Chapter 48: The New Home

Shan Song was joking and laughing when suddenly Mu Xue pointed to the mountainside and said, “Sang Sang, should we build something over there on the mountainside?”

“It looks like a really romantic spot!”

Sang Chu glanced over and replied, “Actually, I’m more inclined to build a row of small houses, hollowing out the mountain directly and constructing them along the curve of the valley. That way, we’ll have plenty of space, and the housing problem will be solved. The upper and lower slopes inside the valley can be used for raising livestock and growing fruits and vegetables.”

Lin Mu Xue’s eyes instantly lit up. “That’s great, that’s great! Sang Sang, let’s do it your way!”

Sang Chu nodded, immediately instructing the robots to start the modifications. Then she said to Mu Xue, “Mu Xue, take Grandma, Yi-ge, and his unconscious younger brother to the underground city for now. I’m going to set some traps—if there’s any trouble, I’ll try to hold them off.”

“Be careful, okay? If there’s anything I can do, just call me. I’ll come right away.”

“Okay, I know. Go on, hurry up.”

Mu Xue nodded. She knew that not holding Sang Chu back was the best help she could offer. As long as Sang Chu didn’t ask her to do anything, she wouldn’t insist.

After Mu Xue left, Sang Chu’s expression turned serious as she walked outside. The mutated plants around her looked no different from before the apocalypse.

But Sang Chu hadn’t forgotten what Tu You said about the high-level psychic dying.

It was only because that high-level psychic died that she was able to get in, but there weren’t any high-level psychics in Beijing, at least not that she knew of.

If it was really as Tu You said, then what could have killed that psychic?

The area she was in had zombies, but they were all ordinary ones. Even people without powers could handle them, so how could they kill a high-level psychic?

Back when she was still a doctor, she thought maybe it was some kind of accident, but now she didn’t think that was possible.

There was only one possibility: the person they were supposed to pick up wasn’t on the surface, but underground. But if that high-level psychic dared to hide alone underground, it meant they thought it was safe.

But if it was safe, why didn’t they wait for rescue?

After thinking it over, Sang Chu felt there was only one answer: the mutated plants.

Only they could kill a high-level psychic without them being able to defend themselves, and only they could silently devour a psychic, leaving no trace.

Sang Chu channeled her power into her legs, cautiously approaching a mutated tree. She extended her wooden antler, slowly reaching inside.

A crystal core?

Sang Chu’s eyes suddenly widened as she saw a crystal core glowing green inside the tree.

Its pure wood energy made her body feel like it was boiling!

She hurriedly extended her antler toward the crystal core, slowly wrapping it around and pulling it out.

Suddenly—

The whole tree began to shake violently, as if it were a living creature, its vines lashing out at Sang Chu.

The vines attached to the tree trunk whipped at her furiously!

Sang Chu quickly used her powers to block them.

Seeing the vines coming at her, she rolled aside to dodge the attack.

“I don’t know if you can understand me, but if you can, I’d like to make a deal. Once I subdue another psychic, I can give them to you as food, and in exchange, I’ll live here peacefully. I won’t harm you, and you don’t harm me.”

Crack—

With a loud crash, a vine smashed a nearby rock to pieces.

Sang Chu frowned slightly. She hadn’t expected these plants to be so fierce.

She took out a flame and said coldly, “This is fire. It’s powerful enough to burn you all. I’ll give you one more chance—do you want to live together peacefully or not?”

But the big tree didn’t seem to want to stop at all. It looked like Sang Chu’s actions had truly angered it. Its vines lashed out at her without any restraint.

Zzz—

Sang Chu didn’t hold back. She sent flames directly at the big tree, instantly burning its trunk.

She shaped her fingers into claws, reaching for the crystal core’s location, and with one swift motion, pulled it out and absorbed it.

Phew...

She let out a heavy breath. Sang Chu felt her wood powers rise to a new level. The sensation was quite mysterious.

