Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 4
Can, can something like this be said?
Yu Feichen was dumbfounded and didn’t dare to look at Si Yin Yuan.
He thought that the expression on his boss’s face couldn’t be good right now.
As the chief hunter who always kept away from any romantic entanglements, he was very distant, even cold, towards anyone who approached him.
But unexpectedly, Si Yin Yuan didn’t show any impatience. Instead, he asked with interest, “When did I become yours?”
Ji Jiu tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying something astonishing, “You have always been mine.”
The genuine innocence on his face transformed these domineering words into something else. It was more like a little kitten declaring its devotion while holding its little fish-shaped snack, making it impossible for anyone to feel annoyed.
Yu Feichen cautiously explained on his behalf, “Boss, his name is Ji Jiu. He seems to have some mental issues. Don’t mind him too much.”
This explanation reminded Si Yin Yuan that he was just a mistaken person. The expression on his face became faint, and he nodded without denying it, withdrawing the hand that Ji Jiu was holding.
Ji Jiu looked somewhat displeased as he looked at his empty embrace, but then he spotted the half-eaten pear still in his hand. He immediately set aside his disappointment and continued to nibble on the refreshing pear.
Seeing Ji Jiu’s dejected look, Si Yin Yuan didn’t know why he felt somewhat guilty. He wanted to say something comforting, but before the words could come out, he saw Ji Jiu, who was saddened, happily devouring the oversized mutated pear.
This carefree little guy.
Si Yin Yuan glanced at Yu Feichen, who was still watching the scene, and simply kicked him on the butt. “What are you looking at? Aren’t you going to help?”
Yu Feichen let out an “ow” and quickly ran over to Li Chao, who was examining the traces at the scene. He seemed to be helping but was actually slacking off.
Si Yin Yuan turned his gaze back to Ji Jiu and noticed that he was still nibbling on the large pear like a hamster. However, his eyes were always shining as if he was afraid Si Yin Yuan would run away.
“Don’t eat anymore. You’ll get dizzy,” Si Yin Yuan reached out and intercepted the pear Ji Jiu had mysteriously obtained from somewhere.
He recognized this type of pear. It was an inedible fruit, one of the mildly mutated varieties after the apocalypse. It couldn’t be consumed because eating it would cause dizziness for a period of time and even hallucinations. It was a simple defense mechanism of the fruit.
Apart from that, it wasn’t poisonous. Normal people would get rid of this kind of pear after taking a few bites because of the dizziness. They wouldn’t eat more, so Si Yin Yuan didn’t immediately discard the pear Ji Jiu had.
Si Yin Yuan didn’t expect that he had allowed Ji Jiu to eat so much at once. Almost half of the football-sized pear had been gnawed away.
After throwing away the pear, he pinched Ji Jiu’s cheeks and got lost for a second in the sensation of the softness that sank in. Then he said, “Spit it out.”
Under the oppressive gaze of a man, Ji Jiu obediently spat the mouthful of pear meat.
He still looked at the discarded pear, feeling wronged.
Hmm, if the person who threw away his pear wasn’t his owner, he would have beaten them up by now.
But a good little grass had to learn to tolerate a foolish owner.
Si Yin Yuan didn’t know what violent thoughts were going through the mind of the innocent young man whose face he was pinching with a strange expression. He stared at the red marks he left on Ji Jiu’s face, then silently withdrew his hand.
In fact, he had used very little force, but his calloused hands, trained from various activities, were too rough, while the young man’s face was too tender.
Si Yin Yuan flicked his still-sensitive fingertips and showed no emotion on his face. “Not dizzy?”
Ji Jiu was still upset about his discarded pear, and upon hearing Si Yin Yuan’s words, he shook his head with regret, looking at the pear on the ground.
The once shiny eyes dimmed a bit.
Having no experience in comforting children, Si Yin Yuan, with a serious face, patted himself and found a few tubes of nutrient solution.
Most nutrient solutions were tasteless, and some even had an unpleasant plastic taste. The only one with flavor was a strawberry-flavored nutrient solution, a new product that the researcher had insisted he try.
Si Yin Yuan spoke in the most resolute tone while trying to comfort him, handing Ji Jiu the strawberry-flavored nutrient solution directly, “Take this, don’t eat that.”
Ji Jiu carefully sniffed the opened bottle, confirming that it was delicious, and then extended his little tongue to lick the semi-solid liquid inside.
It tasted so good!
Ji Jiu completely forgot about the discarded pear.
So easy to appease.
Si Yin Yuan’s face also softened a bit. The young man’s reaction to eating the pear reminded him of something, and he continued, “Have you eaten other mutated things?”
