Armed Train in the Apocalypse

In the middle, there are three plastic chairs and a small square table with two glass cups on top, one of which contains half a cup of water.

A telescope stands by the window.

It’s not the military kind; it’s an old astronomical telescope for stargazing, with its tube wrapped in several layers of adhesive tape.

Beside the telescope lies a notebook, with sketches of flowers and plants, seemingly documenting mutated flora. Nearby are a few books, flipped through by Su Huan, containing pre-apocalyptic plant-related writings without any markings.

”How did you get in here?”

Xiaoya approached holding two green fruits.

The fruits were the size of ordinary apples, but holding them took much effort for her small hands.

Xiaoya was somewhat nervous, lifting the two fruits, ”Are these two fruits okay?”

Su Huan took the fruits, glanced at them, and critiqued coldly, ”The fruits are wrinkled; they must have been stored for a long time. They’re not enough.”

”Then wait, I have more.”

Xiaoya wiped her eyes, pretending to be composed, and went inside.

Yu Yue shook her head sympathetically, holding up a finger to indicate ’one’.

Su Huan signaled them to leave, then followed Xiaoya inside. On a table in the room was a basket the size of a basin, with only one fruit remaining; clearly, Xiaoya wasn’t as wealthy as she appeared.

The bed in the bedroom was large enough for an adult, but only a small area had traces of use, with a quilt forming a little nest.

Xiaoya stood in front of the basket, tears streaming down, hesitated for a moment, but still took out the fruit.

Su Huan had already returned to the front room, looking at Xiaoya, who had put out all her possessions, mercilessly repeating the same words, ”Not enough.”

Xiaoya stood in silence, with a puddle of water gathering at her feet.

She seemed to be made of water.

Su Huan spoke like a demon, ”But I’m rather merciful, you can exchange other things.”

Xiaoya stood in silence, then turned to search the room again.

This time, she brought many things, a rattle made from an empty tin can, a rabbit doll missing an ear, and even an axe for chopping wood nearby, but she never touched the telescope, the notebook, or the few books by the window.

No matter what she brought, Su Huan kept saying it wasn’t enough.

Until Xiaoya had turned the house upside down, Su Huan finally said, ”I’ll come back tomorrow to collect the rest, you have the entire morning to prepare.”

After speaking, he took three fruits, leaving Xiaoya standing alone at home.

He headed towards the distance with Yu Yue and Lin Jin.

In fact, the three hadn’t gone far but hovered in mid-air, silently observing Xiaoya’s home below and the group of fearful survivors.

Lin Jin seemed puzzled, ”This child doesn’t seem to know anything, right?”

Su Huan bit into a fruit, his dark eyes fixed beneath on the willow tree, ”Then why is she the only one who isn’t afraid?”

Lin Jin opened his mouth, ”But there are traces of only her living in the room, her uncle... probably has been dead a long time.”

Yu Yue suddenly spoke, ”The battle on He Jie’s side is over, dozens have been captured and are being interrogated.”

”Mm.”

Su Huan responded indifferently.

Every celestial disaster zone’s ecosystem is associated with rules, the Gravity Zone with gravity, the Spore Zone with enlightenment, the Flood Zone with energy, then what about the Plant Zone?

What kind of rule would cause this fear?

Though he didn’t need the rule stone from the Plant Zone for anything, understanding the rules was crucial for the next steps.

Xiaoya curled up on the bed, her stomach first growling with hunger, accompanied by a burning sensation. Unable to bear it, she climbed down to drink the water in the cup, slightly easing the hunger, then returned to bed, letting the night surround her.

Just like her uncle hugging her.

After a while, the wave of hunger came again, cold making her shiver.

Xiaoya got out of bed again, feeling her way in the dark to the stove, her uncle’s gentle voice seemed to appear next to her ear.

”Xiaoya, if you feel cold, you must start a fire.”

”I’ve already put the firewood under the stove.”

”At first, don’t use large pieces, be patient, be careful not to get your foot smashed by the axe.”

Xiaoya tried, but the firewood was too little to light.

Cold and hungry Xiaoya thought of her uncle’s last words.

”If you really can’t find firewood, chop down the willow tree beside the house.”

Xiaoya dragged the heavy axe to the willow tree, raising it just to find the willow branches hanging above, gently stroking her like her uncle used to.

A huge sadness engulfed her.

She dropped the axe, hugged the willow tree, and wailed.

”Uncle, where are you, I miss you...”

”Xiaoya didn’t lie, Xiaoya did what she said, Xiaoya knows a hundred poems now, uncle, why haven’t you come back for Xiaoya...”

”Xiaoya is so hungry...”

The cold and hungry Xiaoya cried herself unconscious.

She didn’t see the willow branches silently holding her tighter, with one branch resting against her lips, secreting a cyan-green liquid.

Listening to the child’s cries, Yu Yue’s face was already streaming with tears, Lin Jin turned away, seeing the willow tree move at that moment, he understood the conductor’s intention but couldn’t help feeling sad.

Su Huan landed on the willow trunk, gazing at the girl under the tree, and using the communication method of the Traveler’s Tree, he said lightly, ”It’s not pleasant to become a tree, is it?”

A stilted voice suddenly emerged in his mind, ”You can talk to trees?”

”The premise is that the tree has a normal consciousness.”

”You... never mind, outsider, I can tell you anything you want to know as long as you take care of Xiaoya.”

”Do you have the right to bargain with me?”

”Then I’m asking you, take her away.”

Su Huan sighed softly, ”Even if I take her away, she won’t live long, right? Even if she lives, she’ll end up like you.”

While saying this, he amplified his perception dozens of times.

Suddenly, countless wails and chaotic mutterings surged into his mind like hell, replaying people’s deepest painful obsessions over and over.

But Su Huan quickly severed his perception; this was the feeling this forest gave him.

Fear, numbness, and suffering.

Su Huan didn’t know how many had become plants in this forest, but the flood of consciousness that rushed in that moment took his breath away.

Why didn’t the mutated plants attack this camp nearby?

Because the surrounding plants were all people transformed.

Those trees, those flowers, those vines contained individuals driven insane!

He couldn’t differentiate one from another!

Nor did he dare to determine which were still normal.

Connecting with any one would be equivalent to linking to the entire region’s plants, while his rank wouldn’t lead to death, the tens of thousands of suffering memories would stay with him forever.

Thus, Su Huan kept pressuring Xiaoya, as the sole anomaly, the truth must lie with her.

”At least a period can be lived through; as long as there’s life, there’s hope for change.”

”Just like now.”

Su Huan smiled, ”Yes, indeed.”

”Let’s talk business; your answers will impact Xiaoya’s future.”

Su Huan got straight to the point.

Xiaoya’s uncle began to recount the changes in the Plant Zone since the apocalypse and this camp.

Like the sixteen lives Su Huan swallowed before, their early apocalypse days weren’t much different from ordinary survivors, but this was a celestial disaster zone, the survivor death rate exceeded 90%; every day, every minute, people were dying.

Until one botanist discovered a way to coexist with the Plant Zone.

That was becoming a plant, which turned into the current mutants.

But soon, side effects manifested; excessive mutation turned them into actual plants, day after day of routine drove those who became plants insane.

They began to call others with their obsessions.

What these survivors feared was precisely these relatives who had completely transformed into plants.