Chapter 41 part2
TL: Onion

Shen Shian gulped, his palm sweated slightly, and he looked down at the child.

Chen Nan’s powers were similar to the effects of the spiritual spring in his space on plants. But the crops produced could be planted a second time, which was more than the space.

Shen Shian had tried it as soon as he came out of the library, but whether it’s cherry or tomato, or potatoes, or any other plants that are asexually reproduced using tubers, it wouldn’t work. He tried planting a seed from a tomato that had been grown in the black soil but the seed was decomposed into the soil and treated as nothing.

That is to say, no matter how good the crops would grow in the space, they would not be able to reproduce twice. Otherwise, he didn’t need to collect so many seeds. He could just leave the tomato seeds and cherry kernels to grow and plant the seeds again.

Chen Nan’s ability was similar to the space but weaker and had things that the space couldn’t do. This raises the question, can the plants produced by Chen Nan’s ability be planted in the space? If yes, he could take one of the cherries in the space and give it to Chen Nan. When the cherry grew, then the seeds on this cherry tree could survive in the space.

If it was possible, it meant that if they cooperated with each other, he and Chen Nan would have the best quality of plants and an infinite amount of seeds.

Of course, this was just an assumption. He and Chen Nan was’t really that close. If cooperating with the other party meant taking unpredictable risks, he would rather not have any cooperation. Although collecting seeds would be time consuming, it was not too much trouble, and the safety of the spring water and the space is his top priority. What’s more, among the remaining hundreds of millions of survivors, this space that could make plants grow more than normally was definitely more important than his ability.

Shen Shian quickly stabilized his mind and continued to ask, “So you came here to collect seeds and plant them.”

Chen Nan nodded, there were some grievances and a trace of fear in his expression, “I don’t want to eat only potatoes anymore.”

Shen Xun interjected, “You’ve been eating potatoes this whole time?”

“En,” Chen Nan said, “I only brought potatoes when I left the house, and because I was carrying Jiamu, I dared not go to a crowded place. Today is the first time I went to a store to collect seeds.”

The child’s face was immediately filled with sympathy.

Shen Shian asked, “How long have you been away from home?”

“Today is the thirty-fifth day.”

“Thirty-five days, only eating potatoes.”

“En. When the situation is suitable, the potatoes would be baked and eaten. When the situation is not suitable, it’s eaten raw.”

Even Shen Shian had to sympathize with him. It’s no wonder that his face was so thin and that he’s slobbering when he smelled the instant noodles.

After thinking for a while, he felt something was wrong, “Why are the seeds you collected are all like radishes and taros?”Aren’t tomatoes and melons taste better?

“Because I can only produce tuber plants. I cannot produce fruit plants because they can’t pollinate.”

“When you plant a plant, can you pause the growth at a certain time or no?”

“It can be paused.”

“Why don’t you pause the growth after the flowers have bloomed and manually help them to pollinate so they can produce fruits?”

Chen Nan’s face was blank, “I didn’t think about it.”

The campfire fell into an awkward silence for a while.

After about half a minute, Chen Nan touched his nose to break the silence, and looked up to Shen Shian, “I know you are collecting seeds. Do you have the same power as me to grow plants?”

Shen Shian thought for a while and nodded, “You can understand it this way, I do have a way to accelerate the growth of plants, but the specific details are more complicated and it is not convenient to disclose them in detail, I am really sorry.” Since he had said that he has the ability to promote plants, does it mean that he could take out the fruits and vegetables that grow in the space?

The other party had told him everything yet he still didn’t tell him everything. Shen Shian felt a little guilty, and he apologized to Chen Nan, “It’s not only you who have evolved abilities after the zombie outbreaks. Abilities will be your biggest cards to survive in these times, and you must not reveal them to others so casually in the future.”

Chen Nan laughed, and under the orange fire, the young man’s face revealed the kindness and heartiness that should be normal at his age, “I know, but you are different. I am not afraid to tell you, you are a good person.”

Shen Shian, “…” Where did this conclusion come from?

After a moment of thinking, the topic was brought back again. “You said earlier that the reason why you could calm your brother’s emotions is related to your power.”

