Chapter 44

Tao Shushu accompanied Nan Yuan as they conducted another thorough, carpet-like search of the underground base.
They found some thermal weapons hidden in hollowed-out walls and many useful small tools, returning fully loaded.
Everyone grew even more respectful of Nan Yuan when they saw what he had discovered.
"We were here searching just a few days ago and still missed so many things."
"Boss Nan Yuan is so meticulous."
"These are protective masks! And there are so many in stock."
The abundance of supplies lifted everyone’s spirits considerably.
Cheng Feimao eyed the thermal weapons enviously. "Boss Nan Yuan, how did you manage this?"
Nan Yuan smiled faintly. "It’s thanks to a friend’s effective method."
"Your friend is really impressive," Cheng Feimao immediately remarked.
"Yes, she’s wonderful," Nan Yuan affirmed.
Cheng Feimao was taken aback. Nan Yuan occasionally mentioned this friend, and whenever he did, his eyes would soften. It seemed this friend held a special place in Nan Yuan’s heart.
This made Cheng Feimao think of his own family back on Central Star, where artificial intelligence was the most advanced. He didn’t dare dwell on it further.
Tao Shushu could see the dialogue of the other NPC characters. She gently touched Nan Yuan’s hand hanging at his side. "Cub, I believe you can lead them to start a new life."
After a good night’s sleep,
Tao Shushu logged into the game early Saturday morning as scheduled.
It was noon on the cub’s side, with the sun blazing hot. The mutated plants and animals were lying low, making it the perfect time to investigate the characteristics of the Bloodsucking Grass.
Nan Yuan put on the "Fisherman’s Sun Hat," covering himself entirely.
Tao Shushu pulled Nan Yuan over for a careful inspection and, still not satisfied, found some strings for him to tie the sun-radiation-blocking clothes securely to his body.
"Shushu, I promise I’ll protect myself," Nan Yuan said, complying with her instructions.
"The Bloodsucking Grass is so dangerous; we can’t be too careful..." Thinking about how Nan Yuan used to experiment with clusters of Bloodsucking Grass alone every night, she still felt a lingering fear.
"Alright, I’ll listen to Shushu. From now on, unless Shushu is with me, I’ll steer clear of any Bloodsucking Grass I come across."
Tao Shushu patted her well-behaved cub.
During this time, cub seemed to have grown a bit taller. It wasn’t obvious when looking at him alone, but now he could just barely fill out the long "fisherman’s hat." When it was first bought, it had still been a little too long for him.
Tao Shushu suddenly paused. The first time she met the cub, he was already fighting against the Bloodsucking Grass.
Back then, her heart ached for him, but she also knew that in this post-apocalyptic world, danger lurked everywhere, and injuries were unavoidable.
But now, she wished for him not to suffer even a single scratch. She didn’t know when it started, but she had become so protective of him.
Tao Shushu paused for a moment. Nan Yuan had already prepared everything.
"Let’s go, cub."
When they arrived near the Bloodsucking Grass, Nan Yuan began recording and comparing the width and length of the grass clusters. His notebook was already densely filled with data, three entries a day, not a single space left empty.
Cub is so diligent! Tao Shushu blinked, following him as he moved around.
After a while, Nan Yuan said, "The expansion is fastest toward the direction of the main Bloodsucking Grass cluster. The other directions have even shrunk."
"Huh?" Tao Shushu had been mostly watching him earlier, but now, zooming out her perspective to observe, she noticed that the original patch of Bloodsucking Grass had been oval-shaped. Now, the edges were sparsely dotted with some lackluster grass, while the central area had condensed into an arrow shape, pointing toward the larger expanse of Bloodsucking Grass.
Looking at it this way, the grass at the edges seemed like a disguise.
Tao Shushu felt a chill run down her spine. These grasses had become so intelligent, not only were they striving to reunite with the main cluster, but they had also learned to deceive observers.
"Let’s start the experiment," Nan Yuan said with a grave expression.
"Wait." Tao Shushu opened the system shop, spent some credits to purchase over a dozen energy balls, and stuffed them into Nan Yuan’s arms before feeling reassured. "Alright."
