From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 91 - 85: Shameless
Outside Yu City Base, Gu Xi quickly reviewed the video Qi Xiang had hastily filmed.
First, a Crystal Core suspected of belonging to a Zombie Emperor had appeared in the ruins of the NX1984 Area. Afterward, a large number of mutant plants there had viciously mutated...
The vicious mutation of these plants required a massive amount of energy, and a Zombie Emperor’s Crystal Core would naturally possess such immense energy!
Everything seemed to add up, but Gu Xi had a gut feeling that something was wrong.
Just then, another encrypted message popped up on Lu Chenyuan’s personal terminal.
"Gu Xi." Lu Chenyuan glanced at the message, his fingertips pausing for a moment before he looked up at her. "South City Base has decided to launch a missile strike on the NX1984 Area..."
Gu Xi’s head snapped up.
’The mutant plants in the NX1984 Area just underwent a vicious mutation, and now South City Base wants to launch a missile for a full-scale bombardment?’
Gu Xi’s fingertips tapped gently. ’Why do I get the feeling they’re trying to destroy the evidence?’
After a moment, she looked up at Lu Chenyuan. "Have Huang Er find out if the order to launch the missile came from the South City Base leadership, or if they were influenced by Zhou Jinyu."
For some reason, Gu Xi’s gut told her that Zhou Jinyu had to be involved in this!
Lu Chenyuan nodded, his fingertips flying as he sent out a series of commands.
After a moment, he looked up at Gu Xi. "Should we... stop this?"
’There must be something in the ruins of the NX1984 Area—something that can’t be moved, can’t be revealed, and can’t be easily destroyed. That’s why someone wants to use this opportunity, to borrow a military missile and blast the entire area to smithereens!’
’Clearly, someone is trying to cover something up...’
Gu Xi was thinking about the same thing.
After she had woken up, she had deliberately avoided the NX1984 Area to keep a low profile.
’But now... it seems the NX1984 Area is hiding other secrets.’
’And my previous actions, which were meant to stir things up, have clearly made some people antsy.’
As for whether to stop it... Gu Xi thought for a moment, then shook her head slightly. "No need."
’The authority to use missiles has always been in the hands of the military. Ye Junhan’s Special Service Team is still there right now. As long as the military high command doesn’t give the order, that missile won’t be launched!’
Lu Chenyuan looked up at her, hesitating. "You probably already know, but... after you disappeared, Xiao Yu joined the military."
Gu Xi, who had been pressing on her knuckles, paused for a moment.
’Xiao Yu... one of my former teammates...’
"He’s a regional commander now, a real power-player in the Military Department. Ye Junhan’s Superpower Special Team is under his direct command. Gu Xiaoxi, should you..."
"No." Gu Xi gently stroked the tip of the little green sprout with her finger, her refusal firm. "It’s not time to contact them yet."
Just then, the Light Screen in front of Lu Chenyuan flashed again.
"Gu Xi."
Gu Xi looked over and saw a blurry image appear on Lu Chenyuan’s Light Screen.
In the center of the image was a red plant...
The little green sprout, which had been twirling around her fingertip, suddenly shot up to its full length. It twisted and postured aggressively at the red plant on the screen. ’Where did this ugly thing come from? How dare it imitate me!’
’Shameless!’
The little sprout was both angry and aggrieved. It spun around its master nonstop, its two tender little leaves drooping at the tip and trembling in front of Gu Xi.
Gu Xi’s gaze, however, remained fixed on a certain spot on the screen for a long time.
It wasn’t until the little sprout grew impatient from all the spinning and suddenly zipped right in front of her face that Gu Xi finally tore her gaze away from the tip of the red plant in the image.
She lowered her gaze and placatingly tapped the tender leaf on the little sprout’s tip.
Now she was certain. The Crystal Core that appeared in the ruins of NX1984 was *not* a Zombie Emperor’s Crystal Core!
’But if it wasn’t a Zombie Emperor’s Crystal Core, then... where did the energy for the mutant plants’ vicious mutation come from?’
