Chapter 72 - Zombies’ Arrival and Retaliation of Mutated Plants

Following the directions they had received, Han Wu and Qin Shuang finally located the mayor’s residence. The mayor, whose name was Weissenegger, greeted them warmly upon learning of their intention to purchase a house.

The mayor assisted them in determining how much their seeds were worth in the local currency. The calculation revealed that Han Wu’s seeds were worth 1,320 gold coins, and Qin Shuang’s seeds were valued at 1,160. With this established, the mayor presented the two students with several housing options to choose from.

Surprisingly, even the cheapest house was priced at 1,200 gold coins. Qin Shuang discovered that she did not have enough gold to buy one, but Han Wu didn’t mind lending her some money. At that point, however, a particularly interesting option in the housing list captured his attention.

Among the listings, he noticed that the mayor was offering one of the most impressive houses in the town. This particular house was described as being twice as large as a standard house, featuring three floors, a front garden, and a backyard.

Furthermore, the house was located with direct access to major roads both in the front and the rear. Han Wu recognized this as a strategically advantageous location for a residence. Nevertheless, the property was quite expensive, priced at 2,350 gold coins.

Han Wu realized he could not afford such a house on his own, but if he and Qin Shuang put their money together, they would be able to afford the place.

After a brief exchange, Han Wu and Qin Shuang agreed that it was a sensible plan. They further decided that one of them would guard the front of the property while the other would watch the rear, allowing both of them to earn points simultaneously.

However, during the paperwork for the house, a minor yet awkward complication arose. Weissenegger explained that he was unable to put two names on the property’s deed. The only recognized way for two individuals to reside in the same house within Zombie Town was for them to be legally married as husband and wife.

Qin Shuang’s face flushed crimson upon hearing this unexpected condition, but with nightfall swiftly approaching and no time to deliberate, she gave a quick nod of acceptance to Weissenegger’s suggestion. Thankfully, the mayor was efficient; after the two of them signed the necessary documents, he quickly stamped them, and they officially became residents of the town.

Upon acquiring their house deed, a notification from the system resonated in their minds.

[Obtained house deed and became official town residents. +1,000 Points]

Their names rapidly ascended the class scoreboard, and they were now tied for first place. Below their names, the remaining students were listed, with the majority at 0 points and a few unlucky ones displaying negative scores.

Qin Shuang was pleased with their progress, but her old habit resurfaced.

“Just so you know,” she insisted, “we were forced into this situation! This marriage is purely in name only, so don’t you dare even think for a single second that it’s actually real!”

Han Wu chuckled softly, amusement evident in his tone. “Alright, alright. Fine, we’re not a real couple.”

He then turned and walked swiftly towards their house, his movements betraying his eagerness to settle in.

Qin Shuang stomped her foot in frustration.

Ugh! Are you some kind of simpleton? I told you to not think of us as a couple, and you just accepted it like it was nothing?

As Han Wu and Qin Shuang exited the mayor’s residence, Xu Tie arrived, harboring the same intention to purchase a house. He swiftly completed the necessary paperwork and, as a result, received 1,500 points, placing him in first place on the scoreboard, with the “married couple” now sharing the second position.

Shortly thereafter, a number of other students successfully acquired houses, earning points ranging from 600 to 1,300. This caused the point gap between them and Han Wu and Qin Shuang to shrink noticeably, but the two remained unconcerned. They were more concerned about reinforcing their house against potential zombie attacks.

With 130 gold coins remaining after their house purchase, Han Wu and Qin Shuang decided to visit the town shop. The shopkeeper recommended what she considered to be the most efficient seed they could currently afford, which was the Rank 1 Bean Pelter plant. As each Bean Pelter seed cost one gold coin, they purchased a total of 130 of them.

The shopkeeper quickly realized they were new residents, and she gave them a free bonus of fifty Rank 1 Bronze Coinflower seeds.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The Bronze Coinflower plant possessed no offensive capabilities whatsoever. Instead, it had the unique ability to absorb the death aura radiating from zombies, which it then converted into bronze coins. It was considered one of the weakest plants overall, but given that it was offered to them for free, both Han Wu and Qin Shuang accepted it with gratitude.

Upon returning to their new home, Han Wu and Qin Shuang promptly began setting up their defenses. Han Wu took charge of the larger front garden and positioned 80 Bean Pelters along with 30 Bronze Coinflowers. Qin Shuang focused on the backyard, which was smaller due to a swimming pool, and planted 50 Bean Pelters and 20 Bronze Coinflowers.

The special plants exhibited an exceptionally rapid growth rate, budding within a mere three hours and reaching full maturity after five hours.

Han Wu curiously inspected the Bean Pelter.

