22 – Mutated Plants
Ye Jin led Zhang Yue back to the villa. For now, Zhang Zhang staying in the hospital was actually the safest option, as the political and military factions were keeping each other in check.
Specialized personnel would tend to Zhang Zhang’s injuries. Everyone now knew he had been wounded while working for the base, and to attract more Ability Users in the future, Xu Tian wouldn’t let anything happen to him.
In the following days, before the blizzard arrived, Ye Jin continuously took Zhang Yiyi and the others to eliminate Zombies near the safe zone.
People in the area were already aware that several Ability Users lived in the iron fortress-like house, and no one dared to harass them anymore.
While fighting Zombies outside, Ye Jin looked up at the sky as a few large snowflakes drifted down.
“Whoa! Is it snowing?”
Zhang Yiyi stared at the sky in disbelief. It was June, the height of summer—how could it be snowing?
In no time, the snow began to cover the ground rapidly.
Ye Jin gazed at the sky. It had finally arrived—this snow would fall continuously for three whole months, piling up to two meters thick.
Many people saw the snow as a sign of hope, believing it would freeze the Zombies to death. As the Zombies were buried under the snow, humans let their guard down, unaware that this was the beginning of an even greater disaster. The snow would claim the lives of many unprepared people.
After the snow stopped, the Zombies would advance in tier, and temperatures would soar to fifty degrees Celsius. The rapidly melting snow would wash away houses, and the contaminated water would carry various diseases, completely cutting off clean water sources. From then on, water would have to be supplied by those with Water Ability.
Plants and animals submerged by the snow would mutate entirely. Humans would not only have to guard against Zombies but also against all kinds of mutated creatures and flora.
“Sister?” Yu Zichen called out, noticing Ye Jin’s dazed expression.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Ye Jin replied with an inscrutable tone and expression, “Let’s head back first!”
Both Xia Li and Yu Zichen sensed that Ye Jin seemed somewhat dispirited.
Only Zhang Yiyi felt delighted. After the apocalypse, the weather had turned warm and stifling, without even a breeze. Now, with the snow, it finally felt cooler.
Seeing Zhang Yiyi’s joy, Ye Jin decided not to reveal the changes that would follow the snow, not wanting to dampen her spirits.
…
The snow had been falling for three days straight, but Ye Jin hadn’t stopped. She stayed in her Dimension, stabilizing her Ability Tier, and had now reached the peak of Tier 2.
Looking out the window, she saw the base expanding, its construction improving, and more and more people arriving.
Ye Jin decided to take this opportunity to venture out again—she needed to upgrade her Dimension.
Next to their province was a tourist city famous for its Jade Town, renowned for its jade. Her Dimension still needed more space.
After informing Aunt Chen, Ye Jin set off alone. She was afraid Zhang Yiyi would insist on coming along, and it was more convenient to act alone—if danger arose, she could immediately retreat into her Dimension.
Along the way, some survivors were heading toward the base, and the roads were blanketed in pristine white snow.
Apart from detouring around destroyed bridges and highways, she encountered no major dangers. The journey was smooth, and after a day of driving, she reached the neighboring city.
Jade Town.
There were still quite a few survivors in the residential areas. Ye Jin made her way to the commercial street.
At a large jade wholesale market, Zombies inside the mall caught the scent of human flesh and lunged at her.
With a single Lightning Ball, she struck down several Zombies. The peak Tier 2 Thunder ability was indeed far more powerful.
The counters were filled with a dazzling array of jade artifacts, but none of them resonated with Ye Jin.Was it only that Buddhist amulet that could trigger a reaction from the Dimension? Or were these jades simply too low-grade?
Ye Jin finally sensed a faint reaction at a counter up ahead, but after absorbing the jade pendant, the Dimension showed no response—the spiritual energy was too meager.
It seemed these jades weren’t pure enough; truly good items wouldn’t be displayed openly for sale.
