Tone.
Sound.
Today is another day of self-management for the staff.
After waking up, Wang Xiaoyun first scrolled through social media, gathering a jumble of the latest news from various sources, then heaved a slight sigh of relief.
It seemed like the situation was improving.
Yesterday, City A had implemented maximum lockdown measures, the entire city came to a standstill, everyone stayed indoors, waiting for the final bell to toll.
The internet was unusually lively, but the entire city lost connection in the late night, so Wang Xiaoyun went to bed with a heavy heart, afraid that when he opened his eyes the next day, the apocalypse would have already arrived.
Wang Xiaoyun pulled open the curtains, and warm sunlight, mixed with the noisy bustle of the streets, brought a brand new world before him.
The latest announcements for the streets and communities had already been posted in the group chat: some people could return to their jobs, but of course, the government still recommended everyone stay home and wait for further notice.
So, the city that had been unusually quiet yesterday was lively again today.
Wang Xiaoyun wanted to go to work, not for any other reason—after all, whether the coffee shop was open or not didn’t really matter; there weren’t any customers anyway.
He just wanted to take the chance to see a bustling city, rather than sitting alone at home, letting his thoughts wander and imagine even scarier things.
After getting ready for work, humming a little tune, Wang Xiaoyun stepped out of his apartment building, only to be blocked by a gigantic mountain of garbage.
He paused mid-step, looking up at this pile of trash that reeked with a strange odor, piled high and filthy.
For a moment, he questioned his own life: where on earth did this come from?
Even if everyone in the community hadn’t been going out recently and had produced a large amount of household waste, there was no way it could have turned into a rusted iron lump, right?
Moreover, this garbage heap was filled with a sense of age and sediment, it clearly wasn’t something that had appeared recently—but Wang Xiaoyun had passed this road just a couple of days ago and was certain there had been nothing like this before.
Wang Xiaoyun quickly distanced himself, cautiously watching the trash pile for any movement as he pulled out his phone and dialed 110.
Normally, he might not have been so decisive, but at this critical moment, all kinds of doomsday survival manuals were flooding the market, repeatedly emphasizing one principle: if you encounter something strange, call 110.
“Hello, is this 110? I’m near Building XX in XX Community and I saw a suspicious large garbage pile. I suspect there’s something wrong with it…” Wang Xiaoyun said, just as the huge trash heap trembled. He instantly raised his voice and ran as fast as he could.
“Holy crap, it moved!”
The operator took some time to calm Wang Xiaoyun down, then told him that these things were everywhere in the city.
The shaking was caused by certain symbiotic plants inside the garbage pile hunting for prey, not because the pile itself was aggressive.
“However, these plants do have a certain level of aggressiveness, so please keep your distance.”
After explaining the situation, the operator gently informed Wang Xiaoyun that someone had already been sent to handle it and advised him not to go out and to stay home.
After running a long distance, Wang Xiaoyun stopped and calmed his rapid breathing.
After hesitating for a few minutes, he walked back toward the garbage pile.
Several people were gathered around it, spraying high-pressure water jets, while a bulldozer stood by.
The garbage pile shook more violently, and Wang Xiaoyun finally caught a glimpse of the so-called “symbiotic plant” the operator had mentioned.
It was a thin, small plant without leaves, resembling a long string, entwined within the garbage pile.
Because of its inconspicuous appearance and the massive, filthy garbage pile, an ordinary person wouldn’t have noticed this string when it was still.
Wang Xiaoyun dared not get too close, stopping at a distance, tiptoeing to watch as the professionals subdued the plant and the bulldozer grunted as it split the garbage pile into several sections, revealing what was inside.
Wang Xiaoyun gasped and instinctively took a few steps back.
The inside of the garbage pile was pierced through by this plant.
Scattered sporadically were bones of various sizes, and the plant’s roots had penetrated the very bottom of the pile, extending downward into the ground.
In just one day, this thing had already grown a long, spiderweb-like root system underground, with small animals like mice and cockroaches still trapped inside, not yet fully digested.
***
On the other side of City A.
“This plant’s growth rate is insane,” Canned carefully controlled the bulldozer, performing a difficult precision maneuver—to strip the symbiotic plant alive from the garbage pile.
“If we let it grow any longer, wouldn’t it spread everywhere?”
Scope replied, “After all, it’s a plant that can survive on wasteland; if it didn’t have some ability, it would’ve died off ages ago.”
After breaking off most of the roots, they finally completely separated it from the pile.
The previously idle Scope immediately stepped forward, swiftly capturing the plant inside a special container.
The container was a narrow tube, and the slender plant kept writhing inside.
