Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Cheng Zhiyu had already determined that Little Roll was a vine-type plant. At this moment, as Little Roll’s vines suddenly thickened and lengthened, he hadn't yet realized the potential problem.

Until his waist was abruptly wrapped by a vine, and then he was flung into the air—yes, literally tossed, propelled by Little Roll’s vines.

Cheng Zhiyu couldn't help but shriek, "Aah!"

He truly hadn't expected Little Roll to have such a mischievous personality, so he was completely unprepared. As a result, he was shaken so much his head spun. He yelled, "Little Roll, put me down now!"

Little Roll seemed puzzled, as if wondering if Cheng Zhiyu disliked this. So it switched to a different way of shaking him.

Suddenly swinging back and forth, Cheng Zhiyu: "..."

He said weakly, "Just put me down."

He didn't want to spend the entire day swinging inside the spatial dimension!

Fortunately, Little Two and Little Iron suddenly materialized. One scorched Little Roll with fire, while the other transformed into a cleaver and began chopping relentlessly.

With a "clang," Little Roll was forced to release Cheng Zhiyu, who landed with a painful thud on his rear: "..."

He got up, dusted off his pants, and watched Little Two and Little Iron fiercely chastise Little Roll. Both were already at Level Three, and together they easily overpowered Little Roll, who frantically tried to dodge.

Cheng Zhiyu intervened like a mediating father figure: "Alright, alright, stop fighting. Little Roll knows it was wrong, right?"

Little Roll: ?

Little Two and Little Iron obediently ceased their actions but didn't leave, instead stationing themselves on either side of Cheng Zhiyu like two vigilant bodyguards.

Cheng Zhiyu seized the opportunity to lecture Little Roll: "Little Roll, what you just did was very dangerous, you know? You can't do that again."

Little Roll felt wronged and confused—it just wanted to play with Cheng Zhiyu. How could that be dangerous?

Cheng Zhiyu explained: "Falling from such a height is very dangerous. What if you broke a bone?"

His bottom still ached slightly, so he spoke from painful experience.

Little Roll still didn't quite understand—it would never let Cheng Zhiyu fall.

"Even though I know you didn't mean it, didn't I just fall?" Cheng Zhiyu emphasized seriously.

Little Roll finally reacted, apologetically wrapping its vines gently around Cheng Zhiyu’s wrist as if acknowledging its mistake.

Cheng Zhiyu resisted the urge to pull away—he was still somewhat traumatized—and said with a smile, "It's good that you know it was wrong. Don't do it again, understand?"

Little Roll swayed its head in agreement, then cautiously pointed at the watchful Little Two and Little Iron.

Cheng Zhiyu addressed Little Two and Little Iron, "Little Roll is just a bit mischievous. I've already spoken to it. Thanks to you both earlier. From now on, you must get along peacefully, understand?"

Only then did Little Two and Little Iron return to their usual positions.

Cheng Zhiyu opened Little Roll’s information and learned that its attack was "Constriction." The meaning was obvious without much thought, and he patted his chest with lingering fear.

However, after some serious consideration, he felt that Little Roll might be quite suitable for defense.

The forest was still somewhat dangerous—not just because of mutant beasts, but ordinary wild animals posed a risk too. Having some defense would provide much more peace of mind.

So, Cheng Zhiyu asked Little Roll if it would be willing to provide defense outside the treehouse.

Little Roll responded very enthusiastically, happily wrapping its vines around Cheng Zhiyu and making him jump. Fortunately, this time Little Roll didn't toss him into the air... which was a welcome change.

Since Little Roll was willing, Cheng Zhiyu decided to give it a try.

But before that, it was time to collect the system’s rewards.

As usual, the system space expanded to 10x10, making it look much more spacious.

Then the storage space expanded to 20 cubic meters, almost the size of a small warehouse. Now there was a lot of free space inside again.

Cheng Zhiyu was in a good mood. With the storage space expanded, he could now store items without worry. It had been nearly full, and he'd been worried about having to discard some items.

Finally, there was another plant.

He expertly dug a hole with a shovel, planted the plant, and watered it.

This plant’s life state was still a pitiful 5%. It couldn't be fertilized yet—it needed time to acclimate to the ground. He carefully watered it a little.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that this plant was different from others when young. It had no leaves, only a main body that looked round and about the size of a soybean.