When Ye Jin reached the second floor, she clearly felt the quality of this batch of jade was better than those below, though they were still of little use.
Upon arriving at the top floor, she detected a spot thick with spiritual energy. Forcing the lock open, she found it filled with uncarved jade stones.
As soon as Ye Jin absorbed these jade stones, she felt her Dimension was on the verge of upgrading.
When she re-entered the Dimension, it had indeed expanded again, and the spiritual spring had grown from a few drops at first to a small bowl, and now to the size of a small vat.
Over the next few days, Ye Jin intermittently absorbed all the jade in the vicinity that contained any spiritual energy.
She found a local resident, gave them several bags of rice, and inquired if there were any jade factories nearby. The person told her there was actually a jade mine in the nearby mountains, but no one had been there since the apocalypse.
The mountain terrain was complex. She initially wanted to hire a guide, but the person refused, saying there was something on the mountain—sounds heard every night—and adamantly declined to lead the way. However, under Ye Jin’s persistence and bribes, they drew a simple map for her.
Left with no choice, despite the danger, she had to venture in for the jade mine.
After walking for a long time up the mountain, she still hadn’t found the jade mine the local mentioned, and it was already dark.
Just as Ye Jin thought about resting in her Dimension, she tensed—she couldn’t enter it!
Immediately, she assumed a defensive stance. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”
This was the first time she had encountered such a situation.
The surroundings were empty; aside from the cool wind rustling through the trees, no one answered.
Ye Jin felt an eerie strangeness. Lightning crackled around the ancient blade in her hand, radiating formidable power.
Suddenly, something needle-like shot toward her. Ye Jin sidestepped to avoid it.
Instantly, more needle-like projectiles rained down on her from all directions. Ye Jin raised her hand and used her Thunder ability to erect a Lightning Net in front of her.
The needle tips disintegrated into ash upon contact with the net. Through the lightning, Ye Jin realized these needle-like objects were actually the tips of tree leaves.
The leaf tips multiplied, tearing a hole in the Lightning Net. One pierced her skin, and Ye Jin felt a numbness at the wound—were these things paralytic?
She quickly dashed behind the nearest large tree. The swarm of leaf tips followed her, embedding deeply into the trunk she hid behind. It didn’t take long for the tree to be severed at the waist.
Ye Jin immediately switched to another tree. This wasn’t working; she had to find the main body of this thing.
While evading the leaf tips in circles, she finally discovered a small redwood tree, about five to six meters tall, in front of a cave. Among the mountain’s typically towering trees of over ten meters, this one stood out for its small size. Who would have thought it was the source?
Mature redwood trees could live for millennia and grow over a hundred meters tall; this one was practically a sapling among redwoods.
Ye Jin swiftly closed in and slashed at the redwood’s roots.
Sap oozed from the cut, and the tree erupted in rage, its branches thrashing as needle-sharp leaves shot toward her rapidly.
Enraged, the leaf tips became even sharper, piercing straight through Ye Jin’s Lightning Net, rendering it useless.She was covered in scratches from head to toe, trapped by these fine needles with no room to advance or retreat.
Ye Jin raised her hand and launched another Lightning Ball straight at its roots.
The redwood’s roots caught fire from the strike. Ye Jin quickly closed in, hacking fiercely at the roots. To deal with Mutated Plants, one must target the roots. While Zombies and animals had their Nucleus Crystals in the brain, and humans in the abdomen, Mutated Plants stored theirs in the root system.
Sap splattered everywhere from the severed roots.
Ye Jin felt a momentary loosening in her Dimension. Swiftly retrieving gasoline from it, she doused the redwood before retreating several steps. With a flick of her wrist, she hurled a Lightning Ball at the tree’s base. The moment lightning met gasoline, the redwood burst into flames.
A numbing sensation spread through her entire body—the wounds contaminated by sap from the redwood’s needles. In the final second before collapsing, she slipped into her Dimension.