Level 1 Little Zombie Doomsday Growth Diary - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Qian Hui lowered his lashes. “Alright…”

To reach the base, he had to trust Nan Tingjin completely.

Nan Tingjin had also promised to stay by Qian Hui’s side at all times, acting as both his protector and guide.

The special-grade mutated plant was located in the Restricted Zone behind the base. Nan Tingjin would take Qian Hui there after they entered the base.

So Qian Hui continued practicing, replacing the blindfold with a thinner, more translucent cloth that allowed some light to filter through.

He slowly walked around the house, touching and hugging each plant to identify it.

By nightfall, the carrot and chili pepper “hair dye” was finally ready.

Qian Hui sat on the floor, a towel draped over his shoulders, his back leaning against his backpack.

Several plants busied themselves behind him. Chili Pepper, dissatisfied with Carrot’s meticulousness, summoned Money Tree and Little Cabbage to assist.

Strand by strand, the viscous dye was applied to Qian Hui’s silver hair, then wrapped in a towel and secured with several steaming chili pepper seeds.

Chili Pepper stood guard, replacing the cooling seeds with fresh, hot ones.

While waiting, Qian Hui fed the plants their dinner. Having won the day’s battle, each plant received an unlimited supply of jerky.

Potato, however, disliked jerky and demanded an entire bag of candy.

After some hesitation, Qian Hui bought it for him, warning him not to eat too much at once.

Potato grabbed the bag of candy, gave a perfunctory nod, and scampered off happily.

With the food distributed, it was time to divide the crystal cores, which filled an entire basin.

Chili Pepper had been eyeing them longingly. When Qian Hui brought over the small wooden basin, it immediately positioned itself nearby, eager to get its share.

Qian Hui roughly counted the crystal cores. There were over thirty in total, mostly from mid-grade zombies, with five high-grade cores that were smaller but purer in color.

Carnivorous Flower and Carrot didn’t need crystal cores. For the remaining four main combatants and Money Tree, the high-grade cores were distributed one per plant.

Qian Hui also reserved a mid-grade core for each of the smaller plants like Little Cabbage, ensuring everyone in the Plant Squad received a share.

Crystal cores differed from Skill Points in the Game. Beyond enhancing overall combat power, they also increased the probability of unlocking berserk skills.

Each plant’s berserk skill was unique. Some were enhanced versions of advanced skills, while others were completely different from their regular abilities.

Among all plant grades, special-grade mutated plants possessed berserk skills by nature—these were charged attacks. The probability of unlocking berserk skills gradually decreased from high-grade to low-grade plants.

Yet, despite the Plant Squad now numbering twelve members across high, mid, and low grades, only Chili Pepper had unlocked a berserk skill according to the Encyclopedia.

No wonder those humans had tried to capture Chili Pepper—it was truly extraordinary.

After distributing the crystal cores, Qian Hui worried that eating too many at once might cause indigestion, so he bought mini backpacks for the five plants.

The crystal cores could be stored in the backpacks, allowing the plants to carry them or leave them with Qian Hui to retrieve when they wanted a snack.

The backpacks weren’t just for crystal cores; they could hold anything. Potato picked up a backpack and stuffed in the half-eaten bag of candy.

Chili Pepper used chili pepper seeds to mark its backpack strap, then hurried off to help Qian Hui replace the chili pepper seeds on the towel.

Apple, the newest member of the Plant Squad, also received a crystal core. Little Cabbage brought it over, and Apple chose the smallest piece before settling down beside Qian Hui, hugging the core and gnawing at it with gusto.

Qian Hui stroked one of the leaves on Apple’s head and casually opened the Encyclopedia.

[ Species: Red Apple ]

 [ Grade: 1 ]

Huh? Thinking the system might be glitching, Qian Hui reopened the Encyclopedia, but it still showed Grade 1.

He remembered that when he first brought Apple back, the Encyclopedia had listed its grade as “low-grade”…

Apple continued to gnaw on the crystal core, which was the smallest piece. With a few satisfying crunch sounds, it finished the core in no time.

Apple wiped its mouth, and the text in the Encyclopedia flickered, its grade changing to “2.”

Qian Hui witnessed this firsthand, utterly astonished.

Apple’s grade wasn’t high, and its skills weren’t particularly remarkable. As a Support type, it could exhale a cloud of smoke to envelop itself, concealing its true form and either disguising itself or confusing enemies.

Unfortunately, it was too small, its Combat Power was low, and its movements were slow, rendering the smoke largely ineffective.