Cheng Zhiyu immediately decided on a name for it: "I'll call you Ball Ball!"

Unconsciously, he had spent quite a long time in the space. By the time Cheng Zhiyu came out, everyone was already asleep, except for Little Black, who seemed to be waiting for him.

Cheng Zhiyu's heart softened, and he gently stroked Little Black’s fur: "You're still growing. If you're sleepy, you should sleep. Don't wait for me."

Little Black, who always talked tough, said, "I'm not sleepy."

Then he couldn't help but yawn.

Cheng Zhiyu: "..."

Ignoring the awkwardness, he said, "I'll just step outside for a moment. I'll be back soon to sleep."

Little Black wagged his tail and followed Cheng Zhiyu.

Passing through the living room, they saw Zhou Min sprawled in sleep, completely unaware of their presence.

Cheng Zhiyu noticed Little Black mischievously raising a paw to swat at Zhou Min and quickly stopped him: "Little Black, don't disturb others while they're sleeping."

Little Black naturally pulled back his paw, pretending nothing had happened, and followed Cheng Zhiyu.

Cheng Zhiyu found it amusing. Sometimes he really thought Little Black was remarkable—dependable and solid at critical moments, but usually a little goofy and even a little mischievous.

He opened the door. The temperature outside the treehouse was much colder, and Cheng Zhiyu could see his breath fog. They had plants that provided warmth and the Big Strong treehouse, so the low temperature wasn't a big deal for them. He wondered how other Superhumans would cope.

Cheng Zhiyu shook his head and called Little Roll out, having it settle its roots in front of the treehouse door. He asked with some concern, "Won't Little Roll feel cold?"

Little Roll shook its head, looking quite comfortable.

Only after confirming that it could adapt did Cheng Zhiyu feel relieved. Seeing Little Black curiously looking up at Little Roll, he called him back—it was very late.

Just as Little Black was about to follow him back inside, Little Roll got restless again, attempting to wrap its vines around Little Black. But before it could even touch him, Little Black—as if he had eyes on the back of his head—summoned a bolt of lightning hovering above Little Roll, ready to strike.

Little Roll shuddered and immediately pulled back its vines fearfully. The lightning above its head then vanished.

Cheng Zhiyu didn't see this happen—he was truly tired.

Returning to the room, he washed up, collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep.

Little Black came closer: "Why're you sleeping face down?"

Cheng Zhiyu mumbled groggily: "Little Roll just threw me, my butt's sore."

Actually, it was only a little painful, probably would feel better by tomorrow.

Little Black wished he'd zapped Little Roll earlier. He walked over to Cheng Zhiyu's butt, reached out with his paw and gently touched it. The injury wasn't serious, and Cheng Zhiyu didn't really react.

But Little Black felt his paw burning, as if his whole body felt like it was burning up.

So strange, he needed to stay away from Cheng Zhiyu.

Little Black lay down to sleep at the foot of the bed, but before long, he curled up next to Cheng Zhiyu again.

The next day, Cheng Zhiyu woke up and found Zhou Min flying outside—yes, actually flying in the air.

He immediately jolted awake and rushed out, only to see Little Roll had Zhou Min wrapped up, tossing him up, then catching him with its vines when he fell, and tossing him up again.

Zhou Min: "Aaaaaah!"

Cheng Zhiyu's temple twitched. Little Roll was really too mischievous!

He quickly said: "Little Roll, put him down!"

Fortunately, though mischievous, Little Roll was still obedient. It carefully held Zhou Min and set him down, its movements almost reluctantly, as if Zhou Min were some fun toy.

Cheng Zhiyu hurried over to Zhou Min: "You okay?"

Zhou Min: "...My legs are like jelly."

Tian Qiao and Tian Manman heard the commotion and came rushing out anxiously.

Tian Qiao looked at Little Roll: "What is this thing?"

Cheng Zhiyu explained that it was a newly matured plant: "It's a bit playful and likes to toss people into the air."

"You scared the life out of me! I stepped outside and saw this thing, and then it threw me into the sky," Zhou Min said, still shaken up.

Cheng Zhiyu apologized: "I placed it at the door for defense, but I didn’t expect it to..."

Tian Qiao laughed: "Zhou Min, you’ve got the worst luck! But this must be way more thrilling than those drop rides at amusement parks."

Zhou Min: "...More than that, I felt like I was bungee jumping without a cord."

