Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 39
Consumed
“It’s impossible… it has never harmed anyone.” Chen Ke took a step back, and the vines eagerly supported his body, rubbing against him affectionately.
It was as if they wanted to leave their scent on him, proclaiming their ownership.
Every action seemed instinctual.
The Luminous Lilies emitted its fragrance once again. Unlike the seductive and intoxicating scent from before, this fragrance was pure, carrying elements of pleasure and comfort, akin to relieving the fatigue in one’s body without causing addiction.
It seemed to be trying to please Chen Ke, or perhaps it was simply offering comfort, just like every time he came to the lab alone when he was unhappy.
Usually, this human would blush and attempt to touch him through the isolation glass. However, this time, the person bit their lip and remained silent, refusing to look back with those gentle eyes.
The Luminous Lilies was puzzled. It gently shook the vines holding the bones again.
Unable to produce sound, it could only attract the attention of the human it cared about by creating noise.
Finally, Ji Jiu understood what it had been calling for.
Chen Ke didn’t turn around. He suddenly felt a profound sense of powerlessness at this moment and softly asked, “Did you really harm anyone?”
Why? Why did this happen? He had worked so hard to find various kinds of food for it. Just earlier, he had sensed its weakness and immediately gone to find some meat. If he hadn’t done that, maybe he could have prevented it from attacking humans.
He couldn’t absolve the Luminous Lilies, whether from a rational or emotional perspective. Only in its hunting state would it release a fragrance to confuse its prey. As a researcher, he was one of the people who knew its behavior patterns the best, from when it was a seed to its current size.
If Ji Jiu hadn’t arrived in time, that innocent passerby might have really been consumed.
And what had he done? Knowing that a highly dangerous mutant had escaped somewhere, he had chosen to conceal it for his own selfish desires.
He was indirectly a murderer.
If that person had really died, he would never forgive himself.
The vines supported Chen Ke’s suddenly weakened body, preventing him from falling awkwardly.
The Luminous Lilies’s intelligence was still lacking. It couldn’t comprehend the emotions of anger and despair that humans experienced.
It just shook the vines holding the bones more vigorously.
“Giggle, giggle… giggle, giggle…”
It was both unsettling and hair-raising.
Amid this somewhat noisy sound, the error correction gaurd who had initially been the most extreme had red eyes. Under the combined pressure of fear and chaos, his remaining rationality was almost gone.
His head throbbed as if it were about to split open.
Why?! Why didn’t they take action? That was a mutant! A mutant that eats people!
He raised his head, staring at the Luminous Lilies with intense hatred…
With a soft, subtle sound, the piercing weapon penetrated flesh.
A crimson flower blossomed at the chest area, and the white shirt instantly turned red.
Everyone present was stunned.
Even the gaurd who had used his ability froze, his face turning pale as he realized what he had done.
His ability was “Spear,” allowing him to create a spear-like weapon from the air.
The hatred and fear for mutants lingered in his heart. The helpless cries of his loved ones being devoured by mutants echoed in his mind. That’s why he couldn’t restrain himself and unleashed the “Spear” towards the Luminous Lilies.
But how could this happen? How could that person suddenly jump out and take the blow for the mutant? Wasn’t he afraid of dying?
The scent of blood immediately triggered the Luminous Lilies, and all the vines began to thrash wildly. The bones were shattered as the vines went berserk, wrapping around Chen Ke, attempting to stem the flow of blood from his body.
Unable to make a sound, the Luminous Lilies seemed to be silently screaming at this moment.
Chen Ke’s complexion visibly turned ashen, and he finally responded to the Luminous Lilies, as gentle as ever.
“Don’t… harm… humans… please?”
With each word, he spat out a mouthful of blood. He managed to finish the last word.
The front of his collar was all red, mixed with a bit of shredded organs.
Yu Feichen rushed forward and broke off a section of the vine, roaring, “What are you standing around for? Save him!”
He wanted to pull Chen Ke out of the vines, but it only caused more vines to wrap around his body.
The remaining vines angrily rushed towards the guard.
Chen Ke, weakly encased within the vines surrounding him, uttered a faint plea, “Don’t.”
The lush green vines stopped in mid-air, just a fist’s distance away from the guard.
The guard was terrified, his courage from earlier completely gone. He stammered, “D-don’t… don’t kill me! I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to kill him!”
His words were incoherent, and he looked at Chen Ke and the Luminous Lilies with a terrified expression.
He had killed someone. He had actually killed someone?
No, he didn’t mean to. That person had it coming.
The guard’s face turned extremely ugly, and he quickly crawled away.
Si Yin Yuan withdrew his hand.
If it hadn’t stopped just now, “Vitality Extraction” would have taken its life in an instant. Even though this guard, who had acted without authorization and harmed his own people, would face punishment from the judiciary team, he shouldn’t die at the hands of a mutant in a place as safe as the base.
Si Yin Yuan’s gaze showed a rare hint of gloominess. “He’s not going to make it.”
