Spirit Energy Plant

An hour later.

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"Screech."

The motorcycle skidded sideways to a stop.

Lin An slammed on the brakes, his expression grave.

Not far ahead, a Corpse Mountain sprawled across the City Entrance. Strangely, there were no Zombies anywhere nearby.

Wen Ya woke with a start, her eyes still bleary.

Lin An had stopped abruptly without warning, and her chin had slammed right into his back, leaving her badly shaken.

"Mm... that hurt."

Why was he so hard?

Was this guy's body made of stone?

Wen Ya could not help complaining inwardly. What an inconsiderate brute.

Lin An turned his head slightly, completely unfazed.

His Physique had already reached 14.4.

Forget a collision.

Even if an ordinary person wielded a cold weapon, they would not be able to cut his skin in a hurried attack.

The scene before him was simply too strange.

He decisively activated the Eye of Judgment and quickly inspected the area.

A large number of humans had died here, their bodies piled into a Corpse Mountain, yet there were no Zombies present.

Such an anomaly forced him to stay on guard.

"Scan complete."

The Eye of Judgment scanned all available information in an extremely short time.

"Survivors: 0."

"Zombies: 0."

"Damaged vehicles: 11,219..."

The Corpse Mountain stood roughly ten meters high, made from at least ten thousand corpses.

There were also a small number of bodies at the highway entrance, along the barriers, and inside cars.

Some chunks of flesh on the ground had not been completely eaten and had turned dark red. They had clearly been there for some time.

Not far from the Corpse Mountain, shattered Zombies formed a circle.

After confirming there were no threats around them, Lin An cautiously approached the strangest ring of corpses.

What was this?

After taking several strides forward, Lin An arrived before the shattered bodies.

His gaze grew solemn.

The shattered corpses had clean breaks, while the muscle tissue inside had nearly rotted into a puddle of pulp.

This was not something an explosion or physical attack could produce.

Lin An lowered his head in thought, unease faintly stirring within him.

He looked back at the Corpse Mountain, then compared it with the chunk of flesh in his hand.

The top of the Corpse Mountain had been pressed flat, as though something had once stood on it.

Something capable of causing this kind of damage...

Lin An repeatedly compared the evidence against his memories, arriving at a conclusion moments later.

Traces of Psionic Shock!

Only Psionic Shock could produce such an effect.

Lin An felt a chill run down his spine.

Psionic Shock was an attack method that only a Third Order Awakener or Mutant could master.

Such a wide-range, indiscriminate attack...

It might even have been beyond Third Order!

What exactly was it?

Lin An was puzzled.

It should not have been possible.

Whether Awakeners or Mutant Zombies...

Third Order beings should not have appeared during the early stages of the game.

In his Previous Life, the Third Order beings he knew of had only appeared after the game had been running for at least half a year.

On the very day that Third Order Corpse King appeared, it led a million Zombies in destroying a large safety base.

Nearly a million people were killed or wounded.

In the end, the military had only managed to destroy it after deploying a large number of Tactical Missiles.

An existence of that level could destroy an organized military force all by itself.

He could rule out an Awakener first.

Lin An believed his strength was absolutely among the best in the world. After all, he possessed an S-Rank Talent like Strength Burst.

The Player Template, Awakener Template, Savior Template, and the Willpower bonus brought by rebirth.

Under the effects of those three layers of enhancement.

There was almost no chance that other Awakeners could compare with him.

Even so, he was currently only around the middle of First Order.

There was a full two-order gap between Third Order and First Order.

An existence of that level could wipe out a city alone without much difficulty.

The Doomsday Game had only begun its second day. No matter how he considered it, it was impossible for any Player to have reached Third Order.

If it was a Mutant, he could barely accept it.

Still, thinking of another suspected Third Order Mutant near Lin Jiang City made Lin An's heart grow heavy.

An existence that should not have existed in the memories of his Previous Life had appeared.

