From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 180 - 171: Holding Her Back

On her end, after Chen Lu hung up, her expression suddenly darkened, turning extremely grim.

She pressed her hands on the tabletop and closed her eyes. The next moment, she violently flipped the long table in front of her.

Amid the utter mess, countless succulents exploded around her.

After a long while, Chen Lu finally managed to calm down. She opened her personal terminal and dialed a number.

"Why are you calling me at a time like this?" On the other side of the light screen, Chen Yun frowned slightly.

Several factions were watching them right now. She had long since told her sister that to avoid complications, it was best they didn’t contact each other during this period.

"Sis, let Wei Heng go." Chen Lu looked at Chen Yun and relayed what Gu Xi had just said. "And give that thing back. Right now, she’s the only one who can save us."

Otherwise, in less than two years, both of them would die from the withering of their internal life force.

"Let him go?" Chen Yun felt her sister was being muddle-headed. "What are you thinking? As long as we have Wei Heng, she has no choice but to obey..."

"One Wei Heng isn’t enough to control Gu Xi," Chen Lu interrupted gloomily. "If the Blood-colored Asura could be controlled so easily, then what happened back then would never have happened."

"Sister, don’t you get it?! She figured everything out a long time ago. From the day she returned, our lives have been in someone else’s hands."

"Otherwise, why do you think Li Ming and the others haven’t made a move all these years?"

"Do you really think Li Ming couldn’t find out anything about what happened back then?!"

Chen Yun fell silent. Over the years, as both she and her sister’s bodies began to fail and they aged prematurely, she had suspected many things, but never Gu Xi.

After all, for most of the past thirty years, Gu Xi had been in a state of hibernation. Besides, her ability was so powerful and her blood so full of vitality, how could it possibly cause a backlash against their own life force?

’Impossible!’

But now...

Chen Yun thought for a moment, then frowned. "Wei Heng can be sent back, but that thing..."

"No, that’s not right." As Chen Yun spoke, her expression suddenly changed slightly. She frowned. "How would Gu Xi know about that thing?"

Chen Lu was confused. ’Why wouldn’t Gu Xi know? Isn’t that thing hers?’

Chen Yun glanced at her. "Why do you think Li Ming kept the existence of that thing a secret? To guard against others? Back then, Gu Xi was still around. With the Blood-colored Asura’s power, who could have possibly snatched something from her?"

Chen Lu grew even more confused. "But why would Li Ming hide it from Gu Xi?"

Chen Yun: "..."

’She’s beginning to suspect her sister’s brain has withered away too. How else could she ask such a stupid question!’

Chen Lu: "?"

Chen Yun rubbed her weary brow. "I remember telling you that I suspected back then that the thing might be related to the sudden outbreak of the apocalypse..."

Chen Lu nodded. "So that’s why, out of all the apocalypse babies back then, we specifically chose Gu Xi..."

And later, the little girl certainly didn’t disappoint them, shining brilliantly among the thousands of ability users.

But then she paused, confused again. "But didn’t Li Ming say that Gu Xi had that thing with her from birth, and that it’s useless to anyone else?"

Chen Yun: "..." ’My sister’s brain really has withered, hasn’t it?’

She said irritably, "I don’t doubt she had it with her from birth." After all, among the countless ability users over the years, only Gu Xi had broken through to the Divine Rank.

"As for whether others can use it..." Chen Yun frowned slightly. "Back then, Number Two was surrounded by powerful experts yet was suddenly assassinated. Right after, something went wrong with Li Ming’s ability. Don’t you find that strange?"

Chen Lu froze for a moment before it dawned on her. "You’re saying... back then, Li Ming borrowed that thing to forcibly use a Divine Rank ability and kill Number Two in one blow..."

Chen Yun nodded. "I only suspected it back then. After all, whether that thing even existed was just an internal rumor. Li Ming never admitted to it."

Not until the day Xiao Yu delivered it and she tested it herself. The thing looked like a rock and shared some characteristics with alien meteorites, but strangely, it was most definitely alive, and its DNA was a perfect match for Gu Xi’s.

