Chapter 173: Chapter 161: The Preliminary Plan for Settling Down

"I’ll do it!" Thanks to the Crystal Cores Flora Bloom had given her, she’d already raised her superpower to the Second Level in just two hours. Flora Bloom had been so generous to a stranger like her; she had no reason not to help!

’As for whether she was gambling with her life... how would she know if she didn’t take the risk? In this apocalypse, who knew what the next second would bring? If she had to face the zombies and monsters outside all by herself, could she survive? The answer was no.’

’Of course, with her looks, she could easily find a powerful man to depend on. But she didn’t want that. Entrusting her life to someone else in this apocalypse, becoming an obedient doll passed from one man to the next—she couldn’t do it!’

’It was better to take this gamble! If she won, she would earn Flora Bloom’s trust and solidify her position on the team.’

’And if she lost, it would just be an early release from this apocalyptic world. Not a loss.’

’Helping Flora Bloom was the same as helping herself.’

Neal Wallace and Sherman Lynch watched Shauna Wallace’s retreating back—a mixture of apprehension and resolve—then turned to Flora Bloom. The moment they did, they found her holding two large wooden buckets, each about thirty centimeters in diameter. The buckets were filled to the brim with water, and she handed them to the men.

"Time for our work to begin," Flora Bloom said, clapping her hands, her face beaming with energy.

"Our work? Don’t tell me it’s watering plants?" Neal Wallace guessed.

"Hee hee, that’s right. Watering. And I want you to pour with all your might. Don’t stop."

With that, Flora Bloom sat down on the ground. A pillar of spiritual water from her space shot out from her hands, drenching the lawn before her.

Meanwhile, Neal Wallace and Sherman Lynch took the wooden buckets and began dumping water directly onto the grass. Strangely enough, the water in the buckets seemed endless—they remained perpetually full.

The most dramatic change occurred in the two small patches of lawn.

Flora Bloom found a packet of flower and grass seeds in her space—something she’d bought before the apocalypse—grabbed two handfuls, and scattered them over the lawn.

The seeds absorbed the drenching of spiritual water and immediately took root, sprouting on the spot. Their growth was so rapid that in a few moments, they were as tall as the original grass.

As Flora Bloom continued to water, the wildflowers among the grass began to bud and blossom. Even the flowers that were already in bloom began to grow, eventually doubling in size.

Flora Bloom scattered another handful of flower and grass seeds onto the lawn on Neal Wallace and Sherman Lynch’s side.

In a short while, both lawns began to emanate a rich plant spirit. This energy was autonomously absorbed and imprinted by Flora Bloom’s space, then fed back into the greenery. The lush lawns, which had previously hosted only a few scattered wildflowers, were now covered in dense patches of small blossoms. Their fragrance was intoxicating, rivaling that of any prized flower.

Most importantly, although each lawn covered an area of only fifty to sixty square meters, this drenching of spiritual water had caused their underground root networks to expand, now covering over a hundred square meters. And they were still growing.

Flora Bloom thought, ’If I keep watering this patch of grass, can the root systems of these plants connect with the roots of other plants outside this area?’

’It’s just like the area with the beehives, which is also divided into several vegetation-covered zones. Each lawn there is at least as large as these two. And that place has even more flowers, grass, and trees, plus several clumps of shrubs I don’t recognize.’

’If I can get the underground root systems to connect and become one, does that mean I can control this entire area?’

’If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be safer for Mom, Dad, and my brother to move here than any place with guards?’

’Those few guards are only First Level at best. If something really happened, they’d be useless.’

With this in mind, Flora Bloom took out a tablet and pulled up a top-down map of the area.

She wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t looked, but once she did, Flora Bloom almost laughed out loud.

Morhaven was truly a wealthy city. Beyond the villa district they were in, there were two more connected villa districts, and both were even larger than their current one.

What made her happiest was that the green space in those two districts accounted for seventy percent of the total area.

If she could extend and unify the plant root systems from here, she would be able to monitor all activity throughout the entire region.

But Flora Bloom knew that accomplishing this over such a vast area couldn’t be done overnight. For now, her primary target was the swarm of bees.

’It’s been half an hour since Shauna Wallace left. She should have been back by now!’

But as the three of them watered the plants, they kept glancing at the gravel path leading to the beehives. Why wasn’t she back yet?

’It’s been so long. Did something happen to her? But if there was trouble, Vert would have definitely warned me in advance.’

Flora Bloom tried to communicate with the Queen Bee through their spiritual link.

"A human with a Healing System superpower was headed your way. Did you see her?"

She had just asked when the Queen Bee suddenly replied with excitement, "Master, we’re coming!"

Before Flora Bloom could process what was happening, a low, dense BUZZING sound traveled from the distance, growing steadily louder as it approached.

The sound swelled as it drew nearer, until Shauna Wallace finally came into view.

Good heavens. Shauna Wallace was strolling along with perfect composure, followed by a swarm of bees so dense it resembled a sandstorm, their numbers simply impossible to count.

At the very front of this swarm flew a bee about the size of the Golden Cicada Flora Bloom had first encountered. Not a single other bee dared to fly ahead of it; they all followed obediently, their combined wings creating a deafening, layered BUZZ.

"Th-that many?"

As the swarm drew closer, the three of them finally got a clear look at just how many bees Shauna Wallace had brought with her.

The massive swarm blotted out the sky, completely surrounding the trio. It was so thick that Flora Bloom couldn’t even see Vert flying in the air anymore.

And while Shauna Wallace appeared calm as she guided the massive swarm, Flora Bloom could sense that she was constantly using her healing ability to soothe the bees. Fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead, and her face was slowly growing pale.

"Shauna Wallace, get in here, quick!" Flora Bloom yelled, pulling her into the space between the two lawns.

"Stop using your superpower!"

With a pale face, Shauna Wallace grinned at the three of them. "I actually did it!" This was no longer the Shauna Wallace that Flora Bloom had first met—injured, her superpower completely drained, her expression full of apprehension and uncertainty about the future.

Now, confidence was slowly building in her eyes. It wasn’t a confidence born from her good looks, but one that came from a newfound understanding of her own strength and a sense of where she belonged.

Her gamble had paid off.

Flora Bloom immediately stuffed a handful of no fewer than thirty Crystal Cores into her hand.

A typical Second-level Superpower User wouldn’t be this exhausted after using their superpower nonstop for half an hour.

However, as a Healing System user, she had to rely on her own spiritual power to lock onto targets for individual or group healing.

This swarm was so dense it was impossible to count. The fact that she could single-handedly soothe such a massive number of bees for half an hour proved that Shauna Wallace’s spiritual power capacity was far greater than that of an average person.

"Focus on recovering your superpower. Leave the rest to me!"