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

"...That guy died?"

"Yes, boss. Wang Meng, that shield... died during this event. It's been confirmed."

The blond man fell silent for a second.

Then... he raised the hard liquor in his hand and poured it down his throat in one gulp.

The wine... burned down his throat. He let out a satisfied breath of alcohol, and the corners of his mouth slowly split into a grin. Laughter rose from deep in his throat, growing louder and louder as it echoed through the empty bathhouse.

"Good riddance!!!"

"Hahaha~ Now no outsiders know where that batch of Ash Plants from the Ninth Federation went..."

The laughter bounced around beneath the bathhouse dome several times before gradually fading.

One of his subordinates stepped forward and eagerly chimed in, "That's right, boss. I couldn't stand Wang Meng for a long time. He was working for Golden City, yet he still dared touch the merchandise. Who the hell did he think he was? An externally hired temp, and he thought he was qualified to touch our goods?"

The blond man set his glass on the edge of the pool without rushing to pour himself a second drink.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. Droplets clung to his golden eyelashes in the steam, making him resemble a resting beast.

"Still... it was thanks to that idiot touching the goods." He spoke slowly, his tone carrying a hint of mocking amusement. "He touched them and left traces behind."

"Those old dogs from the Ninth Federation had nearly followed the trail to the warehouse. But once they traced it to Wang Meng, the trail went cold—a dead man. How were they supposed to investigate?"

The subordinate nodded repeatedly. "Right, the boss is right. Now all the information has been cut off, so this batch of goods—"

He dragged out the last word, waiting for the blond man to speak.

The blond man did not answer immediately.

He rose from the bath, his muscular lines tight and clean. Water rolled down his body and splashed into tiny ripples.

"Keep the goods in the warehouse. Don't touch them. The Ninth Federation may have lost the trail, but they still have their noses. Moving the goods at a time like this would be like delivering them straight to their door. We'll talk after things settle down."

The blond man... paused, and that unreadable smile rose to his lips again.

"Besides, the goods aren't going to grow legs and run away. Right?"

"I'm sick of eating these Rice Dumplings! Kitty, go catch me a squid!"

Marine Creature... Squid

"I'm sick of eating these Rice Dumplings! Kitty, go catch me a squid!"

Lin Yue's voice echoed through the submarine. It was no longer a complaint—it was anger.

(Anger at squids!)

Today... was the third day of the event.

The entire underwater world had come alive... all kinds of marine creatures could be seen everywhere, along with some not-so-wonderful ones.

"This... damned squid." Lin Yue's voice carried resignation.

"Fine, I accept it. Once I leave the event, I'm eating two huge skewers... charcoal-grilled, cumin-flavored."

Cattail Kitty gave him a look that said, "Do I look like a fishing cat to you?"... then smacked its tail hard against the floor in refusal.

Kitty fought Zombies, not fished for seafood... everyone had their specialty, every breed had its role. Please respect Kitty's career plan.

(Kitty: Squids spray ink... Kitty likes being clean.)

They had just finished clearing out a batch of Zombies—

When several scattered... Zombies and marine creatures began approaching the submarine again.

At first, Lin Yue had been furious... but when they drew close, he sighed instead.

"Those damned squids are back!!!"

Three squids slowly swam over from behind the Zombies.

The paths of the three squids were deliberate—they intentionally let the Zombies brush against them while approaching the submarine, then quickly closed in on the plants.

The first squid suddenly stopped directly above a Starfruit.

It leaned its body back slightly, tightened its ten tentacles, then sprayed fiercely—a huge mass of thick ink shot from its ink sac, pierced through the water, and splattered precisely over the Starfruit.

The ink was as dense as oil, sticky and glossy. In an instant, it completely covered the Starfruit's golden glow.

Starfruit: ?!!!

The ink-covered Starfruit immediately went silent.

Its five-pointed body was still trembling slightly, showing that it was trying, but something in the ink directly suppressed its ability to attack.

"A silence effect."

Fortunately... Cattail Kitty's three spikes viciously shot toward the distant Zombies, preventing them from approaching the submarine.

The second squid had already found its next target—Chomper.

Chomper had opened its mouth to deal with an approaching Zombie. Before its mouth was even halfway open, a blob of ink shot straight into it.

Chomper:!!!

Chomper's body suddenly stiffened. Its huge mouth went "Pah"... and spat the ink in its mouth onto the goggles of the Underwater Diving Zombie in front of it.

Deep-Sea Zombie: ???

"Sss—"

As the sound of leaking air reached him, Lin Yue looked toward the fifth row on the left side of the submarine. Aside from two Oxygen Algae, no other offensive plants had been planted in that row.

