Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 28
Riding
“Flower… looking for flowers…”
The thousand-legged millipede paid little attention to the small creature on its body. It moved slowly, appearing clumsy due to its enormous size.
Ji Jiu wasn’t surprised; mutants could talk, but humans couldn’t hear them. Humans couldn’t connect to the mutants’ information network and therefore didn’t know that mutants could communicate.
Most of the time, mutants broadcasted fragmented content, but some with higher intelligence would communicate differently.
Just like those crows back then, those annoying fellows Ji Jiu despised, they always spread danger signals over the neighbourhood, causing other incoming mutants to retreat. There was also the S-rank Dream Garden mutant, B-480, that had taunted him in the “Dreams.” These were considered highly intelligent mutants.
No, that’s not right.
Ji Jiu’s expression subtly changed for a moment. There was a recorded instance of a mutant speaking. It was the parasitic spine king, the host of which had been a cancer patient from the pre-apocalypse era, and its vocal cords hadn’t been completely damaged.
But what use was that? Humans had forcibly separated it from the host’s body, and unless they sacrificed a human, there was no way to communicate with it.
The foolish caretaker and those foolish humans attached great importance to that parasitic spine king, thinking it was special.
What’s so special about it? Ji Jiu, the little tuft of grass, never cared about what these creatures babbled about every day.
Ji Jiu shook his leaf blades, feeling somewhat disdainful.
He slowly climbed up along the body of the thousand-legged millipede, resting occasionally when he got tired. He continued until he reached the top, where this massive millipede happened to be near the rooftop from which he had been blown away.
His tiny leaf blades fluttered in the wind. Ji Jiu’s keen eyes spotted his clothes on the rooftop where he had fallen. He jumped down lightly, and in the rooftop’s shelter, he transformed back into a human and put on his clothes.
Now that his target had grown in size, the thousand-legged millipede finally realized that it had been carrying this little morsel all along, and it seemed to be quite a delectable snack.
It stopped the muttering in its mouth, and its pheromones became agitated. Its huge, red-glowing eyes focused on Ji Jiu on the rooftop. Massive steel spikes shot straight toward Ji Jiu.
Contrary to the imagined bloody scene, Ji Jiu was still standing unharmed in his place, not turned into a pulp of blood. He looked at this audacious mutant with a few genuine moments of confusion in his usually innocent and harmless almond-shaped eyes. His lips curved slightly and he asked, “Are you sure you want to fight me?”
In an instant, a murderous intent surged.
…
Golden light flashed, and countless hands appeared behind Guan Yin. His own eyes also emitted a golden glow, with the entire eye turning into gold, losing both pupils and whites, only gold.
When he used “Thousand Hands”, he always seemed like a completely different person, or rather, possessed by something. He became emotionless, only knowing to attack the enemy in front of him, resembling some kind of deity.
The countless hands suspended behind Guan Yin gently swayed, and finally, they spread out in a wide range, each palm print targeting the mutant in front of them.
Those that missed landed on the concrete floor, leaving deep handprints.
With just one move, the sinewy grass mutant was completely silenced and beaten into mud.
The consumption of “Thousand hands” was too great, and the cooldown was long. The golden glow in Guan Yin’s eyes slowly faded, returning to their usual appearance.
He scratched his head with four hands and said, “Captain, don’t worry too much. He’ll be fine.”
When he said this, he wasn’t entirely sure. After all, Ji Jiu looked easy to bully, and getting captured by mutants made his situation precarious.
However, if he didn’t offer reassurance, it seemed like Captain Si Yin Yuan was ready to turn this abandoned base upside down and annihilate it.
Second Sister felt extremely guilty. She had sustained some injuries from the fall, and even after discovering that Ji Jiu was missing, she couldn’t immediately search for him. She could only stay in place and wait for rescue.
Fortunately, the three sisters had telepathic abilities and quickly found each other, but Ji Jiu was still missing.
Her inner guilt was overwhelming. Everyone knew that Ji Jiu, weak and defenceless as he was, would be in great danger whether he was captured by undead birds or left somewhere in the secret realm. A disappearance of several tens of minutes was enough for him to become food for mutants.
In this secret realm, there was no trace of humans, but mutants were everywhere.
