Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System-Chapter 26: Killing

"Are you so sure we can’t beat Vikram... or do you think he’ll let you live after this is over?"

The slightly plump young man, Tej Pratap, still looked calm. His tone remained steady and unhurried, as if he had already prepared for this situation.

"That’s none of your business," Amit immediately replied.

"Boss Vikram knows what he’s doing... right, Vikram Boss?"

The last part was clearly directed toward Vikram, his face forcing out a strained and nervous smile.

Vikram felt a trace of disgust inside, but he suppressed it and replied calmly.

"Of course."

Since Amit had already openly chosen sides, Tej Pratap no longer wasted time talking.

"Attack!"

He shouted to Dushyant while simultaneously throwing a blood-red crystal toward him.

Dushyant caught the object instantly.

Without hesitation, he raised it toward his mouth.

Tej Pratap burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Kid, do you even know what that is? That’s a Crimson Shard. With that, we’ll tear you to pieces!"

But the scene he imagined never happened. Just before Dushyant could swallow the shard, a small figure suddenly rushed forward.

A tiny humanoid plant warrior struck his wrist.

"Crack!"

The unexpected attack knocked the Crimson Shard out of Dushyant’s hand. Before Dushyant could react, another small figure appeared.

"Bang!"

The Guardian Sprout slammed its shield directly into his head.

"AAAHHH!"

Dushyant screamed as he crashed to the ground, his skull splitting open from the violent impact. Blood immediately began pouring down his face.

The Crimson Shard rolled across the ground. Before anyone could reach it, the Guardian Sprout calmly stepped forward and picked it up.

Vikram snorted coldly, "Do you think I’m stupid? Do I have to wait for your magical transformation to finish before attacking?"

He didn’t give them even a second to recover, "Finish him."

The command was simple. The Warrior Sprout moved instantly. Its vine-blade flashed through the air.

"No—!"

Dushyant tried to scream. But the sound never fully came out.

"Swoosh!"

His head separated cleanly from his body. For a moment, the battlefield fell silent.

The Warrior Sprout stood motionless, gripping its blade tightly. Crimson blood slowly flowed down the sharp vine-blade. Then, with a powerful swing—

"Swish!"

The blood splattered across the ground, forming a curved crimson arc. After that, the little warrior straightened its posture proudly and struck a warrior pose toward Vikram.

On the other side, Tej Pratap, who had been calm and composed only moments ago, was now completely terrified.

His face had lost all color. His legs had gone weak, he couldn’t even gather the strength to run.

Instead, he collapsed onto the ground, sitting helplessly on his backside.

Seeing Vikram slowly walk toward him, Tej Pratap began begging frantically.

"Please, don’t kill me! I can help you! I know a lot of things—!"

But Vikram didn’t respond. He simply looked down at him calmly. For the first time since arriving in this world, Vikram suddenly realized something.

The other Survivors he had once treated cautiously... Weren’t nearly as powerful as he had imagined.

Looking at Tej Pratap trembling before him, he felt as if the man in front of him was nothing more than an ant.

Vikram didn’t say a single word, he only raised his hand slightly. That was enough.

Understanding the command, the Guardian Sprout and Warrior Sprout stepped forward together.

And within seconds, Tej Pratap’s begging voice disappeared from the forest forever.

"Vikram Boss is mighty!"

Amit hurriedly shouted as he bent down to gather the items scattered on the ground.

"All the supplies dropped here are collected, Boss. Please take them."

His voice was loud and flattering, but inside he was trembling.

Just moments ago, those tiny plant-like beings had effortlessly killed his two companions.

If Vikram wanted him dead, it would probably take less than a second.

Vikram didn’t respond. He simply walked forward and began checking the items.

This was the first time he had killed other Survivors, and he quickly discovered something important.

When a Survivor died, everything stored in their backpack would drop.

After collecting the supplies, Vikram couldn’t help raising an eyebrow.

"These guys were actually quite rich."

Among the items, he found: More than a dozen pieces of iron, a large amount of steel and three Crimson Shards.

Not to mention some smaller materials and tools.

"Counting my own four... I’ll soon be able to synthesize a Crimson Orb."

Closing his backpack, Vikram slowly turned his gaze toward Amit.

The latter’s body immediately stiffened.

"Vikram Boss..."

"Can you let me go?"

"All my supplies are already with you."

"My arm is broken too. If it rots, I won’t even be able to use the Survival Platform."

"Just let me fend for myself."

Although Amit had committed robbery and murder countless times, he naturally didn’t believe Vikram’s earlier promise.

His previous display of loyalty was nothing more than a delay tactic.

Originally, he had planned to run away while Vikram was fighting.

But he hadn’t expected Dushyant to be so useless, dying in less than three moves.

Now, he could only rely on acting pitiful.

Watching Amit’s exaggerated expression, Vikram felt a strange emotion.