Originally, with Kitty and Starfruit attacking together, the Deep-Diving Zombie had no way of getting close.

"Pfft~"

But... by sheer coincidence—the fast-moving Deep-Diving Zombie ran into a squid.

"Pfft~"

Kitty's face was covered in black ink?

(Kitty: Meow... not clean anymore!)

[Submarine Durability: 98%]

When the system notification appeared, Lin Yue clenched his fists.

He had not expected... that even his impregnable submarine could be touched by a Zombie because of the influence of marine creatures.

The culprits were those three squids.

"Didn't they say marine creatures were neutral?!" Lin Yue slapped the control panel, his voice full of disbelief. "How is this neutral? What kind of neutrality is this? They're clearly taking sides!"

Lin Yue took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Come on, Starfruit!"

Just as the Deep-Diving Zombie struck the submarine for the third time... Starfruit successfully finished it off.

(Lin Yue: I'm so pissed!)

(Kitty: This is making Kitty furious!!!)

Angry as they were, the rules did make it clear—neutral creatures did not mean friendly creatures. Just like in the game, they were truly annoying.

Neutral simply meant they would not attack first. But if Zombies influenced them, or they became interested in the submarine itself, there was no telling what they might do.

Fortunately, his plants were not stupid either.

After learning how troublesome marine creatures could be... they began driving them away with attacks whenever they came close.

A squid quietly approached Puff-shroom...

At some point, all five Puff-shrooms had turned toward it. Ten tiny black eyes stared at it in unison.

That look was neither curiosity nor fear. It was an unmistakable warning—try taking one more step.

The squid hesitated for a second.

(Puff-shrooms: ...It still dared to have ideas!)

All five Puff-shrooms opened fire at once.

Grayish-purple spore bullets sprayed from beneath their caps, leaving five parallel trails through the water and striking the water less than ten centimeters in front of the squid.

The spores did not hit the squid—they had deliberately missed—but the force exploded through the water and forcibly shoved it half a meter backward.

Squid: (???;) Its tentacles curled as it silently backed away. Fine, these mushrooms were not to be messed with.

I'll go... mess with other plants.

The squid... met Bok Choy's gaze head-on.

Bok Choy: ?(???‵‵)?

Bok Choy stood in the fourth row, fourth column, arms crossed over its chest as it stared expressionlessly at the squid.

Yet that posture, that gaze, made the squid... freeze.

(That look... why is it scarier than a shark...)

All ten of the squid's tentacles turned at once, and it fled in an utterly pathetic posture.

(Squid: Can't afford to provoke it... I'll go find other submarines to play with...)

Watching the brief exchange, Lin Yue felt both relieved and troubled.

He was relieved that, unlike in the game, they did not have to simply endure attacks from marine creatures.

What troubled him was... that many other strange underwater creatures had yet to appear.

"Good thing this event only lasts seven days. Otherwise, I really don't dare imagine what it'll be like later."

Lin Yue sighed and began... taking stock of his resources.

His event Rice Dumplings... had accumulated to 180 again.

The main reason was!

There had been unusually few Zombies today, so few that... it felt somewhat abnormal—

During the first two days, Zombies had come wave after wave like a tide. Today, there were only a sparse few.

Was it because the appearance of marine creatures had diverted the Zombies' attention?

Or had the submarine entered a relatively safe deep-sea region?

Lin Yue could not be sure.

But he had no time to investigate further. Fewer Zombies were a good thing anyway, and the plants needed rest too.

Aside from the Rice Dumplings they had eaten, he currently had 180 event Rice Dumplings again.

He opened the exchange interface, his finger hovering over a row of plant icons. After hesitating for a moment, he finally tapped the golden five-pointed star.

Starfruit.

The second Starfruit appeared in the submarine and was planted in the first row, third column.

The first row was now arranged from left to right as—Toadstool, Starfruit, Starfruit, Chomper.

Starfruit could handle most Zombies... while Chomper and Toadstool could protect the two of them... perfect!

Kelp Guard... Family

On the third day... Lin Yue had not expected the Zombies to truly be so scarce.

"There are way too few."

Lin Yue was somewhat speechless now... his plants had rested enough and were ready to work, only to discover that today was apparently a national holiday.

Cattail Kitty lazily swished its tail, showing its agreement.

Kitty was bored out of its mind today. It could only occasionally launch eye attacks at passing krill outside the window... and sleep.

The Zombies seemed to have become an endangered species overnight.

During the previous two days, they had poured in wave after wave like a tide. But ever since arriving in this stretch of water today... there had only been a few scattered Zombies.