The situation had developed too suddenly, and he hadn’t expected their side to take action all of a sudden, especially with that correctional officer standing diagonally behind him.
Yu Feichen cursed heavily, unable to control himself.
Chen Ke gently touched the transparent vortx Grass. He couldn’t make a sound anymore. The plea of “Don’t” had already exhausted all his strength, and every time he opened his mouth, it was filled with blood.
He could only beg with his eyes, hoping that it would stop.
Like a fairy tale miracle, the Luminous Lilies really quieted down. It no longer exhibited the terrifying aggressiveness it had moments ago. Instead, it gently caressed Chen Ke with its vines, sensing his rapidly declining body temperature.
Good child…
It seemed like it wanted to reach out and touch him but didn’t have the strength, so it just extended its hand in the air, which stopped halfway.
Fortunately, the vines took the initiative to wrap around his hand.
Chen Ke tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a not-so-pleasant smile.
Under everyone’s gaze, with such a stiff smile, Chen Ke slowly closed his eyes. The handsome face was now smeared with blood from the vines.
He had been injured in a critical area, and he stopped breathing in less than five minutes.
At the moment of breath cessation, the enormous flower bud on the Luminous Lilies suddenly stopped pulsating as well, as if it had died.
Humans only knew that it had suddenly become quiet, but only Ji Jiu felt it.
It was grieving.
The Luminous Lilies had finally experienced the complex emotions of humans – anger and despair – for the first time, and the price was so profound.
It lost its human, lost the little human who used to secretly bring it food in the laboratory, the little human who would come in the middle of the night to talk to it.
At first, it found him noisy. This human always spoke to it incomprehensibly when there was no one else around. Later, for the first time, it tried to respond to him by placing vines on the isolation glass.
This human was overjoyed, as if he had finally found someone he could talk to. He placed his hand on the glass, even though there was a layer of isolation glass between them, there was a strange sensation.
“Can you understand what I’m saying?”
His eyes were filled with delight, very pure, without fear.
At that time, it thought that if this human could stay with it, maybe it could stay in this small laboratory forever, even if they couldn’t touch.
The laboratory didn’t have enough nutrition because advanced mutants needed to be studied and the things that could be fed to it were very limited.
Although he was an assistant, Chen Ke was also one of the researchers responsible for taking care of it. He watched it grow weaker, and there was no smile on his face when he came to see it every night.
It wasn’t afraid of death; it didn’t understand what death was. But it didn’t want to see sadness on this human’s face, even though it didn’t understand what sadness was.
A few days ago, when the cloaked figure appeared, it oddly understood that this person was going to take it away, even though it didn’t like the sinister aura around him. It still ran away.
The cloaked figure revealed its location to Chen Ke. When Chen Ke saw it, he once again showed a similar expression of sadness.
But the Luminous Lilies was still happy because it could finally touch him.
Would he send it back again?
It acted cute and harmless, showing no signs of aggression. It depended on Chen Ke for its meals, unlike in the laboratory where it would release its nature every day, emanating scents to lure in prey.
This behavior finally made the little human happy, and there was less sadness on his face.
But it was just too hungry. Tonight, there were many people around, and its instincts were difficult to restrain. It was like how humans needed to drink water and eat food; it needed to ingest more nutritious things.
Chen Ke noticed its weakness tonight and hurriedly went out to get something for it.
Without Chen Ke’s restraint, tonight it couldn’t bear to stop releasing its scent.
It made a mistake, a mistake that Chen Ke didn’t want to witness.
So, this is what death is.
The Luminous Lilies abruptly started tightening its vines.
“Look! It’s sucking blood!” someone yelled.
The correction officer who had used “Spear” staggered, saying, “It’s… eating people… what are you waiting for?! Kill it!”
A glance from Si Yin Yuan silenced them all.
Ji Jiu, influenced by the strong scent of despair, crawled into the arms of his owner, nuzzling the comforting scent.
Si Yin Yuan gently patted him and brought him closer. “Don’t be afraid.”
He thought Ji Jiu had been scared by the sight of death, so he softened his tone and restrained his aggressiveness.
One of the gurad asked cautiously, “Chief Si, this mutant is starting to eat people. Shouldn’t we…”
“Eat people? Did Chen Ke get killed by it?” Si Yin Yuan said coldly.
His tone was entirely different from when he spoke to Ji Jiu.
The guard glanced at his somewhat disoriented teammate who used “Spear” and hesitated, “But…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Hu Yan, who had arrived in haste, interrupted, “I want to see who dares to touch the Institute’s things!”
He looked very stern, a rare serious moment, “Where’s Chen Ke?”
Yu Feichen replied, “Under that clump of vines.”
The vines completely enveloped Chen Ke’s body and wriggled incessantly.
Finally, they slowly dissolved.
There was nothing left in the spot where Chen Ke’s body had been, not even a drop of blood.
Chen Ke had been consumed.