From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!

Chapter 272 - 261: Letting Down the Guard

This was an unscripted development.

Gu Xi got up, intending to go take a look, but the man across from her suddenly spoke up. "Let me go with you."

Seeing everyone look up at him, 039 said with a frank expression, "That mysterious person took some things from inside before. I don’t know what they were, but I remember where they used to be. Maybe... I can be of help."

Gu Xi gave him a deep look. "Alright."

After they left, the Mutated Rat King, which had been lying obediently by the fire, immediately raised the upper half of its body. Its beady eyes darted around slyly, plotting who-knows-what.

Just then.

A small green sprout silently coiled above its round head.

The Mutated Rat King instantly froze. ’Dammit, I let my guard down.’

’This new master’s companion plant is practically a ghost.’

’I have to find a way to bluff my way out of this.’

The Mutated Rat King: "...SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK?" ’If I said I was just crouching for too long and my legs got a little numb, so I wanted to get up and move around, would you believe me?’

The little green sprout dangled a small, bean sprout-like tip between its eyes, swaying gently. ’You think I’m buying that?’

The Mutated Rat King: "..."

It flopped back onto the ground, trying to shrink its upper body between its two chubby little paws. ’Forget it. Maybe, just maybe, being a turncoat isn’t the right job for me.’

...

「Temporary Camp.」

Liu Jia, who had been in a stupor since the great earthquake, tremulously opened her eyes. She opened her mouth, and an immediate dry, itchy, stabbing pain shot through her throat.

The pain finally cleared her muddled consciousness. Liu Jia struggled to sit up. "Zheng..." Her voice was incredibly hoarse.

"Don’t talk yet." Fang Rui pressed her back onto the bed, then got up and poured her half a glass of warm water. "Zheng is fine. Gu Xi saved him. He’s out of mortal danger for now, but he hasn’t woken up yet."

Liu Jia breathed a sigh of relief. After slowly drinking most of the water, her throat felt a little better. She asked again, her voice still raspy, "Where is this? Where is everyone else? I... I need to see Mr. Ye."

As she spoke, she tried to struggle up again.

Fang Rui pressed her back onto the medical bed once more. "Don’t be anxious. You can tell me if something is wrong." He paused, his peripheral vision sweeping over the people on the adjacent beds. "The captain... got separated from us. We can’t contact him at the moment."

"What!" Liu Jia was shocked and immediately broke into a violent coughing fit.

Having just woken up, her body was already weak. The coughing nearly made her pass out again.

Fang Rui quickly helped her sit up, massaging a few pressure points and giving her more water. But Liu Jia paid it no mind. The moment she recovered slightly, she grabbed Fang Rui’s arm tightly and asked, "How could this happen? I have something very important..."

She was clearly agitated. Her already hoarse voice even cracked, sounding rather grating.

"Group Leader Liu, don’t worry. The captain will be back soon. We’re just too far away to reach him on the walkie-talkie right now." Fang Rui settled her back down. "If it’s about Zheng’s injury..."

Liu Jia lay back on the bed, taking a few ragged breaths.

Her head was spinning, likely an aftereffect of a concussion.

After lying there for a while, she finally looked up at Fang Rui. "Sorry, when Zheng was attacked, my head was all fuzzy. I didn’t see exactly what happened. I only vaguely saw..."

Her pupils constricted abruptly, as if recalling something terrifying. "I saw... Zheng suddenly collapse."

Fang Rui frowned slightly.

’Liu Jia clearly isn’t telling the truth, or at least not the whole truth. Is it because she doesn’t trust us, or...?’ His gaze swept over the other people still unconscious in the nearby beds.

’Or... is the culprit right here? Is she afraid that with the captain gone, the rest of us can’t protect her, so she’s too scared to tell the truth?’

"You should get some rest." Fang Rui gave her a little more water. "I’m going to check on Zheng. I’ll bring you something to eat in a bit."

