Plants vs. Zombies for All: I Can Add Passives to Plants

(I couldn't hold it together. I'd be sleeping on the couch tonight.)

Lin Xiaotian turned his head and pretended to look out the window, his profile tense as his Adam's apple bobbed twice.

Zhao Xiulan walked down from the podium and crouched beside Lin Yue. When her gaze fell on the wound on his left arm, her entire body froze for a moment.

Her lips moved a few times as if she were choosing her words, but the words circled around her mouth twice and still wouldn't come out smoothly.

In the end, she did something no one had expected—she opened her arms and gently yet firmly drew Lin Yue, along with his mother's arm, into an embrace.

"I'm sorry..." Zhao Xiulan's voice was muffled against the school uniform fabric on his shoulder, so hoarse it was almost inaudible. "Your teacher couldn't hold the second stage... I'm so sorry."

Lin Yue was stunned by the hug for two seconds.

He had never seen his homeroom teacher, who was always stern and constantly saying things like "take good notes" and "memorize this after class," make such an expression from this close.

Her shoulders trembled slightly. The hands that were always so steady when gripping lesson plans now had white nails from clenching too hard.

Lin Yue leaned against his mother, his head throbbing with pain, but he could clearly see the reddened eyes before him.

He had not yet read, nor did he need to read, the official phrases like "command failure" and "accountability investigation."

All Lin Yue saw was a middle-aged woman who had taught from the podium for two and a half years, apologizing to a student for the outcome of a battlefield she had never truly had the power to control.

He cleared his throat.

His left arm hurt badly enough to make his temples throb, but he lowered his right arm from his mother's shoulder and patted his homeroom teacher's shoulder.

"I told you, someone as capable as me... would definitely come back."

(For details, see Chapter One.)

"And besides, what did you do wrong, Teacher?" His voice was low and hoarse, heavy as a stone dragged up from the depths of his chest. Every word was clear. "I was just too unlucky to get separated from my classmates. Otherwise, I definitely would have saved them."

He lifted his head from his mother's embrace and added something to Zhao Xiulan and the parents, students, and teachers watching around him.

His voice was not loud, but it was calm, steady, and bright—when it left his throat, it carried an unstoppable force:

"Next time—I'll protect everyone."

The classroom fell silent for two seconds.

Then, from some corner, came a short cough, as though someone had choked, followed by another sharp inhale suppressing laughter.

Zhao Xiulan released him. As she stood, she quickly wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand, then resumed her "I'm the homeroom teacher" expression. Yet there was still a curve at the corner of her lips that she could not quite suppress.

Lin Xiaotian crouched nearby, looking up at his brat, whose left arm was still bleeding, whose forehead was burning red with fever, and who was still talking tough. He shook his head and said softly, "...All right. You've got guts, kid."

In the end—out of 42 people, 5 survived.

The entire school's survival rate in this trial—5%.

Chapter 43: Determining the Future Path—"Guild"

"Nurse, please let us in... We're here to visit our classmate."

In the corridor, the young nurse looked up to find three young people standing before her.

Two boys and a girl carried large bags of fruit. The bag handles had dug their fingers white, and apples, oranges, and bananas were packed tightly inside the plastic bags. One bag was specifically filled with mandarins.

The nurse asked uncertainly, "You are...?"

"Students from Ninth High School." The boy at the front took a step forward, his tone calm.

"The person inside is our classmate, and we live in the same community... Don't worry, we'll be quiet. We won't disturb anyone else."

The nurse looked again at the little girl with braided hair—her lips were slightly pursed, and she gripped the knot of the mandarin bag tightly in her hand, her knuckles red from the force—and her heart softened. She turned aside and pulled a visitor registration form from beneath the counter.

"Once you're inside... keep quiet. Don't disturb the other patients."

"Thank you."

All three thanked her at once.

The ward door was made of composite soundproofing material. When it was closed, almost no sound from outside could be heard within.

Bai Qingfeng stood before the door. She rose onto her toes and leaned close to the observation window, which was taller than she was. With a quick glance, she saw Lin Yue lying in the bed closest to the door.

Her fingers tightened around the mandarin bag's knot, then she raised her hand and lightly knocked on the door three times.

"Knock—knock—knock—"

The rhythm was even and light, but clear enough.

"Come in..."

The voice from inside carried a faint sleepy nasal tone.

The door opened.

Inside the ward, Lin Yue sat half-reclined against the headboard with two pillows behind him. From elbow to shoulder, his left arm was tightly wrapped in a thick layer of white plaster. Someone had drawn a crooked Chomper on the plaster with a marker. The drawing was crude, but its expression was spot-on.

(Of course, it was Lin Xiaotian's masterpiece.)

The expression on Lin Yue's face changed from the certainty of "Of course it's you" to the slight surprise of "Oh, so many people came," before swiftly returning to his usual composed "I'm fine" look.

The speed of his expression change was comparable to Peking opera face-changing.

Zhao Lei walked at the front.

He was completely different from the youth in Happy Residential Community who had squatted by the trade fair stall and said, "My Dad Is a Congressman." His custom-made shirt fit him perfectly, the hem neatly tucked into his waistband, and he radiated the energetic air of someone who had recovered somewhat over the past few days.

Zhao Lei set the heavy bag of fruit on the bedside table. The apples and oranges struck the surface with a dull thud. Then he pulled over a chair and sat beside the bed, his gaze moving from the plaster on Lin Yue's arm to his face, where it lingered for a moment.

"You... got hurt pretty badly."

"It's nothing." Lin Yue waved his right hand, lifting his chin slightly.

"I was just bitten once. Look, I'm still alive, aren't I? It's fine."

