In those days of Plants vs. Zombies

The five years ago that Dell mentioned was the year 2009 in the Zombie calendar.

The Second Garden War, which lasted for nearly three years, also entered its final stage at this moment.

The empire suffered defeat after defeat on the battlefield, and its defeat was inevitable.

The Federation, on the other hand, is gradually moving towards final victory.

However, only a very small number of people know what kind of heinous crime is hidden beneath the Federation’s glorious victory.

Coincidentally, Dale Norenson, a Tombstone moss spirit who had just been drafted into the army for less than a year, was one of those very few.

A few months ago, the 59th Federal Army dispatched a team of gravediggers to support a federal outpost somewhere on the battlefield in North America.

New recruit Dale is a member of this team.

The outpost that the team was going to support was stationed with many mushroom spirit warriors.

In the deployment of the Federation's frontier defense, this outpost is an important point specifically used to prevent the Empire from launching an attack in the dark.

Due to the threat posed by the tombstones, the Federation dispatched gravediggers from nearby to support the outpost.

Mushroom spirits are good at fighting at night, and gravediggers are also active at night and hide during the day.

Because of this, Dale and the gravediggers, who had just arrived, quickly became friends with the group of plant spirit warriors stationed at this outpost.

Only on a battlefield full of gunfire can true comradeship be forged.

Dale cherishes his comrades very much and maintains a good relationship with almost every plant spirit warrior in the outpost.

After all, no one knows when they will sacrifice themselves on the battlefield, leaving behind only cold nameplates.

But inside the outpost, there was only one person that Dell always kept his distance from.

That is the outpost’s psychologist, a coffee bean spirit who always has a smile on his face.

Many plant spirit warriors in the outpost have received psychological treatment from each other and gave positive comments afterwards.

Dell heard from the plant warrior who was receiving psychological treatment that the psychiatrist would provide the patient with a special medicine.

Just by taking this special medicine regularly, you can eliminate fatigue, keep your energy high, and always be in the best condition.

This seems to be the case, the plant spirit warriors who have taken special medicines all have rosy complexions and are full of energy.

During the battle, they seemed extremely excited, and beat the imperial troops that came to attack the outpost and made them flee in panic.

When the battle was over, the plant spirit warriors who had received psychological treatment and tasted the benefits of special medicines also flocked to the psychologist's office, scrambling to buy the special medicines.

Even those plant spirit warriors who have not received psychological treatment have joined the ranks of purchasing special drugs under the influence of the herd effect and the powerful performance of special drugs.

Among the group of plant spirit warriors who have fallen into "madness", Dale seems to be extremely sober.

You know, the modern world has never had such a drug that can solve all psychological problems instantly, make the user feel much better, and even enhance combat effectiveness.

If that’s the case, then where did this psychiatrist get the medication?

This rare product has just been developed and can cure all psychological problems without any side effects. He doesn't believe the psychiatrist's nonsense.

Besides, since this special medicine is so rare, how could he provide it in large quantities to the plant spirit warriors?

The face that was always smiling became uglier and uglier in Dell's eyes.

He tried to persuade other comrades to reduce or stop taking this special medicine, but to no avail.

During this time, the dying Imperial forces launched a final assault on the outpost.

This forced many plant spirit warriors who had followed Dell's advice and wanted to give up taking special medicines to take the special medicines again.

Little did they know that this would be the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Maybe it is due to the effect of special drugs, or maybe it has nothing to do with special drugs.

In the end, they successfully repelled the desperate counterattack of the Imperial troops, bringing an end to the protracted war between them and the Empire.

It should be like this...

At dawn, the plant spirit warriors at the outpost held a carnival party to celebrate their victory.

Listening to the cheers of his comrades around him, Dell, who should have been happy and celebrating the victory with everyone, suddenly felt cold all over.

An ominous premonition suddenly came over him, making him feel very frightened.

Dale looked around in confusion, but wherever he looked, he saw only the red faces of his comrades who looked abnormal.

Beneath the abnormal blush, one could vaguely see an increasingly paler face.

Dale's eyes darted back and forth among the crowd, finally stopping at the corner of the outpost.

The coffee bean spirit who worked as a psychiatrist stood in the shadows, with most of his face buried in darkness.

As if noticing that Dell was looking at him, the psychiatrist turned his head slightly and smiled a smile that Dell was very familiar with.

The smile seemed to have malicious intentions and was still disgusting.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, Dell no longer wanted to stay here, so he chose to go back to his dormitory to rest.

The wild party outside the dormitory was still going on. Dell covered his ears drowsily and fell into a light sleep.

Until an extremely miserable scream woke him up from the bed.

Grabbing the mattock and pickaxe beside the bed, Dale rushed out of his dormitory without hesitation.

What appeared before his eyes was the real hell on earth.

The screams, groans, wails and cries intertwined together were creepy.

Some plant spirit warriors had lifeless eyes and looked dazed. They collapsed on the ground with empty syringes beside them.

The arms, legs and feet are covered with hideous needle holes, making them look scarred.

Some plant spirit warriors had pale faces, their blood vessels bulged suddenly, and their breathing became extremely rapid.

The limbs were abnormally twisted and even trembling constantly.

Some plant spirit warriors apparently lost their minds and started fighting with their comrades beside them.

With a bloody head, wounds all over his body, and a weak body, he looked nothing like the federal soldier who was fighting bravely yesterday.

······

“It wasn’t any special drug at all, it was just coffee with too much caffeine.

The psychiatrist was a caffeine criminal. He added huge doses of caffeine to the coffee powder he made and disguised it as special medicine, providing it to plant spirit warriors with mental illnesses with ulterior motives.

Under the influence of these coffee punches, almost all of my comrades became caffeine addicts.

At the carnival party, the psychologist saw that the time was right and took out the espresso that he had prepared for a long time.

Under the influence of caffeine, my comrades were completely corrupted.

They frantically scrambled for caffeine and began to inject themselves one shot after another, and even fought with their former comrades in order to grab caffeine.

By the time I and other normal comrades came to our senses, it was too late.

The culprit disappeared and destroyed the communication equipment, making it impossible for us to contact the federal troops in the rear.

The uncontrolled injections and the fights that broke out in the chaos caused many plant spirit warriors to lose their lives.

The comrades who managed to survive also suffered from serious sequelae.

We couldn't do anything. We could only watch our comrades die in front of us.

This is a pain I will never forget and a nightmare that will haunt me for the rest of my life."