August 16, evening.
The Beixing authorities issued a new statement, ordering carpet-style clearing of plants within residential districts of every city and for several kilometers around them.
At the same time, the authorities urged groups living in the wild to stay away from areas with concentrated plant growth, and, if necessary, to head to nearby cities for help.
After the statement was released, those living in shelters unanimously agreed, saying it would make them feel safer.
Groups surviving in the wild, however, had mixed reactions.
Some thought they should heed the call and move to the cities. Others felt the statement was alarmist and exaggerated.
“This is way overblown. Plants are just plants. Even if they grow fast, how threatening can they really be?”
At a campsite somewhere in the suburbs, a dozen people sat around a campfire.
The speaker was a burly man, holding a skewer of wild rabbit over the flames.
A woman chimed in: “Brother Xuan’s right. Why be scared of grass? Burn it and it’s gone. The government is just trying to get more people into shelters so they can squeeze more labor out of them.”
“Heh, exactly!”
“Brother Xuan, Sister Lin, I think... we should still be careful.” A hesitant young man of about eighteen or nineteen voiced a dissenting opinion.
“The authorities say these plants will mutate over time into something aggressive. There’s an abandoned forest park a kilometer from here with tons of trees, what if...”
Before the young man finished, Sister Lin snorted: “What, Zhao Ming, do you think Brother Xuan is wrong? Or are you planning to go to the shelter?”
The young man called Zhao Ming hurriedly shook his head: “No, I’m not.”
“That’s right.” Brother Xuan said gravely, “Don’t think shelter equals safety. Those places can’t protect everyone! Haven’t you forgotten the last gambling round rule? Whether you’re in a shelter or not, everyone gets pulled into the Gambling Space.”
“Brother Xuan’s right. We definitely can’t go into shelters, otherwise it’s over. Look at those famous strong people, how many of them live in shelters? Take Shadow for example, they don’t go.”
Zhao Ming inwardly scoffed at this: is Shadow the same as ordinary people? Of all those who don’t live in official shelters, how many can become a Shadow?
“Zhao Ming, if you want to go to the official shelter, go. I won’t stop you. This camp’s always been free to come and go.” Brother Xuan said.
“Brother Xuan, don’t say that, I didn’t mean it.” Zhao Ming quickly shook his head. Although he disagreed, he had no intention of leaving.
When he first fell on hard times, if Brother Xuan and the others hadn’t taken him in, he would have been dead long ago. Of course he wouldn’t leave the camp now.
“Alright, let’s eat! Come pass the roasted rabbit. After dinner we’ll rearrange watch shifts. Since the authorities say the plants will mutate into something aggressive, we’d better be cautious—add one more person to the nightly watch, just in case.”
Everyone agreed in unison and began dinner.
Zhao Ming absentmindedly took a piece of bread, chewing while staring toward the dark south.
About a kilometer in that direction lay a once-popular forest park.
After the Doomsday Rules era began, the park had long been deserted and become home to countless wild animals.
One reason Brother Xuan chose this campsite was the hunting opportunities in the forest park. The rabbits roasting on the fire had been hunted from the park yesterday.
But with the new rule out, was it still really safe out there...?
Zhao Ming chewed and brooded.
......
“It broke through! It pierced through!”
At the Children of Argan tribe, a girl with blue hair let out a shriek.
Others looked over and saw a small tear in the thick tent fabric, and a blade of grass had pushed up through it, wobbling slightly as if flaunting its victory with claws on display.
Horror showed on everyone’s faces. The rules had only been announced a day ago, yet wild grass had grown so vigorously it could pierce leather tents—this was absurd.
“Quick, everyone out of the tents to pull the grass!” the leader Jie ordered, and all tribe members left their tents and cut away the newly sprouted grass with sharp tools.
But they soon discovered cutting today’s growth was much harder than yesterday’s. It wasn’t that the knives weren’t sharp—these were high-quality blades brought from industrial society, not the stone-sharpened ones they made themselves.
“The grass that grew today is tougher than yesterday’s, no wonder it pierced the tent!” someone shouted, having found the reason. “If it keeps like this, our knives might not cut it at all, then...”
At that the group froze in despair.
Since the rule was announced yesterday, to survive more efficiently the tribe had abandoned other tents and crammed into one tent, so they only had to clear grass from one area.
In just a day, aside from where the tent was staked, grass on the surrounding plains had already grown up to everyone’s calves, robbing them of escape routes.
If they couldn’t even hold one tent’s area against this rampant grass, their living space would vanish and they’d be headed for one path—death.
“Ah!” a tribe member cried out in pain.
He fell while cutting and exposed his forearm and neck to the stiff, tough grass, which punctured his skin. Blood instantly stained the grass below a vivid red.
Others hurriedly helped him up, and terror dawned on them: if the grass’s toughness could pierce leather tents, how could human skin withstand it?
Perhaps Ascendants whose bodies were strengthened by Mind Power could hold out, but what about ordinary people? Many in the tribe were ordinary, not Ascendants.
And whether it was a trick of the mind or not, the grass stained with blood seemed even brighter than before, like a satiated person’s flushed face after a hearty meal.
“Shss!” Leader Jie, furious and fearful, swung his sickle and cut all the blood-stained grass away.
As an Ascendant, his strength and ability exceeded ordinary people, so he could still cut it.
But he knew clearly that relying on the handful of Ascendants represented by him would not change the situation.
Even if they could cut now, if the grass’s vitality continued to surge and it grew faster, they would soon be powerless. Once their Mind Power was exhausted and the grass still couldn’t be cleared, it would be over.
Jie realized the tribe’s survival hung on these next two days. He looked toward Moon Key and, almost pleading, asked her, “Yue, how long until your friend arrives to help? We can’t wait much longer.”
“Yes, Moon Priestess, we’re counting on you!”
“If we don’t get outside help, everyone will die...”
Now everyone pinned their hopes on Moon Key, believing only she could summon a powerful aid.
As for other Ascendants, even if they knew some, none could be called upon in time.
Earlier, Jie had clung to a sliver of hope and spent all his savings to buy a communication item to contact an old friend, hoping for aid.
But once that friend learned he was on the grassland, contact was cut off immediately.
Jie understood clearly: the moment that “old friend” found out he was on the grassland, he mentally sentenced him to death. There was no need to maintain a relationship with someone doomed to die.
So now Jie could only place his hopes on Moon Key.
Moon Key faced the crowd, her light faintly glowing, and slightly furrowed her brows.
She believed Ye Dang would come after receiving the message, but what if he couldn’t make it in time?
She also didn’t know Adam’s situation. If he were tied up with urgent matters, it might take days. Even if someone arrived later, the Children of Argan tribe might already be annihilated.
...If Adam couldn’t come, then she might have to contact that other person.
Moon Key thought. Even though she disliked dealing with someone like Bruce, the King of Suroma, his resources were immense. Saving a small tribe would be trivial for him.
But that would mean voiding the deal she had barely reached with Bruce to leave Suroma. He might make rescue conditional on her returning to Suroma and resuming her divinations for him.
After a moment of thought, Moon Key told the group: “Please wait one more day. If the aid I contacted hasn’t arrived by tomorrow, I’ll think of another plan.”
“All right!” Jie was the first to respond, then set arrangements.
“One more day should be bearable. Tonight, nobody sleeps—if you lie down you might be pierced by grass into blood and flesh! All tribe Ascendants, conserve your energy and Mind Power from now on and take turns pulling grass. At least don’t let the grass under our feet grow higher than two centimeters!”