutant plant is the most special among all the plants.

Its fruit can help the crystal core better integrate into the body of the psychic. Even if it is not magical enough to directly upgrade a person's superpowers, for the survivors of the apocalypse, such an effect is enough to attract everyone's attention.

After all, there is no esper who doesn't want to become big and powerful in the apocalypse. However, the later the esper's ability is, the more difficult it is to upgrade. Now many high-level esper's in the base are stuck at level three or level four, and they can't get past this level. In addition, it is not easy to obtain level three and level four zombie crystal cores that match their own esper, so it is even more difficult.

The only fifth-level psychic that Ruan Ning knows of is Gu Yicheng.

Even in the previous life, when Gu Yicheng was promoted to the fifth level, it was about a year after the outbreak of the apocalypse. It was almost half a year later than this life.

Just when Ruan Ning was wondering why the Cui family released the photo of this mutant plant in the breeding center.

Cui Hongzhuang on the stage also paused for a moment, leaving enough room for everyone's imagination, before continuing to speak with a confident smile on her lips, "What you are seeing now is a new variety cultivated by the wood-type mutants of our Cui family. After eating it, it can help mutants fuse crystal cores. Just today, a third-level mutant ate the fruit of this plant and broke through to the fourth level with only one third-level crystal core."

Breakthrough from level 3 to level 4? ! !

Sure enough, after she explained the function of the fruit, the originally quiet banquet hall suddenly became lively with people talking about it, and everyone changed their opinion of this seemingly insignificant plant.

What??

How could this be cultivated by the Cui family? ! !

Ruan Ning was also shocked, but she was shocked in a different way than others.

At that time, in the cultivation room of the breeding center, Ruan Ning only saw a few such mutant plants, and the number of fruits produced by each plant was not large.

Thanks to Yiyi, she was able to try one that day. How should I put it? It was similar to the feeling she had when she used crystal cores to treat others. The moment she ate it, a warm current flowed through her body, making her feel very comfortable and warm all over.

Ruan Ning's ability is special, so I can't feel anything after eating it. But if it is really useful, even if the effect is not as obvious as it is said, once such a good thing appears in front of the public,

Ruan Ning looked suspicious, and exchanged glances with Gu Yicheng beside him, then leaned in and explained in a low voice, "Brother, I saw this mutant plant at the breeding center that afternoon. It should be one of the new varieties cultivated there. Now, I don't know what happened, and it has become something of the Cui family."

The breeding center only released information about other new varieties, and kept the news of this mutant plant that can produce fruits with special effects a secret. I think they wanted to use it as a big trick at the end, so few people knew its function. If Ruan Ning had not seen it before, he might have thought it was something of the Cui family, just like everyone else present.

Seeing this scene, Ruan Ning suddenly had an idea in his mind whether the Cui family had stolen those mutant plants from the breeding center. But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that if a normal person stole something, he would not be so blatant to take it for himself, and say in public that it was their achievement, without caring about the face of Chaoyang Base, right? So fearless, are they really not afraid of revenge from the other party?

After hearing what Ruan Ning said to him, Gu Yicheng narrowed his eyes slightly and was also analyzing how much the theft at the training center was related to the Cui family.

Gu Yicheng had never been to the cultivation room of the cultivation center, so he had never seen the mutant plants they cultivated this time. However, he had never heard of fruits with such effects in his previous life. In other words, this thing only appeared in this life.

Gu Yicheng had long discovered that many things in this life did not follow the path of his previous life.

Is this the butterfly effect again?

The news released by Cui Hongzhuang today really surprised many people present.

Who wouldn't want something that can help people with special abilities improve their abilities? After a while, many people who wanted to get information gathered around Cui Hongzhuang who had just come down from the stage, and some wanted to reach a cooperative relationship with the Cui family before others and let the Cui family sell the fruit to them.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that if this fruit was really as effective as the Cui family said, it would cause a huge sensation. Only they knew about it tonight, but after tonight, everyone in the base would know about it, and by then it would be harder to find the Cui family.

Ruan Ning and Gu Yicheng naturally did not join in the fun. On the contrary, Ruan Ning felt a little depressed and did not want to stay in the banquet hall any longer.

When she thought that the Cui family might develop by relying on this in the future, she felt as uncomfortable as if she had swallowed a fly.

Ruan Ning felt that it might be more necessary for him to quickly send someone to Chaoyang Base to inform the people in the training center about this matter and ask them to investigate the Cui family.

If the theft at the training center was not committed by the Cui family, it would be fine. But if the Cui family really did something secretly, or if they were involved, then she would have indirectly done a good thing by helping the training center find the thief.

