Chapter 332
The young man who walked out of the grocery store was, of course, Tang Yu’an, accompanied by Zhou Qi. The little boy in Tang Yu’an’s arms was Kang Kang.
While only three months had passed in this world, ten months had gone by in the wasteland dimension.
During that time, Tang Yu’an had asked Kang Kang to help cultivate the Purple Thousand-Layer Tree.
He had tried propagating it by cutting and grafting branches from the other dimension, but failed. As for transplanting a full-grown Purple Thousand-Layer Tree? Its massive size made it nearly impossible to transplant or keep alive.
That’s when Tang Yu’an thought of Kang Kang.
He gave Kang Kang some Purple Thousand-Layer Leaves, hoping he could cultivate a smaller version—roughly the size of a regular tree—one with a high survival rate and the same insect-repelling effects.
Kang Kang was fascinated by the plant.
However, perhaps due to the tree’s alien origin and Tang Yu’an’s high expectations, it took Kang Kang more than six months to finally cultivate this mutated Purple Thousand-Layer sapling.
Compared to the original species that could grow hundreds of meters tall, this sapling was much smaller—only expected to grow a few meters at maturity.
But its insect-repelling properties hadn’t weakened—in fact, they had been enhanced.
Of course, just because the sapling could grow in the wasteland dimension didn’t mean it would survive here. The plant Kang Kang brought today was a propagated offshoot of the mutated variety.
He intended to test whether this offshoot could thrive in the original world.
That’s why this time, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi appeared as the official representatives of Desolate City Haven, and they had already contacted Liang Jin before arriving.
As soon as they stepped out of the branch store, someone came to greet them.
“You must be Mr. Tang and Mr. Zhou?”
The man, Fan Yue, quickly confirmed their identities. But when he saw the little boy in Tang Yu’an’s arms, he hesitated.
“Is this… Master Kang Kang?”
Kang Kang gave him a glance and immediately buried his face in Tang Yu’an’s chest.
He was only lively around plants and familiar people—when it came to strangers, he became extremely shy.
Tang Yu’an gently patted the back of his head and nodded.
“Yes, this is Kang Kang. Is the planting site for the Purple Thousand-Layer Tree ready?”
“All prepared!”
Everyone here had already witnessed the power of the Purple Thousand-Layer Leaf. They were also organizing teams of scientists and researchers to begin lab cultivation.
But since the Peace Trading Company was already offering them for sale, they were more than happy to buy directly.
This had been settled beforehand: a price of 100,000 points per sapling, along with a collaborative talent-exchange plan.
Due to the chaotic state of the original world, the collaboration program was postponed until things stabilized.
So Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi, along with Kang Kang, got into a car heading toward the planting site.
The area they were in was near the disaster zone and remained in a state of emergency, but it was clearly in much better shape than the core disaster regions.
Being in a civilized world again made both Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi feel dazed—it was almost surreal.
Though only about ten months had passed since the apocalypse began, for them—and for the people in the disaster zone—it felt like a lifetime ago.
Tang Yu’an suddenly realized: even in this familiar environment, they could never truly return to their old way of life.
“Is this your first time on Earth Star, Mr. Tang and Mr. Zhou?”
Fan Yue’s position was high enough that he knew the Peace Trading Company was an extraterrestrial organization. Its members worshipped the God of Commerce and operated with a peaceful and cooperative philosophy.
Desolate City Haven was the base Peace had established in another world.
Though these two young men looked quite young, to be leaders of an alien base meant their abilities were undoubtedly extraordinary. So Fan Yue treated them with great respect.
“No,” Tang Yu’an replied honestly. “We’ve just never been here before.”
Fan Yue interpreted this as: they’ve only been to the disaster zones, not to any functional cities.
“Once the apocalypse is over, you should travel around a bit,” he said with a smile. “I’d love to visit your world one day.”
“You’re welcome. We need talented people like you.”
“You flatter me,” Fan Yue replied. Then, seriously, “Hope was restored to our world thanks to the Peace Trading Company. If there’s anything you need from us, please let us know.”
