Yang Chang surrounded one of the carriages with a squad of soldiers. However, the rear door was narrow and not easy to breach, so they waited outside the vehicle.
Unexpectedly, a strange sound emanated from within the carriage: "I surrender, I surrender..."
The peculiar sound did not resemble a human voice. It was incredibly shrill, like the grating of rusted metal sheets sliding against each other, sending shivers down one's spine upon hearing it.
A soldier whispered, "Minister, what should we do next? We don't even know if there's anyone inside the carriage!"
Yang Chang curled his lips and shrugged. "Who cares if there's anyone or not? Even if there are survivors, they are likely desperate villains. There's no need for rescue. Find some gasoline and set it ablaze! It will prevent future troubles."
The soldiers obeyed and immediately went to fetch gasoline. Listening to the sounds from the carriage, Yang Chang felt a sense of dread. He was reluctant to admit it, but he suspected the sound was coming from a plant heart. He recalled seeing plant hearts with eyes before, so a mouth appearing now didn't seem entirely strange.
As the great tree withered, the white mist ceased to be produced. A gentle breeze blew, and the fog slowly dispersed. By then, Yang Chang had already surrounded a carriage with his men. Soldiers poured gasoline on the ground, awaiting Yang Chang's command to ignite the carriage and destroy the plant heart within.
However, at that moment, Chang Jianyi arrived and said, "Hold on, don't rush. Let's see the true form of this monster first."
Yang Chang felt a headache coming on. He helplessly explained to Chang Jianyi, "Vice City Lord, it's not that I don't want you to see, but this thing is truly ferocious! In the past, the City Lord was pierced through the barrier by a wooden spike and nearly died. Even the City Lord's barrier couldn't withstand such an attack, so there's no need for us to take the risk."
Chang Jianyi quickly retorted, "I'm not saying this to satisfy my curiosity. I'm doing this for the future of Yuzhou. If the sound from the carriage is indeed from a plant heart, it means it possesses a certain level of intelligence, and perhaps we can communicate with it."
Chu Zhaoyan, upon hearing this, became displeased and said angrily, "Chang Jianyi, can you stop causing trouble? Do you know how many of our brothers this thing has killed in Yuzhen? Over a thousand people! This thing should be treated as an enemy and burned directly. Are you perhaps thinking of raising it?"
Chu Zhaoyan had previously persuaded Shen Feng to keep the plant heart, primarily for experimental purposes. But now that she discovered the plant heart was not dead, she couldn't suppress her desire for revenge. So many brothers had been captured and absorbed by this mutated plant, leaving no remains for burial, only memorial tombs. If the culprit responsible for such tragic fates wasn't eliminated, how could the spirits of their fallen comrades be appeased?
At this point, Liang Bingwen also stepped forward. As someone who had personally experienced it, he knew how terrifying mutated plants were and began to share his firsthand account.
"Vice City Lord, you have no idea how terrifying this thing is. We, over thirty people, were captured and taken to its underground lair. It was an underground space several kilometers in diameter. Cages hung from trees, and both humans and zombies were absorbed as nourishment! If this thing is given time, what if it causes harm again? We can't wait for the danger to reappear before we take action!" Liang Bingwen pleaded earnestly.
Chu Zhaoyan quickly nodded in agreement.
Yang Chang sighed helplessly and silently raised his lighter.
Almost everyone present disagreed with Chang Jianyi's soft-heartedness, as they too were afraid. If the treants reappeared, who would be able to stop them? Would they have to wait for Shen Feng to dispel the mist again?
Chang Jianyi took a deep breath and looked at the soldiers present, explaining earnestly, "Listen to me, everyone. It's not that I don't sympathize with your feelings. I know how dangerous your battles are, and I understand your deep-seated hatred. However, we must also consider the living! We are running low on evolution bases, and there are very few ways to produce them. The only method is through concentrated evolution potions, and we cannot possibly have too many of them! But this plant is different!"
Chang Jianyi's statement immediately captured everyone's attention.
"If our evolution bases run out in the future, we will only be able to use the precious evolution potions on a very small number of people. Your children, your families, might never have the chance to use evolution bases. But this plant is different; it brings change, it brings opportunity! It can produce evolution bases continuously, and all we need to provide are corpses! In the future, we will have more evolution bases, and your families and children have the potential to become evolvers," Chang Jianyi revealed her true intentions.
When everyone present heard Chang Jianyi's viewpoint, they fell silent. They began to ponder. It made sense. If they couldn't produce evolution bases in large quantities in the future, wouldn't their families and children be unable to become evolvers?
Discussing morality or justice with others would clearly be futile, as anger is always the dominant emotion. Only interests might dispel anger. Chang Jianyi was trying to persuade these people, making them understand that leaving the mutated plant would yield greater benefits.
"I understand now, Vice City Lord. I see your point. However, this mutated plant is truly dangerous, and negotiating with it won't be easy," Yang Chang said with difficulty, not wanting the Vice City Lord to take risks.
Chang Jianyi nodded. "I will be careful."
Chang Jianyi approached the rear door of the carriage and discovered dense vines covering it. These vines had withered under the UV light, but they blocked most of the light. The piercing sound continued from within the carriage: "I surrender, I surrender..."
Chang Jianyi said sternly, "Come out, thing inside! You said you want to surrender, didn't you? I accept your surrender. As long as you work honestly from now on, we guarantee your safety!"
However, Chang Jianyi's attempt at persuasion was futile. The sound from the carriage continued, "I surrender, I surrender..."
Chu Zhaoyan muttered, frowning, "Why does this thing keep repeating that sentence?"
