When the melon-eating team vaguely heard the words 'I'll give you…some corn', they chalked it up to flirting. But when they really saw a stalk of corn appear later, they were all stunned.
"A plant ability user?" Xu Lele's eyes shone when she looked at Xiang Han, as if she'd spotted a huge granary.
Beardy also swallowed his saliva. "It's really corn…"
Xu Yan Ze ignored them and directly harvested two stalks of corn. He peeled off the outer layer to reveal the fresh and plump corn.
Beardy moved closer and grinned, "Captain, do you need fire?"
He stuck up a finger and a small flame appeared.
Xu Yan Ze was immediately rendered speechless. Glancing at the gawking crowd, Xiang Han asked softly, "How about I grow a couple more?"
Xu Yan Ze looked down at the corn in his hand before passing the bigger one over to Xiang Han with a frown. "It's enough to let them taste a bit. It's too energy-consuming, it's better if you don't waste anymore effort."
The melon-eating team: "…"
What was 'hoes before bros'? What was 'forgetting bros after getting a wife'? Captain Xu was a living example! More than 10 people had to share a single stalk of corn, they would probably have to remove the corn kernels and count them.
Their hearts were full of aching and they all expressed: Captain, we all want that big cob. Can we exchange with crystal nuclei?
Xiang Han spoke, "I think it's better to grow a few more. It's not difficult."
Big A had told him before that using the ability more will help it grow, so he was happy to oblige.
But Xu Yan Ze wasn't. "It's really fine?"
He heard that the little fool nearly used up all his spiritual energy to save him. So he didn't want Xiang Han to spend his energy on this bunch of good for nothings. It wasn't like expired crackers couldn't be eaten.
"It's fine." Xiang Han threw down six more seeds and activated his ability.
His growth skill was raised to level three by the system so the number of plants he could use it on increased, but it wasn't much. Except… it was a little energy-consuming.
Xu Yan Ze glanced at the melon-eating team and ordered, "No one is allowed to divulge this."
"En, en! We know." Everyone's heated gaze was on the corn, unwilling to look away for even a second.
Before long, everyone had freshly roasted corn to eat. Xu Lele almost cried. "So tasty, so sweet, so tender, wuwuwu…"
Come, come. One corn isn't enough. Do you want some more biscuits?" Tan Wei asked.
When it came to Xiang Han, Xu Yan Ze frowned. "Don't we have some salted meat and cookies?"
How could Little Fool eat expired biscuits? How stupid.
Therefore, Tan Wei took out the salted meat. When cutting, everyone stared at Xu Yan Ze. After a moment, Beardy couldn't help but remind him, "Captain, isn't this piece a little big?"
There was silence before he spoke. "It's not like I haven't eaten. This one is for the little fool."
"Oh~" Everyone had an epiphany before gnashing their teeth. This damned loving dog couple almost blinded them.
Xiang Han's face flushed and he split the piece of meat. He gave one piece to Xu Yan Ze. "Your injury hasn't healed, you should eat some."
Xu Yan Ze held the corn in his left hand and looked at him deeply. He lifted his injured right hand and hinted, "It's not convenient."
Xiang Han felt his face become hot but once he thought about the injury, he still brought the meat over.
A smile appeared in Xu Yan Ze's eyes as he stared at Xiang Han, and remained even when he lowered his head to eat the meat.
The single dogs in the melon-eating team felt stuffy; none of them could continue eating their corn.
Tan Wei sneakily passed the salted meat over to Xu Lele while the Baby-faced man was looking thoughtful. Then, he gave the meat he had taken a bite out of to Geng Xin with a straight face. "Wife, for you."
Wasn't it loving? Who didn't know how to?
Geng Xin: "Scram! It's full of your saliva. You aren't ashamed of giving it to Lao Niang1?"
With Xiang Han, this living 'granary', the quality of the melon-eating team's meals greatly increased. They had their fill every time and sometimes, there would even be fruits and snacks after meals. Their journey was not so sad.
Taking advantage of the rare days where Xu Yan Ze was in a good mood, everyone reminded him, "Captain, you must stay with Wu Han for a long long time. Wishing you guys a hundred years of happiness, it will be best to keep him in the team forever, don't do anything that would let him down. Our team will definitely not agree."
Xu Yan Ze: "…"
He also wanted to keep the Little Fool in the team, but they were almost reaching Shuguang base. He had a family, alright? How annoying…
Nearly reaching Shuguang base made Xiang Han uneasy. According to the plot data, the Wu family's influence was not small since his big brother was one of the characters in the female lead's harem. How could his status be low?
The Wu family were typical 'politicians turned businessmen'. The original host's grandfather enjoyed great prestige in the political world, and still retained his status after retirement. Meanwhile, his father was a legend in the business world and his elder brother was in the military before the apocalypse struck. After the end of the world, their family suffered but the three generations grasped an opportunity and built it back up.
