Chapter 21

Above the ruins, Nan Yuan stood facing the light.
Between heaven and earth, it felt as if he were the only one there.
And so he stood quietly, gazing into the empty space before him.
He couldn't see her, didn't know when she would appear or when she would vanish and yet he wanted to see her.
He wanted to know she truly existed.
Tao Shushu pressed down the hood that had been lifted by the wind, suppressing the faint ache in her heart as well. "Cub, get in the car. The road conditions are too poor, I don't trust the autonomous driving system."
Nan Yuan finally climbed into the truck.
Tao Shushu cleared the way with brute force, quickly opening up a path and successfully claiming the reward.
Over twenty minutes later, the cub's truck approached what was once the spacecraft docking port.
Tao Shushu spotted a large patch of color from afar. As the truck drew closer, she could see it was a vast field overrun by Bloodsucking Grass.
The once-sturdy fences and imposing buildings were all submerged in green.
The green stretched as far as the eye could see, giving the illusion of a tranquil grassland. But when a gentle breeze swept through, the bones beneath the green and the hollowed-out shells of spacecraft flickered into view, reminding everyone that this was a deadly field of Bloodsucking Grass, not a paradise.
Nan Yuan wasn't encountering Bloodsucking Grass for the first time. He had anticipated the difficulties and didn't panic at the sight of it.
But the others in the convoy weren't as composed.
The survivors in the vehicles began to murmur.
"It's Bloodsucking Grass!"
"Such a huge patch, we wouldn't be enough to satisfy their appetite."
"The entire port is covered in Bloodsucking Grass. How are we supposed to find the entrance to the underground chamber? Those chambers are usually in the center, the most hidden spots. Can we even make it through?"
"The only way to deal with Bloodsucking Grass is with fire, but by the time it's burned, the sun will have set, and the beasts will become active."
Cheng Feimao sighed. "They grow too fast. When Lin Wei...sent people to scout earlier, they were just a small patch."
"If you ask me, even when Lin Wei sent several ability users before, none returned. Now, with so many ordinary people here without abilities, is it really possible to find anything?"
"We might as well not have come on this trip at all."
Tao Shushu frowned, how come there were two people spreading discouragement already?
But soon, someone said, "Maybe Nan Yuan really can do it. He's much stronger than Lin Wei."
"Even if we hadn't come out, the previous base wouldn't have held up anyway."
Hearing others defend her "cub," Tao Shushu felt relieved. Her cub was just that amazing!
Many eyes turned to Nan Yuan.
There was no path ahead, but they inexplicably believed that Nan Yuan could lead them out.
Tao Shushu was surprised to find that, even though they had reached a dead end, Nan Yuan's influence value had somehow increased a little.
So it could work like this.
"Cub, do you have a plan?" Tao Shushu asked. She had a few gold coins on hand again and could buy tools to assist him.
"I want to investigate the underground chamber situation," Nan Yuan said, examining the Bloodsucking Grass before them. If it only grew on the surface, it would be manageable, but if it had taken root underground as well, their trip would have been in vain.
"I'll give it a try," Tao Shushu said optimistically.
She pushed aside the Bloodsucking Grass and explored toward the center.
The swaying grass sensed the disturbance and began whipping out their stems and leaves, trying to capture the intruder in their territory.
But Tao Shushu was operating through a screen, there was no way to trap her.
Unaffected, she easily parted the grass.
After searching for a while, Tao Shushu paused. On the screen, the grass from all directions seemed to receive a signal, moving in unison: half of them waved their leaves defensively, while the other half drooped their stems to the ground, tightly covering it.
This was almost human-like! Tao Shushu was astonished.
She had only cleared a small section, yet the grass had already discerned her intent and quickly devised a counter-strategy.
Tao Shushu knew Bloodsucking Grass wasn't as simple as ordinary grass, but she hadn't expected it to be this clever.
The grass's tactics slightly hindered her, so she stopped exploring blindly.
She adjusted the screen size and looked from a distance. The center of the Bloodsucking Grass patch was darker in color, and the attacks were more frequent.
Thanks to the grass's intelligence, Tao Shushu quickly identified the likely location of the secret.
She moved to that spot and began clearing the grass.
Unexpectedly, the grass there was even more tenacious. Even through the screen, Tao Shushu had to exert more effort, using all ten fingers to press down the annoying grass.
After tearing away a patch of grass that kept trying to spring up, Tao Shushu discovered an entrance to an underground passage beneath.
The entrance was sealed with an iron plate, and no Bloodsucking Grass grew on it.
Tao Shushu tentatively tapped "Explore."
After deducting 1 gold coin, information about the entrance appeared on the screen.
"An iron-plated door. During spacecraft docking, top-secret items could be transported through this door."
Transporting top-secret items, that had to be the underground chamber.
Tao Shushu had initially thought a secret room couldn’t possibly accommodate so many people, but now she realized her perspective had been too narrow. Just by looking at the door, it was clear the space inside couldn’t be small.
With time pressing, Tao Shushu returned to Nan Yuan’s side and described what she had seen.
Nan Yuan fell into deep thought. They had found the entrance, but it was located deep within the Bloodsucking Grass thicket, making it extremely difficult to reach.
The quickest way was to carve out a path, but the trouble with Bloodsucking Grass was that unless the entire patch was eradicated, the plants were adept at filling gaps, extending their roots, transferring nutrients, and instantly growing in new directions.
When they had rescued the lion cub last time, isolating a section of the Bloodsucking Grass from the edge had been challenging enough, let alone now.
Holding onto a sliver of hope, Nan Yuan sprinkled some of the previously collected Bloodsucking Grass mucus on the ground.
