08

 Pollination... After a few seconds of reaction, Song Yu finally understood what 009 meant.

The words Qin Fei and Shen Songchen said appeared in his mind—

"There will be a lot of pollen."

"Give it to your other half along with the nectar."

Song Yu inexplicably thought of a plant taking root and sprouting in his stomach, and he trembled with fear.

No...

He bit his lip and reached out to pull the vine wrapped around his other wrist, but as if it knew he wanted to escape, more thin vines extended over and even tied his ankle.

Song Yu's eyes quickly filled with tears, which stained his eyelashes and made the corners of his eyes wet.

The vines did not know what it was. They only knew that the human in front of them was very good-looking, and excitedly used their branches to absorb the moisture on the other's face.

Song Yu's tears increased, and he made a small whimper from his throat.

But soon, the vines automatically loosened, and Song Yu felt something coming into the petals and immediately curled up in the corner.

Soon, an exceptionally handsome face appeared in front of him.

The face was deathly pale, its head entwined with branches and leaves, and its eyes a deep, eerie green—a truly sinister sight.

It resembled a demon from a movie, conjured to drain the yang energy of its inhabitants.

009: [Host, this is a vine monster. It's evolving rapidly and has already taken human form.]

The monster, unaware of the safe distance between humans, relentlessly pressed itself against Song Yu, its high, cold nose gliding across the human's damp face before slowly licking away the fluid.

It tasted bitter, but fragrant.

Song Yu was too terrified to think, only able to sob softly.

The monster couldn't speak, nor understand human intentions; its primal instinct was to pollinate, so it continued to cling to him, wrapping its vines around his legs.

Song Yu's spine trembled, and he immediately shrank back, pleading in a tearful voice, "No…"

"Don't… don't touch me…"

The leaves on the monster's body rustled and intertwined, seemingly expressing its discontent.

Song Yu pushed its shoulder away and huddled in a corner.

However, the monster seemed to understand his meaning, sitting beside him and staring at the human without making any other move.

Song Yu was exhausted from crying, his whole body ached, and his eyes hurt. Even with the monster beside him, his eyelids gradually closed.

...

He didn't know how long he slept, but when Song Yu woke up, the monster was still beside him.

Seemingly seeing him awake, the monster was particularly excited, rubbing his lips with a twig and feeding him nectar.

Song Yu was thirsty and hungry, and subconsciously swallowed all the nectar.

The monster had an endless supply of nectar, and Song Yu didn't know how much he had been fed. When he felt full, his stomach was bulging.

"...That's enough."

He tried to communicate with the monster.

The monster was clever and quickly understood the human's meaning. It stopped feeding him and instead wrapped a twig around him, wiping away the remaining sweet nectar from his lips with its tenderest new shoots.

The monster liked him very much.

Song Yu could tell.

After becoming less afraid, he gradually calmed down and whispered to 009: [What should I do? Should I run away myself, or wait for them to come and rescue me?]

009 did not respond.

Song Yu felt wronged, and his eyes began to well up with tears again.

He felt the monster wiping away his tears.

"Don't touch me..."

he said stubbornly, turning his face away.

The monster seemed to sense the human's emotions and immediately pulled back its branch. But after a while, it carefully wiped away the tears from the human's cheeks.

Song Yu realized that he had just thrown a tantrum and felt a little embarrassed, so he didn't resist anymore and let the monster wipe his tears.

Soon, 009's voice sounded: [Host, I just checked the surrounding environment. It's all mutated plants, no zombies or other aggressive monsters. You are in a mutated petal. Pass through these plants and you will reach the main road.]

[However, it's far from the protagonists.]

Song Yu sniffed: [Should I escape by myself?]

009: [This is the most effective way at the moment. I have found the shortest route, but before that, you—]

009 stopped.

Song Yu asked anxiously: [...What do I need to do?]

[You need to stall the monster's pollination time as much as possible.]

"Once pollinated, your body will be filled with the monster's scent from the inside out, and it will find you no matter where you run." Song

Yu felt a chill run down his spine from these words.

Although he didn't know if the monster could understand human language, he tried his best to communicate: "No... you can't pollinate directly."

The monster's expression remained unchanged from beginning to end, excitedly circling around him.

Did it understand...?

