Plants vs. Zombies: I Can Add Passives to Plants

[Please log in to the Plant Garden System]

[Please select a login method]

Lin Yue blinked and instinctively looked up, scanning the surroundings.

Almost at the same time, the classmate sitting beside him slammed his hand on the desk. "Someone's talking inside my head! They even asked me my name!"

"Me too!"

"Plus one!"

"Plus 10086! That voice is actually inside my head!"

Teacher Zhao adjusted his glasses on the podium and gave a light cough. "Don't make such a fuss. That's the Garden System's login interface.

"When logging in, choose the option on the right. The one on the left is an invalid entrance. Supposedly, that madman Crazy Dave added the code randomly after getting drunk back in the day. Clicking it will freeze the system. Remember, choose the one on the right."

Lin Yue hurriedly gathered his thoughts and looked at the two options floating in his mind.

[ID Verification] [Guest Login]

Without thinking, Lin Yue instinctively held his finger over "ID Verification," then suddenly froze.

No.

He slowly withdrew his finger, closed his eyes, then opened them again.

The line of text was still there, clear as day.

"ID Verification." In this world, Federation residents' identities had always consisted of a string of numerical codes, formatted as an A followed by eleven letters and numbers.

But the login window before him was unmistakably the identity authentication interface from his previous life, with that eighteen-digit number format he knew by heart.

His ID number from before he crossed over.

"I... f*ck... I'm really going to become Jiahao this time."

Lin Yue cursed under his breath. His heart skipped half a beat, yet his finger seemed to be guided by some unseen force as it fell. Almost unconsciously, he entered the string of numbers that had long since been carved into his instincts: 1, 5, ... all eighteen digits, not one missing.

[Login successful]

Would Crazy Dave be able to find him and open an account?

[Please confirm your name]

Lin Yue thought for a second. "Chomper's Dad," "Salty Fish Man," and "Flat-Lying Man" drifted through his mind, but he deleted them all and earnestly typed two characters: "Jiahao."

[Welcome, esteemed player "Jiahao," to the Plant Garden System]

[Helpful tip: Please protect your brain. To Zombies, brains are delicious delicacies]

Lin Yue stared at the final helpful tip and fell silent for two seconds. The corner of his mouth twitched.

All right. This style was very Dave.

The sunlight outside the window had brightened completely. Golden rays slanted into the classroom, wrapping all the plants in a warm glow. The Sunflower immediately turned its flower disk toward the window.

Chomper contentedly narrowed its eyes in the cart, its purple leaves gleaming with a violet sheen in the light. The drenched classmate beside it was still wiping slime off his school uniform, while everyone around him tactfully avoided looking his way and talked to their own plants.

Lin Yue leaned against the back of his chair, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

"Lin Yue, what name did you choose? Let's add each other."

"Jiahao."

"Okay, I've added you. My name's Primal Peashooter, Bro Hao."

"No kidding, Bro Hao. That name suits you perfectly."

Before long, the students in the class began adding one another as friends. Rumor had it that when entering the Plant Garden, players who had added each other beforehand had a very high chance of being matched into the same plant community.

If the people in the community were acquaintances, then even if the starting situation was truly terrible, they could ask their classmates for help.

However, Lin Yue now had a bigger problem to solve.

[Dear player, hello!]

[The following features have been unlocked especially for you]

[Zen Garden, Slot Machine, Adventure Mode, Boss Mode, Dave's Shop]

Zen Garden: You can plant random plants in the garden. Seeds have a 100% survival rate, and they grow twice as fast as those in the Plant Garden, including plants from the Aquatic World and Night Mushroom Forest.

Slot Machine: Want to give it a spin? It only costs 100 sun. (The position where the wheel stops determines the type of prize. Friendly reminder: Dave has never announced the prize pool odds.)

Adventure Mode: Play an exciting game based on the plants you already possess. Cleared stages can be swept once per day.

Boss Mode: Record and archive the various forms of Dr. Zomboss that you will encounter in the future. Each clear grants generous rewards.

Dave's Shop: Wabby... Bab... Wab... Wabby... Is it crooked?

Chapter 8: Chomper's Passive

[Please bring your personal belongings. Teleportation commencing]

Hearing the voice in his head, Lin Yue reached out and grabbed Chomper beside him.

Only two seconds later, he felt solid ground beneath his feet.

Lin Yue staggered, steadied himself, and opened his eyes.

The sight before him left him stunned for a moment.

A shabby little wooden hut stood crookedly in the middle of the yard.

The wooden walls were covered in dark-brown mold. Several planks had come loose and creaked loudly whenever the wind blew.

Several dark-gray roof tiles were missing as well. One hung precariously from the edge of the eaves, ready to fall at any moment.

The wooden door was half-open. At a glance, it didn't seem like a very good door.

"It's pretty damn shabby."

The yard enclosed by the fence, however, was well maintained. A ring of white wooden fencing surrounded it. Though the paint was somewhat mottled, the whole thing was still fairly orderly.

A neat lawn lay directly in front of the yard. The grass was neither too tall nor too short, growing evenly together. It felt soft beneath his feet and carried the fresh scent of grass after rain.

A Lawn Mower was piled in the corner by the wall. Its metal frame was coated in dark-red rustproof paint. The paint was old, but the wheels were intact, so it should roll smoothly.

A shovel stood beside it. Its wooden handle had been polished smooth and glossy, while the blade showed no rust, as if it had been carefully maintained.

"Sure enough, heaven doesn't mistreat an outstanding man like me."

On the right side of the yard was an extremely luxurious breeding area. A ring of transparent glass surrounded it, while delicate wooden frames inside formed one space after another. If he wasn't mistaken, this should be the Zen Garden.

