From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 43 - 40: Craving Meat

Ye Nan released her hand, staring in disbelief at the test results before her.

’How could this be?!’

She couldn’t detect any energy fluctuations within the Mutated Locust Tree.

Not only was the mysterious energy she’d previously discovered—the one suspected of having a Purification ability—gone, but even the tree’s original energy had vanished!

Moreover, the rate at which the Mutated Locust Tree was decaying was abnormally fast.

This wasn’t right.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Jun Han." Ye Nan’s heart was beating a little fast. She instinctively looked up at him.

Ye Junhan had already averted his gaze. The hand resting on his waist tightened imperceptibly.

He raised his eyes and gave her an indifferent glance.

His gaze was as detached as ever.

But for some reason, Ye Nan’s heart began to sink, bit by bit.

The next morning, Qi Xiang had just arrived at the lab when someone blocked her path.

"Mr. Ye?" Qi Xiang raised an eyebrow, then instinctively glanced up at the sky.

’The sun didn’t rise in the west today, so this is a surprise. Who would’ve thought a block of ice like Ye Junhan would actually come looking for me of his own accord?’

As her eyes darted about, a flicker of amusement appeared in Miss Qi’s expression as she looked at him.

"Mr. Ye, ambushing me so early in the morning. Is there something you need?" Qi Xiang blinked, her smile radiant. She nonchalantly twirled a stray lock of hair that had fallen forward and asked with a grin.

"Last night, did you stay at Wei Heng’s place?" Ye Junhan, completely unmoved by the beauty’s charming smiles and flirtatious air, stared at Qi Xiang with piercing eyes and asked icily.

*Tsk.* ’Is he interrogating a criminal?’ Qi Xiang rolled her eyes internally, but her expression only grew more coquettish.

She even took a step forward, intending to get closer to him. "What’s this? Is Mr. Ye checking up on me? Or... are you worried I might try to seduce your former... vice-captain?"

The beauty advanced, wrapped in a fragrant breeze. Her breath was sweet, her eyes alluring, yet the emotion in Ye Junhan’s gaze didn’t waver in the slightest.

But the aura he had been holding back instantly surged toward Qi Xiang, thick with cold, ruthless killing intent.

Qi Xiang was forced to take a step back before she could even touch the hem of his clothes, her face turning slightly pale.

She couldn’t help but let out a cold scoff.

’This man... he’s ruthless. And... so cold.’

’But what gives you the right to come looking for me, only to act like you’re disgusted by me?’

’Do you really think I like you? If I weren’t so beautiful, with so many admirers buzzing around, and if your reputation wasn’t at least somewhat useful, do you think I’d even bother with you?’

’It’s not like I’m not some post-apocalyptic princess myself.’

Though her eyes remained alluring, Qi Xiang’s temper began to flare.

"What’s this? Is Mr. Ye actually jealous?" she asked, her eyes crinkling flirtatiously as she feigned a pout. "Are you angry with me?"

Ye Junhan narrowed his eyes slightly.

But then Qi Xiang’s expression suddenly changed. She snorted, a look of disgust on her face. "Relax. I’m not interested in you or your vice-captain."

After shutting down the icy man, Qi Xiang seemed to have vented her frustration and added a grudging explanation:

"Last night, right after dinner, your vice-captain took a pot of sweet potatoes to go catch up with your team members. As for me, I spent a very pleasant night sleeping next to a sweet, delicate little girl..."

Ye Junhan lowered his gaze. ’It wasn’t her?’ 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

’But if it wasn’t her, then who was that person in the depths of the forest last night?’

Just then, "Jun Han," Ye Nan suddenly called, walking out from a nearby laboratory.

"The helicopter is ready..." Ye Nan said, clutching a folder of documents to her chest. She walked toward them, her gaze skipping over Qi Xiang before finally landing on Ye Junhan.

"Mm," Ye Junhan responded faintly. His right hand, still clad in a tactical glove, habitually stroked the sheath of the knife at his waist.

Ye Nan smiled before turning to Qi Xiang. "Miss Qi, we’ll be returning to the Central Base shortly. Are you sure you won’t be coming back with us?"

The Mutated Locust Tree had completely rotted away, leaving no sample to study. Ye Nan no longer had any reason to stay.

The Special Service Team had other missions and couldn’t remain here indefinitely. So after collecting the final samples last night, they prepared to leave today.

