Global Flood: I Survive on Duckweed

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Luminous Ability, No Harvest

The creeping stems of the bitter grass carefully touched the points of light, and a system prompt immediately rang out.

[Plant: Fluorescent Cactus discovered. Enhance?]

Hearing this, Ren Yuanyang froze for a moment, then immediately lit up.

He saw from the system’s enhancement options that he could strengthen its ability to glow!

So, without another moment of hesitation, he immediately controlled the bitter grass to wrap around all the Fluorescent Cacti and pull them back.

Seeing the points of light rapidly approaching, Lu Jiamei grew a little tense. ”Boss, they’re coming over!”

Ren Yuanyang said with a smile, ”Don’t be nervous. I’m the one pulling them over.”

Lu Jiamei paused, stunned.

”These are just Fluorescent Cacti, not some kind of glowing fish,” Ren Yuanyang explained.

Lu Jiamei was taken aback again. ”Cacti can glow?”

”Yes. This type of cactus contains luciferin and luciferase. The luciferin is oxidized by the enzyme, releasing Energy in the process, and this Energy manifests as light!” Ren Yuanyang read the information aloud, straight from the system prompt.

”Boss, you know so much!” There was a hint of admiration in Lu Jiamei’s voice.

”Just a coincidence. I saw it online once!” Ren Yuanyang replied nonchalantly, though inwardly he was beaming.

’It feels pretty damn good to be admired!’

After pulling the Fluorescent Cacti to the mouth of the shipping container, Ren Yuanyang used an empty can to scoop them out of the water.

Lu Jiamei asked curiously, ”How have they not died after being submerged in water for so long?”

”The fact that they can glow means they’re still alive,” Ren Yuanyang replied.

”That’s so weird!” Lu Jiamei exclaimed in amazement.

Ren Yuanyang replied with a laugh, ”Is anything stranger than this deluge? This deluge caused humans to evolve and awaken, so why not plants?”

Lu Jiamei paused, then nodded, completely convinced. ”That’s a good point. It’s probably some special substance in the rain that has kept these cacti alive until now!”

”Yeah, the world is different now. The old rules might not apply anymore,” Ren Yuanyang remarked.

Lu Jiamei nodded again, then asked curiously, ”Boss, why did you fish these cacti out? Are you planning to grow some potted plants inside the shipping container?”

”Do you want to live in complete darkness forever?” Ren Yuanyang asked with a grin.

Lu Jiamei froze for a second before it dawned on her. ”Boss, you mean we can use them for light?”

”Exactly!” Ren Yuanyang confirmed.

”But the light they give off is so dim,” Lu Jiamei said, frowning slightly.

”You’ve seen what my Duckweed and bitter grass can do, right?” Ren Yuanyang asked with a grin.

Lu Jiamei immediately caught his meaning. ”Boss, can you make these Fluorescent Cacti glow brighter?”

”Of course. This is my special awakened ability, after all,” Ren Yuanyang said. ”Why else would I have told you to keep an eye out for plants?”

”I understand!” Lu Jiamei nodded. She had just been a bit slow on the uptake.

”Our lives from now on will depend on these special plants!” Ren Yuanyang said, then began enhancing the Fluorescent Cacti’s luminescence.

[Enhancement successful.]

[Fluorescent Cactus (+1): Emits light equivalent to a five-watt energy-saving bulb...]

A five-watt bulb wasn’t very bright, but it was enough for them to make out their surroundings.

Most importantly, the light drove away the darkness from their hearts.

Even though Lu Jiamei already knew Ren Yuanyang could make the Fluorescent Cactus glow brighter, when she saw the increased luminosity, she couldn’t help but exclaim, ”It’s basically a small light bulb!”

Ren Yuanyang sent the enhanced cactus over to Lu Jiamei’s wooden plank.

”Keep this one in your tent. At least you won’t have to fumble around in the dark.”

”Thank you, Boss!” Lu Jiamei replied happily.

Ren Yuanyang waved a hand. ”Get some rest!”

He brought the remaining five cacti back into the shipping container, enhanced all of them, then found a few random cans, filled them with some water, and put the cacti inside.

These cacti could survive in the ocean even before being enhanced; after enhancement, they had become fully amphibious plants.

Finding soil was difficult right now, so he had no choice but to keep them in water.

These ”little light bulbs” dispelled the darkness inside the shipping container. As Ren Yuanyang lay on the stable bed, a surprising sense of contentment washed over him.

An unknown amount of time later, he was jolted awake by Lu Jiamei’s voice.

”Boss, can I start checking the supplies the bitter grass caught?”

Ren Yuanyang opened his bleary eyes and glanced outside the shipping container. The world outside was still shrouded in a gray haze.

He got up and stretched. This was the best night’s sleep Ren Yuanyang had gotten since arriving in this world, even though the plank bed was a bit hard.

Ren Yuanyang checked the system prompts from while he was sleeping and found that during the night, the bitter grass had only managed to snag some Round Duckweed, with no other items harvested.

’The collection rate for a single bitter grass is still too low,’ Ren Yuanyang thought, then shouted to Lu Jiamei, ”We didn’t catch any supplies last night! Just focus on keeping watch for now!”

Lu Jiamei paused for a moment, then replied, ”Alright!”

’No haul today. Looks like we’re going hungry,’ Lu Jiamei thought with a sigh of resignation.

Just then, Ren Yuanyang used the bitter grass to deliver a container to her. It held an unopened bottle of Coke.

’Lu Jiamei was stunned. There was no haul, yet Ren Yuanyang was still giving her a bottle of Coke?’

Ren Yuanyang’s voice came over: ”You’ll have to make this bottle of Coke last for five days unless we can find food or a way to cook.”

Lu Jiamei’s budding gratitude instantly turned into a wry smile. ’One bottle of Coke for five days... that’s only a hundred milliliters a day on average.’

’I’ll have to move around as little as possible,’ Lu Jiamei thought.

She didn’t resent Ren Yuanyang for not giving her more. She knew how precious food was now. The more they conserved, the longer they could survive—long enough, hopefully, for the bitter grass to catch more.

Besides, Ren Yuanyang had given her a tent to shelter her from the wind and rain. For that, she was already incredibly grateful.

’You can’t be too greedy. You have to repay the kindness you’re shown.’

”Alright!” Lu Jiamei called back, then asked curiously, ”When you say a way to cook, do you mean like finding a fire?”

”That’s one way, but it could be other things too. A generator and a rice cooker, for example,” Ren Yuanyang said with a slight nod.

Lu Jiamei frowned. ”Boss, you’re not planning to eat the rice seeds, are you? That’s our future!”

”Don’t worry, I’m not that short-sighted,” Ren Yuanyang huffed. ”I’ll put four Fluorescent Cacti out on the water around us, so stop using the flashlight. Save it for emergencies.”

”Understood!” Lu Jiamei replied, turning to scan her surroundings.

Just then, with a tremendous BANG, the wooden plank beneath Lu Jiamei’s feet was suddenly thrown upward by a massive force!