From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 115 - 106: This Doesn’t Seem Like That Woman’s Style
Central Base, outskirts. Temporary Test Site 1.
Under the pretext of researching why the mutant plants had undergone a collective mutation, Dr. Qi finally obtained the video footage from the NX1984 Area after many days.
He opened his personal terminal to watch the complete video of the incident and quickly noticed something unusual. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
The footage Dr. Qi was watching had been recorded by devices carried by the Special Service Team members. It was far more complete and detailed than the video Qi Xiang had secretly filmed for Gu Xi.
After watching it from beginning to end, he focused on the footage from Ye Junhan’s point of view. He frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "How could this happen? How could Crystal Core Number One have exploded so easily? This isn’t right."
This was definitely not right.
Crystal Core Number One was his creation; he understood it better than anyone. It was absolutely not something a single corrupted mutant plant could shatter into a chaotic mess of fragments!
Something must have gone wrong!
After some thought, he isolated the footage of Ye Junhan’s battle with the red mutant plant and watched it repeatedly from multiple angles and perspectives, paying special attention to the moment the red plant leaped into the air and Crystal Core Number One exploded mid-air.
After watching, Dr. Qi’s heart sank.
He shouldn’t have been in such a rush to release Crystal Core Number One. Now, not only had his objective failed, but he had also caused the mutant plants in the NX1984 Area to unexpectedly undergo a collective corruption, attracting attention from all sides.
Because of this, his subsequent plans might have to be put on hold.
Dr. Qi stared intently at a frame on the Light Screen, sitting silently by the window until the last glimmer of sunset was devoured by darkness.
He adjusted the cold frames of his glasses and finally pressed the contact number.
The other party seemed to be deliberately making him wait, only connecting after a long moment.
"Doctor, have you finally seen the light?" a mechanical male voice transmitted from the personal terminal.
Dr. Qi cut right to the chase. "01, were you behind what happened in South City?"
let out a strange, cackling laugh. "What do you think, Doctor?"
Dr. Qi pressed his hands firmly on the lab bench, his voice grim. "What is it you people really want?"
But 01 replied, "What do we want? Doctor, do you really not know?"
Dr. Qi fell silent.
The person on the other end cackled strangely again. "Doctor, you should know this. Whatever the BOSS wants to do, he accomplishes."
"It was true back then, and it’s true now."
"And I am merely the BOSS’s most loyal follower, acting on his command."
"Besides, at this point, I think you understand perfectly well, Doctor. Only by cooperating with us can you achieve your heart’s desire..."
"After all, you’ve already sacrificed so much for that plan. You wouldn’t want it all to fall apart at the last minute and end up with nothing, would you?"
The person on the other end wheedled in a deceptively persuasive voice.
Dr. Qi’s eyes turned cold. "01, I didn’t call you to listen to your nonsense. Tell the person you work for that cooperation is possible, but what happened back then..."
After ending the call, Dr. Qi’s expression turned incredibly grim for a moment before quickly returning to normal.
A moment later, he used the intercom to call for his assistant.
After hurriedly making arrangements, Dr. Qi rushed back to the base overnight and went to the Abnormal Ability Research Institute.
It was late at night, but the entire institute was brightly lit.
Researchers in white lab coats were bustling about everywhere. When they saw Dr. Qi, everyone paused what they were doing to nod in greeting.
This showed his status within the Abnormal Ability Research Institute.
After gently greeting the colleagues he passed along the way, Dr. Qi went straight to Zhou Jinyu’s office.
Inside the office, Zhou Jinyu and Ye Junhan were standing before a massive holographic sand table, constantly manipulating the floating map and speaking in low voices.
Dr. Qi glanced over; it was a map of N003 Canyon.
"Jun Han," Dr. Qi said as he walked in. ’He hadn’t expected Ye Junhan to be there, which made certain questions difficult to ask.’
Ye Junhan’s fingers, hanging at his side, twitched slightly. He turned his head. "Dr. Qi."
He glanced at Zhou Jinyu beside him and took the initiative to say, "Since you two have something to discuss, I’ll take my leave..."
"No need. I actually have something to ask you," Dr. Qi said, instantly changing his mind. He nodded to Zhou Jinyu before turning to Ye Junhan. "Regarding the collective corruption of mutant plants in the NX1984 Area, I’ve seen the footage you brought back..."
As he spoke, he opened his personal terminal, found the clip of the Crystal Core exploding mid-air, played it through once, then rewound to a specific frame and paused.
"Jun Han, what did you feel at that moment?" Dr. Qi asked, turning his head to look at him.
"The energy fluctuations were very strong." Ye Junhan’s gaze swept over the frozen image as he carefully recalled the sensation. "Is there a problem, Dr. Qi?"
