Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System

A huge thank you to Martin_Garcia_5731 for the Golden Ticket! Your support truly means a lot and keeps me motivated to continue writing and improving the story.

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Vikram silently observed her. A thought immediately surfaced in his mind: successful subject. Perhaps this girl was the true result the vampires had been trying to create all along.

The girl slowly looked around the destroyed laboratory in confusion. Her golden eyes eventually stopped on Vikram.

Despite looking directly at him, she said nothing.

At first, Vikram thought she simply couldn’t speak, so he carefully stepped forward, trying to calm her. "It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. Come with me."

However, before he could say anything more, the girl suddenly screamed. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH—!!!"

The sound itself was terrifying. The entire underground laboratory violently shook as "CRACK!" "BOOOOM!" "RUMBLE!" rang out.

Walls split apart, massive cracks spread throughout the facility, research machines exploded, and even the ground began collapsing.

Vikram’s expression changed immediately.

This wasn’t an ordinary sound, it was some kind of terrifying biological or psychic ability. Worse, the girl clearly couldn’t control it properly.

Yet strangely, despite the destruction, Vikram didn’t sense hostility from her. Instead, she looked frightened and confused, almost like a child waking up in an unfamiliar world.

He slowly raised both hands in a peaceful gesture and tried communicating through calm expressions.

Perhaps because she sensed no hostility, the girl gradually stopped screaming. The destruction throughout the laboratory calmed afterward.

After staring at him silently for several moments, she slowly nodded like an obedient child and quietly began following behind him.

By then, the underground facility had become extremely unstable. Without hesitation, Vikram escaped the laboratory together with the mysterious girl.

When he finally emerged outside Crimson Eclipse Stronghold, even he froze slightly. The entire marquis stronghold was destroyed.

Massive cracks covered the fortress, entire sections had collapsed, flames spread throughout multiple areas, and distant towers had shattered apart.

Vikram immediately realized the truth: the destruction wasn’t caused by battle. It had been caused solely by that girl’s scream.

—

When Vikram finally returned from Crimson Eclipse Stronghold, everyone in Team 11 was already shocked by the news.

A marquis-level stronghold had somehow been almost completely destroyed, and Vikram had infiltrated it alone. Their shock increased even further when they saw the beautiful golden-haired girl quietly following behind him.

The moment Team 11 gathered, multiple curious gazes landed on her. The girl silently stood beside Vikram without saying anything, her golden eyes calmly observing the surroundings.

Carol blinked and immediately walked closer. "...Who is she?"

Even Isha narrowed her eyes slightly. The girl’s appearance alone felt unusual, too perfect, too clean, almost unreal.

Vikram calmly raised his hand. "Don’t disturb her." His serious tone immediately quieted everyone.

He then briefly explained everything he had discovered inside Crimson Eclipse Stronghold: the hidden laboratory, the serum research, the failed zombie experiments, and finally the mysterious girl awakened from the stasis chamber.

The more everyone listened, the more shocked they became. Sana quietly looked toward the girl. "You think she’s a successful experiment?"

Vikram slowly nodded. "Possibly. Or at least closer than the others."

The golden-haired girl remained completely silent throughout the discussion, as though she didn’t fully understand the conversation.

When Bushra carefully approached her, the girl instinctively moved behind Vikram and quietly grabbed part of his clothes, like a frightened child seeking safety. The surrounding team members immediately noticed.

Vikram felt slightly helpless. Since leaving Crimson Eclipse, the girl had refused to leave his side even for a moment. Eventually, after several days, he decided to give her a name.

"Luna."

It was simple yet strangely fitting, because her golden eyes under moonlight always looked calm and mysterious. From that day onward, the girl became known as Luna.

As time passed, Luna gradually began learning how to speak again. At first, she only used simple words, short sentences, and names.

However, her learning speed was terrifyingly fast. Within a short period, she already understood most conversations clearly. Even so, she rarely spoke unnecessarily.

Most of the time, she simply stayed quietly beside Vikram, following him everywhere, during missions, investigations, meetings, or training.

At first, Team 11 found it strange, but later everyone simply accepted it naturally. Luna caused almost no problems.

Despite the terrifying destruction caused by her scream earlier, she remained unusually obedient around Vikram, and only around him.

Vikram continued investigating the serum’s origins relentlessly. The research network, the hidden laboratories, the frozen zombies, and the missing serum creator slowly formed a much larger mystery.

Despite his desire to operate alone, that became impossible now. Luna absolutely refused to stay behind.

Even when Vikram secretly tried leaving without her, she somehow always found him again almost instantly. Eventually, he simply gave up trying.

At this point, Luna had practically become his permanent shadow. And strangely, despite her frightening power, her behavior remained innocent in many ways.

