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“Anyways, as long as I am standing, as long as I am still capable of going out to search for food, we will not eat this pea, not even a bite!” the man bellowed. “We will not accept any of this! Not until I die!”

The man picked up the dagger and its sheath in anger. “See you!” He threw the almost-rude farewell to Chang and left with his wife and kids.

Chang pondered the man’s statement while staring at the cage.

The man couldn’t be more ordinary than everyone else; people like him lived everywhere in the city. They were not equipped with sufficient amount of knowledge in science, and neither were they as smart or analytical as Qing Shui and Zhuo. They were frightened and fragile, yet they remained skeptical about this seemingly perfect crop. The Crystal Pea was just too good to be real.

Human beings weren’t as great as they would imagine themselves to be, yet they were stronger than they knew themselves to be. The commoners who endured the deadly evolution were slowly adapting to this disconcerting world.

If the Crystal Pea was as menacing a crop as Qing Shui suspected, then whoever consumed this pea would be slowly but surely eliminated from this planet without a trace.

As a human, Chang knew that the majority of the commoners would consume the Crystal Pea to avoid the painful starvation. In result, the Crystal Pea would become a largely consumed crop, which would force people to rely on the periodic seed distributions. After all, the crop’s reproductive ability was intentionally removed - the testa of the harvested pea was too thick for water to permeate, making the germination simply impossible - to control the food supply. Only then would Zhuo’s ambition be fulfilled - to control the masses and receive the worship that he desired.

However, Chang couldn’t see the true aim behind this kind of behavior.

“What is he going to do with that power?” Chang asked himself. He had qualms about Zhuo’s ultimate goal. “Has he ever thought about the consequences?”

Chang failed to figure out the purpose behind his actions, hence he put aside the issue. After all, even if he was able to see through Zhuo’s intrigues , he would still be too powerless to stop him from executing whatever evil plans he had.

He was too negligible in the political struggle; he could only watch his own back.

Therefore, Chang shook his head and smiled wryly. He walked away and started using the same method as the man to search for edible plants.

The plants had evolved significantly since the first day of the apocalypse; they grew in shapes or forms that Chang had not seen before. The tiny yet tenacious sprouts broke through the concrete road. By eyeballing, it was hard to distinguish whether a plant was edible or not.

Though his job was easier with the bug’s aid.

People were arguing here and there, but Chang only focused on utilizing the ability of the bug to look for edible plants. The afternoon was a fruitful one. Each plant that the bug chomped on, Chang collected and wrapped its leaves and a seed in a piece of cloth. It was a rather worthwhile harvest as he gathered about seven or eight different plants in the cloth pocket.

When the sky gradually lost its brightness, he returned to the institute and found Qing Shui.

“Buddy! I found eight edible plants! Though I don’t know which one can be reproduced in a large scale...” Chang said with excitement, carefully placing the cloth pocket on Qing Shui’s lab table.

“Eight?” Qing Shui stroked the cloth. “You’re really good at this, aren’t you?”

“No... This little guy should take all the credit,” Chang said, putting the cage on the table to reveal his helper.

“Impressive!” Qing Shui exclaimed. “Tomorrow, I’ll have these planted in the experimental field, and hopefully some of them will reproduce. This way, more will be saved...”

Chang gazed at Qing Shui’s calm face, grinning. “To be honest, you seem cold and unapproachable, but you do have a big heart.”

Qing Shui’s benevolence reminded Chang about how they had went back to the jungle to find Pangzi. They even made a fist bump at the time. It was something that Chang had least expected Qing Shui to do. Qing Shui had gradually become cold-hearted and less human-like since he attained his ability, but deep down in his heart, he had not lost sympathy. He had just chosen to conceal his emotions and only let them slip out around the people he trusted.

Chang turned away and left the office. Before the door closed, his last sentence slipped through the closing door. “And I think that’s what makes you different from Zhuo.”

Chang ran all the way back to their suite so that he could see Jing sooner.

“I am back!” he shouted out, bursting in. Light streamed into the dark room when the door was opened, and he found Jing sitting on a chair close to the door. She had sensed his return long ago, and thus, she had been waiting patiently. Her presence warmed his heart, and he gently hugged her, then fondled her hair. “You were worried, weren’t you?”

