Level 1 Little Zombie Doomsday Growth Diary - Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Qian Hui froze, stunned by Pomelo’s sudden escape.

The plants watched helplessly as Pomelo tumbled into the roadside ruins, leaving a trail of pomelo leaves scattered across the ground.

Nearby, Little Bitter Gourd scrambled to its feet, glancing timidly and curiously at Lettuce and the other plants behind it before turning to chase after Pomelo.

Carrot sighed, shaking its head. “Woo…”

Guided by Mimosa, their journey proceeded smoothly. The area’s energy was clean, with minimal interference.

Still… they couldn’t understand why Pomelo had been lying in the middle of the road, or where Little Bitter Gourd had come from.

But Pomelo’s immediate flight upon seeing them suggested it wouldn’t willingly return…

Cabbage looked utterly dejected. Pea scratched its head and turned to Qian Hui.

Understanding the plants’ feelings, Qian Hui stepped forward. “Let’s not rush. We’ll go look for it.”

Though Pomelo had escaped, its entry in the Game Encyclopedia had already been unlocked.

Like all the plants in the Little Courtyard, Pomelo’s Loyalty had instantly risen to 100%.

Qian Hui felt this meant Pomelo definitely had feelings for him and the other plants.

Carrot handed Mimosa to Qian Hui. The sensitive plant nestled against Qian Hui’s fingertip, its raised leaves continuing to point the way.

The two modified cars temporarily parked by the roadside, guarded by some of the plants. Carrot, Lettuce, and a few others followed Qian Hui, along with Nan Tingjin, into the ruins.

The low-risk zone was indeed desolate, with only scattered debris and rubble littering the ground. The horizon stretched clearly into the distance.

Cabbage led the way, kicking aside large stones. Lettuce and Big Pea leaped to higher vantage points to scout ahead, while Carrot brought up the rear, scanning the surroundings.

Following Mimosa’s guidance, they soon encountered Little Bitter Gourd.

Little Bitter Gourd seemed to be searching for Pomelo as well, clutching several pomelo leaves in its arms and constantly looking around.

When it spotted Qian Hui and the other plants, it quickly ducked behind a rock.

Pea suddenly jumped onto the rock, peering down at it. “Woo?”

Little Bitter Gourd’s eyes widened in terror, frozen in place.

“Dou Dou?” Qian Hui called out. Big Pea scratched its head and hopped away. Cabbage hurried past, dropping a packet of jerky beside the rock.

The aroma of dried meat made Little Bitter Gourd’s eyes light up. It dropped the pomelo leaves it had been holding and eagerly grabbed the meat jerky.

It buried its face in the package, sniffing deeply before tearing it open and devouring several large bites.

When it finally looked up, Qian Hui and the other plants had already moved some distance away.

Lost in thought, Little Bitter Gourd prepared to follow them.

But after only a few steps, it doubled back, picked up a fallen pomelo leaf, and clutched both the leaf and the meat jerky as it resumed its pursuit.

Despite its small and slender frame, Little Bitter Gourd was surprisingly clever. It caught up with Qian Hui and the plants, but instead of approaching directly, it quietly trailed behind them.

Cabbage and Pea noticed it but made no move to stop it.

After about ten minutes of walking, Mimosa’s leaves drooped.

Qian Hui followed its gaze to a pile of jagged stones stacked haphazardly on the ground, slightly taller than the surrounding rubble.

He instructed the plants and Nan Tingjin to wait where they were and slowly approached the stone pile alone, crouching down.

“Youyou?” Qian Hui called out tentatively, but the stone pile remained silent.

Softening his voice, he continued, “Youyou, we came all this way just to find you.”

Inside the “room,” buried beneath a pile of leaves, Pomelo slowly opened its eyes.

“Lettuce saw you here a while ago and told me about it later.”

“Did you see the wooden chip Xiao Juan brought? We have a new Little Courtyard now, and everyone’s there.”

“The new Little Courtyard is very big. You can live wherever you want,” Qian Hui continued. “We all miss you very much.”

He waited patiently. After a moment, a stone at the bottom of the pile tumbled down, revealing a gap.

Pomelo slowly crawled out, its body draped in leaves, and nervously looked up at Qian Hui.

So… they really came to take it back?

Pomelo felt a surge of excitement, but it tried not to show it too clearly.

It had secretly been thinking that even if Qian Hui and the plants hadn’t come, it would probably have gone to the address on the wooden chip anyway.

It just wasn’t sure when it would get there…

“Youyou?” Qian Hui exclaimed with delight, reaching out to gently pull Pomelo into his arms.

Brushing aside the leaves covering Pomelo’s face, he asked, “Will you come back with us?”

Pomelo remained still and silent for a moment before letting out a soft, muffled “woo.”

Qian Hui smiled and patted its head. “Good.”

After being apart for so long, Pomelo seemed unchanged: still quiet, still preferring solitude.

It was somewhat like Nut, but even more reserved.

Qian Hui, however, had undergone a transformation since arriving here.

Initially, he had relied entirely on Nan Tingjin to teach him how to speak and write. His thinking was slow and clumsy, and his interactions with the plants were purely instinctive.

Now, Qian Hui was becoming more “human,” his thoughts more nuanced. He could even sense the emotions Pomelo tried so hard to conceal.

Holding Pomelo, Qian Hui lingered, not yet returning to the other plants. He murmured, “Were you lying by the road earlier, waiting for me too?”

Pomelo was too embarrassed to admit it, but equally reluctant to deny it. The leaves sprouting from its head drooped further, obscuring its eyes.

Qian Hui didn’t press the matter. He pulled a packet of dried meat from his pocket and offered it to Pomelo.