Chang Jianyi couldn't figure it out at the moment.
But Yang Chang suddenly remembered something and quickly said, "Just now, the people who rushed over to surrender were shouting 'I surrender' with their mouths. So, could it be..."
Yang Chang stopped speaking, but the others understood his meaning and couldn't help but nod slightly, a look of realization dawning on their faces. It made sense. The monster inside the carriage must have heard people outside shouting "I surrender" and learned the phrase.
Chu Zhaoyan walked closer to Chang Jianyi and advised, "Enough. This thing just learned a phrase casually. It probably doesn't know what surrender means, so don't bother with amnesty."
Chang Jianyi was unwilling to give up. She shouted loudly at the carriage, "If you don't surrender now, I'll have someone set it on fire! I'll count to three! If you don't come out, you die!"
"One!" Chang Jianyi shouted, then took out her lighter, ready to ignite the gasoline at any moment.
There was no reaction from the carriage. It merely repeated the previous sentence mechanically, as if the phrase was indeed learned on the spot, and the monster inside had no idea what surrender meant. It was reasonable to expect a plant not to possess human-level intelligence.
"Two!" Chang Jianyi clicked her lighter, her gaze gradually turning cold.
Chang Jianyi was not purely a saint. She simply did not want a mutated plant that could become an ally to die in vain. However, no matter how good something was, if it couldn't be used, it was better to kill it decisively!
Finally, Chang Jianyi lost her patience and said calmly, "Three."
With that, Chang Jianyi prepared to light the fire.
At this moment, the vines inside the carriage suddenly retracted inwards, and a bizarrely shaped heart appeared before everyone. This heart had an eye, and as the heart pulsed, the eye continuously opened and closed. Besides the eye, there were two pieces of bark on the heart that vibrated incessantly, producing the sound: "I surrender."
"Ugh, how disgusting!" Chu Zhaoyan, seeing the plant heart again, felt disgusted. A heart with organs resembling eyes and a mouth was extremely bizarre!
Unexpectedly, the two pieces of bark on the plant heart changed their vibration frequency and emitted a new sound: "Ugh, how disgusting."
Chang Jianyi couldn't help but pat Chu Zhaoyan's shoulder and smiled, "It seems you have a connection with this plant. It's learning to speak like you. How about you be its mother?"
Chu Zhaoyan impatiently shook her shoulder, dislodging Chang Jianyi's hand. "I don't want to see this thing. I wish I could leave as soon as possible. You too, deal with this thing quickly and don't let us see it."
Chang Jianyi found a large iron barrel and had the plant heart crawl into it. The plant heart decisively abandoned the dense vines and, manipulating only a few roots, began to walk, eventually entering the barrel. It was evident that this mutated plant understood the principle of self-preservation and chose to surrender decisively to avoid being burned to death.
Chang Jianyi quickly instructed, "Yang Chang, you will take this thing to Yuzhou tomorrow and hand it over to Shen Feng and Professor Niu. They will be responsible for handling it. If this thing dares to escape, set it on fire immediately! Do you understand?"
Yang Chang nodded quickly, indicating that he understood.
Chang Jianyi looked at the large number of specimens in the nearby trucks and said softly, "It seems we will be returning to Yuzhou a little later!"
This time, to make the decoy plan appear perfect, Li Xiang had placed all the specimens made by Professor Niu in the trucks. He had originally planned to send them back to Yuzhou after the war ended, but no one expected such an accident to occur midway. Consequently, Professor Niu's painstakingly made specimens were destroyed. Anyone in this situation would be unable to bear it. Chang Jianyi also did not want to return to Yuzhou at this time, lest she be lectured by Professor Niu.
Under normal circumstances, no one dared to show displeasure towards Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi. However, there was an exception: scholars, especially the professors from the medical college. They were the genuine teachers of Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi. As elders, showing displeasure was quite normal.
Shen Feng could not scold or reprimand them casually, as it would be considered unfilial and disrespectful. Others might not say anything openly, but they would surely gossip behind their backs.
In addition to them, there were the people in the laboratory. After Chang Jianyi pacified Yuzhou, she immediately requested Professor Niu to establish a laboratory. Many of the experimental personnel were personally invited by Professor Niu. Although these people had trouble securing enough food during the apocalypse, they were quite temperamental towards Chang Jianyi and Shen Feng, often putting on a sullen face.
Perhaps this was the integrity of scholars. As long as they could show a displeased expression to the authorities in public, the people below would immediately give them high praise.
If Chu Zhaoyan were to comment, there would only be one conclusion: it was all the fault of Tao Yuanming and Li Bai. It was their fault for talking nonsense, which led others to imitate them. One refused to bow for five pecks of rice, while the other famously declared, "I laugh to the heavens as I go out; am I not a commoner?" These actions were truly admirable.
Fortunately, Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi did not dwell on these minor details. As long as they did not oppose their rule, even if they were insulted daily, it would be acceptable.
Chang Jianyi's reluctance to face Professor Niu was actually her unwillingness to be scolded. Although Professor Niu was usually good-tempered, when he truly got angry, he would reprimand anyone severely!
Chu Zhaoyan, on the other hand, wanted to return to Yuzhou. She had been away for a week and hadn't seen Shen Feng for a long time, her longing growing stronger.
However, Chang Jianyi did not want Chu Zhaoyan to return. She forcibly kept her in Jiangyang, ostensibly to stabilize the situation there, but in reality, she just didn't want Shen Feng and Chu Zhaoyan to have private time together. The issue of animal specimens would have to be Shen Feng's headache.