The root system pierced through their bodies and extended into the soil, pinning the two men firmly to the ground. A sharp pain, as if coming from the depths of their souls, nearly robbed both the tall and short men of their ability to speak.

The tall man mustered every ounce of strength he had to squeeze a few words out of his throat: “Stop, stop! I’ll talk—I’ll tell you everything…”

Their limbs were already pinned to the ground by the cucumber seedlings, and they could feel excruciating pain at the back of their heads, as if the roots were about to pierce through their skulls. The nucleus crystals within their heads had already been wrapped by the cucumber’s root system and could be yanked out of their skulls at any moment—it all depended on Jiang Le’s whim.

At that moment, it was nearly impossible to even ignore the pain, let alone mobilize a nucleus crystal whose connection to them had been almost severed to use their supernatural abilities against Jiang Le.

The fear of death descended upon him like never before, so much so that when he looked once more at Jiang Le’s striking features, he felt as though they had been sculpted by the Grim Reaper himself.

The sound of the cucumber seedlings tearing through flesh finally ceased, halting at the flowering stage. Countless tiny yellow flowers dangled from the branches—pure and beautiful—their petals blooming toward the two men, one tall and one short. They gazed at the mother plant that had nurtured them as if loving the soil itself, swaying gently in the breeze, almost endearing.

Jiang Le crouched down, resting his elbows lightly on his knees, and stared at the two men’s twisted, ferocious faces, waiting with unhurried composure. The shorter man was already exhaling more than inhaling, his gaze unfocused and unfocusable.

The taller one struggled to recall the moment just before everything happened—the question Jiang Le had asked: “Who sent you here to use this method to obtain the nucleus crystals?”

He struggled to string his fragmented words into a sentence: “We—we have a research institute. We’re just following orders.” 

“Where is the research institute?” Jiang Le asked.

“Dong… Dongping City,”

Jiang Le stood up. In that instant, the tall man saw a ruthless murderous intent in his eyes. Realizing he was now worthless and faced only death, driven by the instinct for survival, the tall man immediately shouted, “I—I can take you there. Security at the research institute is extremely tight; you won’t be able to get in on your own.”

His words came out in fits and starts, almost draining his last ounce of strength, but fortunately, Jiang Le did pause to consider what he’d said.

A moment later, out of the tall man’s peripheral vision, he saw the cucumber sprout beside him shoot up from the ground, completing its final growth. The cucumber poked its head out from the vine, and the once-vibrant little yellow flower, now slightly withered, clung to the tip of the newly grown cucumber.

The short man’s heavy breathing ceased.

The tall man turned his head, gritting his teeth against the pain, and was horrified to see that the short man’s eye sockets had been pierced by two stems; the cracks in his fractured skull were filled with thick, sturdy roots.

Still, he knew he had narrowly escaped death for the time being.

Jiang Le walked toward the massive mutated mushroom. Using his mutated fishbone knife, he first severed the mushroom’s roots extending into the ground, then—following the method the tall man had taught him—pierced the mutated mushroom’s massive body. Most of the mutated mushroom’s interior still resembled that of an ordinary mushroom, with only the central area encasing a Level 1 nucleus crystal.

The moment Jiang Le extracted this Level 1 nucleus crystal, the energy flow that had been coursing through the mushroom’s body abruptly ceased. The several thousand nucleus crystals it had been encasing were slowly released from their tightly bound state and began falling one after another, like beads on a broken string.

These nucleus crystals glowed faintly, indicating that a connection still existed between them and the living.

Jiang Le gathered these nucleus crystals, along with the ones that had already lost their luster, and temporarily stored them in his spatial pocket.

Turning around, he saw that the cucumber sprouts on the tall figure had, at Jiang Le’s command, slowly retracted into his body, where they lay quietly dormant.

However, the tall man’s wounds remained; the countless blood-soaked holes all over his body still looked gruesome.

Yet, thanks to a superpower user’s self-healing abilities, such wounds would heal completely in no more than three to five days. Only the tall man himself knew what changes were taking place inside his body—and that as long as Jiang Le so much as thought about it, the same fate that had befallen the short man awaited him.

Ignoring the tall man’s inner thoughts, Jiang Le bent down, casually cracked open the short man’s skull, and extracted his nucleus crystal. There were at least a dozen cucumber seedlings growing on the short man’s body, each now bearing a bountiful harvest of plump fruits hanging from their vines.

The tall man watched as Jiang Le unzipped his backpack and began picking the cucumbers with practiced, nimble movements, as if he were perfectly accustomed to working in the fields.

