Remodeling the Willow Tree

Obtaining Elizabeth's blood sample was faster than Chen Changsheng had imagined. He simply took a basketball, dribbled it back and forth on the court, and as Elizabeth passed by him, he made a clever toss, sending the ball smacking into her face.

Then Elizabeth's blood sprayed from her nose, spilling all over the ground. The sight even startled Chen Changsheng.

The blood seemed to be flowing a bit too much. Elizabeth's nosebleed was like a faucet turned on, quickly streaming down onto her clothes.

Glancing at the basketball that had already completed its task, Chen Changsheng hurried over to Elizabeth and helped her up, putting on a deeply apologetic look. "Elizabeth, are you okay? I accidentally hit you in the face with the ball."

As he spoke, he pulled a large handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it firmly over Elizabeth's nose, making sure the cloth was thoroughly soaked with her blood to get as much of a sample as possible.

Getting hit in the face by a basketball for no reason made Elizabeth furious. She tried to push Chen Changsheng's hand away from her face while saying, "Jack, you did that on purpose, didn't you?" She glared at him angrily.

But Chen Changsheng, being a boy, was not about to be pushed aside by Elizabeth. No matter how hard she struggled, he kept the handkerchief pressed tightly over her nose.

The handkerchief covering Elizabeth's face was soon soaked through with her flowing blood.

When Chen Changsheng's hand, still holding the handkerchief, came into contact with Elizabeth's blood, it felt as if it had received a massive jolt. His hand began to feel out of control.

Chen Changsheng could clearly sense through his own perception that his palm seemed to be sprouting tiny fleshy tendrils, which were piercing through the handkerchief and burrowing into Elizabeth's nasal cavity to absorb the blood flowing out.

Elizabeth also felt something strange in her nose. She thought her nosebleed was getting worse and tilted her head back high. Since Chen Changsheng was holding the handkerchief for her, her small hands had nothing to do and flailed about in panic.

Seeing the classmates gradually gathering around, Chen Changsheng felt the pressure mounting. If these people saw the mutation on his palm, it would be all over.

Without time to think, Chen Changsheng cleverly said to Elizabeth, "Come on, let me help you rinse off at the faucet. Look, your nosebleed is getting worse."

Elizabeth didn't suspect anything and obediently let Chen Changsheng help her up. The two of them headed toward the faucet not far away.

Pushing through the circle of classmates, Chen Changsheng helped Elizabeth to the faucet at the edge of the playground. The group of high school students wisely dispersed, and no one noticed anything unusual about Chen Changsheng.

Just as they were about to reach the faucet, the Original Virus inside Chen Changsheng seemed to have had its fill. The fleshy tendrils on his palm slowly retracted back into his hand, returning to normal.

Chen Changsheng also felt his senses sharpening. Clearly, Elizabeth's blood had indeed been effective. This discovery made him very happy, as he felt he had found a direction to grow stronger.

Though drinking blood seemed rather abnormal, given his situation, he didn't care about that anymore.

Chen Changsheng removed the handkerchief from Elizabeth's nose. By now, there was no blood left in her nostrils, and even the blood on the handkerchief was much less than before.

Eager to wash the blood off her face, Elizabeth didn't notice these anomalies. She tilted her head back and splashed clean water onto her forehead, only realizing after several attempts that her nosebleed seemed to have stopped.

After washing up a bit more, Elizabeth turned angrily to Chen Changsheng. He had already cleaned his handkerchief and put on a deeply apologetic expression, meeting her gaze.

After another round of complaints, Elizabeth stormed off in a huff. Chen Changsheng shouted a few more apologies from a distance before sneaking off to the forest near his home.

Finding a secluded spot, he studied what abilities the Original Virus in his body had granted him. Through his perception, it seemed he had gained something remarkable.

Staring at his palm, Chen Changsheng concentrated on recalling the feeling of the fleshy tendrils emerging from it.

Immediately, his palm seemed to melt, showing ripples, and then strands of fleshy tendrils, like flexible threads, rose up swaying.

These tendrils didn't look like the parasites he had seen before; instead, they resembled the roots of some plant.

Chen Changsheng experimented a bit. It seemed that as long as he had a clear intention, the tendrils would respond accordingly.

Looking around, Chen Changsheng couldn't find a suitable target to practice on, so he reached out to a nearby willow tree that looked quite old.

When his palm was still some distance from the willow, the tendrils seemed to receive some signal and began extending far ahead, eager to touch the tree's bark.

When Chen Changsheng pressed his palm firmly against the willow's bark, he felt the tendrils on his palm continuously growing, and part of the virus in his body was injected into the tree's branches.