Why was Lin Yue so certain?

Because there was a sleeping snail lying there.

A snail the size of a fingernail was curled up in the shade of the rack. A fragment of leaf clung to its shell, and it slept soundly inside, its two feelers trembling slightly.

This was the Zen Garden.

There was also a large pit in the floor of the Zen Garden. Looking inside, he caught a mushroom-like scent. That should be the Mushroom Forest.

The Zen Garden even contained an aquarium for aquatic plants.

Lin Yue glanced around twice without rushing to investigate. He turned, crossed through the wooden hut, pushed open the back door, and entered the backyard.

The backyard was a large, square plot of land divided into fifty-four neat planting beds arranged in six rows and nine columns. Every bed had already been tilled. The dark-brown soil was loose and fertile, and leaning closer revealed a distinctive plant scent.

The middle two columns were shallow pools. The water was so clear that he could see the fine white sand at the bottom. Faint light rippled across the surface like a mirror that had been shattered and pieced back together.

His luck wasn't bad. At least he could grow aquatic plants.

And Chomper was planted in the seventh position of the sixth row.

Its purple, fleshy leaves stretched slightly in the breeze. Its sturdy stem was firmly rooted in the soil, and its iconic maw hung half-open, a glistening strand of slime trailing between its teeth as if greeting Lin Yue.

"You're pretty good at picking a spot." Lin Yue crouched down and patted Chomper's sturdy stem, the corners of his mouth lifting. "Guarding the bottom lane alone? Not bad."

As soon as he finished speaking, the familiar green light in his mind suddenly lit up. A line of information steadily appeared deep within his consciousness.

[Player talent detected: Passive Scripting]

[Scripting rules: You may add independent passive traits to plants within the garden. Passive traits must conform to the plant's growth habits and the logic of its existence]

A semitransparent information panel appeared above Chomper's head, like a status bar suspended over a game character.

Chomper (Mature)

Health: 200 (Normal average: 180)

Ability: Consume a single Zombie unit of similar size or smaller

Passive: Awaiting scripting

Lin Yue sat down in the dirt and fell into deep thought.

Should he give Chomper "Increased digestion speed"? Too ordinary.

"Increased attack range"? That would work too, but it wasn't exciting enough.

Lin Yue suddenly remembered Cho'Gath, the Big Worm from League of Legends, a game he had played before crossing over.

Its ultimate skill permanently increased its health and size after biting an enemy to death. In the late game, it could grow into a small mountain, and simply standing there was enough to scare the opposing team away.

"I've got it. Let's do this."

Lin Yue closed his eyes, sank his consciousness into the green light, and began constructing the effect.

[Passive: Each time Chomper consumes an enemy unit, its maximum health increases according to the enemy unit's size, while its own body grows slightly larger.]

In his mind, he pressed Enter.

[Determining...]

[Determination passed. The actual effect has been standardized. Please review.]

Lin Yue opened his eyes and looked at Chomper's panel.

Name: Chomper (Mature)

Health: 200

Ability: Consume a single Zombie unit of similar size or smaller than itself

Devouring (Passive): Each time it consumes an enemy unit, its size determines an increase of 10 to 50 points to its maximum health, while its body grows slightly larger. (No limit on the number of times)

"Holy crap... Without my Chomper, the plant world would be plunged into eternal darkness."

Lin Yue couldn't stop himself from swearing. He threw himself at Chomper's stem and hugged it like a thick utility pole, rubbing it here and patting it there as he excitedly babbled, "Buddy, whether I can show off in the future depends entirely on you. Stand tall from now on. When we go out, we need to bring our own special effects."

Chomper's leaves rustled twice. It tilted its head and looked at him for two seconds before its huge mouth suddenly shot forward like lightning.

"Who turned off the lights again!"

Lin Yue's upper body was neatly swallowed into that purple maw. His legs kicked twice outside, while his muffled cries leaked through Chomper's teeth.

Warm, damp tooth pads pressed against his face and shoulders. Slime poured down from the top of his head and ran along his neck into his collar. It was sticky and cold.

Chomper spat him out with a "pff." Lin Yue landed on his butt, his face and hair covered in slime, his school uniform soaked through once again.

He smacked Chomper's stem hard and laughed angrily. "I nearly died before even accomplishing anything! If you do that again, I'll... I'll ignore you for an entire day..."

Before he could finish, Chomper bent down a leaf and clumsily rubbed the top of his head. Its soft fuzz brushed ticklishly across his forehead and hairline, like a puppy that had done something wrong and was trying to curry favor with its owner.

Lin Yue hurriedly shut his mouth. He swallowed the words "squeeze you for plant oil" right back down.

Sitting on the ground and gazing up at the old companion he had raised since childhood, he remembered the dusk many years ago when his father had placed this seed in his palm.

His father had crouched down, patted his head, and said, "Take good care of it. It will protect you."

He had been six years old then. Holding the purple seed, no bigger than a peanut, he had crouched in the corner of the yard to dig a hole and bury it, watering it for half a month before the first tender sprout finally emerged.

From that day on, the first thing he did after school every day was run over to look at it. He loosened the soil and removed pests, then crouched beside it to do his homework until dark. He had even suspected that something was wrong with the seed, digging it out of the soil several times before planting it again.

Chomper, thank you...

Later, it grew bigger and bigger. Its leaves became thicker, and its mouth grew fiercer, but Lin Yue knew that Chomper was still that same member of the family.

Lin Yue rose from the ground and brushed the dirt off his pant legs. Lowering his head, he muttered, "All right, Azi. I won't hold it against you."

He pretended not to notice Chomper's leaves happily shaking twice more.

A little Chomper was easy to handle.