Zhou Jinyu also set aside his work and walked over, hesitating slightly. "Qi, what’s wrong? I was at the South City base at the time and watched the live satellite broadcast..."
Dr. Qi sighed and pointed at the screen.
"Undoubtedly, the energy contained within this Crystal Core was immense. But look, at the exact moment it exploded, the surrounding plants weren’t blasted away by the shockwave. Instead, it’s as if they froze for an instant, and only then did they surge forward one after another toward the Crystal Core Fragments, as if they had received a command."
Dr. Qi and Zhou Jinyu both looked up at Ye Junhan.
Ye Junhan was the only one present at the scene.
Ye Junhan’s fingertip, which was resting on the scabbard at his waist, tapped it lightly. "The shockwave from the Crystal Core’s explosion wasn’t very strong, it’s true."
Dr. Qi’s expression was grave. He pointed to the very edge of the image and said, "And another thing, look here. Aren’t these few plants retreating?"
Hearing this, Ye Junhan looked down and opened his own personal terminal, pulling up the video recording from that day and finding the section Dr. Qi had isolated.
"Stop," Dr. Qi said suddenly, pointing at the image on Ye Junhan’s Light Screen. He looked back at them. "It’s these plants. Look at their movement within the frame... isn’t it strange?"
Although most corrupted mutant plants could move, the feeling he got from those few was very wrong.
It was as if that prominent red mutant plant was just a target they had pushed out from behind the scenes.
’He even suspected that the core Divine-level Crystal Core Fragment inside Crystal Core Number One had likely been stolen long ago. What was left for the red mutant plant was probably just an empty shell.’
Ye Junhan frowned slightly. "It is a bit strange. My apologies, Doctor. I didn’t notice it at the time."
They had slaughtered thousands upon thousands of corrupted plants that day. He truly couldn’t remember if the specific ones Dr. Qi pointed out were among those that had died at his and his teammates’ hands.
After all, they all looked more or less the same.
Besides, the situation was chaotic. It wasn’t impossible that some mutant plants had taken the opportunity to escape...
"I know," Dr. Qi sighed. "Jun Han, I don’t mean to assign blame..."
Just then, Zhou Jinyu said self-reproachfully, "I should have gone with you all back then."
Everyone knew that this seemingly self-reproachful statement was just empty words.
Since the Crystal Core had been judged at the time to be a suspected Zombie Emperor’s Crystal Core, the Military Department would never have allowed anyone from the Abnormal Ability Research Institute to get involved.
It was just that later... no one expected the collective corruption of mutant plants in the NX1984 Area, nor that the Crystal Core would suddenly explode...
"Mr. Zhou, it was right for you not to go," Dr. Qi said with a sigh. "The situation on site was chaotic and fraught with danger. No one knew what might happen. Your safety had to be the priority."
Zhou Jinyu glanced at Ye Junhan. "I believe that with Jun Han around, my safety wouldn’t have been an issue."
Dr. Qi looked between the two of them, his gaze shifting back and forth. ’Ye Junhan is impressive, but it’s a pity...’
Just then, a staff member on duty from the adjacent tech center came running over, panting, and knocked on the door. "Mr. Zhou, there’s a sudden abnormal energy fluctuation at Temporary Test Site 2 on the outskirts! The Military Department suspects corrupted mutant plants have appeared and is calling to ask us about the situation."
"More plants have corrupted?"
Dr. Qi and Zhou Jinyu exchanged a look, frowning slightly. Temporary Test Site 2 was only a little over thirty miles from the Central Base. If a large-scale mutant plant corruption broke out, it would be difficult to contain.
At the same time, the tech center had already connected the live feed from the site to the large screen at the front of the room.
Ye Junhan looked up, and the finger tapping the scabbard at his waist paused for a moment. "Something’s not right. I’ll go myself."
Zhou Jinyu nodded. "I’ll leave it to you, then, Jun Han."
"It’s my duty."
Ye Junhan turned and left. Zhou Jinyu and Dr. Qi exchanged a look, their expressions both turning grim.
After a moment, Dr. Qi suddenly asked Zhou Jinyu, "That farm on the outskirts of South City... did you have Zhang Cheng set it up?"
"It has nothing to do with me." Zhou Jinyu stared at the large screen before them, his brow furrowed slightly.
Dr. Qi followed his gaze to the screen. A sudden thought struck him, and his expression changed. "Who went to Temporary Test Site 2 today?"
"Ye Xin."
Zhou Jinyu glanced back at him with a meaningful look. He pointed to a spot on the screen where several tall, corrupted plants resembling grapevines were thrashing in the wind, lunging at the guards at the test site.
But Dr. Qi had a gut feeling something was wrong. ’They’re just a few successfully reverse-evolved grapevines. Is that enough to make Ye Xin lose her composure?’
’This isn’t like her at all...’
