The Cat Who Farms in the Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland – CH97

Chapter 97 – Useful

Xia Lu Nong hadn’t developed his powers much.

He hadn’t been awake for long, and his understanding and use of his abilities were still shallow.

He only thought of this because of a previous reminder from Yan Ming Qing that his ability could influence plant mutations.

If it could promote plant growth, could it also hinder or even kill them?

As he pondered this, Xia Lu Nong grew nervous.

His hand lingered in the water, hesitating to proceed.

Xia Huo Qu said, “If you’re not sure, don’t try it yet. The contamination here isn’t that severe. We can filter it a couple of times, and it should be fine.”

Xia Lu Nong glanced at his brother, hesitating, “I’m just worried that if I kill the plants with my ability, it might release toxins, and that could pollute the soil or water.”

Xia Huo Qu reassured him, “Then let’s head back. We can get you a smaller container to test with. Let’s take it one step at a time.”

Xia Lu Nong nodded, quickly withdrawing his hand.

The group returned to their temporary base with the water.

The others, who had been clearing the area, also returned, having finished their tasks.

Many of them were skilled hunters, and during the clearing, several had caught some game.

Ba Niu was one of them.

Seeing Xia Lu Nong and the others return, Ba Niu called out from afar, “Captain Yan, Xia Lu Nong, guess what I just caught?”

“What?” Xia Lu Nong looked at him curiously, noticing the proud look on his face.

“Tada!” Baniu pulled out a mutated bird from behind him. “Just caught it! Only its legs have some extra growths. We could make bird soup or roast it tonight.”

The bird was still alive, flapping its wings in his hands.

Xia Lu Nong’s eyes lit up when he saw it. “Can I use it for an experiment before we eat it?”

“No problem,” Baniu handed the bird over. “What kind of experiment?”

Xia Lu Nong explained, “I want to see if my ability leaves any toxins when I use it to kill plants. Give me a moment; I’ll water the little pepper tree first.”

He took some water to the pepper tree.

As its roots dug into the soil, the little pepper tree quickly revived. After being watered, it regained its vitality, happily brushing its branches against Xia Lu Nong.

After playing with the tree for a while, Xia Lu Nong said, “Rest here and recover. I’ve got work to do.”

The little pepper tree shook its crown in response.

Xia Lu Nong returned to the campfire and found a white porcelain bowl. He filled it halfway with well water.

In the white bowl, the greenish tint of the well water was especially obvious.

Everyone watched him closely as Xia Lu Nong looked around at his brother and Kong Zhi. He took a deep breath, “Shall I start?”

Xia Huo Qu nodded, “Go ahead. Worst case, we’ll boil the water to evaporate any residue. The risk is minimal.”

Taking another deep breath, Xia Lu Nong gently dipped his fingers into the water.

With his current control, he didn’t need to touch the plants directly to affect them, but he wanted to ensure precise control over his ability.

He held his breath and released his power.

As he did, he felt something from his body surge into the water. Immediately, it seemed to react with the plants in the bowl.

The pale green water churned briefly, and the plant-filled “suspension” began to settle.

The plants and the water separated!

Most of the bowl now contained clear, transparent water, while a thin layer of dark green sediment collected at the bottom.

Xia Lu Nong opened his eyes.

Everyone stared intently at the bowl.

“Is it done?” Xia Lu Nong asked, hardly able to believe it. “It worked?”

Xia Huo Qu fetched another bowl. “Let’s pour it out and see if we can get completely clear water.”

“Okay!”

Xia Lu Nong carefully poured the clear upper layer into the new bowl, leaving the plant residue behind.

The separation was perfect.

The water in the new bowl was crystal clear, indistinguishable from regular drinking water.

Xia Lu Nong brought the bowl to his nose and took a gentle sniff.

It had no odor at all. It smelled like pure water.
Xia Lu Nong handed the bowl to his brother, “Bro, smell this.”

Xia Huo Qu took the bowl, sniffed it, and said, “It smells just like pure water.”

He then passed the bowl to Yan Xi Nian, who also sniffed it and said, “I don’t smell any chemicals.”

The bowl made its way around the group.

Some of them had sharp senses due to their animal forms, while others were less sensitive. Since no one detected anything unusual, it seemed that there was indeed nothing harmful in the water.

Kong Zhi returned the bowl to Xia Lu Nong. “It just smells like regular pure water.”

Xia Lu Nong nodded, “That’s what I thought. So, my ability really cleared out the plants in the water?”

“It seems like it,” Yan Xi Nian replied. “But let’s check if there’s any poison in the water.”

With a live bird nearby, they quickly poured some water into its mouth.

The bird didn’t drink much, so they only gave it two sips. Afterward, Xia Lu Nong fed the bird a piece of dried tomato.

