He slept soundly through the night, without a single dream.
Early in the morning, in the tennis lounge, Wang Changle stared out at the school.
Two heavy trucks chased each other around the campus, careening wildly as their deafening roars drew hordes of zombies to attack them. Even more zombies died beneath their wheels.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, followed by the heavy truck's horn blaring continuously. Its loud honking echoed across the entire campus, drawing even more zombies swarming toward it.
Crash—boom—clang!
A heavy truck suddenly smashed straight through the wall in front of the supermarket.
The next second, it appeared on the street not far from the tennis center, then plowed straight into a shop. Its horn kept blaring.
A flood of zombies poured through the breach. The other heavy truck followed right behind, charging through the opening and crushing or ramming every zombie in its path.
Taking advantage of the distraction, he drove a small van in through the rear entrance of the campus.
He stopped at the exit with a tap of the accelerator, got out, and ran toward the school field.
He glanced at the two women a thousand meters away, busy digging crystals out of zombies, but chose not to approach.
Instead, he followed them from a distance, collecting the zombie corpses they left behind after removing the crystals.
Yes, those corpses were what he was after.
Those hideous, stinking zombies with gaping holes in their foreheads!
They might have seemed like useless trash to everyone else, but to him, they were an unexpected windfall.
They were only the lowest-tier Level 1 Zombies, and their Magic Crystals had already been dug out, but they were still mutated zombies. Their corpses retained at least some energy.
That energy might be useless to other people, but it was useful to the Blood Rose in his courtyard.
As long as he collected enough zombies, he could trade them for more Flesh Roses—items that could be taken out of the Doomsday Roulette World.
He suddenly realized that collecting zombies with Mark Space was quick and convenient.
A sweep of his hand was all it took to collect them. He could load five corpses at a time, then run back to the van.
Before long, he had gathered two hundred zombie corpses. Through the plants' feedback, he sensed Ye Zhongming approaching quickly.
To avoid affecting the plot, he chose to make a tactical retreat.
He still wasn't capable of handling the variables that would come from changing the plot.
Besides, this main quest was crucial to him, so it was in his best interest for events to unfold smoothly.
That way, he could benefit from his knowledge of the plot—as he had just now, arriving at the old courtyard entrance in no time.
Overnight, the roses in the courtyard had changed considerably. Each flower seemed to have grown larger, and a hint of pink now mingled with their pure white petals.
The roses had once been confined to the courtyard, but now they had grown out onto the street.
Layer upon layer of blossoms seemed to keep spreading outward, gradually taking over half the street.
The breeze made the flowers sway like waves on the sea, beautiful and dreamlike.
As usual, Wang Changle released a mental pulse, hoping to communicate with them.
But amid the thousands of roses, a male zombie appeared. A long vine extended from the back of his head and led him toward Wang Changle.
The surreal sight stunned Wang Changle. It seemed to have evolved.
"Hello, my friend. What surprise have you brought me this time?"
A voice devoid of emotion came from the zombie before him. This wasn't a response from Heart of Nature; it was an actual voice.
In just one night, it had progressed from mental communication to speech. It was doing so by controlling another zombie, but that was still far beyond what he'd expected.
"You can talk now? You've evolved again?"
"Yes. Thank you for the gift you brought me yesterday, my friend."
A three-star mutant!
Even with his guess confirmed, he could hardly believe it.
As far as he knew, there had been no three-star mutated plants this early in the original timeline.
He had a vague feeling that, because of him, a terrifying existence had evolved ahead of schedule. He couldn't help thinking of the Yama Tree and Maiden Vine from the original timeline.
But the thought lasted only a moment. Wang Changle quickly composed himself.
So what if it had? This wasn't his world anyway. What he needed to do now was trade for resources.
He opened the van door, revealing a mountain of zombie corpses. This time, however, the vines didn't take them all at once. They picked through the pile and took only a small portion.
He observed that the vines mostly chose zombies with intact limbs, younger bodies, or more robust builds.
Clearly, the Blood Rose had evolved again. It had made great strides not only mentally, but also in how discerning it was about food.
In this world, humans needed the Doomsday Roulette and evolution potions to evolve, but mutated creatures did not.
Mutated creatures only needed to obtain more energy to evolve, and the most direct way was to devour other mutated creatures!
As long as they devoured enough energy from other mutated creatures, they could keep evolving. In theory, there was no limit!
He knew the Blood Rose was extraordinary, and he knew the rules governing this world.
But even so, the thought of an existence that had transformed into a three-star creature in less than a day—and developed its own consciousness—sent a chill through him.
"Thank you for your gift. But now I need higher-quality energy. The kind you gave me yesterday."
The emotionless voice carried a yearning to evolve. It had developed a desire!
Although it wasn't very satisfied with the food this time, the Blood Rose still gave him something in return.
A pale pink rose threaded its way through the sea of flowers and finally came to rest in Wang Changle's hand.
The flower felt soft and warm, yet as smooth and delicate as a young woman's skin. Its open stamen resembled a shy young woman.
[Prompt: You have obtained Human-faced Rose*1] [Human-faced Rose] Origin: Doomsday Roulette World Type: Consumable White; 10 (Rare) Effect: Place the petals against your face. For 30 seconds, you can knead them freely to form a new face. The effect lasts for 12 hours. 12/12. Description: This flower was nurtured from a young woman's skin. Value: 1500 Paradise Coins. Can be taken out of the 'Derivative World.'
Although the Human-faced Rose was only white-quality, he had a feeling that a functional item like this could have remarkable effects if used well.
Holding the flower, a thought suddenly occurred to him. Perhaps he could invest in it!
He knew how the plot would unfold, and events were still following the original timeline.
The Blood Rose before him was a three-star mutated plant that had developed its own thoughts and desires. It had potential worth investing in.
In the real world, he'd been abandoned by everyone, left with no allies, and burdened by a blood debt.
Yet in Cycle Paradise, in his first Derivative World—a place that didn't belong to him—he had found his first "friend."
He didn't know what this mutated creature meant when it called him a "friend," but it was the only being in this Derivative World that had helped him.
At least, it meant him no harm. It was at odds with humanity, but not with him. Their exchanges had gone both ways, and they had always been harmonious.
From the perspective of the Doomsday Roulette World, he wasn't its enemy.
And in Paradise, it wasn't his quest target. Since they had no reason to clash, they had a basis for cooperation.
Rather than invest in a protagonist who was destined to rise, only to become his cannon fodder or subordinate, he'd be better off investing in a promising powerhouse—and becoming its ally!
With that thought, Wang Changle made up his mind.
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