Chapter 14 Newcomer Gift Pack
This cactus was moved from the office back to my hometown. At the time, it was only the size of a fist, including the pot. Jiang Rong initially put it in the car, but fearing it would die from the sun, she took it out of the car and casually placed it outside the parking lot.
He was so busy building the house and stockpiling goods that he forgot about the little cactus after just a few days. Jiang Rong had previously thought the cactus was quite unique, resembling a small mountain. He never imagined it would actually grow into a small mountain, standing right outside his yard wall.
Now, the identity of the "needle" stuck in Lele's body has finally been revealed. It's none other than the thorns of a cactus. Who would have thought that the soft, delicate hairs would transform into such terrifying spikes after the great crisis? A single cactus has thousands upon thousands of thorns. Who could withstand a volley of these thorns?
This reminded Jiang Rong of her past life, when a mutated cactus had taken over the downtown office building in C City. The sharp thorns shooting out from the cactus could easily pierce the bodies of most people and animals, and corpses piled up like small mountains in the blocks surrounding the office building.
He also has a cactus like this outside his yard. What should he do?
Why don't we let Lele go out and check out the cactus's strength? Jiang Rong looked down and met the dog's eyes. The dog turned around sadly and put its band-aid-covered butt in front of Jiang Rong.
Jiang Rong: ...
Let's forget about it. Even someone as agile as Lele got pricked by the thorns. If it were him or Xiao Heng who went out, they would definitely be riddled with thorns.
And this is only five days after the major crisis, yet the cactus has grown from the size of a thumb to over the height of the yard wall. Has it expanded by tens of millions of times? How big will it grow if it continues to grow?
Such a huge weapon was placed at the doorstep... Jiang Rong pursed her lips and tapped the bulletproof glass lightly with her full fingertips.
There are only two paths before us: one is to find a way to coexist peacefully with the cactus; the other is to get rid of it before it grows too large.
Thinking of this, Jiang Rong realized he still had one blind box left to open. In his past life, he was just an ordinary person with no special abilities. In this life, after having a high fever for four or five days, he should have awakened some kind of special ability, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
In my past life, I heard from people who had awakened superpowers that superpowers are a part of one's own body, as natural as eating and sleeping, and that one can know which type of awakener one is without having to deliberately test it.
Although they made it sound so easy, Jiang Rong was still a little confused. Apart from his senses being more acute, he didn't feel any changes in his body.
Having witnessed water-based ability users effortlessly conjure water and fire-based ability users create fireballs with a snap of their fingers in his past life, Jiang Rong subconsciously looked at his own fingertips. He wanted to test whether he could concentrate and create something.
Strangely enough, when he focused his gaze on his fingertips, he could actually feel something surging within his body. That power flowed from his lungs to his fingertips, and soon a ball of shimmering green light appeared on Jiang Rong's index fingertip.
Green light?
Just then, a soft thumping sound came from outside the window. Jiang Rong opened his eyes and saw several cactus spines bouncing and landing on the ground. A more cheerful voice echoed in his mind: "Jiang Gong~ Jiang Gong~ There's a problem~"
Jiang Rong's mind raced. Could he be a wood-type ability user? She had heard that wood-type ability users could attract mutated plants, and some high-level ability users could even control mutated plants in battle.
Is this cactus attracted by its own abilities? Is it radiating kindness towards me?
As if to prove his point, a gray thing trembled and stretched out from the cactus on the west wall. It reached over the wall towards the window where Jiang Rong was standing, growing extremely fast, quickly reaching several meters in length. As it spread along the pillar, the top of the pillar swelled even more.
However, its length was ultimately limited, and the gray pillar eventually stopped in mid-air a few meters away from the window. Only then did Jiang Rong see the pillar clearly; it was actually a long flower pillar.
The flower stalk was covered in gray fuzz, and its tip swelled up. Gradually, a large flower bud formed in front of Jiang Rong. In an instant, a flower the size of an umbrella bloomed in mid-air.
The golden-red flowers resemble lotus flowers, with the outermost petals having a golden hue, and the color becoming more vibrant red as you approach the stamen. The layers of petals have a velvety texture, making them so beautiful that it's impossible to look away.
The cheerful voice in my mind rang out triumphantly, "Engineer Jiang! There's a problem!" As the voice rang out, the brightly colored flower trembled.
If this doesn't express goodwill, then Jiang Rong can't think of anything else that can.
Jiang Rong's eyes were dazzled by the large, golden-red flower, so he closed them. Strangely enough, usually when he closed his eyes, everything appeared as a blur of gray and black. But this time, he clearly saw many shimmering points of light in front of him, most of them green, with the largest and brightest one dancing right in front of him.
Looking around, Jiang Rong saw a chaotic mist. He understood; this must be the consciousness space that the superhumans spoke of. And the green light spot that appeared here corresponded to a mutated spiritual plant.
In the realm of consciousness, he also possesses a physical form. For instance, right now, he can reach out and touch that ball of green light. The instant the light touches his fingertips, a gentle force rapidly spreads from his fingertips.
At that moment, he clearly knew the identity of the ball of light: it was the cactus standing outside the west courtyard wall.