Unfortunately, the Bloodsucking Grass thicket remained unaffected by the toxins of its own kind.
As Nan Yuan put the mucus back into the bag, she noticed a piece of paper inside, likely something she had placed there earlier. Unfolding it, she discovered it was a formula adorned with drawings of various plants, one of which was the Bloodsucking Grass.
Unsure of its purpose, Nan Yuan temporarily returned the formula to the bag.
Just as she was calculating whether their current combat strength could blast a path through, the truck shook twice and was lifted into the air.
Startled, Nan Yuan looked up to hear the girl excitedly exclaiming by her ear, "Hey, I’ve found a way."
Tao Shushu had been thinking that since she could clear obstacles from the road, perhaps she could also lift the vehicle and fly over the Bloodsucking Grass thicket, directly reaching the entrance of the underground secret room.
She gave it a try and actually managed to lift the heavy truck.
The only complication was that the entrance was about 800 meters away in a straight line, which posed some difficulty.
Moreover, the Bloodsucking Grass was persistently guarding the entrance, so someone would need to provide support on the other side.
Tao Shushu explained her plan to Nan Yuan.
From the moment she mentioned exploring the secret room, Nan Yuan had been observing the movements of the Bloodsucking Grass thicket. He had also seen her actions when clearing a path.
In his mind, she was human, roughly human height.
Nan Yuan couldn’t fathom how, even with strength enough to lift a vehicle, she would manage to navigate through the Bloodsucking Grass thicket.
"No," Nan Yuan frowned. "If you’re holding the vehicle, you won’t be able to fend off the Bloodsucking Grass. They’ll entangle you, making it impossible to break free."
Tao Shushu ruffled Nan Yuan’s hair. "It’s alright cub. In reality, these plants can’t harm me."
Only after Tao Shushu repeatedly assured him that she wouldn’t be injured did Nan Yuan agree.
With their discussion concluded, the two finalized their plan.
Nan Yuan turned his head and said, "The safe entrance to the underground is right at the center."
"Right now, we need a group to go in first and check if there’s a secure base inside. If there’s a base that can accommodate us, the rest will follow. I’ll control the vehicle to fly over the Bloodsucking Grass and land directly at the entrance, but we’ll need some people to receive us there."
Many of those present, especially the speed-type ability user Cheng Feimao, firmly believed that Nan Yuan was a space-type ability user.
Space-type ability users could indeed move heavy objects, but the weight they could move was still limited by their own abilities.
Hearing Nan Yuan confidently claim he could move the truck, everyone was even more impressed by his strength. They had thought moving road blockages was his limit, but it turned out he was even more formidable than they had imagined.
Tao Shushu temporarily acted as Nan Yuan’s "spatial ability." She always felt that revealing the fact that Nan Yuan had an invisible helper was too dangerous. It was better not to explain and let everyone speculate on their own.
The plan was set.
But deciding who would be sent as the vanguard became a major issue.
After all, venturing deep into the territory of the Bloodsucking Grass was terrifying, even for those accustomed to death.
While the candidates were being finalized, Tao Shushu supported Nan Yuan and went to the entrance.
The access control system at the entrance was already broken. Tao Shushu used brute force to lift the door.
Meanwhile, Nan Yuan took out explosive weapons and temporarily cleared the Bloodsucking Grass around the entrance.
Thinking about the uses of Bloodsucking Grass in formulas, Nan Yuan picked up a few roots that had been blasted off and were no longer dangerous, stuffing them into his bag. "That’s it. Later, when we get close, the people in the vehicle will use small explosive weapons to blast out a safe area, then quickly move inside."
Tao Shushu agreed. She deeply felt that this game was quite fun, mainly because it gave her such a sense of accomplishment.
Thinking back to her previous life in the apocalypse, which was nothing but misery, now playing this game felt like she had a massive golden finger, making everything easy and enjoyable.
Nan Yuan didn’t venture inside alone to explore.
They returned to the parking area.
Seeing Nan Yuan return unscathed, the people present felt even more convinced of his decisions.
After all, waiting around wouldn’t lead to any way out, it was better to take a gamble.
Ignoring the two who had been making sarcastic remarks, several ability users volunteered to go explore.
Nan Yuan chose Cheng Feimao and a few others with good physical fitness to ride in the lightest vehicle, which swayed its way to the entrance.
Nan Yuan kept a close watch on the Bloodsucking Grass below.
As the vehicle passed over, the Bloodsucking Grass below raised their stems and leaves, launching attacks.
But they didn’t even come close to touching it, the vehicle really seemed to be flying.
It seemed they truly couldn’t harm her, which put Nan Yuan slightly at ease.
Soon, the four of them entered the entrance.
Before them was a dark passage.
Nan Yuan could hear that it was very quiet inside, with no signs of life.
Just as he was about to share this information with the other three, who were on high alert, he turned and saw Cheng Feimao’s pant leg gently lifted.
Cheng Feimao, fully focused on preparing to use his ability to run, hadn’t noticed the movement on his leg, but Nan Yuan saw it clearly.
Tao Shushu had frowned as soon as she saw Cheng Feimao among the first to board the vehicle. Although he had used medicine, she doubted whether he could really run now.
So, Tao Shushu examined Cheng Feimao’s leg.
However, she wasted another 1 gold coin, as the screen displayed a useless line: "A speed-type ability user’s leg."
Tao Shushu had no choice but to ask Nan Yuan, "Cub, is Cheng Feimao's leg healed? Is he capable?"
Nan Yuan's fingers brushed against the particle gun, his eyes darkening slightly.