Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System-Chapter 69: Invitation From Savage Wolf Shelter

After creating the fish pond, Vikram suddenly wondered what would happen if his water supply ever ran out.

But the next moment, his gaze shifted toward the Water Mage Sprout, who was standing nearby with its calm, flowing aura.

’Nah... I basically have unlimited water,’ he thought with a faint grin.

Now he could even distribute water to other Survivors with ease, but he was not some saintly Swami Vivekanand who would give everything away selflessly.

"Hoo..." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

He let out a long breath and stretched his stiff shoulders.

"Today is the day the cabbages mature... and also the final day of the second phase of the extreme cold."

"According to my deductions, the disaster will evolve again soon. I need to speed things up."

Looking at his cozy and warm little treehouse, which in his own eyes still felt small and simple, yet in reality resembled nothing less than a king’s palace in the wasteland, Vikram had already arranged his tasks for the next day in his mind before falling asleep.

---

Still wearing his cotton slippers and scratching his messy hair, the first thing he did after waking up was rush straight into the greenhouse.

He quickly picked up the cultivation terminal hanging inside the shed. As expected, the system interface now displayed a bright green notification:

"Cabbage — Ready for Harvest."

Ignoring Pinku, who was rubbing against his legs and pretending to act affectionate, Vikram’s eyes were now filled only with the sight of lush green vegetables.

The rows of cabbage stood quietly in the fertile soil, soil that had once been painstakingly dug, and prepared with great effort by Divya, his exclusive laborer.

Under the automatic greenhouse cultivation system, even in the early morning, each thick leaf was covered with sparkling dewdrops, reflecting the purple glow of the plant growth lamps above.

Vikram crouched down carefully and loosened the soil at the base of one cabbage before pulling it out by the roots. His movements were meticulous, ensuring that not a single leaf was torn or wasted.

After shaking off the clumps of damp soil clinging to its roots, he lifted the cabbage up and weighed it lightly in his palm.

"About two kilograms..." he muttered casually.

But inside, his heart was already brimming with excitement.

What pleased him the most was that although plant growth cycles in the Wasteland World were drastically shortened, the harvested crops did not lose any weight or quality.

Standing up, he slowly surveyed the entire 50-square-meter cultivated plot inside his territory.

This batch alone would yield nearly one hundred cabbages.

If each averaged around two kilograms, the total harvest would reach roughly two hundred kilograms of fresh vegetables.

"This amount is unbelievable..."

Vikram stood barefoot on the damp soil, holding the heavy cabbage in his hand, a satisfied smile gradually spreading across his face.

"If I ration carefully, this alone could sustain me for nearly a year."

At that moment, under the warm glow of the greenhouse lamps and surrounded by rows of thriving crops, he finally felt a rare sense of stability in the harsh Wasteland world.

"Moreover, this kind of food is probably something no other Survivor in the Wasteland can produce. Not only can I consume it myself, but it should also be more than enough to exchange for rare resources."

He took out a slightly dusty iron shovel from the warehouse and carefully walked past each cabbage, gently harvesting them one by one.

At the same time, he did not forget to scatter today’s feed for his little chicks and the baby goat.

Crossing his arms, he stood there for a moment, admiring the orderly and flourishing scene. A sudden urge to share this achievement arose within him. Without much thought, he raised his hand and casually sent Divya a photo of the greenhouse before stepping out of the warm enclosure.

The moment he left the greenhouse, the familiar biting cold began to sting his nerves again.

He frowned slightly. The temperature had clearly dropped further.

"I’ll probably need to buy some extra Warmheart Ember Moss," he murmured to himself.

Moreover, tomorrow was the day the extreme cold disaster was expected to change again. He decided it would be wiser to wait until then before making major adjustments.

For now, he only needed to enhance the heating conditions of his decoy shelter and the greenhouse. His main treehouse, supported by multiple plant systems, was already maintaining a comfortable level of warmth.

After finishing his work in the greenhouse, Vikram suddenly felt a wave of fatigue wash over him.

He returned to his room and lay down on the bed, a satisfied smile lingering on his face.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and quietly savored the rare moment of comfort.

"Tring... Tring... Tring..."

The somewhat untimely ringing sound abruptly broke the peaceful silence.

He rubbed his temples and slowly opened his eyes, which had taken on a faint yellowish tint due to his recent lack of balanced nutrition.

At first, he felt slightly irritated that his nap had been interrupted. But the moment he saw the caller’s name, his expression changed instantly.

"Hey there, little Divya. What’s up?"

Although Divya could not see Vikram’s face, she could clearly sense the smile in his voice.

"Be normal. Don’t call me that. I came to discuss something important," she replied, still feeling a little embarrassed by his overly familiar tone.

"Hehe... alright, alright. What is it? Go ahead."

Hearing the gentle feminine voice echo in his mind, Vikram felt momentarily distracted, yet he quickly reminded himself that business came first.

As if aware that the topic was somewhat troublesome, the voice on the other end hesitated briefly before continuing slowly,

"Someone invited Anju and me to join their Savage Wolf Shelter. I’m not sure what to do, so... I came to ask for your opinion."