If the Game’s display wasn’t malfunctioning, could Apple be more special than Qian Hui had realized?

To test his theory, Qian Hui bought a pill that granted Defense Skill Points and fed it to Apple.

Overwhelmed by the attention, Apple twisted its head left and right, then burrowed into Qian Hui’s arms, secretly gnawing on the pill with its back turned to the other plants.

But after consuming the pill, Apple’s grade remained unchanged.

Qian Hui made a mental note of this, planning to feed Apple more crystal cores later if the opportunity arose.

Having finished the pill, Apple nuzzled against the back of Qian Hui’s hand, clinging to him and refusing to leave.

As they nearly finished distributing the crystal cores, Corn had quietly devoured several pieces. The Plant Squad’s Overall Combat Power had risen to 11,000, a slight increase from before their daytime battle against the Zombie Horde.

Qian Hui held the final crystal core, reserved for Mimosa.

He summoned Mimosa from his sleeve. The thumbnail-sized Mimosa slowly crawled onto the crystal core, which visibly began to shrink.

“Xiao Cao,” Qian Hui whispered, “would you like me to buy you a bottle of Evolution Liquid?”

He had a selfish motive: he wanted to quickly raise Mimosa’s Loyalty level.

In the days since bringing Mimosa with him, Qian Hui had followed the strategy guide’s advice, spending time talking to it daily and showering it with snacks.

Yet despite Mimosa’s apparent docility and its many helpful deeds, its Loyalty remained stubbornly at 30%.

Qian Hui was puzzled, feeling he must be missing something.

Now that he had ample credits, he decided to buy Evolution Liquid for Mimosa and planned to purchase additional Defense and Speed Skill Points.

Mimosa’s leaves lifted slightly, as if surprised.

After a moment’s hesitation, its leaves swayed gently, indicating it didn’t need the liquid.

Qian Hui blinked in surprise. “O-okay… Then how about Skill Points? They can make you stronger too.”

Mimosa’s leaves swayed again, brushing lightly against Qian Hui’s fingertip before retreating into his sleeve.

Though he had saved 3,000 credits and avoided buying Skill Points, Qian Hui felt a pang of disappointment.

After brooding privately for a while, he secretly sought out Sunflower.

Using its light to sense emotions and transmit information was one of Sunflower’s advanced skills. Qian Hui gently touched its leaves, hoping it could help.

Sunflower shook its petals, and a soft, warm light gradually spread, enveloping Qian Hui’s sleeve.

Inside, Mimosa felt only warmth and remained quietly curled up, motionless.

After a while, Sunflower told Qian Hui that Mimosa seemed gloomy and likely had something on its mind.

Something on its mind? Qian Hui felt a pang of worry, fearing he hadn’t been kind enough to Mimosa.

Sunflower sensed his concern and quickly reassured him that Mimosa adored him.

As for the specific reason for Mimosa’s gloom, Qian Hui would likely need to find an opportunity to ask it directly.

Qian Hui nodded and hugged Sunflower. “Thank you, Xiao Kui.”

As night fell, Little Cabbage emitted a circle of Cabbage Lamps around the room, illuminating the entire space.

Qian Hui’s hair should be ready by now. Chili Pepper had prepared a basin of hot water and called him back.

The dye proved difficult to wash out. Qian Hui lay with his head on a towel for a long time, the hot water in the basin being changed several times.

He tried to wash it himself, but the plants stopped him. Staring up at the ceiling, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Chili Pepper moved even more gently, washing away the dye and helping dry Qian Hui’s hair.

The plants didn’t wake Qian Hui. Nan Tingjin approached and gently lifted him from the ground, carrying him to the Cabbage Shell.

Carnivorous Flower opened the Cabbage Shell’s door, and Qian Hui was placed inside. Little Cabbage and Apple helped him remove his coat.

Midway through, he groggily opened his eyes, then rolled over and continued sleeping.

The next morning, Qian Hui finally saw the results of the hair dyeing.

He pinched a strand of hair, tilted his head, and examined it. “What color is this…?”

The dye was made from carrot paste mixed with the darkest leaves of the Money Tree. Qian Hui’s silver hair had been transformed into a rust-colored hue, appearing even darker in the shadows.

Chili Pepper and Little Cabbage had done a decent job; the color was relatively even. They had deliberately applied a thick layer to the crown and outer layers, ensuring no silver strands were missed.

Qian Hui stared at his reflection in the water basin, feeling vaguely uneasy.