Seeing the fire spreading, Sang Chu quickly used her power to put it out.

“I know you all, like this tree, have developed consciousness and have your own will, but you can’t leave this land. So why not make a deal with me? I’m a water and fire psychic—I can take all your crystal cores, but I can also provide you with water resources. In the apocalypse, you’ll have a chance to survive and grow. I don’t want to push things too far, so why don’t we live together peacefully?”

Honestly, Sang Chu didn’t know if these plants could understand her, but she felt they had their own intelligence.

Just now, she hadn’t dared to use her fire powers on these plants—her instincts told her it was useless!

These mutated plants weren’t afraid of powers, so when she threatened to use fire, the tree just kept attacking without hesitation!

Suddenly—

A breeze blew by.

The leaves rustled, as if agreeing to her proposal?

Sang Chu looked around at the rustling leaves, puzzled. “If you agree, then do what that big tree did just now—show me your trunk. If I ever mean you harm, you can just swallow me whole. There’s no need to hunt me down one by one.”

The big tree seemed to think it over, then slowly extended a vine toward Sang Chu, as if agreeing.

Sang Chu breathed a sigh of relief.

She was about to send a message to Sang Jingwen to let him know she was safe and send him a photo of her new home, so he could see it and not worry.

To her surprise, he replied right away.

“Sang Sang, what are you doing?”

Sang Jingwen was lying on the starship, saw Sang Chu talking to herself, and immediately came down to walk over to her.

Jiao also ran to Sang Chu’s side, sniffing her curiously. “Hey, why do you suddenly smell so good?”

“Smell good?”

Sang Chu lifted her arm and sniffed herself. “I don’t smell anything.”

Jiao: “Hmm... you don’t? But it’s really fragrant.”

Sang Jingwen was confused by Sang Chu’s sudden reaction. “Little sister, what are you talking about? Is there something weird here?”

Yi piped up, “I don’t smell anything. Is it because Lu Minlong hasn’t showered?”

Lu Minlong rolled his eyes at him. “Yi-ge...”

“Hehe, just kidding. Mu Xue isn’t here, so there’s no one to keep us in line!”

Everyone could see Yi’s fondness for Mu Xue, and Sang Jingwen was already speechless.

“Ah, Yi...”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. But, little sister, what were you muttering about just now all by yourself?”"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your provided Chinese text. Some parts of the original are garbled or contain placeholder symbols (like ""@"", ""w"", ""Γ"", etc.), so I've interpreted them as best as possible based on context. If you have a cleaner version or specific terms for these, let me know!

---

**Chapter 49: Wu Feng’s Calculations**

“Almost forgot to tell you, got interrupted by the flood dragon. Let me introduce you to my new home,” Sang Chu said, pointing at the large, lush plants around her, as if showing off her own handiwork.

Yi Ping was startled by the sudden movement. “Wait, wait, what are these things? Are they all deleted?”

Sang Chu replied, “Those are crystal cores. They’ve merged with me, and it seems they’re not harmful. From my perspective, that’s a good thing.”

Sang Jingwen introduced himself, “I’m Sang Jingwen. I live in the mountain hollow behind the big mountain behind you. Please take care of me from now on.”

Watching Sang Jingwen’s serious self-introduction, Yi Ping felt a bit numb, but also a little envious that someone would want to introduce themselves to her.

“So, everyone, I’m a fire-type ability user. My sister said you’re not afraid of abilities. Do you think I could try using mine here?”

He spoke cautiously—not that he didn’t trust them, but he was still wary.

——

A moment later,

Sang Chu realized she seemed to understand the plants’ intentions. Maybe it was because of the crystal core she’d just absorbed.

Yi Ping asked, “Sister, what does it mean?”

Sang Chu pointed at the largest plant and said, “Go ahead, try attacking it with your power!”

Yi Ping swallowed nervously. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to really attack it?”

