Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 96

My little grass

Ji Jiu picked up a struggling vine on the ground, suffering from the influence of death energy. Gentle green lights appeared in his hand, merging back into the vine.

Miraculously, the vine began to recover, returning to its original state. Surprised, a hint of amazement appeared in the golden eyes of Si Yin Yuan. “How did you…”

Ji Jiu let go of the vine. “This is my first ability. ‘Devour’ was my second ability that appeared after I endowed myself with vitality.”

He thought he wouldn’t need this ability again.

Si Yin Yuan studied the healed vine, realizing it wasn’t merely cured but actually rejuvenated. He fell silent for a moment.

Ji Jiu suddenly became nervous. “Are you not happy?”

His helpless look was pitiful.

Then, he was unexpectedly kissed.

Under the dazzling light curtain, he widened his eyes, and not willing to show weakness, he tiptoed, grabbing his owmer, initiating a deeper kiss for the first time.

When they finally parted, he looked up. “Are you still sad?”

Si Yin Yuan smiled. “I’m not sad anymore because I’ve found the truly perfect evolved species in the world.”

Ji Jiu slightly puzzled, opened his small mouth. “Is it the little grass?”

“Yes.” He lowered his head, brushing against the person’s nose. “It’s a tiny grass that can’t grow taller no matter what, my little grass.”

Ji Jiu was appeased, extending his hand to hook him.

The little grass didn’t care about being a failed or evolved species; his heart and eyes were filled with the owner. As for the rules set by others, what did they have to do with him, a tiny grass?

The Aster flower automatically withered within ten seconds of blooming, its dried petals falling onto the lifeless body of Weixian, appearing somewhat mocking.

After a night of intense struggle, the sun slowly rose at some point. Dawn’s light generously spilled over the land, illuminating the withered flower.

Due to the lack of a sample collection cube, Si Yin Yuan simply used his pocket handkerchief to wrap up the withered Flower and placed it in his pocket.

Although its bloom was short, the impact seemed significant.

Some nearby mutants couldn’t withstand it and died on the spot, while others were undergoing rapid mutation.

The sight gave him an uneasy premonition.

Ji Jiu was well-protected under his light curtain, observing those mutants. “They won’t undergo a second mutation because of it, will they?”

Si Yin Yuan shook his head. “Let’s go back first.”

They had to return to the base.

Maintaining the light curtain was extremely challenging; it automatically shrank while moving, barely enough to cover the two of them.

Ji Jiu decisively endowed vitality to himself once again and extended it to his owner.

As proven, individuals endowed with vitality were indeed unaffected by the pervasive death energy in the air.

As they walked back, they quickly found the group of hunters within the “Wonderland” by following the traces of the battle.

The situation was far from optimistic.

Most people had fallen directly, some injured ones had weakened breaths, and only a small group could barely stand.

Seeing them approaching, the remaining hunters stumbled over. “Captain, it seems like something suddenly increased in the air. They are all affected.”

These hunters realized it was not an ordinary poison; the elements of Gama within them seemed to be undergoing some turmoil.

It seemed that the death energy had indeed spread, but the extent was unknown.

Si Yin Yuan frowned tightly and provided emergency treatment for them.

Ji Jiu, not very proficient with this ability, endowed vitality one by one. As the green light points spread out, the conditions of these hunters significantly improved.

Except for the injured ones, most of them regained their autonomy.

Without wasting any time, they headed directly back to the base.

It took nearly half the time compared to the journey here to return to the base. Hearing the familiar announcement of safety upon entering the base gate, tears were almost shed.

They had seen too much along the way, and the impact of the death energy was more severe than they had imagined. The mutants along the way were basically divided into two types: those heading towards death and those undergoing new mutation.

They witnessed a hamster expanding to the height of a building and continuously growing larger.

With only one gatekeeper remaining, seeing the base leader finally return, he excitedly took off his hat. “Leader!”

Si Yin Yuan nodded at him. “Contact the director of the research institute to come see me.”

“Yes!” As if suddenly regaining his backbone, he wiped away the tears from his eyes, returning to his duties dutifully.

The death threat that shrouded the entire base was slightly dispersed with the return of their large group.

Si Yin Yuan and Ji Jiu, having helped the base overcome crises several times, had almost been deified into a new belief.

Ji Jiu leaned against the car window, looking at the base. “There are so few people.”

It was strangely sparse.

Hardly anyone was moving on the streets.

The hunters were in low spirits, and Yu Feichen suddenly slapped his forehead. “Oh, we have Ji Jiu’s abilities; we will surely get through this.”

His words were like injecting vitality into these hunters, and they eagerly prepared to assist. Si Yin Yuan’s expression remained serious.

Finally, they stopped at the entrance of the guild, and the lion, holding flowers in its mouth, still stood guard.

The once lively guild was now eerily quiet, with the door open but no one inside.

Even the familiar cat-girl figure was absent from the front desk.

Si Yin Yuan said, “Those with family members, go check on them first. Those without issues, find vacant positions and fill them directly.”

“Yes!”

They dispersed.

In the hall, another urgent set of footsteps approached, this time it was Hu Yan.

