A huge thanks to Green KiTea. Thanks for always supporting this story since it was first uploaded. Enjoy the bonus chapters!

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Cola let out a heavy “tsk” and muttered, “This game… ultimately still tests hand-to-hand combat, right?”

Firelight sensed what Cola intended and frowned. “Be careful, don’t take too many risks. Whether Dawen survives… depends entirely on how we handle this next.”

“I know.”

Jian Xingyi hadn’t yet grasped the meaning behind their words when Cola turned to him and said, “Cover me.”

“Huh? I…”

Jian Xingyi was about to protest that he couldn’t shoulder such responsibility, lacking confidence in his own abilities. But in the next instant, Cola had already leaped off the wall like an arrow released from its string, charging toward the frontline.

Only then did Jian Xingyi grasp the meaning behind Firelight’s words.

If Cola were to get infected, the guild would undoubtedly prioritize saving him. There was no other reason—Cola’s combat power and potential contributions far outweighed Dawen’s.

Jian Xingyi took a deep breath.

He had to fulfill his duty completely—protect Cola!

Cola had asked him to cover his back with no other choice, likely prepared for Jian Xingyi to help as much as he could. After all, Firelight’s primary responsibility was holding back the rest of the zombie horde.

“Bang!”

“Bang! Bang!”

Fortunately, the lychee proved effective. Jian Xingyi eliminated every zombie attempting to close in on Cola, while Cola drew a machete larger and sharper than the vanguard zombie’s… complete with a cool, glowing design. He began passionately clashing blades with the vanguard.

Cola’s fighting style was unique.

Currently, the only two individuals Jian Xingyi considered truly formidable—whose techniques he couldn’t decipher—were Shuixi and Cola. Yet while Shuixi carried himself with an aloof, detached demeanor in peacetime, his combat style was designed with brutal ferocity. Every strike radiated an oppressive, ruthless intensity—so savage it bordered on terrifying.

Cola, on the other hand, appeared friendly and even playful, often teasing others. His fighting style seemed to favor flashy tricks, yet his moves were light and airy. Paired with the elegant sway of his tailored coat, he looked utterly graceful.

Graceful it may be, but the hidden power behind his blade could shatter Xianfeng’s skull.

With the canon’s support, Jian Xingyi pushed back the giants while eliminating the zombies surrounding Cola.

Soon, Firelight cleared the interior as well, shifting to assist Jian Xingyi.

Clang!

Cola fought ten Vanguards single-handedly, the clanging of blades against blades sending shivers down the spine.

After cutting down the Vanguard before him, Cola was caught off guard by another lurking in the zombie sea beside him. He stumbled and fell into the trench.

Firelight cursed under his breath, but without hesitation, he leaped down to finish off the last vanguard. While sweeping fire, he pulled Cola back up.

Cola drew his spear, sweeping aside the zombies in the trench that tried to entangle him and drag him down.

Jian Xingyi’s hands went limp.

The scene before his—the vanguard freshly slain, corpses littering the ground, the giant closing in from the distance, the sea of corpses slowly filling the trench and creeping closer to the gate… while Cola remained trapped in the trench amidst the pandemonium…!

Jian Xingyi opened his backpack, tossing every cherry bomb—regardless of level—into the trench, avoiding Cola. He then hurled a nut wall toward him.

These little gadgets still came in handy!

With their assistance, Cola quickly leaped out of the trench.

Jian Xingyi was stunned that he’d emerged unscathed from this zombie-infested trench.

The pair quickly returned to their positions.

By now, the giant zombie had advanced dangerously close to the gate. Without the cannon, it would have breached the guild entrance. Thus, Firelight and Cola prioritized defeating the giant without hesitation.

But perhaps because too much time had been wasted, another giant slowly trailed behind.

…!

Jian Xingyi unleashed a barrage of over ten cherry bombs in one breath.

Boom!

Boom—

Explosions echoed in rapid succession.

The first giant finally collapsed, and the second one fell under the trio’s barrage of fire.

“Phew…”

Surveying the devastation before him, Jian Xingyi still felt a chill.

He turned to look at Cola, making sure she was okay.

“Hey, I’m fine. I know my limits,” Cola waved him off.

Firelight frowned. “That was too risky.”

“Come on, they’re just Vanguards. It’s not that bad,” Cola reasoned. “Monsters have their own balance. I figured out that while these Vanguards are fast and have high attack, their defense is mediocre. They die easily. You just need to find the right approach.”

Jian Xingyi nodded.

Then perhaps the way to deal with these Vanguards was… traps!