A rustle came from beneath the thick leaves as a hand slowly extended to take the meat, then quickly retreated.

Pomelo was already hungry, and as it hid beneath its leaves, preparing to sneak a bite, it suddenly remembered Little Bitter Gourd.

Was Little Bitter Gourd still at the crossroads?

Now that Qian Hui and the other plants had arrived, perhaps they could bring it to the Little Courtyard too…

Thinking this, Pomelo deliberately tore off several leaves, revealing half of its face.

Hesitantly, it reached out and grabbed Qian Hui’s sleeve. “Woo…”

“What’s wrong?” Qian Hui turned around, leading Pomelo back the way they had come.

Seeing their success, the other plants immediately surrounded them, while Nan Tingjin remained standing at the rear, motionless.

Just then, Little Bitter Gourd spotted Pomelo in Qian Hui’s arms and rushed over, crying, “Woo woo!”

Lettuce asked curiously, “Woo?” Pomelo, is this your friend?

Most plants could roughly understand each other’s speech.

Little Bitter Gourd heard Lettuce’s question and, clutching its dried meat and pomelo leaves, nodded enthusiastically.

Pomelo, however, shook its head vigorously, scattering several more leaves. “Woo!”

I don’t know it!

Big Pea stared back and forth between the two plants. Pomelo’s denial didn’t seem to bother Little Bitter Gourd, who remained cheerful, waving its dried meat.

At that moment, Cabbage opened Carrot’s backpack, retrieved a wooden chip, and handed it to Little Bitter Gourd.

It let out a few “woo woo” sounds, its eyes filled with anticipation, asking Little Bitter Gourd if it wanted to go to the Plant Base.

Little Bitter Gourd took the wooden chip and examined it without surprise.

It looked at Pomelo, nodded, and pointed to the side.

“Woo,” Little Bitter Gourd counted on its fingers, “woo…”

One, two, three…

Little Bitter Gourd told Cabbage that there were several other plants in that direction.

It turned out that Cabbage had scattered wooden chips throughout the surrounding area that day, and Little Bitter Gourd had noticed them long ago.

Moreover, it had coincidentally encountered Pomelo, accepted the dried rations Pomelo offered, and, when close enough, detected the faint aura of a special-grade mutated plant emanating from Pomelo.

Little Bitter Gourd assumed Pomelo was from the Plant Base.

Though the process had gone awry, the result seemed roughly the same…

Cabbage gestured for a long time, conveying Little Bitter Gourd’s information to Qian Hui.

Qian Hui struggled to understand, piecing together the meaning through deduction and guesswork. Finally, he nodded. “Alright, let’s go check it out.”

This was one of their reasons for venturing out. Besides, the area was too desolate. If plants were living nearby, their situation must be dire.

Little Bitter Gourd quickly devoured half a bag of dried meat and took the lead.

Its courage had grown considerably, and it began to “woo woo” as it walked.

Big Pea leaned in to listen closely.

Little Bitter Gourd explained that it and a group of plants lived nearby. The area was resource-poor, and the human safe zone was just a short distance away, making it unsuitable for mutated plants.

However, precisely because of this, there were few zombies in the area, and human teams often passed through.

These humans would sometimes stop to rest nearby, occasionally leaving behind scraps of food after they left—such as stale, inedible rations or slightly sour bread—which the plants relied on to survive.

They knew they could find more food in the forest, but they didn’t know how long it would take to get there, and leaving this area would likely mean encountering zombies.

Since the massive explosion at the largest base some time ago, however, human teams had rarely passed through…

Big Pea felt a pang of guilt.

It scratched its head, not daring to admit that they had been the ones who destroyed the base.

Meanwhile, at the crossroads…

The pursuing squad rounded a corner of the ruins and spotted two modified cars parked quietly by the roadside.

They had assumed the mutated plants would head for forested areas or similar environments, completely unprepared to find them stopped in this area.

But turning back now was too late; the occupants of the other cars might have already seen them.

The captain pondered, “Just drive past. Don’t make any sudden moves.”

Fortunately, this road led to several bases, and Cloud River Base had recently ceased its patrols in the area. However, no one dared venture to the former site of Sky Base.

They could pretend to be a team passing through by chance and leave without incident.

Whoever was driving the other cars likely wouldn’t recognize them.

The squad members instinctively assumed the modified cars must contain personnel from Black Ridge Mountain Base.

After the captain’s order, the others quickly tidied up, with those in the back seats lying down to feign sleep.

The car gradually accelerated as the captain transmitted their current coordinates, closing the distance to the modified cars ahead.

Meanwhile, the plants hiding inside the cars were tense and anxious.

Qian Hui and Carrot were both absent. The identity of the newcomers remained a mystery, and if a fight broke out…

Big Peanut’s fists clenched, ready to charge out at any moment.

Fortunately, the vehicle passed them without stopping, disappearing into the distance.

The plants sighed in relief and settled back down to wait.

Four-Leaf Clover, however, found the situation odd. Weren’t these people curious about a strange vehicle appearing in their territory?

It silently noted the incident, pulled out a whetstone from its backpack, and sharpened the edges of its leaves.

Meanwhile, Little Bitter Gourd had been walking for quite some time. Pomelo was heavy, and halfway through, Qian Hui nearly dropped it and had to set it down.

After another ten minutes, Little Bitter Gourd climbed onto a large rock and shouted loudly into the ruins ahead, “Woo!”

A moment later, six or seven plants suddenly sprang from the once-silent and empty ruins.

They were on high alert, several wielding stones or thin iron rods as makeshift weapons.

Cabbage squinted. One bitter gourd, two bitter gourds…

All of them were Little Bitter Gourd!