Chapter 32: Where Did You Buy the Crystal Ball?

"Honk!"

Seeing Qin Xiaoyu approach, Tieguo, a goose that oscillated between lethargic and temperamental, lifted its head excitedly and began to honk incessantly.

"Come on, Goose, time for your medicine." Qin Xiaoyu smiled. "Once you finish, I’ll give you some papaya. I caught a glimpse from afar earlier and saw several ripe ones; I’ll give you a whole one later."

Tieguo glanced at the large syringe and then at its owner. It couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. However, it was starving, and hearing that there was food waiting—regardless of what it was—it immediately opened its beak wide.

Looking at that gaping beak, Qin Xiaoyu thought it could probably swallow a palm-sized fish whole. She looked at the large syringe in her hand and decisively pushed the medicine in as quickly as possible.

*Gulp, gulp.*

Tieguo didn't notice much with the first mouthful. By the second, it felt something was off. By the third, a thought flashed through its heart: *Damn, this is bitter!* It tried to refuse the fourth mouthful but didn't have the chance, and the final bit was forced down its throat as its head was held firmly.

*Blech!*

It was unbearable. It wanted fish. One fish wasn't enough to wash away this bitterness; it would need at least ten.

"How is it?" Old Qin leaned in to ask.

"Can't you see for yourself, Grandpa?" Qin Xiaoyu asked, confused.

"See what?" Old Qin was puzzled. He looked closely and only saw Tieguo dry-heaving, looking utterly defeated and devoid of any will to live.

Qin Xiaoyu pointed to the black mist fading from Tieguo’s body and said, "The black mist."

Old Qin: ...

He looked again, squinting, widening his eyes, then squinting once more. "What black mist? I don't see anything."

Qin Xiaoyu blinked blankly. Suddenly, she had an epiphany. "Oh, right. To see the black mist, you have to be at least Bronze-rank. You aren't anything yet, Grandpa; you're still Black Iron."

Old Qin: ... What was that supposed to mean?

He scanned the rest of the family and sighed, "Everyone here is Black Iron."

Old Qin frowned. "Little Fatty Fish, explain yourself clearly."

Qin Xiaoyu shrugged. "Whether it’s plants or animals, they all have ranks, and naturally, humans do too. Each base has its own unique classification system, and it hasn't been unified even after so many years of the apocalypse..."

Seeing her grandfather’s curiosity, she gave a brief explanation. There were simple Level 1 through 6 systems. There were Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Glory ranks. There were F, E, D, C, B, and A tiers. There were others too...

Across the country, there were so many bases that almost none of them used the same system, but the corresponding power levels were roughly the same. In her previous life, the Lotus Base used a simple one-through-six scale. It was the same for plants, animals, and humans alike. It was simple enough that even a fool could understand it.

When one's physical constitution reached Level 1, it was as if their eyes had unlocked a certain function, allowing them to observe the black mist on people and animals. The simplest way to test if one had reached Level 1 was to measure speed and strength. In truth, one could feel it themselves; the sensation of breaking through that threshold was impossible to ignore.

After finishing her explanation, Qin Xiaoyu saw her grandfather deep in thought and prepared to head back for dinner.

*Plop!*

A green bead the size of a chicken egg accidentally fell from her person and rolled to Old Qin’s feet. Old Qin picked it up and examined it. "Where did you buy this crystal ball? It doesn't look like plastic or glass."

Qin Xiaoyu felt the pocket of her pajamas, realizing it had come unstitched at some point. No wonder the crystal had fallen out of such a large, deep pocket. "Mom, the quality of the pajamas you bought is terrible. They broke after just one day of wearing them," she called out to An Xian.

"Ten yuan each with free shipping; that’s not bad," An Xian replied.

Qin Xiaoyu was speechless. She took the crystal back from her grandfather and hesitated before sharing her theory. "Actually, I dug this out of that old olive tree on the mountaintop. I think it has a significant purpose. Other mutant plants should have them too, but it’s hard to tell where they might be hidden within the plants."

Some plants were simply too large; finding the hidden crystal would take a lot of effort. In her previous life, she had never heard of anyone finding such crystals. Even if someone happened upon one, they would likely have dismissed it as an accident. Since her rebirth, her eyes could not only see the light on mutant plants but also identify where the glow was strongest—digging right there led to the crystal. It was strange, though; plants with green light didn't have them, as their fluorescence was uniformly distributed. Only those emitting red light possessed them. Level 1 mutant plants had them too, but the glow was dimmer, and she hadn't tried digging for those yet.

Old Qin’s brows knitted tighter and tighter. Finally, he stared at Qin Xiaoyu in silence.

Qin Xiaoyu: ... What? Why was she feeling so uneasy?

"Perhaps we could try a different approach. We could raise two chickens or two sheep separately. Feed one only green-light plants and the other only red-light plants, then observe the changes."

Qin Xiaoyu blinked and stood up nonchalantly. "It’s just mutant plants; no big deal. Leave it to me. But since I’m handling the plants, don’t ask me to do anything else. I’m only an eight-year-old child; I shouldn’t have to bear too much. Playing is what’s most appropriate for my age."

Old Qin picked up the syringe she had dropped and smiled kindly. "Eight years old—that’s the perfect age for a good memory and learning."

Qin Xiaoyu took off running.

Behind her, Tieguo, still locked in its cage, let out a series of miserable honks. Where was the goose’s papaya? What happened to the papaya? Liars!

It was a sweltering afternoon, but the courtyard of the village head’s house was packed with people. Those who had gone to look for building materials had returned one after another. As expected, they hadn't found any, so they set their sights on the mountain three miles away... no, it should be ten miles away now.

Although the material there wasn't quite lime and was particularly brittle for stone, it was true that no plants had ever grown there. Even in the apocalypse, that place remained barren. There happened to be a small transport team in the village—seven or eight people who made a living driving large trucks. They had five trucks ready, and it shouldn't take long to transport enough material for the defensive wall.

Just as everyone agreed this was a viable plan, a childish voice piped up, "But you don't have excavation tools. Relying solely on manpower, even if everyone went, it would take half a year to dig enough."

Everyone: ...

Whose brat was that? Come out!

It was a mood-killer. With so many adults present, none of them had thought of that. They were just thinking about how long the transport would take, forgetting that the material actually had to be dug out first. Furthermore, even though that stone was brittle and fragile, it was heavier than ordinary rock. It wasn't easy to dig, nor was it easy to move.

The crowd looked at one another. Who had tools? Who had professional excavation experience? The truck drivers knew a few people, but after the apocalypse, let alone cell signal, there wasn't even electricity to charge the phones. They couldn't be contacted. And even if they were, there was no guarantee they would help. It was the apocalypse, after all; who was still taking jobs?

Yet, when the discussion finally concluded, the arduous task fell upon the truck drivers.