Reaching the doorway, Fang Rui suddenly stopped and turned back to advise her, "Your injuries this time are a bit unusual. I’m short on medicine, and Gu Xi isn’t here right now. You all probably have internal injuries from the crash, so whatever you do, don’t overexert yourselves..."

After giving his warning, Fang Rui left, seemingly oblivious to how much information he had just revealed.

After he was gone, on the bed in the farthest corner, the person who was supposedly unconscious twitched their fingers slightly.

After leaving Liu Jia, Fang Rui went directly to Zheng’s room.

"How are you feeling?" He walked over to Zheng, took out a stethoscope, and pushed him back down onto the bed, his eyes fixed on the screen of his personal terminal. "Someone from the research team woke up..."

"Who was it?" Zheng asked.

"Group Leader Liu Jia." Fang Rui stared at the data on the light screen. "She’s recovering pretty well."

Zheng propped himself up, leaning against the headboard. "What did she say?"

"Only that she saw you suddenly collapse." Fang Rui put away his stethoscope and tapped a few times on the screen.

Zheng frowned slightly. "But before I passed out, I’m pretty sure she was awake..."

"You didn’t notice at all how you were taken down?" Fang Rui also found it strange. Zheng wasn’t usually so careless.

"No." Zheng slowly shook his head. "You had all gone into the woods. I was in the driver’s cab when I heard a noise behind me. I turned to look, and then..."

...that was it.

It was so fast I didn’t even have time to warn my teammates.

Zheng knew he had been careless this time. He’d assumed nothing would happen while guarding a few ordinary people, but he’d ended up capsizing in a ditch.

"That Liu Jia..."

The two fell silent for a moment. They both believed Liu Jia must know something, but she was clearly wary. She probably wouldn’t say anything until the captain returned.

"Speaking of which, we really have Miss Gu to thank this time," Zheng said suddenly. "When the captain gets back, we have to make sure he thanks her properly."

"We certainly should." Fang Rui nodded, clapping his good friend on the shoulder. "If it weren’t for Miss Gu this time, you would’ve been a goner."

"But with the captain’s personality..." Zheng was a little worried. "It’s been over twelve hours. Still no contact with the captain and the others?"

Fang Rui slowly shook his head. "They probably ran into something and got delayed. Qian Shan and the others already went to the supply point to see if they can bring back a new satellite communication password..."

"But didn’t the captain say there was a problem with the Shen Family? Then Mr. Shen..." Zheng trailed off, falling silent for a moment.

Fang Rui patted his shoulder and stood up. "Don’t overthink it. Mr. Shen is one of Miss Gu’s people. You get some rest. I’m going to go check on things over there."

...

「Underground Commercial Street.」

After coming out of the cryogenic warehouse where they found the Hibernation Chambers, Gu Xi had Wei Heng boil water so everyone could bathe and change their clothes.

There was a strange smell in the warehouse, and Gu Xi wasn’t sure if there were any viruses or bacteria. She wasn’t worried about getting infected, but it was a different story for Wei Heng and the others. Given the circumstances, this was the best they could do for now.

Liou He and Zhao Li started setting up a stove and hanging a pot. Wei Heng fashioned several large cauldrons, planning to boil a batch of hot water for the girls to wash up first.

was still running a fever. His young face was flushed red, and the wound on his lower back hurt so much that his breath hitched with every gasp. Still, he didn’t make a sound and even tried to sit up to help add wood to the fire.

He was a tough one.

Seeing his condition, Qin Yi waited for the water to heat up, then poured him a cup. "You’ll just have to bear with it for now. Our team is running low on medicine..."

’Running low on medicine. That means there’s still some left. But they’re not using it on me.’

’It seems I still haven’t earned their trust.’

"Thank you," 039 said, taking the water and lowering his gaze. "It’s fine. My injury isn’t serious."

He took a sip of water and asked casually, "By the way, where’s Captain Gu?"

Gu Xi had been here just a moment ago, but she had vanished in the blink of an eye.

couldn’t help but be suspicious.