Chapter 90

The spacecraft, fully fueled, glided smoothly through space.
Nan Yuan ran a test, they had quickly set up a communication system. Although the transmission was slow, they had finally established communication among the surviving humans.
Bob voluntarily stayed behind on the supply planet to assist, preventing the surviving humans there from being manipulated by psychic ability users.
Nan Yuan discovered that pungent stink bombs were effective against psychic attacks.
So Tao Shushu generously purchased three whole cases of stink bombs.
Now Bob stood before the supply planet's communication device, pinching his nose. "Is there really no device that can seal the stink bombs?"
The survivors on the spacecraft burst into laughter.
This time, several survivors from the supply planet also wanted to join Nan Yuan's adventure.
Nan Yuan's influence value had increased significantly.
For the first time, Tao Shushu pondered deeply, what exactly was the purpose of the influence value?
She had once thought that influence value represented the trust Nan Yuan placed in her. Back then, she had still believed Nan Yuan was an NPC in a game, imagining that if Nan Yuan became the overlord of the apocalypse, the influence value would max out.
But now, Tao Shushu felt that the influence value held a deeper meaning.
Unable to figure it out, she set aside her doubts and began researching the next destination with Nan Yuan.
Nan Yuan flipped through a plant guide they had managed to find. The C1 Star System was rich in plant species, with thousands of varieties on each planet. The plant guide was even thicker than a brick.
Zhou Yan took one look and immediately ran off.
All knowledge in the C1 Star System had been digitized. The pages of this guide had yellowed, and the text was somewhat blurred, yet Nan Yuan tirelessly searched through it, carefully comparing every possible entry.
Tao Shushu tried using her exploration skill but gained no useful information.
So she rested her chin in her hands and watched Nan Yuan work diligently.
Nan Yuan looked up and smiled faintly. "Shushu, I still need some time to search. Why don’t you go listen to Zhou Yan’s stories?"
In the main cabin of the spacecraft, just beyond the door, the survivors had gathered. They listened to Zhou Yan explain the uses of various firearms and recount his adventures during his time in the military. The lively chatter and occasional bursts of laughter seeped through the door.
Tao Shushu chuckled. "But Nan Yuan, you’re more interesting."
Nan Yuan’s ears tinged slightly red, and the corners of his lips curled upward uncontrollably. He nodded. "Then I’ll search faster."
Nan Yuan quickened his pace.
Tao Shushu sat quietly, keeping him company.
After a while, he stared at one page, unmoving.
"Did you find it?" Tao Shushu asked.
Two plant extracts were still missing from the serum.
Nan Yuan opened the survivor human map. "One is on a zombie planet. Based on previous observations, no plants survive on zombie planets. The other has already gone extinct."
"Ah?" Tao Shushu frowned.
Nan Yuan pointed to the book. "The serum extracted from the Regeneration Grass, also known as the blood scavenger, can absorb all foreign substances and directly promote the growth of hematopoietic stem cells. It was already an extremely rare medicinal herb."
Just hearing the name "Regeneration Grass" sounded impressive. Tao Shushu nodded. "Then it must have been cultivated extensively."
"Originally, yes," Nan Yuan said. "The healing properties of Regeneration Grass are very strong. Various military forces attempted to cultivate it. Both my father and Zhou Yan used Regeneration Grass for treatment."
"But this grass has extremely demanding growth conditions and cannot be artificially cultivated. The planet where it originally grew remained undeveloped. After humans set foot there, the grass on that planet became contaminated and gradually died out."
Tao Shushu frowned. "So it seems we'll never be able to produce this serum."
Nan Yuan shook his head. "Back then, my father wanted to cultivate revival grass on a large scale to increase the treatment success rate. But he failed every time. Later, he learned that the original cultivation plan was designed by Chu. My mother discovered flaws in the plan, the most critical aspect of growing revival grass is avoiding contamination, but Chu's plan didn't strictly implement closed-loop management."
The planet where revival grass grew had never been developed, and its microbial ecosystem was extremely primitive. Therefore, human presence would cause the plants to die.
No one expected that the artificial intelligence, which carried no viruses, never intended to cultivate revival grass in the first place.
Tao Shushu sorted through the events surrounding the revival grass. "So, Chu might have been researching the zombie virus all along and deliberately prevented the growth of revival grass that could potentially cure it."
Nan Yuan nodded.
"Without one key ingredient, I wonder if the serum will still be effective. What if there are lingering side effects?" With revival grass extinct, Tao Shushu could only prepare for the worst.
"Let's find the other ingredients and test it first," Nan Yuan reassured her.
"Are there seeds anywhere else?" Tao Shushu asked.
"The seed gene bank stores seeds of all plant species," Nan Yuan said, pointing toward the central star of the C1 Star System. "But the central star is under AI control."
The heart of the C1 Star System was completely dominated by artificial intelligence.
