The Return of Cambrian Period Chapter 23

 23 Global Evolution

The two of them sorted out their belongings and planned to go downstairs to find Liu Fengyu. General Zhao, the Chief of Staff, was right. Having one more evolved person meant having an additional source of strength. They weren’t great heroes who could save everyone, but within their capabilities and without jeopardizing their own safety, they believed they should help wherever possible. For instance, the family of three they had assisted a few days ago—helping them was a simple task, so why wouldn’t they extend a helping hand to their fellow countrymen?

After descending the stairs, they noticed that Liu Fengyu was about to leave.

Cong Xia hurriedly caught up and asked, “Mr. Liu, where are you going?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve asked all the questions I needed to. There’s nothing to eat or drink here, so why would I stay?”

“Do you know that the troops are planning to relocate to Beijing tomorrow?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Then why don’t you come with us?”

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“Xq nswapl, R okzz. Yu qyxkzu kp kd Jlkfkdt, yde R oydv vs ts cynj vs qkde xu ryaldvp.” Nkw Wldtuw’p wpwyzzu nyalqall elxlydsa nbydtle, yde bkp lmralppksd vwadle pszlxd.

“Mbyv’p talyv! El nyd jllr lynb svbla nsxrydu sd vbl oyu,” Usdt Dky pyke, vaukdt vs rzlypl bkx.

Nkw Wldtuw tzydnle yv bkx yde pxkzle. “Zsw’al iwkvl zkjyczl, jke. Gzaktbv, usw nyd nsxl okvb xl. Rq vblal’p ydu eydtla, R’zz rasvlnv usw.”

Usdt Dky pxkzle yde pyke, “Mbydj usw.”

“Jwv usw byhl vs cl iwknj sd uswa qllv. Wsa dso, ynnsxrydu xl vs vbl xyzz. R dlle vs tlv psxl vbkdtp.”

“Gb, nzsvblp yde rlaqwxl?”

“Xq nswapl, lhld vbswtb vblu xktbv cl swv sq plypsd. Jwv yv zlypv vblu’al qall. Rq vblu’al yhykzyczl, obu dsv vyjl vblx? Nlv’p ts, ynnsxrydu xl.”

Ubldt Mkydck nszezu alxyajle, “Ls, kv’p eydtlaswp swvpkel, lprlnkyzzu yqvla pwdplv. Rq usw oydv vs ts, ts sd uswa sod.”

“Hmph, I didn’t ask you to accompany me. I was telling… hey, what’s your name?”

“Cong Xia. Cong as in the thicket, Xia as in summer. And he’s called Cheng Tianbi. Tianbi as in the barrier of heaven. Sounds cool, right?”

Liu Fengyu rolled his eyes. “Xiao Xia, you can come with me. Help me carry some things.”

Cheng Tianbi emphasized his words. “No.”

“Are you looking for a fight? Who is Xiao Xia to you? Your son or daughter-in-law? Did I ask you?” 

Cheng Tianbi’s face darkened.

Cong Xia quickly intervened, trying to defuse the situation. “Let’s not argue. Um, Mr. Liu, how about I accompany you tomorrow during the day? It can be dangerous at night without any lights. Just imagine, relying on flashlight beams to choose clothes can be inconvenient. What if you mistake the colors? Don’t you think so?”

Liu Fengyu smiled. “You really know how to talk. You’re even more impressive than my assistant.” Liu Fengyu sighed. “I don’t know where he is now.”

Cong Xia hurriedly suggested, “Let’s go back to the room and have a chat.”

Liu Fengyu raised an eyebrow. “I’ll tell you this. Although I have a favorable impression of you, if you dare to ask anything related to my mutation, I’ll punch you.”

Cong Xia felt a bit frustrated but still smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t ask. We just want to exchange some information.”

“Alright.” The three of them returned to the room.

Liu Fengyu had a few bottles of water and two bread rolls on his table. He drank two bottles of water but didn’t touch the bread.

Cong Xia looked at the bread, feeling a bit hungry. Although they could get food every day now, it was only a dry piece of bread that couldn’t satisfy their hunger. Seeing the untouched food, it was hard not to feel tempted.

Liu Fengyu glanced at him and said with a smile, “Hungry, huh?”

Cong Xia nodded honestly. “Aren’t you hungry? Why don’t you eat?”

“I don’t need to eat.” Liu Fengyu tossed the two bags of bread to Cong Xia. “Go ahead and eat.”

Cong Xia joyfully took the bread and quickly tucked it into his clothes. “Mr. Liu, you’re really kind. Thank you. But why don’t you need to eat?”

Liu Fengyu proudly replied, “Because I’m a plant. Drinking water is enough for me.”

“What? You’re a plant?” Both Cong Xia and Cheng Tianbi became interested. Had they discovered another evolutionary direction?

