Xiang Da’s head had been crushed flat, and one of his Level 3 nucleus crystals was squeezed out from his shattered skull. Jiang Le bent down to pick it up and discovered that this nucleus crystal was quite different from those of most superpower users.

Holding it up to the sunlight for a closer look, he saw a sesame-seed-sized object at the center of the nucleus crystal, composed of a different substance than the nucleus crystal itself. With a slight squeeze of his palm, the nucleus crystal crumbled to dust in Jiang Le’s hand, and the tiny object inside rolled out. Threads of light swirled around it, forming a crystal-like energy field, and the aura of a meteorite immediately emanated from it.

This must be why Xiang Da is able to control these mutated creatures—his nucleus crystal has been modified in some way, with fragments of a meteorite—the same source that triggered these creatures’ mutations—embedded within it.

This couldn’t possibly be Xiang Da’s own doing. Xiang Da’s cousin…

Jiang Le thought of Xiang Da’s death throes, and his mind flashed back to the conversations he’d overheard in the sewers of Xizhou City with those people who had come searching for meteorite fragments. When they referred to “Brother Xiang,” were they talking about Xiang Da, or his cousin?

Unable to immediately make sense of it, Jiang Le felt a searing sensation welling up in his chest and abdomen. He vomited a mouthful of fresh blood mixed with fragments of torn flesh.

The corrosive fluid and toxic fumes in the mutated turtle’s stomach had severely injured Jiang Le; though he’d briefly suppressed his discomfort while chasing Xiang Da, the effects were now coming back to haunt him tenfold.

Leaning against a column, Jiang Le raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a young woman peering cautiously at him from a distant corner.

She was an ordinary person—he didn’t know if she’d been kidnapped or had come of her own free will.

But Jiang Le had no time to worry about her right now. Realizing that Xiao Lang hadn’t caught up after all this time, he thought of how the wolf had forced itself to level up in such a short time to save him—its injuries were likely far more severe than his own.

With that thought, Jiang Le immediately turned and ran toward the open area in front of the laboratory building.

Sure enough, Xiao Lang was there, but it could no longer maintain its massive form and had shrunk to the size of the puppy Jiang Le usually held in his arms.

This wasn’t a deliberate attempt to maintain its usual appearance, as it usually did; rather, its injuries were so severe that it could no longer control its transformation.

Jiang Le hurried forward and picked up Xiao Lang. Only then did he realize how unusually limp the wolf’s body felt—as if every bone in its body had shattered, leaving it unable to support itself.

If it weren’t for the fact that Xiao Lang was still barely breathing, it would have looked almost as if it were dead.

Jiang Le’s anxiety was indescribable; in the blink of an eye, several tears fell, splashing onto Xiao Lang’s fur.

Even the blood vine on his wrist—which usually didn’t get along with Xiao Lang—extended a few tendrils to gently poke at Xiao Lang’s body, then immediately retreated, as if afraid Xiao Lang might bite back. However, today Xiao Lang showed no reaction to the blood vine at all, causing the tendrils to wilt slightly.

Jiang Le split open the mutant turtle’s skull and extracted the bowl-sized Level 6 nucleus crystal from within. Xiao Lang’s body was now riddled with wounds and desperately needed powerful energy to heal.

Jiang Le teleported Xiao Lang back to the farm dimension right on the spot, held the nucleus crystal to Xiao Lang’s mouth, and called out softly, “Xiao Lang?”

After calling out four or five times in a row, Xiao Lang finally opened his eyes slightly. Upon seeing Jiang Le’s face and the nucleus crystal in his hand, his survival instinct made him immediately understand what Jiang Le wanted.

However, Xiao Lang was too weak at that moment; he opened his mouth several times but couldn’t swallow the nucleus crystal whole. Finally, he managed to hold it in his mouth with great effort, and then showed no further reaction.

The pet page in the backend showed that Xiao Lang’s condition was now critical.

Forcing a level-up and engaging in a fierce battle—tearing apart the body and shell of a Level 6 Mutant Turtle—such intense combat would likely have killed Xiao Lang had it not already broken through to 5-star status.

Fortunately, after holding the Level 6 mutant turtle’s nucleus crystal in his mouth, Xiao Lang’s steadily declining health stabilized. Although his recovery was slow, a faint glow began to appear.