“Desolate City Haven is happy to work with you,” Tang Yu’an said. “We’ve also gone through a long apocalyptic period and are still rebuilding. Everything’s just getting started.”
He hadn’t forgotten the role he was playing.
“As for the Peace Trading Company…” he added, “it’s under the jurisdiction of the Church of the God of Commerce. The ones who make decisions are the divine emissaries. We can’t speak on their behalf.”
Fan Yue quickly responded, “Desolate City Haven is a vital bridge between the two worlds. We hope to build a friendly and long-term relationship.”
Tang Yu’an just smiled and nodded without saying much more.
The more you talk, the easier it is to slip up—he preferred to stay cautious.
Fortunately, they soon arrived at their destination.
As soon as they got out of the car, Tang Yu’an saw a long steel barrier wall—this was the defense line that separated the disaster zone’s mutated creatures from the safe area.
Six months earlier, the government had pushed this line outward, reclaiming lost land and launching vigorous relief efforts.
But once the mutant species entered their reproduction cycle, the reclaimed zones were lost again. The nation was forced to retreat back behind this wall, paying a heavy price.
Thankfully, they had held out—just long enough for Peace Trading Company’s Purple Thousand-Layer Leaves to arrive.
And now, they had saplings of the Purple Thousand-Layer Tree as well.
These trees had a repelling effect on the mutants, so the best place to plant them was outside the barrier, to create a natural defensive line.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi both agreed—it was the ideal location.
After using the leaves to drive back the mutant species, a strip of land near the wall had been cleared. The rest was still under active cleanup.
When they arrived at the designated spot, they saw an elderly man with graying hair, accompanied by several younger assistants.
Upon seeing the flowerpot in Kang Kang’s arms, the old man hurried over.
“Is that the Purple Thousand-Layer sapling?”
“Professor Lin, this is Master Kang Kang,” Fan Yue introduced quickly. “The sapling was cultivated by him.”
Then he introduced Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi as well.
But it was obvious that Professor Lin’s attention was entirely on Kang Kang and the purple millefolia sapling.
“Little one, did you grow this sapling? How did you do it?” Professor Lin crouched down, trying to communicate with Kang Kang.
Kang Kang, however, hid behind Tang Yu’an, only poking out half his head, eyeing the strangers warily.
“Kang Kang is a bit shy around strangers,” Tang Yu’an explained.
Professor Lin nodded regretfully.
“Let’s plant the purple millefolia sapling in the ground first.”
“Yes, yes! Do you need help?”
Tang Yu’an looked at Kang Kang, who finally spoke: “Need… need to dig a hole.”
“Alright, dig a hole!”
Everyone immediately got to work. After digging the hole, they followed Kang Kang’s instructions to pour in water to moisten the soil and then bury some purple millefolia leaves.
Only after they had followed all the steps did Kang Kang hand over the sapling, letting them transplant it into the hole and fill it with soil.
Watching them work, Kang Kang gradually became braver.
He ran to the sapling, first watering it, then babbling to it in a language only he understood.
When he faced the sapling, his expression and speech were suddenly far more animated.
Soon, the little boy’s expression became troubled.
He ran back to Tang Yu’an and said, “Brother, Little Purple needs earth essence, wood essence… there’s not enough here…”
Tang Yu’an knew he meant earth and wood spiritual energy.
“Alright, we’ll figure something out.”
He looked at Zhou Qi, who understood immediately and took out some materials. He set up a few rune formations around the sapling.
After inserting earth and wood crystals into the formations, they activated automatically, releasing the spiritual energy within.
Though Professor Lin and the others couldn’t sense the energy, they could clearly see the drooping sapling perk up instantly.
Just as they were about to ask about it, they saw the little boy return to the sapling, his small hands glowing with a soft green light as he spoke again in that incomprehensible language.
Then, something unbelievable happened.
The purple millefolia sapling began to grow rapidly—its height increasing visibly until it stopped at about two meters tall.
