Chapter 128: The Anger of a Blade of Grass

Liu Mu could not return at this time; besides, Xu Xiaofeng's situation was far more complex, and she had to save whoever she could.

She had not yet figured out the relationship between her elder sister and this plant; if she forced a separation, both being injured would be the best outcome, while the most likely was that both would die, and the worst... Liu Mu would not give this grass a chance to survive alone.

With the Antidote, Liu Mu left the interior of the flower and placed Zhang Xiaoyong among the soft stamens.

These unconscious filaments continuously surged over to embrace the two, moving them outward wave after wave like a tide.

Liu Mu knew this was Xu Xiaofeng sending them away; she did not know the process, but she could guess that to save her kin, she intended to remain in the flower forever.

Liu Mu was repulsed by the idea of others sacrificing themselves for her; it was not hatred, but the guilt arising from it would shackle her steps forward in the days to come.

The guilt from the Special Operations Team was already enough; how could she lose someone who was like an elder sister to her?

Liu Mu was not worried that the toxins here would affect Zhang Xiaoyong, because the latter had been soaked in the nectar for so long that his entire lungs should be filled with it, and this nectar was clearly a liquid like a mother's amniotic fluid that could sustain the human respiratory system.

"Xiao A, have Niu Boyi take Xiao Yong and go first."

She was at some distance from Niu Boyi, but at this distance, the system could contact Gouzi, and since there was an Antidote in the Recovery Space that could be directly injected into the sheltered organism to detoxify it, she could be absolutely assured in handing Zhang Xiaoyong over to Niu Boyi.

After making the arrangements, Liu Mu easily broke free from the stamens and turned back.

These stamens seemed to realize what she was about to do, but their obstruction was truly too gentle, more like "persuasion" from a relative.

Diving into the nectar once more, Liu Mu lost the trail of Xu Xiaofeng.

The filaments at the bottom were all gone; there was only the inner wall, smooth and textured with plant patterns just like the surroundings.

Liu Mu had no diving equipment on her and did not want to keep going back and forth to change air, so she could only slowly exhale the air from her lungs and let the liquid enter her body.

The bitter taste almost destroyed the root of her tongue, and subsequently, her entire tongue slowly became stiff.

As expected, one shouldn't taste things that are too sweet; with the contrast of the former, the bitterness could make a person collapse.

Once the air in her body was basically expelled and Liu Mu had adapted, she felt as if she had turned into a fish, able to move freely in the nectar, searching for Xu Xiaofeng's trail bit by bit.

Following her inspection, she actually found a very inconspicuous "door" hidden in the inner wall.

Heitao A provided a more advanced term—Valve.

No matter what it was, Liu Mu had to go in and see; her current position was still on the ground, and if she went any further down, she feared the basement she had spent a fortune building would not be preserved.

It was just that this layer of Valve was not easy to open; concerned for her property and her elder sister, Liu Mu drew her knife and cut directly along the edge.

When she cut, the flower had no reaction; Liu Mu pulled the Valve open, and the nectar immediately rushed in, dragging her along with it.

The passage did not go straight down; instead, it connected various parts of the giant plant like a water pipe, looking as if it supplied nutrients, or perhaps it was specifically for something to move inside.

This could not help but make Liu Mu think of Xu Xiaofeng.

The nectar finally stopped at an upward slope; Liu Mu emerged from the liquid surface, opening her mouth to vomit and cough, spitting out more than half of the liquid in her lungs and stomach.

According to Heitao A, the rest would be slowly absorbed by her body and would cause no harm, which put her mind at ease.

"There's actually air," Liu Mu lay on the high point of the passage, taking a long time to re-adapt to gas entering her lungs, though every breath still brought up a giant bitter taste in her throat.

【Most Mutated Plants also perform photosynthesis; the oxygen concentration here is almost on par with the primeval forests before the disaster, which is very suitable for humans.】

Liu Mu only rested for a few seconds before climbing up to continue forward, "Are you saying there is less oxygen in the air outside after the disaster? Hiss, where did that oxygen come from?"

Heitao A fell into a brief silence, finally expressing helplessness in a ruthless tone, 【Before the disaster, the oceans contributed most of the oxygen on Earth, exceeding the total of all green plants on land. The impact and high temperatures did not cause large-scale disasters to the oceans, and at the same time, you should be grateful that the surface air circulation speed is fast enough. Of course, there is also the oxygen content in the soil. So, you didn't read this part of the data either, did you?】

"You say that as if you're mocking my ignorance," Liu Mu was still tracking the vital sign prompts provided by Heitao A, but this time Xu Xiaofeng's condition was very stable, giving her the mood to banter with the system in the dim crawl, "At the same time, I also noticed, Xiao A, since when did you stop being the same kind of human as me?"

【Protocol Core Article 1: The Super Intelligent System cannot consider itself a 'human' in the biological and sociological sense. That is to say...】

"You're a system, I can understand that! I'm asking you when you stopped being on my side; you keep saying 'you humans,' 'your Earth'—big brother, are you really made by aliens?"

【Answer for reference, forget it, I'm not sure; you know, if you don't upgrade, I'm very confused. Sorry, this self-check did not yield an accurate answer, Host. Xu Xiaofeng is fifty meters to your left, you'd better hurry! Their synchronization speed is accelerating; your elder sister will soon become a part of this plant colony.】

"I really want to burn it all down, damn thing, fuck..." Liu Mu began a violent output, cursing as fast as she moved forward.

But she was quickly discovered by the plant; many long whiskers suddenly emerged from the inner wall of the passage, like the curved, sticky tendrils of some legume plant, blocking her path.

Liu Mu had to draw her knife and hack her way through, but this still slowed her down until she took out the Flame Thrower.

"Hand over my elder sister, you bunch of **dog**-mother-fucking things! If I don't burn you all to ashes today, I won't be surnamed Liu!"

These tendrils were truly too difficult to deal with, but she could not really burn them, after all, Xu Xiaofeng's body was connected to them.

Fortunately, the threat was still useful.

Soon, the surrounding tentacles gathered together, so dense it made one's scalp tingle, quickly forming a human face.

"Elder sister?"

Liu Mu looked at that round, wealthy-looking face and had the urge to turn on the Flame Thrower directly. Terrifying, too terrifying; did this mean Xu Xiaofeng had already met with disaster?

The features on the face formed by the gathered tendrils became clearer and clearer, and the lower half of the face opened into a 'mouth', "Leave here; she no longer belongs to you. Leave immediately."

The voice was low like an earthquake, almost impossible to hear clearly, yet one could feel the anger and hatred within it.

"You want to keep her, then I'll burn you! Occupying my territory and still wanting my person—this old lady isn't so easy to talk to."

Liu Mu raised the Flame Thrower and sprayed a small burst of flame directly, burning a gap in the tendrils.

"Barbaric human, this was our place to begin with. You occupy, you extract, you pollute, you destroy... How dare you say this is your territory! Human, this has been ours since ancient times..."

"We are the true masters of the land!"

The gap was quickly filled by new tentacles; that face was twisted with anger, revealing an expression Xu Xiaofeng would never have, and it even approached Liu Mu without the slightest fear.

Liu Mu took a step back, her body crouching slightly, assuming a posture to attack.

She showed neither fear nor any kindness, "These were all learned from my elder sister's consciousness, right?"

"Master? Hmph, the law of the jungle—don't pretend you don't understand with me!"

"The strong prey on the weak, the winner takes all—that is the fundamental principle of the natural world. You want this place? Fine, then let's see who is strong and who is weak!"