The sprayer let out a harsh roar, and a pungent mist carrying a strange plant-like scent sprayed toward the zombies gathered at the back door. Those monsters immediately let out agonized howls, clawing at their own faces, losing all sense of direction.
“Go quickly!”
The eight survivors from the agricultural station, carrying the precious seed boxes and data hard drives on their backs, rushed out the back door under the escort of He Xu and the other two.
Nan Leyou carried a bulging backpack, from which faint rustling sounds came, and occasionally one or two tender green leaves poked out from the zipper gap.
He ran beside He Xu, moving agilely, from time to time reaching out to steady a stumbling researcher.
When they rounded the wall, He Xu saw the situation at the front gate: the truck was surrounded by over a hundred zombies, and Li Jun and Da Liu were resisting with spears on the roof of the truck. The situation was critical.
Seeing this, He Xu immediately focused all her mental energy and extended her consciousness to the limit.
In an instant, a thin layer of frost covered the ground, and the zombies slipped and fell.
Li Jun was surprised. “This is… Young Brother Xie? His support came this fast?”
Nan Leyou: “There’s another natural type among us?”
“No, he should be at the base right now…”
He Xu did not speak up to deny it. She knew clearly that this was her doing.
Sure enough, the derivative ability of the contract-type ability from the original work had begun to slowly awaken in her body.
This was Parasitism. She had obtained a portion of Xie Zhiwei’s ice-type ability.
Taking this opportunity, He Xu raised the fire axe and shouted to everyone: “Charge through! Get in the truck!”
“Follow me!” Nan Leyou suddenly accelerated and rushed to the side. He pulled a handful of unknown brown seeds from the side pocket of his backpack and threw them hard toward the ground on the right side, where the zombie horde was denser.
He muttered something softly, and a faint green light appeared in his palm.
The next moment, those seeds frantically broke through the soil and grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, instantly turning into a patch of thorny brambles covered in sharp spikes, tripping seven or eight zombies and temporarily blocking the threat on the flank.
“Quick! This won’t hold long!” Nan Leyou shouted, sweat seeping from his temples.
The pungent mist and the suddenly appearing thorns disrupted the zombie horde’s encirclement, and the group cut a bloody path through the gap.
When the last researcher from the agricultural station climbed into the truck bed, He Xu looked back.
She smiled, then flipped and leaped into the truck. Nan Leyou jumped in right after her and pulled the door shut. He collapsed sitting on the seeds, gasping for breath, yet still gave He Xu a thumbs-up.
“Uncle Li, drive! Full speed back!”
The truck roared through the zombie horde and drove onto the road they had come by.
The zombies around the agricultural station were only ordinary ones. Before long, they were left far behind by the truck.
He Xu leaned against the truck wall and let out a long breath.
This rescue, they had not only brought back precious seeds and knowledge, but also eight professional talents, and an unexpected joy.
The wood-type ability user who was supposed to belong to Dawn Base—Nan Leyou.
He Xu silently clenched her fist in her heart. Excellent!
“That…” Nan Leyou leaned over and took out a palm-sized small flowerpot from his backpack. Inside was a wilting but clearly jasmine seedling.
He handed it over a little embarrassedly.
His cheeks slightly reddened as he said: “This is for you. I can feel it really likes the aura around you. Consider it a meeting gift, and also a thank-you for saving us. It blooms very fragrantly. I can keep it alive.”
He Xu took the small pot of green life and nodded. “Thank you. Welcome to join us.”
Nan Leyou’s eyes lit up again, as if he had received immense recognition.
The truck drove into the sunset, heading toward the park.
But what He Xu did not know was that in the interlayer of a researcher’s backpack from the agricultural station, a positioning transmitter disguised as a button battery was continuously sending signals.
The receiving end of the signal, in the command room of Dawn Base in the north of the city, flickered with an ominous red light.
What no one noticed even more was that before jumping into the truck, Nan Leyou had glanced back thoughtfully at a certain window of the main building of the agricultural station.
His brows furrowed slightly, and he murmured softly: “…Sure enough, they still left eyes behind.”
Nan Leyou sat leaning in the corner of the truck bed, seemingly relaxed as he toyed with the seeds in his hand, but in reality his attention was entirely on He Xu.
In his eyes, He Xu was currently conversing with Chen Mingyuan, discussing future cooperation.
This girl who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen had a steadiness and decisiveness beyond her years.
From the resolve when climbing over the wall, to the clear bottom line during negotiations, to her composure now when facing Chen Mingyuan’s probing, deflecting the other side’s excessive demands with ease.
Her every reaction was just right—neither overly forceful and provoking resistance, nor overly concessionary and losing the initiative.
Very interesting. Nan Leyou evaluated in his heart.
He had seen those young ability users at Dawn Base. They were either unruly and domineering by relying on their strength, or had become rigid and numb under the system.
But He Xu gave him a different feeling.
It was like when Nan Leyou had accelerated seed growth before. Clearly they were all flowers of the same variety, yet among them one could bloom in a surprising color.
Dawn Base had information on He Xu: a rare contract-type ability, classified as a special type. The Dawn files recorded that people with this kind of ability could only connect with small animals and usually could only occupy an information position in combat.
She was clearly so weak. The current him only needed to gently catalyze the mutated jasmine plant in her hand to easily strangle her.
But Nan Leyou did not want to. This girl had unexpectedly taken control of the park, and behind her stood an ice-type ability user so powerful that even Dawn Base’s commanders would be wary of him.
