Before Lin Tantan and the others discovered the entrance to the cave, or to be more precise, before it got dark, Ye Xiao had already checked the place where they had encountered the roots of the mutant plant in the afternoon. The place had even been dug up thoroughly by earth-type mutants, but they found nothing except some tiny roots.
Even the holes that should have been left by such thick roots were not found.
It was as if the thing appeared out of thin air and then disappeared out of thin air.
Ye Xiao squatted in a huge earth pit that was five or six meters deep and looked at it for a long time. Suddenly, he picked up some soil. The soil in most places was very dense, but the soil in this area was relatively loose and moist, and the particles were relatively fine.
The difference is so subtle that you can't see it unless you look closely.
There is also a kind of sticky substance in the soil, I don’t know what it is.
Ye Xiao frowned slightly and continued digging along this special feature. He used his special ability and dug several meters deep, creating a passage.
On the ground, the person who was ordered by Lu Jianping to assist Ye Xiao in investigating the scene opened his mouth wide: "Colonel Ye, this is..."
"This is the path that thing left. It filled it back with new soil after it left."
The person above was a little scared: "You still want to hide your whereabouts?"
"Well, it should be a very intelligent little thing."
"Little, little thing?" The people above were a little speechless. This is too scary, okay?
Ye Xiao said, "Please find me a few earth-type psychics."
"good!"
Then they were busy until dark. Ye Xiao, together with several earth-type mutants, dug out a long and thick passage of dozens of meters. This was a delicate job and one would lose the correct track if they were not careful. Fortunately, the earth-type mutants had a natural sensitivity to the composition of the soil, which helped Ye Xiao a lot.
However, the two passages dug out did not point towards the other side of the mountain, but in the opposite direction.
Ye Xiao looked in this direction for a long time, his brows furrowed more and more.
When Lu Jianping heard about the discovery, he immediately rushed over and asked Ye Xiao at the bottom of the pit: "Did you find it?"
Ye Xiao patted the mud off his hands, stood up and jumped lightly, using the momentum to jump onto the ground. "I haven't found it yet, but based on what I've found so far, the situation isn't good. I originally thought it was the rhizome of some plant, and by searching the plants on the ground, I was able to locate the target."
Lu Jianping said: "I've tried this. I asked people to uproot all the plants within a kilometer, and there was nothing unusual. We also asked people to search the mountain, but found nothing." Lu Jianping pressed his head. It was obvious that this strange thing that suddenly appeared gave him a headache, because he also suspected that the danger might come from the mountain, so he was hesitating whether to move away from the foot of the mountain.
But this is not just him and his family moving, but all the important departments moving together. This is a very huge project, and where will so many people settle down? The base is so small.
Ye Xiao listened and said, "There are two possibilities. One is that this thing is not a plant, but an underground reptile that looks like a plant root."
Lu Jianping frowned, and the people around him also had grim expressions. Underground reptiles? That sounds even scarier, right?
Someone's communication device rang. After picking it up and listening for a few words, he hurriedly said to Lv Jianping, "Commander, the results are out from the Academy of Sciences. The autopsy concluded that it is a plant with a typical plant cell structure."
Lu Jianping: "What kind of plant is it?"
"Um, we can't confirm it yet. They say the trait is strange, and they're currently doing some kind of chromosome map comparison."
Lu Jianping cursed them inwardly, calling them useless. The people from the Academy of Sciences immediately rushed over to claim the two things Lin Tantan had cut off. Later, they also took the roots they uncovered while digging. With so much research material, it took hours before they told him, "Oh, we've figured it out! It's a plant, but what kind is it?" No one knew.
What about its characteristics and weaknesses? We know nothing!
How many resources are consumed day after day, and what have they accomplished? A bunch of good-for-nothings!
Lu Jianping was thinking about cutting the resources allocated to the Academy in half. Ye Xiao continued, "Since it's confirmed to be a plant, then the second possibility is that this thing doesn't have any plant parts above ground. It lives only underground and can crawl freely. It's very likely unrestrained."
