Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System-Chapter 2: Tall Treehouse
Seeing the treehouse was going to take most of the time, he began exploring the surrounding area.
He looked around for a long time, found many types of trees, but he didn’t know how to identify them.
Just as he was wondering about it, the Plant Life System responded.
Poplar Tree (White): A common tree in the jungle, can be chopped for wood.]
He was again surprised by the system.
It was as if the system could hear his thoughts. It answered him and this time it was a less mechanical tone.
!!If the Plant Life System doesn’t identify plants, who will? You?!!
Hearing the mocking tone of the Plant Life System, Vikram was surprised.
But he didn’t care about this, and turned to look towards the grass. Although the grass near the Treehouse had been cleared, it was only in the area of 3x3x3. The rest of the grass was still present.
[Amanita (White): A poisonous fungus, eat it when you want to die.]
Hmm? He could even see whether fungi were poisonous, this Plant Life System was quite something!
He then noticed a faint green light near a bush. And if not for the glowing green, Vikram might not have noticed.
[Red Berries (Green): Edible fruit, tastes sweet and sour, not very filling, but thirst-quenching and tasty.]
The red berries shrub, buried in a bunch of bushes, was full of small berries. Vikram picked one, rubbed it clean with his hand, and eagerly popped it into his mouth.
"Mm~ really good!" Vikram showed a satisfied smile. A taste he’d never experienced before but really nice — sweet and sour, full of juice, even bursting in his mouth.
The shrub was covered in dozens of red berries. Vikram picked them all, ate a dozen, and put the rest in his backpack.
Moving on.
Vikram walked on, occasionally tossing a sweet and sour berry into his mouth, feeling quite leisurely.
While he was leisurely surveying his territory, he found an apple tree.
He was shocked to see this, after all in the wasteland, how can the fruit tree still be alive.
But when he saw the apples hanging from the branches, he couldn’t help but swallow.
After a moment of hesitation, he picked one, and he looked at the system to identify it, to confirm that apple had no issue.
[Apple (blue): A fruit that can be eaten directly, tastes sweet, improves eyesight, and provides 2 hours of night vision ability upon consumption.]
"Whoa," Vikram was startled again. He hadn’t expected that within his territory, he would find a Blue-grade fruit so easily.
Moreover, looking at the tree, it seemed that he could harvest apples from this tree permanently.
After eating an apple, Vikram began to treat the minor injuries he had sustained today.
After all, walking several miles had left him with a few scratches.
There was too much stuff in his territory, so he simply gave up, picked a few apples, and returned to the treehouse he had planted, munching on them.
By this time, most of the two-hour growth period had passed. And the original small seed had grown into a towering tree.
"Is this... a banyan tree?" Vikram exclaimed, looking at the incredibly lush and unbelievably large banyan tree in front of him.
Banyan trees have always been described as "a single tree forming a forest" because the canopy of a banyan tree can cover an extremely large area. In Vikram’s original world, the canopy of a single century-old banyan tree could cover thousands of square meters, truly a single tree forming a forest.
At this moment, the treehouse hadn’t fully grown yet, but the banyan tree’s canopy had already grown very large. Although it wasn’t as expansive as the legendary old banyan trees, it could still reach an area of over a hundred square meters.
Gradually, the canopy became incredibly dense, and sunlight could no longer penetrate through it. The entire canopy now resembled a giant, opaque ball of seaweed.
Vikram knew his treehouse was about to be completed.
In Vikram’s sight, this treehouse glowed with a faint purple hue.
[Tall Small Treehouse (Purple): A treehouse formed from the growth of a banyan tree. It is a high-grade treehouse, inherently possessing an unrivaled bloodline compared to other treehouses. The person who obtains this treehouse is either extremely lucky or a cheater. Which one are you?] 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
"Whoa..." Vikram was stunned. He had never expected that after the Territory Core evolved into a Treehouse Core, it would upgrade from Gold to Purple.
He was now an absolute fan of the Plant Life System.
He looked towards his treehouse.
[Treehouse growth complete, ready for habitation.]
The dense canopy completely blocked out the sunlight, not allowing a single ray to pass through. From the outside, this was just an awe-inspiring giant banyan tree, and one could not tell it was actually a treehouse.
The entire banyan tree was about twenty meters tall, equivalent to the height of a seven-story building. Even the lowest part of the canopy was about ten meters above the ground, equivalent to the height of a four-story building’s windows
’How would you get up to that height...?’
Vikram glanced at the banyan tree’s aerial roots hanging down like willow branches.
’Could it be, one has to climb up using these? But his body doesn’t have such capabilities...’
Curiously, Vikram reached out to grab one of the aerial roots. A strange yet familiar feeling surged through his body, as if this giant banyan tree was part of his own body.
This marvelous feeling excited Vikram, and instinctively, he manipulated the aerial roots to wrap around his waist, lifting him easily upwards.
"Woohoo!" The ascent wasn’t slow, and Vikram quickly left the ground, being pulled up directly into the air ten meters high.
Just as his head was about to hit the dense bottom of the canopy, a hole suddenly opened in the canopy, allowing Vikram to enter inside the treehouse.