However, Ruan Ning's intuition told her that the theft at the training center was definitely related to the Cui family. The only difference was whether they were the masterminds or accomplices.

There are no such coincidences in this world. The wood-type mutants of the Cui family were unknown before, and there was no movement at all. But as soon as they were stolen, a breed exactly the same as theirs was cultivated here.

Others may not be unable to guess this, but for them, profit comes first, and the most important thing now is to get a piece of the pie as soon as possible. As for the rest, they can leave it for later.

**

The day after returning from the Cui family's birthday party, Ruan Ning was personally sent to the front door of the Gu family by Gu Yicheng.

Ruan Ning looked at someone who was going back to the Dawn Team, with a hint of reluctance in her eyes and a sullen look on her face. She tugged at his sleeve and asked aggrievedly, "Brother, can't I go with you guys on tomorrow's mission?"

Gu Yicheng touched her head and said softly, "Don't worry, I will be back as soon as possible. I will come to pick you up and won't let you stay here for too long."

"Brother, tell me, am I particularly useless..." As Ruan Ning spoke, she became increasingly sad. Her eyes became red with tears welling up in them, then flowed down her cheeks. Her palm-sized face was filled with frustration.

"Ningning, what's wrong? Don't cry first--" When Gu Yicheng saw her like this, he suddenly panicked and wanted to reach out to help her wipe away her tears.

She stood there crying sadly, and he felt even worse than her. Her tears seemed to fall on his heart, making it ache.

This was the first time that Gu Yicheng saw Ruan Ning crying so sadly. She didn't cry without caring about anything. She just shed tears without saying a word, which made people feel more uncomfortable and distressed. Gu Yicheng had no experience in comforting people, so he could only comfort her in a panic: "Why do you think that? In my heart, Ning Ning has always been the most powerful."

"Then why didn't you take me with you this time, brother? Why did you rush to send me to Gu's house?" Ruan Ning's voice was choked with sobs. Actually, she didn't want to cry, but as long as she thought about the man in front of her facing danger in a place she didn't know, and he didn't let her know anything, she would easily think too much, and then the tears in her eyes fell uncontrollably, the kind that couldn't be stopped.

In the past, she would not have worried about such a thing. The Dawn Team had gone out to carry out missions, and she just hoped that the base would do whatever it was supposed to do every day. Apart from the occasional feeling of missing her, she did not feel particularly worried.

But the situation this time was different. Gu Yicheng refused to tell her a single word about the specific content of this S-level mission, indicating that the danger level was extraordinary. How could she not overthink it?

Ruan Ning really didn't feel safe this time. At the same time, he also felt that he was a little useless. If she went on a mission like this, she would probably be a hindrance. If they really encountered some powerful zombies, he would have to divide his attention to take care of her.

Seeing her tearful face, Gu Yicheng's brows showed a hint of anger and irritation, not towards her, but towards himself. How could he let her cry so sadly?

"Ningning, don't cry. I can tell you anything you want to know." At this moment, Gu Yicheng even thought that as long as she could stop crying in front of him, it would be okay for him to tell her about his rebirth. Rebirth was Gu Yicheng's biggest secret, and he had never thought of telling anyone before.

Ruan Ning threw herself into his arms, hugged his waist with both hands, and buried her petite body in his arms. Listening to the strong heartbeat beside her ears, the panic and anxiety in her heart slowly calmed down.

Gu Yicheng gently patted her thin shoulders to soothe her emotions, and at the same time did not forget to talk to her about the specific content of this S-level mission, "Our mission this time is to go to the Imperial Capital Hospital to pick up some documents."

In addition to retrieving the files, Gu Yicheng also had another purpose, which was to obtain the crystal cores of the zombies in the hospital. This mission was just an opportunity for him. Besides, in addition to them and the team that came to seek cooperation, Nie Wenxin's team was also on the list of this S-level mission.

Gu Yicheng wants to have stronger strength, deal with those people in his previous life earlier, and give the girls around him a stable environment.

He chose not to tell Ruan Ning the details of the mission this time because he didn't want her to worry about him. He just wanted her to be happy and carefree every day. But he didn't expect that his actions would make her think too much and even hurt her so much.

When Ruan Ning heard that the mission location was the Imperial Capital Hospital, the fingers that were grabbing the man's clothes began to clench unconsciously.

For the survivors of the apocalypse, hospital is synonymous with terror.

Before the apocalypse, people who went to hospitals had weaker immune systems than the average person, and were more likely to be infected with the zombie virus. Plus, there were a lot of people in hospitals, so after the apocalypse, zombies appeared in groups in such places.

What's more, this hospital is the Imperial Capital Hospital.

It’s simply unimaginable what number of zombies there would be.