The corner of Zhao Lei's mouth twitched.

Looking at Lin Yue's slightly flushed face from the fever, then at the plaster arm with a Chomper drawn on it, he wanted to say, "Who are you trying to impress?"

We go to the same school. I know all about your embarrassing moments...

But the words curved away at the edge of his lips and were swallowed back, replaced by a brief nasal "Mm."

Bai Qingfeng stood at the foot of the bed.

She set down her bag of mandarins in the corner of the cabinet, then walked around the foot of the bed and stopped at Lin Yue's left side.

She said nothing. She only crouched gently and slowly, ever so lightly, touched the edge of the plaster with her fingertips, as if confirming that the arm beneath it was still intact.

Her fingertips were cold, while the plaster surface was slightly cooler than room temperature. When the two touched, her eyelashes trembled faintly.

"Does it hurt?" Her voice was very soft.

Lin Yue's "It doesn't hurt" had already reached the tip of his tongue, but when he looked at Bai Qingfeng's profile, at how carefully she even placed her fingertips as if she feared that one touch would hurt him again, he opened his mouth and swallowed the words.

"It hurts."

Only one word.

Then, after a pause, he added, "It hurt more then. It's mostly better now."

Bai Qingfeng withdrew her fingers from the plaster and let them hang at her side. She stood without asking anything else, but a small patch of moisture appeared in her almond-shaped eyes.

Bai Qingfeng had learned through intelligence that "the Chomper would eat the Football Zombie." She had thought there would be no problem... but seeing Lin Yue like this now... her heart ached terribly...

Could the intelligence have been wrong?

Luo Chen stood by the window. He did not pull over a chair, merely leaned against the windowsill with his arms crossed over his chest.

His posture by the window was calm and steady. Compared to the person who had squatted beneath a streetlamp in Happy Residential Community and laughed until he shook all over, he seemed like he had changed shells.

After Luo Chen learned that he was the community supervisor, he had originally wanted to lead everyone out.

He had tried so, so hard...

But... but...

Forget it... going through this was growth too...

Luo Chen waited until the first two had finished speaking before opening his mouth, his tone carrying a hint of gloom.

"At present, five people from our community survived."

Lin Yue was reaching for the cup of water in Little Bai's hand with his right hand. Upon hearing that, his fingers paused in midair.

He turned to Luo Chen. "Five? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Lin Yue brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. The water was warm. After swallowing, he fell silent for several seconds as scenes from the final hour in Happy Residential Community surged through his mind.

Zombies had flooded in from six directions at once, wave after wave. They seemed to have come from other people.

Lin Yue frowned and said quietly, "I killed all the Black Football Zombies. How did only five people survive?"

His voice was not loud, but the ward's soundproofing was excellent and the room had been quiet to begin with. Every person in the room heard him.

Nearby, an older man reading a newspaper paused. He lowered the paper and tilted his head over it. "Young man, did you just say... Black Football Zombies?"

The older man was in his early sixties, with graying hair and one missing leg.

A dark brown old medal, worn smooth and faintly gleaming, rested on him. The emblem of the Ninth Federation Army was engraved on its surface.

"Yes, sir." Lin Yue turned his head, and the air of "I'm fine" in his voice diminished somewhat.

The man deserved respect...

"I fought that beast for three hundred rounds. In the end, I dealt a thousand damage and took eight hundred myself before I brought it down."

The older man watched him for two seconds, his gaze lingering briefly on the plaster. The corner of his mouth lifted in an almost imperceptible curve. "...Promising. Good lad. The waves behind drive the waves before them."

Lin Yue did not respond.

He looked at Luo Chen. "Besides the four of us, who was the other one?"

"Passerby A." Luo Chen's voice trembled slightly when he said the ID.

"The first person in our community to upgrade their house to Level Three. They were lucky and suffered almost no losses."

Zhao Lei added from the side, "I've already contacted them. They've given us the choice."

"What choice?"

Luo Chen took a square-folded sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and spread it in front of Lin Yue.

It was the latest notice on further study for the novice stage issued by the Ninth Federation. At the top was a bold heading: Next-Stage Learning Paths.

"Two directions."

Luo Chen pointed at it: the military or the Guild.

Military—registered by the community supervisor, communities would head to the front lines for garrison duty. They could obtain advancement resources and plant upgrade permissions through military achievements and years of service.

Guild—formerly universities, though the current system more closely resembled an adventurers' guild from the old era. Resources were centralized, and it also operated by community units.

Lin Yue lowered his head and looked at the paper.

On the military side, clear promotion paths and benefit quotas were listed in blue text, with distinct ranks and organized details;

On the Guild side, green text indicated a mission acceptance system, free team formation, and support for various battlefronts under the leadership of matched teachers—those teachers might be Plant Garden owners active on the front lines or veterans.

"Some special items can save a homeowner's life after their Plant Garden is breached. But after losing their garden, they can no longer serve as main combatants, so they become teachers and train newcomers."

All this information was public. It was just that those special items were incredibly expensive!

Lin Yue's gaze moved from the "Military" section to the "Guild" section.

Given his talent, he still needed to drag things out into the later stages...

The military path was clear and stable, but he would have to obey deployments. It offered little freedom and required long-term garrison duty at the front lines.

Too dangerous... and if he went to the front lines, his parents would worry...

The Guild path was free and flexible. Although they might occasionally be assigned to the front lines, he could refuse that...

"Guild."

As though Luo Chen had expected that answer all along, he nodded and folded the paper back into its original shape before putting it into his pocket.

Zhao Lei quietly let out a breath beside him... The others had chosen the Guild too.