How to Raise a Baby in an Apocalypse - Chapter 364

Yun Tao seems used to it. He sees the strange phenomenon unfold but doesn’t react much at all.

Zhao Ru, who stands closest to the cactus field, forms her mouth into an “O” shape. She holds it like that for a few seconds, then closes it and says calmly, “You’re using cactus traits to set up an ambush like this? And you’re just casually showing off this kind of power? Aren’t you afraid of being taken away for dissection?”

The ground in front of them is covered with thorns. A single cactus, under An Ran’s ability, splits into multiple smaller ones, growing in dense clusters. The spikes on each round cactus look sharper than those of ordinary varieties.

This is definitely not something a normal wood-type ability user can pull off. If this happened in a large survivor base, An Ran would probably be captured and dissected by now.

An Ran glances at Zhao Ru but doesn’t respond. She just keeps pushing the cacti to grow. She knows this small patch of cactus alone isn’t enough to stop an incoming wave of mutant cats and mice.

As for Zhao Ru’s warning—that showing off will get her dissected—An Ran has already made herself clear: they both have vulnerabilities. If Zhao Ru ever betrays her, she’ll make sure Zhao Ru never has peace again.

Using her ability drains An Ran’s energy fast. If the cacti were growing on flesh and blood, they’d flourish by now. Compared to that, encouraging plant growth in ordinary soil is far less efficient and much more exhausting.

At that moment, Little Mint has already prepared a batch of crystal cores, though she doesn’t come in person. Instead, Heng Heng, bright-eyed and helpful, runs over carrying a small bucket filled with them and hands it to An Ran.

An Ran pats Heng Heng’s little head, picks up the bucket, grabs a handful of crystal cores, and begins absorbing them rapidly.

Zhao Ru, standing nearby, can’t help blurting out in surprise, “You absorb crystal cores that fast? You don’t even get stuck?”

“The moment I heard you say that, I could tell—you’re the type who always wants people to take a break,” An Ran replies, turning her head briefly while continuing to absorb. “If you’ve ever been through a few corpse tides, you’d know—time is survival. Who has time to get stuck while absorbing crystal cores? That’s how you die.”

An Ran doesn’t even understand what Zhao Ru means by “getting stuck.” All she knows is that her energy runs out quickly, so she has to absorb fast and in large amounts. To her, any ability user who gets stuck while absorbing crystal cores clearly hasn’t experienced the pain of running on empty. Once you’ve gone through that kind of desperation, you stop being so delicate about crystal core absorption.

Zhao Ru stands silently for a moment, staring at An Ran with a thoughtful expression as she watches her grab crystal cores by the handful, absorb them in seconds, then toss aside the resulting white ash.

Honestly, no one else absorbs like this. At least none of the elemental ability users Zhao Ru has observed—including Lei Jiang. His earth-type powers are already very strong, but he doesn’t absorb crystal cores the way An Ran does.

After An Ran finishes, Zhao Ru pulls her aside and holds up a crystal core to demonstrate.

“Look, when we absorb crystal cores, we do it one at a time. That’s because the energy inside is really hard to extract. Even if you manage to extract it, it comes out in stops and starts—not smoothly. That’s why we get stuck while absorbing. Like this—”