Chapter 44 - Sudden Gym Battle! (1)

"Yes, of course! I don't have much, but I can always give you the seed if you want!" Grandma offered happily.

"Grandma… you have like… real seed from non-mutated crops??"

"I told you, I do! I never thought anyone would want it, so I just grew it and ate the crops all by myself. But if you want some seed, then I'd love to give it to you! Come, follow me inside the sterilized room!"

Yang Zhang was so jaw-dropped by the revelation that he could only nod and obediently follow Grandma to enter a room barred with a steel door, very different from the wooden door in most shops in this settlement.

Grandma opened the door, and Yang Zhang gazed in awe as he entered a spacious room with a small indoor greenhouse in the middle. The room was brightly lit by the lamp, and there were lines of good air vents also an automatic watering system for the plants.

Yang Zhang could see fresh fruits that hadn't been mutated inside the greenhouse, from grape, strawberry, watermelon, et cetera. There were also carrots, eggplant, chili, and many more.

Though, from what he counted, what Grandma said was correct. She had various plants, but most were only one plant each. There was only one grapevine, carrot, and chili tree in a pot.

But that was still amazing. There was almost zero chance for an individual to own crops like these in the apocalypse. Because everything was confiscated by the government because all the ability users were only able to eat from these kinds of crops, not the mutated ones, unlike Yang Zhang

But that also raised a question for him, "Grandma, how did you get all of these?" He asked. "It's almost impossible for you to keep this from the government, right?"

They said raising crops was a lot harder than livestock because the chance of mutation on the sapling was higher.

Yang Zhang still remembered what his ability user friend said in the previous shelter, that crops needed a constant spray of disinfectant in the apocalypse because there was still a 50% chance that growing crops would turn into a random mutated plant that might ruin the rest of the crops or even killed the one farming it.

That was the horror story one of the ability users told back in his previous shelter. Since the humans with immunity were given mutated plants for food, they had no access to the heavily guarded greenhouse.

Grandma smiled mysteriously. She didn't answer Yang Zhang's question. Instead, she threw the question back, "Do you think an old woman like me could keep such a big secret?"

Yang Zhang carefully backed off, distancing himself from the old lady. For some reason, his gut feeling told him that Grandma wasn't a random kind old lady that would give you cookies every during grandparents' visit.

Grandma continued smiling and turned her head slowly at Yang Zhang, "Do you know why I let you, a random kid that I just met to check such a big secret of mine?"

"No…" Yang Zhang said as he shook his head. That was the base of his suspicion. He was also questioning the kindness of this old lady. As kind as you could be, this was the apocalypse. Everyone was in their most desperate attempts to survive.

Someone so sweet would definitely backstab you.

"Well, that's because it takes one to know one," the grandma said. "I know that you have little friends inside your pocket. You should try to make it less obvious, or you will be trapped, just like this!"

Grandma raised his hand, and Yang Zhang quickly reacted when his instinct signaled him to duck because he sensed something was approaching from behind.

Yang Zhang looked up and saw a sharp knife almost pierced his head had it not for him to react quickly.

Yang Zhang saw the knife was being held by a vine, just like what Little Ivy had, and he also heard a grunt from behind, "Hrrr…."

Yang Zhang looked over his shoulder and saw a human-sized mutated plant come out from a hidden door. The mutated plant was made solely out of vines wrapping around its body, reminding Yang Zhang of Tangela and Tangrowth from the Pokemon franchise.

The mutated plant held at least 6 knives with each vine and was ready to attack Yang Zhang again.

"Hrrr…."

"You should order your pets to fight, or this would be a messy bloodbath, young man. I'm not really a kind person to let you off," Grandma said with a smirk on her face. "I don't know how in hell you can pass the test to get the Kobra badge, but you're not leaving this place nor taking my crops without a fight."

Yang Zhang looked at the mutated plant with knives, ready to chop him down, and then looked at the old grandma who had a devious smirk on her face.

He gritted his teeth and dashed straight to the door. He had no intention to fight in this place because he was afraid there might be an even bigger trap waiting if he took out his pets.

But the old lady commanded, "Block his escape, Vinocious!"

The mutated plant called Vinocious stretched its vine to block the door, and Yang Zhang could see the knife barely missed his nose as he halted his step.

Vinocious stretched three more vines to completely block the exit, forcing Yang Zhang to fight in this battle.

"Young man, you should know that I'm not going to give you the seeds for free. I know what you want to do with it," the grandma said. "I think you should know there is no pity in the apocalypse. You either fight me or die getting chopped by that mutated plant."

"Hrr…"

Yang Zhang gritted his teeth and commanded, "There is no way out, Lt. Spicy Wing, Chestnut, get out! We have a gym battle to defend our lives… and our Kobra badge!"