Chapter 227 - 194: Really Impressive

Chapter 227: Chapter 194: Really Impressive

After Zhou Qian’s arrival, Huai Yu’s life seemed to step onto a new track.

Before she had a neighbor, she woke up every day thinking about what she was going to do, what she was going to eat, and what she should stockpile. Now that she had one, her daily thoughts revolved around what work she could assign to him today.

Or she would wonder if the potatoes had sprouted successfully, if there were enough to supply the neighbor’s vegetable patch, or if the hastened sweet potatoes needed to be dug out yet. Since her neighbor had a big appetite, she could even start sun-drying sweet potatoes now.

She even enthusiastically tried to dig up a few wisteria vines from the treehouse and plant them next to Zhou Qian’s small courtyard, waiting for the spring when the branches would climb and bloom into clusters of purple flowers.

But that idea was quickly shut down.

"Stop digging," Zhou Qian said, standing in the field and leaning on his hoe. As the temperature gradually rose, his face had tanned to a dark bronze, and his clothes were drenched in sweat.

He pointed at his leg. "They’re not exactly well-behaved. The Boston ivy already climbs on its own, and so does the wisteria. If you plant that here, I’m afraid it might drag my leg over in the middle of the night and snap it."

This was the main drawback of biomaterials. Because they were derived from mutated plants, they possessed a rudimentary consciousness of their own and could not be controlled one hundred percent of the time in daily life.

Looking at the patch of squirming greenery on his leg, Huai Yu could only nod in agreement.

Zhou Qian was currently wearing loose shorts, revealing that the limb extending below was not forged of powerful muscles like his left leg, but consisted entirely of verdant vines, complete with a few stray leaves. They clumsily mimicked the shape of a right leg and foot, but the newly grown shoots refused to settle down quietly. Instead, they often grew restless while he was digging in the vegetable garden. The vines twisted into the shape of a foot would sneakily burrow into the soil, attempting to pack more mud into the gaps of his leg.

On his first day digging the garden, Zhou Qian hadn’t noticed. After all, he was wearing long pants, and no matter how well the biomaterial connected to his nerves, it didn’t transmit sensations of itching or friction the way he’d expected.

It wasn’t until he went back to take a shower that night that he realized what was going on. Since he wasn’t afraid of the cold, he took the convenient route and stood by the well, dumping buckets of water over himself. But after one, two buckets, why was muddy water still streaming down his leg endlessly?

After puzzling over it for a long time, he finally discovered that the muddy water was washing out bit by bit from the gaps in the Boston ivy vines. The realization left him both exasperated and amused. It took him a whole hour just to rinse the mud completely clean.

The very next day, Zhou Qian dug out a pair of shorts.

At this moment, he was quite glad that he had chosen to live in the Rose Mansion to easily look after Huai Yu. At the very least, he didn’t have to worry about scaring anyone with his exposed leg. Nor did he have to worry about people coming over to stare. It was too close to the Rose Corridor, so even his former comrades wouldn’t dare visit lightly.

Originally, he had gone barefoot into the field for convenience while digging. But this Boston ivy was unruly, packing itself with mud time and time again, leaving a continuous trail of muddy water on the ground every time he showered. Helpless, Zhou Qian had slipped a rain boot over his foot this morning.

With a layer of plastic separating them from the soil, the vines were relatively well-behaved while he dug. But hearing Huai Yu mention wisteria just now, their plant instincts immediately made them understand exactly what kind of character a wisteria had, and they began rustling restlessly inside his boot again.

Thus, Zhou Qian had no choice but to refuse.

Huai Yu squatted on the grass, observing his leg, and suddenly grew curious. "If it’s so disobedient, why are they putting so much effort into researching and promoting it?"

Zhou Qian pondered for a moment. "Because for daily walking and movement, it’s much closer to an original leg. And the disobedience only manifests in these minor habits; it doesn’t affect its capability.

"For example, if I had been fitted with a standard prosthetic, I’d still be in the adjustment period right now. Even walking smoothly would be a struggle.

"But look at me now—walking, running, jumping, carrying heavy objects, or even stepping straight into the mud... none of it is a problem.

"So, even though it was sheer torment in the beginning, it was all worth it."

As he spoke, he stroked his leg with a complex expression. "If I were to go into the Wilderness now, my abilities might be even stronger than before."

Hearing this, Huai Yu suddenly cheered up. "If that’s the case, will there be a day when many people are equipped with this kind of material? With a massive boost in combat power, we could just level the Wilderness completely!"

Furthermore, if mutated plants gained practical utility, places like the Rose Corridor wouldn’t be viewed as a looming threat right on the doorstep of a gradually peaceful society... Humanity and plants would truly forge a solid relationship based on symbiotic cooperation and mutual benefit!

Zhou Qian thought about it. "That’s actually a real possibility.

"But all of this requires time as a foundation. Because just as humans are progressing, the plants in the Wilderness are also becoming increasingly formidable.

"When the day comes that we can easily cull them, people probably won’t be as inclined to wipe them out. Because by then, the entire Wilderness will also be an inexhaustible treasure trove for us."

He was only casually imagining the future. After all, judging from his own fusion experience, the pain far exceeded the threshold of human endurance; very few people could currently survive the process.

Nowadays, the mainstream combat forces still relied on the Guard Army—Superpower Users who had mostly trained in military academies, followed orders, and could fight cooperatively.

But as he voiced his thoughts, he saw that Huai Yu’s smile had become exceptionally radiant for some reason. Zhou Qian didn’t quite understand why, but he found himself smiling along with her.

Huai Yu felt curious again. "There’s a dangerous Wilderness near our Flower City, but are other cities just as dangerous?"

"Yeah." Zhou Qian nodded. "In southern cities with hot and humid climates, plant mutations are far more intense and can be seen everywhere.

"However, due to the climate, the mutated plants there don’t need to undergo vernalization, so they naturally have a greater fear of low temperatures.

"That’s why General Lin Xuefeng was the main force during the initial subjugation operations."

Huai Yu instantly perked up. "I knew he was amazing! Is it because of his Water Ability?"

The moment Lin Xuefeng was mentioned, Huai Yu became incredibly enthusiastic. Zhou Qian glanced at her and reluctantly admitted, "Yes.

"There are many Water Ability Users across the country, but he is currently the one and only person who can wield his Superpower to such a masterful degree, capable of turning water into ice and summoning blizzards at will."

He paused, recalling that Lin Xuefeng had already ventured into the Wilderness. This ’one and only’ person had ultimately...

But seeing Huai Yu’s expectant expression, he swallowed the rest of his words.

"After summoning the blizzard, he would guide other Superpower Users in the team to utilize the collision of temperature differences—anyway, it’s some kind of physics knowledge used to temporarily alter the local environment."

Zhou Qian’s own academic education was clearly limited, so he could only explain it in such vague terms now.

"Therefore, with him around back then, the subjugation push in the southern cities was invincible," he continued. "Nowadays, nine out of ten mutated organisms available for research were brought back from there."

Huai Yu longingly imagined the scene. She had experience with farming, but she couldn’t picture summoning blizzards at all.

At this moment, she could only sigh in admiration, "Lin Xuefeng really is amazing!"