Little Roll wriggled its vines, looking pleased with itself, and was about to feel pleased when a bolt of lightning thick as a bowl hovered above its main stem.

Little Roll froze, frozen in place.

Cheng Zhiyu took the opportunity to lecture it: "What did I say yesterday? Whether it's me or anyone else, you can’t do this. Understand?"

Little Roll waved its vines frantically to show it understood.

Cheng Zhiyu patted Little Black: "Alright, take it back."

Little Black flicked his tail, sent a few crackling sparks at Little Roll's main stem, making it shake, before withdrawing the lightning.

Zhou Min was moved: "Brother Black, you’re getting all worked up over me!"

Little Black: "?"

Zhou Min: "I didn’t realize I meant so much to you. I’m so touched."

Little Black: "..." What's it to you?

He moved closer to Cheng Zhiyu, concerned: "Does your butt still hurt?"

Cheng Zhiyu was embarrassed: "How did you know?"

Little Black: "You said it yourself."

Cheng Zhiyu cleared his throat: "It doesn’t hurt anymore. The fall wasn’t serious yesterday."

Little Black saw that he was moving around fine and felt relieved.

Last night was safe. The mutant bird was dead, and Cheng Zhiyu had been worried that without a threat, other wild animals might take the chance to sneak attack them. But perhaps because Little Roll was there, nothing like that happened.

Anyway, Little Roll had contributed, so Cheng Zhiyu told it to go back to the space to rest.

But then he saw Little Roll shrink down smaller and smaller, until it was about ten centimeters long, and wrap around Cheng Zhiyu's wrist.

If you didn’t look closely, it looked like an unusual-looking bracelet.

Cheng Zhiyu raised an eyebrow, poking it: "Not going back to the space?"

Little Roll nuzzled against him, as if to say: I’ll protect you.

Cheng Zhiyu wasn't taking its word for it and asked the system: "Will there be any problems if the plant doesn’t return to the space?"

After a moment, the system replied: "No. Combat plants level up mainly through fighting or absorbing crystal cores. They just need to return to the space when absorbing crystal cores."

Hearing this, Cheng Zhiyu felt relieved. Since there were no issues, Little Roll could stay on his wrist if it wanted.

But Little Black was very dissatisfied, snarling at Little Roll. At first, Little Roll was a bit scared, but it soon realized that as long as it clung to Cheng Zhiyu's wrist, Little Black couldn't do anything about it. So Little Roll stopped paying attention altogether.

Little Black: "..."

So irritating.

This morning, they successfully ate garlic-seasoned lettuce leaves. The lettuce leaves were quick-boiled, tossed with minced garlic and a bit of salt. Nothing else was needed—it was delicious.

There wasn’t much, and eating it made them feel warm, so they didn’t eat a lot.

Fortunately, they were in the forest, so the daytime wasn’t as hot as in the city.

Cheng Zhiyu and the others were scanning for safe areas as they traveled. They moved quickly and encountered no danger in the first two days—after all, mutant beasts weren't that common. In two days, they had covered more than half of their area.

Compared to the quiet of the first day, on the third day, the communicator frequently received calls for help. But they checked the distances and found them all too far away. By the time they could get there, it would be too late, so there was nothing they could do.

"Probably the day after tomorrow, it’ll all be over," Zhou Min said, worn out from the last couple days. His physical fitness was the worst among them.

Every night, he was so tired he was out as soon as he hit the pillow.

Cheng Zhiyu nodded: "Yeah, hope everything goes smoothly."

Tian Qiao muttered: "Aside from the mutant bird, we haven’t run into any other mutant beasts. It’s kinda boring."

As he spoke, he suddenly felt something wrap around his ankle. He looked down and laughed: "Little Roll, can you stop messing around?"

Cheng Zhiyu glanced at the well-behaved Little Roll on his wrist and his expression changed: "Heads up!"

Fortunately, Tian Qiao reacted quickly, slicing the plant wrapped around his ankle before it could tighten. "Damn, I just said we hadn't encountered any mutants!"

Zhou Min said, still shaken, "Is this a plant-based mutant?"

Cheng Zhiyu nodded. "Probably."

They frowned and looked around but found nothing. Strange—it should be nearby.

Little Black: "In the tree!"

Cheng Zhiyu immediately looked up and met a pair of soulless eyes, sending a chill down his spine.