’A normal Crystal Core doesn’t have that much energy, let alone enough to trigger a vicious mutation in mutant plants...’
Gu Xi frowned slightly. ’I feel like I’m overlooking something...’
"Gu Xi?"
Beside her, Lu Chenyuan watched her with a worried expression.
Gu Xi snapped out of her thoughts and slowly shook her head. "I’m fine. It’s just... there’s something I can’t figure out."
Lu Chenyuan handed her a bottle of water. "In that case... should I call for a helicopter to take you back now?"
Gu Xi considered for a moment, then looked out the window. "No. We’re going to Yu City Base."
Half an hour later, Gu Xi and Lu Chenyuan secretly entered Yu City Base, escorted by military personnel.
The moment she entered, Gu Xi noticed that the atmosphere inside the base felt wrong.
The streets were nearly empty. The few pedestrians she saw were all rushing, their faces etched with worry.
One of their escorts explained in a low voice, "Things haven’t been calm in Yu City Base lately. First, a group of Wood Element users trained by the base disappeared all at once. More recently, other ability users have been vanishing one after another..."
So many ability users had gone missing that it was impossible to keep it a secret.
As a result, panic had spread throughout Yu City Base.
It was like a bomb went off in Gu Xi’s head.
Amid the chaos of her thoughts, a single, clear thread emerged, tying everything together.
’The missing Wood Element users, the Crystal Core, the energy...’
She was beginning to understand where the energy for the vicious mutation of the mutant plants in the ruins of the NX1984 Area had come from...
’Now, there was just one last, crucial piece of the puzzle she needed to confirm.’
After a moment of thought, Gu Xi sent another message to Qi Xiang.
... 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
The instant Ye Junhan stomped his foot and sent purple lightning drilling into the ground, the red mutant plant instinctively sensed the approaching danger. It immediately sped up its escape, even shrinking its body down to the size of a palm.
But the lightning was too fast.
Worse, there was an Earth Ability user among the humans.
The ground around it petrified, sealing its path. The red mutant plant had no choice but to grab its treasure and burst into the sky.
But just as it broke through the soil, Ye Junhan was already there.
The handsome young man moved with the swift grace of a dragon, appearing before it in an instant. Pushing off the tips of his military boots, he leaped into the air, the scimitar in his hand already slashing straight for it.
The red mutant plant shot toward the sky.
But in the next instant, a flash of steel followed it.
Facing this immense threat, the red mutant plant’s tightly-wrapped tip suddenly burst open.
Countless hair-thin Crystal Core Fragments burst out like a shower of blossoms, scattering through the air and refracting a brilliant, multi-colored light in the sun!
At the same time, after a brief, subtle pause, the mutant plants covering the landscape surged toward Ye Junhan like a parched land thirsting for rain, rushing forward with wild abandon.
"Stop them!" Zhao Qingxiao yelled, pushing his Spirit Barrier to its absolute limit.
Several team members charged forward, unleashing all kinds of abilities to intercept the endless waves of viciously mutated plants swarming their captain!
Ye Junhan stood unmoving at the center of the green tidal wave.
He gripped his scimitar, a barrier of purple lightning separating him from the overwhelming horde of mutant plants.
The man tilted his head back slightly, his cold eyes fixed on the red plant now posturing aggressively in mid-air.
He opened his left hand, gripping the scimitar with both. Reflected in the cold light of the blade, his well-defined fingers had the smooth perfection of cool jade, yet they coiled around the hilt with immense, latent power.
Amidst a sea of purple lightning, one man stood on the ground and one plant hovered in the air. The two faced off in a calm stalemate.
Neither made the first move.
Not far away, Zhao Qingxiao and the others were rushing to regroup with their captain.
In the chaos, no one noticed Qi Xiang, who was being protected in their midst. Her fingers twitched, and the camera on her personal terminal silently activated, its lens fixed on the red mutant plant in the air...