The newly awakened cactus was like a fledgling bird that had just hatched, and it was extremely dependent on Jiang Rong. As soon as Jiang Rong reached out her hand, it obediently jumped into her palm, where it transformed into the familiar shape of a cactus. It was still so small and soft, a tiny ball standing in Jiang Rong's palm.
It stretched out its fuzzy little thorns, its cylindrical body awkwardly twisting, and a soft voice kept coming from it, "Jiang Gong~"
Jiang Rong had previously heard from other superhumans that after the Great Crisis, mutated plants and animals would develop their own thoughts. The stronger the mutation level, the clearer the consciousness. At this moment, he felt as if the cactus had merged with him, and he saw all of the cactus's memories.
At first, it had no thoughts; it couldn't see the outside world, only feeling the noise around it. Like all plants, it craved rain and sunshine, but no matter how high it grew, it could never get water or sun.
One day, it suddenly felt the warm sunlight on its body, and its cells were fully hydrated. Its skin was no longer wrinkled, and it no longer needed to grow upwards. At the same time, a very gentle voice appeared beside it. Whenever it heard this voice, the little cactus felt inexplicably comfortable, even more comfortable than basking in the sun all day.
The owner of the voice had a pair of warm hands, hands that would pick away caterpillars trying to crawl on it and loosen the compacted soil. Gradually, the cactus had an idea: it wanted to see what the owner of the voice looked like.
Many people believe that plants are invisible, but in fact, after immersing himself in the world of the cactus, Jiang Rong clearly saw his own reflection. He saw himself busy at his desk, and perhaps due to the angle of his view, he was enveloped in a hazy halo, making his face and figure somewhat blurry.
The little cactus's favorite time was when Jiang Rong was working at the computer; even with blueprints covering it, its little thorns felt comfortable. Its least favorite time was at night when its colleagues came over to call Jiang Rong.
Having sat on Jiang Rong's desk for over a year, the little cactus only learned two words: "Engineer Jiang" and "There's a problem." It knew that whenever someone called "Engineer Jiang," Jiang Rong would look up and respond. And whenever someone called him and said "There's a problem," Jiang Rong would follow them.
It wanted to get Jiang Rong's attention like everyone else, and during this time it worked hard to grow every day, wanting Jiang Rong to see it. Now, its calls have finally caught Jiang Rong's attention.
Great, Jianggong has finally answered its call.
The cactus contentedly planted its roots in Jiang Rong's palm. Jiang Rong felt a slight stinging sensation in her palm, and at the same time, it felt like something had been added to her mind.
Jiang Rong opened her eyes and looked at her palm. A small, pea-green ball of light appeared in her hand. The ball flickered a few times and then disappeared, but Jiang Rong could clearly feel its presence.
The large, bright red flower outside the window caught Jiang Rong's eye, and she couldn't resist opening the door and walking towards it. Sensing Jiang Rong's approach, the thorns on the cactus outside the yard swayed smugly.
Jiang Rong reached out and touched the silky petals, his heart filled with complex emotions. He hadn't expected that right under his nose, a small cactus would so stubbornly want to stay with him. At that moment, he was extremely grateful that he had taken it with him when he left the company; otherwise, how angry and sad it would have been if it couldn't find him?
While feeling fortunate, he was also pleasantly surprised. He never expected that on the very first day after awakening his supernatural abilities, he would have his first mutated spiritual plant as a follower.
In his previous life, a wood-type ability user had to pay a huge price to subdue a mutated plant for their own use. In comparison, he was practically showered with a newbie gift package; he was incredibly lucky.
Jiang Rong strode out of the yard; he wanted to see where the cactus was growing. If he remembered correctly, there was a parking lot outside the west wall, with a paved area several meters wide. Where could it possibly have taken root?
When he reached the parking lot, he froze. There stood a magnificent cactus on the paved ground outside the west wall of his house, its strong roots pushing through the concrete ground several centimeters deep.
His house had a C80 hardened concrete floor, which even construction workers couldn't drill through with ordinary drill bits. Jiang Rong hadn't laid steel reinforcement bars outside the yard to save on the budget. He thought this level of concrete strength would stop most of the mutated plants, but five days after the major crisis, the mutated cactus demonstrated its terrifying destructive power.
The tall, lush green stem of the cactus leaned precariously towards the courtyard wall. Seeing Jiang Rong approach, the cactus shook a long, narrow ball growing on its west side, as if waving to her.
If the cactus keeps growing, won't it fall into the courtyard wall?
The closer you get to the cactus, the louder the sound it makes. Now, the cactus's spines are clattering against each other, creating a rustling sound. A fervent voice echoes in your mind: "Jiang, Jiang! There's a problem!"
Jiang Rong looked up at the cactus's dark green trunk and said slowly, "I can tell."
Author's Note:
The cactus variety is Black King Kong. Jiang Rong's cactus is a Black King Kong with orange-red flowers. You can search it on Baidu to see the flower color. You can also check out Lao Mao's Weibo for more beautiful cactus flowers.
The old cat uploaded photos of two different cacti; the pinkish-white one is my own Black King Kong cactus. The one next to it with red flowers is the color of Jiang Rong's cactus. [The photos are from the internet.]
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