This… this was just magical!
Though they had seen many ability users before, this was the first time they’d witnessed someone make a plant grow so fast.
At the same time, the previously energetic Kang Kang was now looking drained.
Tang Yu’an walked over and picked him up.
Kang Kang rested his head on his shoulder and rubbed his eyes with a small hand. “Gege… sleepy…”
“If you’re sleepy, just nap for a bit.” Tang Yu’an gently patted his head.
Professor Lin, watching this scene, couldn’t help but lower his voice and ask Zhou Qi, “Does Master Kang Kang have the ability to communicate with plants?”
Zhou Qi nodded.
Professor Lin’s eyes widened. This was every agricultural researcher’s dream ability!
“Is this kind of ability common on your otherworld?”
Zhou Qi shook his head.
Professor Lin just started to feel relieved when Zhou Qi added, “But the ability to accelerate plant growth is actually quite common. We have over a dozen people like that in our settlement.”
The old man gasped sharply.
Then his eyes lit up with excitement, and he asked eagerly, “Can I visit your settlement?”
“You’re welcome anytime.”
The old man couldn’t help rubbing his hands together in excitement. “Great, I’ll file a report as soon as I get back!”
Fan Yue, standing nearby, was already drenched in sweat. Please don’t joke like that, Professor Lin… You’re a national treasure—there’s no way the government will approve this!
And just like that, the purple millefolia sapling was planted.
Because of the need for large amounts of earth and wood crystals, the government placed another major order with the Peace Trading Company.
To speed up the growth of the forest, Kang Kang stayed behind for a while. Later, Granny Guo was also brought over by Zhou Qi.
Granny Guo’s plant growth ability was also strong, and the huge time difference between the worlds made it difficult to keep the grandmother and grandson apart for too long.
With Granny Guo’s arrival, Kang Kang quickly recovered his liveliness and soon became the favorite of the national Agricultural and Forestry Research Institute.
Experts and scholars were desperate to meet him, pulling every string they could.
Kang Kang, for his part, was also delighted to meet so many new and unfamiliar plant friends, and he looked like he never wanted to leave.
The purple millefolia forest expanded rapidly.
Within a month, it had already encircled the edges of the safe zone.
Of course, that was still far from enough.
But now that the leaves could be harvested continuously, various products and equipment derived from them were developed, greatly enhancing soldiers’ survival capabilities when fighting against aberrant species.
In addition to clearing out aberrants, refugees who had previously been relocated to small towns were gradually moved into the safe zone.
Though the towns were no longer dangerous, living conditions remained harsh, so most refugees accepted the arrangements.
However, those young workers who had gone to work at the Desolate City settlement—and the pregnant women and elderly placed there—did not want to come back.
Even though the settlement’s environment wasn’t as convenient as the original world’s safe zones, they had been there for nearly a year and had grown used to it.
Plus, some of them had awakened powers while living in the otherworld!
Once awakened, their lifespans increased, and they gained abilities—of course they didn’t want to return.
The government didn’t force them, and instead dispatched personnel to assist Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi, using the branches they built as hubs to continue clearing aberrants and providing relief.
Tang Yu’an gave them a few vending machines and also opened the teleportation arrays of over twenty branches to the government.
According to their understanding, the rest of the world had basically fallen, and only their country was still holding out, barely protecting its heartland.
Besides the heavily afflicted areas inside, the national borders were under enormous pressure.
Although they now had the purple millefolia, the country’s borders were incredibly long—it was unknown how long it would take to plant the trees along the entire frontier or how much danger they would face in the process.
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but entertain a bold idea.
“What if we build branches along the country’s edge and have the government temporarily cede the borderlands to the Peace Trading Company?”
That way, a defensive shield could be instantly formed. Except for flying aberrants, nothing else would be able to get through!
They wouldn’t actually use the land for anything else, and once the situation stabilized, they could return it.
After all, they didn’t just have the wasteland world—they had access to an entire other plane now. If they needed land, they had all they could ever want!
