Chapter 101: Ling Jing Was Hot on the Culprit’s Heels
Ling Jing was hot on the culprit’s heels.
Specifically, the culprit who dared to steal her C-rank mutated rabbit.
With the throttle pinned all the way, her electric tricycle tore relentlessly after the creeping vine that had snared the rabbit.
Hm?
What in the world was this green vine? It looked like an oversized, mutated Virginia creeper on steroids.
How could a vine move faster than a rabbit?
Seeing how effortlessly it had bound the rabbit, its rank was probably even higher than a C-rank, wasn’t it?
Wait… Ling Jing recalled the dossier mentioning a B-rank mutated organism somewhere in the urban ruins.
At the time, she had merely skimmed past it since it wasn’t listed as an edible ingredient.
Who knew this B-rank creature would deliver itself right to her doorstep?
Turning down a free, high-tier plant core went against every principle she had.
Ling Jing grew even more thrilled.
How considerate of it—now she didn’t have to wander blindly through the ruins to find it.
A B-rank plant core was worth 200 Flora Tokens, enough to clear two brand-new farming plots back home.
“Beep, beep. High speed detected. You are currently exceeding the speed limit.”
“Beep, beep. High speed detected. You are currently exceeding the speed limit.”
As long as the speed warning kept sounding, she was reassured—she was cruising at top velocity.
Swish—
Rustle, rustle, rustle—
Wherever the electric tricycle passed, the tangled green tendrils scattered frantically like startled rodents.
Before long, chasing a single vine escalated into pursuing an entire sprawling carpet of foliage.
Whoa, that’s a lot of branches.
Ling Jing marveled inwardly while keeping both hands locked firmly onto the handlebars.
A cluster this dense had to have snared plenty of prey, right?
Maybe she could salvage a massive haul of scavenged catches along with it.
Talk about getting something for nothing.
Thump!
The trike suddenly jolted, as though running clean over something on the road.
Glancing back, Ling Jing saw what looked like a massive pile of cocooned bundles wrapped tightly in vines.
They didn’t vanish when the trike rolled past.
Not edible ingredients, then.
Whatever. Keep on driving.
She was closing in on the mutated rabbit.
Both the C-rank rabbit and this absurdly fast B-rank vine monstrosity were hers for the taking!
…
“Cough, cough, cough, cough…“
“Cough, cough, hack, hack!!“
“Gag—“
“Cough, cough, cough…“
The suffocating coils around their necks abruptly snapped slack, allowing cold air to rush into their lungs.
Snatched from the brink of asphyxiation, Zhou Xue doubled over, coughing violently.
Pushing herself up, she saw her teammates breaking free from the loosened vines as well.
Everyone lay scattered across the pavement, but the monstrous vines had completely vanished without a trace.
“Cough, cough—hurk—blegh—“
Hall was sprawled flat on the tarmac, hacking and dry-heaving in equal measure. “So unhygienic… hurk… What kind of vine shoves itself down someone’s throat?! Blegh…“
It took him several agonizing moments to sit upright. “What happened? How were we… suddenly saved?”
His voice had warped from the brutal constriction, turning into a raspy, bizarre wheeze that sounded eerily like a goat’s bleat.
“No idea… cough, cough. I thought I was a goner, and then the vines just dropped us,” Turner rasped, his face a portrait of sheer bewilderment.
“Cough, hack… Captain Zhou, did you locate the core?” Heixi asked.
“Wasn’t me.” Zhou Xue gingerly massaged the dark bruises ringing her neck.
“Could it be that my morning breath was just that toxic? Hurk—“
Even in sheer agony, Hall couldn’t resist running his mouth.
“Cough…“
Quick hauled himself up from the cracked asphalt, the stone sheen over his skin still fading.
Thanks to his defensive ability, he seemed to have weathered the ordeal slightly better than the rest.
Yet his expression was completely bewildered. “I think… something just ran right over me…”
“Look over there!”
Luo Xianghuai pointed into the distance toward a faint beacon of light.
Everyone turned their heads.
In the pitch-black heart of the urban ruins, that distant gleam was impossible to miss.
