Chapter 83 - 82: Fighting and Beating

Chapter 83: Chapter 82: Fighting and Beating

After a moment of thought, Zhou Qian looked at Huai Yu again.

"Don’t go near these suddenly mutated plants. It’s very dangerous. The Rose Corridor mutated last night because of it! When we got there, the two of them were fighting..."

The words sounded awfully familiar. It seemed like every time he saw Huai Yu, he had to warn her about a whole host of new dangers. But what about Huai Yu herself? Over this period of time, she was visibly healthier and more vibrant than when they had first met, and she was no longer so frail.

He firmly shut his mouth.

As for Huai Yu, she was only considering one thing: fighting?

Fine, fighting. Not a one-sided beating.

"Also, don’t just casually dig up bamboo shoots anymore, attempting to destroy the bam—" Zhou Qian tried his best to hold back, but he still couldn’t resist warning her, looking at her once again. "Did you really dig up bamboo shoots?"

"I did!" Huai Yu was completely candid. "Not only did I dig them up, but I also blanched them and left them out to dry. Captain, if you want to eat some, I’ll bring you a bit once they’re fully dried."

Zhou Qian was left speechless.

The feeling of being treated so differently was truly unbearable.

Zhou Qian drove back to the camp, his mind weighed down with thoughts.

"What’s wrong?" someone in the office asked curiously. "What are you holding? Don’t tell me you got more good stuff? Let me see."

"Shoo, shoo!" Zhou Qian waved the group away. "Are you guys addicted to freeloading? Hurry up, I need to get this tested. If the Mutant Value is below 12, this is going to be a huge deal!"

"What’s going on?" The crowd instantly turned serious.

Zhou Qian let out a bitter laugh. "Remember that bamboo tree the Rose Corridor was tossing around and beating up last night? I specifically went to Zone 8 to investigate today, but I didn’t see it. However, right behind Huai Yu’s new home in Zone 37, a massive bamboo forest grew overnight."

Holy crap!

This was indeed a huge deal!

Everyone instantly went on high alert.

"What happened? Could the Rose Corridor not beat it? Why would it allow the bamboo to take root right next to it? Everyone should know how destructive bamboo can be!"

"That’s not even the main point." Zhou Qian unrolled the small packet of Bamboo Heart Tea in his palm. "See this? Huai Yu saw the bamboo forest first thing this morning. She went right in, dug up some bamboo shoots, extracted the bamboo hearts, and roasted tea... The bamboo shoots are already blanched and drying in the sun!

"According to her, the bamboo forest didn’t react at all.

"How is that possible?!"

The group was left in utter shock. After all, if mutated plants were that docile and obedient, the Wilderness wouldn’t have remained unconquered by them for the past six years.

"With a temper that good, didn’t you go take a look?" someone couldn’t help but ask.

Zhou Qian immediately shot back in annoyance, "I wanted to! But don’t think that just because we helped build a house there, the Rose Corridor gave us free passage. I only took a few steps today, and it almost whipped me again! How was I supposed to look?"

This was a tricky situation.

If they insisted on going over, a fight was inevitable. Leaving aside the fact that the Rose Corridor protected all of Flower City, they wouldn’t even be able to win the fight! They wouldn’t see any results without sacrificing some troops. And why would they provoke a war for no good reason?

Then there was the bamboo forest... Was the bamboo really that docile?

The group fell silent.

After a long while, someone finally spoke up. "Come on, let’s test the Mutant Value first."

A crowd gathered around the tiny handful of Bamboo Heart Tea, staring intently at the screen. Following a sharp beep, an exceptionally clear number appeared on the display.

[Mutant Value: 11]

Hiss—

In that case, their previous estimate that the bamboo’s Mutant Value was over 50 was completely off! Judging by this, it had to be well over 100!

And yet, even a plant like that had been picked up and thrashed around by the Rose Corridor. The last time General Wu Yue came to test his Mutant Value, it was only 42! Of course, "only" wasn’t the right word, as that number was already dangerously close to the critical threshold of 60.

But... but the gap was simply too massive!

Everyone exchanged glances in the testing room. After a long while, someone asked, "Is there something wrong with that girl, Huai Yu?"

They wondered if she was hiding something, but she was genuinely harmless. Not only did she look completely harmless, but based on their observations while helping her build the house, she didn’t possess the slightest ability to fight or spar.

She did have a Wood Ability, but if it were truly powerful, she would have either joined the Guard Army or become an Explorer by now. Even if she didn’t want to do anything but farm, she wouldn’t have left her 600 acres of land looking so pitiful. When they were building the house, they had seen the plots she dug. It was obvious she lacked the physical strength—the soil was dug unevenly, full of deep and shallow pits, and completely unlevel.

It made them incredibly uncomfortable just looking at it. If they hadn’t spent the entire night purely focused on building the house, someone would have definitely grabbed a hoe and a shovel to help her level the ground.

Furthermore, if Huai Yu was truly suspicious, why would General Lin have gone to such great lengths to leave her that Ice Sculpture before heading into the Wilderness?

This lingering question strongly influenced their perception of Huai Yu. After all, if their respect for General Wu Yue stemmed from the Rose Corridor, then Lin Xuefeng was a name that everyone in the country knew. During the most difficult times, it was entirely thanks to him leading teams into the Wilderness—fighting bloody battles time and time again to secure victories—that humanity gained more chances for survival.

But... what on earth was going on with the Rose Corridor?!

Zhou Qian tucked away the packet of tea, looking thoughtful. "Could it be... it really prefers women over men?"

At his words, someone in the team touched her face. "I certainly didn’t feel that. Back when I approached it to map out the territory, it didn’t give a single warning and straight-up whipped me into a bloody mess!"

The tip of a branch had even slashed her face; it took over three months for the scar to fade! Thinking of this, she said gloomily, "The Rose Corridor used to have such a violent temper! It would beat people up over nothing. Now, it only gives warnings every time. I think it’s already being very polite. You guys should just be grateful, alright?"

That was true...

Everyone awkwardly touched various spots on their own bodies. When they had built the camp in Zone 69, which was miles and miles away, none of them had escaped a beating.

Fortunately, as prone to lashing out as the Rose Corridor was, it still had strict principles. For example, outside a certain range, as long as no one approached it, it would absolutely never attack.

The prerequisite was... no one could cause trouble. That meant no loud shouting, no fighting or arguing, and no bloodshed or injuries.

With this in mind, they found themselves at an impasse once again.

Finally, Zhou Qian proposed an idea. "Its temper is much better now, and it always gives a warning first. Captain Song, how about you assign two female soldiers to carefully approach it and see what happens?"

Captain Song—the very same woman who had accidentally been whipped in the face—scoffed. "If you want to go, go yourself. Why should I risk my soldiers? You all have nothing better to do all day than provoke something that is perfectly minding its own business! The Rose Corridor is giving us face now, but when it didn’t want to, hadn’t it whipped us just the same, even from so far away?"