Extraordinary Curse, New Opportunity!

Perhaps it was because he had absorbed too much information in a single day, leading to immense mental exhaustion, or perhaps it was because the room was no longer just him alone, but had gained a touch of domesticity.

That night, Cheng Ye slept exceptionally soundly and peacefully.

For the first time since arriving in the Wasteland, he felt truly rested.

Only.

"Why is it only 7:30?"

Cheng Ye sat up and took several deep breaths, quickly expelling the stuffiness in his chest.

Upon first arriving in the Wasteland, the original owner's body was frail.

Let alone comparing himself to peers within the Wasteland, he was far inferior even to modern people who ate takeout daily and lacked exercise.

Now, two months later, despite only sleeping five hours last night, he felt invigorated.

This positive change brought him no small amount of joy.

"You're awake?"

As Cheng Ye got up and walked out of the bedroom, Luo Xiaoxue, who had also woken up early, was watering plants with a kettle. Seeing him emerge, she looked up and greeted him.

The apartments allocated to inspectors by the Chemical Plant were mostly common two-bedroom, one-living-room layouts. However, people in the Wasteland no longer had the need to cook, so the kitchens had basically been converted into multi-functional rooms.

For example, Liu Bi's family had converted their kitchen into a small area for growing vegetables.

"Brother Cheng Ye, you're awake! Come quickly, come quickly!"

Hearing Cheng Ye stir, Liu Yi hurried over from the living room.

Although the Xingfu City Buffer Zone had much better order than other parts of the Wasteland, it still hadn't reached the point of building schools.

Naturally, Liu Bi and his wife were unwilling to send their five-year-old daughter to a private academy just for schooling.

Therefore, Liu Yi's world had, since birth, extended no further than the entire Chemical Plant Staff Dormitory, and she had mostly interacted with adults around Liu Bi's age.

Cheng Ye was, in a sense, the first young person she had encountered up close.

Children inherently have little wariness, and Luo Xiaoxue did not stop her from approaching Cheng Ye.

After one night, Liu Yi had already become familiar with this newly met "Brother Cheng Ye." At this moment, she was pulling at Cheng Ye's sleeve with her rosy little face, dragging him towards the living room to show off her vegetable patch.

"This is Napa Cabbage, this is Bok Choy, this is Cabbage, and this is Fat Cabbage..."

Several flower pots were placed in the living room, containing slightly wilted cabbage.

Liu Yi introduced them enthusiastically, categorizing them into different types based on their volume and shape.

Brother Cheng Ye squatted down and fiddled with the cabbage leaves, asking curiously, "Huh? Yiyi doesn't like growing other vegetables?"

"She does, but Dad only brought back cabbage seeds!"

"Then next time Brother goes on an external mission, I'll bring you some other seeds, okay?"

"Okay, okay, thank you, Brother Cheng Ye!"

Mentioning other vegetables, Liu Yi's eyes lit up, like a fluffy little beast that had found the scent of prey.

Luo Xiaoxue, who was tidying up the vegetable patch, heard this and secretly shook her head. She couldn't help but call out:

"Cheng Ye, don't spoil her. Around our Xingfu City, you can't grow vegetables at all."

"Can't grow them?"

"Go wash up first. The water is ready for you. You'll understand what I mean later."

"Okay."

Brother Cheng Ye agreed and turned towards the washroom.

Perhaps it was because the water pipes in the suburbs were newer, but the water flowing from the faucet was pale white, lacking the pungent smell of disinfectant chlorine from the tap water in the city center.

By the time he finished wiping his face and came out, Luo Xiaoxue was already boiling water on a simple induction cooker in the corner of the living room, with three detached cabbages beside her.

"Sister Luo, I'll just drink the Nutrient Paste. There's no need to cook vegetables for me?"

How precious were vegetables in Xingfu City?

At least, in the original host's memories, Brother Cheng Ye couldn't find any. It seemed everyone drank Nutrient Paste from birth.

This included the residents of the Inner City. No one had ever eaten vegetables. Even during festivals, they only ate a few slices of Synthetic Meat or Farmed Chicken Meat sandwiched in bread as a celebration.

"You're mistaken. These things aren't actually very valuable. It's just that they're rare here."

"Don't rush," Luo Xiaoxue said as she tore the cabbage apart with her hands and dropped it into the boiling water.