They watched in stunned disbelief as the monstrous vines that had nearly butchered them scrambled across the ruins in pure, frantic terror.
Right behind them, a solitary sphere of white light pursued them relentlessly, refusing to let them go.
With every passing second, the radiant beacon closed the gap.
The terrifying A-rank mutant Virginia creeper that had brought two elite squads to their knees was fleeing like a terrified rat before a predatory cat.
One could practically read the sheer humiliation in the frantic thrashing of those retreating vines.
It was utterly bizarre.
“What is that?”
“—! It’s Boss Ling!” Hall suddenly shrieked.
“Huh? Cough, cough, Boss Ling?”
“Who is Boss Ling?”
“Cough, hack… Boss Ling is a glowing ball of light?”
“What kind of nonsense are you babbling?! Hurk… That’s Boss Ling riding her tricycle! Cough, cough… The pedal kind, haven’t you seen one?!”
“A pedal trike can move that fast?!”
“Cough, hack… Is Boss Ling an octopus?!”
“She’s human! A real human! Cough, hack…” Hall’s vocal cords were practically shredded, yet the words kept tumbling out of his mouth.
“Boss Ling is the proprietor of the Chinese Restaurant. She operates a tricycle, and the protective sphere of white light surrounding it obliterates mutated organisms on contact. Hall has witnessed it firsthand,” Zhou Xue offered by way of a brief explanation.
“An Awakener?” Heixi had never heard of such a powerhouse and couldn’t help asking.
Zhou Xue parted her lips to respond, but Hall’s ecstatic shout cut her off: “She caught up!”
The Awakeners were far from the glowing beacon.
From this distance, the suffocating canopy of vines resembled nothing more than a tattered, flailing rag mop thrashing across the dark.
They watched as the orb of pure white light slammed into the rag mop.
And then… the rag mop simply vanished?
Someone rubbed their eyes vigorously. “…Am I seeing things?”
“You’re not! You’re not! That’s just how Boss Ling’s trike works! Cough, hack, whatever gets in her path gets wiped out!” Hall crowed gleefully. “I saw it with my own eyes!”
“…Why are you so damn excited?” Zhuo Tian asked, thoroughly bewildered.
“Our grudges are settled! Vengeance is served! Of course I’m thrilled!”
“Boss Ling is truly terrifying,” Turner breathed in awe.
“Cough, cough… As expected of Boss Ling,” Shelley chimed in.
Zhou Xue pulled her gaze back and looked at Heixi. “Can an Awakener obliterate an A-rank mutated organism in the blink of an eye?”
“…”
“At least, none of us can.”
The operatives of the Red Flag Society traded dumbfounded looks.
They hadn’t even set foot inside this so-called Chinese Restaurant yet, but they had received an unforgettable demonstration of its owner’s sheer, incomprehensible might.
Still…
Why were the Dark Star operatives, from their captain down to the foot soldiers, radiating such immense pride?
What did this restaurant have to do with them, anyway?
“Boss Ling!!!”
“Good evening, Boss Ling!!!” Hall was already waving his arms and leaping into the air, bellowing at the top of his gravelly lungs.
…
Ling Jing wanted a plant core, and Ling Jing got her plant core.
After plowing cleanly through the fleeing mass of mutated vines, the stray runners in the periphery instantly lost all vitality, slumping into limp, lifeless heaps across the pavement.
Satisfied, she opened her system panel to inspect the spoils.
Hm? Not a B-rank?
Ling Jing arched an eyebrow.
An A-rank plant core.
This was her very first one. Time to see what it yielded in the exchange.
She tapped on the purplish-crimson core.
—400 Flora Tokens.
Not two plots, but four full plots of land!
Her high-speed chase had certainly paid off, and she had bagged the beast core from the C-rank rabbit as well.
An absolute windfall.
Hm?
Ling Jing straightened her posture.
She seemed to catch a strange sound carrying over the breeze.
A faint, reedy bleating… like a goat?
Right, the mutton!
Checking her compass, she realized that chasing the vine had driven her straight into the northeastern fringes beyond the North Wall.
Perfect timing.
Twisting the throttle, she sped away into the night in high spirits, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.
Off to catch some sheep!
