Chapter 352: Chapter 347: Apocalypse Sisters
Ying Yiming was very determined to relocate the base, even leading the first group of Superpower Users himself on the journey of relocation.
However, far away at the Hu Province Base, Ye Qiu and his team had shifted their focus toward the ocean, which accounts for 71% of Earth’s surface area; there are more than 200,000 known species alone, not to mention the undiscovered ones.
After the apocalypse, both animals and plants on land had mutated, and of course, the same was true for the ocean—perhaps even more frightening. The Hu Province Base had more than once encountered traces of marine creatures in freshwater rivers, some of which no longer depended on water to survive.
Wei Yang had become the strongest individual in the base, and the task of expanding the base in the direction of Yan Kai was assigned to him.
Meanwhile, the experiments conducted by Ye Qiu’s side have also achieved preliminary success; without relying on space, she could cultivate secondarily mutated Mutant Vines in the laboratory.
After undergoing a secondary mutation, they lost their ferocity, and the Medicine prepared with their branches and leaves made the Superpower Users in the base no longer fear the external threat of the Zombie Virus.
Moreover, Ye Qiu also successfully found a way to resolve the issue of humans no longer needing to be eradicated.
All of these started with the Hu Province Base facing its second wave of Zombie and Mutated Animal onslaughts.
Perhaps sensing that the situation was deviating from expectations, this aggressive onslaught caught everyone off guard and was even more ferocious than before, with the emergence of a new Zombie King and a new Mutated Animal King among them.
That Zombie King’s strength was on par with Wei Yang, but unlike him, it lacked intelligence; it was more like a more primal predator, existing solely for its Task.
"Establish a master-servant pact with me, and I will give this to you," Ye Qiu said, holding the secondarily mutated Mutant Vine Fruit and addressing the Ice Wolf and Big Snake.
Perhaps because it didn’t grow in the space, the Golden Crow Egg was not as attractive to the later-grown fruits, so Ye Qiu used them to tempt these two extraordinary Mutated Animals.
"Hiss!" The Big Snake covetously gazed at the item in Ye Qi’s hand, its vertical pupil turning dangerous.
"Awoo!" The Ice Wolf stood in the center of the cage, howling skyward.
Very good! Ye Qiu nodded in satisfaction, then she used the method taught to her by the Golden Crow Egg to have them establish master-servant pacts with Duan Kai and Ye Dong, respectively.
It proved to be a very correct decision; the Ice Wolf and the Big Snake not only blocked the second mutant animal assault for the base but also broke free from control altogether.
"This time, did you not feel out of control?" Ye Qiu asked seriously after the Zombie wave had passed.
"No." Wei Yang’s eyes shone brightly, feeling great about breaking free from control, and he no longer had to worry about going mentally astray and doing something irreversible one day.
"The same for you?"
"No, I feel a force in my mind commanding me to attack this place, but I can control it," the Big Snake communicated telepathically to Duan Kai, who relayed it to everyone else.
"Little Silver says it’s the same with him," Ye Dong translated.
"So that’s how it is!" Ye Qiu suddenly realized.
Perhaps nature had initially intended to destroy the world with the Mutated Vine, but Ye Qiu and the others discovered it too early. Before it could fully grow, nearly half of it had already been eradicated.
Then it attempted to create a bloodbath among humans by controlling Zombies and Mutated Animals, but what it didn’t expect was that Wei Yang possessed an independent consciousness from the very beginning, and Ye Qiu lured Wei Yang to completely sabotage its second plan with the Mutant Vine Fruit grown in his space.
The Mutated Vine was originally intended to be the next ruler of nature, but Ye Qiu’s experiment turned what was meant for destruction into something that could restrain it. After consuming this fruit, one could instead possess the power to resist it.
So it wanted to unleash another wave of Zombies, aiming to utterly destroy Ye Qiu’s research achievements and revert to its original plan, but at this point, it could no longer stop Ye Qiu and the others.
"I understand now, the Zombies and Mutated Animals on land can no longer hold us back. No wonder there have been so many more sea creatures recently."
Although they were still surrounded by crises, Ye Qiu smiled happily, as she had finally found a way for humanity to continue surviving.
Ironically, the Mutated Vine that was initially supposed to destroy them ended up being their salvation.
"You all must be careful. I haven’t studied the creatures in the sea, and I don’t know what abilities they possess. If it’s really not possible, then retreat and we’ll find another solution. Of course, it would be best if you could bring some sea creatures back for my research."
"I know." Wei Yang nodded, indicating his understanding.
Both Duan Kai and Wei Yang were also very busy. Recently, many new survivors had come to the base. Some truly wished to join Hu Province Base, while others were undercover agents sent by other bases.
The internal situation of the base became even more chaotic. They urgently needed to craft more plans to resolve conflicts. The two had come a long way from the initial recklessness to now being deeply established leaders - it wasn’t something that could be achieved overnight or merely through strength.
If the current Ying Yiming saw the state of Hu Province Base now, he might reconsider whether Duan Kai and Ye Dong were unfit to be leaders.
In fact, Ying Yiming wasn’t having an easy time himself. As Ying Chang’an had said earlier, the number of people relocating was too large and the distance too great. There were countless dangers on the road.
Now, several years after the apocalypse, ordinary people without superpowers had adapted to life in Jiang Province Base. What if they couldn’t get enough to eat? At least they were still alive.
Many Superpower Users were also unwilling to return to develop new bases. In Jiang Province Base, they had a significant status, but after coming to the south and interacting with Superpower Users from Hu Province Base, they realized that their powers were almost all weaker in comparison.
People there had access to inexpensive Medicine to remove the irritable factor from the Crystal Core for Cultivation, but what about them? Having to buy it at a high price?
Those who could not accept such disparities preferred returning to Jiang Province rather than staying in the south and competing for resources in Hu Province Base, while some were keen to join Hu Province Base. Few genuinely wanted to struggle alongside Ying Yiming with sincere commitment.
Ying Yiming’s expression darkened. He even considered bribing spies to steal Ye Qiu’s research outcomes, but after his failure, Hu Province Base declared they would never sell the new type of Medicine to anyone from Jiang Province Base; this caused his popularity to plummet. He had no choice but to abandon the plan to establish a new base.
By that time, the truly powerful and vengeful Superpower Users from Jiang Province Base had already chosen to side with Hu Province Base, leaving only ordinary people or Superpower Users lacking in ambition.
When he once again sought cooperation with Hu Province Base, Duan Kai and Ye Dong were no longer responsive to him.
Perhaps he retained a bit of conscience, unwilling to let the people of the base endure hardship, and ultimately relinquished his power, deciding to place Jiang Province Base under the jurisdiction of Hu Province Base.