Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System-Chapter 15: Acid Rain End

Most of his time had been spent excavating the Warehouse, and now it was almost perfectly completed.

But Vikram had already decided that in the future, he needed to equip his Treehouse with proper defenses.

Around the Treehouse, especially near the entrance, he wanted to establish several defensive measures. Although the Thornvine was effective, it still had a weakness. If someone deliberately set fire around it, the vines could burn, and all his hard work might turn to ashes.

Moreover, he still needed seventeen more Thornvines to completely seal the entrance of his territory. Even then, relying only on vines would not be enough. He would also need a solid wall as a secondary barrier in case the Thornvines proved ineffective against certain creatures.

After all, Vikram had played Plants vs. Zombies before. Compared to that game’s defense system, what he currently had couldn’t even be considered basic defense.

Then there was the issue of farming.

He had already decided that the right side of his territory would be used for farmland in the future.

However, farming required several prerequisites, especially defense and a stable water supply. The five liters of water produced daily by the Aquaheart Root would not be nearly enough for farming.

If he wanted to start planting crops, he would have to divert a safe and sufficient water source into his territory.

Wild meat tasted good, but he couldn’t eat it every single day.

The wild animals here were quite strong, and recently he had been feeling a constant heat in his body. He had even suffered two nosebleeds.

Due to the lack of vegetables and fruits, and because his apples and berries had already run out. Vikram’s lips had become severely chapped over the past few days.

And after the acid rain, there was very little chance that apples or berries would still be available nearby.

He even suspected that if this continued, he might develop scurvy sooner or later.

Finally, just before the acid rain ended, he had offended another Survivor.

Vikram wasn’t particularly worried about that person tracking him down offline, because the Survival Platform still lacked any function that could reveal someone’s exact location.

However, he couldn’t completely lower his guard.

He always had the feeling that the matter wouldn’t end so easily.

Perhaps Brijbhushan couldn’t kill him offline, but it would be easy for him to cause trouble during trades.

To avoid unnecessary problems, Vikram decided it would be safer to add sellers directly as friends for future transactions instead of publicly listing trades. After all, posting trade listings wasn’t any faster anyway.

Lying on his bed, he quietly enjoyed this rare moment of leisure.

The acid rain outside had gradually begun to subside, and the chat group was filled with cheers.

Most Survivors expressed their joy at having survived the natural disaster.

But Vikram knew this was only an illusion.

Only those who survived could send messages; the dead could not speak.

During these seven days, countless deaths had likely occurred in dark, unseen corners.

After watching the chat for a while, his attention gradually drifted away from the flickering text.

The soft sound of rain outside, like a natural lullaby, slowly blurred his consciousness.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier until they finally closed, and he drifted into sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, an abrupt sound broke the tranquility.

At first, it was faint, like a distant call, but it soon became clear and urgent.

Vikram’s brows furrowed slightly with annoyance at being woken up.

He glanced at his wrist and saw that it was exactly 12:00 AM. The sound was coming from the totem on his wrist.

A mechanical voice echoed.

"Congratulations to all Survivors for successfully surviving the first natural disaster: Acid Rain."

"The second natural disaster: Extreme Cold will begin in one week and will last for six weeks. Please prepare."

"After the acid rain, the creatures of the Wasteland World appear to have undergone certain changes. Survivors, please explore on your own."

"Good luck, Survivors!"

The acid rain had finally ended.

Outside, it was still pitch black, and Vikram couldn’t see anything.

Even though the announcement had woken him up, there was nothing he could do at the moment.

So he simply lay back down and went back to sleep.

December 12th

Temperature: 18 degrees Celsius

A ray of morning sunlight shone through the crack in the door into the Shelter.

There was no sound of rain lingering in the air anymore, only a rare, peaceful silence.

At seven in the morning, the excitement of continuing to develop his Shelter and explore for resources pushed Vikram to wake up early.

He simply rinsed his mouth with some water.

Breakfast was still the same, buffalo meat.

This monotonous week of life had finally been broken now that the acid rain had ended.

What made him happiest was that he could finally go outside again.

Although he had been safe inside the Treehouse for the past seven days and hadn’t been particularly busy, the constant acid rain and the stuffy air, had given Vikram a persistent feeling of irritation.

Added to that were the endless cries, complaints, and arguments in the chat channel.

Vikram felt that the impact of the acid rain on him had been less severe than the mental fatigue caused by staying inside for so long.

When he stepped out of the Treehouse, the scene outside felt strangely peaceful.

Birdsong echoed in the air, and the surroundings were filled with the fragrance of flowers under bright sunlight.

It was as if the acid rain had never existed, disappearing overnight without leaving a trace.

The roads, trees, and plants that had previously been ravaged by the acid rain now looked almost the same as before.

Lush and green, full of vitality.

"What’s going on?"