It was a grayish-brown snake, as thick as a man’s wrist, hissing, tongue flickering, and staring at them menacingly.

"Damn, that gives me the creeps." Tian Qiao immediately shot an Ice Arrow at it.

A vibrant green net appeared in front of the snake, blocking the Ice Arrow. Then, the net flew toward them.

"Little Roll!" Cheng Zhiyu shouted.

Countless vines instantly extended from Cheng Zhiyu's wrist, tearing the net apart.

Only then did they see that the net was covered with countless mouth-like openings. If they had carelessly touched it, they would undoubtedly have been bitten.

Being bitten by so many mouths... the thought was horrifying.

"Ugh, that's disgusting," Zhou Min grimaced.

After failing its first attack, the snake caused the once-calm plants on the ground to suddenly turn frenzied and attack them wildly.

Zhou Min immediately used his dagger to slash, while Tian Manman swung a broadsword.

Cheng Zhiyu yelled, "Tian Qiao!"

As soon as he spoke, the plants under their feet froze into ice, becoming immobile and losing their ability to attack.

At the same time, a cleaver silently appeared behind the snake and swung at it.

Meanwhile, the snake was entangled in a struggle with Little Roll. As a constrictor vine, once Little Roll's vines wrapped around something, the thorns on them would pierce the skin, injecting a paralyzing toxin, rendering struggle futile.

Although the mutated snake wasn't fully aware, it knew it couldn't let Little Roll entangle it. It frantically dodged the vines while trying to bite Little Roll.

The two sides were deadlocked, and the mutated snake failed to notice the cleaver behind it until it was struck.

Only then did the snake sense the danger and try to dodge, but the cleaver still hit it.

In Cheng Zhiyu's prediction, Little Iron's strike should have cut the mutated snake in half.

However, contrary to his expectations, Little Iron only left a gash deep enough to reveal bone on the snake.

The mutated snake slumped weakly.

"Is it dead?" Tian Qiao raised an eyebrow.

Zhou Min let out a sigh. "Look at it—it's not moving. It must be dead, right?"

Little Roll extended its vines, intending to wrap around the snake and toss it toward Cheng Zhiyu, when suddenly, the wrist-thick snake began to grow, instantly becoming as thick as a tree trunk.

It raised its upper body, blotting out the sky.

Little Roll immediately wrapped around the mutated snake, but a burst of fire shot over, charring Little Roll’s vines black.

Cheng Zhiyu frowned. "Little Roll, come back quickly!"

Little Roll ignored him and continued to entangle the mutated snake, injecting its venom into the snake's skin. The snake struggled violently and threw Little Roll off.

Unfortunately, the mutated snake was too large. Even poisoned, it only slowed down slightly.

Cheng Zhiyu quickly withdrew Little Roll into his spatial storage, then unleashed the Little Iron machine gun. Countless bullets flew toward the mutated snake.

Xiao Er joined the fray. As a fire-type, it was completely unafraid of the snake's fire.

The mutated snake frantically weaved, dodging bullets while also avoiding Xiao Er.

Many bullets hit it, and its body was badly scorched by Xiao Er's flames.

Tian Qiao and the others weren't idle either, shooting Ice Arrows one after another. The mutated snake tried to spew fire. In the forest, once a fire starts, it's hard to control, but the snake, desperate and reckless, showed no restraint.

However, every time it spewed fire, it was extinguished by water. Each time it tried, the water doused the flames, infuriating the snake.

Bolts of lightning also occasionally struck down from above, causing such pain that the snake wished it could roll on the spot.

With lightning, bullets, Ice Arrows, fire, and Zhou Min seizing opportunities to sneak attack with his dagger, if the mutated snake could talk, it would probably curse, swearing it was divine punishment!

But the mutated snake had astonishing endurance. Even under such assault, it stubbornly held on, and the situation reached a stalemate.

Just then, the mutated snake suddenly felt a sudden weight on its body. Sensing a life-threatening danger, it tried to throw off the climber.

Unfortunately, Tian Manman was too fast, clinging tightly as he climbed upward.

The snake, busy dodging attacks, allowed Tian Manman to reach its head. It thrashed its tail at Tian Manman, who endured several blows but gritted his teeth and held on. Then, he raised his broadsword and forcefully stabbed it into the snake's head.