Lu Jianping's face turned green. In the end, it was still free crawling. This word was really hard to accept.
He said, "Are you sure?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Has there been a second incident of it attacking humans?"
"No, this afternoon was the first time. That thing had never appeared before, and there has been no movement since then."
If it weren't for the car that had been crumpled into scrap metal, they would almost think that the thing had never appeared.
Do they have to wait until that thing hurts someone a second time before they can come up with a countermeasure? The problem is, the base is so big, who knows where it has gone and when it plans to attack?
Lu Jianping suddenly said: "Ye Xiao, could it be that your people are particularly fond of that thing?" This road is so wide, and there are many vehicles coming and going every day. There would be no accidents in the morning or evening, but the accident happened when their car passed by.
Ye Xiao's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes trembled slightly.
"Anyway, since we can't get any results for now, let's strengthen our defenses."
Lu Jianping sighed, "This is the only way."
Ye Xiao then talked to Lu Jianping about the 400 tons of grain.
Four hundred tons of food was indeed not a large amount, but when he heard that he was going to send it to the base, Lu Jianping's brows relaxed and he patted Ye Xiao's shoulder: "That's thoughtful."
"How about distributing this batch of food to influenza patients in the name of the base?" Ye Xiao said. Lu Jianping glanced at him and thought that he really cared about influenza patients. However, he had also confirmed from many recovered patients that people who had had influenza and recovered could indeed have their physical fitness improved a lot, and there were also several people with special abilities among them.
Although the Academy of Sciences could not come up with a clear theory, most of them agreed that this rain contained some kind of energy that promoted the evolution of species. For example, zombies, animals and plants evolved in large numbers after being exposed to the rain.
For example, there was the howling horde of zombies that had been surrounding the base for more than half a month, there was the wild grass that grew wildly as if it had taken hormones, and there was also this crawling creature underground that no one knew what it was.
Only humans are insensitive to this energy, and before they can get any benefits, they usually suffer a serious illness.
As one grows, the other shrinks, and the future is worrying.
The more Lu Jianping thought about it, the worse he felt. He began to have certain expectations for the flu patients, wishing that they would recover immediately and turn into supermen.
Four hundred tons of food would not be enough to distribute to other groups, but it would be more meaningful to give it to patients. Moreover, it was given in the name of the base, which was a good thing to earn reputation for him as the leader. He nodded in agreement without hesitation, and he felt much more favorable towards Ye Xiao.
Ye Xiao then told him about his plan to recruit some people. If he wanted to make any moves on someone else's territory, he still had to say hello.
Lu Jianping raised his eyebrows: "Are you going to stay here?"
Ye Xiao: "I'm not planning on leaving for now. I might have some rifts with Li Qun, and recruiting more people is also for self-protection."
In the afternoon, Li Qun's men had a conflict with Ye Xiao. Lu Jianping naturally knew about it. He also knew exactly where this batch of grain came from. He was happy to see the discord between Ye Xiao and the Li faction, so he readily agreed to let Ye Xiao develop his own power.
"Speaking of which, there is a piece of land in the east. It's just lying there idle anyway. You can use it if you want." Lu Jianping suddenly said.
"The one near the parking lot?"
"That's it."
Ye Xiao had an impression of that piece of land. The terrain was relatively low and the accumulated water could not be drained out. It was not a good place, but the place was large. He wanted to develop his own people, so he first needed land. However, it was not easy to get a piece of land in the Ning City base at the moment.
It would be nice to take good care of that piece of land, it's not far from the villa area.
He thanked him and then went to the parking lot to hand over the food. Lu Jianping naturally would not go there in person for such a small matter, but in order to show his respect for Ye Xiao, he still asked a very useful person to bring a troop over.
As the car drove away, Lu Jianping said, "Let's go back. You won't be able to sleep peacefully until you find that thing."