Time passed slowly, and Song Yu could feel the surroundings darkening, while the monster plucked a huge, soft petal.

It seemed to be going to use it as a blanket for him.

Song Yu whispered "thank you" and gently covered his legs.

His clothes were still the same ones, stained and dried from the vine sap, sticking to his skin and making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

He glanced at the monster staring at him and pointed to his clothes. He said,

word by word,

"I want... this." "It

's this one I'm holding."

The monster seemed to sense something and led a group of vines out of the entrance to the petal bed.

Song Yu breathed a sigh of relief. The petals were too soft; even standing up was difficult, and he could only shuffle towards the exit, his back bent.

He then realized his predicament—he lived on a giant mutated flower, the petals not far from the ground, surrounded by what seemed like a dark, eerily quiet forest.

Song Yu shrank back in fear.

He'd better escape during the day…

Song Yu returned to his spot and covered himself with the petals.

He hadn't realized he'd started to rely on a monster, even hoping it would find him new clothes.

And the monster actually did.

Five minutes later, Song Yu looked at the clothes the monster had entangled him with delight—the clothes' origin was unknown, and the size didn't fit, but this meant the monster had evolved human-like thoughts.

At least they could communicate.

Perhaps, he could even trick it into not pollinating.

Song Yu took the clothes from the vines and noticed a small wildflower on them.

He glanced at the monster in surprise; it was staring straight at him.

His mood improved slightly.

His clothes were already stiff and uncomfortable. Song Yu didn't mind changing clothes in front of the monster, but he was afraid it might take the opportunity to do something.

After hesitating for a while, he hid in the petals to change.

His dirty clothes were immediately wrapped by several branches and flew outside.

Song Yu panicked: "Wait, wait a minute..."

009: [Host, they're probably going to help you wash your clothes.]

Hmm...is that so?

After a slow "Oh," Song Yu lay down warily.

How could he prevent it from pollinating? Or rather, how could he distract it with something else to buy time?

Song Yu was a little sleepy.

He didn't know if it was the reflection of the petals or the natural color of his cheeks, but his face was fair/pink, pure and beautiful.

009 heard the fragments in the space discussing words like "princess."

Its eyes drooped, then it forced itself to open them again. When Song Yu felt uneasy, he would think of his family.

When he was little, it was too dark, and he was so scared he couldn't sleep. So his grandmother sat by his bed and told him the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

But that only made it harder for him to sleep.

As if remembering something, Song Yu suddenly widened his eyes: [009, do you know One Thousand and One Nights?]

009: [Yes, host.]

It had a sleep-inducing function installed, and classic fairy tales and bedtime stories were all stored in the program.

Thinking that the host couldn't sleep: [Would you like to hear One Thousand and One Nights?]

Song Yu shook his head.

He glanced at the monster.

The monster's dark green eyes stared at him intently.

Perhaps, he could tell the monster a story every night to buy time?

*

Song Yu has been missing for three days.

That day, the back door of the warehouse was opened, and they rushed out, but they couldn't even find the boy.

Shen Songchen searched the entire warehouse and the ventilation pipes with vines, but he couldn't find him, not even a trace of his scent.

The horde of zombies was still outside, so the group had to board a boat to temporarily avoid them, only returning to their car after this wave of zombies left.

This wave of zombies was very strong; besides Qin Fei, Shen Songchen, and Jiang Ran, only one other superhuman remained; everyone else had perished. The four of them headed towards the main base while searching for Song Yu's whereabouts.

"Captain Qin, was Song Yu kidnapped by that vine that entangled him last time?" Jiang Ran guessed. "But why is it staring at Song Yu but not killing him? Could it be—"

Noticing the murderous looks on Qin Fei and Shen Songchen's faces, Jiang Ran immediately shut up.

What Jiang Ran could think of, the two men had naturally already considered.

Song Yu wasn't in mortal danger, but… the price was considerable.

Everyone at the base was waiting for supplies. Qin Fei had Jiang Ran and another superhuman drive to the main base to get supplies, while he and Shen Songchen slowed down, searching for traces of Song Yu.

But Song Yu's scent seemed to have been deliberately masked, leaving no clues.

The two searched for three days, finally heading to the main base only when they were utterly exhausted.

The main base maintained regular contact with the other bases, so the people there naturally recognized Qin Fei, a powerful ability user. Seeing their exhaustion, they asked, "What happened? What happened on the way?"

