Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System-Chapter 19: System Upgrade Again

Just as he was about to close the interface and rest, a private message notification suddenly popped up.

[Divya: You’re still alive, right?]

Seeing the message from Divya, this electronic pet, Vikram’s mouth unconsciously curled into a lewd smile.

[Vikram: Why are you so concerned about me? Do you miss me?]

[Divya: You don’t have much ability, but your narcissism is quite severe.]

[Divya: Hmph, I don’t care whether you live or die. I’d rather you get trampled to death by a Crimson Creature.]

[Divya: I only care about my necklace. I came this time to get it back.]

Divya’s tone was just as impolite as ever, but Vikram didn’t mind in the slightest.

[Vikram: Then what treasure are you planning to trade for it?]

Without saying much, Divya directly sent a trade request.

[Trader: Divya — Item for Trade: Physique Fruit

Required Item: Pure Gold Necklace]

It was obvious that she believed Vikram would immediately accept the trade.

However—

[Trade Cancelled]

[Divya: ? Are you serious? This is a Physique Fruit. It can increase physical attributes. Others offered gold ingots and I still refused to trade it. It’s more than enough to redeem my necklace.]

[Divya: If you don’t understand its value, I can exchange it for gold first and then trade it with you. Will that work?]

[Vikram: What do you mean I don’t understand its value? The Physique Fruit is good, but it’s still a bit lacking. You should keep it and use it yourself.]

Divya immediately understood.

This Vikram clearly knew the value of the Physique Fruit. He was simply taking advantage of the fact that the necklace was extremely important to her and was trying to squeeze more benefits from her.

"That bastard..."

She muttered angrily under her breath before decisively closing the chat interface.

Divya had already figured out Vikram’s intentions.

Since the negotiation was going nowhere, it was better to stop chatting altogether rather than let the other party push things further.

Vikram originally wanted to tease her a bit more, perhaps asking her to send another photo or something, but after thinking about it, he gave up on the idea.

In this dull Wasteland world, having such an amusing "electronic pet" to occasionally quarrel with was actually quite entertaining.

If he pushed too hard and annoyed her completely, his rare bit of entertainment might disappear.

And that would make life in the wasteland much more boring.

For the next three days, Vikram’s life revolved entirely around hunting from the moment he woke up.

He left early every morning and returned late in the evening, yet his efficiency was still not very high.

Besides the difficulty of finding prey, most of his time each day was wasted walking across the terrain.

In those three days, he only managed to hunt four Rare-grade creatures and two Exquisite-grade creatures.

However, Vikram himself did not need to fight much.

Most of the battles were handled by the Guardian Sprout and the Warrior Sprout.

The Guardian Sprout usually rushed forward first, using its shield-arm to block attacks and restrain the target, while the Warrior Sprout delivered the decisive strikes.

Vikram often only needed to stand behind them, occasionally providing support with his hunting bow.

In many fights, he simply watched from the back while the two small plant warriors finished the battle.

Most of these hunts happened on a grassland area Vikram had recently discovered.

At that location, he could encounter at least one creature almost every day, which greatly improved his hunting efficiency.

It was also worth noting that the acid rain mutation did not affect all creatures.

Some animals remained normal and unmutated.

Although that wasn’t necessarily bad, it slowed Vikram’s progress in collecting Crimson Shards.

Even treasure chests dropped by Rare-grade Crimson Creatures did not guarantee a shard.

Out of the six creatures he hunted, one Rare creature and one Exquisite creature were normal, leaving only four Crimson Creatures.

From those four creatures, he obtained only two Crimson Shards.

Sitting on his bed that evening and eating roasted venison, Vikram scratched his head in frustration.

Including the shard he already had earlier, he now possessed only three Crimson Shards.

He was still far from synthesizing a Crimson Orb.

However, the hunts were not entirely disappointing.

During these few days, he had also obtained:

• Physique Fruit ×2

• Vitality Fruit ×2

After consuming them, his attributes increased again.

Host: Vikram

Strength: 8+4 = 12

Speed: 8+4 = 12

Stamina: 10+4 = 14

Reaction: 9+4 = 13

Because the Guardian Sprout and Warrior Sprout helped him hunt the creatures, he also received additional Plant Essence rewards.

• Exquisite Creatures: 2 × 20 = 40 Plant Essence

• Rare Creatures: 4 × 10 = 40 Plant Essence

Total gained: 80 Plant Essence

Without hesitation, Vikram used part of the Plant Essence to construct the Water Tower, placing it beside the Aquaheart Root.

The structure had already begun collecting purified water.

At present, the Water Tower stored nearly 30 liters of water.

In addition to these gains, Vikram also obtained Spikevine ×8, Thornvine ×2.

The two Thornvines were planted beside the existing defensive vines near the entrance.

As expected, they gradually merged with the original Thornvine cluster, increasing the defensive density there.

The entrance now had six Thornvines merged together, making the defensive barrier significantly stronger.

The Spikevines were distributed differently.

Two were planted near the warehouse entrance as additional protection.

The remaining six Spikevines were planted around the farming area Vikram had planned.

The farming land he selected measured roughly 200 meters long and 100 meters wide.

The back side of this area was directly protected by the mountain wall, so it required no additional defense.