His subordinates asked: "Why did the chief agree to let Ye Xiao develop his power? It's better to keep this person in our hands."
Lu Jianping said calmly: "I would like to hold it. Do you think he is willing to be the knife in my hand?"
The men were silent.
Lu Jianping continued, "After a few interactions, I've found this young man to be quite my type. He's a bit tough, but at least he's worry-free, won't cause me any trouble, and can even be of some help. Rather than letting him leave like this, it's better to let him become more powerful. Who do you think will get anxious first, me or Li Qun?" Lu Jianping sneered, "That idiot, I don't believe him when he's said to be short-sighted. He embarrassed Ye Xiao over a few hundred tons of grain. Did the rain make his brains burn?"
Lu Jianping looked towards the north again. "That Min Yande is a fascinating man. I heard he's busy recruiting soldiers and horses in the capital, throwing out villas and supplies to buy off powerful psychics. But he chose to throw out a truly powerful weapon. What's he thinking? Ye Xiao is clearly his direct subordinate, a natural ally."
The subordinate thought for a moment: "Who knew Ye Xiao's ability was so strong."
Lu Jianping thought to himself, yes, who would have thought that a wind-type mutant would be so strong? He was shocked just by hearing about the parking lot incident.
"I'll find a chance for you to compete with him."
The subordinate was silent for a moment.
"Why, you have no confidence?" Lu Jianping laughed and did not continue the topic.
Meanwhile, Li Qun, another military leader at the base, also received the news. His face darkened, "Ye Xiao gave the food to Lu Jianping!"
Li Qun and Lu Jianping are about the same age. The latter has a square face and looks dignified and rigid, while Li Qun is a handsome middle-aged man with a somewhat elegant temperament. However, with a gloomy face at this moment, the elegant temperament is completely gone, leaving only gloominess.
Someone nearby advised: "It's just a few hundred tons of grain."
"Is this a matter of a few hundred tons of grain?" Li Qun was furious. This was a matter of attitude, a matter of stance, a matter of face! He had taken grain from his men and given it to his enemies! He had even beaten his men in public for this!
"I really don't think much of this, but he's slapping me in the face!"
Others thought, if you don't like it, why bother touching it? If they don't react at all and let you take away the supplies they brought all the way from Yang City, that would be a slap in the face. If you don't want to be slapped in the face, then they can only slap you in the face in return.
Li Qun had a rage that he had no place to vent, and he really wanted someone to teach Ye Xiao a lesson. But when he thought about his special abilities, he felt it was very troublesome. Unless he killed him in one go, there would be endless trouble.
One of his most trusted lackeys quickly said, "Don't be angry, Chief. Ye Xiao will leave sooner or later anyway, so why bother taking him seriously? We have strong backers in the capital. If you send him a telegram, he'll make things difficult for us in the future."
Li Qun thought so too. His enemy was Lv Jianping. His primary mission was to seize control of the base and gain control of the organization. Why would he bother with a small figure? He said coldly, "He'd better leave soon, or I'll make him look bad."
He put the matter aside and continued to discuss with his think tanks how to bring down Lu Jianping. However, within two minutes, another message came back from Li Qun's spy next to Lu Jianping, saying that Ye Xiao did not plan to return to the capital and wanted to develop his own power. Lu Jianping was very supportive and the two had a very pleasant conversation.
Li Qun: “…”
Everyone looked at Li Qun, as if waiting for him to tell them how to punish them. Li Qun: My face hurts.
…
Ye Xiao finished all his work and returned to the villa quite late. He looked at the walkie-talkie he had modified, but there were no incoming calls or text messages. Bai Cheng didn't ask how things were going, and someone didn't say anything either.
Wouldn't you be worried about him?
After all, we are going to find mutant plants, and we may encounter danger at any time.
The car drove into the yard. Ye Xiao took a last look at the intercom. The screen was still clear.
Well, he accepted this reality, got out of the car, straightened his clothes, and prepared to greet her cheerful "You're back".