She observed everything curiously, learned silently, and stayed close to Vikram constantly. Even during his intimate moments with others, Luna remained nearby calmly.

At first, the others, especially Carol and Isha, became extremely embarrassed. However, Luna showed no reaction at all. She simply observed everything quietly with curious golden eyes, almost like someone trying to understand human emotions and relationships for the very first time.

After the destruction of Crimson Eclipse Stronghold, everything suddenly became quiet. Too quiet.

The hidden laboratories disappeared completely, the transportation routes vanished, and suspicious research activity stopped almost overnight.

Even the vampire movements became unusually calm. It was as though the entire research network had suddenly gone dormant.

Despite continuous investigation, Vikram found nothing afterward, no clues, no serum samples, no hidden facilities. Every trail ended in emptiness.

For the first time since starting the investigation, he had completely lost the trail, and the frustration was beginning to build.

Luna continued staying beside him quietly every day. Although she still spoke very little, she had gradually become far more expressive around him. Small emotions began appearing: curiosity, confusion, attachment, and occasionally jealousy.

One quiet night, after seeing Vikram being intimate with the other girls, Luna softly expressed her own desire.

"I... want that too," she whispered, her golden eyes filled with innocent longing. Vikram immediately stopped her, gently denying the request at first.

He tried to explain why it wasn’t appropriate, but Luna remained insistent, quietly determined in her own way. In the end, he was unsuccessful in refusing her.

That night, Vikram became intimate with Luna and took her virginity. Their connection was gentle, yet intense, deepening the bond between them in ways neither had expected.

For several moments afterward, Luna suddenly froze. Her golden eyes became slightly unfocused, as though she was remembering something buried deep within.

"Luna?" Vikram asked with concern.

She didn’t respond at first. Then she softly grabbed his arm. "...I remembered something."

Vikram’s expression turned serious. Luna rarely recalled anything from before her awakening.

"I saw..." she said slowly, organizing the fragmented memories, "...a tree."

Vikram frowned. "A tree?"

Luna nodded. "The vampires... they were taking blood from it." The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. "It was very large. Underground. And many powerful vampires were there." Her expression grew uneasy. "...Very dangerous."

Vikram’s eyes narrowed. "Do you remember the location?"

After a brief silence, Luna nodded. She quietly described the place, and the moment Vikram heard it, his expression changed. He recognized it immediately, Brooklyn City, under the control of Charles Xavier, the Sand King. Something major was happening there beneath his territory.

According to Luna, multiple vampire princes were present. This wasn’t merely another laboratory. It was likely one of the core centers of the entire project.

Luna suddenly grabbed his hand again and warned softly, "...Don’t go alone. There are many princes there." Even she, despite her terrifying abilities, clearly understood how dangerous that place was.

Vikram fell silent. Unlike baron or marquis territories, Brooklyn City was on another level. If he entered carelessly, even he might not survive.

Yet this was also the first real clue they had obtained in months, and perhaps the most important one yet.

If Luna’s memories were correct, then somewhere beneath Brooklyn City existed a mysterious blood-producing tree connected directly to the serum itself, and perhaps the true origin of the zombies.

At that moment, while quietly thinking, Vikram slowly looked toward Luna beside him and softly patted her head once. "You helped a lot," he said softly.

Luna silently leaned closer afterward and continued following beside him quietly.

Meanwhile, Vikram carefully organized all the information inside his mind before finally making a decision. This time, he needed real help, not ordinary Hunters, but true top-level human powerhouses.

The first person he thought of was Mist King Marcus Danvers, his grandfather and one of humanity’s strongest SSS-Rank Hunters. More importantly, Marcus possessed the authority to mobilize large-scale Hunter operations quietly.

However, another problem also existed.

Brooklyn City itself wasn’t under Mist King’s authority. That territory belonged to another human powerhouse, Charles Xavier, the Sand King, an SSS-Rank Awakened capable of controlling and transforming into sand itself. He was the ruler and protector of Brooklyn territory.

Meaning, if they intended to operate inside Brooklyn City, they absolutely needed his cooperation. Otherwise, a conflict between Hunter factions themselves could accidentally occur.

At that moment, Vikram quietly sighed.

"So in the end... I still have to rely on family."

Meanwhile, Luna tilted her head slightly without fully understanding, then silently followed behind him once again.

The next morning, Vikram directly headed toward Mist King’s office. Unlike previous times, his expression remained completely serious.

Because he understood clearly.

The moment he revealed everything, the serum, the Zombies, the frozen experimental subjects, and the blood-producing tree, the entire Hunter Federation itself would likely shake violently.

And perhaps, for the first time, humanity would finally realize that something far more terrifying than Vampires... was slowly approaching.