Only the front side, facing the open territory, needed protection.

Since each Spikevine could cover roughly 3 meters of attack range, Vikram placed them along the front edge with moderate gaps between them.

This spacing allowed him to still plant other supportive crops later while creating a basic defensive line.

After calculating carefully, he realized he would still need dozens more Spikevines to fully secure the farming perimeter.

But for now, it was enough to serve as an early warning and basic trap system.

At this point, Vikram’s territory was slowly transforming.

Now, counting the previous 101 Plant Essence, plus the additional plants he had recently planted, Vikram carefully calculated the new daily income.

The eight Spikevines contributed +24 Plant Essence, and the two newly planted Thornvines contributed +20.

Altogether, his daily Plant Essence generation had reached an astonishing 145 points.

Looking at this number, even Vikram himself felt a little stunned.

His growth speed had already begun to snowball.

He then turned his gaze toward the two plant warriors resting nearby.

The Guardian Sprout stood quietly beside the Treehouse entrance like a loyal guard. When Vikram checked its panel, he discovered that it had already accumulated 8 Combat Experience.

The Warrior Sprout was not far away, repeatedly swinging its vine-blade as if practicing its attack movements. Its panel showed 7 Combat Experience.

At this rate, both of them would likely level up after just two or three more battles.

Swallowing another bite of the not-so-delicious roasted venison, Vikram was just about to plan the next day’s hunting route when the system’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

[Congratulations, Host. Your Plant Essence has exceeded five hundred for the first time. System upgrade initiated. Please wait.]

"Upgrading again?"

Vikram’s eyes immediately lit up.

System upgrades often meant new functions and gift packs. He couldn’t help feeling excited.

The previous upgrade had unlocked the analysis function and granted him the Warrior Sprout, Lightfly Vine, and Aquaheart Root, which had solved his water problem, lighting problem, and even made hunting much easier.

This upgrade surely wouldn’t be worse than the last one. After all, his Plant Essence production was growing faster and faster.

With every hunt and every new plant added in the future, this number would only continue to multiply.

---

[Ding. Upgrade successful.]

[New function unlocked: Creature Detection.]

[This function allows the Host to detect nearby creatures more conveniently, improving environmental awareness and hunting efficiency.]

Vikram nodded in satisfaction.

"This system really is like someone bringing a pillow when you’re sleepy. The timing is always perfect."

"In the future, maybe I should think more about my difficulties. Who knows, the system might upgrade in that direction."

Another notification followed.

[Ding. You have received Advanced Gift Pack ×1. Do you wish to open it?]

"Open it."

[Congratulations. You have obtained: Advanced Cold Weather Suit (Blue), Pure Goose Down Comforter (Blue), Advanced Latex Pillow (Blue), Advanced Carpet (Blue), Healer Sprout ×1 (Blue), Thornvine Seed ×4 (Blue)

"This..."

Vikram stared at the rewards with a strange expression.

The Healer Sprout and Thornvine Seeds made sense to him, they were clearly plant-type rewards connected to his Plant Life System.

The Advanced Cold Weather Suit was also understandable since the Extreme Cold disaster was approaching.

But the remaining three items, the goose down comforter, latex pillow, and carpet, had absolutely nothing to do with plants.

For a moment, Vikram seriously wondered whether the Plant Life System had suddenly decided to improve his sleeping conditions instead.

He always felt as if the system was subtly hinting at him, perhaps thinking that his development speed was too slow.

Heaven knew that ever since arriving in the Wasteland World, Vikram had never slept in even once. If even that could be considered laziness and make the system look down on him, then he truly had no words.

Snapping back to reality, he first carried the pure goose down comforter and latex pillow over to the bed.

"Now that I have a comforter and pillow, it’s time to upgrade this bed."

If Vikram hadn’t been using the duck down coat the system had given him earlier as a cushion, sleeping on that bed would have been no different from sleeping directly on the floor.

Even though he had managed to sleep soundly these past few days, that was only because he left early and returned late every day, completely exhausted.

He never wanted to experience again the miserable feeling of waking up as if he had been beaten by a group of strong men all night.

From his backpack, he took out the latex material he had obtained from treasure chests during the past two days.

Without hesitation, he chose to upgrade.

Wooden Bed → Latex Bed

Plant Essence Required: 50

The moment he confirmed the upgrade, faint green particles of Plant Essence drifted out and merged into the bed.

When the light faded, the crude wooden bed had transformed.

The latex bed was now twice the size, upgraded from a narrow single to a comfortable double bed. An adult could stretch fully without worrying about falling off the edge.

The bed frame was made from sturdy wood, supporting a thick latex mattress.

The mattress surface was wrapped in soft woven fabric, warm in tone and delicate to the touch.

When Vikram pressed it lightly with his palm, the mattress sank slightly before slowly rebounding with gentle elasticity.

Curious, he lay down.

Immediately, Vikram felt a completely different level of comfort compared to the old bed.

The sharp, uncomfortable feeling that had once stabbed into his back and waist whenever he slept was completely gone.

He nodded with deep satisfaction.

His gaze slowly moved away from the mattress.

"It’s time."

He stood up.

With over 500 Plant Essence available, Vikram opened the System Store.