Chapter 4: Different Plant Defense Troops
“Nope,” Huai Yu replied openly. “I have zero contribution points! They even gave me soybeans and nutrient fluid, and they assigned me all 600 acres of Rose Corridor No.1!”
As she spoke, she smiled contentedly. Under the soldiers’ flashlights, her dusty, dirt-smeared face looked especially satisfied.
At that, everyone fell silent.
Zero contribution points — they should have looked down on her.
But the girl in front of them just seemed like a pampered, naïve young lady — before the catastrophe, she was probably still studying for university entrance exams.
The group slowly lowered their guns and asked, “Have you been here all night? Did you notice anything unusual nearby? People? Animals? Or plants?”
Huai Yu thought for a moment and answered firmly, “Just me.”
She was so certain that everyone chuckled. After a while, someone said, “I checked — the entire area looks normal.”
“Stay cautious. This morning, there was a slight mutation fluctuation in Zone 8’s corridor. It didn’t trigger an alarm, but two incidents in one day — we can’t take it lightly.”
The leading soldier gestured, and the team slowly regrouped, preparing to head back.
After a few steps, he turned and asked, “Where are you staying tonight?”
Huai Yu pointed at the ruins of bricks and stones from earlier. “Here! There’s a big underground tunnel — it’s even warmer than outside.”
She was very satisfied; it was way more spacious than that tree cocoon she’d stayed in before!
The soldiers fell silent again.
Because this so-called “tunnel” was clearly just the foundation of the former Rose Corridor. But still — only the foundation.
In the military zone, no outsiders were usually allowed, and after years of catastrophe, everyone had to be responsible for their own choices and actions.
Zero contribution points, yet she chose the largest plot of land — that was her decision.
The group disciplinedly finished regrouping and headed back. Huai Yu watched the departing vehicle with envy: “I really want one too…”
Then she turned and glanced at the Rose Corridor. The thorns were still sharp and menacing, but the flowers remained soft and fragrant.
“Why are you so easily excited? Tonight, I’m keeping my distance from you — no shaking, no trembling! If you really get excited, you’ll have to go clear out the wildlands’ mutants yourself. But you’re not allowed to cause trouble here, okay?”
She babbled in a soft, fluffy voice, completely lacking in authority.
“There’s not even any pine needles around here. The ground’s too hard. I can’t sleep well. Can you drop some petals for me?”
The surroundings remained silent.
But on the Rose Corridor, the vines began to rustle and grow rapidly. The flower buds swelled and, finally, with a “pop,” bloomed.
Thousands upon thousands of flowers burst open together, making a continuous rustling sound in the quiet night.
Then, a soft breeze rose from somewhere, swirling over the Rose Corridor. In the night wind, a sea of pink petals floated into the air and soon drifted down around Huai Yu’s feet.
“…Damn…”
Someone nearby, driving a vehicle, stared over in shock, their face stunned under the helmet.
Huai Yu felt a bit embarrassed — she hadn’t even noticed anyone arriving.
But the soldier quickly drove closer — after years of catastrophe, such a romantic rain of flowers could only mean danger.
Still, this was the Rose Corridor, part of the natural defenses alongside the dangerous Sanqing Mountains, protecting Flower City from enemies of the wastelands.
Its blooming — fine, it was a little excessive — but the soldier didn’t think the petals and breeze had anything to do with Huai Yu. He quickly approached her with a package:
“Don’t get too close to any plants, not even the Rose Corridor.”
“Also, this is a sleeping bag our captain applied for you. Take it. It’s early spring, you’ll get sick sleeping on the ground.”
Huai Yu blankly accepted the package, then, thinking back on the day’s events, suddenly gave a soft, genuine smile:
“Thank you, big brother. You’re all so kind.”
The soldier paused, touched by the way she sweetly called him “big brother” like a little sister.
But… zero contribution points…
He quickly gathered himself and said, “Little girl, the country’s rebuilding from scratch. Every field needs people. Grit your teeth, work hard. You can’t just drift through life… Otherwise, you really won’t have enough to eat.”
After that, he turned to leave but came back, scooped a bag full of petals, and said:
“The Rose Corridor had three abnormal incidents today. I’ll take these back for testing. Since you chose this place, be extra careful.”
He left, and silence returned. Only the branches of the Rose Corridor rustled softly — clearly not very happy.
Huai Yu looked at the thick pile of pink petals like a fluffy quilt at her feet and said softly:
“Alright, alright. I have a sleeping bag now, but the ground’s still hard. I was gonna use you to pave the tunnel, but I’ll just lay the sleeping bag on top instead!”
…
After some grumbling and tidying up, Huai Yu stuffed the maroon sleeping bag full of petals and dragged it into the tunnel.
She moved back and forth, filling the square underground space with the fragrant petals before finally laying out the sleeping bag and crawling inside.
“Wow! It’s so comfortable lying like this!”
She let out a long sigh and looked at the concrete and stone above her, suddenly realizing:
“Huh? Why does the Rose Corridor listen to me?”
Also… why did the bag of soybeans she brought back seem to have such a lively, budding energy?
As she drifted into sleepiness, she came to a conclusion:
“It must be because I’m amazing. I might not remember my past, but I’m definitely this incredible.”
Surrounded by the rich fragrance, her body and sleeping bag were slowly buried under the pink petals, sinking down bit by bit.
…
The next morning, Huai Yu woke up to the sound of a broadcast.
[Today is Thursday, March 19, 2066, sunny. Due to a coastal city typhoon, our city will experience rainy weather next week. Please prepare accordingly…]
[Spring rains bring life. All departments must remain vigilant during their work to prevent mutations.]
[Last night, a mutator riot broke out at the Third Prison. One individual has escaped. All residents, please stay alert…]
The broadcast came from the loudspeaker atop the tall pole from last night — it obviously served both as a mutation sensor and a communication device.
But being so close, it was loud and a little annoying.
Huai Yu wriggled out of her maroon sleeping bag. Around her, the fragrant petals had wilted overnight into piles of dry, brownish petals — ugly and unpleasant.
She sighed. As expected, petal bedding wasn’t a long-term solution. She really needed to find a more stable place to sleep.
Looking again at the wide foundation in front of her — the brick and stone structure was solid and flat, but it was built underground. She could live here for now and stay sheltered from the wind, but if it rained heavily, the entire foundation could flood into a little river…
Huai Yu definitely didn’t want to wake up one day floating on water.