[Name: Bean Pelter]

[Rank: Rank 1]

[Ability: Bean Pelting. Shoots one bean per second to attack undead.]

[Lifespan: 1 year]

With a nod of satisfaction, Han Wu then turned his attention to one of the Bronze Coinflower plants, inspecting it with interest.

[Name: Bronze Coinflower]

[Rank: Rank 1]

[Ability: Coin Growth. Absorbs a unit of death aura to generate one bronze coin (10 bronze coins = 1 silver coin, 10 silver coins = 1 gold coin, 1,000 gold coins = 1 diamond).]

[Lifespan: 1 year]

These plants had quite simple and straightforward abilities. As the plants were finished growing, the daylight slowly faded, and the skies grew dark.

Perched atop the walls, Han Wu could discern the unsettling sounds of low wailing carried on the night air. With focused concentration, he drew a series of ancient runes in the air using his fingertips.

“Illuminate.”

Instantly, a glowing orb materialized at the tip of his fingers, casting light upon everything within a five-meter radius.

He cast the ball of light towards the source of the mournful sounds and discovered a multitude of zombies aimlessly shuffling through the streets of the town.

The zombies relentlessly attempted to break into every house they encountered along their path. However, the residents of the town had already taken precautions by planting special defensive plants around their homes. The death aura emanating from the zombies served as a catalyst, awakening the plants and causing them to unleash a fierce wave of attacks.

The conspicuous glow of Han Wu’s Illuminate Mystic Art drew the attention of several zombies, causing them to veer towards their residence.

“Perfect,” he said, a hint of anticipation in his voice. “Let’s see just how strong you guys are!”

He was really looking forward to witnessing the capabilities of both the approaching zombies and his defensive plants.

The instant the zombies entered Han Wu’s property, the Bean Pelter plants were triggered into action. Immediately detecting the characteristic death aura emanating from the undead creatures, the plants began their assault, rapidly discharging a barrage of beans.

Han Wu observed that while the beans did strike the zombies, they only caused minimal injury. He estimated that at least ten beans would be required to take down an average zombie.

These plants are too weak

, he silently concluded.

He then activated his Enchant Darkness skill, targeting the Bean Pelter plants situated at the front of their defenses to enhance their power. The enchantment dramatically enhanced the plants’ attacks, enabling them to take down a regular zombie with just three to five beans, an improvement of at least fifty percent in their efficiency.

Upon their demise, the zombies swiftly disintegrated into a cloud of dark, vaporous gas that dissipated into the air. The Bronze Coinflower plants efficiently absorbed this dark gas, rapidly converting it into bronze coins. Meanwhile, Han Wu continuously received system messages as his plant defenses successfully took down the approaching zombies.

[Killed Rank 1 regular zombie, +1 points]

[Killed Rank 1 Banner Zombie, obtained banner fragment, +1 points]

[Killed Rank 1 Worker Zombie, +1 points]

Despite his points gradually increasing with each zombie defeated, Han Wu was not particularly satisfied. The rate of increase was too slow for his liking. He knew he needed to gain a considerable number of additional points to swiftly put himself far above Xu Tie and Qin Shuang.

He turned his gaze to one of the Bean Pelter plants, and a daring thought sparked in his mind.

Plants are living organisms, so they undoubtedly possess genes I can manipulate through mutation!

Activating his Controlled Mutation skill, Han Wu targeted a Bean Pelter plant, and several evolutionary pathways appeared before him. He was somewhat taken aback by the reappearance of the familiar interface. He quickly filtered out the mutations with clear and undesirable defects, until only four possibilities remained.

[Option 1: Range mutation. Increases attack range of Bean Pelter. Reduces lifespan by 1 month for every increase in range. Maximum attack range: 13 times, but reduces lifespan to 12 hours]

[Option 2: Attack speed mutation. Increases attack speed of Bean Pelter. Reduces lifespan by 2 months for every increase in attack speed. Maximum attack speed: 7 times, but reduces lifespan to 12 hours]

[Option 3: Multihead mutation. Increases the head of Bean Pelter to launch more beans per attack. Reduces life span by 3 months for every increase. Maximum heads: 5, but reduces lifespan to 12 hours]

[Option 4: Stem mutation. Increases stem diameter to increase bean size. Reduces lifespan by 6 months per increase. Maximum diameter: 3 times, but reduces life span to 12 hours]

“Alright, these are some good choices,” Han Wu said with a grin. “Let’s just mutate them all and see what happens!”

With a wave of his arms, he used his Controlled Mutation skill on all 80 of his Bean Pelter plants. Almost instantly, the Bean Pelters underwent rapid mutations, resulting in a significant increase in their firepower.