Qin Fei's eyes were dark and his voice was hoarse: "One of our team members was taken away by the contaminant."

"Took away? They weren't just strangled?" The other person asked in surprise, then patted Qin Fei's shoulder. "There should be some hope of survival."

Qin Fei remained silent. Shen

Songchen stood beside them, his expression cold, his body covered in layers of dried blood, a testament to the countless monsters he had slain.

"But recently I heard some plants have evolved. One of our team members went out and saw a vine evolve into human form. We don't know if it will evolve again."

Qin Fei froze, immediately asking, "What kind exactly? Did you see it?"

"It looks like… a dodder plant." Seeing their grim expressions, the other person guessed that the team member had been taken away by this plant.

“However, with evolution, they might not strangle humans anymore. Dr. Chen from our base said they might treat humans as friends or partners, so there's still a good chance…”

Seeing the two men's faces turn so sour they looked like they wanted to kill someone, the speaker immediately shut up and quietly loaded the supplies into the car.

Why did they look like their wives had been stolen?

Just as Qin Fei was about to get into the car, he saw Shen Songchen walking out with a fully loaded gun.

He scoffed, “Are you fucking going to your death?”

Neither of them had rested much, and their mental state was at its limit. Shen Songchen's eyes were bloodshot: “Are you going to watch him become a monster's partner and get pregnant?”

Qin Fei's face turned ashen, and he wanted nothing more than to bring Song Yu back immediately. But his duty as captain reminded him to stay calm.

“Rest for half a day first, then go look for her. Otherwise, going now will only be suicide.”

Shen Songchen clenched his fists.

Compared to Qin Fei, his emotions were more complex.

That vine, clearly just a monster that had sprung from his body, had stolen Song Yu.

Jiang Ran's car had arrived at the base, and the two planned to stay at the main base for a few days.

The main base treated people with superpowers very well, arranging spacious and bright single rooms. Afterwards, Shen Songchen was pulled aside by the logistics department to ask some questions.

Qin Fei took two backpacks from the trunk of the car, one for himself and the other for Song Yu.

After returning to the assigned room, he didn't immediately go to shower and rest, but instead took a piece of clothing from Song Yu's backpack. It was

a clean, thin white short-sleeved shirt with no pattern.

It was an ordinary piece of clothing, but it looked exceptionally beautiful on Song Yu.

Qin Fei washed his hands and face, and then pressed his nose against the shirt to smell it.

The familiar scent filled his nostrils, and the man's tense nerves gradually relaxed. As if he couldn't get enough of the smell, Qin Fei buried his face in the shirt and took a deep breath.

"Bang"—the

door was knocked twice forcefully.

Just from the sound of the knocking, it was clear that the person outside was very impatient.

Qin Fei put away the clothes, opened the door, and looked at Shen Songchen standing outside: "Why aren't you resting? What are you doing here?"

"Give me the clothes." Shen Songchen's voice was icy cold, his eyes sharp.

Qin Fei, of course, wasn't afraid of anything, and said lazily: "Didn't you bring your own clothes?"

Shen Songchen's patience had reached its limit: "Give me Song Yu's clothes and backpack."

He coldly glanced at the other man: "Those are not things you can touch."

"Why can't I touch it?" Qin Fei was also annoyed by his appearance. "What use is a boyfriend to Song Yu? I wash the sheets and the clothes."

"He doesn't like you. There's no point in you clinging to this position. You might as well take the initiative and stop pestering him."

Qin Fei laid everything bare. The next moment, without warning, he was punched hard in the face.

Shen Songchen's punch was full of force. Qin Fei's mouth was bleeding. He sneered twice: "Want to fight? Fine. If you lose, don't come back for the clothes. Get lost!"

After saying that, he clenched his fist and punched Shen Songchen in the face as well.

The two usually mature and powerful superhumans were now beating each other up like two elementary school kids over a few pieces of Song Yu's clothes, as if they wanted to vent their resentment and fear of not finding Song Yu.

Fortunately, the building was full of superhumans, and there were almost no people during the day, so no one would watch even if they made a big commotion.

The two fought until they were exhausted, sitting on the ground in a sorry state, bruises on their lips and cheeks.