Qi Xiang had come with them, so Ye Nan asked her out of courtesy before they left.

Of course, this was also at the behest of her mother, Ye Xin.

Though Ye Nan didn’t understand why her mother had insisted she go through the trouble of asking Qi Xiang.

Qi Xiang found the girl amusing. ’She clearly doesn’t like me getting close to Ye Junhan, yet she has to pretend she doesn’t care and ask anyway.’

’Why torture yourself like that? If it were me...’

’Ah, forget it. Bullying a young girl is no fun.’

’I’d rather use this time to go find Gu Xiaoxi and ask for some tasty snacks. After all, I just did her a huge favor.’

"No, thanks," she said, glancing at Ye Junhan and Ye Nan before turning and waving a hand dismissively. "I’m Mr. Zhao’s lab assistant now, so I won’t be returning to the Central Base..."

Ye Nan stood frozen, watching as Qi Xiang, with her exceptional grace, walked around Ye Junhan without a second thought and entered Mr. Zhao’s laboratory.

’Sometimes, I really envy Qi Xiang. She’s always so lucky, always able to get whatever she wants so easily.’

’The only exception, perhaps, is the man standing right beside me.’

At this thought, Ye Nan instinctively turned to the man next to her. "Jun Han..."

"Let’s go." Ye Junhan calmly withdrew his gaze from somewhere in the distance and strode toward the makeshift helipad.

...

The roar of the helicopter gradually faded into the distance.

Gu Xi withdrew her gaze and poked the two tender leaves at the tip of the little green sprout.

The people from the Abnormal Ability Research Institute and the Special Service Team were gone, but she knew in her heart that this matter was far from over.

At best, it had only bought her a little more time to prepare.

Gu Xi never underestimated the power of the state apparatus, nor did she ever overestimate her own abilities.

Both Xv Yiyisan and the people behind Shen Yue had played a part in this incident. This meant that she was now being watched by several different groups...

Wei Heng had just returned from outside when he saw Gu Xi standing motionless in the field. He grew nervous. "Gu Xi, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing." Gu Xi retracted her ability, tilting her head to stare at Wei Heng for a moment before slowly asking, "Did they... suspect you?"

Before he left, Ye Junhan had, after all, met with Wei Heng.

Wei Heng looked up at the sky. "Maybe. If they want to suspect me, there’s nothing I can do about it."

After a moment, he turned to Gu Xi. "Don’t worry. At least when Mr. Ye came to see me today, it was just to catch up."

"Besides, so what if someone’s suspicious? I’ve already left the Special Service Team, and I don’t plan on going back." Wei Heng forced a relaxed smile, then turned, grabbed a bucket from the kitchen, and squatted down to start grinding sweet potato starch.

But Gu Xi was thinking about something else...

After a long pause, she squatted down next to Wei Heng, propped her chin on her hand, and said, "About the mutated animals... is there really no way?"

The mutated fish in the river were just an isolated case, after all. Gu Xi wanted to see how other animals were faring.

Besides, after eating vegetarian for so many days, she was craving meat.

"I really can’t do anything about that," Wei Heng said while grinding the sweet potatoes. He thought for a moment, then added, "But maybe we could ask Shen Yue to figure something out."

The military has its own dedicated livestock farms. With Shen Yue’s connections, getting a few small animals from there shouldn’t be a big problem.

’But... it’s not just us around here anymore. If we get mutated animals, how would we raise them? And where?’

’This is a huge problem.’

’There are a lot of people over at the neighboring experimental fields. Raising mutated livestock privately is against base regulations. If someone reported us...’

Besides, he felt that Gu Xi was a bit too fixated on this matter.

"Gu Xiaoxi, why are you so obsessed with raising mutated animals?" Since Gu Xi said he could ask, Wei Heng decided to be direct. "If you just want to eat meat, we can go trade for some at the camp..."

Gu Xi shook her head slightly. "It’s not about the meat." ’Although the meat is definitely also an issue.’

Seeing Wei Heng’s confused look, she thought for a moment and said with a serious expression, "I just want to confirm something."

Just as she spoke, Shen Yue came sauntering over from the side of the grassy slope. He peered into the bucket in front of Wei Heng. "Making something good to eat? Perfect, I’m hungry too..."

Gu Xi and Wei Heng exchanged a look. "..."

But Shen Yue suddenly ambled over to Gu Xi’s side. "Gu Xi, I have some good news for you..."