Liu Fengyu gave them a disdainful look. “I won’t tell you what kind of plant I am, but I did undergo some kind of plant mutation. Now, I don’t need to eat. I can survive with water and sunlight. Envious, right?”

Cong Xia vigorously nodded. He was incredibly envious. The biggest crisis in the apocalypse was not the mutated animals and plants or the unpredictable weather; it was the scarcity of food! So far, mass deaths had been caused by the catastrophe of food scarcity and the inability to store it.

It was astonishing that there were people who didn’t need to eat and could survive solely through photosynthesis. This went far beyond mere evolution; it was as if they had transformed directly into advanced life forms.

Cong Xia was overcome with curiosity, eagerly watching Liu Fengyu, hoping he would reveal more information.

Even Cheng Tianbi couldn’t resist asking, “What do you mean by being ‘plant mutated’? We don’t need to know the specific plant; we just want to understand the process itself.”

Liu Fengyu took a deep breath and began, “Let me start from the beginning. About a month ago, I was filming an action movie in a remote forest in Yunnan. Most of the action scenes were set to take place there. When the earthquake struck, I was on set. Do you know what exists in a remote forest? Let me tell you—it’s a world unto itself. Because we thought the earthquake wouldn’t have much impact on us, we didn’t evacuate. But after a day had passed and we realized something was amiss, it was already too late. Everything around us began to mutate—plants, animals, insects. In that uninhabited and untouched place, those flora and fauna were far more formidable than anything in the city. There were thirty-seven people in the crew, and I witnessed a variety of gruesome deaths.” Liu Fengyu gazed into the distance, his eyes filled with a vacant stare, and his tightly clenched hands trembling slightly.

“To be honest, those who experienced the apocalypse in the city are truly fortunate. The reasons behind the distorted environment in the forest and the rate of animal and plant mutations were several times greater than in the city. Among our group, some were crushed to death by the strangling roots of a banyan tree, some were drained of blood by mosquitoes and left lifeless, and some were flattened into meat patties by wild boars that had grown over five meters tall. The thirty-seven of us endured ten hellish days in the remote forest, with some perishing and others going missing, until ultimately, we were completely wiped out.”

Cong Xia took a deep breath. Although Liu Fengyu recounted the events in a calm manner, Cong Xia still sensed the despair and fear underlying his words. Trembling, Cong Xia asked, “But you managed to escape?”

Liu Fengyu glanced at him and gave a grim smile. “Do you know how I died?”

Both of their expressions changed, and Cheng Tianbi instinctively tightened his grip on his gun.

Who or what exactly stood before them?

Liu Fengyu chuckled and wore a mocking expression. “Don’t worry, I’m not a ghost. I am indeed alive, but back then, I should have been considered dead.”

Cheng Tianbi urged, “Please continue.”

“I was consumed by a plant,” Liu Fengyu calmly revealed. “My entire body was enveloped in its digestive fluids, slowly being devoured. But then, I woke up again and realized that I had merged with that plant. I became it, and it became me.”

This was perhaps the most extraordinary story they had heard since the apocalypse began. Despite the daily occurrence of strange events in this desolate world, what Liu Fengyu described was undoubtedly the most bizarre of all.

Liu Fengyu merged with a plant? Human and plant genes combined? Although from a genetic perspective, it was not entirely impossible, it was something that humans couldn’t achieve for hundreds of years, at least. Yet, there was a living example right in front of them, with Liu Fengyu maintaining his human form without any visible changes.

“Well, I managed to make my way out of the forest smoothly. It was shortly after arriving in Kunming that I bumped into you at the mall,” Liu Fengyu said.

Cong Xia and Cheng Tianbi fell into contemplation. After a while, almost simultaneously, they both thought of a crucial question.

The giant pine tree!

Liu Fengyu looked at them and spoke with a solemn tone, “You’ve also realized, haven’t you?”

Cong Xia was startled by this idea, unable to stop his trembling hands due to fear.

Liu Fengyu’s expression grew serious. “I didn’t tell those people. I know they were recruiting evolved individuals, and I didn’t want to be manipulated by anyone. But when I woke up and realized the giant pine tree had vanished out of thin air, this possibility was the first thing that came to my mind.”

In a low voice, Cong Xia said, “If the giant pine tree was ‘mutated’ by a human, then…”

That meant there was a possibility that the most powerful evolved creature to date was now living among them, disguised as a human. Furthermore, no one knew if this individual was an enemy or an ally.

Cheng Tianbi asked, “How certain are you about this speculation?”

“I’m quite certain. The disappearance of the giant pine tree bears striking similarities to my own mutation. The tree had been attacking animals and nourishing itself with their corpses, just like the plant that consumed me. But instead of devouring me, I became a part of it. Since there’s a method of evolution like this, it’s highly plausible that when the giant pine tree devoured a human, it got mutated by that human, resulting in the tree becoming the human and the human becoming the tree.”

Both of them fell silent for a moment, needing time to process this information.