However, there was no one there. The living room was empty, but the lights were on very brightly, and there were faint voices coming from outside.
Ye Xiao raised his eyebrows slightly and returned to the yard. The sound was clearer. It came from outside the wall and was quite lively.
"Did you dig it up? Did you dig it up?"
"Oh no! He ran away again!"
"Should we let the mutant rat crawl in and see? Ugh, they're too big. What about the hamster? That hamster should be able to get in."
“Squeak, squeak, squeak…”
Ye Xiao found the sound, grabbed the two-meter-high wall with his hands, and jumped up easily. He saw a circle of heads, pointing their hands at various things, and the ground near the base of the wall was dug into pits, which looked like a scene of destruction of corpses.
"Wow!" Mei Bosheng screamed, "Boss, could you please stop scaring me?"
Ye Xiao stretched out his hand to block the flashlight: "What are you doing?"
Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Oh no, they forgot to inform him about such a big thing.
A moment later, Ye Xiao understood the whole story. He looked at the tragic situation on the ground near the wall. He should have felt heavy-hearted because the thing he was most worried about had happened. However, he could not be serious at all.
"So you just gathered here, poking, digging, and chasing that thing for more than an hour?" Ye Xiao found it unbelievable. What kind of people are these!
"I'm just taking a look." Xu Qin was the first to distance himself from the matter.
Bai Cheng also said: "I'll just take a look."
Zhong Xiong smiled and said, "Just join in the fun."
Jiang Xiaotian raised his hand: "I'll just provide technical support."
"Nonsense, don't be too happy shoveling the soil with a big shovel!" Mei Bosheng immediately exposed him.
Xu Li looked around without saying anything. He was indeed involved. Cheng Qinan also provided invisible technical support. Finally, Lin Tan touched his nose and said, "Well, she is the main force."
"Ahem," she said, "mainly trying to figure out what it is."
This story started more than an hour ago. They heard the cries of mutant rats, and when they came out, they found a hole. Based on the size of the hole, the mutant rats' reaction as if facing a great enemy, and Cheng Qinan's hunch, they guessed that it was the mutant plants from the daytime that had come knocking on their door.
Of course they were very shocked and vigilant, but they kept on guard for a long time and found nothing unusual. Soon after they dispersed, the mutant rats squeaked again. When they came out to take a look, they saw a second hole next to the first hole.
This is really interesting. After discussing it, we installed a camera on the wall, and then pretended to search and leave as if we found nothing, but in fact we were just staring at the surveillance screen.
After more than ten minutes, the soil layer next to the second hole was arched by something, and something emerged.
The night camera couldn't capture a clear picture, but it was a gray-white thing with a pointed head, and then it quickly became a very thick line, swaying this way and twisting that way, as if trying to climb up the wall.
You know what, it was really scary, mainly because it was creepy and immediately reminded people of snakes and the like. Anyway, Lin Tantan got goosebumps when he saw it. The group of men didn't think it was a big deal, but they were worried that it was a monster with great lethality.
Then, the mutant rat discovered something unusual again and started squeaking again. Then everyone saw the thing whoosh and burrow back into the soil as if frightened.
Everyone: “…”
Suddenly I felt a little cute.
Well, this idea is wrong, but they became more and more curious, so they began to go out and wait, one to test the strength of this thing, and the other to catch it if possible.
As a result, this thing was very difficult to catch. It would shrink back at the slightest disturbance, and it was very fast. Neither Lin Tantan's belt nor Mei Baisheng's special ability could hold it, because the opponent did not show any threat, and they did not want to take the initiative to use force. Then it became a duel like whack-a-mole and digging earthworms.
Time just passed by like that.
At first I thought about notifying Ye Xiao, but then I forgot about it unknowingly.
I forgot about it before I knew it...
Ye Xiao was speechless.
But he didn't say anything. Everyone was not ignorant of the seriousness of the matter, and Cheng Qinan had a keen premonition of danger. Since they all treated it as a game, it meant that they really didn't think that thing was dangerous.