“Go ahead,” Sang Chu encouraged.

She had a gut feeling that these mutated plants weren’t afraid of abilities, so this was a good opportunity to test it.

Yi Ping looked at Sang Chu, then carefully released her power towards the big plant.

To their surprise, the plant’s thick leaves instantly slapped away the fire!

At that moment, a huge red flower suddenly bloomed from the ground, opening its gaping maw and swallowing the fireball whole.

Yi Ping shivered and stepped back, exclaiming, “Oh my god, these… these plants are so fierce!”

Sang Jingwen nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Sang Chu was very glad she’d just used her spiritual power to sense the plants’ intentions—otherwise, she might have been in real danger.

These giant plants formed a dense barrier, each guarding their own territory and protecting each other. For now, it seemed the base was safe!

Sang Chu said, “Everyone, your food seems to rely on my abilities. If you’re willing, we can work together: as long as you guard this first line of defense and don’t let anyone cross, I’ll regularly provide you with energy. How does that sound?”

——

After getting their agreement, Sang Chu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Min stared at Sang Chu for a long time before saying, “A-Chu, you can understand what they’re saying?”

“I can sense what they want to express. By the way, why did you suddenly come back so quickly?”

She hadn’t planned to reveal that these mutated plants could launch laser attacks.

Sang Jingwen said, “Wu Feng is coming.”

“What?!”

Sang Chu was shocked. Why was Wu Feng here?

Lu Min pulled up a projection on the screen. “It’s true. Wu Feng and his group are heading straight for Haishi at full speed. They’re moving really fast. If I didn’t have my own sources, I’d have fallen way behind. They’ll reach Haishi soon.”

——

The wind rustled through the leaves.

Sang Chu’s heart tightened. Should she stay or go?

“Everyone, take cover. Wu Feng is coming.”

“What?”

Sang Jingwen was about to ask how Sang Chu knew, but the next second, he saw the giant plants all turning in the same direction, pointing the way.

Sang Chu said, “I’m heading back to the underground city. Please take care of my new home!”

Sang Jingwen quickly took out the hovercraft, and the group boarded and left.

The giant plants densely covered the entire mountain, making it impossible for Wu Feng’s group to find a way in.

“Are you sure Sang Chu is in this mountain?” Wu Feng asked.

Zhu Qiang replied, “Boss, really, she’s in here. She has a lot of strange weapons, and she’s beaten so many ability users that hardly anyone can stand against her!”

Zhu Ling added, “Boss, these mutated plants are so powerful. Could they be related to Sang Chu’s new weapons?”

Wu Feng said, “I can’t clear out these mutated plants. If we want to get in, we’ll need help.”

There was no way to deal with the mutated plants. Some were even deadly, so everyone avoided them as much as possible.

But they hadn’t expected there to be so many on this mountain!

Ge Miao said, “Boss, Haishi has five major factions, but they’re all second-rate. Not sure if they can handle these plants.”

Wu Feng narrowed his eyes, staring at the mutated plants. He conjured a gold coin and threw it at them.

*Bang bang bang—*

The plants bounced the coin back like a ball, their vines thick and impenetrable.

“Earth shield!”

“Earth shield!” Zhu Qiang and Ge Miao both activated their abilities, but their shields ended up with gold coins embedded in them.

Zhu Ling asked, “Boss?”

Wu Feng’s face darkened. “Let’s go find the ability users here!”

The group turned and left for a nearby base.

——

Du Mu looked at Wu Feng and said, “You say you’re from Shangjing? I’ll believe you for now. But you’re claiming Sang Chu stole your stuff and ran off? That sounds a bit far-fetched.”

He didn’t know Sang Chu, nor who she was, but the idea that a woman could steal something from Wu Feng, a triple-ability user, and escape was hard to believe!

Wu Feng replied, “If it weren’t true, why would I come all this way? She’s hiding deep in the mountains and is hard to find. If you’re willing to cooperate, I’ll share whatever we find.”

