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

Lin Xiaotian looked casual on the surface, as if it were no big deal, but he tapped his chopsticks against the rim of his bowl three times without picking up a single dish.

He was indeed a little nervous. More than anything, he was worried about what he would say if his son failed to awaken anything, and how he could keep the brat from feeling disappointed.

Every father dreamed of his son becoming a dragon, no matter how foul-mouthed he was!

Deep down, he still wanted his son to turn out well.

With a bang, a pitch-black stone was set on the dining table, making it tremble slightly.

The stone was about the size of a fist, with a rough surface that glimmered faintly in the dark. At first glance, it looked no different from ordinary obsidian, but when brought closer, one could feel a faint chill seeping out from its depths, like a palm pressed against glass in winter.

"All right." Li Xue dusted off her hands, pulled over a chair, and sat down beside him. She looked seriously at Lin Yue. "Put your hand on it, close your eyes, and use your mental power to sense it. If you have the talent, you'll feel it yourself. Don't rush. Take it slowly."

Lin Xiaotian said nothing, but he secretly set down his chopsticks and folded his hands on the table, his thumbs rubbing against each other unconsciously.

As he looked at his son, anticipation and unease tangled together in his eyes.

"The great rain washes over me, merely to awaken the slumbering origin. Your expectations shall be the fanfare before my awakening."

Lin Yue took a deep breath and pressed his palm against the stone.

"Smack!"

The two elders exchanged a glance. How had he become a Jiahao under the guidance of the two of us?

The stone felt cold, like a pebble soaked in well water.

At first, nothing changed. But several seconds later, a cool trickle slipped beneath his palm and into his skin, slowly traveling upward along the meridians in his arm before gathering deep within his mind. He felt a tiny green point suddenly light up inside his head, like a glowing firefly in the night, quietly suspended there.

He tried touching that green point.

A thought shaped like a fingertip gently prodded it.

A clear line of information surfaced deep within his consciousness.

[Talent: Passive Scripting (The passive must be compatible with the host. It can be used after entering the Plant Garden.)]

Lin Yue opened his eyes, a trace of green light still lingering in his pupils. He froze for half a second before blurting out, "Thank you both for raising me. Today, my talent has finally matured. From now on, I'll surely bring honor to the family and be a filial son."

Li Xue's eyes lit up. She slapped the table with a loud smack, so happy that even her braids swayed slightly. "I knew it! How could our family's genes possibly have a problem?"

Lin Xiaotian froze for a moment before abruptly snatching up his chopsticks and waving them twice in the air. He burst into laughter. "You little brat! You'd better thank your old man properly for this! Without my excellent genes, would you have gotten this far?"

As Lin Xiaotian spoke, he slapped his chopsticks onto the table and lifted his chin, his smugness practically spilling from his face. The faint red slipper mark on his forehead had yet to fade, and against his triumphant expression, he looked about as cocky as a person could get.

Li Xue shot him a glare, though she could not stop herself from smiling. "All right, stop trying to claim all the credit. Little Yue is entering the Plants vs. Zombies World tomorrow, and he even awakened a unique Planting Talent. He'll be more than half assured in a Tier One garden. Today is a day for celebration."

She stood up, rolled up her sleeves, and headed for the kitchen. After two steps, she turned back and raised her chin at Lin Xiaotian. "You have special permission to drink tonight. One cup only. Don't pour yourself more."

Lin Xiaotian's eyes instantly lit up. He dashed to rummage through the liquor hidden in the cabinet, muttering, "What a day... Tsk, this is beautiful!"

He twisted open the cap and poured a shallow cup, lifting it to his nose to sniff. Then he turned around and gave Lin Yue a heavy pat on the back, the force nearly sending Lin Yue sprawling onto the table. Holding the wine cup and blushing, Lin Xiaotian's eyes were bright as he said...

"You little brat, you've done well. Once you go in tomorrow, stay alive. Coming back alive is more important than anything."

Chapter 6: Back to the Classroom

The next day, before the sky had fully brightened, the streets of the Ninth Federal District were already bustling. There were not only parents' instructions and reminders, but also the excitement of the newly adult children.

Warm morning light spilled from behind the plant walls to the east, dyeing the entire old street in a hazy, mellow glow. To places already overrun by Zombies, this was practically paradise.

The air carried the distinctive fragrance of plants and damp earth after being struck by dew. Mixed with the plant scents drifting from every household's garden, each breath made Lin Yue a little more clear-headed.

Here and there, students pushed Lawn Mowers toward the school along both sides of the street.

These Lawn Mowers could be loaded with plants and, of course, brought into the Plant Garden as well—provided one was willing to give up bringing in a qualified plant.

The iron wheels rolled over the stone road with a clatter, their sounds rising and falling like a crooked morning march.