Once the trenches were filled with a sea of corpses, the agile Vanguards could leap out, but their fragile bodies would be vulnerable to trap damage.

The system-provided barriers had health bars, but their homemade ones didn’t!

Jian Xingyi’s mind began to calculate.

They spent considerable time at the main gate tonight. By the time they finished, the other gates were also secured.

When Jian Xingyi and the others arrived at the office for the gathering, everyone was already present. The moment they saw Jian Xingyi, the entire group rose to their feet and cheered.

“Xinghe is the best!”

“Xinghe is just too amazing!!”

“Long live Xinghe! I’m Xinghe’s loyal dog!”

Jian Xingyi: “…?”

Wh-what’s going on here?!

Heiye stepped forward with a beaming smile: “Zero casualties tonight!”

Jian Xingyi froze, “Really…!”

Oh my god…

Heiye scratched his head. “The only losses were fences—two in Akita, three in Lone Wolf and Feiyi.”

Jian Xingyi exhaled. Five… That’s manageable!

He’d braced himself for total destruction!

For a moment, Jian Xingyi couldn’t help but look at everyone with affection. “Five… Everyone did exceptionally well!”

Lone Wolf: “The Nut Wall and Cherry Bomb were huge helpers, so we saved a lot of fences!”

Haihai: “The artificial fences worked great too—way better than those stupid health-bar fences the system gives us! We can make more tomorrow. “

Akita: ”Plus, the training went well. Everyone kept their cool under pressure today.“

Heiye rubbed his chin: ”True. Tomorrow will be tougher, but we’ve gained an extra day. We can gather more items and build more fences.“

Baizhou suggested: ”How about digging deeper, wider trenches?”

“Great idea!”

“Seconded!”

Everyone was full of energy tonight.

After roughly reviewing the battle, Jian Xingyi paused and suggested, “If circumstances allow tomorrow, maybe we can acquire more cannons. Once we have sufficient cannons, I was wondering… could we deploy some reinforcements to the main gate?”

Cola and Firelight’s combat prowess was undeniably insane, but two fists couldn’t fight four legs. Besides, they were here to help and support—it wouldn’t be right to treat them like beasts of burden.

“With all cannons ready and resources/teams organized, I don’t need to stand by anymore,” said Heiye. “I can head to the main gate for support.”

Baizhou added, “Leave the back gate to Akita. I’ll go too.”

Similarly, Lone Wolf could handle things solo, freeing up Haihai for reinforcement.

This meant the main gate suddenly gained three more capable fighters, significantly easing the pressure.

It could only be said that with big shots backing them, they played a different game than other guilds.

While other guilds stacked most of their forces at the main gate, they kept their numbers there minimal—quality over quantity. In fact, too many of them would disrupt Cola and the others’ rhythm.

After sorting out the main details, everyone returned to rest.

Tonight brought mixed fortunes. While the “Long Live for a Hundred Years” faction celebrated, the chat screen scrolled with numerous grayed-out IDs and guild names.

Many guilds and players went offline tonight.

Last night, people still sent candle emojis or wrote brief condolences.

Tonight, that was gone.

Perhaps they’d grown accustomed to it, perhaps they found it meaningless, or perhaps they were too preoccupied with their own survival.

Regardless, in this apocalyptic game, death had gradually become the norm. After bidding farewell to the departed players, the remaining ones went about their business.

Upon returning home, Jian Xingyi first cultivated a round of sprouts in his pots. He’d discarded quite a few items tonight, and despite his careful management, the consumption was inevitable. He needed to plant more to synthesize replacements.

But he needed sleep…

Jian Xingyi pondered.

It’s only two days. He’d push through!

Once he got through these critical days, he could sleep until the cows came home after the zombie tide victory.

So Jian Xingyi set an alarm to wake him every two hours, then curled up with a blanket in the rocking chair in the yard and fell asleep.

Every two hours, Jian Xingyi would wake up, groggily open a blind box, replant the contents, and go back to sleep.

After several such cycles, a half-asleep Jian Xingyi finally got up to inspect his backpack.

Great. Nothing but R-rates.

Jian Xingyi, maintaining his steady composure, took a deep breath.

He was fine. He wouldn’t get angry! He didn’t care about getting a gold card!

If the gacha was off, he wouldn’t be heartbroken! He’d spent the whole night grinding for a pot sprout, grinding for an SSR until dawn, and hadn’t even touched the bed.

Gold, please drop gold!!!

Jian Xingyi felt like crying, but he could only keep planting.

