novelraw Chapter 288 - 275: Going Too Far is as Bad as Not Going Far Enough
Chapter 288 - 275: Going Too Far is as Bad as Not Going Far Enough
"Miss Gu, there’s something you probably don’t know."
The thought that the Gu Family had already made their move—and that the base had cut off his and Gu Xi’s satellite communications even before the major earthquake—calmed Li Xiao’s heart a little.
He did his best to ignore the sinister, cold sensation on his neck, which came with a faint tickle, and said, "Just this morning, the joint team announced their preliminary results regarding the reverse evolution of plants."
At this, he glanced at Gu Xi before continuing, "To date, the Superpower Teams dispatched by the military across the country have discovered and successfully reverse-evolved a total of one hundred and thirty-four different species of plants..."
Of course, compared to the immense number of plant species that exist, this figure was almost negligible.
After all, aren’t there tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of plant species?
But don’t forget, these were targeted experiments conducted by the authorities. In other words, of the more than one hundred and thirty successfully evolved plants, over one hundred and twenty of them are practical species.
With these mother plants and the special abilities of Wood Element users, these one hundred and twenty-plus safe, practical plant species will soon be distributed across the country. This will go a long way toward alleviating the food crisis.
You could say that as long as this military-led plan continues, solving humanity’s greatest problem—food security—is only a matter of time.
But in doing so, it would inevitably harm the interests of certain people.
For example, the interests of the group of Healing System ability users, represented by Ye Xin, who have controlled the crop seed supply for all these years.
After analyzing the stakes involved, Li Xiao heaved a heavy sigh.
"Miss Gu, I understand the principle of not letting an outsider come between close relations. You and Ye Xin grew up as sisters. You fought side-by-side for years, trusted each other completely—you’re comrades who would die for one another, the closest of partners."
"Normally, it’s not my place as an outsider to say this, but we’ve known each other since we were kids, more or less..."
He looked at Gu Xi, doing his best to sound sincere. "So there’s something I feel I should warn you about."
"Miss Gu, the news of your arrival here in City A has been out for a while. Has that woman, Ye Xin, contacted you at all? I’m not one to gossip, but... people change, Miss Gu."
Li Xiao said with exceptional sincerity.
Ever since that woman, Ye Xin, became the Vice Director of the Abnormal Ability Research Institute, she’s not only driven Chen out of the Institute, but she has also teamed up with Zhou Jinyu to gradually usurp Chen’s authority.
Li Xiao thought to himself, ’That woman has been in power for so many years; she must have long forgotten their old friendship.’ What he was saying wasn’t exactly sowing discord. If anything, it was a frank, heart-to-heart warning.
But Gu Xi just kept looking at him with that same placid expression, her face betraying no emotion. She repeated her question, her voice soft and slow. "What is it you’re trying to say?"
Li Xiao froze, momentarily unable to read Gu Xi’s attitude.
After a long moment, he lowered his gaze and sighed. "Miss Gu, I... I don’t mean anything by it. I just want to remind you that things haven’t been easy for you all these years. You need to look out for yourself. After all, back then..."
But Gu Xi cut him off abruptly. "The success announced by the joint team—does it only concern the evolution of mutant plants?"
"Huh?" Li Xiao was confused. "Miss Gu, I’m not sure I understand what you mean..."
Li Xiao genuinely didn’t understand.
Gu Xi asked bluntly, "What about the plants that turn malignant?"
On their journey here, her group had discovered more than one plant on the verge of turning malignant.
Surely the other teams must have encountered at least one?
"Well..." Li Xiao sighed and hesitated. "Miss Gu, as you know, the base’s official announcements have to prioritize boosting morale and maintaining stability..."
Gu Xi understood. "So they only report the good news and not the bad, is that it?"
"Not entirely," Li Xiao said sheepishly. "It’s mainly that releasing certain information would be detrimental to social stability..."
Gu Xi didn’t want to hear the official drivel. She cut him off and asked, "What about mutated animals? Have the base authorities announced any new developments recently?"
"Not as far as I know."
Li Xiao shook his head. He didn’t understand why Gu Xi was asking about this, but having held a high-ranking post in the critical logistics department for years, he had the requisite political acuity.
For years, both the military and the base’s high command had maintained extremely strict control over anything concerning mutated animals.
This wasn’t just because mutated animals were dangerous to ordinary people. More importantly, it was because of the Crystal Cores.
After the sudden zombie virus outbreak, a string of natural disasters followed. Then, in recent years, global energy sources began to mysteriously deplete. Thus, the energy problem and the food crisis have been the two great swords hanging over humanity’s head.
Swords that could fall at any moment.
Now, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for the food crisis, but the energy problem... for now, the only solution was to rely on the Crystal Cores from mutated animals.
That was why, even though the military had secretly built a small experimental breeding farm, Shen Yue had only dared to acquire some evolved, X-Energy-free eggs from Gu Xi on the sly, avoiding everyone’s notice.
He wouldn’t have dared to take any more, even if Gu Xi had offered.
The energy issue, unlike food, was far more complicated. It wasn’t just a matter of conflicting interests between various factions; there were deeper problems involved.
It was a massive, bottomless vortex. Anyone who touched it was doomed.
Shen Yue didn’t want to drag Gu Xi into it.
The most he could do was secretly help the military get some more broiler chickens and eggs to improve the rations for his comrades.
Beyond that, Shen Yue was powerless.
His old man wouldn’t let him get involved, either.
Hearing Gu Xi ask about this, Li Xiao guessed at what she was thinking and couldn’t help but add a word of caution. "Miss Gu, you have a kind heart, but some things can’t be solved by one person alone."
He looked so sincere, as if he were earnestly trying to talk her out of a bad idea.
Finally, he offered another veiled reminder to Gu Xi. "In all the years you’ve been away, Ye Xin has been clawing her way up. But even she has only dared to meddle with crop seeds..."
This just went to show how deep the rabbit hole of mutated animals—or more precisely, the Crystal Cores inextricably linked to them—really was!
The waters there were deep, fast-moving, and murky, churned with hidden blades of ice. It was no place for ordinary people to tread.
Gu Xi suddenly looked up at him. "I’m noticing you seem to have a big problem with Ye Xin."
"Not at all. I have no personal opinion of Mr. Ye," Li Xiao said, his heart skipping a beat. "It’s just... you haven’t been at the Central Base for many years, so you aren’t familiar with the situation. I was just trying to fill you in..."
"Is that so?" Gu Xi asked coolly.
Li Xiao managed a stiff smile and fell silent.
’Best not to push it,’ he thought. ’He’d made his point about Ye Xin; it was best to leave it at that.’
But then Gu Xi spoke. "Tell me about Ye Xin..."
Li Xiao was certainly untrustworthy, but he wasn’t wrong about one thing.
She had lost thirty years of her life. There was so much she didn’t understand, and without core intelligence, she couldn’t make the right decisions.
And Li Ming had taught her that when gathering intelligence, you had to cast a wide net, analyze everything, and above all, never blindly trust a single source...