The likelihood of survival was very slim.
Death was the norm for hunters, and Si Yin Yuan had long accepted that he would silently meet his end at the hands of mutants someday. However, at this moment, when he realized that Ji Jiu might be in trouble, he panicked. He found that he couldn’t accept the idea of something happening to Ji Jiu. Even the possibility of injury sent a sharp pain through his heart.
With a stern face, he moved forward, and beams of golden light emanated from him as he used all his might to search for Ji Jiu.
At this moment, time seemed exceptionally long and agonizing. He couldn’t help but think that Ji Jiu was all alone in this abandoned base, which had already lost its humanity. He might be suffering, trembling in a corner, and afraid.
Even though Si Yin Yuan had learned about Ji Jiu’s true ability, he couldn’t let go of his ingrained impression of Ji Jiu as someone weak and vulnerable. He believed that someone as innocent as Ji Jiu should be protected, should be carefree under his wings, rather than being alone in the secret realm, facing mutants that were too terrifying for him.
There was only one thought in his mind: Ji Jiu had to be found.
Finally, some of those scattered golden lights returned and provided feedback. These golden lights were all part of the Golden Flame’s array. Normally, they were dispersed to search for mutants with remaining vitality for vitality absorption. This was the first time they were used to find a person, but using a sledgehammer to crack a nut unexpectedly worked.
Following the direction of the returning golden light, they quickly arrived at an empty and desolate square.
First Sister helped support the Second Sister and asked in confusion, “There’s nothing here, is there?”
“The large building ahead seems a bit strange…” Guan Yin muttered to himself. “Why does it look like it’s moving?”
The next moment, his expression instantly became more serious.
“No, wait, this is that thousand-legged milliipede!” He took two steps back, his eyes showing a hint of fear.
Si Yin Yuan: …
Third Sister sounded anxious, “Is the millipede coming towards us?”
Anyone who saw a mutant taller than a building would find it hard to stay calm. Their brains would go into overdrive, sending danger signals.
Run!
The triplets almost simultaneously started running backward. They quickly realized that Si Yin Yuan was standing still, silent.
His face bore an inscrutable expression.
Guan Yin despaired, “Captain! Let’s run!”
Si Yin Yuan finally moved. He extended his finger towards the top of the thousand-legged millipede. “Is there someone up there?”
Guan Yin halted and squinted in the direction he pointed. “It really looks like it.”
Compared to the colossal centipede, the human figure was incredibly tiny. If it weren’t for their heightened senses as awakened beings, it would be challenging to see the person clearly in this misty weather.
Si Yin Yuan’s expression grew even graver. “Is that person still eating?”
The triplets squinted along, making a lookout gesture with their hands. “Seems like it. Captain, you have sharp eyes.”
Upon closer inspection, the person was leisurely eating something while sitting atop the colossal mutant. In this misty atmosphere and combined with the ghostly legends surrounding this secret realm, it all felt eerie and unsettling.
Guan Yin couldn’t help but shudder with goosebumps. “Captain, let’s run. We still need to find Ji Jiu.”
Si Yin Yuan sighed, “No need to look for him. That’s him.”
Even though it was him, it took several glances to be sure. The figure sitting on the thousand-legged millipede, munching away in blissful ignorance, was indeed Ji Jiu!
For a moment, Guan Yin thought he was hearing things. When he saw the triplets’ equally astonished expressions, he knew he wasn’t mistaken.
His initial reaction was to deny, “It’s impossible!”
The triplets remained calmer. Big Sister said, “Maybe it’s an illusion.”
Yes, it must be that. They were all experiencing illusions, or perhaps it was a phantom imitating Ji Jiu.
As they spoke, the thousand-legged millipede, like it had teleported, arrived near them. It was so massive that it could cover a considerable distance with each step.
Now, there was no time to run. They could clearly see the true face of the person on top.
Ji Jiu was happily waving at them, sitting cross-legged atop the millipede, nibbling on some unknown black fruit.
Ji Jiu was delighted, “Captain Si, I found you!”
Among mutants, strength ruled. After Ji Jiu demonstrated his power and easily devoured the cumbersome thousand-legged millipede’s fourth pair of giant steel spikes with his dark mist, it finally surrendered.
