Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 50
Violent Beauty
This set of white bones was leaning against the wall, with some empty packaging bags scattered around.
Ban Tang approached and observed, “It shouldn’t be a work of a mutant; although there are traces of mutants invading the house, the basement doesn’t show signs.”
Furthermore, considering the level of preservation of the skeleton, it’s unlikely to be due to mutants.
Yu Feichen speculated, “Assassinated?”
Si Yin Yuan said, “No, he starved to death.”
Yu Feichen was surprised at first but then realized, “It does seem like there’s no food left in this house.”
The packaging bags scattered around the skeleton were all food packaging bags, but all of them were empty.
Si Yin Yuan nodded, “This corpse probably died about half a year ago. If he really came here shortly before the apocalypse and didn’t dare to step out of the basement after the apocalypse, then, over two years later, when the food in the villa was exhausted, he was trapped in the basement and starved to death.”
Yu Feichen shook his head, “Rather than starving to death, it’s better to go out and take a chance to find food.”
“Not everyone is willing to face the mutants.”
Ji Jiu shuddered in his arms.
Starved to death?
This was indeed a scary story for little grass like him.
His eyes, which had been indifferent when looking at the white bones, now held a touch of sympathy.
However, Si Yin Yuan misunderstood, and he patted Ji Jiu’s head soothingly, “Don’t be afraid, we’ll go outside soon.”
The scheming little grass immediately nodded, “Okay!”
Then he snuggled back into his owner’s arms, wearing a pitiful expression.
Si Yin Yuan thought to himself, “So obedient, it’s really heartwarming.”
The owner of this villa was already dead, they hadn’t found any useful clues in the villa, and the signal captured by the research institute wasn’t coming from here. Si Yin Yuan didn’t plan to linger and went directly to the next house.
The island was densely covered with vegetation, and they had just left the dark forest for a short time before entering an area dominated by blue-striped vines.
Large patches of red and blue marked the terrain, and the blue-striped vines enveloped them.
These vines, like tentacles, constantly writhed menacingly in the air, showing their fangs to this group of lost lambs.
Once you entered the territory of these mutants, you had to find the mastermind, or there would be countless vines with secondary brains rushing over to their deaths.
These secondary brain vines also had some level of independent thinking, they were fearless and persistent, as long as the mastermind was still present, new vines would continue to grow endlessly.
Ji Jiu immediately released black mist to locate the area with the highest concentration of Gama. He pressured the mastermind to emerge, and he grabbed the still writhing main brain vine, saying, “I’ve caught it!”
Gently and effortlessly, a slender hand grabbed the main brain of the blue-striped vine, causing it to freeze in fear.
Everyone present was somewhat dumbfounded.
Ji Jiu had a look of pure confusion on his face, and his exquisite features appeared even more elf-like in the sunlight. However, the violent action of his hand completely disrupted the harmonious image.
A violent beauty.
This phrase seemed to pop into everyone’s minds, except for Si Yin Yuan, the filter fanatic.
He walked over and directly destroyed the main brain while gently scolding, “What if your hand got hurt?”
At the same time, he checked Ji Jiu’s palm. Several red marks had been scratched on the soft palm by the rough part of the main brain vine.
Not even the skin was broken.
Si Yin Yuan found these red marks quite displeasing and used a healing spray provided by the research institute to treat them.
Yu Feichen was going crazy. He had just captured the main brain of the blue-striped vine with his bare hands. He was not a “little pitiful beauty” but a complete Tyrannosaurus rex!
Unfortunately, Si Yin Yuan couldn’t hear his inner scream.
After losing the main brains, the surrounding vines became motionless, even rapidly shriveling.
They had finally succeeded in reaching the second villa. Compared to the first one, this place looked even more brutal.
Due to its proximity to the blue-striped vines, the space inside was packed with them, leaving no room to even stand.
However, now these blue-striped vines were no longer moving, as the controller had been killed.
Li Chao quickly searched the house and said regretfully, “I didn’t find any people or bodies.”
It seemed like they had been consumed by the blue-striped vines, with no remains left.
The next several villas were all in similar states, mostly invaded by mutants with no corpses to be found. The situation of the next villa was different, as it appeared to be a case of dying of thirst.
Freshwater resources on the island were scarce, and this particular corpse had died clutching an empty water bucket in the bathroom, even earlier than the first corpse.
Ji Jiu tugged on his owner’s sleeve and asked, “If we don’t find anything, does that mean the mission has failed?”
Si Yin Yuan nodded. He had never held high hopes for the possibility of anyone surviving on this island. After all, they didn’t even know how long the distress signal had been transmitting, and for humans, this island was virtually impossible to escape from.
Ying Xiao, who had flown several circles over the island, drew a map using his naked eye and pointed to the last circled area on the map, saying, “This is the last one.”
Originally, the group’s emotions were somewhat low, but upon arriving at their destination, they were all surprised, and hope welled up within them.
This place was no longer just a villa; it was like a fortress.
A wall of iron surrounded the house, pockmarked with holes left by mutants’ attacks. However, it seemed that they hadn’t managed to breach this place, losing interest in this formidable structure.
The iron wall encircling the entire villa was covered in guns and surveillance equipment.
Judging from the bullet holes at the scene, the owner of this villa seemed to have no shortage of firepower.
