Level 1 Little Zombie Doomsday Growth Diary - Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Timothy and the other plants had arrived at a distant location—a crossroads on the outskirts of the base.

This spot served as both a mandatory passage to the base and a vantage point for observing its activities, making it ideal for gathering intelligence.

The only drawback was the barren landscape: bare ground and partially cleared ruins stretched in all directions.

After searching the area, the plants managed to find a suitable spot and hastily constructed makeshift shelters from piled stones.

The most complete and refined shelter, naturally, belonged to Timothy. White Hydrangea carefully dusted off the interior and skillfully arranged the small bed from its bundle.

Timothy ate some dried rations pilfered from a human vehicle, stepped inside, circled the bed, and curled up to rest.

Having maintained peak concentration throughout the long journey, it was the most exhausted among them.

The other plants moved quietly, minimizing noise as they swiftly organized their new “living quarters,” assigned night watch duties, and gradually settled down to sleep.

As dawn approached around 6:00 AM, the sky began to lighten.

The narrow ruins lay silent. Upon closer inspection, one could faintly discern several small stone shelters scattered among the rubble.

A Baby’s-breath and an Orchid stood guard nearby, constantly monitoring their surroundings.

There were no unusual developments at Black Ridge Mountain Base either. The Ability User Patrol Team had expanded its patrol area, but they hadn’t reached the crossroads where the plants were stationed.

Moreover, there were few zombies in the vicinity; the Patrol Team’s primary targets were humans.

Qian Hui slept fitfully, waking several times before finally getting up before ten in the morning.

The first thing he did upon waking was check the status of the plants in his Encyclopedia.

He paid particular attention to Pomelo, whose berserk skill was the most powerful and thus required the quickest recovery.

Thanks to Pomelo, yesterday’s Faction Conflict had been a resounding victory.

But if the interrogated man hadn’t lied, more Ability Users with potions would be coming to attack the base—they might already be on their way.

Before going to bed last night, Qian Hui had prepared plenty of mana medicine for Pomelo. Now, upon opening the Encyclopedia, he saw that its charge progress had reached 20%.

Compared to the recovery speed of other special-grade mutated plants after using their berserk skills, this seemed rather slow.

Waiting for Pomelo to fully recover might not be enough time… Both bases needed to prepare thoroughly.

The bases that had formed connections with Qian Hui through purchasing Mushroom Water had proactively sent greetings and offered assistance, and their reinforcements were currently en route.

As Qian Hui stepped out of the wooden cabin, Little Cabbage and Little Mushroom ran up to greet him.

He scooped up Little Mushroom and tucked it into his pocket, then slowly walked outside. “Want to sleep a bit longer?”

Little Mushroom had waited up for Qian Hui until dawn last night, and now its eyes were barely open. It nodded sleepily and burrowed into Qian Hui’s pocket.

Many other plants in the base had also awakened and were busying themselves with various tasks.

Carnivorous Flower and Cabbage were training the new plants, teaching them how to cooperate.

Nut hopped along the perimeter wall, inspecting whether the ground spikes had been properly installed.

Lettuce was studying how to operate the three-barrel cannons positioned along the wall, assigning them to suitable plants.

Carrot and Chili Pepper stood apart, holding blank wooden boards as they discussed specific combat preparations.

Pomelo had also woken up and was being led around the base by Sunflower, who took the opportunity to chat with it.

In the entire base, only the Little Lotus Roots and Little Bitter Gourds, who had joined just yesterday, seemed to have the most free time.

The Little Lotus Roots were still acclimatizing to the lake environment, while the nine Little Bitter Gourds desperately wanted to join the attack squad but lacked the strength. Instead, they followed Apple and Brittle Peach around, helping wherever they could.

Upon waking up, each Little Bitter Gourd found a small wooden chip around its neck, engraved with numbers from one to nine on both sides for easy identification.

Seeing Qian Hui, Chili Pepper immediately rushed over.

It opened the small backpack behind it, revealing two communicators, and showed one to Qian Hui.

Sunflower and Pomelo happened to approach at that moment, followed by Carrot.