Noticing the tall man’s incredulous gaze, Jiang Le even kindly explained, “Don’t worry, these are edible too. They’re no different from normally grown ones—it doesn’t affect the taste.”

The tall man’s face turned ashen, terrified that Jiang Le might try to make him taste one on the spot. Fortunately, Jiang Le had no intention of wasting food on him.

Only after gathering all the fruits and vegetables—nourished by the short man’s flesh and blood—did Jiang Le zip up his backpack, sling it over his shoulder, and turn to the stunned tall man. “Come with me back to Base 1 first.”

The tall man dared not disobey; he obediently followed behind Jiang Le, returning with him to Base 1, though he had no idea what Jiang Le intended to do. Once the mother plant died, the influence it exerted over the offspring vanished as well.

Base 1, a short while earlier.

The infected showed very little willingness to move. Even knowing that the target they were chasing had left the base, they were reluctant to relocate. After failing to find Jiang Le, they quickly shifted their focus. All information was shared telepathically within their minds, and they soon pieced together fragments of information about Jiang Le, zeroing in on the area outside a certain rental apartment.

Liu Tianyang had devoured all the food Jiang Le had left behind in one go; now, only half a bottle of Coke remained. Not wanting to finish it all at once, he sipped it little by little, sprawled out like a star, unashamedly lying on Jiang Le’s bed, unable to resist letting out long sighs and the occasional “Ouch” or “Hey.”

His initial fear of the rattan cane coiled on the nightstand beside him had gradually faded, and Liu Tianyang couldn’t help but mutter, “You don’t think Jiang Le left both you and me here, do you? Why isn’t he back yet?”

All this information was transmitted to the blood vine and then back to the vine itself. If the vine had eyes capable of showing expression, it would have looked at Liu Tianyang as if he were an idiot. Unfortunately, it couldn’t, so the vine simply turned its head away with a hint of regret, too lazy to pay him any mind.

Just as he was speaking, Liu Tianyang heard a commotion from outside. It seemed quite a few people had entered the courtyard downstairs, and immediately afterward, the sound of footsteps clattering up the old staircase echoed through the building.

You could still hear Liu Jianhua’s voice: “It’s right here. Go inside and look for it.”

Liu Tianyang let out a curse. Thinking back on his previous experience, a chill ran down his spine; he sat up abruptly and began pacing frantically around the room.

Sensing danger, the vine shot upright and quickly devised a countermeasure. It slithered from the nightstand to the door, its tip transforming into a slender strand that pierced through the keyhole and blocked it, thwarting any attempt to unlock the door from the outside.

But this held off the threat for only a few dozen seconds. As soon as the infected person outside realized they couldn’t get in with a key, they immediately changed tactics and began ramming the door with all their might.

The vine braced itself against the floor with its tail while its tip pressed against the door, forming a triangular support. Its strength was enough to hold off the intruder—if only the door itself had been sturdy enough. Unfortunately, the door was too dilapidated and soon began to creak under the strain.

Liu Tianyang wanted to follow Jiang Le’s example and jump out the window, but when he opened it, he saw countless people standing in the alley, staring right at the window. Opening the window was practically walking into a trap, and the sound of people banging on the door from outside grew even more intense.

“Someone’s inside! Open up!”

“Tianyang, hurry up and open the door for Dad. I’m doing this for your own good. Why are you hiding in here?”

Liu Tianyang couldn’t take it anymore. Adopting an ostrich mentality, he crawled straight under the bed, covering his ears to escape reality.

With a loud crash, the door was smashed open, and a chaotic jumble of footsteps poured in. Upon discovering the room was empty, some opened the closet, others peered out the window, and they all chatted back and forth, playing a game of hide-and-seek with Liu Tianyang.

Then, for some reason, the room suddenly fell silent.

Liu Tianyang had been keeping his eyes tightly shut, muttering incoherent words whose meaning even he didn’t understand. It wasn’t until quite a while later that he noticed the strange silence around him.

Could it be that they hadn’t noticed him and had already left?

As this thought crossed his mind, Liu Tianyang couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy; he finally mustered the courage to turn his head and look at the scene beyond the bed.

He clenched his fists and slowly shifted his gaze, but what he saw was not the empty space at the foot of the bed he had expected, but countless faces crammed together, peering at him from the gap at the bottom of the bed.

“Ah!!!” Liu Tianyang let out a scream and fainted on the spot.

What the unconscious Liu Tianyang didn’t notice was that everyone’s movements had come to a sudden halt at that very moment—not because they were playing some kind of prank on him, but because they had all fallen into a state of confusion.