In the post-apocalyptic world, firearms were not as effective as most superpowers, and this was the first time Ji Jiu had seen so many of them, unable to resist moving closer to observe.
Just as he peered in, a rebuke was heard from inside. “Who goes there? Stop!”
Ji Jiu didn’t expect the white device at the door to suddenly speak, which startled him. His initial reaction was to smash the device making the noise.
It turned out to be a villa intercom system, well taken care of.
Ji Jiu, like a startled rabbit, leaped back into his owner’s arms and tattled, “It scared me.”
The owner of the villa ran outside with a gun in his hand. When he saw them through the observation window, his voice quivered, “Are you… are you people?”
Li Chao nodded, “Genuine humans.”
Ji Jiu seemed worried and whispered to his owner, “He doesn’t seem very smart.”
Chen Zhaonian was on the verge of going crazy. It had been three whole years since he last saw other people.
He trembled all over and said, “Why… why are you here?”
Li Chao continued, “We received a distress signal from the island and came to help.”
Yu Feichen added, “Can you let us in, please?”
He had just killed another mutant that had lunged at them, and he was beyond frustrated.
Chen Zhaonian didn’t have time to verify the authenticity of their claims; he was just too excited. He opened the door and welcomed them inside.
Chen Zhaonian frequently swallowed his saliva and asked, “Who are you, really? What’s been happening outside? And why did your hand shoot bullets just now?”
He suddenly had so many questions, and from the chaos in his mind, he chose the three most useful ones.
Li Chao patiently explained, and Chen Zhaonian’s expression gradually changed. “You… you’re saying that it’s really the apocalypse outside? And humans have superpowers?”
Ji Jiu, curiously tilting his head, asked, “You really don’t know anything, do you?”
Such a clueless human.
Chen Zhaonian felt despondent. “I’ve lost contact with the outside world for three years.”
He suddenly lifted his head again, grasping Li Chao’s hand and asked, “Did you not see anyone else before coming here?”
Ji Jiu nonchalantly replied, “It seems like there’s only you left alive on the island.”
Chen Zhaonian slowly released Li Chao’s hand and murmured, “I see… so everyone’s gone.”
Suddenly, he raised his head again, “No, no, my best friend is still alive, he’s been with me this whole time.”
Ji Jiu looked slightly puzzled. “Where is he?”
When he came in, he didn’t sense the presence of another person in the villa, could it be that he was mistaken?
Chen Zhaonian stood up abruptly, clearly agitated, “Yes, yes, how could I forget such great news? I’ll bring him down immediately!”
He ran upstairs without looking back, almost losing his shoes in his hurry.
Yu Feichen said, “I have a bad feeling about this…”
Chen Zhaonian returned quickly, his face flushed with excitement. “He’s here! Let me introduce you to my friend, Chen Er!”
The room fell into silence.
There was nothing and no one next to him.
Only Ji Jiu replied earnestly, “Your friend seems quite unique.”
Chen Zhaonian clutched a stone with facial features.
Clearly, the friend he mentioned was this lifeless, gray, stony face.
Hearing Ji Jiu’s comment, his smile widened, “Yes, he’s a bit silent and doesn’t like talking. Most of the time, I’m the one doing all the talking. Luckily, I had him with me; otherwise, being alone for three years, I might have gone mad.”
Ji Jiu’s words made him completely drop his guard, and he chatted away with the stone.
Honestly, this scene was getting a bit eerie.
Chen Zhaonian had lost his mind.
Everyone present, except for Ji Jiu, had serious expressions. They didn’t want to interrupt Chen Zhaonian, fearing that it might agitate him.
Chen Zhaonian, who had been talking to himself, sensed something was wrong. His face darkened suddenly, “You don’t like my friend, do you?”
Ban Tang replied, “Of course not.”
His words sounded pale, and even his sincere expression seemed like a feigned defense.
Chen Zhaonian still had a stern expression. His gratitude toward them had turned into vigilant defensiveness. It was as if he could kick them out at any moment if he detected any disrespect towards his “friend.”
He had completely retreated into his own world. Once there was suspicion about his emotional attachment to the “friend,” he would exhibit a defensive and hostile attitude.
Ji Jiu didn’t understand all these complicated matters and didn’t know how humans could be driven insane by loneliness. He simply thought Chen Zhaonian had genuinely befriended a stone.
So, he proudly introduced his “friend,” Starfish, “Look, this is my friend Star.”
It was just like a child’s innocence, even though he had referred to it as a pet just yesterday.
Si Yin Yuan felt somewhat helpless.
Yu Feichen, on the other hand, was quite impressed by Ji Jiu. He didn’t expect the little powerhouse to have such a sensitive side.
He immediately played the emotional card.
Ji Jiu carefully hid the starfish again, completely unaware that he had made a significant impact.
Chen Zhaonian’s attitude instantly softened as expected. He smiled broadly, “Hehe, my brother is a bit shy.”
He gently patted the stone and muttered to himself, without any sign of the previous gloom.
From his words and actions, it was easy to see the importance he placed on this stone, and it was not an exaggeration to say he considered it a deep emotional connection.
They dared not show any surprised expressions, afraid of triggering him again, but they were fortunate to have Ji Jiu.
Li Chao remained completely unfazed, saying, “Alright then. If you and your friend don’t have any more questions, I have some questions to ask.”