When plants fought, humans paid the price.
Fu Changxun had never seen anything like this. East Street was utterly leveled.
The group stayed hidden in a tight corner. Perhaps the two plants considered humans too insignificant to bother with—neither spared them a glance. They just focused entirely on tearing each other apart.
“Think we can sneak away while they’re busy?” Lulu murmured, still lying down. Her voice was barely a breath.
Fu Changxun held up a finger in a hush gesture. “Wait a little longer. I’ll see if there’s a way around… Our hotel’s to the west, and this fight’s happening right in the path.”
Lulu: “Ah.”
She didn’t say another word. She was probably too drained—speaking itself took effort.
Though still frail, Lin Shu pushed herself upright and sat beside her. She gave Lulu a solemn, heartfelt “thank you.”
Fu Changxun typed into the team chat via his personal panel:
[Lin Shu and Lin Ze have been found. Both alive. But two mutant plants are fighting in the way—we can’t get back for now. No need to come looking. Be nice to Xiao Pu.]
Just after he hit send, a sound of tumbling stones echoed above.
Before he could react, Dong Zi lunged over and threw himself on top of him, shielding him completely.
“Ungh.” Fu Changxun grunted as the impact knocked the air out of him. They waited a few seconds before Dong Zi finally rolled off.
Fu Changxun immediately reached to check his back.
Dong Zi flinched. “Tss…”
Clearly, the debris had landed right on his back.
If he hadn’t jumped in, it would’ve hit Fu Changxun dead-on.
That close.
“Thanks.”
Fu Changxun didn’t know what else to say. He swallowed the lump in his throat and, after a long pause, simply repeated,
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t the first time Dong Zi had shielded him.
And from start to finish, Fu Changxun had never known how to respond.
Gratitude shouldn’t be the foundation for accepting someone. But thankfully… now, he was starting to feel the stirrings of something like love.
Dong Zi shook his head. “I’m fine. Just took a hit—probably just bruised. And seriously, don’t thank me. Being all polite just makes it feel like there’s distance between us.”
Fu Changxun sighed. “Alright.”
The group remained hidden in the crevice for quite a while. The two plants were still fighting. Meanwhile, on the far side of the street, a group of obvious players was rushing toward the chaos.
“How many days has it even been? And it already feels like we’re in the boss’s red HP phase. This instance is insane.” One player grumbled nonstop. “And Dag-ge sent us here—what for? There’s nothing good here, and no players we even know…”
He didn’t get to finish that thought—because just then, he spotted the two enormous mutant plants duking it out.
His voice cut off instantly.
The players all fell silent, ducking behind cover and freezing in place.
One of them whispered, “Looks like they’re fighting each other. That works out for us.”
If one of the two got killed, their odds of taking down the other would go up.
“But… doesn’t it look more like they’re just playing around than trying to kill each other?”
Another disagreed. “No, look—sunflower’s not firing its seeds, and the banyan tree’s not attacking either. It’s just defending.”
After a quick debate, they decided to report to their leader—Dagong.
Dagong hadn’t even given them a mission. Just told them to check East Street and bring a couple people back.
Player: [Dag-ge, two plants are fighting in East Street.]
Dagong: [Fighting?]
Player: [Yeah, both are over ten meters tall. Looks like they could stomp us flat.]
Dagong paused for a few seconds, then replied:
[Hold position. I’ll come check it out.]
And when it came time to decide whether to go alone or bring Zhang Feifei—he chose the latter without hesitation.
“Fei, you in?”
The moment Dagong explained the situation, Zhang Feifei shot up from the couch. “Let’s move!”
Back in East Street, Fu Changxun—still unaware that backup was on its way—was having an existential crisis.
Just a moment ago, the two brawling plants had started to drift mid-fight… heading straight in their direction.
The group barely had time to dodge a mass of falling roots before the impact scattered them again, each person thrown in a different direction.
Fu Changxun was especially unlucky—he landed right in the middle.
It was an incredibly dangerous spot. One twitch of those massive roots, and he’d be crushed into pulp—not even enough left to bury.
But it was also the perfect kill zone. If he had the right move, he could wipe out both plants in one go.
He wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip.
The herbicide was still in his palm. His hands were sweating from tension, and he nearly lost his grip on it.
He wasn’t sure about the banyan, but the sunflower—he knew it feared this stuff.
The two mutant plants didn’t even notice the “tiny ant” on the ground. They were too busy slugging it out, but that gave Fu Changxun the perfect opening.
He hesitated for only a minute, and then decided: screw it. Now or never.
The old Fu Changxun would’ve chosen the safest route. Quietly slipped away while he still could.
But the Fu Changxun of now—shaped by Dong Zi’s influence—was done overthinking. He’d gained a little more courage, a little more desperation.
Even if Dong Zi himself would hate this recklessness. It was just too dangerous.
Fu Changxun waited for the perfect moment—when the banyan slapped the sunflower square in its giant face—and then struck.
He yanked out the herbicide and sprayed it directly at the sunflower.
This time, he tripled the dose compared to what he’d used on the man-eating plant.