"This...this is too thrilling!" Standing inside the treehouse, Vikram still felt a bit shaken, thinking he was about to crash headfirst into that dense canopy just moments ago.
After calming down a bit, Vikram began to survey his surroundings.
The interior of the treehouse was completely different from what he had imagined. He had expected the interior to be filled with dense banyan leaves, but it wasn’t.
The floor and walls were made of smooth wooden planks marked with natural ring patterns. The interior space was vast—over a hundred square meters, roughly matching the canopy’s coverage. The entire treehouse interior was empty. Vikram stood in the center of the space, both feet resting on a circular wooden pattern that appeared to serve as the entrance.
Thanks to several open windows, the space was bright. Out of curiosity, Vikram walked to a window and noticed that although the exterior was enveloped by dense banyan leaves, he seemed to have some kind of x-ray vision, allowing him to see clearly outside.
Reflecting on the scene before he came up, this was likely a case of being able to see outside from inside but not being able to see inside from outside.
This floor was about three meters high, and Vikram also noticed a staircase on one side. It seemed like this treehouse had more than one level.
Vikram climbed up the stairs.
The whole treehouse had three levels. The second level was a bedroom, judging from the bed, stools, and table inside. There was nothing more inside, but its quality was slightly better.
Vikram didn’t go inside the second floor for now, and instead continued up to the third level.
The third level was completely empty, but there were options to install various mechanisms, like the crossbow or a few others, which helped him defend his treehouse.
He also understood that this room will become the control room later.
After looking at everything, he arrived back on the second floor, his bedroom.
"One can’t say it’s dilapidated, but it’s certainly bare to the walls."
Vikram sighed, but thinking of his golden finger, his heart immediately rejoiced; earlier, he had been focused on hurrying before dark, hastily claiming the newbie gift package and setting off, without having had a chance to properly research the specific functions of his golden finger.
Sitting on the hard wooden bed, he silently thought: "Plant Life System!"
A blue screen appeared before his eyes.
"No matter how many times, I still can’t get used to this feeling of a picture appearing in my mind yet being so real."
The system screen was very simple, with only two options:
1. System Usage Instructions
2. Shop
Vikram carefully read the instructions.
[This system is the Wasteland Plant Life System, designed to help the host survive better in the Wasteland.]
[Plant Essence is the core resource of this system, which can be directly used to upgrade plants, trees or items of treehouse, upgrade treehouse, or supplement materials needed for plant growth. Most importantly, Plant Essence can be used to purchase various survival items in the system shop.]
[Plant Essence is generated from cultivated plants, evolved flora, and territory ecosystem stability.]
[Plant Essence can be used to upgrade plants, evolve treehouse structures, install defensive mechanisms, and purchase items from the system shop.]
[Summon the system and focus your sight on an item to view its corresponding Plant Essence Value and various information.]
[Focus on any object within the territory to view its Plant Essence Value and upgrade requirements.]
Vikram focused his gaze on the furniture in front of him.
A faint green interface appeared over the wooden stool.
[Good Quality Wooden Stool (Green)]
A reasonably sturdy stool suitable for sitting and thinking about your miserable life choices. Long-term use may result in lower back pain.
Upgrade Requirement: 20 Plant Essence
Vikram’s eyelid twitched. "...Miserable life choices?"
He shifted his gaze to the bed.
[Good Quality Wooden Bed (Green)]
A simple wooden bed. Barely qualifies as comfortable. Better than sleeping on the ground like a primitive mammal.
Upgrade Requirement: 50 Plant Essence
"...Primitive mammal?"
He looked at the table.
[Good Quality Wooden Table (Green)]
A stable wooden table. Suitable for placing items, eating meals, or staring blankly into the void.
Upgrade Requirement: 30 Plant Essence
Finally, he examined the defensive structure slot.
[Basic Defensive Structure (White)]
Currently nonexistent. Your only defense is height and hope.
Upgrade Requirement: 100 Plant Essence
Vikram took a slow breath.
"So that’s how it is..."
None of these items generated Plant Essence.
They merely required it for upgrades.
Aside from the thick trunk and elevated height of the treehouse, he had no real defensive mechanisms installed.
He decided to check the Treehouse itself. A new panel unfolded before him.
[Tall Treehouse (Purple)]
Type: Special Plant Structure
Grade: Purple
Status: Healthy
Daily Plant Essence Generation: 50
Increases plant growth speed by 10% within the territory (scales with level)
Slightly increases plant mutation probability
Provides concealment from external observation
Evaluation: You are now slightly better than primitive monkeys who lived in caves. Congratulations.
Vikram’s face darkened.
"...Can you stop comparing me to monkeys?"
The system did not respond.
He stared at the number again.
Fifty Plant Essence per day.
Even without cultivating anything else, the Treehouse alone would generate 50 Essence daily.
Once he planted Thornvine, the Guardian Sprout, and future crops, the number would increase further.
Vikram began calculating silently. Fifty per day... one hundred in two days... upgrades were no longer out of reach.
Despite the system’s relentless sarcasm, he had to admit, The Plant Life System was terrifyingly powerful.
