From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 168 - 159: A Counterfeit is Ultimately Just a Counterfeit

Chapter 168: Chapter 159: A Counterfeit is Ultimately Just a Counterfeit

「Meanwhile, in a remote mountain valley in Area 0569.」

Ye Xin flipped through a report and said to a nearby assistant, "Based on the mutation data, Plant Specimen Three is currently the closest to achieving reverse evolution. Tell them to bring over the Crystal Cores, and be careful."

"Ye Xin, you don’t actually think you’ll succeed with just a few High-level Crystal Cores, do you?" A young girl with her arms crossed stood by an off-road vehicle, her tone laced with mockery.

Ye Xin glanced back at her. "How will we know if we don’t try?" She paused, then added gently, "Besides, we still have you, don’t we, Cheng Chen? I hear you’re the most successful counterfeit to date?"

Cheng Chen’s expression turned foul in an instant.

’She hated it most when people called her a counterfeit!’

Cheng Chen snorted and looked away.

’If only I didn’t have to keep up appearances with this woman for now...’

Ye Xin’s lips curled into a smirk, the mockery in her eyes unconcealed.

’A counterfeit is just a counterfeit. No matter how successful, it’s still just a cheap copy.’

’It can never replace the real thing!’

Ye Xin coolly looked away. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

A few moments later, the Zombie Crystal Cores arrived. She personally assigned several high-level ability users to stand guard, just in case the experimental plant underwent a malignant transformation after absorbing the cores...

Cheng Chen noticed that the people Ye Xin had chosen were all from her own team, while Ye Xin and her people stood far away. The mockery in her eyes deepened. "Is that all the courage you have, Ye Xin?"

’So noisy.’

Ye Xin gave her a lazy glance before turning to confer in low tones with several High-level Wood Ability Users.

’As for Cheng Chen... in her eyes, she was just an airheaded fool. The type to be sold and still happily count the money for her seller.’

’Doesn’t she get it? Now that the original is back, what could that man possibly see in her?’

’Her plastic-surgery face? Or the Crystal Core in her head, stolen from someone else?’

Soon, several Wood Element ability users began to work around Plant Specimen Three.

Stimulated by the Wood Element abilities, the selected plant began to grow at a terrifying rate, continuously absorbing the surrounding Crystal Cores. Perhaps because it was growing so fast, its underground root system swelled rapidly, causing cracks to spiderweb across the ground and the earth to tremble faintly.

Cheng Chen watched from a distance. Seeing the plant turn a deep, inky black, a sarcastic smile touched her lips.

’Anyone with a shred of common sense could tell the plant was on the verge of malignant transformation.’

Sure enough, the ability users were soon locked in combat with the transformed plant.

Half an hour later, Cheng Chen strode up to Ye Xin and raised a smug eyebrow. ’See? Without my help, your reverse evolution experiment will never succeed!’

"Continue," Ye Xin said, opening her personal terminal. She began reading the data from the failed experiment, discussing the reasons for the failure with the staff next to her.

An agricultural researcher pushed up the cold frames of his glasses. Staring at the data, he frowned and said, "The cause of failure is the same as before. The rate of energy absorption was too fast, and we couldn’t intervene in time at the critical point..."

And once that threshold was crossed, the plant immediately underwent a malignant transformation.

It was a difficult problem, indeed.

Ye Xin looked up at the High-level Wood Ability Users.

The ability users exchanged glances, then shook their heads.

The critical point for the plant’s reversal appeared in a flash. By the time they realized it and tried to pull back their power, it was already too late.

In other words, the process required an incredibly high degree of precision and subtlety in ability control. They simply didn’t have enough experience in that area; it was nearly impossible for them at their current level.

To make matters worse, the plant’s own ’X-factor’ was also in constant flux, adding another layer of difficulty to the experiment.

Ye Xin frowned slightly but didn’t seem discouraged. The group resumed their earnest discussion about the cause of the failure.