On her side of the communication link, Divya had lowered her head, absentmindedly fiddling with her fingers. Her posture clearly revealed her hesitation and uncertainty.

"Savage Wolf Shelter...?" Vikram repeated thoughtfully.

"Is it Shalini from the group who invited you and your best friend to join?"

"That’s right. She was one of the earliest members to join the group chat, and we’ve always had a good relationship."

Hearing that Divya did not deny it, Vikram immediately recalled Shalini’s behavior during the last incident.

At that time, when Kuldeep Singh, who was also from the Savage Wolf Shelter, had come into the group to stir up trouble, Shalini appeared to be mediating the situation on the surface. In reality, however, she had been subtly shifting the blame throughout the argument. Even by the end of it, she never clearly condemned Kuldeep Singh’s actions.

It almost felt as though the members of their Shelter were already accustomed to such provocations.

It was understandable that she would prioritize her own Shelter over a small external group, yet the people from that Shelter did not seem trustworthy.

In truth, Vikram had no concrete proof. Still, his instincts warned him that the Savage Wolf Shelter was far more complicated than it appeared.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he first asked about Divya’s current situation.

"Is your Shelter about to collapse under the pressure of the natural disaster? Is that why you’re so eager to consider joining another Shelter?"

"Not exactly. Right now, Anju and I are living quite comfortably on the food we traded from you. But with only two people in the Shelter, many things are inconvenient, and our development is too slow. If this continues, we might eventually be overwhelmed by the rapidly changing extreme cold."

Divya paused briefly before continuing, her voice still uncertain.

"I have been thinking about joining another Shelter... but I’m not in a hurry. It’s Shalini who seems anxious. She has been messaging both of us repeatedly over the past two days."

Vikram’s playful expression gradually faded, replaced by a more serious look.

"I have a bad feeling about this. Don’t agree with her too quickly. Observe the situation for a while. I’ll try to gather some information for you first."

He had not forgotten about Abhishek, the man he had captured earlier inside his territory. According to the system’s prompt, the slavery bracelet was still bound to him.

As one of the three major Shelters in this region, the Brown Wood Shelter must have some level of intelligence exchange with the Savage Wolf Shelter. Getting information through Abhishek should not be difficult.

Divya silently agreed with Vikram’s suggestion.

In fact, she herself had been feeling uneasy ever since Shalini suddenly invited them to join. That vague sense of anxiety had lingered with her every single day.

"Alright..."

Hearing the worry in her voice, Vikram did not hesitate any longer.

"Don’t worry, you won’t die. At worst, the Savage Wolf Shelter might come knocking at your door."

"Even in the worst case, you can both come to my Shelter. I’ll support you." Although his tone sounded half-joking, Vikram was actually serious.

In truth, he had long thought about inviting Divya to stay in his Shelter, but because of the system’s existence, he could never bring himself to say it directly.

"Your Shelter only has one person. Can you really support two big eaters like us?" She wasn’t sure whether Vikram meant it or not, yet his reassurance eased her mind. Setting aside her worries, Divya teased him lightly.

Leaning back on the sofa, Vikram patted his chest confidently, "I was just kidding. Forget the two of you — even if twenty more Survivors showed up, I could still support them."

"Alright, alright... then our happiness depends on you." The heaviness in her voice finally faded, and Divya sounded much more cheerful.

She had barely finished speaking when, unexpectedly, another slightly childish female voice sounded beside her.

"Stinky Divya, you only know how to look for your bad man. What’s so special about him? If you ask me, nothing will happen. With my relationship with Sister Shalini, how could she possibly harm us?"

"Adults are talking. Why are you interrupting? Do you want a beating?"

"Ah—!"

A soft, slightly exaggerated cry slipped through the connection, causing Vikram’s eyes to widen instantly.

"Hiss... that sounded serious." He muttered to himself, already pressing his ear closer to his wrist device, trying to listen more carefully while covering his mouth to avoid making any noise.

But he was still too late.

"Beep... beep... beep..." The call ended abruptly as Divya cut the connection.

Vikram smacked his own forehead in frustration. "Sigh... what a pity. If I hadn’t spoken just now, I might have heard something interesting."

— Inside the iron shelter —

"Why did you scream so loudly?"

"Everyone must have heard it."

"Hmph. You hit me first, then won’t let me hit back, and now you won’t even let me scream?"

Her tone was filled with grievance as she clasped her hands behind her back, gently rubbing the spot that had just been struck.

"I’ve noticed you’re getting more and more protective of that stinky man. I only said one thing about him, and you were ready to hit me."

"What do you mean ’protective’? He’s helping us think of solutions. And you keep talking about him like that, of course I had to teach you a lesson for being rude."

"Giving ideas, huh? Isn’t it just not letting you go to other Shelters? He even wants to support you~~"

"That’s true. Any man would like someone like you, with big melons and fat peaches. If I were a man, I wouldn’t let you run off either."

"Anjuuuuu—" Divya’s eyes were closed, but her fists were already tightly clenched. Before she could react, her fist had already landed on Anjali’s head.

"Ow!!"

A large bump rose on Anjali’s head. Divya admired her masterpiece, hands on her hips, saying, "Hmph, let’s see if you dare to talk nonsense again!"