Nan Yuan suddenly felt that the Bloodsucking Grass before them wasn’t so difficult to deal with after all.
According to Nan Yuan’s plan, they needed to confirm whether the Bloodsucking Grass’s intelligence came from energy.
The more energy it had, the more its intelligence would significantly increase.
The simplest method, of course, was to dig up a few stalks of Bloodsucking Grass, add energy to some, and leave others without any.
A controlled variable experiment, Tao Shushu fully agreed.
Seeing the Bloodsucking Grass still striving to expand, Tao Shushu suddenly had an idea.
She zoomed out her perspective and tapped twice, once at the tip of the arrow and once at the tail.
At the tip of the arrow, the Bloodsucking Grass instantly grew wildly.
At the tail, the reaction was indeed half a beat slower.
Then, Tao Shushu dug up two clumps of Bloodsucking Grass.
Her movements were rough, scooping them up along with the soil.
Nan Yuan frowned, carefully examining the roots of the Bloodsucking Grass. Even though he knew she couldn’t be harmed by objects in this world, he only relaxed completely after confirming that the grass showed no signs of piercing through anything.
Tao Shushu held two large clumps of Bloodsucking Grass in her hands and called out to the cub, "Cub, come try this quickly."
Nan Yuan took out a pre-prepared beast bone and tossed it onto the clump of Bloodsucking Grass on the left.
In an instant, this patch of Bloodsucking Grass shot upward.
The other clump remained unchanged.
Seeing the experimental result, Tao Shushu threw away the Bloodsucking Grass. She hadn’t expected that the truth about mutation and evolution would be discovered so easily by him. "Cub, you’re so clever, you really figured out the behavior of the Bloodsucking Grass."
Now that it was confirmed that its attack mechanism was energy-driven, Tao Shushu set her sights on the seemingly endless expanse of Bloodsucking Grass before her.
A system task popped up: [Please assist the cub in subduing the Bloodsucking Grass. Task reward: Gold Coins × 1000, C1 Star System Route Safety Predictor × 1.]
Tao Shushu’s eyes lit up.
The system had issued a task, which meant that subduing the Bloodsucking Grass wasn’t just a fantasy, it was feasible.
Moreover, the Route Safety Predictor was incredibly practical. She had originally planned to follow cub closely during the voyage, ready to assist at any moment. With this device, the cub could plan his journey more freely.
"Cub, did you already have a plan in mind?"
"Mm." Nan Yuan nodded. "We’ll use group tactics too."
Tao Shushu nodded in agreement.
This time, their goal wasn’t to eliminate the Bloodsucking Grass but to force the energy from the entire patch into a single stalk and then take that stalk with them.
Nan Yuan began explaining the plan, using the ground as a sand table.
Tao Shushu listened attentively, growing more and more impressed by how clever her cub was. She couldn’t resist ruffling his hair again.
Nan Yuan cleared his throat lightly. "I’ll have the others come over too."
"Okay." Tao Shushu happened to be thirsty and took this opportunity to fetch a cup of water.
By the time she finished, the cub hadn’t returned yet, so she wandered around the Bloodsucking Grass, poking at it randomly. She amused herself by confusing the grass, which swayed back and forth, unsure which direction to attack.
Tao Shushu burst out laughing.
Nan Yuan, who was moving heavy weapons, suddenly heard Shushu’s cheerful voice: "Listen up, Bloodsucking Grass ahead! You’re surrounded! Surrender now!"
The Bloodsucking Grass swayed chaotically.
She was clearly having fun.
Nan Yuan couldn’t help but smile slightly.
Tao Shushu continued her playful assault on the Bloodsucking Grass, keeping it disoriented about the direction of the main threat. When she spotted Nan Yuan, she stopped.
Under Nan Yuan’s command, the group of people stood in orderly positions at different locations.
Tao Shushu nodded inwardly, the cub’s tactical arrangements and personnel coordination were very reasonable. Truly worthy of being her cub!
Nan Yuan stood at the forefront of the group, smiling slightly as he gave the signal. "Attack."
The ability users lunged sideways, while the ordinary people cleared the way ahead with heavy weapons.