“I was,” Jing agreed with a nod. Her fingers softly yet firmly grasped his shirt.

“Let me see if there is anything we can do for fun.”

Jing quietly nodded again.

Chang stood up and walked around the suite – of course it wouldn’t have any toys or games; there wasn’t any television or internet either. He had no idea what they could do in here.

Pondering it for a while, Chang seemed to have an idea. He pushed over the wooden tea table, and then sawed off pieces of similar length from the table’s legs using the sawtooth side of his military dagger. Afterwards, he further divided the wood from the table legs to make 16 chess pieces, which were marked into four groups. Chang drew a simplified aeroplane chess board on four pieces of paper that were taped together.

Upon finishing the game, he felt very accomplished, and laughing waved for Jing to come closer. In this desperate world, they could enjoy a moment of pure joy by playing this rough-made chess.

This was the first time they had ever had some sort of entertainment since the beginning of the apocalypse. They had become family without the need for blood ties, depending on one another and looking after each other. Protecting this new found family became one of their life goals, and they would not abandon the other no matter what.

The smile on Jing’s face was innocent, pure and heart soothing.

The game reminded Chang of his own childhood – the colorful marbles he treasured, the hero cards he collected, the chess he played with his grandpa... The distant happiness surged out, and for a second it made him forget where he was. Like he was still living in the peaceful days before the apocalypse.

However, nothing was the same. The happiness would not come back. He was forced to grow up in just a bit over a month. Forced to become a man of no scruples. He was more mature now, but at the cost of his own happiness.

They played the aeroplane chess again and again, until Qing Shui came back from the lab. He then joined the game without any hesitation.

At the end, the trio found endless joy from such a simple game. They played it til midnight, until they could no longer resist the fatigue. Then they slept on the bed with happiness that had been absent from their life.

Unfortunately, the joy was short-lived in the apocalypse.

The next morning, when everyone woke up, they tensed up once more.

The next two days Chang went out to search for edible plants with the bug’s help, while Qing Shui secretly planted the seeds that Chang brought back.

In three days, Chang brought 27 types of seeds, 18 of which sprouted after seeding. Qing Shui studied and estimated that three of them could be reproduced in a large scale given their properties. Except for the plants, Qing Shui had also found a white worm.

It was half transparent and with a smooth surface. No bigger than a rice grain, round bodied, and without any aggressiveness at all. However, the speed of its reproduction was unimaginably fast for an insect. It consumed basically everything as a source of energy. “It is a kind that could survive because of its fecundity and diversity.”

Qing Shui later discovered that the strange worm had high protein, and was easy to cultivate. He asked Chang to collect more of this insect and made a special field to cultivate them.

Hence, working together Qing Shui and Chang came up with a rough idea of how to feed themselves without the Crystal Pea.

In three days, a heart-stirring news spread through Zhengzhou – the Crystal Pea was ready to be harvested!

Tons of the Crystal Pea were distributed to the military and the citizens. The plant was as nutrient-rich as they had marketed – 300g of the Crystal Pea could fulfill the daily needs of an adult.

The Crystal Pea was immediately accepted by the masses as if it was a light shed to clear the darkness. The people were in deep awe of the creator of the Pea.

The military began to deify Zhuo to gain control over people’s minds.

A commendation meeting happened the next day. Qing Shui sat at the very back and hid himself in the shadows. The man on the stage passionately spoke about the benefits of the Crystal Pea and how Zhuo succeeded in his mission. But Qing Shui only half-listened with his brows tied closely together.

“Aren’t they just boring? Speaking the same thing over and over again,” Zhuo asked softly, quietly sitting down beside Qing Shui. The young man always masked himself with a gentle smile.

“It is tedious, but we Chinese people are always good at deifying a man who stood out to save the masses. It seems meaningless but you know what it can do to the people, don’t you? Otherwise your wouldn’t have planned it secretly,” Qing Shui said, turning to face Zhuo. “Speaking of which, shouldn’t you, the hero, be sitting in the front row to receive the medal?”

“I ought to be there as you said, but I prefer to sit next to someone that is smart.” Zhuo looked back at him. “I heard that you are researching the edible plants as well?”