After scalding it for more than ten seconds, she fished them out one by one with chopsticks.

"Want to try?"

"Then I'm really eating it."

Since he was already staying at their place, what was one more meal?

Besides, after drinking Nutrient Paste every day for over two months, his mouth had long gone numb. The thought of the sweet taste of cabbage made Brother Cheng Ye's throat bob involuntarily. He picked up a mouthful and sent it into his mouth.

But after chewing twice, his expression changed.

First surprise, then a frown, and finally deep thought.

"Why is there no taste?"

To say it was like chewing wood might be an exaggeration, but the actual texture was probably worse than wood.

It felt like wood shavings tumbling around in his mouth. Forget the taste of cabbage; his tongue couldn't even find a trace of a discernible flavor.

"It seems you've eaten normal vegetables in the Inner City. Cheng Long must have spent quite a bit on you. These things are very precious when transported to our Xingfu City; you need Contribution Points to exchange for them, and there are even quota limits."

Turning off the induction cooker, Luo Xiaoxue said with a smile, "This is why I said we can't grow vegetables here. Whether it's cabbage, celery, or lettuce, anything grown in the soil comes out tasting like this."

"This?"

Cheng Ye put down his chopsticks, his brows furrowed into the shape of the character 'Chuan'.

Before, to survive, he hadn't paid attention to such matters. Having something to eat was enough to stay alive.

He only started learning about the Infected after being transferred to the North South Stations.

Where would he have the free time to understand why no one ate vegetables and instead drank Nutrient Paste?

"Could it be because of the Transcendent?"

"You guessed right," Luo Xiaoxue replied, sounding a bit dejected. "It's not just Chuan City where we are; three-quarters of the land in the entire Shi Province has been polluted by a powerful Transcendent. All plants continuously lose their traits as they grow. Perhaps today it's the taste, tomorrow it will be the flavor, and the day after, maybe even their nutritional value will be lost. In short, the longer they grow, the more traits they lose."

"Then what about transporting new soil from places that haven't been polluted?"

Cheng Ye blurted out.

If it was just the taste, it wouldn't matter. There were plenty of ways to season food.

Add a spoonful of Three Flower Evaporated Milk, and it would guarantee that anything cooked would have a fresh, sweet taste.

But if the nutritional value was lost, it would lose its purpose for seasoning. Eating it would be harmful to the body, making it better to drink the cheaper Nutrient Paste.

"It's useless," Luo Xiaoxue shook her head. "Although that Transcendent has long since perished, the Infection Source he became has permanently remained somewhere in Shi Province, still eroding the land. Any new soil transported here will be assimilated within a few days. Forget the land; even the stones will 'get sick'."

"However, what you just ate has only lost its taste; it's still valuable to the human body."

"Is that so?"

Cheng Ye retorted. Even after leaving the chemical plant residential area, his mind was still churning over this "explosive" news.

If anything planted in the soil was affected, wouldn't that mean it wasn't just vegetables but also grain crops?

"I was thinking of finding a small place outside the city to grow vegetables after things settled down. Now, that possibility has been completely cut off from the source."

"No, if the trading channels in Xingfu City have problems and can't import raw materials for Nutrient Paste from other places, won't there be a famine in the city?"

Besides Natural Disasters, it seems even more threats loom over all residents of Xingfu City.

It's highly likely that a single trigger could ignite all these threats, instantly turning them into reaping blades.

But many, just like his Previous Body, are unwilling to understand, or even if they understood, they'd be helpless.

"This world definitely hides more things I haven't understood yet."

"Interesting."

Cheng Ye walked briskly towards the Bus Stop.

For ordinary people, land pollution means losing their most crucial production capacity, forcing them to rely on Nutrient Paste provided by the Sanctuary City to sustain their lives.

But he was different. After learning about Transcendent Pollution, his first thought wasn't despair, but opportunity.

If he could overcome the pollution, wouldn't the vegetables and grains he grew sell for an exorbitant price?

And at a critical moment, wouldn't it be the confidence to completely extricate himself from Xingfu City?

"No need to rush researching this yet. I don't have much time. Today, I must finalize my weapon, and then go to the Library to finish all the books on the first bookshelf."

Requesting Monthly Tickets, Collection, and Follow-up Reading~ A newbie is begging!