The group looked at him, and Yan Xi Nian asked, “Why are you feeding it dried tomato?”

Xia Lu Nong glanced at the bird. “Birds don’t store waste. Once it passes the tomato, it means the water has been digested. If it doesn’t die, then there’s no poison.”

Everyone realized his logic.

Xia Lu Nong scooped some water from the bucket to wash his hands. “Let’s have dinner first, and we’ll check on it afterward.”

Yan Xi Nian nodded. “The water we collected isn’t clean, so we still need to filter it, disinfect it with tablets, and then boil it. Dinner will have to wait. Let’s hold a meeting first to discuss the information we gathered today.”

No one objected, so they all sat by the campfire and began sharing their findings.

The area they explored today was entirely unfamiliar, so as they exchanged information, they started mapping out the terrain and cataloging the local resources.

Xia Lu Nong had been observing the area all day and could only tell that this place used to be a human settlement, now completely overrun by plants. Most of the flora consisted of deciduous broadleaf trees, indicating that winter might not be very warm, and they needed to gather cold-weather supplies.

That was about all he could deduce, while his companions were much more skilled.

One could identify the local wildlife, while another had discovered potential mineral deposits.

As everyone shared their observations, they quickly pieced together a rough overview of the area and identified an optimal path for the next day’s journey.

By the time the meeting concluded, the bird had already passed the remains of the dried tomato, with tomato seeds visible on the ground.

The bird’s black-bead-like eyes darted around, its neck turning smoothly as it observed everyone. It appeared lively, showing no signs of poisoning.

Xia Lu Nong observed it and said to his brother, “It looks like there’s no poison. Should we boil the water and have someone taste it?”

Yan Xi Nian glanced at the bird, “Alright, with Dr. Ou here, nothing serious should happen.”

They poured the small amount of water into a pot and quickly brought it to a boil.

To be safe, Xia Lu Nong boiled it for a little longer.

Yan Xi Nian had to remind him, “That’s enough. Don’t boil it all away into steam.”

“Oh, right.” Xia Lu Nong poured the boiled water into a clean white porcelain bowl. Seeing that it was colorless and tasteless, he said, “Shall I try it first?”

Before Xia Huo Qu could take the bowl from him, Kong Zhi stepped in and grabbed it. “I’ll do it.”

Without waiting for a reaction, Kong Zhi blew on the water and took a small sip.

The water was still hot, so he held it in his mouth for a moment to taste it.

Everyone watched him anxiously.

After a moment, Kong Zhi swallowed the water and gave his verdict. “It tastes like very ordinary water, except for that faint sweetness you get from mineral water. There’s no other taste.”

Yan Xi Nian asked, “Do you feel any discomfort?”

“None at all. I feel fine,” Kong Zhi replied. “The moment the water hit my mouth, I knew it was safe. It’s so pure, there’s no way there’s anything wrong with it.”

Humans have a highly developed sense of taste, and once they gain beast-like abilities, their senses become even sharper. They could usually tell right away if water was clean.

If there were any toxic substances, they would have some detectable scent or texture, but Kong Zhi hadn’t noticed anything. He was confident that the water was indeed pure.

Xia Lu Nong, still nervous, carefully studied his expression. “Let’s observe for a bit longer. Dr. Ou, can you check on Kong Zhi, just to be sure?”

Dr. Ou stepped forward. “Sure, let me have a look. Xia Lu Nong, don’t worry. Besides smell and taste, beastmen have strong instincts. We’ve all been around this water for a while, and none of us sense anything wrong. It’s probably fine.”

Xia Lu Nong nodded.

After examining Kong Zhi carefully, Dr. Ou said, “His condition is completely stable. I don’t see any issues.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Xi Nian asked, “Xia Lu Nong, do you have any energy left? If so, we have plenty of water here. Let’s test it out.”

Xia Lu Nong nodded.

He had rested well today and still had plenty of energy left. The amount of power he had used earlier on the pepper tree and in the bowl wasn’t much, so he was ready to continue.

Yan Xi Nian pulled over half a bucket of water. “No need to switch tools. Just release your ability directly into the bucket. Practice a bit.”

Xia Lu Nong nodded.

There had only been a small amount of water in the bowl earlier, so he had used a small amount of power. With the larger volume in the bucket, he’d need to increase his output accordingly.

It was like seasoning food with salt—he had to gauge the amount precisely, something only he could control.

After two attempts, Xia Lu Nong successfully removed the plants from the water.

The plant residues sank to the bottom of the bucket. By carefully pouring out the water without disturbing the residue, the remaining liquid was clean and pure, with no color or odor.

Xia Lu Nong carefully poured out the water and boiled a small pot of it. Under Dr. Ou’s supervision, he tasted a little himself.