Each Lawn Mower carried a plant crouched quietly inside. The most common were naturally Sunflowers and Peashooters. The Sunflowers' golden heads tilted eastward, while the Peashooters' cannon-like heads swayed with every bump in the road.

But a few Lawn Mowers carried rare goods.

Lin Yue noticed a tall, thin boy ahead whose Lawn Mower contained a round, purple mushroom. The Fume-shroom's plump cap rested atop its stalk, its eyes seeming somewhat dazed as it yawned at the morning breeze.

All he could say was that night plants got sleepy during the day. That quirk really hadn't changed.

Nearby, a girl with a ponytail was pushing a Repeater. It looked extremely imposing and could be considered a minor trump card among the plants.

Lin Yue lowered his head and glanced at his own Lawn Mower, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Chomper was crouched inside.

This old companion, raised from the age of six to eighteen, was especially excited today. Its entire body trembled faintly from root to leaf, its purple, fleshy leaves opening and closing. Its signature giant mouth occasionally split open, revealing soft tooth pads and glistening saliva, as if greeting everyone along the way.

The problem was that its way of greeting people was far too aggressive.

When they passed an old man walking his dog, Chomper suddenly sprang forward. Half a vine shot out of the Lawn Mower and precisely snatched the small white poodle by the old man's feet.

The dog did not even have time to bark before it was swallowed whole by that purple mouth. After being slurped and wrapped around for two seconds, it was spat back out with a pop.

The white dog crouched by the roadside, dripping wet, all four legs trembling. Its round black eyes were filled with the message: Who am I? Where am I? What just happened?

The old man stood there in a daze. He looked down at the empty leash in his hand, then up at the sticky white dog, and finally turned to look at Lin Yue. That look in his eyes...

Lin Yue did not dare meet his gaze, afraid he would demand compensation, and hurriedly apologized.

"Old sir, I'm truly sorry. My pet was rude and reckless. I'll make amends another day."

Lin Yue immediately apologized again, then pushed the Lawn Mower containing Chomper away. As he left, he failed to notice that the Lawn Mower rolled right over the dog.

"Why is there a stumbling block on the road?"

The old man opened his mouth, but ultimately bent down to pick up the trembling white dog. He wiped the slime from its body with his sleeve and grumbled resentfully, "I need my Little Bai."

Lin Yue left with a solemn expression, lowering his head and charging ahead. Chomper continued proudly swaying its leaves inside the Lawn Mower, as though it had just committed the perfect crime.

Similar forms of "social interaction" happened four or five more times along the way. A passing girl's braid was nipped, a boy's backpack was caught in Chomper's jaws, and a stray cat was so frightened that it shot straight up onto a two-meter-high wall.

It kept huffing.

By the time Lin Yue finally sprinted into the classroom, drenched in sweat, he felt as if he had run half a marathon.

He had not expected to have another wonderful exchange with everyone today.

Everyone else: "Even if I wanted to pick a fight, I couldn't come up with a line like that."

The classroom's scene was even more spectacular than outside.

The phrase "lush with greenery" could not have been more fitting. Plants were everywhere in the classroom. Seedlings and mature plants of every shape and size filled the desks, the aisles, and the windowsills.

The Peashooters stood in a row by the windows to sun themselves, while the Sunflowers crowded beneath the podium, leaning against one another and swaying their flower heads. In the corner, a hostile-looking Puff-shroom crouched there, eyeing one student's shoes hungrily.

It seemed to dislike that color very much.

The most conspicuous plant was undoubtedly the Cherry Bomb on Wang Mao's desk.

Two large, bright-red cherries were pressed tightly together. Two furious faces were drawn on their wrinkled skins, their brows knitted tightly and the corners of their mouths turned downward, giving them a vicious expression that seemed to say, "Touch me and I'll blow you up."

"Oh~ A backup hidden energy plant, a fleeting flash of brilliance, still not even one ten-thousandth as dazzling as me."

He could not help but comment.

The Cherry Bomb's flowerpot sat in the very center of Wang Mao's desk. No one dared approach within two meters of it.

Yesterday, a crowd had still been crammed around Wang Mao, asking questions. Today, everyone tacitly shifted their desks half a foot in every direction, leaving the Cherry Bomb a noble vacuum zone.

Or perhaps an isolation zone.

Lin Yue glanced at his own seat and silently dragged his desk farther back.

This was called following his instincts.

Understand? What if it blew up his hairstyle? Wouldn't that be disastrous?

Following his instincts.

Lin Yue had just parked his Lawn Mower and had not even caught his breath when seven or eight classmates swarmed over.

"Wow! Lin Yue, why is your Chomper so huge?"

"I think its leaves are at least a whole circle larger than mine!"

"Look at those teeth... Tsk, if that bite force landed on a person..."