Jiang Le’s heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled a little, but he himself could no longer hold on and entered a state of unconscious recovery right where he stood.

As for the blood vine, although its main body had been brought back into Jiang Le’s spatial pocket, many of its offshoots remained outside, continuing to encircle the entire villa complex.

While Jiang Le and Xiao Lang were in hibernation, the blood vine freely controlled its tendrils to roam everywhere outside. Not only did it openly search every corner of the villa complex once more, but it also began feasting on a buffet inside the complex.

It was cold now, so the corpses of the superpower users who had died in various corners of the villa complex wouldn’t decompose for several days. The blood vine used its tendrils to gather them all into a single room; every day, it would open the door and feast on the “buffet,” using the putrid fluid on its tendrils to dissolve the superpower users’ bones completely.

However, it did remember to set aside the superpower users’ nucleus crystals, to be distributed and disposed of once Jiang Le woke up. After all, the Stinking Wolf had already reached Level 6, so these Level 3 and 4 nucleus crystals wouldn’t be of much use to it anymore, and by then, Jiang Le would surely give them to it first.

With this little scheme in mind, the blood vine considered temporarily delaying its own level-up—while also currying favor with Jiang Le—a win-win situation.

Meanwhile, some superpower users who had been out collecting nucleus crystals returned to the research institute. At first, they were a bit surprised not to see any guards at the entrance, but since they didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, they walked right in. That was when the blood vine would appear, catching them like fish in a barrel. By the time the superpower users realized something was wrong, it was already too late to escape.

The only thing the blood vine found regrettable was that there were still many ordinary people in the base—but it couldn’t eat them.

In truth, flesh and blood were equally delicious to the blood vine. If it didn’t consume the nucleus crystals, the energy levels of superpower users and ordinary people weren’t that different. However, the blood vine could kill superpower users at will and was confident that Jiang Le would have no objections. But as for these ordinary people, Jiang Le would likely not approve.

Because of this, as the blood vine roamed the villa district carrying out its mop-up operations, it came across many ordinary people cowering in corners on numerous occasions. Yet it never laid a hand on them; at most, it would inhale the scent molecules in the air before moving on with a sense of regret.

Ning Wenwen was one of the ordinary people trapped in the villa district. She had originally lived in another base, but a superpower user from the research institute noticed her during a temporary stay at her base and exchanged her for a few nucleus crystals to bring her here.

Although Ning Wenwen was reluctant, having lived through the apocalypse for so long, she deeply understood the powerlessness of ordinary people to resist. To survive, she had no choice but to temporarily submit to others’ authority. Looking on the bright side, at least she could still eat her fill.

Most of the ordinary people at the research institute had arrived in this way.

Serving these superpower users well and winning their favor was their daily routine. While their lives seemed better than those of many others, only Ning Wenwen and her peers knew that their very lives were entirely in the hands of others. If a superpower user was even slightly displeased, or if they grew tired of them, all sorts of gruesome deaths awaited these defenseless ordinary people within the research institute.

Ning Wenwen had once been taken by the superpower user who owned her to the room in the laboratory building where the blood vine was kept, and she had witnessed with her own eyes a person who had been half-devoured by the blood vine, unable to even die.

Faced with her trembling and visceral fear at the time, the superpower user who had held her in his arms had actually burst out laughing. Thinking of this now, Ning Wenwen was consumed by hatred.

She had thought life would go on like this, day after day with no end in sight, but then an unexpected turn of events occurred: someone had broken into the base, cutting a path of death all the way through and slaughtering every superpower user—including several leaders—inside.

Ning Wenwen still remembers hiding in a corner and witnessing the scene of “Brother Xiang”—the man who had once been the most arrogant and to whom everyone had bowed and scraped—being impaled by vines and then having his skull crushed underfoot. That scene was one she would likely never forget for the rest of her life, and she also remembered that handsome young man vividly.

Later, that young man disappeared, and the research institute became a playground for the blood vines.

At first, there were two superpower users hiding quietly in a corner of the villa with these ordinary people, hoping to wait until the blood vine outside left before figuring out a way to escape. At the same time, the superpower users didn’t forget to threaten the ordinary people, insisting that they must follow them out when the time came—otherwise, they’d be doomed to be devoured by the blood vine.