A sense of bewilderment set in first, and the crowd looked at one another, none of them knowing what they were doing there. Immediately afterward, memories surged back—their morbid obsession with mushrooms, the images of mushrooms growing on their bodies, and the scenes of them picking the mushrooms from their own bodies and devouring them in huge mouthfuls. The surreal, eerie nature of these memories triggered intense fear, and that fear gave way to anger.

By the time Jiang Le returned to Base No. 1 with the tall man, the crowd had not dispersed; rather, those who had come to their senses were all demanding an explanation from the base’s leadership.

Chen Qing stood in the center of the crowd, supported by An Jin. He looked different from how everyone remembered him—as if he had aged more than a decade in a short period of time.

Countless sharp accusations rained down on them, but Chen Qing accepted them all, his face etched with nothing but guilt. It was precisely because of his excessive eagerness to solve the problem that he had created it in the first place, plunging the base into a crisis of annihilation. He had to take responsibility for that, and he also had a duty to bear the emotions that had spread among the crowd in the wake of their fear.

“You’re taking the blame—but how exactly? If you die, will our lost abilities ever return?” After regaining his composure, Liu Jianhua was filled with dread. Since the apocalypse, his greatest source of pride had been his own abilities; leveling up was no easy feat, and the thought of losing so many of them was unbearably painful.

Many agreed with Liu Jianhua’s words, but there were also many who had fought alongside Chen Qing and the others all the way to this point. They knew how much effort Chen Qing had put into maintaining Base No. 1’s operations and taking in more refugees.

The situation reached an impasse.

Jiang Le pushed through the crowd, breaking the deadlock: “Your abilities might be able to return.” Hearing this, everyone turned to look at Jiang Le.

“You—it’s you!” An Jin was visibly excited; there had to be a reason the infection had ended, and his thoughts naturally turned to Jiang Le. As soon as Liu Jianhua saw Jiang Le, he immediately ran over. “Son!”

Jiang Le ignored him and took out the nucleus crystals he’d brought back from his backpack. The nucleus crystals resonated with their original owners, making it easy to identify who they belonged to. After the rain had cleared, thousands of nucleus crystals glistened in the sunlight, making onlookers swallow hard.

Jiang Le first took out Chen Qing’s nucleus crystal and returned it to him.

Liu Jianhua said, “How come he got his nucleus crystal back? He should have left it behind as an apology.” Jiang Le glanced at him. “Then should I give his nucleus crystal to you?”

Liu Jianhua wanted to say, “Sure, sure,” but sensing the hostility in Jiang Le’s gaze, he muttered under his breath and fell silent.

“How you handle matters from here on out is your base’s own business. My only responsibility is to return the recovered nucleus crystals to you,” Jiang Le said.

The nucleus crystals were indeed a matter of the utmost importance, enough to make people set aside all other emotions for the time being. A long line quickly formed at the base, and one after another, people retrieved the nucleus crystals that resonated with them, eagerly swallowing them the moment they got their hands on them.

When a nucleus crystal of the same origin returns to the human body, it easily recombines with the original nucleus crystal fragments; however, it takes quite some time to fully fuse back into the state it was in before they were separated.

Many people planned to leave Base 1 as soon as they retrieved their nucleus crystals, packing up their belongings and departing that very day. Although many others chose to stay, Base 1’s population and combat strength were significantly reduced as a result, effectively suffering a severe blow.

Still, compared to the total annihilation of the previous era, it must be said that this outcome was far better.

Moreover, many of those who leave will disperse to other bases near Base 1, spreading the chaos caused by these mutated mushrooms.

At the very least, this will serve as a warning to other bases, helping to prevent similar tragedies from occurring elsewhere.

Jiang Le stayed at Base 1 for another two days, waiting to confirm that the nucleus crystals could fuse with the human body again before preparing to leave.

During those two days, the most common sight at Base 1 was groups of people basking in the sun together. Although the mushrooms naturally fell off people’s bodies once the mutated fungus died, the remaining wounds always made people worry that new mushrooms might sprout at any moment—a psychological trauma that was hard to shake off right away.

Whatever the mushrooms disliked most when they were parasitizing humans became exactly what people enjoyed doing most now.

After briefly discussing with Chen Qing and An Jin the scene from the day they discovered the mutated mushrooms, they now realize in hindsight that everything was such a coincidence—it bore the hallmarks of deliberate planning. It was just that at the time, Chen Qing and the others were too preoccupied with the base’s welfare and fearful of famine to notice.

Chen Qing had already voluntarily stepped down from the base’s leadership and planned to focus on farming, devoting himself entirely to increasing the base’s agricultural output.

