Chapter 22

Nan Yuan swung the gun barrel, aiming it in Cheng Feimao's direction.
Cheng Feimao instinctively leaped up, darting over ten meters away in the blink of an eye.
Tao Shushu gasped in surprise.
Behind the spot where Cheng Feimao had just been standing, a hint of green grass tip emerged.
As Nan Yuan's gun pointed at it, the grass actually inched forward again.
If Cheng Feimao hadn't been so fast, he might have been caught.
The underground was dimly lit, and the grass's movements were stealthy, so only Nan Yuan, with his enhanced hearing and vision, had noticed.
Cheng Feimao rushed back, staring at the grass tip that was just an arm's length away from reaching him, feeling a wave of lingering fear.
"Nan Yuan, thank you for saving me again," Cheng Feimao said.
Tao Shushu no longer doubted Cheng Feimao's recovery; she too was startled by the rapidly growing Bloodsucking Grass.
She quickly glanced toward the entrance.
The scorched earth after the explosion was still emitting black smoke, and a long blade of grass stretched across the charred ground like a green straw, deeply embedded into the underground entrance.
Apart from that blade of grass, many surrounding plants had withered, as if all their nutrients had been depleted.
Tao Shushu felt a chill run down her spine.
She tapped to explore the grass patch and an introduction to this patch of Bloodsucking Grass popped up on the screen:
Plant Name: Bloodsucking Grass
Coverage Area: 57 acres
Socialization Level: Level 3 (intelligence roughly equivalent to an 8-year-old child)
Seeing the socialization level, Tao Shushu sighed in amazement, a patch of grass actually had a socialization level similar to that of an 8-year-old child.
No wonder they could detect human intentions and collaboratively grow a single blade to track them.
More and more of the surrounding grass withered, but that long blade grew increasingly greener.
They were still continuously supplying nutrients.
Tao Shushu scratched her head, this was indeed a bit tricky. Even if they temporarily destroyed one blade, the others would keep coming relentlessly.
Nan Yuan continued to intimidate the grass.
He, Cheng Feimao, and two other ability users were the first to enter. Cheng Feimao, with his speed-based ability, was the fastest and most suited for exploration.
Nan Yuan had the sharpest eyes, and moreover, only he possessed sufficient judgment.
The problem was, the other two ability users weren't particularly strong and might not be able to handle the Bloodsucking Grass.
Tao Shushu thought for a moment. "Cub, I can close the entrance door now." They could block the Bloodsucking Grass first and deal with the rest later.
Nan Yuan and the others worked together to repel the over-ten-meter-long Bloodsucking Grass, expending a considerable amount of firepower. Nan Yuan collected the broken stems and leaves of the Bloodsucking Grass into his backpack.
Then, Tao Shushu swiftly blocked the entrance with a steel plate.
Nan Yuan took the lead.
The underground chamber was indeed vast, the main hall alone was as large as a football field.
Inside, they also found glowing minerals that hadn’t been transported away in time.
They also came across several gruesome corpses.
After walking for a while, Nan Yuan remarked, "The defenses are strong, but there’s not enough oxygen."
Tao Shushu was puzzled as to why the mission completion prompt hadn’t appeared yet, even though they were already inside the base. Hearing the cub’s words, she figured they might need to resolve the ventilation issue first.
Nan Yuan didn’t urge Cheng Feimao to hurry again.
They stood in what used to be the control room. Due to the power outage, the control panel remained dark. With his night vision ability, Nan Yuan searched inside for construction blueprints.
Tao Shushu thought for a moment and spent 1 gold coin to explore.
Immediately, the screen displayed the entire base’s structure, with one area flashing a red warning sign indicating a ventilation duct malfunction.
There was also a repair symbol. When Tao Shushu clicked on it, she found that repairs would cost 50 gold coins. Glancing at her dwindling single-digit balance, she reluctantly gave up.
"Cub, the ventilation duct is on the second floor, to the right. Go check it out," Tao Shushu called out to Nan Yuan.
Nan Yuan never questioned the source of Tao Shushu’s information. He acknowledged and led the others to the second floor.
Sure enough, they found the ventilation duct on the second floor.
The duct was about one meter in diameter, quite spacious.
Nan Yuan climbed in to inspect it. "The other end is blocked by rocks."
Tao Shushu breathed a slight sigh of relief. Rocks were far better than Bloodsucking Grass. She had been worried that the ventilation duct might also be within the Bloodsucking Grass’s territory.
Fortunately, it wasn’t.
With one hand, Tao Shushu cleared away the rubble blocking the duct.
Returning below, she saw Nan Yuan holding a towel.
"Dusty?" Nan Yuan asked.
Tao Shushu inexplicably felt like she was the one doing the work while he was wiping her sweat. She moved the towel and gently wiped Nan Yuan’s pale face. "I’m not dusty!"
Nan Yuan paused. He had intended to take care of her, yet once again, she ended up taking care of him.
Finally, everyone could breathe easily.
The mission prompt still hadn’t appeared on Tao Shushu’s screen. She thought that perhaps the task would only be considered complete once everyone had been brought over.
Tao Shushu opened the large door again. "Cub, I’m going to move the other vehicles. You stay here and guard the place."
Nan Yuan shook his head. "I’ll go with you." He trusted her abilities but still worried about her facing danger alone.
He could only hear her voice and feel her touch.
But he couldn’t see her figure, couldn’t smell her scent, and sometimes couldn’t even clearly hear her movements.
Nan Yuan felt he was becoming greedy.
Before, he had been content just being able to communicate with her. But now, he found himself wanting more.
Nan Yuan composed his expression. "Someone needs to communicate with the others."