Was it because of the Butterfly Effect, or something else?

He had carefully examined the traces on the ground earlier.

A large number of Zombies had moved toward the Lin Jiang Urban District not long ago.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Zombie Crowd's migration should have been led by that Third Order Mutant.

Danger lurked everywhere.

Just within the Lin Jiang Urban District, Lin An already knew of two Mutants above First Order.

One Stitcher, and one unknown Third Order Mutant.

What a headache.

Wen Ya followed behind him with heavy steps, her face pale.

The Corpse Mountain before her had left her deeply shaken.

"Are there... still living people in Lin Jiang City?"

This intersection was Lin Jiang City's only route out of the city.

If even this route had been blocked, and so many Survivors had died here.

Then it meant that, at this stage, no one could leave the city anymore.

Wen Ya asked Lin An in despair.

Although the Doomsday Game had forcefully implanted some information about itself into every Player after it began.

Knowing about it and seeing it firsthand were two entirely different things.

She had thought it was merely like the zombie outbreaks seen in movies.

But after seeing a Corpse Mountain made of at least ten thousand bodies, she suddenly realized that this world might not be so simple.

"Yes."

Lin An fell silent for a moment before giving a brief answer.

There were still at least two million Survivors in the Lin Jiang Urban District.

But that was not a good thing.

Because it meant that, in a week, Lin Jiang City would gain more than a million additional Zombies.

He knew what Wen Ya really wanted to ask.

Most likely, her parents or relatives were still inside the city.

Wen Ya opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, but ultimately chose to remain silent.

"Let's go."

Lin An turned back.

Wen Ya followed behind him, her mood low and sorrow lingering in her eyes.

He turned the motorcycle around.

Lin An's chosen route deviated considerably. He chose to avoid the suspected Third Order Mutant's route of travel.

If he could avoid running into it, he would.

If they encountered a Third Order Mutant, they would not even have a chance to escape.

"Where are we going next?"

Wen Ya climbed onto the back seat and only spoke after a long while.

"A flower shop."

Lin An was as terse as ever.

Star Arts Flower Shop.

Outside the flower shop, scattered flowers had been trampled into filthy mud.

Several Zombies gnawed on half a corpse lying on the ground. The lower half wore a short skirt, making it seem like a young girl.

Greedy and savoring the taste, they tore off strips of flesh from the corpse and chewed carefully.

The shop door was tightly locked, and its metal Roller Shutter Door had been pulled down.

Not far away, a black motorcycle carrying two people sped over.

On the second floor of the flower shop, a middle-aged woman watched the Zombies outside crush the flowers, her face full of heartache.

When the Doomsday broke out, few Zombies had been in this remote location, allowing her to survive by luck.

But as a street-front shop, it had no other exits besides the front door.

Trapped on the second floor, she did not even dare go down the stairs.

The monsters outside gave her no courage to leave, yet there was no food in the shop. She knew she would not last long.

Vroom!

The motorcycle roared as Lin An rode over.

Someone was here!?

After spotting someone approaching, she hurriedly opened the window and shouted.

"Help!"

"Someone, come quickly!"

"There are monsters outside my door!"

"Roar!"

Hearing the sound, the Zombies at the flower shop entrance immediately raised their heads and roared, their eyes crimson.

The flower shop owner cried out in fright and quickly crouched behind the window.

Lin An looked up, only to discover that the shop owner had already vanished from sight.

He did not care. He swung off the motorcycle and headed straight for the flower shop.

"Finish this quickly!"

Before entering the city, Lin An had changed into a set of fireproof Protective Suits with Wen Ya. The key joints of their limbs had been sealed with tape.

He was not afraid of Zombies, but that did not mean Wen Ya was not.

Wearing an oversized helmet and an ill-fitting firefighter's suit, Wen Ya moved somewhat clumsily.

Lin An walked at the front and charged directly into the Zombie Crowd.