Completely appeased by a tube of strawberry-flavored nutrient solution, Ji Jiu didn’t hold any grudges and nodded repeatedly, saying, “I have eaten many.”
He wanted to count how many kinds there were by using his fingers, but he found that his ten fingers weren’t enough.
Si Yin Yuan pondered for a moment and then said, “Your ability is ‘Toxin Resistance’?”
Ji Jiu blinked in confusion.
Si Yin Yuan sensed the faint, almost nonexistent spiritual power on him and confirmed, “That’s right. However, your spiritual power is too low, so it’s easy to mistake you for an ordinary person.”
This explained why he could eat the pear without getting dizzy.
Only ability users possessed spiritual power, and although Ji Jiu’s spiritual power was easily overlooked, it could still be sensed with careful observation.
There were also a few ability users with the ‘Toxin Resistance’ ability in the base, but this ability was too weak. Besides ensuring that they wouldn’t starve or be poisoned in this post-apocalyptic world with a scarcity of food, there was hardly any opportunity to demonstrate it. Those who had this ability did the same jobs as ordinary people.
But Si Yin Yuan felt that this ability was a rare match for him. At least the young man wouldn’t go hungry.
Ji Jiu was still reminiscing about the taste of the strawberry-flavored nutrient solution when he heard the three humans before him discussing something seriously, their expressions solemn.
A sudden interruption broke the atmosphere of indifference between them. Yu Feichen, with a disheveled appearance, ran over. “Boss! I found traces of the escaping parasitic spines!”
Si Yin Yuan quickly turned to look at the cube he had brought along, inside which was imprisoned the parasitic spine that had rushed forward to devour Ji Jiu.
“It’s not the first-generation parasitic spine King?” Si Yin Yuan asked.
Yu Feichen shook his head in confusion. “But according to the information…”
Indeed, these doctors were the first group to be parasitized, so the parasitic spine king should have been produced within them.
Before he could finish his sentence, he fell silent, cursing under his breath, “I almost forgot, the information this time is completely unreliable. Those old guys in the base must have tampered with it.”
Si Yin Yuan didn’t say anything. He walked towards the hospital.
The once solemn and cold hospital lobby no longer resembled the place where lives were saved before the apocalypse. All that remained was dried blood.
Judging from the scattered and disordered equipment, one could imagine the panic that the people here felt when the apocalypse first broke out.
The hospital had turned into a slaughterhouse.
Even now, it seemed that one could still hear the angry cries of the lingering souls who refused to disperse.
Si Yin Yuan was accustomed to life and death situations, and he was originally unresponsive. But suddenly, he realized that there was a silly Ji Jiu following behind him.
He turned his head and said, “If you’re afraid…”
He stopped halfway through his sentence.
Ji Jiu was holding a ghost orange he had somehow obtained, eating it.
Si Yin Yuan pinched Ji Jiu’s cheeks after a moment of silence.
Ji Jiu: ??
With a helpless expression, he peeled off the orange skin that had a strange pattern and handed it to Si Yin Yuan, saying, “Please eat it, and stop pinching me.”
Only the owner could share food with him, no one else.
Si Yin Yuan lowered his head. The patterns on the orange peel formed a ghost-like expression, and it was gazing at him silently. It was a toxic mutation that could turn a living person into a ghost after eating it.
He refused.
Ji Jiu happily chewed on the orange peel, completely unconcerned.
Li Chao, with his bone spines retracted, stood up straight after seeing them and pointed to the morgue. “A lot of parasitic spines mutants ran away from there.”
Having excellent tracking skills was an essential skill for every hunter to ensure that the prey wouldn’t escape.
Si Yin Yuan said, “Once the parasitic spine king appears, it won’t abandon its host and escape. The only possibility is that we’ve caught the wrong one, and this one is just fatter.”
Yu Feichen grumbled, “Damn it, we were played by the mutants.”
Li Chao, who was thinking ahead, furrowed his brows. “The mutation rate of the mutants is too fast. In another six months, the spiritual essence concentration in the world will increase.”
“Our immediate concern is to find the parasitic spine king. It would be troublesome if it escapes,” Yu Feichen scratched his head in annoyance.
Spiritual essence?
Ji Jiu swallowed the last bite of the orange and looked at the three serious humans before him with confusion.
They seemed eager to find those stinky corpses. What’s so difficult about that?
A qualified little grass should learn to help its owner in times of trouble!
None of the three humans present noticed that a barely discernible wisp of black mist was snaking out from under Ji Jiu’s feet, tracing the faint scent left behind by the parasitic spine mutants, leading towards the morgue.