Plants vs. Zombies: I Can Add Passives to Plants

But after just one use, the iron rake made of bamboo products broke in half.

He could only wait until this wave was over and buy another one from Dave.

The second zombie stepped into the yard right behind it... a regular Zombie, with no protection on its head, moving slightly faster than the one ahead.

It trudged toward the first row with its head lowered, both arms hanging down, knuckles slightly bent, its mouth making intermittent, indistinct bubbling sounds.

"Plop..."

The Peashooter fired its first shot.

The Big Pea wrapped in a verdant halo shot out of the barrel, moving as fast as a fired spring and striking precisely against the Zombie's right shoulder bone.

The pea was nearly half again as large as a regular Peashooter's projectile. When it exploded against the gray-green skin, it gave off a muffled "plop." The force yanked the Zombie's entire right arm backward, and a black fissure split open at the shoulder joint.

"Plop—"

The second shot.

This time, it hit the chest.

The Zombie staggered backward half a step from the impact. Its breastbone caved inward, but it still kept moving forward.

The third shot struck its left knee. The joint bent backward, and the entire leg hung limp like a broken branch.

The fourth shot hit the center of its skull. The gray-green face caved in from the middle, and the body pitched forward like a puppet with its strings cut.

From beginning to end, it never stepped even half a foot into the yard.

Every attack had been stopped at the boundary by Knockback.

A wisp of blue smoke rose from the Peashooter's barrel-shaped head. It lifted the barrel another half inch toward the yard wall and quietly waited for the next one.

Chapter 25: The Third Wave of Zombies 2

"Swish..."

The commotion by the pool drew Lin Yue's attention over.

Ripples spread across the water. A Zombie wearing an orange Conehead was paddling toward the shore while leaning on a bright yellow swimming ring shaped like a little duck, its arms pushing the water over and over with clumsy determination.

Its body was submerged, leaving only the top of the Conehead and half its face above the water. Bubbles gurgled from its mouth.

Cattail's tail moved.

When the first needle shot from the tip of its tail, it was as fast as a silver thread and pierced the center of the Conehead Zombie's forehead.

The second followed close behind, striking its left eye. The third hit its right shoulder. The fourth, fifth, sixth...

The first eight needles fell faster and faster each time. As the tail spikes swept back and forth through the air, they nearly dragged out a stretch of afterimages.

The Conehead Zombie paddled across two and a half squares of water before stopping.

Its hand broke off at the swimming ring, followed by its head. Like a rock, it sank beneath the surface. The early-game pool Zombies that frightened new players so much had been dealt with just that simply.

The four remaining needles curved halfway through the air and turned toward the fifth row.

In the fifth row, a Buckethead Zombie was steadily approaching Puff-shroom.

The rust-covered bucket was clamped over its head. The rim was pitted with bite marks, and several sections had even curled upward as though they had been struck repeatedly by some blunt weapon.

Its pace was slower than a regular Zombie's, but every step was steady, landing on the lawn with a heavy "thump."

Puff-shroom was still asleep.

How can you sleep at a time like this?

Its grayish-purple cap was tightly curled up, its gills quietly opening and closing, like a baby curled up in swaddling clothes.

The Buckethead Zombie had already reached it. Its two gray-green hands began reaching toward the flowerpot... its knuckles bent, black mud packed beneath its fingernails, and it was less than half a foot from Puff-shroom's cap.

"Damn it."

Lin Yue had no time to think. The moment he saw a Buckethead Zombie appear in the fifth row at the same time as a Zombie appeared in the pool, he had already decided to carry Puff-shroom and its flowerpot back from the front.

He bent down, grabbed Puff-shroom's flowerpot, ignored the Buckethead Zombie at arm's length, and turned to run backward.

The Buckethead Zombie's hands grasped empty air. Its fingernails scraped the edge of the vacant planting pit, carving out a deep groove.

It raised its head, its gray-white eyes locking onto Lin Yue as he retreated. A deep, thunderous grunt rolled from its throat. "Hrr~"

A dense volley of needles chased over from the direction of the pool.