He had always had silver hair. During the time he used the disguise medicine, he had been too preoccupied to pay much attention to his appearance.

“Does it look strange…?” Qian Hui fretted.

The surrounding plants shook their heads in unison. He then ran to ask Nan Tingjin.

“Does it look bad?” Qian Hui asked anxiously. “I…”

Nan Tingjin hadn’t recovered his memories yet. With his dyed hair, he looked completely different from before.

“It looks good,” Nan Tingjin said, picking up a strip of cloth and blindfolding Qian Hui.

The new hair color, combined with the blindfold, gave Qian Hui an air of mystery.

Nan Tingjin studied him for a moment, then took his hand. “All done.”

The disguise was nearly complete. If the dye faded in a few days, Carrot could always make more.

Now, only one problem remained: how to smuggle so many mutated plants into the base.

The last bottle of disguise medicine came in handy at this moment. Qian Hui could use it on one of the plants, causing the auras of all the surrounding plants to vanish simultaneously.

Qian Hui bought a larger backpack and had the plants climb in one by one.

After the Carnivorous Flower shrunk down, the Sunflower turned out to be the largest of the plants. The rest arranged themselves in descending order of size, with the smallest and lightest ones stacked on top.

This kept the backpack’s weight manageable.

Once they successfully entered the base, they could find a place to hide the plants.

With everything prepared, it was time to leave.

Qian Hui studied the map. When the Carnivorous Flower had left the forest, it had headed toward the side of Sector 5, which wasn’t far from Black Ridge Mountain Base.

Nan Tingjin didn’t have a communicator, so the Carnivorous Flower would still need to carry them most of the way. They would dismount and walk the final stretch.

Before leaving, Qian Hui hugged the now-larger Carnivorous Flower and fed it several pieces of its favorite dried meat.

“Thank you, Xiao Zi,” he said, stroking the flower’s snout. “You’ve worked so hard these past few days.”

The Carnivorous Flower swallowed the meat and lowered its head gently.

Once Qian Hui had shouldered his backpack and he and Nan Tingjin were settled, the Carnivorous Flower turned its head, sniffed the air, and quickly moved away from the area.

The journey went smoothly. The Carnivorous Flower deliberately chose remote and difficult routes along the edges of the low-risk zone to avoid human settlements.

Around six o’clock that afternoon, the Carnivorous Flower arrived at a spot some distance outside Sector 5.

The Black Ridge Mountain Base had an unusual layout; its entrance wasn’t within the safe zone’s Inner Circle but rather required circling around from the outer perimeter.

Worried about encountering humans nearby, the Carnivorous Flower shrank slightly, lowered its head, and slowly advanced along the route, planning to set Qian Hui down shortly.

The plants in the backpack occasionally peeked out, eager to reach the Human Base. None of them were afraid, especially Corn and Potato.

They had already defeated the Zombie King and the Zombie Horde. With Chili Pepper’s special skills, what was there to fear from a group of humans?

Carrot, never one to stay idle, pulled out its carrot thorn and glided ahead to scout the area.

As they drew closer to the Human Base, Qian Hui grew increasingly tense, nervously clutching the strip of cloth in his hand.

Nan Tingjin leaned closer and wrapped his arms around him from behind. “Don’t worry,” he murmured. “Everything will be alright.”

His breath, warm and reassuring, brushed against Qian Hui’s ear like a comforting kiss.

Qian Hui forced himself to calm down, nodding and murmuring, “Mm.”

Just then, Carrot darted back from a distance, landing on the Carnivorous Flower’s head and pointing sideways. “Woo woo!”

Qian Hui’s anxiety spiked. “Humans?”

Ahead lay a fork in the road, leading to different directions where humans might pass.

The Carnivorous Flower was supposed to have dropped them off earlier, but seeing no one nearby, it had continued a bit further.

This stretch of ruins had been cleared for vehicle traffic. Realizing they were about to encounter other humans, the Carnivorous Flower immediately stopped, shrank, and burrowed into the backpack.

Its sudden entry disrupted the carefully arranged positions inside, causing the other plants to jostle and shove each other.

Qian Hui patted the backpack to quiet them, then hastily tied the blindfold over his eyes.

He could have simply closed his eyes, but covering them entirely was safer, preventing him from instinctively opening them in a crisis.

As the backpack quieted, Nan Tingjin adjusted the blindfold for Qian Hui and took his hand.

The cloth was thin, and Qian Hui opened his eyes just a crack, catching a faint glimmer of light.

