From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 163 - 154: Who on Earth Are You?

In the thick darkness of night, separated by a screen of light, two people who were once inseparable silently gazed at each other.

After a long moment, Yun Ye sighed. "Xiaoxi, do you remember what you promised me back then?"

Gu Xi nodded, not denying it. "I remember. I said that once the apocalypse was over, I would retire from the world with you and leave worldly affairs behind."

Yun Ye smiled gently. "So after that, I was simply fulfilling the promise we made to each other. But your teammates, it seems, didn’t think the same way."

He looked at her with a regretful expression, his gentle tone seemingly hiding endless grievances. "Xiaoxi, from the beginning, they never liked me..."

Gu Xi calmly cut him off, looking up to ask, "And what about you? Did you like them?"

"Of course not." The man smiled gently. "But I know that in your heart, Li Ming and the others always weighed more than me... No matter how much I did, or how well I did it, the most important people to you were always your teammates..."

’But you were once one of my teammates, too.’

Gu Xi watched him in silence.

But Yun Ye said, "Xiaoxi, come back. Come back to my side."

He took a step forward, extending a hand toward Gu Xi, his gentle voice laced with endless temptation.

"You’ve seen it yourself, humanity is a lost cause. They only want to use and control you in their fight for power. Once you’re no longer useful, they’ll discard you faster than anyone. It was like that before, and it’s the same now..."

"Only I, Xiaoxi, only I... we are the same kind." The young man’s words were earnest as he gazed at Gu Xi with lingering tenderness.

"But," Gu Xi stared at the hand extended before her, then slowly raised her gaze to the young man’s face, as pale as jade. "Are you really still human, Yun Ye?"

The young man didn’t seem surprised by her question. He calmly withdrew his hand and let out a soft breath. "Xiaoxi, you’ve finally figured it out..."

His eyes actually held a hint of cunning and pride.

Gu Xi sighed. "So, you really are the true Zombie Emperor?"

"No, you’re wrong, Xiaoxi." The young man’s gentle gaze held a trace of lofty contempt. "Don’t compare me to those low-level creatures who failed to evolve..."

Gu Xi frowned slightly. Li Ming had once speculated that the so-called apocalypse might be a grand evolution for all life on a global scale...

"Then, who are you, really?" she asked, suddenly looking up.

Her gaze was fixed intently on Yun Ye’s face.

The young man smiled, his gaze on Gu Xi as tender and lingering as ever. "Xiaoxi, who I am isn’t important. What’s important is that, as long as you’re willing, I can always be the Yun Ye you know."

The Yun Ye you rescued from a horde of zombies.

Gu Xi fell silent for a moment.

Back then, after she saved Yun Ye, he had followed her around without a single word...

From the very beginning, Li Ming and the others disliked this newcomer in their team.

But they couldn’t do anything about the fact that Gu Xi liked him.

Even though Yun Ye couldn’t even speak at the time, he had the face of a gentle and handsome pretty boy...

At that time, Gu Xi was at the tender age of first love. Li Ming figured that the young girl was growing up and would have to face this sort of thing eventually. In that case, it was better to keep the guy under their watch...

But Qee Ran and Xiao Yu disagreed.

Later, it was Ye Xin who took the initiative to share her collection of pre-apocalypse novels and persuaded the others.

—After all, the novels all said that if parents were too forceful in breaking up a pair of lovebirds, it would only spark the main characters’ rebellious spirits and end up fueling the flames of their romance...

It was better to just let it be from the start.

Besides, what Xiaoxi liked was just his face.

After a while, once the novelty of his face wore off for Xiaoxi, her interest would naturally fade...

When that time came, they might not even have to do anything, and the problem would solve itself.

But back then, none of them had expected this little mute to be such a scheming boy. He had secretly followed Gu Xi on a solo mission.

Only after the two returned did Li Ming and the others discover that the little mute wasn’t actually mute... but by then, it was too late to stop anything.

Because Yun Ye had not only saved Gu Xi’s life but had also helped the base fend off a zombie horde.