The few remaining roots constantly burrowed toward the bottom, trying to resist the special material.
Judging by how lively it still was, it probably wouldn’t die anytime soon.
“Let’s go, time to handle the next one.”
Canned poked his head out of the bulldozer and waved to Scope.
The two headed to the next location together.
“We need to get more people out here to deal with these things. I don’t want to see City A turn into a primeval forest in a few days.”
While reporting on his phone, Scope casually said, “This isn’t a mutated organism. It’s only mentioned once in novels as environmental background and never detailed. How did it end up in ‘reality’ being so troublesome?”
Canned hit the accelerator and drove the bulldozer with the flair of a sports car.
“Maybe the mutated organisms haven’t appeared on a large scale, which gave you the wrong impression. In fact, even the weakest existence in the wasteland is dangerous in ‘reality.’”
“Besides, dealing with this isn’t hard. The main issue is its crazy growth speed. If left unchecked for a few days, it could easily evolve into an invasive alien species.”
***
When Ji Ting and Liu Daming discussed the rampant growth of Yingruo Grass in City A, Shuanzi offered a hypothesis.
“This might be related to the barren soil environment of the wasteland. The wasteland doesn’t have enough nutrients to support plant growth. So, Yingruo Grass evolved into a symbiotic organism of garbage piles, feeding on the insects inside.”
“But this place is different from the wasteland. For them, this land provides far too many nutrients.”
“The poor suddenly getting rich—their survival instinct has pushed Yingruo Grass’s growth speed to a terrifying level.”
Li Yishu said, “Fortunately, Yingruo Grass isn’t very aggressive, so handling it is relatively simple. If we put in overtime, we should be able to control the situation.”
Shuanzi was quite envious of this: “Your mobilization ability is really impressive—large numbers of troops can be deployed just like that, the whole city locked down with a word… If only the wasteland had such an organized force, mutated creatures would have been cleaned out long ago.”
Liu Daming didn’t share Shuanzi’s strong feelings.
After all, he was a genuine time traveler, more accustomed to ordered societies.
“Ag Guang, has the Yingruo Grass nearby shown any abnormal growth?”
Ag Guang’s voice came through the loudspeaker: “No, it’s still the same—half-dead and struggling… Oh, by the way, the nearby garbage piles have been mostly collected. We’ll have to move north to clean up the garbage there.”
Li Yishu glanced at the map, understanding why Ag Guang felt the need to mention that.
Further north, the city approaches the outskirts of the anomaly zone.
The distance between the base and those green glowing spots had shrunk to a delicate balance—the base was located just outside the military’s attack range stationed at the anomaly zone, but the military was within the base’s attack range.
Shuanzi looked toward Ji Ting and Li Yishu, seeking their input.
Li Yishu wasn’t hesitating—such major decisions weren’t his to make; he was waiting for a response from the earpiece.
Ji Ting, however, was genuinely distracted, her thoughts drifting.
“Speaking of garbage piles, what about the city’s future energy supply?”
Shuanzi shifted his gaze from Li Yishu to Ji Ting.
“If there are no mutated creatures and the amount of garbage piles is limited, can you use other energy sources? If so, maybe the problem will be much simpler.”
He enthusiastically promoted, “Let me introduce you to Country C—it has rich resource reserves, a large population, and a strong economy. Whether for immigration or labor dispatch, it’s the best choice.”
It seemed no orders were needed.
Li Yishu leaned back in his chair, observing everyone’s expressions.
Shuanzi’s pitch didn’t work—people in the wasteland were naturally immune to linguistic attacks.
No matter how sweet the words, in a harsh world where lives were at stake, they saved no one.
But Liu Daming had a different view.
“I’m interested, please elaborate?”
Ji Ting straightened up and blurted out everything she’d been thinking: “Although I don’t know the specifics, you’ve met Captain Liu—this is just a small microcosm of a huge organization…”
“We don’t fully understand the fusion between ‘novels and reality.’ That’s the basis for our cooperation. We can learn more about the rules of ‘novel and reality fusion’ through you, and of course, cooperate in other areas, like technology and resources…”
Ji Ting felt these were all abstract, so she skipped ahead: “Most importantly, there are no mutated creatures here, and it’s not an apocalypse. Besides cooperation, you can fully enjoy a normal life…”
Ag Guang’s voice came again through the loudspeaker: “Sounds good. By the way, can you provide a nationwide travel package? I’ve already planned the itinerary; you just need to send people to pick us up and pay…”
The topic gradually veered off into travel planning, and everyone harmoniously reached an agreement—the contingency plans prepared by the information and data team hadn’t been used at all.