He seemed to be less affected by the death energy.

However, his complexion was still extremely pale. When he stopped, he grabbed the edge of the table to avoid falling, panting as he looked up. “Og and the others returned yesterday. Almost the entire team was affected, except for a hunter with a support-oriented ability who could still move. That’s how I managed to come back. All non-Awakened individuals in the base have fallen, and only some Awakened ones can still move, barely maintaining the base’s operation.”

“Many ordinary people who were originally in poor health or elderly have died in the past few days.”

People affected by the death energy almost all showed signs of a sudden drop in vitality, essentially collapsing and unable to move.

After this report, he forcefully took off his golden-rimmed glasses, and his once affectionate fox eyes were now filled with sorrow. “So, what exactly happened?”

Except for concealing the part about Weixian’s obsession with Little Grass, Si Yin Yuan almost word-for-word recounted the events of the past few days.

He took out the withered petals of the Aster Flower as a side note.

As the petals were squeezed with a handkerchief, they turned into fragments, appearing as typical signs of a flower wilting. No one could connect these elements to the sudden catastrophe that had occurred.

After listening to his words, Hu Yan suddenly fell into a daze. “You’re saying all of this happened because of a flower?”

Visibly deflated, as if suddenly losing some kind of belief.

Ji Jiu poked him, “What’s wrong with you?”

Hu Yan finally reacted and muttered, “No, we’ve tried many assumptions about the cause of the apocalypse.”

“Perhaps it’s a virus, a virus targeting all global species, or maybe it’s an alien invasion, or even a conspiracy of human self-destruction.”

“What nuclear leaks, what research institute experiments gone wrong… I’ve tried everything to find the source.”

His voice suddenly took on a sobbing tone, “But nothing fits.”

The voice rose sharply, even becoming piercing, “Do you know, when I calculated this result countless times, I almost went insane!”

This disaster that almost led to the extinction of humanity, none of it made sense!!!

No conspiracies, no need for baseless reasons. This crisis that almost wiped out all of humanity had nothing to do with humanity itself.

The simplest thing was the hardest to accept.

It was just a reshuffling of the Earth.

Like the extinction of dinosaurs millions of years ago.

The power of humanity was as tiny as a speck of dust, unable to resist, with no cure.

And now they were experiencing a second reshuffling, just like that night over three years ago. They were powerless against fate, even though the catastrophe had been predicted, they were still stepping slowly towards their final doom.

That flower completely shattered all his hopes. There was no reason; it was simply a failed evolution.

Whether it was the briefly blooming flower or their human race.

Ji Jiu saw him lose his sanity for the first time, like all the mud of the past three years pouring out, leaving behind only an empty shell without a soul.

He tilted his head, “But there’s still me, and my ability can solve this event, right?”

Just as the owner had just mentioned, for the sake of showing off, Little Grass deliberately released a bit of green light to give him vitality.

To prevent those dead energies from affecting him.

Even though his body had been redeemed, Hu Yan’s eyes were still filled with heavy deadness, “It’s useless. On the day of the incident, I surveyed it. This event is completely a second mutation, covering at least our entire continent, and more likely the entire Earth has started a second mutation.”

“The concept is that all ordinary people will die in the second mutation. Those who were not chosen in the first mutation will be forced to end their lives in the second, and most of the awakened will have to be stripped of flesh and bones again, taking another lap from the gates of hell. As for those awakened who were lucky enough not to be affected, even if they survive, they won’t be able to survive on the Earth after the second mutation.”

“I believe you’ve seen it on the way, the mutants that survived the second mutation have become stronger. The law of survival of the fittest is an unchanging rule.”

“Your ability cannot sustain large-scale output. How many people can you save? If you want to save half of the people in the base, you’ll collapse and fall first.”

Indeed, this statement is accurate. Ji Jiu’s energy can only handle the slow and inefficient teleportation of individual beings. He cannot achieve the large-scale task of endowing everyone with vitality. The harsh reality is that the living space for humanity has once again become difficult; once the second mutation ends, the mutants outside will basically be upped at their peaks and summits.

The time and opportunities left for humanity are extremely scarce.

Hu Yan self-mockingly smiled, “Humans have always believed that they are separate from the Tower Devouring Ecology. In fact, we are part of the it, but as a failed link in evolution.”

Since they have already failed, the struggles of these three years seem like a joke, a silent tragedy.

“No, wait!”

A sharp and decisive retort rang out, and Hu Yan instinctively looked up at the youth.

The delicate face, stained with dust from rushing on the road, now showed a few unusual shades of indifference.

The round apricot eyes became sharper due to anger. Ji Jiu maintained eye contact with him and spoke slowly, “Earth has never defined what is evolution and what is failure. As long as you survive, you have successfully passed the trial.”

Ji Jiu was genuinely angry; humans always tend to fuss over strange things.

What Hu Yan cares most about is that humans are in a failed position in this evolution. However, these things are meaningless in Little Grass’s eyes.

Whether one evolves or not is unimportant; what matters is to survive.

Not only for humans but also for countless mutants outside—there should only be one goal: to survive.