But it wasn’t like he got nothing out of it.

Jian Xingyi unlocked a new type of Pea Shooter: Triple-Line Pea, Mechanical Pea, and Split Pea. Hybridizing these created a powerful Super Cyber Pea Shooter capable of rapid-fire attacks with serious damage.

After pondering, Jian Xingyi decided to save the Super Pea Shooter and not continue synthesizing.

Because once a plant is synthesized, it’s gone forever.

Jian Xingyi also unlocked various mushrooms. He now possessed countless SR-tier mushrooms, such as the Destruction Mushroom and the Invincible Jet Mushroom.

It wasn’t just Jian Xingyi unlocking the encyclopedia; players across the entire server were also unlocking plenty of good stuff.

Some even unlocked the utterly useless Tombstone Destroyer from Inferno, serving mainly as a satirical gag.

Consequently, Jian Xingyi’s funds kept rising.

Before last night’s zombie tide, he had 620,000. After spending 500,000 to repair the fence, he was left with only 120,000. But today, his Pot Sprouts sold like hotcakes, even more than before.

【Xinghe’s seeds are god-tier! Last night, the nut wall and cherries saved my life!】

【Can’t deny the pea shooter is surprisingly effective… Feels like we got extra backup!】

【I’m hyped! 5,000 dawn coins for seeds? No! It’s lifesaving cash—unbeatable value!】

【+1 The value is undeniable. We’re a small guild—a million-credit cannon isn’t something we can just buy on a whim, but we can pool our resources for the seeds!】

Jian Xingyi checked and saw he’d earned another 800,000 credits by afternoon, bringing his total to 920,000.

Meanwhile, his exclusive VIP store was refreshed, allowing him to purchase Magic Accelerant again. He used up every last drop in his inventory at once, swiftly harvesting two A-grade lychee plots from his greenhouse.

Jian Xingyi sighed inwardly. This zombie tide had not only depleted every pesticide and accelerant in his inventory, exhausted all his Plants vs. Zombies items, but also left him heavily in debt to the VIP store.

Now he was truly empty—not a single resource left.

After harvesting 80 Grade A lychees, Jian Xingyi divided them into two sales channels as usual.

The 40 lychees from the Lava Volcano Zone would net him 900,000 dawn coins from Liehuo.

With zombie-wave lychees now in critical demand and only 40 available in Zone 1, Jian Xingyi’s listing sold out instantly. Including transaction fees, he received 2.1 million dawn coins.

Jian Xingyi was utterly satisfied.

Lychees—his eternal gods!

All that hard work chopping trees and building greenhouses hadn’t been in vain!

This new income, combined with his existing funds, totaled 3.02 million.

Without hesitation, Jian Xingyi bought back the remaining two cannons.

Even after that, he still had 1.02 million left. This dawn coin was more than enough to repair the fences tonight in preparation for the final battle.

This meant that by the fourth day of the zombie tide, Jian Xingyi had successfully collected every cannon available in the Zombie Tide Mall!

Now, each gate was reinforced with two cannons!

【Congratulations to 【Long Live for a Hundred Years】 for becoming the first guild to collect all cannons from the Zombie Tide Store, unlocking the achievement 【Armstrong Cyclotron Jet Cannon】. Reward: 6,666 dawn coins. All cannon attack and speed +20%】

This achievement announcement played on the public screen.

Everyone: “???”

Huh?

Wait, someone actually bought all the cannons?

Someone actually has the resources to buy them all?!

【What kind of god-tier guild is this? What server are they on? Where’s their location? Did they just stumble upon a gold mine?】

【I know the answer. Rumor has it there’s a resource tycoon in that Peace Mountain guild, selling food and resources to rake in a fortune!】

【Huh? Peace Mountain? Isn’t that Grapevine Peak territory? Did some Grapevine Peak big shot go there to farm?】

【Nope, not Grapevine Peak. This resource tycoon supposedly only has a combat power of 6!】

【What??】

Jian Xingyi briefly became famous across the server’s public chat.

Jian Xingyi remained completely unaware of this, too busy celebrating with everyone in the guild channel. After all, with cannon attack power and speed boosted by 20%, the damage would be even more devastating.

He continued tinkering with the sprouts in his pot. After pulling out another batch of R-tier items but encountering a new potato landmine, his terminal suddenly chimed with a “ding.”

【Congratulations! Player 【Xinghe】 has unlocked 100 entries in the Plants vs. Zombies encyclopedia, activating the Synthesis Machine’s 【Guaranteed Synthesis】 feature and receiving 5555 dawn coins!】

Jian Xingyi was overjoyed.

