While Li Xue Lan was recounting her experience to Long Yu, her stomach suddenly growled loudly. Her face immediately reddened from embarra.s.sment."Let"s eat while we talk, otherwise the food"s going to go cold," Long Yu started to grab food from each dish and placed them onto her plate.
Just from the smell of the food alone, even he became hungry, not to mention the girl who hadn"t eaten anything for the past couple of days.
At first, Li Xue Lan reservedly took small bites of the food on her plate. However, her hands and mouth unknowingly sped up, almost rivalling Xixi"s.
Xixi showed a pained expression, causing Long Yu to almost break into laughter. Obviously, the little la.s.s was dissatisfied seeing someone else s.n.a.t.c.h away her food.
"Considering what you said, does that mean that the entire group besides the three of you have died to the vampire plant?" Long Yu asked while he started to eat.
"Well, we did not witness them being killed…. It was more like they were captured by vines coming out of the plant…" Li Xue Lan thought for a while before replying.
Long Yu had personally seen those red vines from afar, so he was not surprised at all.
"As expected, the red vines from the plant are quite flexible. They can attack, defend and even capture its victims," he solemnly thought.
"What happened next? Did you notice anything else after they were caught?" he followed up with a question.
"I didn"t manage to see it clearly since we had gotten pretty far away at that time. But the vines seemed to secrete some kind of white mucus, which wrapped around the people who were captured," she showed a disgusted and scared expression at the same time. She then continued, "Although the leader managed to break free of the vine that held him, he was not able to resist the following dozen of them…."
Even without her finishing her sentence, Long Yu could already tell the leader"s fate.
As he went deep in thought, the taste of the delicious mutant meat didn"t even register in his mouth. His mind was preoccupied with the girl"s description of her experience and the information he exchanged from the system.
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[Redwood Vampiric Oak Plant- Level 2]
[An original redwood plant that went through mutation, granting it the unique ability to integrate itself into another host plant. Due to it having amalgamated with another mutated oak tree, it caused both plants to undergo an exponential mutation rate, enhancing both their natural abilities. The redwood plant eventually outgrown the oak tree and has now become the main controlling ent.i.ty.]
[Abilities:
Vampirism- The plant is able to siphon the genes within the blood of other creatures to enhance its growth.
Enhanced Regeneration- Stemming from the original mutated oak tree"s ability, the plant is able to consume its prey"s blood to rapidly regenerate from any injuries.]
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Considering what Li Xue Lan said, he hypothesised that there was a high possibility that the victims were captured as blood bags to supply the vampire plant"s abilities. The "vampirism ability" increases the plant"s growth, whereas the "enhanced regeneration" ability allows it to quickly recover from any injuries.
However, there is a noticeable difference in the way its victims are treated. If it was the former ability, the victims would most likely be directly consumed for their genes. As for the latter, they would be kept as blood reserves in case the vampire plant gets injured.
Hence, Long Yu came to the conclusion that there were two possible reasons why the plant would protect its crown from damage. Hidden within the leaves were probably "blood reserves" made of its victims.
Another possibility was that, the vampire plant was protecting some kind of treasure. Although the latter was a tempting thought, Long Yu was hoping for the former. That way, the plan he was formulating would not be affected.
"Mister Long? Is something the matter?" the girl opposite him timidly asked.
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When Long Yu pulled himself back from his thoughts, he realised that the dishes on the table had already been swept clean.
Xixi beside him was patting her stomach with a satisfied smile whereas Li Xue Lan sat there with a red face. Due to her hunger, she had stuffed herself with more food than usual.
Seeing this, he just casted a wry smile. He did not mind at all since the mutant meat inside the Black Shark could still last them a few weeks. By then, he would have already obtained more resources from other mutated creatures. What he was afraid of was not the lack of food, but rather the lack of s.p.a.ce to store them.
After their meal, Li Xue Lan quickly offered to clean the dishes while Long Yu went into the bedroom. A brief moment later, he popped out again with a few things in his hands.
"Here, these are some fresh clothes and towel that you can use after your shower. There should also be a new set of toothbrush in the bathroom that you can use," he said.
Li Xue Lan"s mouth was agape when she saw this. She thought that she would be kicked out of the RV as soon as she finish her ch.o.r.e. After all, Long Yu had already gotten the information he wanted from her.
Long Yu then went to the living area and flipped a switch on the side of a couch. With a buzz, the original couch slowly reclined until it became a single sized bed.
"You can also choose to sleep here tonight if you want," he looked at her and said.
The girl thought for a moment but decided to decline. "Mis- mister Long, thank you for your kind offer but I think I should return to my friends."
In truth, she really wanted to accept his offer. After all, it would be difficult for an ordinary survivor like her to get access to a clean shower and safe place to sleep in doomsday. However, she did not feel right abandoning her other two colleagues outside.
"Oh, that"s fine as well. You can take the change of clothes along with you when you leave," Long Yu did not seem to mind. He only offered because she had done him a favour.
Not long after Li Xue Lan left, Long Yu heard a soft knock on the RV"s door again.
"Oh, what"s the matter? Changed your mind?" he joked when he saw the person standing outside. It was Li Xue Lan, hugging a set of clothes against her bosom.
To his surprise, the girl nodded with an embarra.s.sed expression on her face. "Sorry to bother you mister Long, but does the offer still stand?" she said in a soft voice.
"Sure, but what happened to those two?" Long Yu scanned the lobby area and realised that the middle aged man and the woman were no longer there.
As if having recalled something, the girls face turned as red as an apple. "We usually sleep somewhere on the third floor, but when I went up, they- they were...doing that…." her voice became soft like a mouse towards the end, as a hint of anger appeared in her eyes.
"Doing what? Were they attacked by zombies or something?" Long Yu was confused since he could not figure out her words.
Seeing his puzzled expression, Li Xue Lan braced herself and repeated herself, "Manager Zhang and sister Wei Ying were doing...s.e.x!" Due to her stumbling on her words, she unintentionally said the last word louder than she expected.
Long Yu"s puzzled face changed into a stunned one. He clearly did not expect such a thing. Although he felt slightly embarra.s.sed as well after hearing her, he tried not to show it on his face.
"Oh okay, come in then," since it was none of his business, he did not make any comments.
Li Xue Lan then quickly squeezed into the door, not daring to look Long Yu in the eye. She felt like she has lost a lot of face. Not only did she shamelessly come back to the RV, but she also mentioned such a vulgar thing to the young man.
What she hated most, was the lecherous manager Zhang. Right after filling their stomachs, they actually tastelessly engaged in such a vulgar activity. When he noticed Li Xue Lan watching from the side, manager Zhang even let out a grin and started doing it more roughly.