Ji Jiu smiled contentedly, patted his tamed and subdued crippled mount below, and signaled it to stop.
The thousand-legged millipede didn’t dare resist. Half of its legs remained suspended in the air, frozen in place. This peculiar posture concealed the numerous injuries on its body from the view of the humans on the ground.
On its steel body, there were a few small fist marks, and the perpetrator paid no attention to it at all.
Just as Ji Jiu was about to find a good angle to jump down, he was halted.
Si Yin Yuan appeared a bit nervous, “Don’t move, wait for me to come up and get you!”
His first reaction was always to care for Ji Jiu, worried that he might fall and get hurt.
Suddenly, a pair of enormous golden wings burst forth from behind him. They were made of golden flames, emitted no heat, and didn’t ignite his clothing, yet they deterred anyone from approaching.
Each wing was nearly two meters long and effortlessly lifted him into the air when they flapped.
Guan Yin was dumbfounded. “Captain’s ability can actually be used like this?”
This wasn’t just “Life Force Extraction” anymore; it seemed more like “Omnipotence.”
Big Sister stared blankly, “So, Captain can come up to this abandoned base by himself.”
Guan Yin felt wounded inside. “It’s because I can’t fly. I’m the one slowing you down.”
As for Ji Jiu?
Didn’t they see that he could even ride such terrifying mutant?
They hadn’t recovered from this shock. At this moment, Ji Jiu had turned into an enigmatic figure in their minds, hidden in deep layers of mystery. They subconsciously followed their gaze to Si Yin Yuan.
As they watched them reunite on the millipede’s back, the two looked like a newlywed couple, hugging each other with delight.
Ji Jiu still had the half-eaten black fruit in his hand, and he rubbed in against his owner like a little cat before tilting his head upward, taking the initiative, “You lost me again.”
Fortunately, this time he found him quickly, without the three-year wait.
Facing those round, watery eyes, Si Yin Yuan couldn’t find words to say. He forgot the momentary panic he felt when he saw Ji Jiu on top of the millipede. His mind was filled with the joy of recovering what was lost, and he didn’t dwell on that little word, “again.”
He carefully avoided his golden flame wings from touching Ji Jiu, extending his hand to gently rub him. His eyes showed fragments of tenderness, “Are you hurt?”
Upon receiving this comfort from his owner, Ji Jiu’s expression immediately turned pitiful and sad. He sobbed softly, “Yes, it hurts a lot.”
Without shedding a single tear, it still caused the stoic Chief Si to twitch inside.
His eyes darkened, “Where? Who did this to you?”
The wings on his back flared up even more, influenced by his owner’s anger.
Ji Jiu rolled up his sleeve to show his bruised arm, even though it was just a single injury. His skin was too tender, and a large bruise appeared, making it look particularly frightening.
Even though he had faced life-threatening injuries in the early days of the apocalypse, Ji Jiu would endure it without batting an eye. But when it came to Si Yin Yuan, he turned into a sweet, spoiled little bean, unable to bear the slightest grievance.
He whimpered and whined, seeking comfort from his owner.
Si Yin Yuan gently tapped the bruise, something he wouldn’t pay much attention to if it were on anyone else. However, on the young man, it instantly became glaring and detestable.
His eyes flashed with ferocity, “I’ll roast them all for you.”
Coming from someone else, this statement might sound like soothing a lover. But from Si Yin Yuan’s mouth, it had a different tone. He was genuinely planning to eliminate those undead birds, decimating them just to avenge Ji Jiu.
“Alright.” Ji Jiu gave a slight nod.
No matter how extraordinary things Si Yin Yuan did, when he saw the wound, his gaze carried a profound gentleness, tinted with heavy concern for Ji Jiu.
So fragile, easily picked on the moment he was away. And he got injured.
Si Yin Yuan glanced at the half-eaten black fruit in Ji Jiu’s hand and concluded that leaving him had even affected his appetite. Usually, that fruit wouldn’t last this long.
To avoid Ji Jiu coming into contact with his golden flame wings, Si Yin Yuan tried different positions but couldn’t figure out how to bring Ji Jiu down properly.
In the end, Ji Jiu couldn’t bear it and took the initiative. He extended his arms arrogantly, “I want a princess carry!”