Day 7 of the instance.
Two seven-seater vehicles sped across the wilderness, their engines still running strong.
They’d camped out under the stars last night, managing a proper hot meal. Taking turns to stand watch in pairs, they’d made it through the night without incident.
Now, on the morning of Day 7, their journey continued.
In this sparse terrain, the risk from mutated plants was minimal. But a more immediate issue had emerged: they were running out of gas.
They needed to find a gas station before their tanks ran dry.
“None of the GPS apps work anymore,” Fu Changxun said, unfolding a paper map he’d salvaged from the mall. He circled their starting point, then drew another circle around a distant city.
Dong Zi had reclined the front passenger seat to face him. Lin Shu leaned over to take a look. “This the city we’re heading for—C City?”
Fu Changxun pointed at the marked circle. “Yeah.”
Dong Zi calculated aloud, “From the map, that’s about 200 kilometers in a straight line. But if we follow the roads…”
“It could be over 300.”
At that rate, they’d burn at least 25 liters of fuel just for the minivan. And it clearly didn’t have that much.
They weren’t even halfway there and had already used half their fuel. Finding a gas station wasn’t optional—it was urgent.
Lulu, seated in the back, suggested, “How about we get out and ask an NPC for directions?”
They’d already encountered a few fleeing survivors along the way. Once, they’d even helped fix a stalled car and gotten some info about the quickest route to C City. But that road… clearly lacked gas stations. They’d missed that detail entirely.
“Alright,” Fu Changxun nodded, glancing out the window. “We’ll drive another kilometer. If we spot any NPCs, we’ll ask. We don’t know this area well enough to risk guessing.”
With no access to satellites or electronics, they were basically flying blind.
Fortunately, luck hadn’t abandoned them just yet. A few hundred meters ahead, they spotted a stranded family on the roadside.
Their car had a blown tire and was entangled by something that looked like a dandelion—except this one had long, vicious spikes and was posturing menacingly against the car windows.
The three inside didn’t dare get out. The plant’s roots, stems, and leaves were all lined with spines, and it swayed aggressively like it was ready to pounce.
As soon as the family saw the players’ car approaching, they didn’t even wait for questions—frantic hands waved out the window, voices shouting, “Help! Can you help us, please?!”
Lin Ze slowed the minivan to a stop about seven or eight meters away.
“That thing popped the tire?” Fu Changxun pointed at the ‘dandelion,’ his voice wary. “How long have you been stuck here?”
The driver replied anxiously, “About an hour. It’s sharp, yeah, but it can’t break the windows. Problem is, we don’t have anything that can burn it…”
If they got out now, the plant would go berserk. The two adults might survive—but they had a three-year-old in the car. That child’s safety couldn’t be guaranteed.
“We’ll handle the plant,” Fu Changxun called out. “But we’ll need something from you in return.”
The driver nodded eagerly. “No problem!”
With that assurance, Fu Changxun gave Dong Zi a look. Dong Zi immediately reached into the storage compartment and pulled out a familiar object before stepping out.
It was a fire extinguisher—the kind that blasts freezing CO₂ as dry ice.
“Holy shit, where did you get that?” Lulu was stunned.
Fu Changxun, utterly calm, explained, “We pulled it from a fire hydrant in the underground parking garage yesterday. Plants aren’t just afraid of fire—they hate the cold too.”
“Ohhh,” Lin Shu said, enlightened.
While they talked, Dong Zi had already approached the ‘dandelion’ and unleashed a freezing blast straight into its face.
The plant shuddered violently in the cold, its orange-yellow petals flopping as it retreated in a panic.
That’s when the group noticed—it could move. Its roots must not have been very deep, because it actually lifted off the ground.
Dong Zi chased it in circles around the three vehicles, blasting it with icy CO₂. The mutated dandelion flailed its leaves wildly in retreat, almost like it was… sulking.
Fu Changxun stared, stunned. Was that… an expression of aggrieved indignation? From a plant?
He hesitated, then called out, “Stop spraying it for a moment. Let’s see what it does.”
He added in a softer tone, “Be careful, Ah Zi…”
Dong Zi looked pleased and lowered the extinguisher, though he kept it pointed at the plant just in case.
The mutated dandelion stood about half a meter tall. It raised its broad leaves and waved them gently in front of its flower like a shield.
For some reason, Fu Changxun felt like it was saying: Hello! Nice to meet you!
Confused but curious, and seeing no signs of aggression, Fu Changxun stepped out of the car and walked over to stand beside Dong Zi. Tentatively, he lifted a hand and waved back. “Uh… hi? Dandelion?”
The plant immediately perked up, its leaves swaying rapidly, its flower turning shyly toward him. Even the root tendrils on the ground began wiggling erratically.
But what really convinced Fu Changxun it meant no harm was this:
It retracted its spikes—carefully folding them back against its stems and leaves until it looked completely safe.
So docile. So obedient.
Fu Changxun suddenly had a completely absurd thought.
If Xiao Hei could be stored as an item… could this dandelion be too?
With the idea in mind, he acted on instinct—reaching into his system and attempting to store the plant in his inventory.