In the distance, the roar of approaching modified vehicles grew louder, clearly more than one.

Qian Hui silently prayed they wouldn’t recognize Nan Tingjin, that they would drive straight past, and that their vehicles lacked detection equipment.

Inside the backpack, Carrot clutched a bottle of disguise medicine, ready to open it and drink it at a moment’s notice.

Even if they were detected, it wouldn’t matter. The medicine would mask their scent, allowing them to claim it was a sensor malfunction or simply a mutated plant passing by. After drinking it, they could still make it to the base in time, though it would be a tight squeeze.

Qian Hui gripped the edge of his sleeve as Nan Tingjin pulled him forward a few steps.

Spotting two humans on the road, the lead modified vehicle gradually slowed down. The occupants seemed to recognize Nan Tingjin, slamming on the brakes.

Qian Hui held his breath. Inside the backpack, Carrot twisted open the medicine bottle’s cap with its leafy hand.

“Leader Nan?!” A man emerged from the vehicle, his voice filled with astonishment. “Is that really you?”

Nan Tingjin stopped walking, and Qian Hui immediately felt a probing gaze fall upon him.

Still holding Nan Tingjin’s hand, the speaker seemed even more astonished. He hesitated, “We heard the news… You were… And this is…?”

Nan Tingjin replied coldly, “Who are you?”

“My apologies,” the man quickly said. “I’m Qi Yue, squad leader from Cloud River Base. We were on our way back and happened to pass by.”

All three modified vehicles bore the same emblem. Cloud River Base was one of the Three Great Bases, with the closest ties to Sky Base.

“We’re relieved you’re safe,” Qi Yue said sincerely. “After the incident, we ordered all our teams to be extra vigilant, but unfortunately, we found nothing…”

He had a square face and a warm, upright demeanor, seeming genuinely concerned for Nan Tingjin’s well-being.

As the leader of one of the Three Great Bases, Nan Tingjin’s death at the hands of mutated plants would undoubtedly trigger widespread panic.

Nan Tingjin’s expression remained cold, showing no interest in engaging with Qi Yue.

Qi Yue had long known Nan Tingjin’s temperament. Despite his burning curiosity about Nan Tingjin’s experiences, how he had returned, and who the person accompanying him was…

He suppressed his questions and instead asked, “Are you heading back to the base? We’re not in a hurry. Would you like a ride?”

They were still some distance from the entrance to Black Ridge Mountain Base. Qi Yue didn’t have access to the base’s communication channels, and it seemed Nan Tingjin lacked any means of contacting his subordinates.

Hearing this, Nan Tingjin turned to Qian Hui. “Shall we go?”

Qi Yue was even more astonished to see Nan Tingjin actually consulting the person beside him. He discreetly studied Qian Hui, then subtly withdrew his gaze.

After a moment’s hesitation, Qian Hui nodded slightly. “Mm.”

Being driven would save him the trouble of walking, and these humans probably didn’t have any detection devices…

Inside his backpack, Carrot still clutched the disguise medicine, earnestly considering what form to take.

With their answer, Qi Yue quickly opened the rear car door, instructing the subordinates inside to move to another vehicle.

Two human ability users emerged from the back seat, one of them holding a detection instrument.

The instrument’s needle flickered, settling at a high reading.

Qian Hui, blindfolded and unable to see anything, felt Nan Tingjin’s gaze sweep over him before settling on Qi Yue.

They weren’t just carrying detection equipment; they had also picked up nearby energy signatures.

Sensing Nan Tingjin’s scrutiny, Qi Yue explained, “Oh, we captured a high-level mutant plant this time. We’re taking it back to the base.”

The mutated plant was in the vehicle, and the other subordinates assumed the energy readings originated from it, never suspecting Nan Tingjin.

As if to confirm Qi Yue’s words, a muffled thump suddenly echoed from the back seat.

At the same moment, Qian Hui received an alert about an unbonded mutated plant nearby.

One of the subordinates bent down and lifted a metal cage.

The cage was square and compact, almost completely sealed except for a few small ventilation holes at the top. Its exterior was strangely uneven, as if…

Thump—

Another muffled impact shook the cage, leaving a small dent.

Woo woo…

Accompanied by low growls, the plant inside seemed agitated, striking the cage again.

“This mutant plant has a very volatile temperament,” Qi Yue said with an apologetic smile toward Nan Tingjin. He instructed his subordinate to move the cage to another vehicle. “The anesthetic won’t last long. It’s probably just waking up.”