Violent Swiftness.

Wen Ya followed closely behind him, gripping an axe in both hands, her expression tense as she struggled to keep up.

Step Forward Slash!

The muscles all over Lin An's body bulged as he lunged forward with a powerful step.

His right hand chopped downward!

Like a blade cutting through the wind, it whistled through the air.

The sharp Nepal Curved Blade carved out an arc, splitting the nearest Zombie's head apart.

Sticky blood splattered across the Roller Shutter Door, smearing it into an ugly piece of graffiti.

Reverse Side Kick!

Lin An suddenly exerted force, spinning around and kicking the nearby Zombie.

A standard military combat kick.

"Bang!

The Zombie, its mouth stuffed full of flesh, had only just reacted before it was blasted into the Roller Shutter Door like a cannonball.

Flesh crashed into metal, producing a piercing sound.

The zombies wandering in the distance turned their heads one after another, like sharks catching the scent of blood.

"Get inside!"

"Boom!"

Lin An violently kicked the door open, crushing the half-bodied zombie beneath his foot along with it.

Wen Ya followed up with another strike, awkwardly gripping the axe with both hands as she chopped off the last zombie's head.

On the second floor of the flower shop, a pair of eyes peeking from behind the window was filled with shock and delight.

"Thud, thud, thud."

A short, plump middle-aged woman hurried down the stairs.

She wore an old gardening apron, constantly wiping her hands on it.

"Oh, thank heavens. I thought I was going to die here!"

"Oh God, thank you for sending someone to save me."

"Um..."

"Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving to death."

The flower shop owner wore a flattering smile as she held out her thick, stubby hands toward Lin An.

Lin An frowned slightly and casually dragged a shelf from inside the shop over as a barricade against any zombies that might still be outside.

Although this flower shop was located on the outskirts of the city, there were still quite a few zombies around.

He tossed a chocolate bar from the tactical pouch at his waist.

The owner hurriedly caught it and began wolfing it down.

Yet her eyes kept darting toward the damaged shop door, revealing her displeasure.

The shop's decor was old, with flowers piled haphazardly everywhere.

Business clearly was not doing well.

Lin An quickly scanned the place and gave Wen Ya an order.

"Find every flower with bright colors!"

After Spirit Energy Plants were infected, their most common trait was that their colors became extremely vivid.

Wen Ya nodded and began rummaging through the shop behind Lin An.

"Hey, hey, hey—don't touch that! What are you doing?"

"Don't make a mess of my shop!"

The middle-aged woman in the gardening apron suddenly shrieked, still clutching the half-eaten chocolate bar Lin An had given her.

Lin An ignored her completely, merely frowning faintly.

Wen Ya froze for a moment.

Why was this flower shop owner so obsessed with money?

Wasn't she afraid Lin An might suddenly kill her?

Left with no choice, Wen Ya explained.

"Ma'am, we're only looking for something."

"Looking?"

The owner raised her brows, her eyes shifting rapidly.

"I don't have anything that belongs to you!"

"If you want something, bring money to buy it!"

It was an instinctive reaction.

The flower shop owner acted like a calculating little merchant, holding out one hand.

She had completely forgotten that Lin An had saved her life.

The monsters outside were gone, so she was no longer worried.

Being older, she had not realized what the zombies outside truly meant.

She could not understand the Player Panel that had appeared when Doomsday began, and merely thought her eyes had blurred for a moment.

Seeing that Lin An and Wen Ya ignored her and continued rapidly searching through the shop, she hurriedly shouted at them.

"Stop right now!"

"This is robbery!"

"I... I'm calling the police!"

Even now, the words "calling the police" still held considerable intimidation for ordinary people.

Wen Ya hesitated briefly at those words, but after seeing Lin An continue searching without pause, she simply pretended not to hear.

"Shut up."

Without turning around, Lin An directly tossed out a handful of cash from his pocket.