The pine tree used to attack any living creature it encountered. If it had truly been mutated by a human, what kind of attitude would it have towards other humans? Judging by Liu Fengyu’s appearance, he seemed unaffected by the plant mutation. It was highly likely that after being mutated, the pine tree retained human consciousness. If that were the case, it meant that humans gained a powerful ally, which should be a good thing.

But why did he still feel uneasy?

Perhaps it was a reverence for such a powerful creature.

Cheng Tianbi said, “The disappearance of the giant pine tree is indeed the most plausible explanation. It’s highly likely that it’s still in this city. Liu Fengyu, with your mutation, is your consciousness completely your own? Have you been influenced by the plant?”

Liu Fengyu replied, “That’s my biggest concern because the answer to that question is yes. There’s an additional consciousness in my mind that’s difficult to define. But this consciousness gives me an impulse to consume other animals for nourishment. However, this consciousness is weak and somewhat similar to my own.”

“ With one thought, I could completely restrain myself. However, the giant pine tree was too enormous, and I didn’t know if its self-awareness was powerful enough to influence humans.”

Cong Xia whispered, “If it could, it would be terrifying.”

Cheng Tianbi patted his head. “Forget it, stop thinking about it. It’s useless.”

Regardless of how things unfolded, whether it was a blessing or a curse, they couldn’t escape it.

Liu Fengyu stretched lazily. “That’s right, thinking about it wouldn’t change anything. The giant pine tree was so domineering, it wanted to consume humans, and no one could stop it. Hey, I’ve shared such important information with you. Is there anything you want to tell me? We were supposed to exchange information, remember?”

Cong Xia then described their speculations about human evolution to Liu Fengyu, but he didn’t mention Beijing’s focus on brain domain evolvers and those who control natural forces.

Liu Fengyu listened with great interest. “Oh, so there were so many forms of evolution. What about skin evolution? Like having smooth and delicate skin that never wrinkles. Or bone evolution, being able to change one’s bones at will. Want to become beautiful? Become beautiful. Want to become a woman? Become a woman. Want a bigger ‘you-know-what’? Just make it bigger. Haha, wouldn’t that be great?” Liu Fengyu burst into laughter, proud of his imagination.

Cong Xia chimed in, “That would be amazing. Being able to grow taller at will, it would be like constantly having a disguise.”

The two of them began fantasizing about various evolutionary abilities, appearing to be excited about their discussions. Cheng Tianbi was left ignored, his expression growing increasingly sour. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and stood up, saying, “Cong Xia, go rest.”

Liu Fengyu nonchalantly said, “Xiao xia, sleep here with me. I’ll tell you some gossip about female celebrities.”

Cong Xia’s eyes lit up, about to agree, but he was yanked up by the collar by Cheng Tianbi, who coldly said, “Go back and rest.”

Disappointed, Cong Xia uttered a subdued “Oh” and said, “Then I’ll go first.”

Liu Fengyu waved his hand. “Remember to help me pick clothes tomorrow morning. Off you go.”

Once the two of them returned to their room, Cong Xia sensed that Cheng Tianbi was not in a good mood. He tried to please him and asked, “Brother Bing, aren’t you tired?”

Cheng Tianbi didn’t move away from him.

“Is it because you’re hungry?” Cong Xia took out the two pieces of bread that Liu Fengyu had given him from his pocket. “I didn’t want to eat them earlier. Let’s eat them now. You always get hungry after practicing, so I’ll eat half, and the rest is for you.”

Cheng Tianbi glared at him and said, “I don’t want it.”

Cong Xia smiled and said, “Come on, let’s eat. If we don’t eat, how will we have energy? Starting tomorrow, we will be on the road again, and I’ll rely on you for hunting.” As he spoke, he tore open the packaging of the bread and broke off a small piece for himself. He placed the rest in front of Cheng Tianbi and said, “Have some. With your big build, you definitely need to eat more.”

Cheng Tianbi looked at Cong Xia’s sparkling eyes and finally accepted the bread. However, he handed the other half back to Cong Xia and said, “Eat. No need for unnecessary words.”

Cong Xia smiled and took it, saying, “I ate well today, but tomorrow we might not have anything to eat. Hey, it’s so great to be like Liu Fengyu, not needing to eat.”

Cheng Tianbi replied stiffly, “What’s so great about it?”

“It’s really great. They could survive as long as they had water and sunlight. Unlike us, even eating wild grass could make us sick. Besides, Liu Fengyu seems really powerful. I really want to know what kind of plant…” Cong Xia trailed off.

“I will be more powerful than him,” Cheng Tianbi said gruffly.

Cong Xia was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, “Of course, you will definitely be more powerful. The Chief of Staff said it, those evolvers who control natural forces in Beijing are the most powerful. You will surpass everyone.”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Tianbi’s expression softened slightly.

****

Translator’s note: Jealousy is eating him. Hahaha. *evil laugh*

****

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