Qian Hui held the worn communicator, scrolling through Chili Pepper’s chat history with a mysterious signal.

“A plant that can use text too?” he murmured, frowning slightly. “Who is it?”

Chili Pepper shook its head, feeling deeply ashamed. It hadn’t even asked what kind of plant it was communicating with.

This morning, while Qian Hui was still asleep, it had sent two messages, but for some reason, they didn’t seem to have been delivered properly.

Having encountered another plant capable of using human communicators, Chili Pepper was eager to meet it.

It even wondered if the mysterious plant had already set out for the base, which might explain the unstable signal and undelivered messages.

Chili Pepper’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. “Woo!”

It said it might come to help! It must be a very powerful plant!

Sweet Pepper, leading a newly formed attack squad, passed by and glanced at the communicator. Nodding in agreement with Chili Pepper, it quickly moved on.

Carrot, however, remained cautious, leaning in to examine the communicator with suspicion.

Could it be a human pretending to be a plant? But Chili Pepper had said it heard the other plant’s voice yesterday.

As Carrot studied the chat history, it couldn’t shake the feeling that the other party’s attitude was subtly off.

It couldn’t quite put its finger on it, but perhaps this mysterious plant simply had an unusual personality and communication style.

Qian Hui also found the situation strange, equally clueless.

“Let’s… wait and see,” he said hesitantly. “If it comes to the base, the detector will pick it up.”

Mimosa had been continuously using its skill to sense its surroundings throughout its journey outside. Exhausted upon returning, it went to rest.

In comparison, the detector’s sensing range was sufficient, though its accuracy couldn’t match Mimosa’s.

Chili Pepper nodded, leaving the Communicator with Qian Hui.

If the other party sent another message, Qian Hui could choose to communicate directly with the plant.

After finishing this matter, Chili Pepper left to check on the new plants with Carrot.

Pomelo came closer and rubbed against Qian Hui’s arm.

It carried the small backpack Qian Hui had given it yesterday, filled with pills it could take periodically to replenish its energy, supplemented by Sunflower’s radiant light.

Pomelo now understood its importance, but the recovery time for its charged attack was still needed, and as it was its first time using it, it couldn’t rush the process.

Qian Hui patted its head, gently asking how it felt and whether it liked the new Little Courtyard.

Pomelo responded to each question in turn, eventually leaving with Sunflower to continue familiarizing itself with the base’s surroundings.

As the two plants departed together, Qian Hui’s Game Interface remained open before him.

Fortunately, finding Pomelo had gone smoothly. Now, only one entry in the Encyclopedia of special-grade mutated plants remained grayed out.

Staring at the faint silhouette in the Encyclopedia, Qian Hui felt a pang of unease.

Only Timothy remained. After Lettuce had returned from its search, Qian Hui had marked Timothy’s location on the map.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should go there himself.

However, the base was now under constant threat, and every Flyer was crucial. There was no guarantee they could even bring Timothy back.

In truth, Qian Hui had considered sending another plant to retrieve Timothy on the way back yesterday, but Carrot had dissuaded him.

Moreover, among all the plants in the Little Courtyard, Timothy was likely the one faring best in the wild, at least free from immediate danger.

Qian Hui’s mind drifted briefly as he sighed softly.

He stood up and slipped the Communicator into his coat pocket.

In the other pocket, Little Mushroom remained fast asleep, gently shifting its position.

—

It was one o’clock in the afternoon at River-Sea Base.

Wen Jue sat in a study, two subordinates standing behind him. Across from him sat Zhao Yan, the Leader of River-Sea Base.

“The reconnaissance team has arrived,” Zhao Yan said, tossing the Communicator onto the table, his voice venomous. “All three squads… wiped out.”

He had felt a foreboding sense yesterday when contact was suddenly lost, but he never imagined… not a single survivor.

Yet the expedition to Black Ridge Mountain Base had already been dispatched. Calling it back now would be too late.

Wen Jue’s factory was gone, and yesterday’s surprise attack had failed. If they couldn’t breach the mutated plant base, they would never obtain the “Antidote” to the Lost State symptoms held by the mutated plants.

