From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 81 - 75: Poaching

After a moment of thought, Gu Xi opened her personal terminal. She switched it to privacy mode and sent a message to Shen Yue.

She trusted Shen Yue. Given his competence and methods, anyone he chose to accompany her on this flight would surely be trustworthy.

But in some ways, these soldiers were incredibly naive, and there were endless ways to trick them into talking. If they were targeted in the future because of this...

Just in case, Gu Xi decided it was best to give Shen Yue a heads-up first.

After finishing her conversation with Shen Yue, Gu Xi closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

The two randomly assigned ability-user soldiers saw Gu Xi’s pale, frail expression and assumed she was genuinely airsick, so they didn’t think much of it.

Gu Xi only slowly opened her eyes when the special communication code of the military channel sounded in her ear again.

Through the window, Gu Xi could see a large, "bald" patch of land in the distance. It seemed the military’s Earth Element ability users had already started working.

Soon, the helicopter followed its instructions and landed smoothly.

Shen Yue wasn’t there this time, but he had clearly arranged everything in advance.

As soon as Gu Xi got off the plane, Mr. Zhang from the logistics department strode over to greet her warmly. "You must be Gu. It’s been a long trip!"

"Hello, Mr. Zhang. I’m Gu Xi." Recalling the scene she had just witnessed from the air, Gu Xi took the initiative. "Are the grain seeds ready? If so, why don’t we get started?"

Mr. Zhang was a no-nonsense person himself. Hearing her words, he dispensed with the pleasantries and led the way. "This way please, Gu."

It wasn’t that he was deliberately turning a blind eye to Gu Xi’s exceptionally pale and weak face. The truth was... the frontline troops couldn’t wait any longer!

On the way, Mr. Zhang noticed that Gu Xi’s complexion was truly awful and couldn’t help but ask a few concerned questions. He breathed a sigh of relief upon learning the young woman was just a little airsick.

He then sighed. "Ah, Gu, this is going to be tough on you... Our frontline troops have been living on dry rations for over a week!"

Gu Xi frowned slightly.

’That shouldn’t be possible.’ Before coming, she had looked at a map. This place wasn’t far from Rong City or the Yu City Base—only a two- or three-day drive. How could they be so short on food?

After Mr. Zhang’s explanation, Gu Xi learned that something had happened at the Yu City Base. They were now experiencing a food shortage, so the military had sent their own provisions over as emergency aid.

The Southwest Military Region did have some Wood Element ability users, but everyone’s talent for cultivation was different...

In fact, the food shortage in the Southwest Military Region was far more severe than Mr. Zhang let on. He simply didn’t want to put too much pressure on Gu Xi, so he didn’t go into detail.

Gu Xi nodded, but her mind was on something else. ’Why did something have to happen at the Yu City Base at this exact moment?’

’Could this... be related to the incident at the South City Restaurant?’

Although Gu Xi was very curious about what had happened at the Yu City Base, she didn’t ask a single question. The timing was wrong.

When they arrived, Gu Xi discovered that the military’s Earth Element ability users had already tilled the land. The Wood Element ability users and the grain seeds were also in position, just waiting for her.

After greeting everyone, Gu Xi didn’t waste any time and immediately began accelerating the seedlings’ growth.

As for the rest of the work, the military naturally had people assigned to it.

Even so, the afternoon’s work left Gu Xi completely exhausted.

In the evening, Mr. Zhang arranged for Gu Xi to stay at the guesthouse of a nearby garrison.

Remembering the young woman had been airsick during the day and had worked hard all afternoon, he figured her abilities were probably drained and she wouldn’t have much of an appetite. So, Mr. Zhang specially asked the veteran squad leader of the mess hall to make her a large, appetizing bowl of hot and sour glass noodle soup.

It was even made with the sweet potatoes that had just been grown that afternoon.

Despite this, Mr. Zhang still felt quite ashamed. "Gu, look, you came all this way and worked so hard all afternoon, yet we have nothing good to offer you..."

The veteran squad leader’s cooking skills were impeccable. It was said that his ancestors owned a chain of hot and sour noodle soup restaurants before the apocalypse. The soup was spicy with a hint of sourness, incredibly refreshing.