Although they hadn’t spent much time together, Jiang Le could confirm that both Chen Qing and An Jin were rare examples of superpower users in the post-apocalyptic world who were genuinely committed to creating a better living environment for the common people.

The mistakes they made were not due to their true intentions; they had simply been exploited by those with ulterior motives. The root cause lay with others.

Therefore, before leaving, Jiang Le left Chen Qing some seeds—all of them for common vegetable crops and staple grains. Although these seeds would struggle to level up once removed from the farm environment, their current Level 2 or 3 status still allowed them to adapt better to the outside world. Combined with Chen Qing’s ability, this should enable Base No. 1 to make some progress.

The short-term chaos would end, and the base’s population would gradually return.

As for Liu Jianhua and Liu Tianyang, they could tell that Jiang Le was no ordinary person and were quite eager to thick-skinnedly follow him as he left. But to Jiang Le, they were no better than two strangers; there was no way he would take them back to the farm—the place where his mother and maternal grandparents had once lived.

Besides, Base No. 1 still stood. With the population reduced, there wouldn’t be a severe shortage of supplies in the short term, and the two of them could live quite comfortably there, so there was all the more reason not to worry about them.

So by the time Liu Jianhua and Liu Tianyang realized Jiang Le had already left, he was long gone and out of their reach.

The tall guy’s wounds had mostly healed over the past few days; at least on the surface, there were no gaping wounds, just a few faint scars.

During his time at Base 1, the tall man had lived in constant anxiety, terrified that Jiang Le would reveal his true identity to the others and have him beaten to death. But to his surprise, Jiang Le seemed to have forgotten who he was; not only did he stop attacking him, but he even gave him a small meal every day to keep him alive.

All of this gave the Tall Guy the illusion that perhaps he really could save his own life. Because of this, he acted even more obsequious in front of Jiang Le and answered every question Jiang Le asked without reservation.

Through their conversations, Jiang Le gained a general understanding of this so-called research institute.

Dongping City itself was not far from Hai City; it was a county-level city under the jurisdiction of a neighboring province and was not well-known nationwide.

The research institute sounded very official and formal, but it had no connection to the government whatsoever, nor was it a large-scale facility. It consisted of a tall man the other referred to as “the Boss,” along with a dozen or so high-level superpower users. Aside from conducting “research,” they spent most of their time at the base living it up and enjoying life.

The phrase “enjoying life” is quite ironic, but in the post-apocalyptic world, it is indeed a reality. Many ordinary people found themselves on top after the apocalypse, possessing power and authority they’d never had before. After amassing resources, they became immersed in a life of luxury and excess; for them, the post-apocalyptic world was less about danger and more about indulging their every whim.

But when it came to what exactly the research institute was studying and who was behind it, the tall man couldn’t say.

“I—I really don’t know,” said the tall man, afraid that Jiang Le would think he was deliberately withholding information.

He and the Short Guy were merely low-level staff at the research institute, responsible for retrieving mature nucleus crystals for the institute’s use; they knew next to nothing about other internal matters.

Jiang Le didn’t press him for details; he simply asked the tall man to lead the way.

After about half a day’s walk, passing through several mutation zones, the Tall One led Jiang Le into a forested area. After a few more twists and turns, several villas came into view.

Before the apocalypse, this had been a newly completed leisure and resort project, fully equipped with all kinds of facilities, but unoccupied. Its builders likely never imagined what kind of research institute it would become after the apocalypse.

The tall man hadn’t lied to Jiang Le—security at the research facility’s entrance was tight. There were actually two Level 4 superpower users standing guard, and the villa complex was densely covered with mutated trumpet flowers. Although they weren’t high-level, they possessed an alarm mechanism: if touched or cut, the remaining parts would emit a piercing shriek—enough to wake everyone inside the villa complex.

If Jiang Le had come alone, even if he’d managed to locate the research institute, it would have been extremely difficult to enter it unnoticed. As soon as they spotted someone approaching, the two superpower users instantly teleported in front of them.

The tall man and Jiang Le had rehearsed their lines in advance. He pulled a box he’d prepared from his coat, opened it to reveal the nucleus crystal inside for them to inspect, and introduced Jiang Le: “I met him at that base over there; I brought him back to play with.”

As he spoke, to lend more credibility to his words, he slung his arm around Jiang Le’s shoulder. Beneath this seemingly confident gesture, his fingertips trembled slightly—he was practically itching to drop to his knees and kowtow to Jiang Le, begging for forgiveness.

Fortunately, Jiang Le didn’t take offense; he even went along with the tall man’s gesture, keeping his head down and saying nothing, hiding his gaze in the shadows. To an outsider, this behavior looked as if he were feeling embarrassed, giving off a distinct air of meek submission.