Cattail's tail spikes unleashed their full speed. Red points of light poured toward the Buckethead Zombie like a curtain of rain, striking the bucket's outer wall with a dense series of crisp clangs. Sparks flew in every direction.

It was as if someone were beating a chaotic drum on the Buckethead Zombie's head. Its entire body was shoved backward and tilted for a moment, but after regaining its balance, it still took a step toward Lin Yue.

"Clang~ Clang~ Clang~"

When the needles fell again, the bucket's rim had already begun to cave in.

As Cattail's attack speed grew faster and faster, a crack split through the middle of the rim and climbed toward the top, followed by a second crack, then a third.

The entire bucket split down the middle and fell onto the lawn with a bang, exposing the gray-green bald head beneath it.

Without the bucket's protection, the regular Zombie could no longer stand when the needles came down. The impacts pushed it backward half a step, then one step, then another, until the last two needles pierced through the back of its head. Its body toppled onto its back across the lawn, its knee twitching once before it stopped moving completely.

Lin Yue stood on the ridge between the fourth row's plots, holding Puff-shroom's flowerpot. Looking down, he saw the grayish-brown cap still opening and closing rhythmically, sleeping soundly.

He sighed and set it down again.

"You sure sleep soundly..."

The sixth row.

At last, a regular Zombie swayed through the gap in the yard wall and headed straight toward Chomper.

Its pace was very slow, and its face held no expression. It did not even look at the Wall-nut beside it, simply trudging forward as though it were a machine programmed with a fixed destination.

Chomper had already swallowed the Conehead in front of it. Its mouth was still moving slightly, but after seeing new prey, the petals around its jaws began chewing noticeably faster.

A drop of juice seeped from the corner of its mouth and fell onto the dirt, giving off a faint wisp of white smoke.

Lin Yue first called for Cattail to stop attacking. He planned to use the Wall-nut's brief damage resistance to let Chomper eat another Zombie.

Cattail was confused. "Why let a companion get hurt? Did the master get his brain bitten by a Zombie?"

Lin Yue said, "Wall-nut, take one hit. Just one. I'll let Azi eat it afterward so she can gain a little more health."

Wall-nut... did not move at all.

Its gaze remained fixed on the approaching Zombie, as though it had not heard anything Lin Yue said.

Lin Yue noticed Wall-nut tilt slightly toward him... which meant it had listened carefully.

"Just this one hit," Lin Yue shouted again. "I'll treat you to Dave's Special Fertilizer afterward."

Wall-nut still did not respond. It merely shifted a little farther forward into the position blocking Chomper, making it even harder for anything to get past.

Cattail still did not understand.

Cattail's tail spikes hovered in midair. Its pinkish-purple little head tilted toward Lin Yue, and its eye-spots held an unmistakably displeased expression.

It seemed to think that its damage output was already fast and steady enough. There was no need for Wall-nut to endure that bite.

It glanced at the old scratches and bite marks covering Wall-nut, then at the way Lin Yue was speaking to it. Its tail spikes trembled lightly, as if it were holding back words it could not say.

But it temporarily withdrew its needles.

Because Wall-nut had already made its own choice.

The Zombie came closer.

Its first bite landed on Wall-nut's upper-left edge. Its teeth sank into a shallow crack in the shell, producing a dull, grinding "crunch."

The second bite landed in the center. A fresh white mark was scraped across the shell, and fragments fell rustling to the ground.

The third bite, the fourth bite—the cracking sounds continued without pause. Its blunt teeth repeatedly ground against the hard wooden shell, like a dull saw cutting through an old elm log.

Wall-nut did not retreat.

Not even a millimeter.

Its leaves were stretched taut, its round head pressing faintly forward. The entire plant was like an anchor driven into the soil, utterly immovable.

But Chomper behind it was growing anxious. Its companion was up front, getting hurt for its sake.

"Gulp..."

Chomper suddenly sprang forward.

Its purple stem stretched through the air in a smooth arc. Its huge jaws precisely cleared the top of Wall-nut's head and swallowed the Zombie, which was still intently biting, from head to shoulder.