After a moment, Shen Songchen seemed to have regained some strength, slowly getting up from the ground, panting heavily as he took Song Yu's backpack.

*

"In the end, they lived happily ever after."

Song Yu finished telling the ending, glanced at the monster, and urged, "It's time to sleep."

The monster immediately wrapped its vines around his waist.

In just a few days, Song Yu had learned to communicate with the monster.

Now, it meant—it wanted him to sleep together.

Telling bedtime stories seemed to be very effective; the monster listened quietly. Song Yu didn't know if the monster understood, but it seemed happy.

It was willing to take him out of the petal room and even pick fruit and nectar for him.

For a moment, Song Yu felt like a little person living inside a petal.

He had roughly familiarized himself with the surroundings, and with 009's guidance, escaping during the day tomorrow shouldn't be a problem.

Song Yu pulled the soft petals onto his shoulders and lay down. The monster immediately came closer, licking his face and ears.

This was the monster's way of showing friendliness.

Song Yu couldn't escape and had no choice but to accept it.

Perhaps due to the vine's transformation, the monster's tongue was longer and rougher than a normal person's.

Song Yu's skin quickly turned pink, a tingling sensation spreading from his neck down his back.

The monster wrapped around his waist, loving everything about him.

"No..."

The cold physical contact made Song Yu's thin shoulders tremble uncontrollably. He was afraid the other would pollinate him at any moment and wanted to explain.

"No..."

"We humans need to get married to... um—"

Song Yu was wrapped tighter and tighter, his limbs aching and numb, his eyes reddening, his cheeks wet with tears.

The monster couldn't understand the complex marriage process of humans; it simply followed the laws of nature, eager to pollinate its beloved human.

But the monster knew the human was unhappy.

That salty liquid proved the human was unhappy.

Human skin was pink and smelled sweet, so why was there a salty liquid?

The monster thought humans must be sweet.

...

And indeed...

Humans are sweet, sweeter than the monster's nectar.

Drinking human water means returning the nectar.

Song Yu was already exhausted and drowsy, lying on a blanket of flower petals, his little face flushed.

The monster was happy.

The human, clinging to it, slept peacefully.

The next day.

Song Yu woke up intending to get rid of the monster.

He discovered the monster seemed to have the ability to recognize what humans wanted.

"I want to go to the bookstore," Song Yu gestured the shape of books.

The monster, having tasted sweetness the night before, looked at the human with reluctance, unwilling to leave.

Song Yu feigned displeasure: "You can't even satisfy me with this? Then I... I won't pollinate you anymore."

Saying such things to escape made Song Yu feel ashamed.

But the monster was easily fooled.

Seeing he was willing to go, Song Yu coaxed again: "Didn't you want to see how the princess escaped the castle? You need to find one with pictures, it should be in the children's section."

He didn't know if the monster understood, but at least it disappeared from sight.

As soon as the monster left, Song Yu wasted no time and immediately followed 009's directions, running along the path between the giant mutated plants.

There was no sunlight in the forest, and Song Yu's bare feet were chafed raw and itchy from the grass.

He ignored it, gritting his teeth and running as fast as he could.

However, an unexpected event occurred—

just as he was about to reach the main road, a huge, one-eyed monster heard the noise and pounced on him.

Song Yu's legs went weak with fear.

009, sensing danger: [Host—]

Song Yu fell to the ground. Despite his best efforts to dodge, his shoulder was still slashed by the monster's sharp claws.

A deep gash.

Blood slowly seeped out, and Song Yu could feel it slowly burning. Then, the flesh rotted away little by little.

This monster was poisonous.

[009…]

Song Yu lowered his head, feeling drowsy.

[I think I won't be able to complete the mission…]

The poison gradually spread through his body, numbing Song Yu's mind, his head filled with 009's constant calls.

But he was so sleepy…

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but in his hazy consciousness, he felt the wound on his shoulder burning, and then something seeped into it. It

smelled nice.

…

When Song Yu woke up, he was in an unfamiliar car, covered by a large brown blanket.

He looked out the window; outside, yellow sand filled the sky, the environment was harsh. Was he

still in the apocalypse?

But wasn’t he dead?

[Host, you’re awake.]