Ding-dong! You have obtained: “Dandelion Adolescent in Its Rebellious Phase” ×1.
It worked!
He’d found another loophole in the game. Plants didn’t count as animals, which meant they weren’t on the list of forbidden items that couldn’t be brought out of instances. Otherwise, how would rare medicinal herbs be exchanged for points?
But this note…
Fu Changxun distinctly remembered that back then, the black cat had simply shown up as “Black Cat ×1.” Was this a bug in the game?
He tried taking the dandelion back out, and to his surprise, the moment it appeared, it chirped cheerfully and started talking to him: “Wow, hello there! Hi!”
Fu Changxun: “…!”
The dandelion chattered on without waiting for a response. “So amazing! You’ve got a personal space—and there’s a cat in there too!”
A cat? Could it be inside the inventory?
Before Fu Changxun could say anything, it kept babbling, “Can you understand me? Can you? I’m so bored. I just want someone to play with! But no one talks to me! Why won’t you look at me? Is it because my flower isn’t pretty enough? Or is it that you don’t want to take me with you? No way, no way—you already let me live in your space… Why aren’t you saying anything? You humans are so cold. Don’t tell me you’re mute?”
That’s when Fu Changxun finally realized—this dandelion was a chatterbox.
No wonder it had been tapping on other people’s car windows earlier—it wasn’t trying to eat anyone. It just wanted someone to talk to.
He glanced around. No one else seemed to notice anything strange, which made it clear that he was the only one who could hear the dandelion. He alone had to suffer its endless yammering.
But it was just so noisy.
The clamor had him at his wit’s end. Fury surged in his chest, and without another word, he angrily stuffed it back into the item inventory.
As for the black cat…may it not be driven mad by the chatty dandelion.
The other players weren’t fazed. When the dandelion vanished, the car owner assumed it had been eliminated by these “kind-hearted passersby,” and his face lit up with relief. “Ah, thank you! We were trying to figure out how to drive it off, and we might not’ve succeeded.”
“No problem. We were actually hoping to ask—any gas stations around here?” Dong Zi asked directly.
“Gas station? Yeah, there’s a small one about half a kilometer west of here. We’re heading there too—it’s on the way,” the driver replied warmly. “Let’s go together.”
Qiu Yi pointed at the man’s ruined tire. “How are you gonna go anywhere like that? There’s no way to fix it here.”
The man waved off his concern and walked to the back of the vehicle, opening the trunk. “There’s a spare in here—I’ll swap it out real quick. Good thing my wife packed one, ha!”
Hearing that, his wife, who was holding their son inside the car, gave him a fond smile.
They were a very affectionate family. Xiao Xiao leaned against the window, watching them with a hint of envy in her eyes.
The tire was changed swiftly, and just to be safe, Lulu hopped into their car to offer protection.
All three vehicles started up at the same time and headed west.
In under five minutes, they spotted a small gas station, standing solitary in the open expanse.
Everyone disembarked with caution to investigate and soon found the place deserted.
The staff had clearly fled in a hurry—two fresh tire tracks were visible on the ground. No plant creatures seemed to be around, only a few scraggly weeds trying to trip them up, which the players quickly dispatched with their abilities.
But the station had no power…
They were stumped by the fuel pumps, until the two elderly folks piped up, “Isn’t there a generator?”
Song Zhenpeng smacked his forehead and ran into the station’s duty room, rummaging through drawers and cabinets.
Luckily, there was a small backup generator inside—and the fuel nozzles still worked.
They managed to fill all three cars. After that, Qiu Yi led two teammates on a perimeter sweep to ensure there was no danger nearby. Once satisfied, he said, “Let’s rest here a bit. We’ve been driving over a hundred kilometers—we’re beat.”
Everyone agreed. Some started eating, others dozed off.
Outside the gas station, Fu Changxun and Dong Zi found a secluded corner. There, they discovered a few leaves that looked like they’d come off some kind of mutated plant.
“There aren’t any walls here—the gas station’s totally exposed. The chance of a plant-type invasion is high,” Dong Zi said, crouching down and picking up a leaf to examine. “Judging by how fresh it is, it probably fell off only two days ago. That means on Day Four or Day Five of the mutation outbreak, a plant definitely made its way in here.”
Fu Changxun touched one of the leaves too, but couldn’t tell anything from it. Curious, he asked, “Didn’t you major in finance? How come you know so much about botany?”
Dong Zi gave a little cough. “Ahem—I took it as a second major. Just in case.”
What Fu Changxun didn’t know… was that the “just in case” had been him all along.
Back then, Dong Zi’s grandfather had loved cultivating plants. It had struck him as the perfect way to get closer to Fu Changxun—but unfortunately, that plan never came to fruition.
Now, with a rare moment alone together, Fu Changxun felt both anxious and oddly at ease.
Pushing his thoughts aside, he turned to the matter at hand. “My ability evolved. Maybe it’s tied to how often I use it. Ah Xun, you should try using yours more too.”
Dong Zi had always relied on his natural strength and skill, so he hadn’t focused much on honing his ability.
“Is that so?” he said, surprised. “Then what’s your ability now?”