Making a move against her might bring endless pursuit from the ice type.
Not worth it.
What interested Nan Leyou most was the “park” she spoke of.
From scattered words, he pieced together the general picture: after she and the ice-type user arrived at the West City Industrial Park, they joined hands with local survivors to overthrow an oppressive group, then began building a new order on the ruins.
Not a hierarchy divided into ranks, but an attempt to rebuild a fair survival paradise.
In the apocalypse, this was almost a fairy tale. Nan Leyou thought He Xu actually wanted to use benevolence and morality to restrain a bunch of madmen.
Nan Leyou had not told He Xu the whole truth.
About Dawn Base, what he had seen was far more complicated than what he had described. There were strict hierarchies there, systematic research and control of ability users, and some secret experiments.
He fled not only because he did not want to be turned into a tool, but also because he had accidentally glimpsed things he should not have known.
The agricultural station was his safe haven, but not a long-term solution. No matter how sturdy the walls, resources were limited and talent was dwindling. Eventually they would eat themselves out of house and home.
He had been waiting for an opportunity, and now he had found it.
Nan Leyou looked at the pot of jasmine in He Xu’s hand. The seedling had already recovered its vitality under his ability, its leaves spreading, and it had even produced a flower bud the size of a grain of rice.
And when He Xu unconsciously stroked the leaves with her fingertips, what the plant transmitted back was a feeling of peace and joy.
This made Nan Leyou slightly more at ease. Plants could be said to be another pair of eyes for a wood-type ability user. The aura on He Xu was peaceful and gentle.
But…
He Xu was too young, yet too skilled, as if she knew the rules of the apocalypse like the back of her hand.
Where did her team’s cohesion come from? Why was that powerful ice-type boy so devoted to her? Was the park really, as she had told Chen Mingyuan, a fair new starting point?
Nan Leyou was curious. He wanted to see it with his own eyes.
Inside the truck bed, the conversation continued.
Liu Li turned back from the passenger seat, a sincere smile on her face. “Station Chief Chen, it’s perfect that you’ve come! We have a plot in the southeast corner of the park. The soil is decent, but no one knows how to farm it.”
“Old Wang and the others repaired the irrigation system, but when the seeds went in, they either didn’t sprout or got eaten by pests. It’s been worrying us to death.”
Mentioning his professional field, Chen Mingyuan’s tense expression eased slightly. “It may be residual soil contamination, or the seeds themselves lack resistance. We need to do soil testing first and screen suitable varieties.”
“We have equipment!” A female researcher could not help interrupting. “We brought portable testing devices! And pH test strips, nutrient test kits…”
“Great!” Old Wang the electrician also leaned in. “I fixed the pumping system, but the canal layout isn’t very good. Some places can’t be watered. Do any of you know design?”
“We also have hydroponic system blueprints! If the power is stable, we can build indoor hydroponic racks, unaffected by soil contamination!”
Once the topic turned to technical details, the atmosphere clearly became livelier.
The people from the agricultural station began rummaging for data and showing blueprints; the people from the industrial park described the park’s current situation and asked about feasibility.
He Xu watched quietly without interrupting. Their professional discussion exceeded the scope of her knowledge.
She chose to listen, only reminding them when necessary: “We’ll decide the specific plans after we arrive at the park and everyone has inspected the site. For now, rest and save your strength.”
Old Wang the electrician smiled. “Okay—”
Liu Li: “Got it!”
Chen Mingyuan nodded secretly. At first he had thought this young girl was only the captain of the rescue operation. Now it seemed she might also be the park’s overall manager.
Truly not to be underestimated. So young, yet she understood delegation and respect for specialized technical personnel.
The truck passed through the last street block. In the distance, the outline of the industrial park appeared in the twilight. The walls had clearly been raised and reinforced, and figures moved on the watchtowers.
“We’re almost there.” He Xu looked out the window, her gaze soft.
It was him…
Nan Leyou followed her gaze.
Above the wall, a thin, small figure stood at a high point, gazing in this direction. Even from far away, that cold and powerful energy fluctuation could be felt.
He narrowed his eyes. Wood type would definitely not like the cold of ice and snow. Presumably, getting along with him later would be quite unpleasant.
That was Xie Zhiwei, a powerful mutated natural-type ability user, willingly submitting in a small industrial park.
Upon seeing the truck they were in, the coldness in that energy field would disappear without a trace.
Nan Leyou withdrew his gaze and looked at He Xu. The girl was focused on looking toward the wall, her side profile showing a steadiness inconsistent with her age under the dim yellow light coming through the truck window.
He gently rubbed the seeds in his hand and made his decision.
He would stay, and see what kind of different human warmth this girl and her park could grow in this apocalypse.
As for those secrets he had not spoken, and the locator in the backpack interlayer that was still sending signals.
He glanced at the researcher who was completely unaware, and the corners of his mouth curved upward.
Some troubles needed to be cleaned up first before talking about cooperation.
The truck drove toward the slowly opening park gate.
He Xu held the jasmine pot tightly in her arms. The flower bud trembled slightly in her palm.
And in the corner of the truck bed, Nan Leyou lowered his head. A green light flashed at his fingertips and vanished. That “button battery,” which he had quietly taken from the researcher’s backpack interlayer, silently turned to powder under the wrapping of plant fibers.
First step, show sincerity. He thought, the rest would come slowly.