Speaking of which, only the original host was useless in their family, but he managed to get into a prestigious school with his own ability. However, at present, he could only be considered a drop-out.
Beardy clicked his tongue and sighed, "Captain, you're 'marrying into' a rich family."
Xu Yan Ze snorted lightly and thought to himself, it wasn't as if he hadn't done so before. Except… he didn't know how the Little Fool's relationship with his family was. The Little Fool wanted to go home but he wasn't sure of the Wu family's attitude. As long as these feelings were not one-sided…
Xiang Han wasn't worried about this since the Wu family cared about the original host. Aside from sending troops to pick him up before the apocalypse arrived, they never gave up searching for him even afterward. They only gave up after the female lead announced his death.
But what made him helpless was the fact that his elder brother would become a member of the female lead's harem.
Thinking of this, Xiang Han wanted to cuss. Even with the original host between them, they actually managed to end up together. How did she not feel revolted when going after her ex-boyfriend's elder brother? And Wu Yue, did he not know how his little brother died?
Thankfully, the female lead had gone to Jiangzhou base and didn't meet Wu Yue. Otherwise, with her hatred, she would climb onto Wu Yue, this huge tree, and cause all sorts of trouble.
Xiang Han silently heaved a sigh of relief. When he reached Shuguang base, he suddenly recalled a matter and quickly asked Little B. [Mr. Roy, Xu Yan Ze has already recovered his memories. I remembered Admiral Dean saying… we have to let him go back?]
Little B: [That's right. But you don't have to worry about it for now. You just have to follow the original plot.]
[Oh, then may I know when he will have to cross back?] Xiang Han asked carefully.
"This… if no accidents occur, it should be when you two die of old age.] Little B was helpless. [We can't control which world he goes to but after finishing one world, he will automatically go to another one. This apocalypse world has already established a connection with the last world and is no longer a part of the other worlds. After leaving, he can only return to the last world.]
[Oh.] Xiang Han let out a long breath. It looks like there would not be a need to struggle too much during this time.
When Xu Yan Ze saw his burdened expression, he thought it was due to family matters and tried to console him. "Don't worry, didn't you say they're good to you? They'll definitely be glad to see you safe."
Xu Yan Ze saw him purse his lips and smiled, "It's fine even if they don't welcome us. We can always leave together."
Although it was just a joke, he meant it in his heart. If the Wu family didn't treat his little fool well or had some ulterior motives, he wouldn't allow them to stay.
There was a wall several metres in height surrounding Shuguang base. From afar, it looked like a dragon curled around the city. When they were nearer, they noticed a deep gutter several metres in depth around the wall. Most zombies wouldn't have gotten past the ditch and scaled the wall.
Their team stopped outside the entrance and another team happened to be behind them. They were all from the military.
As the metal bridge was lowered, a fully-armed troop of soldiers appeared and surrounded them.
Tan Wei lowered the windows and smiled, "Officer, we came from Pingshan base."
Pingshan was a base that had fallen not too long ago. Shuguang had received many refugees from them and naturally understood their intentions. One of the officers quickly stepped forward without any expression, "Let them pass and let the troops in. You guys will need to go to the isolation area for a check. After 24 hours, you will be allowed into the base."
"Alright." Tan Wei nodded.
All bases, regardless of size, would require a period of observation when accepting refugees. However, the Shuguang base was more strict than others, with an isolation period of over 8 hours.
"It's a big base, ah." Tan Wei rolled the windows up and sighed.
Just as they were about to drive the car to one side, an officer suddenly spoke up. "Wait a minute!"
"Officer, is there something wrong?" Tan Wei rolled the window down again and poked his head out.
The officer's face was dark. "Where did you get this car?"
"Oh, it belongs to one of our team members," He answered honestly, glancing towards Xiang Han.
"What's wrong?" Xiang Han rolled down his own window and asked.
"Your team member?" The officer's tone wasn't good. He simply took a gun and pointed it at Tan Wei, "Do you know where this car is from? Senior Colonel Wu Yue of the military. Are you saying… Senior Colonel Wu Yue is your team member? All of you, get off!"
Xiang Han heard this and finally understood. He quickly waved, "Ah, actually… I'm the little brother of your senior Colonel Wu Yue."
The officer still didn't relax, but he froze once he glanced back at Xiang Han. This lad… really looked a little like Senior Wu.
"I heard the second master Wu had gone missing and hasn't been found." Another soldier lowered his voice and said,
"I've heard about this." The officer frowned and thought for a second. "I'll go report this matter to the higher-ups."
After leaving behind some instructions, he turned around and carefully sized Xiang Han up. His voice, when he spoke again, was now warmer. "Drive the car over and get off for now."