’How miraculous.’

But Chen Lu still didn’t understand. "If the thing is useful, why would he hide it from Gu Xi?" ’Was he trying to keep the treasure for himself?’

Chen Yun gave her sister a complicated look. After a long silence, she finally said, "...Because Li Ming... is a good brother."

Chen Lu glanced at her in surprise, then also fell silent.

...

Meanwhile, Qi Xiang and Qin Yi returned to the Abnormal Ability Research Institute.

"You’re back?" Dr. Qi said with a gentle smile as he walked down from upstairs and saw the two enter. "Qin is here too? Have a seat."

"Dr. Qi." After greeting him, Qin Yi sat down somewhat reservedly to the side, leaving the stage to Qi Xiang.

Qi Xiang, meanwhile, grinned as she found the tea set, took out the tea leaves Gu Xi had given her before, and brewed a pot for her adoptive father. "You don’t seem surprised at all?"

"I had my suspicions." Dr. Qi accepted the celadon teacup, took a deep breath, and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Excellent tea."

He tilted his head to look at Qi Xiang. "This is from Gu Xi, isn’t it?" ’These days, only Xiaoxi would have something this good.’

Qi Xiang nodded cheerfully. "I know you have a taste for this, so I brought it all back for you."

Dr. Qi gave her a faint smile, not exposing her little scheme. He sipped his tea and asked leisurely, "What do you want to ask?"

Qi Xiang and Qin Yi exchanged a glance before Qi Xiang spoke up. "Wei Heng is missing. Did you know about that?"

Dr. Qi neither confirmed nor denied it. He lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and after a moment, said with certainty, "Wei Heng will be fine."

His tone was so certain that Qi Xiang and Qin Yi looked at each other, confused.

Dr. Qi set down his teacup, looked up at the two of them, and sighed meaningfully. "It seems you still don’t understand Gu Xi well enough."

"But..."

Qi Xiang hesitated. The moment she started to speak, Dr. Qi interrupted her. "Do you know why your plane had problems?"

Qi Xiang answered subconsciously, "Because someone didn’t want Gu Xi to leave the Central Base?"

To her surprise, Dr. Qi slowly shook his head.

Qi Xiang froze. ’It’s not that?’

She and Qin Yi exchanged a look, then both looked up at Dr. Qi.

Dr. Qi held his teacup and blew on it lightly. "It’s not that they don’t want Gu Xi to leave. It’s that they can’t let her leave *just like that*."

Qi Xiang didn’t quite understand, and Qin Yi, at her side, couldn’t help but grow tense.

But Dr. Qi just kept savoring his tea. ’This is pre-apocalypse Da Hong Pao. I have to enjoy it properly and not let it go to waste.’

After a long while, he finally spoke again, slowly. "Because on Gu Xi’s team this time, everyone besides you few is from the military. The military didn’t assign a single outsider. Do you think anyone would be happy about that?"

Those people tried everything to get their own men into the military’s planting base and participate in the plant’s reverse evolution project. Do you really think it’s just to solve the food crisis?

It’s not.

Ultimately, their target is also Gu Xi.

—If their people can’t get close to Gu Xi, then the people the military arranged can forget about leaving with her either.

It’s that simple and brutal.

As for Wei Heng and the others, they are merely a tool for others to control Gu Xi.

Qi Xiang was lost in thought after hearing this, and she quickly exchanged a glance with Qin Yi.

Then they heard Dr. Qi say, "Just wait and see. If the military refuses to compromise, I’m afraid it will be very difficult for Gu Xi to get you all out of the Central Base in one piece."

This time, Qi Xiang reacted quickly. "You mean... we’re the ones holding Gu Xi back?"

Dr. Qi glanced at her, lowered his head to sip his tea, and just smiled without saying a word.

With Gu Xi’s abilities, the world is vast. Where couldn’t she go?

But if she has to bring her current teammates along... These young people are decent, but compared to Li Ming and the others back in the day, they’re still far from good enough.