Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 9
Hu Yan stood on the roadside, coldly watching the grand procession of the escort team and the church as they departed. The curve of his lips carried a mocking smirk.
He lit a cigarette and took a deep inhale before exhaling. “What a bunch of useless people.”
Si Yin Yuan walked over with Ji Jiu, his eyes deepening at the words. “That may not be true for the High Priest. We still don’t know what awakened ability he possesses. It’s best not to underestimate him.”
Hu Yan looked at him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. “Of course, you’re always cautious. It’s rare to see you needing my help.”
Si Yin Yuan furrowed his brow. “I thought you quit smoking?”
Hu Yan took another drag, letting the smoke fill his lungs before exhaling. He smirked, the cigarette dangling from his lips. “I had a change of heart a few days ago. Who cares about these things in the apocalypse?”
Ji Jiu was curious about things he had never seen before, finding it amusing to watch Hu Yan blow smoke.
Si Yin Yuan warned, “Don’t smoke in front of the child.”
“And don’t use foul language,” he added.
Hu Yan choked for a moment, his gaze filled with frustration. “Are you trying to raise a minor?”
He looked at Ji Jiu, whose face appeared youthful, and quickly stubbed out the cigarette.
In the apocalypse, cigarettes and alcohol had become precious commodities. He looked at the half-smoked cigarette with a pained expression.
Ji Jiu became angry. “I’m already twenty years old!”
He even extended his hand to make the gesture of twenty.
Ever since he gained consciousness in the form of a seed, when he had wandered aimlessly for fourteen years, thinking he would never sprout and would end up as a meal for some bird, he found himself in a seed shop and was brought home by Si Yin Yuan.
Although the environment hadn’t changed much, it was Si Yin Yuan who managed to bring him to life. From that point on, his world was no longer in darkness.
Si Yin Yuan had bestowed upon him a new light.
Perhaps because he was the only living being Si Yin Yuan could care for, he doted on the small grass that had grown three centimeters in three years. He shielded it from the scorching sun and strong wind, spending three years nurturing Ji Jiu into a delicate and fragile personality.
Every year, Ji Jiu counted on his fingers, and this year happened to mark twenty years.
He had become an adult grass.
Hu Yan wore a skeptical expression. “You look no older than eighteen.”
Si Yin Yuan took out a candy and pacified Ji Jiu, who was about to explode from Hu Yan’s teasing, then quickly explained their purpose.
Hu Yan exclaimed, surprised, “You want me to perform a brain examination on him?”
Ji Jiu was busy struggling with a piece of colorful candy wrapper and didn’t pay attention to their conversation.
Si Yin Yuan nodded and briefly described the young man’s lack of common knowledge, omitting some specific details.
For some reason, he didn’t want others to know that he had been mistaken by the young man as a substitute.
Hu Yan nodded in understanding. “Just follow me.”
After arriving at the research institute, Ji Jiu was pushed into a strange apparatus and lay down. He felt nervous and held onto Si Yin Yuan’s clothes, not letting him go.
Like a small animal unwilling to leave its nest.
Hu Yan had expected him to let go of the young man, as in all the years he had known Si Yin Yuan, he had never seen him show any softness or fondness for anyone.
To his surprise, Si Yin Yuan just paused for a moment and then looked up, saying, “Let’s begin like this.”
He naturally indulged Ji Jiu.
Hu Yan reevaluated in his mind the weight Ji Jiu held in his friend’s heart, showing no change on his face. “Alright.”
The examination results quickly came out, and Hu Yan frowned as he held the paper. “All the parameters are normal and average to the point where they could be included in a textbook.”
It was strange that all the data was too average, which made it suspicious.
He paused and remembered that Si Yin Yuan had said he found Ji Jiu in the “Waste City.”
Almost unconsciously, he took what Ji Jiu had just scanned and put it into the device for measuring gama concentration.
Si Yin Yuan recognized the device, but he didn’t say anything.
The test results slowly appeared on the computer, displaying an alarmingly low number: 4.2.
Although such concentration was too low for an awakened individual, Hu Yan felt relieved.
Gama was a tiny element that caused mutations and was defined after the apocalypse.
The gama content of mutated beings was always between 95 and 100, while humans were divided into ordinary people with no gama content and awakened individuals with gama content. Most awakened individuals had gama concentrations between 20 and 40, with some exceptions.
In addition to awakened individuals with weak abilities, there was another special case—Si Yin Yuan.
He possessed a full 80 gama concentration.
The highest detectable gama concentration for humans was 100, but it didn’t represent the true highest level.
Currently, there was no discovery indicating a direct relationship between gama and mutations.
Ji Jiu blinked innocently.
Hu Yan adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and picked up the paper for examining the brain. “The machine didn’t detect any issues. This machine is the latest one for checking the brain from before the apocalypse, but I can’t guarantee that it’s always accurate. After all, the human brain is a mysterious thing.”
Si Yin Yuan looked down at Ji Jiu and, sensing his gaze, Ji Jiu immediately looked up and smiled at him, appearing obedient and soft.
In response to that smile, Si Yin Yuan unconsciously curved his lips. He gently patted Ji Jiu’s head and said, “Forget it.”