"Little Flower, he said he wants to check your teeth."

The moment those words left his mouth, Chomper suddenly opened its enormous maw and precisely swallowed the upper half of the boy who had not even finished speaking.

The unlucky boy only had time to cry out half a scream: "Hel—p!" The rest was muffled inside Chomper's mouth, reduced to a garbled gurgle, while his legs kicked frantically at the air outside.

Lin Yue hurriedly reached out and scratched the top of Chomper's head, then gently rubbed its stalk twice. Only then did Chomper slowly spit the student out with a pop.

The student was covered from head to neck in transparent, sticky plant saliva. His school uniform was soaked through and clung to his body, revealing the vest underneath and the faint outline of his abdominal muscles.

Quite a few girls in the class feasted their eyes on the sight.

He awkwardly wiped his face and gave Chomper a helpless, amused look. "All right, you win."

"Everyone, be careful. My Chomper is destined to become the number-one brother of the Plant Emperor."

Lin Yue added one final explanation in words they could understand. "This guy has a bit of a nasty personality. We haven't found a treatment yet."

Wang Mao had already approached by then. He somehow produced a towel and held it out to the soaked student, while his other hand naturally settled on the student's shoulder. He claimed to be helping wipe off the slime, but it looked more like he was caressing him.

"Brother Wang, it's fine. I don't need it."

"It's all right. Let me do it for you~"

From a distance, Lin Yue saw that the boy drenched in Chomper's spit had ears burning red. He stood there stiffly and let Wang Mao clean him up.

Like a little lamb, he did not dare resist.

The other students in the class tacitly turned their gazes away at the same time. Even their discussions about plants grew several decibels louder as they collectively covered up the little incident.

Only the girls' side continued to buzz with gossip.

Chapter 7: The Plant Garden System

"Silence. Settle down."

A not-too-heavy knock sounded from the podium as homeroom teacher Zhao Xiulan entered to the ring of the bell.

The classroom's racket instantly died down. Even the Peashooters on the windowsills straightened their stalks and stopped swaying, like elementary school students lined up to be scolded.

Teacher Zhao wore a dark-gray professional suit today, her hair neatly coiled at the back of her head. Besides her lesson plans, she also carried a hard-shell folder labeled "Ninth District Plant Garden Management Manual."

If he had guessed correctly, that thing should be used to register the identification documents of the students in their classroom.

She swept her gaze around the classroom, letting it rest on each student's face for a second or two before speaking. Her tone was gentler than usual, yet still carried a weight that could not be ignored.

"Today, I'll teach you something I haven't covered before. It will effectively improve your chances of surviving what comes next, so listen carefully."

"First, forget your dignity. The moment you enter the Plant Garden, don't hesitate. Immediately search the entire residential area for any mature plants left behind. Those are inheritances left by the previous homeowners. Whoever gets to them first owns them. Don't worry about manners, don't worry about yielding, and don't feel embarrassed."

"Second, if someone else gets to a mature plant before you, and you happen to draw the five-seed beginner gift pack, embrace that shameless spirit. Chase after them, kneel down, and give them the seeds in exchange for one of their plants. I don't care how you do it. Survive first."

At this point, she unscrewed the old-fashioned thermos full of chrysanthemum tea and took a large gulp to moisten her throat.

Steam blurred her lenses. She casually pulled out a tissue to wipe them clean, then continued.

"Third, and most importantly, there are nearly eleven million newcomers in your batch. Once the one-month beginner period ends, Crazy Dave will offer everyone a choice.

You can choose to permanently withdraw from frontline combat in the Plant Garden. From then on, no Zombies will ever spawn in your garden, but the price is this:

Your garden will only be able to grow ordinary plants. However, you can cooperate with the Federation and transport the resources you grow to the frontline. You won't be combat personnel, but you'll still be making a contribution. Incidentally, the Peashooters and Sunflowers you already have won't disappear."

She paused, her calm gaze sweeping across every young face below. "If possible, I recommend choosing this path. Stay alive. Live well."

"Next, freely explore your own Plant Garden System."

The classroom fell silent. No one dared respond.

But quite a few people's expressions visibly wavered. Teacher Zhao's "third option" was like a rope lowered from the ceiling, hanging above everyone's head and swaying with a faint glimmer.

Lin Yue sat in his seat, but his mind was racing with another matter.

He vaguely remembered hearing his parents mention that the so-called "withdrawal" option actually meant completely locking away any possibility of upgrading the garden.

And what came afterward—the Plant Garden's advancement, the Gene Lock, the probability of encountering Dave—those were the true paths to making plants stronger.

Chomper was currently only a Tier One primitive plant. If it could advance...

Just as he was thinking excitedly, a crisp ding suddenly rang out in his mind.