When his encyclopedia reached level 5, the system had unlocked the synthesis feature. Now that it hit 100, something great was bound to come!

Synthesis was the biggest perk for management-focused players, and Jian Xingyi was eagerly anticipating it.

【Guaranteed Synthesis: Players using 10 identical SR-tier plants of different types have a 75% chance to obtain an SSR seed!】

Jian Xingyi: “……!”

He was thrilled—there was still hope for an SSR!

But he was also heartbroken. As a non-gamer, his luck always felt forced.

Still, it was okay. Overall, hard work still held promise!

Jian Xingyi carefully inspected his inventory. Honestly, upon closer inspection, the SSR synthesis requirements seemed downright harsh…

10 SR-grade plants of the same species but different types.

For example, if he targeted the pea family, he’d need 10 different types of SR peas to summon the dragon.

But 75% isn’t 100%. Considering his terrible luck, failure was still possible.

Meaning his 10 precious SR plants could potentially go to waste.

This… was a high-stakes gamble.

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard.

He glanced at his inventory. The most diverse categories were mushrooms and peas.

Seven types of peas, eight types of mushrooms.

Jian Xingyi felt a bit troubled. He was so close, yet so far.

Sigh, even with the synthesis feature unlocked, it’s still no walk in the park…

Jian Xingyi could only keep synthesizing and opening boxes, praying for more SRs.

It was crazy to think about, but he had never successfully grown a single SR from his garden. Every single one of his SRs, every single one!! had been synthesized.

Jian Xingyi pondered for a moment. Many hands make light work, so he posted an announcement on the public chat.

Xinghe: 【List.txt】

Xinghe: 【If any player unlocks a Pea or Mushroom family variety not listed above, please DM me immediately. I’ll purchase it for 10,000 dawn coins!】

At this point, he could only afford to take a small loss.

Since he’d sold the seeds at 5,000 dawn coins, he’d have to accept the same when buying them back. After all, those SR seeds were definitely more useful than R-grade ones. Players’ drop rates weren’t as high as his, and getting a useful one wasn’t easy—they might not be willing to give it to him.

【Wow!! Ten thousand?! So generous! I’ll wait until I get an SR myself! /tears】

【Ah, now I’m conflicted… Selling the SR plant, I finally feel so wasteful…】

【To the poster above: If Xinghe wants it, just give it to him! Xinghe basically saved everyone’s lives, rounding up!】

Jian Xingyi was waiting for private messages, idly refreshing the system when she got a shock.

【Player 【Shanhai】 requests to message you and sends a friend request】

Who?!

Jian Xingyi sat up straight.

This… this is Shanhai! The server’s #1 player, the legend everyone talks about—the only person in the entire world who hasn’t seen Shanhai!

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard and cautiously clicked “Accept.”

Shanhai: 【Hello】

Xinghe: 【Hello^^】

Jian Xingyi gripped his terminal, waiting for a reply.

Was Shanhai… had he grown some plant he needed?

Shanhai: 【I have the following plants. See if you need any】

Shanhai: 【List.txt】

Jian Xingyi clicked to view.

Half a minute later, Jian Xingyi cracked a smile.

Jian Xingyi: “???”

Xinghe: 【There are 6 SR plants here. Did you grow all of these?】

Shanhai: 【Yeah, aren’t the seeds you sell only supposed to grow SR plants?】

Jian Xingyi: “??????”

Wait, dude, what is this…

What is this…

Xinghe: 【Hahaha… No, didn’t you see the public chat?】

Shanhai: 【No, why?】

Xinghe: 【Nothing… So you mean every seed you bought produced an SR?】

Shanhai: 【Yes. Besides the pea and mushroom families, I have other SR seeds. Do you need them?】

Jian Xingyi: “…”

Xinghe: 【No worries… I don’t have that much money anyway. I’ll just buy these six types of seeds from you! Here’s what we’ll do: list them in the shop, set the price, and make it so only I can buy them!】

Shanhai: 【No charge】

Xinghe: 【?】

【Player 【Shanhai】 gifted Player 【Xinghe】 a bag of 【Plants】. Do you accept?】

Jian Xingyi: “???”

Huh?

Xinghe: 【Seriously?】

Shanhai: 【Yeah】

Jian Xingyi was still a bit dazed.

This is worth sixty thousand… just giving it away like that?

Is that really okay?

