Across the vast land, for several kilometers in every direction, purple-green plants wildly occupied the earth beneath them. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but mutated pea vines.
Against the endless sea of purple-green, the two people and one chicken looked especially tiny.
“What are you looking for?” Gu Xiaoxue asked curiously as she watched Sheng Ge follow behind Xiao Huang, walking deeper and deeper into the vines.
By now, they were already quite far from where the vehicles had stopped.
Although the pea vines were no longer attacking them and instead remained quietly growing like when they had first seen them…
It was too quiet.
So quiet that it made people uneasy.
The gloomy, damp air brushed against her skin, causing goosebumps to rise involuntarily across Gu Xiaoxue’s body.
“Shh.” Sheng Ge gestured for Gu Xiaoxue not to speak for the moment, then smiled as she watched Xiao Huang stop at another spot and begin pecking furiously again.
This was a mutated pea vine much thicker and taller than all the others nearby. Its vines were as thick as a human arm, and the purple coloring in its leaves was much darker.
This time, Sheng Ge did not immediately walk over. Instead, she looked at Gu Xiaoxue.
“You go. Take out whatever Xiao Huang found.”
“Me?” Gu Xiaoxue froze for a moment. Though confused, she still walked over.
Then she saw the same green crystal Sheng Ge had discovered earlier.
The instant she saw it, Gu Xiaoxue immediately felt a comfortable force being released from within the crystal.
This was…
Gu Xiaoxue’s eyes widened slightly.
Carefully approaching the roots of the largest mutated pea vine, she gently brushed aside the vines covering the crystal and tentatively placed her hand on it.
The vines that had previously attacked anyone approaching the crystal did not attack this time.
Sheng Ge did not seem surprised. She merely signaled for Gu Xiaoxue to continue.
Gu Xiaoxue: “……”
She suddenly felt like she had exposed something.
Gu Xiaoxue took a deep breath and slowly covered the crystal with her palm.
The vines seemed to sense something and trembled slightly.
All the vines, leaves, and pea pods suddenly seemed to gain consciousness and emotions as they collectively turned toward them.
In that instant, Gu Xiaoxue felt as though thousands upon thousands of eyes were staring at her.
The moment she dared make another move, all the vines would immediately rush over and tear her apart.
Gu Xiaoxue secretly swallowed.
Then, in the next second, she hardened her resolve. Her expression became firm as she grabbed the crystal and forcefully pulled outward.
Meanwhile, Xiao Huang had already run to Sheng Ge’s feet to hide the moment danger appeared.
Cluck cluck cluck.
It was just a weak, pitiful little native chicken. At times like this, of course it had to cling tightly to the strongest thigh available~
The moment Gu Xiaoxue exerted force, the mutated pea vines launched their attack.
Countless vines smashed toward them while pea bullets rained down like a storm.
The defensive talisman on Gu Xiaoxue’s body lasted less than two seconds before failing.
Gu Xiaoxue: “……”
Crap. She knew she should have trusted science instead of believing this obviously unreliable feudal-superstition fantasy nonsense!
At the same time, Sheng Ge’s sword flew out, blocking all the attacks rushing toward Gu Xiaoxue.
“Stop slacking off. Keep pulling,” Sheng Ge urged calmly.
Gu Xiaoxue, who had nearly died moments ago: “……”
If you’re this powerful, why don’t you pull it out yourself?!
Gu Xiaoxue grumbled inwardly.
But she had boarded this pirate ship willingly, so even if she cried, she still had to continue pulling. Besides, Sheng Ge was her savior, so it was not exactly appropriate to curse at her.
Since things had already reached this point, Gu Xiaoxue could only continue pulling silently.
And she was not stupid either.
Since Miss Sheng wanted this thing so badly, and the mutated pea vines were trying this hard to stop them from taking the crystal…
Then this crystal must be extremely important.
If they successfully removed it, they might be able to deal with all the mutated pea vines.
The mutated pea vines’ attacks became increasingly fierce.
While Gu Xiaoxue struggled to pull out the crystal, Sheng Ge stood steadily before her, holding her sword with slender hands.
Her face still carried that casual, indifferent expression.
Facing the endless attacking vines, she casually swept her sword once, instantly severing vines over a hundred meters away and sending them crashing to the ground.
Seeing this, Gu Xiaoxue was deeply shaken.
Her understanding of Sheng Ge’s strength deepened once again.
This woman, who seemed completely out of place in this apocalypse, was very powerful.
