Gu Xi's thoughts turned to the mutated animals.
As far as she knew, after the Second Great Mutation, plants were no longer aggressive. Mutated animals, on the other hand, were virtually unchanged from before the mutation. The only exception was the sudden appearance of that strange energy within their bodies.
After the apocalypse, not all mutated animals were bloodthirsty and aggressive.
Some had undergone changes in size and habit, but like before the apocalypse, they wouldn't actively attack humans. Some even became more docile. Others grew more intelligent. And, of course, there were those that became bloodthirsty and violent...
Unfortunately, the army had just swept this area two days ago. Gu Xi probed with her senses for a long time but couldn't find a single mutated animal, so she had to give up for the time being.
But if her theory was correct, a question arose—where did this strange energy come from?
An answer came to her almost instantly: the zombie virus.
The law of conservation of energy always holds true.
Thirty years ago, after the zombies were completely exterminated, the zombie virus hadn't actually disappeared. Instead, through some unknown means, it had transformed into this strange and violent energy.
Following that, as part of nature's own evolution, plants and animals began the Second Great Mutation.
The mutated plants possessed the ability to suppress and seal this strange energy.
'So, the sudden appearance of this strange energy inside plants and animals is actually just nature's way of saving itself?'
Gu Xi was stunned by this thought that suddenly popped into her head.
At some point, Little Green Sprout had emerged and was now twined around her fingertip. The two small, tender leaves at its tip seemed to have regained some of their vigor.
Gu Xi lowered her gaze to Little Green Sprout. 'If all this is true,' she thought, 'then what about me? What role do I play in all of this?'
Her ability had emerged at the same time as the zombie virus. It was so unique that even the researchers at the Abnormal Ability Research Institute back then had never truly figured out what it was!
And thirty years ago, her teammates had only seen her slice off the Zombie Emperor's head. They never knew that just before that, her Little Green Sprout had secretly snatched the Energy Crystal Core from the Zombie Emperor's brain.
However, the energy within that Crystal Core was so immense that Little Green Sprout couldn't fully digest and absorb it in such a short time. It could only be sealed away temporarily in her personal space.
Gu Xi had originally planned to slowly absorb the energy from the Crystal Core after returning to the base... But who would have thought that on the very night she got back, she would be taken down by a single glass of wine.
And that put her out of commission for thirty years.
When she woke up again, her ability was malfunctioning, her personal space was gone, and she had no idea what had ultimately become of the Zombie Emperor's Crystal Core...
There were too many unknown mysteries, and each one was more troublesome than the last.
Gu Xi let out a long sigh, choosing to temporarily push all these troubles to the back of her mind.
Right now, the most important thing was to cultivate the one hundred mu of land the country had assigned her.
Food is paramount, and eating was the most important thing.
Gu Xi gently stroked the Little Green Sprout on her fingertip.
'My precious, whether or not we can live a good life in the future is all up to you.'
Remembering all the food videos she'd seen from before the apocalypse, Gu Xi suddenly felt that life was full of hope!
Little Green Sprout was also very excited and in an instant shot out from her fingertip... Ten minutes later, Gu Xi retracted her ability.
Her ability was still too weak. Although she had just managed to break through to the third level by plundering, Little Green Sprout was clearly stuffed. It even let out a very human-like burp.
Gu Xi: "..."
By the time she returned, Wei Heng had already tidied up a few of the container homes, connected the drinking water filter, and was now fiddling with the farming machine he had brought along.
You had to hand it to him, Wei Heng was great at picking locations.
The spot he'd chosen was backed by a forested mountain with a small stream nearby. The containers were nestled against the mountain and close to the water, which not only made them secure but also made fetching water convenient. Beyond that, there were vast stretches of uncultivated land...
This land was likely farmland before the apocalypse. Once cleared, it could quickly be planted with crops.
While checking the farming machine's manual, Wei Heng said to Gu Xi, "I tidied up your room, too. Go take a look and see if there's anything you want to change..."
Although the spot wasn't too far from the main camp, they couldn't possibly commute back and forth every day.
He was a grown man, long accustomed to roughing it in the wild, but Gu Xi was a young woman. She needed a proper roof over her head.
So, before they set out, Wei Heng had taken the plunge, secretly getting a loan to buy several large containers. He had also privately traded with some people for a few decorative items.
There was no other way. He was too poor to afford building a proper house, so they would have to make do with this for the time being.
The container home was a small space, small enough to take in with a single glance.
Gu Xi stood at the doorway for a moment, once again rendered speechless. She was now seriously beginning to suspect that Wei Heng secretly had the heart of a young girl.
'Such an incredibly girly heart...'
Outside, Wei Heng fiddled with the manual for a while and successfully started the farming machine.
Gu Xi thought for a moment, walked to a large rock nearby, and sat down, watching quietly.
This all-in-one farming machine—capable of weeding, tilling, fertilizing, spraying, and harvesting—was truly impressive. In just half an hour, Wei Heng had cleared several mu of land around the containers. He even deep-plowed the soil.
The wild plants that had occupied the field were mercilessly shredded by the machine, turned into nutrients, and mixed back into the earth.
But Gu Xi could sense that deep underground, the buried root systems were still active. They would soon begin a new battle for territory...
If these root systems weren't completely destroyed, the newly cleared land would soon be overrun by them again.
Wei Heng clearly knew this as well.
He vaulted off the farming machine, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the hem of his shirt, and walked over to Gu Xi. "This is as much as I can do for now. There's a problem with my Earth Ability, so for the rest of the work..."
He was about to say that he had already asked another Earth Ability user from the camp to come over in the afternoon. That person was supposed to use their Earth Ability to completely destroy the root systems deep underground. But just then, he saw Gu Xi stand up, take a few steps forward, and say, "...I'll do it."
You'll do it?
Before Wei Heng could react, he saw the somewhat familiar Little Green Sprout shoot out from Gu Xi's fingertip and drill into the land he had just cleared...
Wei Heng: "...!!!"
As an Earth Ability user, he was all too familiar with the fluctuations of the Earth Ability. But Gu Xi... wasn't she a Wood Element user? How could she...
"Gu Xi, you're... a dual-element user?" Wei Heng considered a certain possibility.
"Mmm." Gu Xi gave a noncommittal nod.
Wei Heng felt a mix of complicated emotions. He had offered to partner up with Gu Xi for farming because he wanted to look after the young woman he'd rescued from the ruins.
He never expected...
A dual-element user of Earth and Wood... she was a born farmer.