Chapter 333: Chapter 328: Apocalypse Sisters
Ye Qiu and Duan Kai arrived at the place where the Mutated Vines took root. As soon as they reached the peripheral area, they found numerous bodies of Zombies and mutated animals, all of which looked as though their vitality had been drained, leaving their corpses withered and desiccated.
"The Crystal Cores have been crushed to dust." Ye Qiu dug into the head of a mutated animal, his expression grave.
"We’ll take it on; you two sisters and Mingming just stand here and don’t move," Duan Kai ordered everyone as was his habit.
"I’m going too," Ye Dong said, unwilling to be left behind.
Her decision being vetoed, Duan Kai frowned and thought that the slender and frail Ye Dong was just being unreasonable.
Ye Dong knew he looked down on her by the expression on his face, her features marked with displeasure, "I won’t hold you back. If anything happens, you needn’t bother about me."
After hearing this, Duan Kai looked at Ye Qiu, his eyes conveying the hope that she would manage her sister.
But Ye Qiu had great faith in her sister. While Dongdong might be slightly less capable than Duan Kai, she definitely wasn’t a burden. In her previous life during the apocalypse, she had become the only female combatant ranked among the top ten, and it was not due to luck or other people’s concessions.
"Mr. Duan, don’t underestimate women," Ye Qiu said with a pair of calm and steady eyes staring right at him.
Having heard that, Duan Kai fell silent. Again he glanced at Ye Dong, who stood there with her lips pursed in stubbornness, gesturing her to follow. In their eyes, Ye Qiu was a common person without superpowers. Duan Kai’s consent for Ye Dong to accompany them was already his limit, plus there was the child Mingming to look after. Hence, Ye Qiu took Mingming and moved away from the reach of the Mutated Vine’s attack, grateful that maybe due to the vine’s strength, there were no dangers nearby.
Ye Qiu’s pursuit of the Mutated Vine wasn’t a capricious act. After the apocalypse, whether humans or animals, they either turned into Zombies or evolved into Superpower Users. Ordinary people and animals who hadn’t undergone changes were extremely rare, and those ordinary beings gradually began disappearing after the apocalypse due to their lack of survival capabilities.
But plants were different; they didn’t have a Zombie form. Once mutated, they would become exceptionally formidable, especially these Mutated Vines which sprouted from underground and could indiscriminately attack all kinds of organisms to strengthen themselves.
In the latter stages of the apocalypse, humanity’s greatest nemesis wasn’t Zombies, but rather these silently growing Mutated Vines that were slowly taking over the world.
This situation was much like millions of years ago when the Earth’s dominant dinosaurs were obliterated, in an instant disappearing between heaven and earth when the asteroid hit the planet. Today, humans, who had no rivals, were also suffering Earth’s vengeance. It began self-cleansing, with the Mutated Vines seemingly chosen as the next rulers.
They were mighty, efficiently clearing all bacteria from the Earth. Perhaps one day, after humans have disappeared, Earth would once again become vibrant with life, or perhaps in thousands or millions of years, when the Mutated Vines no longer suit Earth, it will select a new species.
But that was not for Ye Qiu to consider. Her task was to find out the reason why Mutated Vines dominated the Earth. Humanity’s retaliation by nature might be deserved, but there should also be a method of salvation.
On this side, the closer Duan Kai and Ye Dong they got to the Mutated Vine, the greater the shock in their hearts. Ye Dong was okay; she had dealt with a Mutated Vine together with Ye Qiu before and knew some of its habits. Although this vine was much larger than the previous one, she had already prepared herself mentally.
But Duan Kai was different. Although he had also encountered mutant plants before, he had never seen anything as special as this Mutated Vine in front of him.
The Mutated Vine actually looked very beautiful. Its leaves were emerald green like Jade, and it did not cling to any other objects. It spread out across the ground, winding and turning, but what was amazing was that it seemed to have its own thoughts. As soon as something approached it, it would use its tendrils to probe continuously, and each tendril bore milk-white flowers with a strange fragrance that always made people unable to resist getting close to it.
Fortunately, Ye Dong had warned them early on, so the group of six held their breath and cautiously made their way towards the root of the Mutated Vine.
The closer they got to the root, the stronger the scent of the vine was, and its leaves seemed even greener. The flesh of the leaves was also thicker, and it seemed as if there was juice flowing inside.
Duan Kai carefully directed everyone to surround the base of the Mutated Vine, and then they launched an attack at the same time. Only then did Ye Dong discover that his superpower was actually the Thunder system. The moment they attacked, the Mutated Vine sensed their presence as well. Thick and powerful tendrils whipped towards them frantically, and the sound of air tearing could be heard around their ears.
"Be careful not to inhale too much of the fragrance, and don’t get pollen on you," Ye Dong reminded everyone. At the same time, she used her Ice power to freeze the moisture inside a tendril next to her. That tendril immediately lost its vitality, which also triggered a sharp shriek from the Mutated Vine.
Duan Kai and his companions also learned for the first time that plants could make sounds, and at the same time, they started to see Ye Dong in a new light. The degree of control over her superpower was impressive, and even Duan Kai wasn’t sure if he could control it as precisely and accurately as Ye Dong.
"Let’s do it again." Duan Kai pointed at the Mutated Vine’s main tendril and said to Ye Dong, who immediately understood his intention. His four companions also blocked the attacks from the other tendrils for them at the same time.
Water conducts electricity, and so does ice. The Mutated Vine’s main tendril was thick and strong. Ye Dong could not completely freeze it, but as long as she covered its surface with a layer of ice mist, it could well stimulate Duan Kai’s Thunder.
"Boom!" The collaboration was momentary; Ye Dong and Duan Kai’s joint attack was their first but very powerful. After several continuous attempts, the Mutated Vine gradually lost its vitality.
A member of Duan Kai’s team with Earth Element power followed the cracks to move aside the soil at the base of the Mutated Vine, revealing the item hidden inside. At its root, indeed, was a small clump of golden soil.
Mr. Duan looked solemnly as Ye Qiu placed this golden soil into a glass bottle, and his belief in Ye Qiu’s assertion that the apocalypse originated from within Earth grew, and he also developed an eerie confidence in Ye Qiu. Perhaps she really could find the cause of the apocalypse and discover a cure!
"It’s not dead yet." Ignoring the wary looks of everyone, Ye Qiu reached out to the root of the Mutated Vine again, and her fingers sensed a faint vibration, "But it seems to be getting weaker."
Ye Qiu tried to apply a little bit of the golden soil, and the charred root indeed thrashed even more violently. She wished so much that she had a sophisticated laboratory available to study this mysterious golden soil.