Du Mu didn’t trust Wu Feng or his base. He was just an outsider, and no one knew how he got his supplies. But rumor had it he had many ability users working for him, able to produce food on their own.

Wood-type ability users were rare in the apocalypse, and Wu Feng couldn’t catalyze fruits and vegetables out of thin air—he needed seeds, and those seeds required his blood.

In other words, without ordinary seeds for him to catalyze, the only way to get food was to use a wood-type user’s blood to create seeds, then rapidly grow them.

But this would only speed up his own death.

So, wood-type users fell into two categories: the strong, whom no one dared force to use their blood, and the weak, who became blood bags.

According to what Du Mu knew, Wu Feng’s base only traded with outsiders, so there was only one possibility: his base had blood bags—maybe more than one!

That was the real danger.

---

**End of Chapter 49**"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your provided Chinese text:

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**Chapter 50: The New Home’s Mighty Power**

“Boss Wu, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but how can I be sure you won’t just take the goods and run off?”

Wu Feng smiled easily at Duan, “Relax, I wouldn’t dare. Besides, with your people from Haishi joining in, I wouldn’t be able to get away with it even if I wanted to!”

Looking at Wu Feng’s attitude, it really seemed like he just wanted to get back what was his. But Duan couldn’t help but wonder—just how much had this woman named Sang Chu taken?

Wu Feng, seeing Duan’s expression, laughed, “Don’t worry, both Sang Chu and the other woman are spatial ability users.”

If he said so, then Sang Chu must be one!

Spatial ability users!

Duan’s heart skipped a beat.

If that was true, then she could really take a lot of things away!

Duan gritted his teeth and said, “Alright, Boss Wu, if you’re serious, then if we catch any traitors, I’ll take responsibility. Give me a moment, I’ll have someone notify Ah Ming and Ah Xin, and gather all my people from Base Three to help search. Even if we have to turn that whole mountain upside down, we’ll find them!”

Wu Feng nodded, “Good. As long as we find Sang Chu and get my things back, I’ll split the spoils with you.”

Duan smiled, “Boss Wu, you’re too polite. You and your people have traveled a long way and must be tired. Why don’t you rest for now? Once Ah Xin and the others arrive, we’ll discuss how to deal with Sang Chu.”

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you then.”

Duan personally led Wu Feng and his group to rest.

After Wu Feng left, Qiming walked up to Duan and whispered, “Big brother, do you really trust what Wu Feng said?”

Duan sneered, “He’s not someone who likes to cooperate with others. The only reason he’s come to us now is because this woman, Sang Chu, is really tricky. I’m not so sure she’s actually a spatial ability user like he claims. If he’s a level three ability user, how could a spatial ability user like Sang Chu escape from him?”

“So what should we do now?”

Duan said coldly, “He wants us to do all the hard work to find Sang Chu, and then he’ll swoop in and take the prize. In that case, let’s get rid of him first. You go tell your brother: once we’ve figured out where Sang Chu is hiding in the mountains, we’ll find a way to deal with Wu Feng and his people. After that, we’ll split the loot ourselves.”

Qiming grinned, “Good idea, big brother. Wait here, I’ll go find my brother now.”

Few people knew that Ah Xin and Duan were actually sworn brothers. On the surface, the base Ah Xin had established was independent, with little public interaction, but in reality, they were very close.

...

When Ah Xin saw Qiming, he was a little surprised—Qiming usually didn’t come to see him unless something important was up.

“Qiming? What’s up? Is there something going on with third brother?”

Qiming quickly explained what Wu Feng had said. Ah Xin didn’t hesitate at all and immediately agreed.

“If Wu Feng is willing to split the goods with outsiders, he must have a lot of valuable stuff on hand. For him to ask for help, that Sang Chu woman must have something really good. Go tell third brother, I’ll send my men right away!”