Regardless of why the young man’s memories had caused him to mistake someone else for him, Si Yin Yuan was determined to take care of him.
Having one more mouth to feed wouldn’t have a significant impact on his life.
Hu Yan raised an eyebrow. “My time is also precious. Helping your kid with the examination isn’t a free service. Next time you go on a mission, remember to get me more cigarettes as compensation.”
Si Yin Yuan couldn’t deny it. “I caught a living parasitic spine mutant for you.”
Hu Yan’s eyes widened suddenly. “What!?”
“It’s a fully matured parasitic spine king.”
Hu Yan became excited to the point of breaking into a high-pitched voice. “Dad! From today, you’re my dad! Where’s my little baby!?”
He seemed completely different from the refined person just moments ago.
It was the first time Ji Jiu had seen a human calling a mutated being a little baby. He thought to himself, Si Yin Yuan wouldn’t lie. This human before him was truly peculiar.
Si Yin Yuan remained calm about this person’s duality. “Later, I’ll have San Mang from the guild bring it to you. But you have to promise me one thing.”
Hu Yan couldn’t process anything in his mind. He gritted his teeth. “Fine. I’m willing to try anything, no matter how twisted and abnormal your request may be.”
He was willing to do anything for a living mutated being, even invent a particle cannon if necessary.
Si Yin Yuan patted Ji Jiu’s head. “I hope that from now on, all the nutrient solutions you provide me will be strawberry-flavored.”
Ji Jiu perked up, catching the keyword. His mouth was still holding the candy Si Yin Yuan had given him, and his eyes sparkled.
Strawberry flavor? What strawberry flavor?
Hu Yan couldn’t have imagined that one day such words would come out of Si Yin Yuan’s mouth.
He remembered that when he boredly developed the strawberry-flavored nutrient solution, Si Yin Yuan didn’t express any opinions, but his eyes glared at him mercilessly.
The contrast was too great, even though he knew it was for Ji Jiu, he couldn’t help but curl his lips. “Is that it?”
As if afraid that he would change his mind, Hu Yan quickly added, “Alright! Next time you go on a mission, if you have a chance, bring me back a living mutant or a sample.”
He almost couldn’t bear to part with the cube containing the parasitic spine king.
Si Yin Yuan’s gaze grew deep. “Perhaps you’ve heard of the Aster Flower?”
Hu Yan paused for a moment before shaking his head. “I’ve never heard of it.”
Si Yin Yuan took out the mission summary submitted by Yu Fei Chen. The writing on it seemed as if it came from a grade-schooler’s hand, but it detailed the scene where the parasitic spine king operated on a corpse and uttered the words “Aster Flower.”
Perhaps those five words were just random sounds it made, but they couldn’t take it lightly.
They didn’t want to miss any potential information about the apocalypse.
Hu Yan took a quick glance at the summary and his expression instantly turned serious. “I’ll investigate.”
…
It wasn’t until the next day that Si Yin Yuan had time to take Ji Jiu to the marketplace.
Most of the storefronts in the base had been converted into living spaces, crowded with survivors. The so-called marketplace was more like a morning market.
There were markets in the east, west, and south, where most of the sellers were ordinary people struggling to make a living. Sometimes, they didn’t even need points; they could exchange goods for food, clothing, or water.
Ji Jiu had only walked a short distance inside but his hands were already filled with delicious treats.
The marketplace sold various strangely-shaped edible products made from distorted beings. These products were cheap, although they contained trace amounts of toxins that would accumulate in the human body. However, many ordinary people still chose to eat them to stave off hunger.
Ji Jiu held a mutated black pistachio in his hand, cracking it open and eating the insides.
Hearing the overly crisp sound, Si Yin Yuan turned his head and quickly took away the other black pistachios.
Ji Jiu looked up in confusion, his mouth still crackling.
It made one’s teeth ache just listening to it.
Si Yin Yuan said, “…the shells aren’t meant to be eaten.”
“Why?” Ji Jiu was even more puzzled. “But they’re delicious.”
The taste of the mutated pistachios was sour, similar to dried plums, but the shells were hard and bitter. However, Ji Jiu’s taste buds were different from those of humans. As long as the food he ate contained karma, he found it delicious.
Si Yin Yuan helped him peel off all the shells, resembling a strict yet doting parent. “Don’t eat random things.”
“Okay.” Ji Jiu received the black pistachio without shells and ate it, but his eyes were still fixated on the discarded shells.
Si Yin Yuan measured Ji Jiu’s size with his eyes and bought clothes for him. After carrying bags of various sizes, he turned around and found that Ji Jiu, who had just been obediently by his side, had disappeared.
Missing along with him was the bag of pistachio shells.
Si Yin Yuan:…
Finally, he found a pitiful Ji Jiu in front of a stall selling hot soup.
And there was the bag of pistachio shells.
Only, the bag was now empty.
Ji Jiu’s mouth was stuffed, bulging with shells he hadn’t had time to swallow.
He innocently looked at Si Yin Yuan. “Mmm… I didn’t sneak a taste!”
Like a squirrel with its cheeks filled with acorns.