In truth, he actually admired Amit a little. The man was adaptable, decisive, and clever.

If he had been a Survivor who followed basic rules, Vikram might have even considered letting him stay in the Territory.

But Vikram had his own bottom line. A plunderer who lived by betrayal and robbery would never earn his respect. After a moment of silence, Vikram spoke calmly.

"Fine. Since I promised earlier... I’ll let you go."

Amit’s eyes immediately widened with hope. "I’ll give you ten minutes. You can run as far as you want. Whether you can survive after that... That depends on you."

"Thank you, Brother Vikram! Thank you, Brother Vikram!"

Amit immediately bowed repeatedly, his gratitude overflowing.

Inside, however, his thoughts were racing.

Ten minutes... With my leg strength, that’s enough to create a huge distance.

Without the Survival Platform, I can still return to our Shelter and retrieve the Treehouse Core.

Once I get it back, I can still rebuild everything.

At worst, he could simply start over somewhere else with other Survivors.

"Still not leaving?" Vikram asked lightly.

Amit didn’t hesitate for even a second.

He turned around and sprinted away immediately, running as if his life depended on it.

Vikram quietly watched the direction Amit disappeared.

Only after Amit vanished into the forest did a faint smile appear on Vikram’s face.

"He’s really overconfident."

He intentionally let Amit run first.

Why?

Because he wanted to test himself. And more importantly, he had the Biological Detector.

Letting Amit escape would lead him directly to their Shelter.

Vikram had been envious of the Treehouse Core bonus for a long time.

How could he possibly let such a resource slip away? He waited patiently.

Exactly ten minutes. Then he activated the Biological Detector again.

A red dot was still moving rapidly through the forest.

Vikram stretched his shoulders slightly. "Let’s go."

The Guardian Sprout lifted its shield and marched forward. The Warrior Sprout spun its vine-blade excitedly.

Together, the three of them began following the moving red dot through the dark forest.

---

At this moment, Amit stood at the entrance of his Shelter, breathing heavily as he looked around cautiously.

The forest was silent. After confirming that no one had followed him, he finally relaxed a little and pushed the door open before stepping inside. His Shelter was larger than an ordinary stone house, though messy.

Various materials and supplies were piled everywhere. Ignoring the pain from his injured arm, Amit hurriedly began gathering everything valuable.

The most important item was naturally the Treehouse Core, which he quickly picked up and placed together with the other supplies.

After some time, Amit finally finished collecting everything. His mood improved instantly. With the supplies gathered, he pushed open the Shelter door again, preparing to leave.

But the moment the door opened—

Bang!

A heavy shield smashed directly into his face. Amit staggered backward before he could even react. At the same moment, a sharp blade pierced straight into his left chest.

"Ugh..." Amit’s body froze. Blood immediately began flowing from the wound. He looked forward in disbelief and saw the figure standing outside.

"Arahan... why?" Amit asked weakly, staring at Vikram.

Vikram stood calmly at the entrance while the Guardian Sprout held its shield beside him and the Warrior Sprout’s blade remained buried in Amit’s chest.

Vikram shrugged slightly and pointed at the two plant warriors with a helpless expression.

"I said I would let you go," he said calmly. "But for them... I can’t guarantee anything."

Amit tried to say something more, but his throat was already filled with blood. The words never came out. His body trembled briefly before collapsing to the ground, lifeless.

"Be more careful in your next life," Vikram muttered quietly.

He let out a long breath. "Phew."

Killing three people in one day felt very different from hunting beasts. Fighting creatures only exhausted the body, but this... this exhaustion was psychological.

The desperate expressions in their eyes before death lingered in his mind and kept stirring his thoughts. Vikram realized he needed time to calm down and recover.

If he continued like this, he might eventually begin seeing other Survivors as nothing more than ants. That was not something he wanted.

Only after Amit’s body completely stopped moving did the items he had just collected spill out from his backpack.

Vikram’s eyes widened slightly.

Lying on the ground were seven Treehouse Cores, quietly glowing with a faint golden light. The sight almost blinded him.

"So they killed at least seven Survivors..." he murmured. "And the real number might even be higher."

"And now all these keystones are benefiting me..."

He fell silent for a moment.

After a while, Vikram shook his head and pushed away those thoughts. In his mind, he simply treated it as avenging the victims of these three men.

Only after convincing himself did he bend down and collect the Territory Cores and the other scattered supplies.

When he looked at Amit’s broken left arm, he noticed the totem on the wrist had already dimmed, clearly indicating that it was unusable now.

Vikram shrugged slightly with a hint of regret. If the Survival Platform could be inherited, he would have gained access to all the blueprints Amit had unlocked, not to mention an additional alias in the chat channel. That would have been extremely useful.

After thoroughly ransacking the Shelters of the three men and confirming that nothing valuable remained, Vikram finally returned to his own Territory earlier than usual that night.