Its petals snapped shut with a crisp click, like a door lock catching. Then came the muffled grinding and the gurgle of churning liquid.

Thirty-eight seconds. Two seconds faster.

Chomper swallowed the Zombie. Its throat bulged once before it slowly returned to its original position. A strand of slime stretched from the corner of its mouth, glimmered in the sunlight, and snapped.

At the same time, after resisting this wave of Zombie invasion, a bulging money bag appeared on the ground, exactly like the money bag that appeared after clearing a level in the game.

Chapter 26: Plants Are Companions

Before Lin Yue could walk over to pick it up, he suddenly felt a sharp, fine stinging pain in his right arm, as if he had been pricked by a needle.

"Hiss~"

Looking down, he saw a slender red plant needle stuck in the sleeve of his school uniform. Its tail was still trembling faintly, and its tip was embedded in his skin. There was no blood, but the pain was intensely real.

He turned toward the pool. Cattail was crouched on the edge of its flowerpot, its pinkish-purple little head puffed up, all its cat-ear leaves standing straight. Its eye-spots were wide and round, clearly spelling out four words:

I am very angry.

Its tail spikes were still raised behind it, a faint glow remaining on their tips. It was the trace left from stabbing him just now before they had fully retracted.

It did not look at him. Instead, it looked at Wall-nut, at the fresh bite marks on Wall-nut's leaves and the deepened old crack, then turned its gaze back to Lin Yue. Its mouth opened slightly, and it silently huffed at him.

"Huff~"

The sound was quieter than any before it, but its meaning came through perfectly clearly.

Chomper turned its head as well.

It looked down at the new bite marks on Wall-nut, then at Lin Yue. Its purple leaves drew together slightly, and the entire plant fell silent for two seconds, its stem drooping a little.

It made no sound, but its posture said enough... it was upset too.

Lin Yue stood where he was, the fine needle still stuck in his arm. The stinging sensation spread little by little along his nerves toward his shoulder.

Looking at the three plants before him... Chomper's slightly drooping leaves, Wall-nut's shell covered in bite marks, and Cattail glaring at him with its round, puffed-up face... a string in his mind was suddenly plucked gently.

They were alive.

They were not data following programmed routines in a game, nor pixel blocks executing commands according to fixed behavioral logic.

Chomper could hesitate, Wall-nut could grit its teeth and endure, and Cattail could get angry. When he did something wrong, it could even tell him, with the smallest needle, You were wrong.

Every plant had its own personality, preferences, and judgment. They indulged him when they thought he had done the right thing, and when he had done something wrong, they would tell him in their own way.

"Plants have tempers too. Treat them well, and they'll treat you well. If you mistreat them, they won't say anything, but they'll remember it."

With a thin needle still stuck in his arm, Lin Yue suddenly understood everything.

He lowered his head, pulled the needle from his arm, and gently pinched it between his fingertips.

A tiny fleck of his own skin clung to the needle's tip. He blew on it, and it drifted softly to the ground.

"Sorry." He crouched down and looked at Chomper, then at Wall-nut, and finally turned his gaze toward Cattail by the pool, still puffing out its cheeks and glaring at him. He pressed his palms together before his chest and tilted his head slightly.

"I didn't think this through and made you worry. It won't happen again. I promise."

Chomper's leaves slowly unfolded.

It extended its longest purple leaf and gently touched the back of Lin Yue's hand. Warm and moist, it felt like a broad palm pressing against him, conveying, I forgive you.

Wall-nut's leaves relaxed somewhat as well. Its round head tilted toward him, and it blinked its two steady, round eye-spots, as if saying, I don't blame you.

Cattail's cheeks puffed up, then relaxed.

Its cat-ear leaves slowly flattened from their upright position. Its tail spikes retracted, shrinking into a cluster of short, silvery-white buds.

It glanced at Lin Yue, then slowly tucked its head back into the flowerpot and rested it on its leaves, putting on an expression that said, I'll reluctantly stop being angry with you.