The snake's skin was tough, but Tian Manman's knife was no ordinary blade. Combined with his great strength and targeting the spot where Little Iron had previously struck, the knife plunged deep into the snake's head with a sickening crunch.

At the same time, lightning and Ice Arrows relentlessly attacked the snake's wound, and Cheng Zhiyu's machine gun morphed into a crossbow. He shot an arrow that pierced its throat mid-roar.

Tian Manman pulled out the broadsword and stabbed it in again. The snake's wound was a ruin of flesh, and it collapsed weakly, completely lifeless.

Cheng Zhiyu ran over. "Manman, where are you hurt?"

Tian Manman gave a dazed grin. "I'm fine..."

Tian Qiao saw the blood on his arm and nearly cried. "Fine? Look at the state of you! Are you stupid? We would've worn the snake out eventually!"

Tian Manman looked pale. "I wanted to help."

"Manman did great." Cheng Zhiyu patted Tian Qiao, calming him down. "But we also hope you don't get hurt."

Tian Manman scratched his head. "Okay."

Zhou Min winced in pain; he had been whipped several times too. "This snake was really tough. My dagger only left tiny wounds."

Tian Qiao kicked the thoroughly dead mutated snake. "Who would've thought it had dual-type abilities?"

"Manman, come here. Let me patch you up." Zhou Min quickly healed his own wounds and called Tian Manman over.

"Right, I almost forgot Zhou Min had healing abilities." Tian Qiao quickly pulled Tian Manman to Zhou Min.

Zhou Min placed his hands on Tian Manman, and the lash marks that had nearly split the skin healed instantly, leaving his skin smooth and unblemished, as if he had never been injured.

Even though Cheng Zhiyu and the others had seen it before, they still found it quite miraculous.

It's just that after using his ability, Zhou Min felt somewhat tired and needed to rest.

He didn't even care about the dirt anymore, sitting on the ground, staring at the snake dozens of meters long, muttering, "This should be edible, right?"

Everyone looked at Cheng Zhiyu, including Little Black.

Cheng Zhiyu: "..."

He said, "Let's skin the snake first. The snake skin has good defensive properties; we can make vests or something out of it later."

Everyone thought this made sense and immediately started skinning the snake.

It took a lot of effort to handle the snake dozens of meters long. During the process, Cheng Zhiyu dug out the crystal cores from the snake's head. A dual-type mutant beast has two crystal cores in its head—one fire-type and one plant-type.

Since no one else could use them, he gave one to Xiao Er and the other to Big Strong.

Xiao Er is now at Level Three, and advancing to Level Four will be very difficult, likely requiring many crystal cores.

As for Big Strong, with this one crystal core, he should be able to reach Level Two. It's just unclear what changes will come after reaching Level Two.

After skinning the snake, they chopped the meat into pieces. While the others were busy, Cheng Zhiyu pondered and, after confirming the snake meat wasn't poisonous, decided to make snake soup and salt-and-pepper snake meat.

The former was simmered slowly, while the latter was coated in flour, fried in oil, drained, sprinkled with seasoning, and ready to eat.

Cheng Zhiyu called out, "Little Black, come over and try it. How is it?"

Little Black immediately trotted over on his short legs, his tail wagging unconsciously. The snake meat had no bones and could be eaten directly by biting into it.

Cheng Zhiyu popped a piece into Little Black's mouth. After taking a bite, Little Black found it quite tasty. The meat had been marinated in advance, so there was no strange flavor. The outer layer was crispy, and the inside was tender.

Moreover, since it was from a mutant beast, each bite was packed with energy.

"I want some too, I want some too," Zhou Min said, stretching out his hand like a zombie shambling forward, with Tian Qiao and Tian Manman following closely behind.

Frying the meat didn’t require much skill—whether it was a bit overcooked or undercooked didn’t matter much—so they took turns frying, and Cheng Zhiyu also crouched nearby eating.

When they had almost finished eating, the remaining fried meat was stored directly into their storage space for snacking later when they had nothing to do.

Then, each person drank a bowl of hot snake soup, instantly warming their stomachs. After eating too much salt-and-pepper snake meat, they had started to feel a bit greasy, but the snake soup helped cut through the richness. Each sip was incredibly satisfying, making them feel like they couldn’t have eaten this well even before the apocalypse.

After spending a few days in the forest, they estimated they would finish up and be able to leave by tomorrow or the day after.