“Got it, bro. I’ll go tell the boss now!”

When Qiming returned to the base, he noticed a pair of green eyes glowing faintly from the grass nearby. In a flash, the figure slipped behind him, following silently.

All his movements were under Wu Feng’s watchful eye.

...

“Is this the place?”

“Isn’t the mutated vegetation here a bit too dense?”

Standing at the foot of the mountain near Wu Feng’s base, everyone looked at the thick, tangled plants and exchanged uneasy glances.

Even if no one had cleared the mutated plants, it shouldn’t have gotten this overgrown!

Zhu Qiao whispered in Wu Feng’s ear, “Boss, these mutated plants are even thicker than when we were here last time.”

Wu Feng nodded slightly, “Tell our people to be careful. If necessary...”

He glanced at Duan and signaled to Zhu Qiao, who immediately understood, smiled, and quickly relayed Wu Feng’s intentions to their own men.

Duan and Ah Xin led the way, even though they didn’t trust Wu Feng, they were still very cautious.

Ah Xin said, “A Mu, take your men and clear out these mutated plants.”

“Understood, boss. You, come with me.”

A Mu took ten ability users and headed into the thicket. As soon as they entered, there was no sound from them at all.

Time passed, but not a single sound came from inside.

Under the faint red moonlight, it was impossible to see what was happening within.

Duan frowned, “What’s taking A Mu so long? Qiming, take some men and check it out.”

“Alright.”

Qiming led a group in, but they too disappeared without a trace.

Duan’s men started to panic, “Big brother, what’s going on?”

Ah Xin looked at Wu Feng, “Wu, my men went in and never came out. You’re not playing tricks, are you?”

Wu Feng replied, “Why would I? I just want to get back what Sang Chu stole. I wouldn’t harm your people.”

Ah Xin said, “Since that’s the case, let’s have your men go in and help clear the mutated plants. Otherwise, only my men are going in and not coming back—it’s not fair.”

Wu Feng replied, “If we already know that going in means not coming back, then we need to think of another way. There’s no point in sending people in to die!”

There was definitely a trap inside. Even if there wasn’t, he wasn’t about to send his own people in.

Ah Xin’s sharp eyes stared straight at Wu Feng.

Suddenly—

A voice came from inside, “Boss, we’ve cleared a small area. Come in and take a look!”

“These mutated plants are really tough to clear. Come in and check it out, and I’ll keep clearing further in.”

After that, there was no more sound.

For a while, neither Ah Xin nor Duan dared to go in.

Wu Feng glanced at them, then quietly took a step back.

Suddenly, Ah Xin and Duan’s men started shouting, “Boss, look at this!”

“Boss, these plants, these plants!!!”

Thick vines shot out at lightning speed from who knows where, suddenly wrapping up all of Duan’s men.

Wu Feng shouted, “Run!”

He didn’t dare hesitate, quickly called his own men, and turned to flee.

“Ah—!”

Screams echoed all around.

Wu Feng looked back and saw the vines writhing like a nest of snakes, lashing out at the crowd.

With each strike, blood splattered.

“Boss! Help me!!”

Zhu Ling screamed in terror.

He was currently trapped, his arms and legs bound by a vine, his back pressed to the ground.

Wu Feng, sweating profusely, summoned a golden blade and slashed at the vines.

He was drenched in sweat, but the vines just wouldn’t break.

Bang—

Zhu Ling was torn apart by the vines, blood splattering everywhere.

The sudden carnage left Wu Feng frozen in place.

He watched as the vines, after feasting, turned toward him.

Wu Feng unleashed his powers desperately!

But these mutated plants were immune to abilities.

Fire, ice, golden blades, daggers—nothing worked on the vines.

And the more people died, the more the vines seemed to thrive.

Wu Feng tried to run, but suddenly a vine wrapped around his waist. Instinctively, he turned and slashed, cutting the vine...

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