Although they knew that following these two superpower users might not lead to a happy ending—they’d most likely be treated as property and disposed of at will—the superpower users were right: the blood vine was notoriously bloodthirsty. Even the superpower users stood no chance against it; how much less so these ordinary people? Escaping with these two superpower users was their only way out.

However, one morning, the ordinary people and the two superpower users—all gathered in a single room and still fast asleep—were suddenly jolted awake by the sound of the door being smashed open.

Before anyone could react, several blood vines as thick as bowls burst through the door like bandits. It stood at the doorway, sniffing menacingly for the scent of blood and flesh inside the room.

Some of the group screamed, but were immediately silenced by those beside them; they didn’t even dare to breathe loudly, foolishly hoping the blood vines wouldn’t detect them that way.

Ning Wenwen’s eyes filled with tears. While other ordinary people might not know the characteristics of blood vines, she had once received an explanation from a superpower user. Although the blood vine lacks sight, its acute sensitivity to scent more than compensates for its lack of vision.

Their ability to detect different scent molecules was so powerful that they could clearly distinguish the species and size of living beings, as well as the surrounding terrain. Though they lacked sight, their perception of the environment was stronger than that of many superpower users.

No one in this room stands a chance of surviving.

The two superpower users were also filled with fear; one was a Level 3 and the other a Level 4, and they were no match for the blood vine at the doorway. To save their own lives, the two superpower users reached a consensus almost simultaneously.

The ordinary people around them were suddenly shoved aside.

Ning Wenwen was unfortunately chosen; her body stumbled involuntarily toward the blood vine, passively breaking the stalemate created by the vine’s scent.

Facing the thick vine just inches away, Ning Wenwen closed her eyes in utter despair, preparing to meet her end—but to her surprise, upon sensing human flesh, the blood vine did not open its suction cups to release its corrosive fluid. Instead, it seemed to lift the vine as if to support Ning Wenwen, halting her forward fall.

The vine wrapped around Ning Wenwen’s arm and gently helped her to her feet. She then felt the vine on her wrist retract—it hadn’t attacked her at all. She stood there in a daze, almost feeling as if she’d been supported by a gentleman.

“Um…” Ning Wenwen even forgot to cry as she cautiously turned to look at the blood vine, only to discover that the other ordinary people who had been pushed forward as sacrifices hadn’t been swept away and devoured by it either.

The fear that had previously filled the room momentarily subsided, giving way to a sense of bewilderment.

Although the scene was eerie—and no one knew what had possessed the blood vine—it made the two superpower users present think they might be able to take advantage of the vine’s momentary lapse to escape.

Without hesitation, the two superpower users darted forward, preparing to jump out the window. However, just as they moved, the blood vine—which had previously seemed somewhat disoriented—suddenly struck. Two vines wrapped around the superpower users’ waists in the blink of an eye, constricting like a python strangling its prey.

The two superpower users let out agonized screams, and the remaining ordinary people snapped out of their daze, shrieking as they scrambled to the sides, watching the scene with trembling fear.

As the blood vine coiled around the two superpower users, its suction cups simultaneously released a paralytic, putrid fluid at lightning speed. As the vines tightened, the sound of the superpower users’ bones shattering echoed clearly throughout the room, and their death screams haunted the minds of these ordinary people for days afterward.

Strangely, however, the blood vine had not returned to their room since that day, as if it had forgotten that there were still humans here to eat.

Ning Wenwen had a vague hunch that perhaps the blood vine wouldn’t harm ordinary people like them. This idea quickly gained consensus among them, and they decided to try to leave before the blood vine changed its mind.

However, while the blood vine did not kill them, it clearly would not let them leave either. As soon as they neared the research institute’s exit, vines would suddenly emerge from who knows where to drive them back.

Fortunately, although the superpower users at the research institute were dead, the supplies they had stockpiled remained. Even if these ordinary people stayed for a year or two, they wouldn’t have to worry about starving to death.

Ning Wenwen peered cautiously through a shattered window. It was a new day, and the blood vine had begun its patrol once more; several sections of vine glided down the hallway. She noticed that this blood vine was different from the ones she had seen before. The blood vines in the laboratory building were all connected to a single rootstock, but the one outside was broken into separate strands—sometimes joining together, sometimes separating on their own.

From this, Ning Wenwen concluded that this blood vine was not the same as the ones she had seen before.

