Chapter 343: Fruit of Hope

Xie Ning leaned forward, brushed aside layers of crushed ice, and suddenly pulled a small, jade-green fruit from the hole in the ice.

Song Shijun hurried over, sucking in a sharp breath. "What is this, Sis?" he asked, his voice muffled by his face mask.

"It should be the fruit of a mutated plant." Xie Ning smashed her hammer into the ice hole a few more times, revealing a green vine plant deep underground. Hidden beneath its dense leaves were countless small, jade-green fruits of an extremely vibrant color.

Xie Ning reached down and yanked it out of the ground. Song Shijun heard a terrifying shriek that made his scalp prickle.

"S-Sis, don’t tell me that green vine came to life?"

"No." Xie Ning shook her head, a glint in her eye. "You keep digging here. I need to go back and find Yu Tianfeng and have him determine if this thing is edible."

"If you dig up any bad plants that move and attack people, remember not to hesitate."

After giving this quick instruction, Xie Ning turned and ran toward the base.

That afternoon, the base’s shelter received a piece of heartening news.

Someone had reportedly found an edible mutated plant within three kilometers of the base’s main road. Its fruit was rich in nutrients and could be made into Nutrient Liquid, and the production method was also very simple.

In a low-temperature environment, the Nutrient Liquid could be preserved for about a year.

If the base could find a large quantity of the mutated plant’s fruit, they could probably survive for another year or so in the ice age.

Thus, the base began to mobilize Superpower Users of the Third Rank and above to go out for ninety minutes each in the morning and afternoon. The main objective had now become searching for this green plant’s fruit.

For every green plant found, there was an additional reward of two hundred Contribution Points.

At the same time, a glimmer of hope finally appeared in the eyes of the shelter’s residents who heard the news.

They had thought their supplies were about to run out, but just when things seemed darkest, a new hope appeared.

It just went to show that in this world, crisis and hope truly coexisted.

Perhaps after the ice age, unpredictable dangers would be waiting for them.

But at the same time, there should be hope as well...

「Seven days later.」

Yu Tianfeng was personally welcomed by Zuo Dazhu to the Survivor Center building to lead a group of excellent medical workers in an all-out effort to prepare the Nutrient Liquid.

During this time, Xie Ning ate and drank as usual, but she was a bit distressed that her Gold Ability still hadn’t ranked up.

’The energy source should have accumulated enough energy for a promotion, but it just wouldn’t budge.’

As she was munching on a handful of washed cherries with a troubled expression, Xie Ning suddenly stirred and extended her Spirit Perception.

Her eyes abruptly lit up, and her entire body instantly vanished into thin air.

When she reappeared, she was standing in the bedroom of her grand villa.

She rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things.

Rubbing them again, she found she was still standing beside the large, soft bed in her bedroom.

She let out a cheer and rushed forward to roll all over the bed.

’I’m not mistaken, I’m not mistaken!’

’It’s my room, my bed! The high bed and soft pillows I dreamed of countless nights, the ones that made my heart ache every time I thought of them! WAHHH!’

’I can come inside?’

’My Space Ability has ranked up!’

Xie Ning belatedly realized this and was overjoyed.

Her Space Ability had advanced to the Fifth Rank ahead of the other.

’Haha! It really is true that a watched pot never boils, while the things you least expect come to fruition!’

Xie Ning thought gleefully as she rolled around on the bed.

’It’s great that my Space Ability has upgraded. Now I can freely enter and exit the villa in my Space.’

She was like a little girl who had just been given a piece of candy, so happy she couldn’t contain herself. She darted back and forth between rooms, running up and down the stairs.

She rushed out onto the terrace to inhale the fragrance of the flowers and plants, her face glowing with delight.

All three floors of the villa were now unlocked, and the entire home was now completely within her view.

It wasn’t just something she could view with her spiritual power anymore; she could physically touch the furniture, step on the living room tiles, and sprawl out on the smooth wooden floor.

Happiness had come so suddenly, it was completely unexpected for Xie Ning.

With a flick of her finger, a water cup from the dispenser flew into her hand.

Xie Ning jumped for joy, holding the cup and giggling foolishly for a good while.

Then, she quietly pinched herself.

’Hiss... That actually hurts. I guess this isn’t a dream.’

Xie Ning strolled from the second floor to the first, then from the first floor to the third.

She tried using her Space Ability to move herself and instantly appeared on the villa’s roof.

Looking down at the lush green courtyard below, she felt an indescribable joy.

With no time to check the other changes in her independent Space, Xie Ning quickly exited the villa. She ran to find Song You’ai, joyfully shouting, "Mom, Mom, Mom!"

Song You’ai was stir-frying vegetables at a simple earthen stove. Hearing her daughter’s cries, she turned to see her running over, her face beaming with joy.

"What is it, Ningning? Are you hungry? We can eat in a bit."

"Mom, I’m taking you somewhere!" Xie Ning grabbed her mother’s arm, her smile blooming like a flower.

"Hey, where are you taking me, child? Mom’s still stir-frying in the wok!" Song You’ai tried to bat her daughter’s hand away, but she was held in an iron grip.

"Oh, it’ll be quick!" Xie Ning said, pulling her mother’s arm and shouting cheerfully, "Let’s go!"

A moment later, Song You’ai stared expressionlessly at the spot where her daughter had vanished into thin air, her hand, holding the spatula, pausing mid-air.

Two seconds later, Xie Ning reappeared beside her. She glanced at her mother, her face full of confusion. "Why didn’t it work?"

She grabbed her arm again and decisively shouted, "Let’s go!"

When Xie Ning emerged again, she was met with her mother’s impassive, stern face.

Seeing the raised spatula that looked ready to come down at any moment, Xie Ning wrinkled her nose and laughed awkwardly. "Still not working."

Two bursts of laughter suddenly erupted from behind her.

Xie Ning turned to see her younger brother and sister sitting on small stools nearby, munching on melon with juice dripping from their mouths. They actually had the audacity to laugh at her!

"Mom, let’s try one more time!" Xie Ning gestured to Song You’ai.

This time, she took a deep breath, hugged her mother, and shouted, "Let’s go!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Xie Ning reappeared from the villa space looking completely bewildered, only to see the spatula in Song You’ai’s hand swinging unhesitatingly toward her head.

"Go, go, go! Go where?! You get out of here right now! Stop interrupting my cooking. Xiao Lu and Xiao Er are coming over for dinner soon!"

Xie Ning clutched her head and darted into another earthen burrow, not forgetting to give her brother and sister a playful kick on her way out.

"Big Sister, Little Flower says it’s hungry and wants to eat an apple, but Grandpa and Grandma are watching the tree and won’t let it near a single one. It feels really wronged and says it’s getting depressed."

Xie Ning was completely confused. She bent down to look at Su Xiyue. "Which Little Flower?"

Su Xiyue held up the colorful pig’s head in her arms. "This one!"

Xie Ning was speechless. She asked casually, "How do you know it’s depressed because it can’t eat an apple?"

Previously, this pig head had gnawed on dozens of her plums, which had pained Xie Ning greatly. That was why she had thrown it out of her Space to fend for itself.

"It said so itself."

Xie Ning froze for a moment, then spun around abruptly. "What did you say?"