Chapter 165
Seeing that the remaining [Plant Evolution Liquid] was about to lose its effectiveness, Lin Tu quickly grabbed her blueberries and Little Black. Apart from Cat Grass, all her plant items had shown slight quality improvements after [Angry Corn].
She was about to drip a few drops on the blueberries and then onto Little Black when Professor Lü stopped her: "It won't work on S-rank items, and the dose you just applied was too small."
"Oh." Lin Tu regretfully let Professor Lü take over.
Professor Lü: "..." You say "oh" like that, as if you have an endless supply of plants with perfect planting satisfaction to waste. He had always known Lin Tu was unscientific, but he never expected her to be this unscientific.
Then, the very next second, a brilliant light burst forth from the three plants.
Professor Lü: "???" Did she really gamble and win?!
Professor Lü stared intently at the three plants, his calm voice barely containing his excitement as he announced—
"A-rank Corn Cob, new effect [Corn Demon's Sound: those who move within the cornfield will hear a demonic sound that disorients their sense of direction, making it impossible to escape the cornfield (except for the owner)];"
"S-rank Bloodthirsty Barbed Wire, new effect [Blood Absorption: the wire will take root in blood. The more blood it absorbs, the stronger it becomes. Once it absorbs enough blood, it will begin to grow];"
"S-rank Night Blueberry, new effect [Queen of the Night: within ten seconds of eating the blueberry, the consumer will enter an invisible state that cannot be detected by sight, smell, or any other means. After ten seconds, the state automatically ends]."
Two S-ranks! One A-rank!
The plants had grown another size larger, bursting the plastic pots that were only meant to temporarily hold them. Lin Tu wasn't upset about that; instead, she looked up at the three plants with delight.
"The lab members all said a few days ago that they wanted to change their research direction. I never thought," she heard Professor Lü's slightly trembling voice from behind, "I never thought I'd live to see a miracle happen."
"The miracle is thanks to Grandpa Lin," Lin Tu stood up with a hint of pride, then humbly added, "Of course, you all did your part too."
Professor Lü gave her a strange look. Could it be that her admiration for Grandpa Lin Zhihai, the project's initiator, was what allowed her to grow plants that could successfully trigger the [Plant Growth Liquid]? Researchers tended to believe in a bit of mysticism, though Professor Lü had always put his faith in the Earth God.
"Thank you, Grandpa Lin Zhihai," Professor Lü piously clasped his hands and bowed twice. Feeling a bit silly afterward, he quickly returned to the topic at hand: "My bottle of [Plant Evolution Liquid] used ninety-nine types of D-rank plant items, sixty-six types of C-rank, thirty-three types... in total, two hundred and nine types of plant items, worth at least several hundred thousand points."
Lin Tu: "???" She wanted to grab her things and run immediately. She knew Professor Lü was wealthy, but she never imagined he was this loaded!
"But you don't have to pay me. Just leave these plants here for me to do a recording experiment, and I'll return them to you in three days."
"No problem." Lin Tu let out a long sigh of relief and agreed. This whole speaking-in-riddles habit was a real problem.
"I haven't even told you my persuasive argument yet. Sure you don't want to hear it?" Professor Lü was in a rare good mood and joked with Lin Tu. "If I manage to convince those old fossils in the lab, you might get a chance to enter the lab and select plant items—those are all treasured plants."
"They'd give them to me?"
"How could that be!" Professor Lü's eyes widened, his beard bristling. "You'd get a chance to plant them!"
"Oh..." Lin Tu immediately lost interest.
Seeing her like that, Professor Lü felt his anger rising again.
Lin Tu asked another question: "Can't you escape the Infinite Calamity with a hundred thousand points? Why spend several hundred thousand points on [Plant Evolution Liquid] instead of using that to escape the disasters?"
Professor Lü looked at her with slight surprise, immediately making her realize she'd asked a common-knowledge question. But he didn't mock her; instead, he thought for a moment before answering.
"Because there's nowhere to go. It's a ridiculous thing, but we've come to know so many worlds, and yet not a single one can accommodate us. We're like children whose homes have been flooded, earning money outside, renting homes outside. Wherever our friends are, that's home. At least for me, Doomsday Town is my home."
All worlds were collapsing—an uncomfortable truth no one wanted to speak of.
Back in her own world, Lin Tu looked at her phone as the signal returned and the National Disaster Prevention APP began flooding with red warning messages. She couldn't help but sigh.
After the disaster occurred east of the Yellow Sea and that area fell completely in no time, disasters began breaking out across the world. Domestically, another red-level disaster had appeared, and internationally, there were three altogether. Worse, the mutated monsters from the east of the Yellow Sea were drifting along the ocean, attacking small fishing villages along coastlines worldwide.
Watching one's own world slowly tilt toward the abyss was not something that could be described merely as fear.
Lin Tu opened Zhou Yi's call interface and asked, "I have a channel where I can trade everyday items for items. Help me get in touch."
...
After the national government made an official announcement warning the country east of the Yellow Sea to prepare, only for that country to ignore it and now beg for help worldwide, not just people domestically but most people abroad began to believe in the authenticity of that map.
Especially the slightly lighter-colored areas on the map—small earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other disasters were predicted with eerie accuracy. People all over the world couldn't stop staring at that map.
So when four red zones suddenly appeared on the map, broadcast live on television, their sheer scale made almost everyone gasp for air.
The disaster area domestically was in the south, and the red zone covered nearly an entire province.
The government was organizing a rapid evacuation of all residents in that province. A few stubborn holdouts refused to leave, and for the greater good, the government could only evacuate the others first.
On the live broadcast channel, the current evacuation status of that province was being shown. Crowds of people jostled and clamored, carrying baggage of all sizes—whether burlap sacks or suitcases—strapped to motorcycles, piled on tricycles, or stuffed into cars. Scattered on the ground were drying racks, wedding photos, parasols, and folding chairs. The reporter looked like a war correspondent on the front lines.
What drew the most attention in that scene was a family sitting motionless by their front door.
"It's a lie! It's a lie!" A middle-aged man surnamed Huang patted his child, urging her to shout. "This is our home! We're not moving!"
"Not unless they pay us." The mother whispered instruction to her daughter.
Amid the bustling crowd passing by, the middle-aged man, with his wife, child, and elderly parents, wore a faint look of smugness on his face, like a wise man sober among the blind drunk.
Zhou Yi frowned and typed words of persuasion, then frowned again as she realized the people inside couldn't see them, and closed the livestream. She opened the streaming list and noticed that broadcasts from that province's IPs dominated the top trending searches. People couldn't help but open the platform and start searching for news about that province.
The comments below were a jumble of opinions, but all carried an unavoidable fear of shared downfall.
"Still being a holdout! Run now! Haven't you noticed even the workers can't be bothered with you anymore?! Doesn't that tell you how urgent the situation is?!"
"How can this person still be bringing their pet at a time like this! Throw the pet away now!"
"Upstairs, are you insane? Pets are family too!"
"Ha, when disaster comes, I'll leave my elderly parents who can't walk well behind in our hometown."
"Family and pets can't be compared!"
"Oh, when disaster hits your area, let's see what you do on livestream!"
"Don't jinx it! I'll die after you do!"
When fear strikes, arguments always become inevitable as people try to vent their overwhelming emotions.
Still thinking about money at a time like this! Still arguing! Zhou Yi felt the internet was nothing but a cesspool. She had been inside a red zone and knew the stakes—these people had no idea what they were facing!