From that day on, Yun Ye officially became a member of the Doomsday Squad.

Li Ming had felt there was something wrong with him even then, but thinking of the cautionary tales Ye Xin had provided, he could only endure it for the time being and plan for the long term.

After that, he tried to subtly separate Gu Xi from the man, finding reasonable excuses to split them up for every mission. He also stopped interfering when other factions sent all sorts of handsome men to woo Gu Xi...

As for the effect... perhaps only Gu Xi herself knew the truth.

A breeze swept through the clouds, obscuring the vast expanse of stars and moon outside.

Gu Xi retracted the small green sprout at her fingertip and slowly looked up at the man on the screen of light.

"Li Ming guessed a long time ago, didn’t he?" she asked softly.

Yun Ye: "Perhaps. He was always clever... I learned a lot from him in those first two years..." ’That’s why, in the end, I decided to spare his life.’

Gu Xi asked again, "Then what about Ye Xin? All these years, were you the one behind the scenes..."

"Yes." He didn’t deny this either. "Back then, Ye Xin was determined to get revenge for you. She came to me, so I helped her out and sent her to those people..."

Gu Xi frowned. That cup of wine back then... Ye Xin had indeed been the one to hand it to her...

No wonder. No wonder Ye Xin had taken all the blame on herself, to the point where even now, she only dared to pass her little notes...

As if reading her mind, Yun Ye said bluntly, "There was indeed a problem with that drink, but it had nothing to do with me."

He lowered his eyes, looking at Gu Xi gently. "I think you’ve already guessed... that drink was..." ’The idea of the base’s upper echelons. The others just went along with it for their own gain.’

’Humans are just selfish. A human base like this, what reason does it have to exist anymore?’

’It would be better to join me and create a new and glorious era together!’

But Gu Xi cut him off directly. "That’s enough."

At this point, who tampered with the drink was no longer important. What mattered were the factions involved behind the scenes...

They say a single action can affect the whole situation.

Getting swift revenge would be satisfying, but she wasn’t alone in this.

Yun Ye sighed. ’Xiaoxi, you’re still too kind in the end.’

’Fine.’

’Then let me be the one to make the decision for you.’

He sighed softly, his gaze on Gu Xi growing even more tender and affectionate. "Xiaoxi, believe me, one day you will return to my side."

"I’ll be waiting for you."

The screen of light before her gradually faded, the young man’s familiar figure dissolving into light and shadow.

Gu Xi stood in silence for a moment before turning and heading to the adjacent laboratory.

She was very busy every day now; she had no time to stand around wallowing in sentimentality.

Ever since the successful reverse-evolution of the corn plants, more and more project files had been placed before her: wheat, soybeans, sorghum, rice, potatoes, cucumbers...

The crop data before her numbered in the thousands.

Besides cooperating with the various agricultural experts on experiments, Gu Xi also had to organize documents, meticulously recording the detailed process of her power usage each time, trying to summarize it into something others could use.

—To complete the reverse-evolution of all plants by herself was simply an impossible task.

Moreover, it definitely wouldn’t be a good thing for her. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The tree that stands taller than the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

So, Gu Xi decided to drag all the other ability users into it.

Not just Wood Element users, but ability users of other elements as well...

Energy is conserved, and it can also be converted.

No matter the type of ability, at its core, it is all energy.

What Wood Element users could do, users of other elements weren’t necessarily incapable of doing.

Over the past few days, while inducing reverse-evolution in plants, Gu Xi had tried converting to other elemental abilities at certain critical points to stimulate the plants’ growth and devolution.

Although the effect seemed minimal so far, Mr. Ouyang had affirmed her line of thinking.

This made Gu Xi even more resolute in her idea.

Li Ming also strongly agreed.

"Xiaoxi, your idea is excellent."

Li Ming rested his hands on his legs, looking at the girl furiously writing beside him, and mused, "Once all the ability users are involved in the plants’ reverse-evolution, people’s attention will no longer be fixed solely on you."

Gu Xi’s pen paused. She looked up at Li Ming. "But some people probably won’t be happy about that."