009’s voice made Song Yu feel exceptionally reassured: [Am I not dead? Did someone save me? But wasn’t I already…]

Song Yu realized something and immediately threw off the blanket. His shoulder, which should have had a hideous wound, was completely healed, and the skin was smooth and clean.

[009, did you use the medicine for me?]

009: [Host, before I used the medicine for you, that vine monster had already saved you.]

Song Yu was surprised: [But why am I in a car now?]

[After absorbing the toxins, the vine could no longer maintain its human form. It probably felt it couldn't protect you, so it sent you to the human side.]

[You are now a superhuman.]

W-what?

[The dodder plant itself has healing properties, and it gave you that property.]

The monster gave the only thing it possessed to a human.

Song Yu lowered his eyes, his expression somewhat disappointed.

Suddenly, a voice came from beside him.

"You're awake."

Song Yu raised his eyes.

It was a very tall man with short hair, broken eyebrows, and deep-set eyes—a typical tough guy. But overall, he looked quite kind.

"You..." The man's gaze fell on Song Yu's naked upper body. The boy's skin was very white, but there were red marks on his wrists and waist.

Those marks clearly showed that something had been done to him.

If it weren't for this environment, ordinary people would never come into contact with such a delicate-looking, pampered young man. If they accidentally encountered him, they probably wouldn't let him go without torturing him.

Judging from those marks, he probably did something else as well.

Besides sympathy, another strange emotion rose in his heart.

The man looked a little awkward. He looked away and began to introduce himself: "My name is Pei Feng. I just ran into you on the road. You were asleep. Um, your shirt was mine, it was too dirty and torn."

Song Yu then realized he wasn't wearing a shirt, slowly wrapped the blanket tighter around himself, and whispered, "Thank you."

The voice was very pleasant,

Pei Feng thought to himself.

He had gotten out of the car to boil water and handed it to the boy: "Here you go."

Song Yu glanced at him.

"Just hot water, don't worry, I didn't put anything in it." To prove he wasn't a bad person, Pei Feng took a sip first.

Song Yu took the hot water.

The warm heat transferred to his fingertips, and his heart gradually calmed down.

He sipped it slowly.

His cheeks were damp from the steam, and his eyes were also moist.

So beautiful.

Pei Feng stared, mesmerized.

Even with dust on his face, you could tell the boy's skin was originally very fair.

His cheeks looked soft, and his expression was innocent and a little dazed, like a princess who had stepped out of a fairy tale.

He stared at him for a while, feeling like a pervert, so he changed the subject: "Do you want to take a shower?"

When he found Song Yu, the other man not only had marks but also mottled stains.

It looked like he'd been smeared on himself.

Pei Feng wasn't a particularly warm or friendly person, but for some reason, he couldn't help but want to help Song Yu. He added, "Don't worry about not having enough water, I'm a water-type ability user."

It seemed he'd met a very kind person.

Song Yu looked at him gratefully, about to nod, but then remembered something: "I don't think I have any clothes."

"You...you can wear mine." Pei Feng stammered nervously.

"Thank you, can I borrow your phone?"

Pei Feng handed him his communication device.

Song Yu subconsciously wanted to call Shen Songchen, but 009 reminded him that that was out of character; he needed to call Qin Fei. It didn't

matter who he called, as long as he could get in touch.

Song Yu didn't know that calling one of the men would drive the other man to the brink of insanity with jealousy.

Pei Feng wasn't in the habit of listening to people on the phone. While the boy was contacting someone, he opened the trunk and rummaged through his backpack for clothes.

Song Yu dialed Qin Fei's number.

Soon, a tired voice came from the other end: "Hello."

Song Yu: "Captain Qin, it's me."

There was a pause on the other end, followed by unsteady breathing.

"Xiao Yu?! Is that you? Xiao Yu?" Qin Fei called out several times, his voice urgent and hoarse.

The familiar voice gave Song Yu a sense of security. He softened his voice and reassured him, "It's me, I'm safe now."

"Don't worry."

Qin Fei almost collapsed for a moment.

His nerves, which had been under immense tension for days, relaxed instantly. The tall man leaned against the wall, eager to ask for the other person's exact location.

But the next second, a strange man's voice came from the other end

. "Can you wear this shirt?" The voice was deep, seemingly very close to the microphone, "You can only wear mine for the pants... What's your waist size?"

← Previous Chapter Next Chapter →