From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 162 - 153: Yun Ye

But Shen Yue didn’t understand.

In his eyes, Gu Xi was already in the eye of the storm. If she revealed such a heaven-defying ability to the world, it would undoubtedly cause a massive uproar.

At that point, every faction would have their eyes fixed on Gu Xi, including those who were currently just watching from the sidelines.

Even the military might...

’You know this will put you in danger, so why can’t you just lie low for a while?’

Shen Yue gave her a disapproving look. "Gu Xiaoxi, no matter how powerful you are, you’re still just one person."

Having grown up in the military, Shen Yue knew better than anyone that the power of an individual could never match the machinery of a state.

He truly felt it was unnecessary. "Gu Xi, according to our original plan, you only need to hide here for a month..." At that point, the people outside would fall into disarray on their own.

Wouldn’t it be better for them to go out and fish in troubled waters then?

Gu Xi gazed at the distant sky and suddenly cut him off. "Shen Yue, believe me. No one understands better than I do what it feels like to be seemingly basking in endless glory, revered by millions, while actually being held in someone else’s palm, manipulated and controlled at their whim..."

Gu Xi did not like that feeling. In fact, she loathed it with a passion.

Back then, she could endure it for the future of all humanity. But now, Gu Xi was done enduring.

Shen Yue fell silent.

After a long moment, he looked up, gave Gu Xi a deep look, then turned and strode away.

「One week later.」

The military released a major announcement—Research Institute 024 had successfully cultivated a corn seedling that had undergone reverse evolution!

After the news was announced, some rejoiced while others gnashed their teeth in hatred...

But there was one thing no one could deny:

The successful reverse evolution of crops like upland rice, sweet potatoes, and corn showed the world one simple fact—a solution to the food crisis was on the horizon.

A new era was about to begin.

And a change of eras often meant a change in power.

In an instant, the Central Base was thrown into turmoil. The undercurrents were so strong that even ordinary people could feel the tension spreading through the air.

Ye Nan knew this was all because that girl named Gu Xi had burst onto the scene...

These past few days, Ye Nan had been completely lost.

The problem that had weighed on her for over a decade had been solved by someone else, in a completely different way.

Now, she no longer needed to carry the future of humanity on her shoulders, and no one would force her to do things she was fundamentally incapable of doing.

The Purification of X Energy, lowering the mutation coefficient of plants—none of that had anything to do with her anymore...

There would be no more expectations and no more disappointments. All the problems were solved.

Logically, she should have felt a huge sense of relief.

But for some reason, Ye Nan felt that something was very wrong with her. There was an emptiness in her heart, as if she couldn’t muster the energy for anything.

Ye Nan didn’t know what she should do, or what she even *could* do.

She tried to find her mother, Ye Xin, but Ye Xin was too busy... She couldn’t even spare a moment to meet with her own daughter.

Ye Nan returned to the Special Service Team in a daze.

But the person she wanted to see wasn’t there.

The way her teammates looked at her was also strange.

Ye Nan dazedly realized that she had only been away from the Special Service Team for a little over a month, but it seemed like everything had already changed.

She didn’t know where to go, or who to look for.

Then, as if guided by an unseen hand, Ye Nan thought of Gu Xi.

"Miss Ye?" Gu Xi’s gaze fell on the young girl’s somewhat vacant eyes, a little surprised.

After a moment’s thought, she asked Ye Nan, "Does your mother know you came to see me?"

Ye Nan slowly shook her head, feeling inexplicably guilty. "My mother has been especially busy lately," she said in a small voice. "I came on my own."

"Then is there something you need from me?" Gu Xi asked, her tone softening a little.

Ye Nan froze.

In truth, before she arrived, she hadn’t known why she wanted to find Gu Xi either.

But now, she thought she understood...

"Miss Gu." Ye Nan looked up at the girl across from her and summoned her courage. "Can you tell me how you did it? The reverse evolution of the plants..."

Gu Xi smiled. "You want to know? Come with me."

...

That night, just after seeing Ye Nan off, Gu Xi had barely returned to her room when a call came through on her personal terminal.

It was an unknown number.

But it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. The last few digits of the number happened to be the date she had slain the Zombie Emperor, thirty years ago.

Gu Xi didn’t know if it was a coincidence, or...

After a moment, when the number requested a connection for the second time, Gu Xi sighed, fiddled with the little green sprout, and pressed the answer key.

A tall, upright young man soon appeared on the Light Screen.

He was strikingly handsome, with skin as cool and pale as jade and a refined, gentle air. He immediately reminded Gu Xi of the first thought that had crossed her mind when she first met him all those years ago—a poetic line describing a man as rare as fine jade, a gentleman without peer in the world.

So many years had passed, yet his handsome features remained unchanged by time. His aura, however, had become deeper and more reserved, and he carried a noble, self-possessed air. Anyone who saw him would probably call him the very model of a refined gentleman.

But back when a young and naive Gu Xi was being led astray by Ye Xin with a few romance novels, Li Ming had once said that things like dignified reserve and gravitas were almost always cultivated by money and power.

Ordinary people had no connection to such words.

Later, after seeing more of the world... Gu Xi came to believe he was right.

Looking at the man before her now... Gu Xi sighed softly. "Yun Ye." ’You’ve finally appeared.’

Yun Ye looked at her and smiled faintly. His gaze swept casually over the little green sprout on her fingertip before finally landing on her face. "Xiaoxi, long time no see."

Gu Xi looked up at him, her expression dead serious. "Yun Ye, has it really been a long time since we’ve seen each other?" ’One year? Or thirty?’

But the man acted as if he couldn’t detect her probing question, looking at her as gently as he always had. "Xiaoxi, if I said... that what happened back then had nothing to do with me, you probably wouldn’t believe it, would you?"

Looking at the familiar smile playing on the young man’s lips, Gu Xi felt a storm of complex emotions, but her eyes grew even calmer, almost cold.

She stared at him fixedly. "But I still want to hear you say it. I want to hear it from your own lips."

Yun Ye sighed, his gaze tender and affectionate. "Xiaoxi, I know you don’t believe me, but that first glass of wine truly had nothing to do with me."

"And what about after?" Gu Xi looked up, her gaze fixed on him. Her hand, hanging by her side, subconsciously pressed against her knuckles, rubbing them slowly.

The little green sprout, at some point, had wound its way from her fingertip to her wrist, stirring restlessly.

"After..." Yun Ye seemed to drift into a memory, but he quickly snapped out of it.

He looked at Gu Xi, his face wearing its usual gentle smile. "Afterward? Well, how could I just stand by and watch as the girl I love was taken away by them?"

"So?" Gu Xi raised an eyebrow, the thumb pressing on her knuckles applying a bit more force.

"So, I rescued you, Xiaoxi," Yun Ye said, his smile growing even more gentle as he looked at her.

"And after that?" Gu Xi nodded and asked again.

"After that?" Yun Ye’s gaze softened further, a hint of nostalgia and regret mixed in with the tenderness. He said, "Xiaoxi, do you really not remember what happened after that?"

Gu Xi nodded, then shook her head, saying uncertainly, "It seems there’s a problem with my memory. I’ve forgotten a lot of things."

Yun Ye looked surprised for a moment.

But they both knew perfectly well that her uncertainty and his surprise were nothing more than what they wanted the other to see.