Ye Xiao also wanted to experience that thing.
Unfortunately, after waiting for a long time, the thing did not appear again. Everyone had to go back with regret: "Go to sleep, it may not appear again at night."
After washing up, Lin Tantan was still thinking while lying on the bed. The thing should be the same thing he encountered during the day. Then the problem came. In the late apocalypse, there were indeed a few mutant plants that could move by themselves, but it was too early for such a thing to appear now.
Besides, what on earth is it doing poking its head out there?
Is there something about this villa that attracts it?
She tossed and turned for a long time and was almost asleep when she suddenly seemed to hear something and opened her eyes.
Today was the first day of the new year, there was no moonlight at all, and it was very dark outside. She got out of bed carefully without turning on the light, and came to the glass door of the balcony, lifted the curtains, quietly opened the door, and came to the balcony. On the wall directly opposite, there was a faint strip of object protruding there, as if it was investigating, and then it quietly went down.
“…” Sure enough, this guy won’t give up easily.
She waited patiently for a long time before she heard another noise, but it came from downstairs. Lin Tan looked down and saw something coming out of the mud beside the wall on the first floor, and then climbing up the wall.
Lin Tan watched silently, thinking about how to respond later. Suddenly he realized something and turned around to see Ye Xiao walking towards him quietly from the balcony next door. He also looked downstairs, then held onto the railing between the two balconies and flipped over.
Lin Tan Tan subconsciously took a step back. He held her shoulder with one hand and put the index finger of the other hand in front of her lips, signaling her not to make a sound, then took her into the house.
The one I entered was Lin Tantan’s house.
Back in the room, Lin Tantan whispered, "What's wrong with you?"
"I guess that thing will come again. It hasn't slept yet." In order to keep his voice as low as possible, Ye Xiao moved a little closer, and his breath brushed Lin Tantan's cheek. Lin Tantan felt uncomfortable all over, barely resisting the urge to retreat. Then he listened to him, "Sure enough, it came to find you."
Lin Tan was startled: "How did you guess that?"
"You broke two of its roots. Who else should I look for if not you?"
Lin Tantan glared. Was he teasing her? She was about to be pursued for revenge, and he still had the mind to joke!
The room was dark. Even though Ye Xiao had adapted to the darkness, he couldn't clearly see Lin Tan's expression. However, some subtle movements allowed him to imagine her demeanor. He chuckled softly, "Just kidding. It's so timid. It doesn't look like it's here to seek revenge."
Hearing the sound of something climbing up outside, Lin Tan asked, "What's that for?"
"I found a kind of mucus in the soil where it appeared. I also found some in the soil at the base of the wall just now. It's the same thing. If it's not secreted by itself... didn't you say that after cutting it open, the hard outer layer was all mucus?"
"You mean, it's injured and hasn't healed yet, so it came to see a doctor?" Lin Tantan said, and this was almost what she thought.
"We'll know soon." Ye Xiao pulled her back, "Stay away, it's very alert..." Before the word "awake" came out of his mouth, he suddenly tripped over the bed and sat down. Lin Tan was also dragged down by him, and her knee hit his knee heavily. She almost fell on him, but fortunately she reacted quickly and supported herself on his shoulder.
But even so, the distance between the two was too close.
Ye Xiao made a rare mistake, and was stunned for a moment. Lin Tan quickly stood up straight: "Ah, I moved the bed closer to the balcony."
In Ye Xiao's room, the bed was at least three meters away from the balcony, and Lin Tan's room was even bigger. He subconsciously thought the bed was also farther away, but he didn't expect that after just two steps...
Ye Xiao was a little embarrassed: "Is your leg okay?"
After he reminded him, Lin Tan Tan felt the excruciating pain in his kneecap, as if it had hit a rock. He immediately grimaced. Are this man's bones made of iron?
Just as I was about to speak, I heard something knocking on the glass door.
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