Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System-Chapter 59: Giving Jacket To Divya

She lifted her slightly red and swollen left hand.

Seeing the flashing avatar on the screen, she hesitated briefly... but finally pressed the accept button.

"Hello..."

---

At the same time, inside his Treehouse Shelter, Vikram had just closed the regional chat channel.

After thinking for a moment, he sent a few messages to Divya — intending to show a bit of concern for his hardworking "employee."

It was probably just a few casual words asking whether she could withstand the sudden drop in temperature during the extreme cold.

However, what Vikram did not expect was that there was no reply from Divya for a very long time.

"Did she fall asleep?" he wondered, puzzled.

"That can’t be right. Everyone in the group knows the extreme cold is supposed to change tonight. They would definitely stay awake past midnight."

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, as if an inexplicable premonition was warning him that something was wrong. Almost subconsciously, Vikram initiated a communication request.

This was the first time he had ever used the communication function on the Survival Platform.

As he pressed the dial button, a standby tone echoed faintly in his mind.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

"Beep."

After a brief sound, the connection was established.

"Hello? What’s going on with you? I sent so many messages and you didn’t reply. I thought you were dead."

There was silence on the other end for a moment.

Then a slightly weak and hoarse voice finally responded,

"To be honest... I never thought the first person to actively worry about me would be you, you scoundrel."

"Your voice sounds terrible. Don’t tell me you don’t have any cold-weather supplies and you’re just enduring it?"

Ignoring her instinctive attempt to complain, Vikram immediately sensed something was off.

Her tone lacked its usual sharpness and energy; it sounded drained and fragile.

"So what if I am enduring it? Otherwise... would you really give me clothes for free?"

In truth, Divya had considered asking Vikram for help. Although he was irritating and always teased her, he was undeniably resourceful and unexpectedly generous.

But then she remembered that even powerful Shelters like the Savage Wolf Shelter were struggling to secure enough cold-proof supplies.

How could a lone-wolf Shelter like his possibly have spare clothing?

Moreover, she had always mocked him and benefited from his help more than once.

Even if he truly had extra supplies, she felt she didn’t have the right to trouble him again.

Just as these conflicted thoughts churned in her mind.

[Trader: Vikram — Trading Item: Cold-Weather Coat. Required Item: None]

A sudden trade notification appeared on her wrist.

Divya’s eyes widened in shock. She stared at the message in disbelief, as if afraid she might miss even a single word.

"Take it," Vikram’s voice came calmly through the communicator. "Don’t say I mistreat my employees. If you need anything else, just tell me. Don’t try to carry everything alone. Your boss is far more capable than you think."

The moment he realized she truly lacked cold-weather supplies, Vikram did not hesitate for even a second.

He had already removed the coat he was wearing... and sent it to her.

At this moment, only the seven words "Don’t try to handle everything yourself" echoed repeatedly in Divya’s mind.

All the teasing that followed in Vikram’s sentence was automatically filtered out.

Her eyes grew slightly red.

Before arriving in the Wasteland World, she had lived just like Anjali — a pampered young lady surrounded by comfort and abundance.But after the apocalypse began, everything she once had vanished overnight.

From that day onward, she could rely only on herself. Every struggle to survive hardened her will, especially after she and Anjali reunited.

To protect her fragile best friend, she had forced herself to become stronger, more resilient.

Over time, she even began to believe she no longer needed anyone.

Until this moment.

A seemingly casual sentence had quietly shattered that illusion.

Regardless of Vikram’s true intentions, in Divya’s eyes this gesture felt like pure, untainted concern.

He had annoyed her countless times before, teased her endlessly, and left her frustrated more than once.

Yet right now, gratitude was the only emotion filling her heart.

"Thank you..."

She accepted the cold-weather coat silently.

There were no dramatic words, only that simple expression of thanks — but her voice carried a faint tremor.

"It’s nothing. As a boss, it’s only natural," Vikram replied lightly, not noticing the subtle change in her tone.

Divya wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes and quickly put on the coat.

The warmth spread across her body almost instantly, driving away the biting cold like darkness retreating from sunlight.

She even caught a faint, pleasant scent lingering within the fabric — subtle, clean, oddly reassuring.

After steadying her breathing, she returned to her usual teasing tone.

"Hey... why is this coat still warm? Don’t tell me you just took it off yourself?"

"So what if I did?" Vikram snorted. "If you think it smells, take it off and send it back right now."

"I don’t mind," she said softly. "I actually... like it very much."

"I even gave you an exquisite-grade cold-weather coat. Don’t act ungrateful—"

His words suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

He froze for a moment, uncertain if he had heard correctly.

"...What did you just say?" he asked, suspicious.

"Nothing," Divya replied casually, brushing it aside.

Before he could press further, the communication abruptly ended.