The sunflower instantly convulsed, twitching violently. Even as it spasmed, it pointed one of its stalks straight at Fu Changxun, wildly signaling to the banyan—
It’s him! Get him for me!
Sure enough, the banyan didn’t react to the herbicide at all. Or maybe it did, but it hid it well.
Still, they were both plants. And though they’d been fighting just a second ago, the moment a human pulled out biochemical weapons?
Of course they teamed up.
The banyan immediately received the signal and swung a massive branch straight at him.
Fu Changxun dove to the side, rolled, and sprinted toward Dong Zi.
Dong Zi and Xiao Xiao had landed nearby. He didn’t even look at the girl—just saw the branches chasing Fu Changxun and reacted without thinking.
He activated his ability.
Only… something was different this time.
Fu Changxun blinked—and suddenly, he wasn’t in the middle of the plants anymore.
He’d been moved to the edge of the battlefield, right next to Dong Zi.
He was stunned. “What just—?”
Dong Zi looked just as shocked. His eyes drifted left—toward Xiao Xiao. The moment he focused on her, she vanished from his left and instantly reappeared on his right, next to Fu Changxun, equally dazed.
“I think…” Dong Zi raised his hand slowly. “I think my ability just evolved.”
Fu Changxun’s eyes widened. “You too? Xiao Xiao just had hers evolve—”
Neither of them used their abilities all that often. But now, both had made a breakthrough.
So Ability Evolution didn’t just come from repeated use.
Maybe… it also came from powerful intent.
The banyan tree had taken two heavy strides—it was now less than a hundred meters away.
The three of them didn’t have time to chat. They scrambled to their feet and bolted.
“I can’t run—”
Xiao Xiao didn’t finish her sentence before Dong Zi scooped her up under one arm and kept running.
Fu Changxun: “…Pfft.”
He nearly broke into a laugh. Even while running for their lives, having Dong Zi by his side made everything feel less terrifying. Like they really might make it out of this alive.
And that’s when they ran headfirst into the group of hidden players.
“Holy shit—people?!” one player yelped. “This whole area’s a war zone—are you players or NPCs? You just ran outta there?!”
Fu Changxun panted, “We’re players! Aren’t you guys here too? Why’d you come running into danger?”
The other players answered, “Our boss sent us—Dag-ge said to pick up a few people who were just in the area. Looks like that’s you. Come on, we’ll take you back. It’s safer over there.”
The less time spent in East Street, the better. They were happy to leave—and hoped Fu Changxun’s group would be just as happy to follow.
But the banyan tree behind them…
It wasn’t letting up. It had locked onto Fu Changxun and refused to be lured away, no matter what they tried.
Even Dong Zi, after using his ability multiple times to redirect the aggro, couldn’t shake it off.
Apparently, the sunflower’s last “wish” had carried serious weight. Even if they had been brawling, the sunflower and banyan were still good friends. Now the sunflower had vanished, injured by a mere “ant”—and the banyan had no choice but to vent its fury on humanity.
Every time it moved, tiles and bricks came crashing down in waves—its sheer presence was enough to terrify.
Everyone knew this tree had been directly or indirectly responsible for nearly every NPC death in East Street. It clearly didn’t value human lives in the slightest.
Fortunately, it was only chasing them. Lin Shu, Lin Ze, and Lulu—the three injured—were safely ignored. For now, their lives weren’t in danger.
Just then, a familiar voice drifted over.
“Well, Doctor. Not often we see you looking so rough.”
It sounded like mockery, but when Fu Changxun looked up, Dagong’s expression was perfectly serious—no hint of sarcasm. It was as if he was just stating a fact.
Fu Changxun sighed. “Yeah. But Mr. Dagong, could you at least not kick me when I’m down?”
Dagong replied, perfectly earnest, “I’m not.”
“You are.”
Fu Changxun leaned heavily against Dong Zi’s shoulder, catching his breath. “So, our collaboration—are we continuing or not?”
Dagong had already reached their side and nodded with a smile. “Of course. I brought my ge along. Don’t worry—he’s got this. And if he can’t handle it… Then we don’t deserve to be called leaders of City C.”
Zhang Feifei was the true powerhouse of their group.
His ability was passive. Whenever someone cursed at him, he could absorb 10% of their ability—and hold it for up to twelve hours. He was basically a walking ability collector.
He wasn’t a pure offense-type or damage dealer, but if surrounded by combat specialists who were willing to cooperate, he could become an absolute force of destruction.
Which led to the bizarre sight of everyone at the scene screaming curses at him at full volume.
Fu Changxun nearly jumped out of his skin and quickly covered Xiao Xiao’s ears.
Absolutely not! No kid should be hearing this. Definitely not a minor.
The swearing chorus lasted about two minutes. After that, Zhang Feifei had gathered most of the offensive abilities in the area.
When he let loose, the effects were dazzling—one after another, all kinds of elemental attacks exploded. With the support of the other players, he dealt massive damage to the banyan tree.
Fire, water, ice—those were child’s play.
There was even a massive chainsaw tailor-made to shred banyans…
Wait, no, that was someone’s personal item. Sorry, sorry.