And very strange.
But as time passed, more and more mutated pea vines attacked them.
Although Sheng Ge still appeared completely composed, Gu Xiaoxue could not help becoming anxious.
No matter how hard she pulled, the crystal seemed fused to the thick root and simply refused to come out.
“Use your ability.”
At that moment, Sheng Ge’s calm voice drifted over.
Whether it was just her imagination or not, Gu Xiaoxue felt like she could hear a trace of speechless disappointment in Sheng Ge’s tone, as if she were saying: Are you stupid? Why are you only using brute force?
I really don’t have abilities!
Gu Xiaoxue desperately wanted to shout that.
But looking at the completely unmoving crystal, along with the increasing number of vines, she finally gritted her teeth and activated the ability within her body.
Forget it.
She was already exposed anyway, and this woman clearly refused to listen to her explanations. It did not matter if she became exposed even more thoroughly.
The instant her ability spread out, Gu Xiaoxue discovered that the crystal in her hand seemed to resonate with her power.
The crystal’s energy actually flowed into her body along with her ability!
This thing was…
Suppressing the countless thoughts in her mind, Gu Xiaoxue activated her ability with everything she had.
Soon, under the enhancement of her power, the crystal gradually separated bit by bit from the mutated pea vine’s roots.
Sensing the crystal moving away, the gigantic mutated pea vine that had remained motionless all this time finally reacted.
Its thick vines rapidly wrapped around Gu Xiaoxue’s waist and limbs.
In almost an instant, Gu Xiaoxue felt as though her internal organs were about to be crushed apart.
Yet despite the intense pain, she still did not let go. Instead, she pushed her ability even harder to pull the crystal free.
Fortunately, Sheng Ge’s sword arrived in the very next second.
Gu Xiaoxue only saw a flash of light before the vines binding her loosened.
At the same time, she sensed the mutated pea vine beginning to tremble violently.
It turned out Sheng Ge’s sword had not only severed the vines—it had also slashed directly into the main root stem, nearly cutting it apart completely.
Seizing the opportunity, Gu Xiaoxue exerted all her strength and finally ripped the crystal free.
Then her body uncontrollably fell backward into a soft embrace.
“Careful.” Sheng Ge helped Gu Xiaoxue stand steadily again, her face still carrying a gentle smile.
Looking at that smile, Gu Xiaoxue truly wanted to ask just how confident this woman had to be to stay this calm from beginning to end.
“What’s wrong?” Sheng Ge noticed Gu Xiaoxue looking at her strangely. She carefully thought back over what had just happened, but it did not seem like anything strange had occurred.
“You…” Gu Xiaoxue had just opened her mouth to say something when Sheng Ge’s expression suddenly changed.
In the next second, Gu Xiaoxue felt her face pressed into something soft.
?!
Gu Xiaoxue’s face instantly turned bright red.
Her cold expression completely collapsed as she struggled to raise her head from that soft place.
“Little girl, don’t move. Take the medicine first.”
Who are you calling little girl?!
And this female hooligan!
Also, what medicine?! I’m not Da Lang!
Gu Xiaoxue felt both embarrassed and furious inside.
Then, in the next moment, she felt a pill stuffed into her mouth. Before she could instinctively spit it out, the medicine had already melted down her throat.
Immediately afterward, Sheng Ge loosened her hold.
Gu Xiaoxue instantly jumped away from Sheng Ge and even retreated several steps in panic.
Sheng Ge: “……”
What was wrong with this little girl now?
The juniors three thousand years later were all so strange.
Grandma Grandmaster sighed.
Generation gaps really were terrifying.
Gu Xiaoxue coughed twice before finally realizing that the entire area was now filled with faint purple poisonous gas.
It turned out that the moment the crystal had been removed, all the mutated pea vine leaves suddenly exploded.
The poison stored inside the leaves instantly spread throughout the entire region.
However, after checking herself, Gu Xiaoxue realized she did not seem poisoned at all.
Thinking about the pill Sheng Ge had stuffed into her mouth earlier, she guessed it must have been an antidote.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
They were just expired pills anyway. She still had plenty left.
However, when Gu Xiaoxue saw the poisonous gas continuing to spread outward, her heart suddenly sank again.
“This is bad. Brother Dahong and the others are still trapped back there.”
At this moment, Gu Xiaoxue still had no idea that Zhuo Dahong and the others had already been knocked unconscious by the poison gas long ago.