They would have to venture deep into the central galaxy to find the serum ingredients, but the AI could, at any moment, trigger the self-destruction of all those infected with the zombie virus.
Tao Shushu ruffled Nan Yuan's hair. "Let's not overthink it for now. The zombie planet looks pretty close, we should check it out first. As long as there are any seeds left on the planet, we can try to grow them."
Hearing that one of the key ingredients was extinct, Zhou Yan and the others grew somber.
After deciding on their destination, Nan Yuan and his team prepared to head to the third zombie planet.
They moved quickly, driving off the pursuing AI forces before making a swift landing.
Unfortunately, their timing wasn't ideal, they arrived at night, and the ground was swarming with wandering zombies.
Nan Yuan located an old map of the planet and pinpointed the former plant research center among the ruined remains.
Luckily, the research center's protective systems were robust, and the seeds had not been contaminated by the zombie virus.
The survivors, unwilling to harm their fellow humans who had turned into zombies, relied on Nan Yuan to use his light-based abilities to drive the zombies away. The other survivors hurriedly set up communication systems and searched for seeds.
As usual, Nan Yuan dealt with several leader zombies controlled by psychic abilities.
After obtaining the seeds, Tao Shushu purchased a Health Potion.
Health Potion and energy were the best nutrients. Under the microscope, the seeds began to grow rapidly.
"It can be planted."
The sprouting plants were the greatest encouragement.
The survivors immediately became elated.
Zhou Yan, who was still on the ground, was overjoyed to hear that the plants could survive. Carrying a gun in one hand and a sack in the other, he began stuffing bags with various types of crop, fruit, and vegetable seeds.
Cheng Feimao, relying on his speed, helped Zhou Yan with the transportation.
One survivor remarked, "If we can grow things, we’ll have more food to eat in the future."
The food stored in the emergency supply depot consisted of long-lasting nutrient packs with a monotonous taste. The survivors had initially hoped to find fresh plants on Deepwater Planet to satisfy their hunger, but they hadn’t expected the planet, contaminated by the zombie virus, to be barren.
Just as Nan Yuan was about to say something, a sudden mutation occurred.
A horde of zombies, sensing the presence of humans, charged forward aggressively.
Nan Yuan intercepted a group of them and was about to warn Zhou Yan and Cheng Feimao to retreat when a loud explosion echoed from the research center. A swarm of zombies had broken through the security door and surged inside.
Zhou Yan, who had explosive weapons at his disposal, hesitated for a moment and did not act immediately.
In that brief moment of hesitation, a zombie lunged at Zhou Yan and bit his hand.
Fortunately, the zombie was still entangled in a mess of restraining wires, its limbs bound, leaving only its mouth free to move.
Zhou Yan’s protective suit was torn open by the bite. He kicked off the damaged suit and swiftly counterattacked.
Unexpectedly, a canister on the zombie’s back shattered.
Instantly, gray gas filled the entire space.
The surrounding zombies became frenzied, as if injected with stimulants, and surged inward relentlessly. Even Nan Yuan’s light-based abilities couldn’t suppress them.
Tao Shushu quickly struck down the zombies rushing to the front.
Nan Yuan lowered a rope ladder and shouted, "Retreat!"
Cheng Feimao mustered all his strength, pulling Zhou Yan along as they retreated.
Both of them had been exposed to the gray gas. Nan Yuan released two small escape pods from the warship for them to use separately.
On the ground, zombies piled on top of one another, squeezing open the research center’s security door and continuing to force their way inside.
Nan Yuan took out a gas collection tool. "Shushu, help me collect some of that gray gas."
The zombies were too densely packed, any small robot sent to collect the gas would be knocked down.
Observing the zombies’ behavior, Tao Shushu also concluded that the gas was the residual zombie virus. She quickly took the collection device, switched into the midst of the zombie horde, and began gathering the gas.
A particularly burly zombie had managed to grab the remaining gas canister and was clutching it tightly, inhaling deeply.
Around it, countless zombies clawed and tore, trying to get closer to the canister.
Tao Shushu pushed away the zombies attempting to snatch her collection device. Once the device signaled completion, she raised it high and snatched the canister from the burly zombie’s grasp.
Nan Yuan opened another separate small escape pod to store the two canisters, which likely contained the zombie virus.
Aboard the spacecraft, the previously excited survivors now looked dejected.
"Actually, being able to eat nutrient packs is already quite good. I shouldn’t have been so greedy," lamented the survivor who had earlier been excited about fresh fruits and vegetables.
Nan Yuan shook his head. "Eating pre-apocalypse food has always been a human aspiration. It’s my fault for not thoroughly scouting the area."
In the past, either Nan Yuan or Tao Shushu would always survey the environment.
This time, however, they happened to encounter a zombie horde. From the moment they landed, Nan Yuan had been busy controlling the zombie swarm.