“Does it think we’re not tasty enough, so it’s keeping us around for now? Once it’s devoured all the superpower users, it’ll come for us.”

“I saw yesterday that after it finished eating a superpower user, it dug out the nucleus crystal, placed it in a small box, and even locked the box from the outside with its own vines.”

People were discussing this behind her, but Ning Wenwen just listened without saying a word. She simply stared at the blood vine in the courtyard, watching as it coiled its tendrils around a stone by the path and tossed it aside as if it were a game. A strange thought suddenly crossed her mind: she felt that this blood vine wasn’t all that scary—in fact, it even had a touch of childlike playfulness.

Shaking her head, Ning Wenwen shook off that thought.

After the initial fear, these ordinary people had readjusted to this life of being kept in the blood vine’s enclosure—though they had no idea when the next change would come.

Jiang Le slowly opened his eyes within the spatial realm. After confirming that his body felt completely normal, he turned to look at Xiao Lang lying beside him. Half a month had passed, and the Level 6 nucleus crystal—which Xiao Lang had originally barely managed to hold in its mouth—was now reduced to a piece no bigger than a lollipop.

Jiang Le gently stroked Xiao Lang’s fur, feeling the animal’s complete skeleton beneath his palm, which brought him a little peace of mind.

He opened the pet panel to check the information. Xiao Lang’s health had recovered by more than half, and its other stats had also moved away from critical levels, reaching their usual passing marks.

The repair progress bar had advanced more than halfway, though it would likely take some time to complete. Xiao Lang’s unconsciousness was not merely a repair process but also the completion of its level-up.

The nucleus crystal on the pet panel, which had appeared cracked due to the forced upgrade, had healed during this time, and the cracks were steadily disappearing. Jiang Le bent down and gently nuzzled Xiao Lang’s cheek, then stood up and walked out of the small hut.

Sensing that the blood vine on his wrist was very excited, Jiang Le opened the planting dish, and the blood vine immediately surged out and wrapped itself around his wrist. Although Jiang Le couldn’t directly understand what his pets were trying to say, he could generally grasp the meaning behind their emotions. Right now, the vine was seeking praise.

“Have you been up to a lot?” Jiang Le asked. The vine cane tapped lightly before his eyes.

“Has anyone from outside come looking for me here during this time?”

The vine shook its head again.

Jiang Le returned to the real world and headed straight for the basement of the laboratory building.

This was not only the original habitat of the mutated turtle, but also the only place Jiang Le hadn’t yet explored.

Although a sizable section had collapsed when the mutated turtle broke through the ground, most of the structure remained intact. Aside from the mutated turtle’s living area, the basement contained several other rooms.

Here, Jiang Le found three more Level 5 nucleus crystals, which were likely used to feed the mutant turtle. It seemed that the advanced mutant creatures being raised on human nucleus crystals in the upper floors of the laboratory building were merely a food source for this mutant turtle—no wonder Xiang Da had no qualms about sending them into battle.

In addition to the nucleus crystals, Jiang Le found traces of a meteorite impact, as well as many empty cages.

It’s not hard to imagine that, at one time, someone may have used the meteorite right here to induce mutations in many creatures, then selected the types they wanted for breeding.

Mutant species instinctively protect the meteorite, which is why they defend Xiang Da.

However, Xiang Da was clearly just a pawn; the real mastermind was someone else entirely.

After leaving the laboratory building, Jiang Le wandered around the rest of the villa, stowing the supplies stored there into his spatial pocket along the way. At the same time, he realized why the vine had been trying to take credit.

While he was unconscious, the blood vine had not only disposed of all the superpower users’ corpses—eating until its belly was round—but had also cleared out some of the lower-level mutants in the lab building. It hadn’t even spared the edible meat inside the turtle shell in front of the lab; by now, only the hard, indigestible parts of the shell remained.

The blood vine hadn’t even forgotten to use its corrosive fluid to destroy the backup footage in the monitoring room, truly ensuring that all traces were completely eradicated.

By the time Jiang Le stowed the turtle shell away in his spatial pocket, the blood vine had already brought over the box of nucleus crystals it had collected during that time for Jiang Le to inspect. Jiang Le’s lips curled into a smile as he ran his fingers over the cultivation dish: “Well done.”

He casually opened the box of nucleus crystals and picked out a few Level 3 nucleus crystals for the blood vine as a snack to replenish its energy: “We’ll figure out your upgrade once we get back home.”

