Chapter 365: Chapter 350: How Did She Do It?

Nearby, Yang Chi was squatting in the field. After tapping away at his personal terminal, he stood up and turned the Light Screen to face Gu Xi. "Gu Xi, is this the Plants vs. Zombies you were talking about?"

It was Yang Chi’s first time hearing about a game called Plants vs. Zombies, but for some reason, he had a feeling it would be a perfect fit for the apocalypse. He searched for it online, and sure enough...

Gu Xi looked up at the Light Screen. Compared to the zombies from the early days of the apocalypse, the ones in the game could even be described as handsome. A hint of nostalgia flickered in her eyes...

Plants vs. Zombies. It was the only game she had ever played as a child.

Back then, given her circumstances, those people at the Abnormal Ability Research Institute wished she would spend twenty-four hours a day on the training grounds. There was no way they would have let her play a game.

At that time, Li Ming had watched as little Gu Xi’s eyes grew increasingly numb, empty, and merciless, and he was sick with worry.

’His sister is a human being, not just a killing machine!’

’If this keeps up, they’ll destroy Gu Xi.’

At that time, the apocalypse had only begun a few years prior. Pre-apocalypse cell phones still worked, but most of the time, they had no signal.

One time, Li Ming happened to find an old phone with this game on it. He then went to find Mr. Fang.

Under the pretext that it might be a new way to help young Gu Xi develop her Wood Element skill, he finally convinced Mr. Fang to grant Gu Xi a pitifully small amount of time to play.

That year, Gu Xi was four years old.

But she had already lost the innocence and cheerfulness that a child should have. She was unnaturally quiet.

Fortunately, Li Ming had spent his early childhood in a time of peace. Before his family’s fortune was seized by his own uncle, he, like all children living in that prosperous era, was curious about all sorts of new things.

Especially games.

And the appeal of games to a child is something adults can hardly imagine.

Li Ming used the game as a breakthrough, pulling his sister back, little by little, from an abyss where she knew nothing but killing.

After that, he would secretly sneak Gu Xi out of the Institute. He showed her the ways of the world, the good and the bad in people. Little by little, he taught her about social customs, and little by little, he helped her realize that she was a person, not an unfeeling machine that only knew how to kill...

’Gu Xi actually knew her personality had many flaws.’

’But in the end... she still grew up as a human.’

Gu Xi had always been grateful to Li Ming. That she had made it this far... Li Ming’s contribution was indispensable.

’If not for his persistence all those years, perhaps...’ Gu Xi lowered her gaze, gently fiddling with the tiny green sprout at her fingertip.

Huo Changzhou gradually felt that something about this situation was off.

’At first, when he saw Gu Xi on the side, giving pointers to those ability users on how to control the mutant plants, he hadn’t thought much of it. They were just a group of low-level ability users. Could a few pointers from Gu Xi really enable them to fight the mutated beasts in the mountains?’

’What a joke. If mutated beasts were that easy to deal with, humanity wouldn’t have spent thirty years still unable to reclaim all its lost territory.’

’And who did this Gu Xi think she was? Did she really think that just because she knew how to farm and had managed to create some reverse-evolving plants, she was invincible?’

Huo Changzhou let out a cold chuckle.

’He knew that as supplies outside dwindled over the years, life for the drifters had become incredibly difficult. This Miss Gu had probably grown up wandering the wastelands and must have gotten into plenty of fights with other drifters over food and water.’

’But to claim she’d been learning how to kill since childhood just because of that? That was a bit too arrogant.’

’Who did she think she was?’

Huo Changzhou was fuming but didn’t dare show it in front of Gu Xi. Instead, he took his men and stood off to the side, watching coldly.

’He was going to see just what this conceited Miss Gu could pull off!’

But when Gu Xi started taking out more and more high-level mutant plant seeds, planting them in ring after ring around the refugees’ temporary camp in the planting area, Huo Changzhou started to feel something was wrong.

’Now the refugees’ living area was tightly surrounded by high-level mutant plants, but what about the rest of the farm? What about his office, the dormitories, and most importantly, the warehouse?’

’Were these people just going to ignore everything else?’

Huo Changzhou was proud and conceited, it was true, but he wasn’t a complete idiot.

’The farm’s ability users had all been reassigned. The only fighting force left was Gu Xi’s group!’

After a moment’s thought, Huo Changzhou shot a look at a staff member beside him, then walked forward alone.

But soon, Huo Changzhou stopped in his tracks.

He stood behind the crowd, watching Gu Xi. She was positioned under a giant cactus tree that made her look even more slender and delicate. In just a few short minutes, this Miss Gu had given pointers to seven ability users.

Huo Changzhou then belatedly realized that the people Gu Xi was instructing were not all Wood Element users; they also included Earth, Water, and Wind Element users.

And every ability user she instructed would first look thoughtful, then have a moment of sudden realization, and finally become ecstatic. It was clear they had benefited immensely.

Huo Changzhou wasn’t an ability user himself, but he knew that while all abilities were interconnected, each type still had subtle differences that were difficult for users of other elements to perceive.

This was a conclusion the Abnormal Ability Research Institute had reached long ago.

’So, how was Gu Xi doing it?’

’Although Gu Xi’s classified file did state that she was a multi-element ability user, just how many elements could she possibly have?’

’And even if she was multi-element, that didn’t mean she had mastered every single one of her abilities, right?’

This was confirmed by the fact that every time this Miss Gu used her abilities in public, she always used her Wood Element skill.

—It was clear that this Miss Gu was still most proficient with her Wood Element skill.

But now... watching the way this Miss Gu instructed each ability user, it was clear she was doing it effortlessly, as if it wasn’t the least bit difficult for her.

Huo Changzhou found it absurd. He couldn’t help but wonder, ’Regarding this Miss Gu... did I miss something in her file?’

For some reason, a vague sense of foreboding began to rise within him.

Just then.

Yang Chi, who had been standing behind Gu Xi and occasionally tapping on his personal terminal, suddenly closed the Light Screen. He whispered to Gu Xi, "Gu Xi, someone just secretly left the farm’s surveillance perimeter..."

As he said this, he glanced past the crowd, his eyes pausing for a subtle second when they swept over Huo Changzhou.

’That bastard must be behind this.’

Yang Chi had no proof, but he was certain. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Gu Xi looked up and said impassively, "It’s fine."

’This Huo Changzhou is a smart man after all. He didn’t make me wait half the day for nothing.’

Yang Chi paused, then it dawned on him. ’No wonder Gu Xi was giving Mr. Huo the cold shoulder earlier...’

’That’s right. If she hadn’t ignored him, how would he have gotten so antsy?’

’And if he didn’t get antsy, how would he get desperate enough to make a mistake?’