Tao Shushu thought it made sense. If she simply lifted an entire vehicle of people, they’d probably be scared to death.
Soon, the vehicles would need to enter the passage, and the door couldn’t be closed again.
Nan Yuan handed most of the firearms and a few energy spheres to the other three, instructing them, "You three hold the fort. Don’t let the Bloodsucking Grass get in. If anything happens, fire a signal flare."
After a moment's thought, he lit a small fire and took off his protective suit. "If you can't hold off their firepower, put this on and hide inside the fire circle. This suit can insulate against heat."
Cheng Feimao said gratefully, "Boss, we'll definitely hold this place well and ensure you land safely."
Among the Slaughterers, though everyone was among the last remaining humans on the barren planet, there was a clear hierarchy. Those like Cheng Feimao and the other two, whose abilities weren't strong enough and who couldn't stand Lin Wei's extravagant lifestyle, ended up doing hard, menial work alongside most ordinary people. They never got first pick of the good supplies.
They were long accustomed to taking on dangerous frontline tasks, but Nan Yuan had given them such excellent equipment.
Nan Yuan paused. "We're teammates now."
"Hold the line," Nan Yuan said, then was lifted up by Tao Shushu.
Tao Shushu watched as Nan Yuan's influence value rose another notch. She realized that even though Nan Yuan often kept a cold expression, he seemed naturally suited to leadership, others were willing to follow him. She probably didn't need to worry about how her cub would get along with others anymore.
Tao Shushu supported the cub's leg with one finger and, worried it might not be secure, used her other hand to grip the back of his collar.
Nan Yuan was silent for a moment. "What position are you using to move me right now?"
Earlier, in the vehicle, he hadn't noticed anything odd.
But now, with his leg being supported and his collar gripped, he tried to picture it but couldn't quite imagine the physique of the person carrying him.
"Just holding your collar with one hand and supporting your leg with the other," Tao Shushu answered honestly. "Did it choke you?"
Tao Shushu found that supporting him felt quite stable, so she released the fingers gripping his collar. With her right thumb and forefinger, she formed a circle and pinched him.
Nan Yuan: !
A startled symbol appeared above Nan Yuan's head, gradually turning into a question mark. His ears suddenly flushed red.
Tao Shushu asked, "What's wrong, cub? If you're scared, don't look down."
Nan Yuan made a strange sound in response.
He had suddenly felt as if his chest and back were encircled, as though he were being hugged tightly. His mind went blank, thinking she had embraced him.
Images of being carried in various princess-hold styles even flashed through his mind.
Fortunately, the next moment he felt his feet were still steady, he wasn't actually being held in an embrace.
Nan Yuan couldn't quite describe how he felt now.
He rubbed his ears, as if trying to cover up his reaction.
He distractedly began pondering her posture, how she held him while still gripping him firmly.
Nan Yuan suddenly recalled descriptions from those dreadful books, monsters that slept for a thousand years before awakening, possessing enormous bodies.
Nan Yuan paused. She could effortlessly move vehicles and clear large rocks from the road, so she must be quite large?
But she could also enter pipelines and fit into the truck’s cab, which suggested she could be quite small.
Nan Yuan didn’t ponder for long before they quickly returned to their original camp.
As soon as they arrived, someone exclaimed, "Nan Yuan is back! They didn’t abandon us."
Nan Yuan frowned. "What’s going on?"
He noticed that the vehicle loaded with supplies had shifted slightly.
Nan Yuan’s gaze fixed intently on the driver’s seat.
A tall, lanky man awkwardly stepped out of the vehicle. "I was just afraid you wouldn’t be able to return for a while, so I thought, I thought..." Under Nan Yuan’s intense stare, he didn’t finish his sentence.
Instead, others chimed in, speaking over each other.
"These two have been spreading discouraging words, saying the Bloodsucking Grass is too dangerous and that you’d never make it back. They said it’d be better to return to the base."
"They claimed you wanted to kill everyone in the Bloodsucking Grass and take the supplies for yourself."
Nan Yuan said coldly, "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t need the Bloodsucking Grass to do it."
His tone was utterly contemptuous, yet no one could refute it. After all, even Lin Wei and his elite subordinates couldn’t stand against Nan Yuan. If he wanted to deal with them, it wouldn’t take any effort.
"We didn’t believe them either. But those two kept trying to sow discord."
"They even tried to steal the supplies and go back."
Unfortunately for the two, as soon as they stepped on the gas, they saw Nan Yuan flying over the Bloodsucking Grass. Terrified, they slammed on the brakes.
The two trembled as they got out of the vehicle. "We lost our minds for a moment. That huge patch of Bloodsucking Grass just looked too terrifying."
"Yeah, even Lin Wei sent people with heavy weapons before and couldn’t handle it. We were just scared."
"Even if you were scared, what about the others? You took the vehicle and the supplies, did you even consider their lives?"
"They... they’re just a bunch of ordinary people, ah!" The speaker let out a sharp cry before he could finish his excuse. Nan Yuan had already grabbed him by the neck. "Ordinary people? I thought last night, when you brought the supplies and followed me, you had accepted the idea that ordinary people are still people."
"There are only these fellow humans left on this barren planet," Nan Yuan said.
He didn’t harm the two, only confiscated their weapons. But the other ordinary people, who had been belittled, now emboldened by Nan Yuan’s support, took the opportunity to deliver a few covert blows while escorting them onto the vehicle.
Tao Shushu also secretly slapped them a couple of times. ‘That’s for bullying our Nan Yuan, you jerks.’

Author’s Note:
Shushu: Number one in protecting her cub.