Zhao Yan suppressed his fury, forcing himself to remain calm. “Was Nan Tingjin there too? Those three squads…”

The reconnaissance team reported that the scene and corpses had been destroyed, making it impossible to gather much information.

Wiped out despite using potions? Zhao Yan’s first thought was Nan Tingjin. It could only have been him.

“Perhaps,” Wen Jue said, his eyes still closed as his fingertips tapped lightly on the armrest. “There might be other mutated plants whose abilities we don’t fully understand.”

He opened his eyes, his voice tinged with fatigue as he reassured Zhao Yan, “Don’t worry. To achieve such a feat, the enemy will need time to recover.”

Wen Jue had complete confidence in his potion. Eliminating three entire teams couldn’t have been easy. Now was the perfect opportunity to launch an assault on their base.

Recently, Wen Jue had been using his ability less frequently, but his intuition had always been remarkably accurate.

Zhao Yan, however, was visibly displeased with Wen Jue’s seemingly indifferent attitude toward the heavy casualties among their forces. He shot Wen Jue several sharp glances but ultimately said nothing.

Without Wen Jue, Zhao Yan would never have become Leader. Moreover, they were now in the same boat. Wen Jue had even promised him that Sky Base would never be rebuilt, and River-Sea Base would become one of the Three Great Bases.

“Then you should rest early, sir,” Zhao Yan said, rising to his feet. “I’ll notify you immediately if there’s any new information.”

With that, he turned and hurried away.

—

The next day arrived in a flash, and the plants busied themselves with preparations.

With ample credits in the Game, Qian Hui bought a large quantity of items in one go: Skill Point Pills, Evolution Liquid, helmets, weapons, and more…

Nearly every plant received something useful.

The nine Little Bitter Gourds each received identical helmets and scurried after Durian.

Little Lotus Root also got a helmet. Without hesitation, it drank the Evolution Liquid, causing the patterns on its right arm to deepen in color, the designs now vividly lifelike.

The rewards from the previous battle had yielded a substantial amount of Prestige Points, allowing Qian Hui to purchase a ninth Flyer.

While the Flyers couldn’t accommodate many plants, their practicality made them invaluable.

After finalizing the arrangements, the Prestige Points were nearly depleted. The credits balance plummeted by forty to fifty thousand, leaving just over two hundred thousand after factoring in the exchangeable Faction Points.

However, this massive expenditure immediately paid off. The new plants’ Loyalty surged rapidly, nearly all surpassing 60%.

Qian Hui hadn’t yet had time to review the Encyclopedia entries and skills of the new plants, entrusting the newly formed attack squad entirely to Carrot Carnivorous Flower and its team.

As he scrolled through the Game Shop, searching for any remaining preparations to make, the Communicator at his side suddenly beeped.

It was the Communicator Chili Pepper had given him yesterday. Qian Hui picked it up to check the message.

“What’s the situation?”

Qian Hui thought for a moment before replying, “Hello, we’re doing well here, thank you for your concern.”

“?”

An immediate question mark appeared on the screen, followed by another message:

“Who are you?”

On the other end, Timothy stared intently at the Communicator screen.

The previous plant had been too clumsy to use so many words; this was clearly a human.

A human, or…

The Communicator vibrated, and the screen lit up again.

“I’m Qian Hui, Leader of the Plant Little Courtyard.”

Timothy stared at the reply for two seconds before pressing the real-time communication button with a snap.

Due to the shifting location, the signal took a long time to connect.

Finally, a familiar voice crackled through the Communicator: “Hello?”

The tone was warm and gentle, though the zombification had left his speech with a unique slurring quality. Still, it sounded much clearer than before.

Timothy remained silent, its tail swaying unconsciously behind it.

Growing impatient, Qian Hui asked again, “Can you hear me?”

Timothy considered whether to lower its voice or call another plant over to make some wooing sounds in its place.

Suddenly, it jerked its head up, gazing into the distance.

Movement…

Timothy hung up with a snap and leaped onto a high point in the ruins.

At the edge of its vision, several modified cars were speeding toward them.