How to Raise a Baby in an Apocalypse - Chapter 391

“This is all what I gather by myself.” An Ran places the bag of crystal cores in Zhao Ru’s lap. “You use these first. When you finish, I’ll go collect more.”

She’s just too lazy to dig for crystal cores herself. Her plants don’t consume crystal cores, but they don’t deliver them to her either. So if An Ran wants crystal cores, she has to grab a hoe and dig underground.

Before, Little Mint and Hengheng collect the crystal cores for her. But Little Mint has just finished surgery and needs to rest, and Hengheng is busy cooking. No one is collecting for her now, or she’d have way more crystal cores than this.

Seeing Zhao Ru’s motivation, An Ran gives her a bag of crystal cores without telling Zhan Lian.

Zhao Ru looks at An Ran in surprise, frowning. “Did you get all these crystal cores by yourself?”

An Ran shrugs without explaining.

Her plants have little effect on the mutant mice, mutant cats, and copper-skinned zombies on the surface—so little that many only see her plants grow and then get eaten.

But no one knows how powerful her plants are underground.

Why do Zhan Lian and the others roam the yard without encountering danger? It’s not because there are only mutant mice and cats, nor because only those two species mutate.

The end of the world is a disaster for all living things—humans and animals alike. All animals mutate.

Is it because no creatures live underground? No. It’s because the creatures are still reproducing and not yet dense enough to break through the ground. Their eggs and young get eaten by the roots of underground plants before they develop hard fur.

An Ran never tells Zhan Lian this, let alone Zhao Ru.

It’s not that she wants to keep secrets, but she clearly knows her plants are still too weak. They only control juvenile creatures that are about to mutate and haven’t spread, and the few mice that have already mutated. She also hopes her plants will grow lush enough to feed those mice.

It’s a bit arrogant to say so. If An Ran doesn’t control the situation and lets any species spread unchecked, it’ll be a disaster.

After handing Zhao Ru the crystal cores, An Ran goes out to check on Doll.

As soon as she enters, she sees Zhan Lian holding Doll awkwardly, trying to change her diaper. When he sees An Ran, sweat dripping from his face, he sighs in relief. “You’re finally back. What should I do? Zhan Anxin pooped.”

Poop?!

An Ran suddenly smells a sour odor in the room. She looks at Doll on Zhan Lian’s lap, trying to lift her head, drooling, crawling forward with her butt covered in poop.

“Wipe her butt first. Don’t get it everywhere.”

An Ran hurries to find wet wipes, which she carries in her mommy bag. After some digging, she finds them and helps Zhan Lian clean the baby’s bottom. Then she struggles to put the diaper back on. By then, it’s already dark.