Meanwhile, Tao Shushu had been preoccupied with experiments and hadn’t thoroughly explored the surroundings.
On the other end, Zhou Yan, who was participating in the conversation via video call after a full-body disinfection, was surprisingly nonchalant. "This isn't a debriefing session. Getting injured is normal, I didn't even get a scratch."
The survivors were not comforted by his lighthearted remark.
Nan Yuan grew serious. "Zhou Yan, you..."
Tao Shushu patted Nan Yuan's head. "Nan Yuan, he just got injured. Don't scold him now."
A few former members of the Second Legion also looked troubled. "Yeah, Captain Zhou is usually the quickest to react."
Just by observing the frenzy of the zombies below, it was clear that the gray gas was definitely not something good.
Early in the apocalypse, the survivors had already endured the pain of watching those around them turn into zombies.
Now, knowing that the zombie virus was part of Chu's scheme, they had to witness their comrades, who had just fought alongside them, transform into zombies.
Zhou Yan shrugged. "What's wrong with slowing down with age? I'm not a young guy like Nan Yuan."
On the spacecraft, everyone's expressions remained grim.
In another flight pod, Cheng Feimao was still anxiously disinfecting himself. His protective suit was intact, but since he had been too close to the gray gas, the suit's effectiveness wasn't absolute.
Zhou Yan glanced over. "Alright, the zombie that charged at me was a soldier from the Second Legion, so I didn't shoot immediately."
He was holding an identity tag.
When soldiers of the Second Legion carried out certain dangerous missions, they always carried identity tags that couldn't be incinerated or corroded.
Before the full-scale rebellion, Chu had created chaos on various planets to disperse the military's forces.
Tao Shushu pieced together what had happened to that zombie: a squad of soldiers had been dispatched to this planet on a mission and accidentally discovered containers of the zombie virus. Realizing this gas was the source of zombification, they went to the planet's highest-security research center to seal it.
Unfortunately, they ended up mutating themselves. To avoid harming humans, they locked themselves in a secure room and used restraint lines to limit their movements.
It wasn't until Zhou Yan and Cheng Feimao showed up today that they were awakened by their zombie instincts and finally emerged. The gas container, corroded over time, had accidentally exploded.
Nan Yuan averted his eyes. "Disinfect yourself a few more times. I'll have robots deliver medicine to you continuously."
Nan Yuan unfolded the survivors' map.
Originally, their next destination was Red Ore Planet. Chu, having served humanity for many years, possessed an extensive database. No matter how random human behavior might be, it could still predict humanity's next moves.
Nan Yuan was unwilling to risk exposing the Red Ore Planet to Chu.
If Chu destroyed the Red Ore Planet first, humanity would lose all means to resist Chu.
But now, Nan Yuan turned his gaze toward the Central Star, surrounded by artificial intelligence.
Tao Shushu gently patted Nan Yuan’s head.
He was, in fact, deeply sentimental. Zhou Yan had come from the Second Legion and was one of the few familiar faces Nan Yuan had in the C1 Star System. In this world, Nan Yuan had no family left, and the Second Legion only had a handful of acquaintances.
Cheng Feimao had known Nan Yuan since their time on the barren planet. Along the way, Cheng Feimao often joked around, but whenever a mission came up, he was always the first to charge ahead.
“Shushu…” Nan Yuan stared at the map, his eyes slightly reddened. “Zhou Yan has always been an exceptional person…”
From the moment Zhou Yan joined the Second Legion, he had undergone countless training sessions. Responding to attacks had become second nature to him. With his extensive combat experience, he should have been able to evade the assault and retreat immediately.
Nan Yuan smiled faintly. “If it were me, I would have hesitated too upon seeing someone from the Second Legion.”
This was a uniquely human emotion, a vulnerability, yet something profoundly precious.
Tao Shushu held Nan Yuan’s hand. It was precisely because the apocalypse was so cruel that humans yearned even more for companionship.
“Let’s work hard to complete the serum now, so Zhou Yan doesn’t mutate, and all the zombified members of the Second Legion can return to normal,” Tao Shushu encouraged.
“Alright,” Nan Yuan said, immediately springing into action.
Tao Shushu spent a few bottles of Health Potions and quickly cultivated dozens of plants.
The golden-maned lion, catching the scent, circled beneath the lab table.
Tao Shushu pressed down on the lion’s head. “No, this is important. You can’t eat it.”
After preparing a somewhat rudimentary serum, Nan Yuan brought the collected zombie blood to observe the results.
“The function of the regeneration grass is to regenerate blood. We don’t have regeneration grass, but Zhou Yan and Cheng Feimao likely haven’t mutated yet and still have enough normal blood,” Nan Yuan explained.
Soon, a small robot carried two vials of serum and flew toward the independent shuttle.