The scenery felt so unreal that Vikram wondered if he had not fully woken up yet.

He pinched his cheek and quickly realized he wasn’t dreaming.

"Is this like a game version update? Did the resources refresh?"

Everything seemed to have returned to the way it was on his first day in this world—except for the constant layer of dust that had always hovered high in the sky.

However, the sunlight now shone through the sky without being blocked by dust, though it didn’t feel particularly warm on the skin.

"Extreme Cold..."

Based on his previous experience, Vikram immediately sensed that the key to this disaster lay with the sun.

He didn’t know whether the sun in this world was truly called the sun, but he was certain that whatever hung in the sky was related to the coming Extreme Cold disaster.

Unlike the previous acid rain, this disaster would last six full weeks.

Simply relying on stored supplies inside the Treehouse would make survival difficult.

After seven days of acid rain, there wasn’t much meat left in his bag.

"I must either bring a stable water source back to the Treehouse or find a way to upgrade the Aquaheart Root so I can irrigate farmland and achieve basic food self-sufficiency."

Ever since the Aquaheart Root matured, it had been producing five liters of water per day.

However, Vikram still had no idea how to upgrade it, because the system had not yet displayed any upgrade requirements.

Having made up his mind, Vikram immediately headed toward the mountain.

Thanks to his previous experience, this time he reached the water source in about two hours after entering the mountain.

After analyzing the water source with the Plant Life System, Vikram’s concerns quickly faded.

The water was just as clean as the last time he had checked it.

The acid rain truly seemed to have vanished into thin air, and even the traces of its destruction appeared to have completely disappeared.

"Although it’s very clean, the water flow isn’t strong enough. Diverting it into the Treehouse Water Tank from here isn’t a good choice," Vikram murmured as he stared at the spring water slowly flowing through the stream.

"If I connect the water from here to the Treehouse, the water pressure definitely won’t be strong enough. Most likely the water reaching the Treehouse will be intermittent."

"Since I’ve already decided to use this water source, I might as well do it properly and control it directly from the origin."

Following the stream upstream, he continued climbing until noon, when he finally reached the mountaintop and discovered the source of the water.

A small pond lay quietly on the mountaintop.

Water gently overflowed from the edge of the pond and flowed down the mountain, forming the stream he had been following.

This confirmed that it wasn’t stagnant water.

"System, how many Plant Essence would it cost to connect the water here to the Treehouse Water Tank?"

Before the system could answer normally, a notification suddenly appeared.

[Ding. Water Source Detected. Aquaheart Root Upgrade Requirement Updated.]

[Upgrade Option 1: Consume 500 Plant Essence]

[Upgrade Option 2: Locate and bind to a natural water pond]

Vikram stared at the message and complained.

"Are you joking with me?"

"I only have a pitiful 160 Plant Essence. How am I supposed to spend 500?"

The system remained silent for a moment before replying.

[Considering the user’s poor financial condition, a temporary upgrade method is recommended.]

[Level 2 Upgrade Cost: 60 Plant Essence

Water Production: +2 liters]

[Level 3 Upgrade Cost: 120 Plant Essence

Water Production: +4 liters]

[Current distance between Treehouse and water pond: 248 meters.

Minimum required level to establish root connection: Level 3.]

Seeing the solution appear, Vikram ignored the system’s mocking tone.

He immediately chose the upgrade.

"Upgrade Aquaheart Root to Level 3."

[Plant Essence −120]

[Remaining Plant Essence: 40]

As the command was issued, the Plant Essence transformed into glowing particles and flew toward the pond.

A moment later, something incredible happened.

A thick vine-like root suddenly extended from the direction of the Treehouse far below.

The root stretched across the distance, 248 meters, like a living pipeline.

Within seconds, it reached the pond and burrowed directly into the ground beside it.

At the same time, the Aquaheart Root beneath the Treehouse began evolving.

Its underground root network expanded rapidly, connecting to the newly established water source.

The system panel updated.

Aquaheart Root (Blue)

Type: Resource Purification Plant

Status: Level 3

Upgradeable: Yes

Daily Plant Essence Generation: +20

Description:

A subterranean purification plant that burrows underground to locate and cleanse water veins.

Current Functions:

• Detects underground water sources

• Purifies contaminated groundwater

• Produces 11 liters of clean water per day 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

• Root network connected to mountain pond water source (248m)

• Root system automatically expands underground

Role: Long-term water security plant.

"This distance is closer than I thought. Did I really take such a long mountain path?"

He took out the map and glanced at it, noticing that the distance shown on the map was even shorter—almost right next to the Treehouse.

"So this distance of over two hundred meters is actually the height difference from the Treehouse to the mountaintop?"

After finishing the upgrade, he looked around at the surrounding environment.

Because of the water source, the trees and flowers here were noticeably more lush than those at the foot of the mountain.

"The water source issue is temporarily resolved for farming."