Just as Vikram was left staring in confusion, her chat avatar lit up again. A photograph had been sent.

In a somewhat dim room, flickers of firelight danced and swayed, illuminating the surroundings and filling the room with a warm atmosphere.

On the bed sat a delicate and lovely girl with long hair draped over her shoulders, slightly disheveled strands accentuating her clear face.

At this moment, she was wearing a tightly fitted cold-weather coat. Although warm, it couldn’t conceal her tenderness and grace.

The girl’s cheeks were slightly flushed, half her face hidden in the collar of the cold-weather coat. Whether due to the warmth of the firelight or some other reason, a faint shyness emanated from her.

Her gaze was gently lowered, a hint of liveliness revealed in her bashful eyes, and her eyelids, illuminated by the firelight, shimmered with a warm glow.

Vikram sat on the bed, his gaze fixed on the screen, his heart churning like a stormy sea.

Such a thoroughly bundled photo still made Vikram’s blood surge in front of the screen.

For no other reason than that Divya had specially taken this photo for him.

The faint blush on Divya’s cheeks in the photo, illuminated by the firelight, and the deep-seated shyness behind it.

Even if Vikram was slow, he could now understand what had happened.

Her beautiful face, the shyness on it, combined with what Divya had just said, all made his heart race instantly.

"It seems I accidentally maxed out her favorability?" he said uncertainly, but his heart was filled with ecstasy.

At that moment, another message popped up in the chat window.

[Divya: Thank you so much for today. Oh, right... you gave me your coat, so what are you wearing now?]

Having finally calmed down, Divya suddenly realized that the coat she was currently wrapped in had been taken straight off Vikram’s body.

[Vikram: Don’t worry about me. I already told you, I’m very capable. A cold-weather coat is just a drop in the ocean for me.]

Suppressing the joy secretly blooming in his heart, Vikram deliberately maintained a calm and indifferent tone.

To him, cold-weather supplies — something the entire Wasteland World was desperately fighting over — sounded as trivial as pebbles on the roadside.

[Divya: You’re not lying to me, are you?]

[Divya: Send me a photo. I want to see what you’re wearing... and also what you actually look like.]

Although Vikram had seen Divya’s pictures several times, she herself still had no clear impression of his appearance.

The only image she had ever seen of him was the one taken after he slaughtered the Wolf Spirit Guards — drenched in blood, like a nightmare carved in crimson.

From that terrifying scene, she could only vaguely tell that his face probably wasn’t bad.

[Vikram: Then prepare yourself. I’m very handsome.]

With that, he put on his Epic-grade wolf-fur coat, turned toward the warm light inside the Shelter, struck a pose he believed looked both natural and cool, and pressed the camera button.

[Vikram: Photo]

---

In the photo, he wore a wolf-fur coat of unknown quality — at least from Divya’s perspective.

The thick fur seemed to carry a faint, almost imperceptible shimmer, while the raised collar added an air of mystery and composure.

He sat upright on the sofa, his posture straight and confident, radiating a calm yet commanding presence.

The heavy coat wrapped perfectly around his tall frame, outlining broad shoulders and a powerful silhouette.

Behind him, the Shelter’s lights glowed warmly, bathing the scene in a soft golden radiance.

Shadows overlapped gently across the walls, highlighting the sharp contours of his profile and enhancing the depth of his features.

His eyes appeared clear and sincere, yet somewhere deep within them lingered a trace of quiet tenderness.

Outside, the cold wind howled mercilessly — But within the frame of that photo, everything felt warm, steady, reassuring... as though anyone looking at it would instinctively wish to move closer.

Vikram tilted his head slightly, the corners of his lips curling into a confident smile. He looked bright and handsome, his gaze firm yet gentle, as if it could pierce through the screen and reach directly into Divya’s heart.

Staring at the photo, Divya subconsciously tightened her grip on the winter coat wrapped around her body.

It was only a simple exchange of two pictures — yet the unspoken emotions woven into them ran far deeper than either of them realized.

After his physique enhancement, Vikram’s figure and posture had become nearly flawless. Aside from his slightly undernourished facial sharpness, there was little left to criticize.

Compared to the teasing and shameless persona he usually showed her, the unexpected gentleness revealed in this single image made Divya feel strangely... drawn in.

Looking more carefully, she noticed something else. The coat Vikram had given her was clearly an Exquisite-grade cold-weather item, while the wolf-fur coat he wore in the photo appeared worn and rough, seemingly offering only average warmth.

Assuming he had deliberately kept the better gear for her safety, Divya felt another wave of warmth flood her chest.

What she didn’t know was that the coat Vikram was wearing, the one she thought as mediocre, was actually Epic-grade equipment that he had been extremely reluctant to part with.

Ironically, his hidden stinginess had, without his knowledge, increased her affection for him once again.