Since Xiao Lang was still unconscious, Jiang Le needed to keep the blood vine in a combat-ready state.

The blood vine gratefully placed the nucleus crystals into the cultivation dish, then led Jiang Le to the room where the ordinary people were staying.

This was part of the blood vine’s gesture of goodwill. Although they didn’t know why, the blood vine was aware that Jiang Le was kinder to ordinary people.

To his surprise, the blood vine had left the ordinary people in the villa behind. Jiang Le was somewhat taken aback by this, as he hadn’t given any thought to what would become of them.

To Jiang Le, they were nothing more than strangers.

But considering that these ordinary people lacked the protection of superpower users, he feared they might not even be able to safely make their way out of this mountain range. With a sigh, Jiang Le decided to go talk to them.

When Jiang Le arrived at the villa where the ordinary people were hiding, he didn’t quiet his footsteps; instead, he made them deliberately louder to alert those inside of his arrival.

Since they were preparing to leave, the Sub-Vines that had been scattered throughout the villa were now drifting toward the Mother Plant, afraid of being abandoned.

The lid of the cultivation dish was open. As Jiang Le pushed open the door, the people inside timidly looked over and happened to catch the sight of countless vine tendrils contracting and retreating into the cultivation dish, all interconnected.

When Ning Wenwen saw Jiang Le again, her heart skipped a beat.

Although Jiang Le gave off no aura of supernatural abilities, just seeing how obsequiously the blood vine behaved toward him made it clear even to the ordinary people present that he was not to be underestimated.

“I’m leaving now,” Jiang Le said, waving the blood vine in his hand. “It won’t stand in your way anymore. If you want to stay here, that’s up to you. If anyone wants to leave, I can take you to the nearest base.”

The crowd, who had been huddled together in fear—believing Jiang Le to be no different from other superpower users and anxiously awaiting their fate—suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over them.

“We… we’ll go with you.” 

“Right.”

“Thank you.”

The crowd spoke all at once. Seeing that Jiang Le was all packed up and ready to leave immediately, they quickly stood up, got dressed, and followed him out of the room.

The villa complex was quiet, a complete contrast to how it had been when they arrived—and it was all thanks to this seemingly ordinary person standing before them. Ning Wenwen stole a glance at Jiang Le.

When they first met, Jiang Le had been battered from battle and looked somewhat disheveled, but even then, it was clear he was handsome. Now, after getting plenty of rest and healing, he looked even more striking.

Ning Wenwen had her own way of judging whether a person was good or bad. From the fact that even the blood vine Jiang Le cultivated wouldn’t feed on ordinary people, and from the way he—though a man of few words—showed no disrespect toward them in the smallest details, Ning Wenwen instinctively felt that Jiang Le couldn’t be a bad person.

Pacing themselves to conserve their strength, they walked for over two days before finally reaching the borders of Hai City.

Jiang Le surveyed the surroundings and realized that Base No. 1 was actually the closest one, so he simply led them to the entrance of Base No. 1.

More than half a month had passed, and Base 1 had gradually recovered from the shadow of the mutated mushrooms and resumed normal operations. Rumors of the mutated mushrooms had already spread throughout the various bases in Hai City, and for the foreseeable future, at least, the base leadership would proceed with caution to prevent opportunists from taking advantage of the situation.

Unlike when Jiang Le had visited last time, the entrance to Base 1 was now deserted, with only a few guards standing watch. It seemed the impact of the mutated mushrooms had been significant, deterring many refugees from seeking refuge there.

The arrival of Jiang Le and his group of more than twenty people quickly caught the guards’ attention. As soon as they recognized Jiang Le’s face, they immediately rushed forward excitedly. Upon hearing that Jiang Le had come to deliver refugees, they were even more delighted, pulling him inside and sending someone to fetch Chen Qing and An Jin right away.

Jiang Le hadn’t originally planned to enter Base No. 1, but when he heard a guard say, “Brother Chen planted the seeds you gave him last time. I hear they sprouted and are growing quite well! He’ll definitely want to see you—please wait a moment.”

Hearing about the crops, Jiang Le changed his mind. He was curious to see how the seeds he’d given Chen Qing had fared—it would be a good opportunity to test the survival rate of ordinary crop seeds outside a farm environment.