Xinghe: 【Then I’ll take it… ?】

Shanhai: 【Yeah】

Xinghe: 【If you change your mind, you can DM me. I’ll pay you back!】

Shanhai: 【Yeah】

Jian Xingyi blinked.

Is this… how the big shots act on a whim?!

Jian Xingyi tapped to accept.

Xinghe: 【Waaah, thank you! You’re such a good person!!】

A moment passed on the other end.

Shanhai: 【I’m not】

Xinghe: 【You’re being too humble, sir! You’re a super-duper awesome person!!!】

In an instant, Shanhai’s already towering image grew even more monumental in Jian Xingyi’s mind, practically radiating a holy aura.

Talk about timely help! Talk about a lifesaver!

He decided to unilaterally forgive Shanhai for his cluelessness!

Jian Xingyi couldn’t wait. Bouncing excitedly, he rushed to the synthesis machine to cast his spell.

My fate is in my own hands, not heaven’s! Just you wait!

Jian Xingyi reverently placed ten SR mushrooms into the synthesis machine.

Click. Synthesis!

【Minimum Guarantee Synthesis】 in progress, 10%, 20%…

It’s starting! It’s starting!

Watching the progress bar, Jian Xingyi’s palms grew sweaty with nervousness.

【70%, 80%, 90%…】

【Minimum Guarantee Synthesis】 loaded.

【 【Guaranteed Synthesis】 Failed】

Jian Xingyi: “?”

Jian Xingyi froze.

He checked the synthesizer again and again—it was completely empty.

“…”

His mindset collapsed.

Jian Xingyi silently returned to his room, lay down, and gave up.

No more synthesizing.

Waaah.

After lying still for a moment and calming down, Jian Xingyi noticed Shanhai had sent him a message. He’d been so excited about receiving the plant that he’d rushed off to synthesize it without noticing.

Though utterly defeated, he still had to reply to the big shot.

Shanhai: 【Any other troubles or difficulties?】

Waaah, the system is cold, but Shanhai is warm.

Xinghe: 【Nothing much. Thanks. Sorry, I had something earlier… didn’t get a chance to reply.】

Shanhai: 【Okay.】

A long moment passed.

Shanhai: 【Feeling down?】

Jian Xingyi’s eyes widened.

How did he know?

It was bad enough that people said his face was like a book, but now his messages were readable too?

Xinghe: 【Nothing… Just feeling like my luck is awful. Wish I could borrow some of your good fortune, big shot.】

Shanhai: 【Your luck isn’t bad.】

This was the truth. In fact, probably no player in Dawnbreaker would consider Jian Xingyi unlucky.

Xinghe: 【This seed… I’ve been farming for two days without a single SR, and now the synthesis failed too.】

After a moment of silence from the other side.

【Player 【Shanhai】 has gifted Player 【Xinghe】 a 【Koi Necklace】. Do you accept?】

Jian Xingyi: “???”

Jian Xingyi shot upright with a start.

Shanhai: 【I got this in a dungeon. The description says it brings good luck, but I don’t think it actually works. Just for peace of mind.】

Xinghe: 【???】

Shanhai: 【Didn’t you say you wanted to borrow my luck? I’ve kept this necklace in my pocket the whole time.】

Jian Xingyi: “…”

Oh my god…

Shanhai is just too kind…

He had no idea the big shot was this warm-hearted and considerate!

Xinghe: 【This doesn’t feel right… What if your luck gets borrowed by me?】

Shanhai: 【It won’t.】

Jian Xingyi hesitated for a moment before finally clicking to accept.

After all, it was a genuine gesture.

Xinghe: 【Thank you… I’ll treasure it!】

After opening his mailbox, Jian Xingyi received a beautiful koi fish necklace.

The chain was made of delicate, scattered pearls, while the koi fish itself was a vibrant red jade, shimmering with light.

It really was beautiful…

Jian Xingyi put on the necklace, tucking it under his clothes to protect it from damage.

Hmm… Somehow, his mood lifted inexplicably.

Jian Xingyi took a deep breath and headed back to the synthesis machine.

His mushroom family had failed, but he still had the pea shooter family!

Jian Xingyi clicked to synthesize.

【Guaranteed Synthesis】 in progress, 10%, 20%…

This time, Jian Xingyi felt calmer, even carrying a resigned sense of fatalism.

【Guaranteed Synthesis】 Loading Complete

【Guaranteed Synthesis】 Successful. Player 【Xinghe】 obtained an Ultra-Rare SSR-tier plant!

Jian Xingyi’s eyes widened.

Huh?

Whaaaaaat?????

Y-yeah… yay?!