Chen Nan nodded. To let Shen Shian understand easier, he simply explained from the beginning, “I came home and found that Jiamu became a zombie. I started to have a fever that night. I thought I would also become a zombie. I didn’t expect that after having a fever for two to three days, I had abilities. Afterwards, I decided to take Jiamu to Beijing to fulfill my agreement with him. Because it was too obvious that he was a zombie, I can’t take him around with me, so after finding out that a zombie will not die as long as the brain isn’t damaged, I figured out a way to cut off his head and put on a mask to prevent him from biting. A few days after I left home, I often met other survivors on the road, and Jiamu started to make trouble as soon as he smelled the survivors. I was afraid that he would be noticed so I clutched my backpack tightly and accidentally discovered that as soon as I entered my power into his head, he would be quiet.”

“You entered your power?”

“Right,” Chen Nan struggled to explain, “After I received my ability, there was like an extra thing in my body that I didn’t have before. This thing can be used to promote plants, or it can be put into other objects. For example, Jiamu’s head. It’s like the internal power on TV, do you feel that way?”

Shen Shian understood. This was similar to his spiritual power.

Through Chen Nan’s remarks, at least one of the two conclusions could be drawn. According to Ms. Dong’s statement in the library, the process of receiving ability seemed to be the same process as the transformation into a zombie, which was having a fever. But whether it was Ms. Dong or Chen Nan, both of them had fever after the virus outbreak. As for people who had a cold and fever before the virus outbreak, it seemed that without exception, all of them had become zombies. It was not known if there was any connection.

Second, the ability of the abilities, like the spiritual spring water in his space, had an attractiveness similar to or even greater than fresh flesh for zombies. Shen Shian did not doubt that if he fed Chen Nan’s brother the spiritual spring water, he should also be able to temporarily calm him.

There were many complicated problems and questions that arose from this. Is there any relationship between ability and the spring water? The spring water is essentially a liquefied aura. His spiritual power advanced after absorbing the aura, then if someone with an ability drank the spring water, can they advance or evolve? Why are zombies interested in abilities and the spring water? After ingesting abilities or spring water, can zombies also mutate further or evolve? Over time, there would be more and more abilities. Would they be the targets of the zombies like him in the future?

These problems were too chaotic and there were thousands of threads that could not be sorted out. But what was certain was that the reason why Chen Jiamu’s head did not rot should be related to the power that Chen Nan had constantly entered him.

Carrying a zombie head that can no longer be called “alive” and is highly likely to undergo further mutations and rushing to Beijing was not a wise idea. But Shen Shian had no choice, nor did he have a position to persuade the other party to give up the idea.

To be able to feel the bond of family and willing to give everything for him, isn’t it the biggest difference between humans and zombies?

He looked at Chen Nan, “You walked all the way.” Chen Nan’s house was less than two hundred kilometers away. According to Chen Nan, he left the house thirty-five days ago to embark on a journey, which was really far not to mention he deliberately used the long way to avoid the crowd.

Chen Nan nodded then shook his head, “At the beginning, I rode a bicycle for a while, but the tire burst, and I couldn’t find a place to repair it. After that, I could only walk.”

Shen Shian said, “From here to Beijing, it’s about three hundred miles.”

Chen Nan smiled, “I know, but I have to give it a try. I promised Jiamu before the apocalypse but I didn’t do it. Now I will do it.” He had long been prepared to die anyway. This journey was nominally to fulfill his agreement with Jiamu, but in fact, it was for himself.

He couldn’t stay at home anymore. For more than a month, he couldn’t help but think again and again, asking himself again and again if he could go home just once, if he could find Jiamu’s abnormality, if he could take Jiamu to the hospital in time, if he could take care of Jiamu so that he didn’t fall sick, will Jiamu still be alive? He didn’t dare to imagine how Jiamu still managed to disguise himself being sick when he was talking over the phone with him. He didn’t even dare to imagine how the weak Jiamu survived in the days when he was away. Before this flu, how many times did he not know that Jiamu was sick? There was only competition and honor left in his heart, leaving his most important younger brother behind.

He must do something, he must start this journey. He promised that he would take Jiamu to see what the Forbidden City Mayor{n1} looks like, so this was his only goal now. Perhaps until the day he died halfway on the journey, it would be his end and liberation.

Note1: The Forbidden City is a palace complex in central Beijing, China. It houses the Palace Museum, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and state residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty.

Chen Nan looked at Shen Shian, “How about you, where are you going to go?”

“Beijing,” Shen Shian said, “I’m going to find two people.”

Chen Nan was a little surprised and at the same time he understood, “They must be very important to you.” Because they were so important that he was willing to take countless risks to reach them.

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