From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 209 - 200: Hybrid Species
Uncertain how many more mutants were lurking in the wilderness, Ye Junhan ordered the convoy to tighten its formation.
Several heavy armored vehicles took the lead, with off-road vehicles bumping along the desolate landscape. Drones circled in the distance, scrutinizing the surroundings for any suspicious signs.
Strangely, however, the convoy traveled for a full day, covering a search area of over 100 kilometers, without spotting any sign of the mutants again.
The little thief who had tried to steal the melon, on the other hand, was brazenly tailing the convoy. This scared several of the low-level superpowered individuals in the group, making their faces turn pale, and even the people from the research institute quieted down.
"Stop the car," Gu Xi said suddenly.
Ye Junhan glanced at her and had the team member driving pull the car over.
Gu Xi got out of the car and looked into the distance. "It’s been too quiet on this road."
The sense of crisis honed by years of life-and-death battles told Gu Xi that something was very wrong, even though she couldn’t perceive any immediate danger nearby.
Ye Junhan keyed his intercom. "Yang Liu, are there any suitable places to make camp nearby— Watch out!"
Before he could finish, the ground began to shake violently.
Qi Xiang, who had just stepped one foot out of the car, was instantly thrown forward. Just as she was about to fall face-first, Gu Xi, who was right beside her, reacted quickly and pulled her back.
Qi Xiang clung to Gu Xi to steady herself, still shaken. "An earthquake?"
Gu Xi slowly shook her head, her gaze fixed on the ground beneath her feet. "There’s something underground."
The next moment, Sprout shot into the sky, instantly transforming into a colossal vine. It sent down countless roots, anchoring itself firmly into the ground for several miles around.
No one knew of the slaughter taking place deep underground.
But immediately after, the ground shook violently again. The people who had just gotten out of their vehicles were thrown off balance. In the chaos, even the superpowered individuals could only struggle to stay on their feet.
Qi Xiang glanced at Gu Xi, suppressed her intense discomfort, and took a step forward, placing her hand on the colossal vine that was Sprout.
This was the first time she had ever actively used her superpower.
It wasn’t her ethereal Golden Carp Luck, but something more like a buff from a video game.
Gu Xi glanced back at her in surprise. ’I thought she would keep it hidden forever...’
Just then, a gigantic tail burst out from the shaking ground.
The tail, several meters long, was covered in black scales as large as basins, its edges lined with sharp barbs. With one horizontal sweep, it smashed a deep, wide chasm into the earth.
Even a few of the heavy armored vehicles nearby were flattened like pancakes.
Gu Xi pushed the pale-faced Qi Xiang toward the Qin Family sisters. Seeing that the shockwave from the tail’s sweep had sent more than half the convoy flying, she narrowed her eyes. With a light tap of her feet, she leaped several times, landing atop the giant vine that was Sprout, standing tall against the wind.
At the same time, a figure flashed past. Ye Junhan appeared beside the massive tail, leaped up to step on one of its barbs, and vaulted upward, drawing the curved blade from his waist.
He hooked his feet onto a foot-long barb to secure his position. Gripping the hilt with both hands, veins bulging on their backs, he slashed down with all his might.
A brilliant flash of purple light erupted, and everyone around instinctively closed their eyes.
Gu Xi stood steadily at the top of the giant vine, her eyes fixed on the tail, which had been nearly sliced in two by the single blow. I say "nearly" because the giant-tailed monster’s regenerative ability was incredibly strong; even as the cut was made, the wound was already healing at a rapid pace.
Visually, it created a grotesque effect, the two halves pulling apart but still connected by regenerating fleshy threads.
"It’s like a gecko!" Qi Xiang exclaimed, her face pale as she swayed with the tremors of the ground.
"A gecko?" Qin Yi steadied herself by grabbing Qi Xiang with one hand and a root from the giant vine with the other. "I was thinking it’s more like an earthworm."
In the distance, the giant tail was clearly enraged by Ye Junhan’s attack and began to thrash about wildly.
It slammed deep gouges into the ground one after another.
Ye Junhan flipped over, gripping a barb on a scale with one hand. Though tossed from side to side, he held on securely to the tail.
Then, a purple Thunder Net instantly enveloped the entire tail.
At the same time, Gu Xi narrowed her eyes. The vine beneath her feet shot out like a long whip, wrapped around the severed end of the tail, and yanked hard.
The giant-tailed monster was pulled from the ground, section by section, until its true form was finally revealed.
Beneath the massive tail was something that resembled a suction cup. A dense mass of countless roots dangled from it, and on those roots grew brown, potato-shaped fruits.
"What the hell is that?" Qi Xiang looked shocked. "An animal’s tail with a plant’s roots? So is this a mutant plant, or a mutant animal?"
Qin Yi thought for a moment before saying in all seriousness, "Perhaps it’s a hybrid species." After a pause, she added, "...A mutated hybrid species."
Qi Xiang turned to her with a complicated expression. "Are you serious?" ’How can an animal and a plant even hybridize?’
’They’re entirely different species...’
Qin Yi said, "But I can definitely sense plant-based power from it." As a Wood Element user, she was certain she wasn’t mistaken about this.
But this huge tail had scales and barbs; there was no way it could be just a plant. That’s why Qin Yi boldly speculated that it must be some kind of hybrid.
After all, in the apocalypse, anything was possible.
Qi Xiang was silent for a moment. She suddenly recalled something Dr. Qi once said—’Could this be what Dr. Qi called the third great mutation of the natural world?’
’The fusion of species between mutant animals and mutant plants?’
Looking at the giant-tailed monster before her, Qi Xiang suddenly felt a wave of despair.
’The apocalypse is already so difficult. Humanity had only just begun to find some stability after the zombie catastrophe. If a third great mutation is coming, is there any hope left for us?’
...
Once the giant-tailed monster was pulled from the ground, it gave up its fight with Sprout for territory underground and instead focused its full firepower on Ye Junhan, who was clinging to its body.
Having survived the initial attack, the other superpowered individuals had now recovered, and a barrage of multi-colored powers began exploding around the giant tail.
Among them were a few who, under the guise of fighting the monster, deliberately aimed poorly and sent their attacks toward Ye Junhan.
Ye Junhan’s expression remained unchanged as he murmured a command into the intercom on his shoulder.
On a distant off-road pickup, Liu Hao vaulted onto the roof, knelt on one knee, and shouldered a rocket launcher.
Ye Junhan narrowed his eyes, kicked off the giant tail with both feet, and used the rebound to launch himself into the air. He grabbed one of the hanging roots from the colossal vine and was instantly pulled out of the combat zone.
Simultaneously, with a deafening BOOM, a silver Superpower Bullet shot forward in a parabolic arc, heading straight for the giant-tailed monster’s body.
Gu Xi narrowed her eyes.
The rocket launcher hit the giant-tailed monster accurately. The Superpower Bullet pierced directly into its body but didn’t explode.
Seeing this, Liu Hao cursed under his breath. ’What kind of secret weapon is this? It’s completely useless!’
Just as he was about to reload, he saw the giant-tailed monster, which had been thrashing wildly just a moment ago, suddenly go rigid and topple to the ground.
BOOM—
After the massive crash, everything seemed to fall silent, but Gu Xi’s expression darkened.