Facing the most terrifying Bloodsucking Grass on the barren planet, their movements showed no panic. They only wanted to protect their teammates with all their might and trusted that their teammates would do the same.
This level of coordination and faith had been forged through countless battles against mutated beasts.
Tao Shushu remained highly alert, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the screen.
She would occasionally reach out unpredictably to strike the Bloodsucking Grass, ensuring it couldn’t pinpoint their location.
She also helped survivors who nearly stumbled from time to time.
Nan Yuan continuously issued commands.
The well-coordinated survivors shifted positions and strategies seamlessly under his direction.
The Bloodsucking Grass Patch darted and grew in one direction, then swiftly shifted to support its flanks.
But the intelligence of the Bloodsucking Grass Patch was no match for the combat formations developed through military experimentation.
As their positions were lost, the Bloodsucking Grass Patch shrank significantly, gradually converging toward the center.
Tao Shushu kept pulling up the Bloodsucking Grass.
Every single Bloodsucking Grass plant was a source of energy, and Tao Shushu didn’t want to waste any, so she tossed them all toward the center.
Fighting and pressing forward in this manner, the Bloodsucking Grass Patch was forced to gather in the middle, its area shrinking from the size of a football field to that of a single classroom.
The Bloodsucking Grass Patch crowded tightly together.
During this time, they had enhanced the hardness of their stems and leaves, making them look, at first glance, like bundles of wooden sticks.
Tao Shushu chuckled softly. Earlier, everyone had held back their firepower, wanting to preserve as much of the Bloodsucking Grass Patch’s energy as possible.
Nan Yuan quickly adjusted their strategy.
While Nan Yuan was giving orders, Tao Shushu went to the game store and bought several fast knives, each equipped with an energy orb slot.
Speed-type ability user Cheng Feimao was given two of the fast knives, and his eyes lit up. "These weapons are amazing."
Nan Yuan followed behind the ability users, blocking the Bloodsucking Grass Patch’s counterattacks.
Cheng Feimao moved so fast he left afterimages, swiftly harvesting the Bloodsucking Grass Patch with his knives.
The hardened Bloodsucking Grass was lightweight yet sturdy, perfect building material. Tao Shushu thought: This is a windfall, no effort required.
Cheng Feimao only stopped after breaking three knives.
The remaining Bloodsucking Grass Patch clung together even more tightly, becoming increasingly rigid.
For a moment, Tao Shushu felt a twinge of pity. Fortunately, the Bloodsucking Grass wasn’t very intelligent; otherwise, if they realized their defenses were being harvested as resources by humans, they’d probably explode with rage.
"They’ve changed tactics," Nan Yuan said, his enhanced vision and hearing picking up extremely subtle movements within the Bloodsucking Grass Patch.
He raised an eyebrow. "Get down, they’ve developed a long-range attack."
A sudden change occurred.
Almost as soon as everyone took cover, the outer layers of the Bloodsucking Grass Patch flattened, and from the center of the patch, dozens of plants enlarged their leaves, bending under the weight of massive fleshy bulbs at their tips.
Tao Shushu looked closely, they weren’t fleshy bulbs at all. It was the corrosive mucus that had previously only grown on the roots of the Bloodsucking Grass.
Perhaps inspired by the survivors’ gunfire, the Bloodsucking Grass Patch had created their own version of guns.
Several Bloodsucking Grass plants acted like hands, steadying the oversized leaves, then whipped them fiercely, flinging the mucus outward.
Tao Shushu swiftly slapped away the mucus.
But the Bloodsucking Grass Patch moved quickly, and the mucus splattered like rain, instantly drenching the ground in front of them.
The survivors could only maintain a safe distance, cautiously stepping back.
Meanwhile, the Bloodsucking Grass seized the opportunity to grow forward, expanding its territory.
This won’t do!
Tao Shushu slapped down, flattening the grass stalks that had gathered sticky mucus.
With each slap, she left a dent in the ground, disrupting the carefully devised tactics of the Bloodsucking Grass in an instant.
Everyone had been panicking, using their protective suits to shield their exposed limbs while retreating, when suddenly, Nan Yuan said, "It’s fine now, continue the attack."


Author’s Note:
Shushu, the ultimate physical bug.