Cheng Chen, who had been listening from the side, couldn’t help but sneer. "What’s the point of all this talk?" she taunted. "Ye Xin, instead of relying on those good-for-nothings you have, why don’t you come and beg me?"

Being called good-for-nothings in public, the expressions of the High-level Wood Ability Users instantly soured.

But Cheng Chen didn’t care in the slightest. In fact, she didn’t even see them as worth her notice.

’The Mutant Crystal Core in my head is Quasi-God Rank. How could these ordinary ability users possibly compare?’

She looked at Ye Xin mockingly. "So? Want to give it a shot? Maybe if I’m in a good mood, I’ll agree the moment you start begging."

Ye Xin’s eyes remained fixed on the experimental data on the Light Screen, her expression unwavering.

’A lovesick, simple-minded fool like her probably wouldn’t have survived a single week during the darkest, most chaotic days of the early apocalypse. Arguing with her is an insult to my own intelligence.’

’But some people are utterly lacking in self-awareness, buzzing in my ear like an annoying fly.’

’It’s seriously affecting my team’s morale and efficiency.’

Ye Xin abruptly turned her head, giving the "fly" a smirk. "Are you sure you can actually do it?"

"Of course," Cheng Chen said, full of confidence.

’If *she* can do it, then I can definitely do it too.’

’Even better than her!’

’After all, the Boss said I was the one who resembled her the most...’

"Is that so?" Ye Xin’s gaze dropped to Cheng Chen’s hands, and she smiled.

Cheng Chen abruptly opened her hand.

A tiny, wilted green sprout drooped limply from her palm...

Realization dawned, and she snapped her head up to look at Ye Xin.

Ye Xin looked at her, her smile unnervingly gentle. "I told you. A counterfeit is just a counterfeit. And if a counterfeit doesn’t even know its place... well..."

Ye Xin intentionally left the rest unsaid, merely looking at her with an expression of pity.

"What do you mean by that?" Cheng Chen was instantly on guard. She stared at Ye Xin, a terrible premonition suddenly taking root in her heart.

Ye Xin just smiled without explaining. She gave Cheng Chen a meaningful glance, then projected the Light Screen in front of her.

Cheng Chen shot her a suspicious look before her gaze fell upon the Light Screen. Her face immediately fell.

On the Light Screen was a young girl who looked about eighty percent like her. She was looking up at a man whose back was to the camera, her clear eyes filled with adoration and love...

In the next moment, the man raised his hand and stroked the girl’s hair. He whispered something, and a shy blush quietly blossomed on the young girl’s pale cheeks...

But on the other side of the screen, the color drained from Cheng Chen’s face.

’I’ve seen the girl in the Hibernation Chamber. I know better than anyone that the girl on the screen resembles the original even more than I, the so-called "most successful counterfeit," do.’

’What truly terrified me was the man’s attitude toward that girl... it was indulgent, doting even.’

Cheng Chen’s face shifted through several expressions, each one uglier than the last, as some terrible thought struck her.

「A long moment later.」

She snapped her head up to look at Ye Xin and hissed, "Did you do this?"

Ye Xin smiled without a word. She tucked a stray strand of hair, mussed by the wind, behind her ear, her eyes filled with unconcealed mockery as she looked at the younger girl.

’I told her. A counterfeit is just a counterfeit, replaceable at any moment. Only the original is irreplaceable.’

’As for you...’ Ye Xin’s lips curled into a sarcastic smirk.

Cheng Chen’s expression grew even fouler. Humiliated and furious, her face flushed crimson, and the vine that had been hanging limply from her wrist suddenly writhed and thrashed like a striking snake.

But in the end, she didn’t dare to do a thing.

After a long moment, she shot Ye Xin a hateful glare, then turned and stormed away.

’Ye Xin, just you wait!’

’One day, you’ll be on your knees, begging me...’

Ye Xin coolly retracted her gaze. She turned back to her staff, her expression unchanged. "Continue."