Gu Xi blinked, forcing back the tears that were welling up in her eyes because of the noodle soup. She looked up and smiled. "Mr. Zhang, this bowl of soup is more than good enough."

It had been a long time since she’d eaten such delicious hot and sour glass noodle soup.

Seeing the young woman’s slightly red eyes, Mr. Zhang couldn’t help but sigh. ’What a wonderful girl. That brute Shen is getting off easy. Why couldn’t my family have produced a son as outstanding as Shen Yue?’

’Failing that, maybe I should let those rascals under my command give it a shot?’

Mr. Zhang saw nothing wrong with his desire to poach his old comrade’s potential daughter-in-law.

For a moment, his gaze toward Gu Xi became increasingly affectionate.

Gu Xi: "..." ’Something feels... off.’

...

At night, after checking her surroundings and confirming there were no prying eyes, Gu Xi slowly lay down on the guesthouse’s hard iron-plate bed.

As was her habit, she mentally reviewed the day’s events before immersing her consciousness in her personal dimension.

Little Green Sprout was already in the dimension, excitedly circling the corpse of the mutant owl from earlier that day.

Looking at the mutant owl, which was only the size of a baby’s fist, Gu Xi frowned slightly.

This owl’s mutation was different from that of most other animals. One only had to look at her Da Hong, whose body was over twenty times the size of a pre-apocalypse rooster, to know that this owl’s... mutation was highly unusual.

Sure enough, Gu Xi didn’t find its Mutant Crystal Core in its brain.

Little Green Sprout, however, was itching to move and poked the owl’s stomach.

There, nestled inside, was a black Crystal Core the size of a fava bean.

They say good things come in small packages, and that was certainly true.

Although this Crystal Core was much smaller than an ordinary Level 9 Crystal Core, Gu Xi discovered that the energy within this black core was remarkably pure.

Moreover, why did she feel... that the energy fluctuations emanating from this Crystal Core felt vaguely familiar?

An image of a person suddenly flashed through Gu Xi’s mind.

But... a black Crystal Core belonged to the Dark Element. And the Dark Element could be subdivided into many types, the most common being the Poison System and the Corrosion system...

But that person had a Thunder Ability.

She had personally witnessed that person use their Thunder Ability to destroy her backup ability. That was something that absolutely could not be faked.

And the Thunder Ability had always been domineering—the epitome of hardness and light. Logically, it should have no connection whatsoever to the Dark Element.

This was a little strange.

Gu Xi thought about it for a while but couldn’t make sense of it, so she tossed the Crystal Core into a corner of her dimension. A small mountain of High-level Crystal Cores of various colors was piled up there.

Unlike other ability users, Gu Xi didn’t need to use Crystal Cores to restore her abilities.

So, over the years, aside from the ones her teammates needed, she had tossed all the Crystal Cores she obtained into her dimension, leaving them for her dear Sprout to eat as snacks.

But even though her dear Sprout was a glutton, it was also a picky eater and wouldn’t eat just any Crystal Core.

As a result, the number of Crystal Cores in her dimension just kept growing.

Her dear Sprout was initially somewhat interested in this black Crystal Core.

But for some reason, after circling the core twice, it listlessly drooped the two small green sprouts on its top.

As if it were turning up its nose in disgust.

Gu Xi was lost in thought.

The next morning, after breakfast, Gu Xi boarded a large military truck and headed to another location for a strategic transfer.

There was no other choice.

The Southwest Region was mountainous and densely forested, making it difficult to find large, contiguous plots of arable land.

The nearby farmland had already shown signs of depletion after being overworked by the ability users all afternoon yesterday. To grow more food as quickly as possible, the military had no choice but to arrange a strategic transfer for Gu Xi.

This was exactly what Gu Xi had hoped for anyway.

It was just... why did she feel that the young soldiers escorting her in the truck today were smiling at her... with particular radiance and charm?

Then she looked at Mr. Zhang, who was standing nearby with the grin of a matchmaker. ’What do you think, Gu? The young men of our Southwest Military Region aren’t bad, are they? Full of spirit, radiant and handsome...’

Gu Xi: "..."