This feeling didn't last long. In just a short time, Chen Changsheng felt he had infected the willow with a significant amount of the virus.

Vaguely, Chen Changsheng sensed that the willow tree now had some inexplicable connection to him. He could even feel the breeze brushing through the willow branches through some unknown channel.

It was an amazing sensation. Chen Changsheng focused on it for a while, but then a wave of hunger hit him—though it wasn't the kind of starvation that would kill him instantly like a few days ago.

Focusing more closely, he realized it was the willow tree in front of him that was calling out in hunger.

What does a hungry willow tree do? It's a plant, so it should just absorb nutrients from the soil through its roots, right?

If it's hungry, it should expand its roots to absorb more nutrients, Chen Changsheng thought.

As he thought this, the willow's roots, catalyzed by the Original Virus, began to accelerate their division and growth. In a short time, a root network several times larger than the tree's canopy was formed, and the willow frantically absorbed nutrients from the soil.

The nutrients absorbed by the willow could also be transmitted directly back to Chen Changsheng through the fleshy tendrils connecting them.

Though the willow's roots absorbed plenty of nutrients, the Original Virus needed even more to drive its evolution. Chen Changsheng didn't know why, but he could clearly understand this. It felt as if someone was explaining it in his mind.

How else could the willow increase its nutrient intake? Could it catch small animals to feed on?

Thinking this, Chen Changsheng felt he had a good idea. In nature, examples of plants catching animals, like Venus flytraps and pitcher plants, were clear proof, but passively waiting like that was inefficient. If the willow could actively catch animals to eat, that would be better.

As Chen Changsheng thought this, the willow began evolving rapidly. The virus continuously pumped from Chen Changsheng's body into the willow's circulatory system, and nutrients flowed in steadily. Gradually, the willow branches, which had been swaying in the wind, began to move with an unusual rhythm.

The nutrient transport channels inside the branches also underwent changes. New, specialized organs seemed to appear.

Animals have hearts to pump blood, and in a short time, the willow evolved a similar structure deep underground.

It continuously pumped nutrients absorbed from the earth to every branch of the tree. At the same time, countless branches and their leaves turned an even deeper green, and the willow's photosynthesis was greatly enhanced...

On the willow, insects that had made it their home were suddenly caught by the once-harmless branches, wrapped up, and finally digested and absorbed.

In a very short time, apart from Chen Changsheng, no living animal could be seen around the willow. Even some of the weeds common in the forest seemed to have thinned out.

By the time Chen Changsheng snapped back to reality, a long time had passed. It was now midnight. Under the bright moonlight, Chen Changsheng saw that the willow had drastically changed.

The tender green branches of early spring had turned a vivid emerald, as if they could drip water, and the tips of the branches had become extremely fine, like silk threads.

The fine threads danced in the wind, nimbly catching insects that flew through the gaps in the willow branches, then wrapping them up. The willow leaves contracted, forming small cocoons that dropped to the ground.

Once the small cocoons containing the insects touched the ground, the willow's roots burst through the soil, dragging their dinner underground to a dedicated digestion site where they were broken down into nutrients.

Chen Changsheng felt that the Original Virus was like a bunch of Minions, and he was their master. As long as he issued orders, the Minions would do their best to complete the tasks—though the quality of their work was another matter.

To avoid being screwed over by the Original Virus, Chen Changsheng still had to get involved, setting some boundaries and limits to guide its rapid evolution.

Looking at the first creature he had modified, Chen Changsheng suddenly felt like a creator. But the feeling didn't last long. The next moment, he remembered that the town was about to be nuked. Was there ever a creator killed by a nuclear strike in this world?

Maybe he should make good use of the willow tree's abilities to strengthen himself in a short time.

The energy the willow tree fed back contained far more than the food he ate. Just that small amount made Chen Changsheng feel a hundred times lighter.

Clearly, the willow tree's energy was on a very high level, and it even had some effect on improving his physique. If his own training was effective, combined with the willow tree's energy, Chen Changsheng felt he could rapidly advance.

Time was running out. With a sword hanging over his head, he had no choice but to push himself to the limit.

Chen Changsheng's plan was simple: even if he could only kill one soldier and disguise himself as part of the US Military to escape with the troops, that would be better than waiting here for a nuclear bomb.

But Chen Changsheng figured that the ones coming would likely be elite soldiers from Black Watch—true elites. Without any weapons, dealing with those fully armed, well-equipped Black Watch soldiers would be impossible without a solid plan in place.