As Kong Zhi had said, the water was colorless and tasteless, and Xia Lu Nong didn’t sense anything unusual.

Since it was his first experiment, he didn’t dare to drink too much.

After confirming the water was safe, Xia Lu Nong turned his attention to the plant residue.

Every time he used his ability, he felt like it was just enough, so there shouldn’t be any leftover energy affecting the residue.

In other words, the residue shouldn’t harm other plants.

However, it needed further testing.

Xia Lu Nong took the plant residue and dumped it about 50-60 meters away from Xia Hua Jiao (the pepper tree) , carefully observing the wild grass around it.

The wild grass, which had been growing for half a year and was already yellowed, seemed to corrode upon contact with the residue. The leaves quickly turned yellow and curled, though the core of the grass remained green.

Xia Huo Qu glanced at it and said, “Wild grass is tougher than the algae in the water. It’s nothing serious.”

Xia Lu Nong observed it for a while and said, “Maybe my ability is more focused on the algae, which is why their reaction was more intense.”

“That’s possible. We’ll understand more as we continue experimenting.”

Xia Lu Nong nodded, “Brother, I’ve got an idea. I’m going to talk to Dr. Ou.”

“About what?”

“About the direction of my ability’s mutation.”

Leaving that, Xia Lu Nong hurried off to find Dr. Ou among the female team members.

The women treated him like a younger brother and made space for him.

Dr. Ou stood up, “What’s up?”

“I wanted to ask you something,” Xia Lu Nong said. “Dr. Ou, can your healing ability mutate into a toxic one?”

“No,” Dr. Ou immediately denied it. Seeing Xia Lu Nong’s surprised expression, she explained, “I awakened my ability a long time ago and have been experimenting for the past couple of years. The conclusion is, it can’t.”

She continued, “I’ve heard of the theory from White Building’s group about abilities being influenced by their users, but it’s very difficult in practice. My ability is very stable. It’s purely for healing and can’t turn into something harmful.”

Xia Lu Nong’s enthusiasm was dampened. “I thought you could.”

“Nope,” Dr. Ou said. “I’ve encountered many ability users, and your ability is very unique, quite unconventional. My experience won’t be of much help to you.”

After thanking Dr. Ou, Xia Lu Nong returned to his brother.

After hearing about the conversation, Xia Huo Qu said, “The people from Yan Ming Qing’s group aren’t that reliable. You don’t need to follow everything they say.”

Xia Lu Nong nodded, “I’ll keep experimenting. I feel like my ability can be even more useful.”

Yan Xi Nian asked, “What do you mean by ‘more useful’? Are you talking about its offensive potential?”

“Maybe?” Xia Lu Nong wasn’t sure.

Kong Zhi chimed in, “If it can be useful in many different ways, that’s already great. Just being able to purify water is an extremely valuable ability.”

“That doesn’t count,” Xia Lu Nong said modestly, feeling a bit embarrassed by the praise. “After all, we spent so much time testing it.”

“No, it’s very useful,” Yan Xi Nian interrupted his self-criticism. “Being able to purify water in the wild is even more valuable than finding food. Once you master it, it will greatly benefit the team.”

Xia Huo Qu agreed, “Getting safe water is much harder than getting safe food when we’re out here. This skill is really valuable.”

Encouraged by their words, Xia Lu Nong felt a surge of motivation. “I’ll keep practicing and get better at it soon!”

“You definitely will,” Xia Huo Qu assured him.

While chatting, Xia Lu Nong used his ability again to separate the water and algae in the bucket, producing clean water for everyone to boil and use.

Xia Lu Nong worked efficiently.

In comparison, the nearby water filter had been running for hours and only produced a small basin of water, which wasn’t enough for everyone to drink.

As Xia Lu Nong packed away the bucket, he began thinking about how to handle the river and well water outside in the future.

After putting everything away, he sat by the fire, watching the food bubbling in the pot, when a thought suddenly struck him. “Wait, brother, are we stuck in the wrong mindset?”

“Hmm?”

“Our goal is to get clean water, not to treat water!” Xia Lu Nong felt like something clicked in his mind. “If we need clean water, why not focus directly on that?”

Ba Niu and a few others, who were sitting drowsily by the fire, perked up at his words.

Ba Niu instinctively raised his head, “Is there a difference?”

The others also looked at Xia Lu Nong.

Kong Zhi took over, “There’s a big difference.”

Without waiting for questions, he looked at Xia Lu Nong and continued, “Some plants can naturally produce water. There’s no need to go through extra steps.”

“Exactly!” Xia Lu Nong was excited that Kong Zhi was following his train of thought. He wanted to shake his hand in agreement. “If the goal is to get clean water, I don’t need to figure out how to remove plants from it. I could just grow plants that produce water!”