Red bills fluttered down across the floor.

He did not carry much loose cash on him, only around two or three thousand.

Although money had already lost much of its meaning, for most ordinary people who still had not grasped the situation—

money still held great appeal.

Lin An could not be bothered to argue with the flower shop owner.

His target might have been the Spirit Energy Plant in the shop, but he had still saved the owner's life.

It would have been one thing if this woman did not know how to be grateful, but she was even acting as though she could push her luck.

If she dared keep making a fuss, Lin An would not mind splitting her in half with one slash.

The distant zombies had most likely already heard the noise.

The shop entrance was narrow. If they failed to find the Spirit Energy Plant quickly—

then drew in a large horde of zombies by wasting time, even he would be in considerable trouble.

When the bills landed, the plump flower shop owner froze for a moment before quickly scooping them up.

She secretly glanced at Wen Ya, who held an axe, stuffed the money into her pocket, then rolled her eyes.

"Not enough!"

"You also broke my door!"

"This Roller Shutter Door is electric. It costs at least twenty thousand!"

Spittle flying, the flower shop owner pointed at Lin An with one hand and shouted.

She had completely forgotten how she had begged for help while hiding upstairs moments earlier.

Lin An's act of paying had seemingly given her confidence.

If they had truly been robbers, she would not have dared utter a word before such vicious-looking people.

They gave her food and money?

People like that were the easiest to deal with.

Now that she was full and emboldened, the flower shop owner raised her phone high, pretending she was about to make a call.

"If you don't pay, I'll call right now and have the police arrest you!"

Her face lit up with excitement. She had been worrying about how to cover the losses from the flowers ruined when the zombies outside damaged her door.

Now that she saw Lin An was generous with money, greed rose in her heart.

Wen Ya grew angry, her face darkening.

"What's wrong with you? We saved you, didn't we?"

"You want money because the door was broken, but why didn't you say that when you were crying for help!?"

The flower shop owner looked disdainful. Although Wen Ya held a Fire Axe, she had already decided these people were easy to talk to, so she did not find it intimidating at all.

"You could have waited for me to open the door!"

"I asked you to save me, not kick down my door!"

"Whoosh!"

Lin An pressed the sharp edge of his blade against the owner's throat with one hand, his gaze icy.

"Make another sound, and I'll kill you."

With his excellent hearing, Lin An had already heard a large number of chaotic footsteps approaching from afar.

If he let this woman keep shouting, she would undoubtedly draw the zombies over.

Like an old duck with its neck squeezed, the flower shop owner's shrill voice abruptly stopped.

Fear. Terror.

Kind people were easily bullied.

Once Lin An showed his ruthlessness, she immediately fell silent.

"Don't... don't kill me."

"Here, I'll give you everything."

The owner begged in a trembling voice. She could feel the Killing Intent in Lin An's eyes.

Lin An ignored her, staring fixedly at a corner of the flower shop.

The deep crimson Golden-edged Rose was inconspicuous under the dim lighting.

But in Lin An's vision, faint Psionic Fluctuations radiated around the flower.

There really was a Spirit Energy Plant here!

Spirit Energy Plant: Golden-edged Rose (Psionic Pollution Level 1)

Effect: Increases attributes after consumption.

Lin An was delighted. He strode over and swallowed the petals without hesitation.

They tasted sweet, without the bitterness he had expected.

Ding. Gained 1 point of Willpower, gained 1 point of Physique, gained 20% Antitoxin (Zombie).

A warm current flowed from his lower abdomen to his limbs, and Lin An could clearly feel that his physical condition had improved considerably.

His jade-like skin became even more translucent.

As expected of a Spirit Energy Plant.

Lin An was delighted.

In his Previous Life, the moment Spirit Energy Plants appeared, every major faction fought madly to seize them.

There were very few things in the Doomsday Game that could increase attributes.

