Chapter 86 3 Types of Experimental Plants

Chapter 86: Chapter 85: 3 Types of Experimental Plants

Han Ning explained his idea, which was inspired by firearm mechanics and the game *Plants vs. Zombies*. Considering the skinny man had mentioned the staggering number of Black Snake Monsters, it would be far too overwhelming for him to face that tidal wave of creatures all by himself. As the saying goes, enough ants can topple an elephant. But what if he could cultivate plants capable of combat?

"Plants vs. Zombies? I’ve heard of it. I even saw my students playing it in the lab during their breaks." Hearing Han Ning’s idea, Professor Ye put down his notebook and stroked the short, stiff stubble on his chin, pondering for a moment.

"Let me think. Offensive plants... we seem to have some in the seed bank, but they would require targeted cultivation and enhancement using your abilities..." He walked over to the sealed boxes of seeds and began rummaging through them with practiced ease. "If I remember correctly, the plants in that game are divided into ranged attacks, melee attacks, and Defense, right?"

"Exactly!" Seeing that Professor Ye was quite familiar with it, Han Ning suspected he might have actually played it himself. "Professor Ye, are there any plants in nature similar to the Peashooter?"

"Peashooter?" Professor Ye paused, answering instinctively. "When peas mature, the thick-walled tissue cells on the inner wall of the pod create tension, causing the pod to twist and split open to eject the seeds. This mechanism is designed to disperse seeds over greater distances.

"Compared to peas, I can think of a much better alternative." After a moment, he held up a small transparent bag containing tiny seeds to show him. "This is it—the squirting cucumber.

"When its fruit matures, high-pressure liquid and mucus build up inside. An abscission layer forms at the base of the stalk. With the slightest touch, it snaps off with a loud BANG, firing the pulp and seeds out like a cannonball. The force is quite strong, reaching distances of several meters to over a dozen meters. It’s far more effective than a bursting pea pod.

"Under the guidance of your abilities, we can try to make it shoot faster, further, and with greater focus. We could even alter the properties of the projectiles, such as giving them a corrosive or paralyzing effect."

Lying on the bed and playing with building blocks with his daughter, Xu Ming noticed Professor Ye was giving a "lecture" and pulled Xu Yinyin over to listen in.

"What about melee?" Han Ning asked, full of anticipation.

"For melee, I think the Venus Flytrap is a good choice," Professor Ye said. "Its traps can snap shut in a fraction of a second, secreting digestive juices after catching its prey. Its strength is enough to trap small insects. We have some preserved in the seed bank, specifically a variety with larger leaves and relatively robust traps.

"However, it requires a lot of sunlight. We’ll have to rely on your special abilities. If that doesn’t work, we’ll choose something else."

He picked up another small bag containing over a dozen black seeds, each smaller than a sesame seed. The seeds brought over from the planting experimental center weren’t exclusively agricultural crops; they also included various wild plant seeds from nature.

"Mhm, please continue." Just the first two were already exactly what Han Ning had in mind.

"As for pure Defense fortifications or creating obstacles, thorny vines, such as certain climbing plants from the *Humulus* or *Rubus* genera, fit the requirements.

"Their mutation direction could be to form a dense, tough, spike-covered wall of vines in an extremely short amount of time.

"If we can further guide their xylem fibers to become highly reinforced, achieving a hardness and toughness similar to steel, and if they possess some self-healing capabilities, they would form an incredibly formidable barrier.

"For example, we could deploy them along the exterior of a boat to prevent other creatures from boarding.

"We should be able to find this type of plant in the wild resources or climbing plant categories of the seed bank."

Professor Ye stopped rummaging and looked at Han Ning. "These are just preliminary ideas based on the existing resources in the seed bank. Whether they will actually work and what specific effects they can achieve will require experimentation."

Han Ning listened with burning eyes. Professor Ye’s proposed plants provided a very clear line of thought. Ranged, melee, and Defense—even crowd control was covered. All that was needed was for his ability to magnify their potential thousands of times over.

"Alright!" Han Ning decided on the spot. "Professor Ye, we’ll follow your direction and start preparing for the experiments."

"Boss, our current space is too cramped. It’s not a good idea to mix ordinary crops with these special crops that have mutation potential, especially the offensive plants we might cultivate in the future."

Professor Ye picked up a pen and quickly sketched on a piece of paper. "We need to divide our space into two independent functional areas.

"Zone One: the basic crop planting area.

"This area will primarily be used for cultivating the leafy greens, sprouts, edible fungi, and some root crops that we urgently need. They have relatively low light requirements and can be managed more loosely. The goal here is to quickly produce food to solve our basic survival needs.

"At the same time, we need to carve out a small section in this zone specifically for the Yellow Jade Potatoes and Red Mist Tomato, which have already mutated successfully.

"Their growth patterns are relatively stable, but we need to observe their long-term growth characteristics, yield, and stability.

"Zone Two: the mutation research and special crop cultivation area.

"This area will be dedicated exclusively to the plants we plan to subject to targeted mutation experiments, such as the squirting cucumber, Venus Flytrap, thorny vines, and any other special plants with potential we might discover in the future.

"Boss, to realize this plan, our current balcony space is far from enough.

"While we are still here, we need a larger, more independent space—preferably an entire room or a small warehouse—where we can cultivate plants exactly according to our needs."

"I understand. I’ll take care of the space issue," Han Ning said decisively.

A planting area was a minor issue. The one thing this resort didn’t lack was space.

***

On the east side of the fifth floor was a small banquet hall that rarely saw any visitors. It was originally used to store miscellaneous items and discarded furniture.

Han Ning had gone to Chairman Wu, who readily arranged this large space for him. The first floor would have been ideal, but with the water level rising daily, it was on the verge of being completely submerged. However, since they weren’t growing large vegetation right now and had mastered composting techniques, cultivating small crops on the fifth floor was manageable enough.

Looking at the spacious hall, Professor Ye immediately began directing the layout.

"Use these wooden boards and tarps to divide the center of the hall into two large zones, left and right.

"The left side will be the basic crop zone, and the right side will be the mutation research zone.

"The basic crop zone needs to maximize space. We’ll use those discarded shelves to build vertical planting racks and arrange the planting pots in tiers.

"Save the spots near the windows for the leafy greens that require a bit more scattered light.

"The mutation research zone requires heavy-duty isolation. Lay down several extra layers of tarps and seal all the gaps with tape.

"Inside, we’ll subdivide it into several smaller sections separated by wooden boards. We’ll place the different experimental groups there—such as a squirting cucumber zone, a Venus Flytrap zone, a thorny vine zone, and a reserve zone. Every section needs to be labeled for easy record-keeping."

Under Professor Ye’s direction, Han Ning, Xu Ming, the helper Han Ning had brought along named Yu Na, and even the little one Xu Yinyin who had joined in on the fun, threw themselves into the work with blazing enthusiasm.