I laughed, “You want to eat too? Go ahead, take it.”
To my surprise, a little while later, Da Rong brought over a whole handful of tiny tomatoes.
I was puzzled.
I’d just finished all the tomatoes where did these come from?
I asked Da Rong several times. In response, it stuck a branch into one of the tomatoes.
In an instant, the tomato began to grow on the branch flowering, fruiting…
A whole cluster of ripe tomatoes appeared in my hands.
My eyes went wide my mind was screaming, “Unbelievable!”
Was this the legendary tree that could bear all kinds of fruit?
Could I soon achieve total fruit freedom?
Regret for my food-starved past life welled up again. I quickly fetched all my seeds and produce, asking Da Rong to help propagate them.
I’d thought buying seeds was pointless, but on a whim, I’d bought a small pack of each kind.
Now, they were invaluable.
I handed over strawberry, watermelon, and grape seeds , Da Rong sprouted them effortlessly.
For woody fruits like peaches and pears, seeds were tough, but if I grafted a stem, Da Rong could grow a single fruit.
That day, I devoured a whole bowl of strawberries in bliss.
The rampant plant growth had upended daily life.
First, travel and transport were crippled roads and railways were torn up by roots, and only after emergency repairs was basic traffic restored.
Second, most plants had changed dramatically. Potatoes were as hard as rocks, mint reeked of gasoline, and willows lashed out at passing birds.
Even the same species evolved differently in different places.
Oranges grown in the south now turned into durians; in the north, they became stones.
Online, everyone was wailing. A new way to flaunt wealth had emerged: posting videos of yourself eating unmutated produce.
I was tempted to show off my giant bowls of strawberries, grapes, and cherries but thought better of it.
Better to keep a low profile and quietly enjoy my fortune.
Authorities worked hard to reassure the public. People were anxious, but still hopeful.
But with such harsh realities, life was undeniably tough.
From time to time, arguments drifted up from the village below Da Rong.
Farmers’ fields were ruined. They couldn’t even visit their crops, let alone harvest them.
One villager, desperate for greens, tried to pick some from her garden only to be pelted by mutated pea shooters, coming home bruised and battered.
I lurked in the village WeChat group, always catching the latest gossip.
Today, another argument broke out.
A woman’s shrill voice echoed up, clear even to me.
A girl from the Zhang family had been starved so badly she snuck out to eat some vegetables at night, only to be beaten by the plants.
Her mother was nearly hysterical, cursing her husband and in-laws while carrying her daughter door to door, begging for medicine.
But most families barely had fever reducers or antibiotics who would have wound ointment?
I picked up my binoculars and peeked down.
Seeing the battered little girl and her desperate mother, my heart twisted painfully.
Back when I stockpiled supplies, I’d bought plenty of medicine an entire box of Yunnan Baiyao powder.
That little bottle could be a lifesaver in this isolated mountain village.
But my safety depended on Da Rong and secrecy. If I was exposed, the villagers would watch me and Da Rong constantly. Someone might even try to take Da Rong away for research.
Da Rong was strong, but I couldn’t risk it.
Yet I couldn’t just watch a child suffer.
I handed a bottle of medicine to Da Rong, repeating my instructions over and over.
Da Rong’s branch waved reassuringly, then zipped away with the bottle.
Soon, it returned, making a heart shape with its branches a gesture it picked up from watching me scroll on my phone.
The village noises faded, and peace returned.
I asked Da Rong to deliver the medicine where no one could see. I didn’t know if the mother had used it yet.
I lurked in the WeChat group for days. No further news so the girl must be okay.
For the past two weeks, it had rained almost nonstop, sometimes heavy, sometimes light. Today, it finally stopped.
Da Rong’s canopy was so vast it blocked out the sun forget sunbathing, I barely got wet in the rain.
Its aerial roots formed a mini-forest. Thankfully, my villa was far from the nearest neighbor; otherwise, their homes would be lost under the roots.
I lounged in my chair, gazing out the window and spooning homemade yogurt and fruit salad into my mouth.
The sweet fruit and rich yogurt filled my senses. If I sold this bowl outside, it’d fetch thousands.
I was living in luxury.
I thought about watching a show, but couldn’t focus something was making me restless.
Da Rong was acting odd too its branches, usually slow and gentle, were agitated.
I asked what was wrong. Its branches rustled, and it rolled up a black-shelled bug for me to see.
Suppressing my shivers, I took a closer look and searched online.
It was a Ficus Longhorn Beetle—a pest that eats banyan bark and wood.
“Da Rong, you’ve got bugs?” I asked in shock.
I thought a mutant like Da Rong would be immune to pests.
Da Rong drooped its branch, then produced a gray moth.
I looked it up—a Gray Silkworm Moth, which eats banyan leaves.
My expression grew serious. Da Rong’s branches had grown much tougher since mutating.
If these bugs bothered Da Rong, they must be numerous.
Doomsday Plant Battle - Chapter 4
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