Therefore—

a complete Spirit Energy Plant could even be worth as much as a small base in the middle stages of Doomsday!

It could be traded for six truckloads of food.

If traded for women? For captives?

One plant could be exchanged for twenty or thirty people!

Measured by pre-Doomsday value, it would not be an exaggeration to say that one Spirit Energy Plant was worth over a hundred million.

More importantly, the additional attribute made Lin An even happier.

Antitoxin +20%?

This was simply an unexpected windfall.

Lin An had not expected Spirit Energy Plants to come with special additional effects.

Antitoxin (Zombie)—this additional resistance was extremely practical.

This Antitoxin did not delay Zombification. Instead, it directly used resistance to immunize him against a small amount of toxin!

If a zombie merely grazed or lightly scratched Lin An, he could ignore it outright without worrying about infection.

Even Awakened ones in the Doomsday Game could not claim immunity to the Zombie Virus. At most, they could endure longer after becoming infected.

With Antitoxin, Lin An would gain a tremendous advantage when facing massive hordes of zombies.

Perhaps...

He could consider going to that place where huge numbers of zombies gathered ahead of schedule?

In Lin An's memories, there was an extremely powerful piece of equipment in Lin Jiang Urban District.

But that was a densely populated area, and Lin An had originally planned to retrieve the equipment only after forming a team.

After all, when surrounded by large numbers of zombies, even a minor scrape could easily lead to infection.

But now that he had Antitoxin, it was worth trying.

When Wen Ya saw the rare trace of delight on Lin An's usually cold face, she could not help feeling curious.

Could these flowers actually make Lin An happy?

She held a large bouquet of colorful flowers out before Lin An.

"Lin An, see if there's anything here that you need?"

"Also, is there anything special about these flowers?"

Lin An looked at the flowers in Wen Ya's hands and activated the Eye of Judgment once more.

Pale blue mist rose, and Stardust seemed to flow within his pupils.

"Some plants or food can mutate. Eating them can strengthen your attributes."

"But not all of them can be eaten."

"Some might kill you if you eat them."

Lin An explained casually.

Spirit Energy Plants could not be eaten carelessly. That was a lesson purchased with countless lives in his Previous Life.

If not for the Eye of Judgment allowing him to distinguish them, even he would not have dared eat one so casually.

Strengthen attributes?

Wen Ya was somewhat shocked, but the hand offering the flowers did not hesitate.

Although she also wanted some after learning that Spirit Energy Plants could strengthen attributes—

she still knew her place.

She had no right to ask Lin An for anything.

So unless Lin An offered it to her, she would never take the initiative to ask.

Lin An took the remaining flowers they had found and examined them carefully.

He failed to notice that Wen Ya had become slightly entranced after meeting his gaze.

This was Wen Ya's first time seeing Lin An's eyes up close after he activated the Eye of Judgment. Her lips parted slightly in surprise.

What deep, unfathomable eyes...

Faint pale-gold flashes occasionally flickered deep within Lin An's pupils. Looking into them felt as though her mind might be drawn inside.

"Peony: Ordinary Plant"

"Effect: Decoration."

"Iris: Highly Poisonous Spirit Plant (Psionic Pollution, poisonous)"

"Effect: Decoration. Causes the body to collapse after consumption."

"Carnation: Ordinary Plant"

"Effect: Decoration."

A highly poisonous spirit plant?

Lin An pulled the Oriole Tail flower from the bouquet and examined it closely.

After thinking for a moment, he chose to toss it into his Space Ring for safekeeping.

Although this highly poisonous spirit plant could not increase attributes, its various bizarre and terrifying poisoning effects had their own uses.

If used properly, it could be considered a trump card.

He looked at the last plant.

Lin An's breath suddenly caught, and he could hardly believe it.

Fuck!

"Purple Saint Laurent (Level 2 Psionic Pollution)"

"Effect: Increases attributes after consumption."

A Second-Level Spirit Energy Plant!