“Why are they all so low-grade?” the guard said with a hint of disdain after inspecting the box of nucleus crystals.

“W-well, there are higher-grade ones too. Isn’t this a Level 3?” The tall man struggled to keep from stuttering, because the Level 3 nucleus crystal he was pointing at belonged to the short man who had left the base with him.

The cold nucleus crystal seemed to be reminding him that the slightest misstep would lead him to the same fate.

The tall man quickly pulled himself together and said, with his usual hint of complaint, “There aren’t many high-level psychics at that base anyway. There are a few Level 4s, but I figure they won’t be ready until the next trip. I left Xiao Fang there—he’ll bring them all back on the next trip. I just wanted to rush back and say hello, so you guys wouldn’t think something had gone wrong.”

“Xiao Fang” was the short guy’s name. Using this excuse to explain his absence, the guards, as expected, didn’t harbor much suspicion.

“Good to know. We almost thought you’d run off with the nucleus crystals and were about to send people out to look for you.”

As for Jiang Le, the guard’s gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds before he smiled and gave him a light slap on the butt. Good-looking but unable to defend himself—in a chaotic environment, he was nothing more than a fish to be carved up at will.

Jiang Le, who had been keeping his head down the whole time, turned his face toward the guard at that moment, memorizing the man’s face before lowering his head again. The lid of the culture dish made two soft clicks—sounds that were mistaken for the creaking of a cheap, worn-out watch face.

“All right, go on in.” The guard, noticing nothing out of the ordinary, let them through.

The tall man led Jiang Le to his room. His expression, which had remained calm the entire time, relaxed the moment the door closed, and he looked at Jiang Le with immense anxiety.

“Big Brother, if there’s anything else you want me to do, just tell me—I’ll do it all for you! As long as you can…”

The tall man hadn’t even finished his sentence before he could say no more.

The cucumber sprout, which had been dormant inside him for several days and had already tasted the joy of growth and sunlight, could not wait any longer. At Jiang Le’s mental command, it once again burst through the tall man’s flesh. This time, it did not pause at any stage of growth—it bloomed, bore fruit, and ripened in one seamless motion.

Before the tall man could utter a single word, it tore through his vocal cords; its roots wasted not a single drop of the seeping blood, absorbing every last bit of nourishment.

Jiang Le stared directly into the tall man’s eyes and calmly responded to his unfinished words: “Then I command you to die.” Sin cannot be atoned for, and death may not be a complete judgment, but at the very least, he must die first.

Jiang Le picked up the box of nucleus crystals from the floor, made no attempt to linger inside, and opened the door to leave.

A few hundred meters away, in a central building within a cluster of villas, Xiang Da was lying on the sofa, with several young men and women nestled beside him. The room was filled with smoke; his feet were propped up on the coffee table, and the screen in front of him was playing some obscene videos.

Glancing at the time, Xiang Da casually tossed his half-smoked cigarette butt on the floor. “What’s going on? Didn’t they say Xu Lifeng was already back? Why hasn’t he shown up yet?”

“I heard he brought a cute young guy back with him. Maybe he’s too busy doing that stuff right now,” Ying Huaming chuckled from his recliner, casually groping the woman beside him. She reacted cautiously, her smile a bit forced.

Xiang Da’s expression turned displeased. Seeing this, Ying Huaming stood up and said, “Never mind. I’ll go check it out. That kid’s been slacking off lately—he must not want to live anymore.”

As he left the room, the guard at the door immediately gave Ying Huaming a slight bow. He strolled effortlessly through the connecting corridors of the villa complex, occasionally glancing up at the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the mutated trumpet flowers, pondering which few people he’d pick to have some fun with when he got back.

It wasn’t until Ying Huaming’s footsteps came to a halt at the Tall Guy’s door that he surveyed his surroundings with a look of disgust. Although they were all in the same villa complex, the living conditions for people of the Tall Guy’s rank were nowhere near as good as those of high-level superpower users.

If it hadn’t been for the guard telling him that the person the Tall Guy had brought back this time was quite a looker, Ying Huaming wouldn’t have made the trip himself. Without the courtesy of knocking, Ying Huaming kicked the door open and bellowed, “Xu Lifeng, you—”

But no one answered him. As soon as Ying Huaming took in the scene inside the room, his voice abruptly trailed off.

This room, measuring over forty square meters, was now overgrown with cucumber vines reaching all the way to the ceiling. Their branches nearly touched the doorway, and the leaves slapped against Ying Huaming’s face the moment the door was kicked open. At the base of the vines, Xu Lifeng had already turned into a desiccated corpse.