Reborn in the Apocalypse: A Commoner's Survival Log

Outside, Shen Zechuan and the others were still dealing with the vines while anxiously searching for where Zhou Yang had been dragged away.

Suddenly, for some unknown reason, the vines on the other side stopped attacking them and began to retreat rapidly.

Before they could figure out what was going on, a huge explosion came from underground in the distance, and the ground shook several times.

After regaining their footing, the group gathered around the site of the explosion and saw a hole that had been blown open and then buried by dust. The vines that had been blown out and scattered around the area were charred black.

For a moment, no one knew what had happened down there, but it was certain that the vines had retreated because of the incident here, so Zhou Yang and the others were very likely dragged here as well.

But the vines were blown up like this, there are no holes left, are they still alive?

At this moment, everyone was silent.

"What should we do? Should we dig down and see? What if someone is still alive?" Song Lian asked, scratching his head in distress.

Thinking of Zhou Yang's unknown fate down below, Shen Zechuan's legs went weak, and he knelt at the cave entrance, gritting his teeth as he said, "Dig! I want to see him alive or dead!"

Without further ado, several earth-elemental ability users stepped forward and used their abilities to dig the hole open again.

The ruins and soil were dug out bit by bit. A lot of broken vines and some long-dead corpses were dug out, but Zhou Yang and the other survivors were nowhere to be found. The more they dug, the more uncertain they became.

Finally, they even dug out the main root of the mutated ivy that had been blown apart, but there was still no sign of Zhou Yang...

Just when everyone was about to give up, the pea, who had been silently waiting on the side and whom no one dared to disturb, suddenly smelled its owner's scent. It immediately ran to the other side of the burrow and kept barking down at the ground, even trying to dig the ground with its paws, hoping to dig its owner out itself.

Seeing that its paws weren't working properly, it could only bark at the others: "Woof! Woof..."

Shen Zechuan understood immediately when he saw Wandou's reaction. He immediately ordered several earth-type ability users to change their location and continue digging. They dug for an unknown amount of time until they finally saw a person lying down, so they dug even more enthusiastically.

When Zhou Yang came out and found himself lying in the ground, he considered whether it would be better to go back to the space, but he was afraid that if he went into the space, Pea and the others would not be able to find him, so he could only continue to lie in the same place.

However, the area had just been burned, and the temperature was too high. Even though he was wearing such thick winter clothes, his back was sweating within two minutes.

Just as I was thinking about whether I should go back to my space to change my clothes, I seemed to hear the sound of digging coming from above.

Alright, his rescuers have arrived. He should just lie there and wait.

However, after lying there for a long time without being dug out, Zhou Yang became a little anxious.

He thought the people above might have dug in the wrong place, and was just thinking about whether he should call for help when he heard Pea's voice coming from above.

Zhou Yang felt half relieved; in crucial moments, his dog was the one who would come in handy!

Sure enough, within ten minutes, the rubble above was gradually dug away, and he slowly began to see some light.

It wasn't until he was pulled up and sat on the ground outside that Zhou Yang took off his gas mask. He had just taken a deep breath of fresh air when Shen Zechuan pulled him into his arms.

"You scared me to death!" Shen Zechuan hugged Zhou Yang tightly, burying his head in the young man's shoulder and neck, not caring whether he was covered in dust.

Zhou Yang was startled by the sudden hug, then came to her senses, smiled nonchalantly, and patted Shen Zechuan's shoulder to comfort him, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine. It was just a little uncomfortable lying in there. It was so hot in there, I was sweating all over. Thank you for digging me out in time, otherwise I would have died from the heat even if I hadn't burned to death."

Upon hearing this, Shen Zechuan's eyes darkened, and he made up his mind.

Boiling a frog in lukewarm water is too slow; he's getting impatient.

……

Beside him, Song Lian circled around Zhou Yang, looking him over with surprise: "You're really lucky. Such a huge explosion and you're completely unharmed. Many of the corpses we dug up were blown to pieces. Oh, by the way, the main root of that mutated plant was cracked, but we dug that up too."

explode!?

Zhou Yang was stunned when he heard this. Before he could understand what was going on, Song Lian said, "You set fire underground, didn't you? Some of the brothers who sacrificed themselves down there were probably carrying grenades. The fire you set accidentally detonated the grenades."

After listening to Song Lian's explanation, Zhou Yang realized that he might have stumbled upon the accident. He nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes, the hole down there is actually quite large. After I poured gasoline inside and set it on fire, I ran to a safer spot. Luckily, the explosion didn't hurt me, but the blasting debris buried me. Haha..."

"By the way, did you see any other survivors down there?" Song Lian asked, still thinking about his brothers who had been dragged away earlier.

Zhou Yang didn't see any other living people, so he silently shook his head.

Seeing this, Song Lian sighed and had no choice but to give up. Then he led his men to collect the excavated remains, cremated them on the spot, and put them into an empty box, intending to take them back and bury them with the tombstone at the base.

In his spare time, Zhou Yang wandered over to the roots of the mutated ivy, wanting to confirm something.

It was a very large main root system, so large that an adult probably couldn't wrap their arms around it. Due to the explosion, the main root had split open in the middle.

He peeked inside and saw something inconspicuous that seemed to be glowing, but he couldn't see it clearly. So he called Chai Jin over to help him break the main root apart.

As soon as it was opened, Zhou Yang saw an irregular yellow-green crystal, about the size of a ping-pong ball, embedded inside. It sparkled in the sunlight, like a gemstone, crystal clear and very beautiful.

This is a unique elemental core of mutated plants, with energy that is purer than the crystal core in a zombie's head. Its only drawback is that it is only effective for plant-based ability users.

Zhou Yang reached out and took the Yuan Core. The moment the Yuan Core left, the main root visibly withered, leaving Chai Jin, who was standing to the side, stunned.

Sure enough, this mutated ivy has evolved a core. No wonder it's so fierce and difficult to deal with.

Moreover, with such a large core, this mutated ivy must have eaten quite a few people. No wonder the entire military base was empty, without even a single zombie left.

After all, mutant plants are not picky eaters and will eat anything.

However, since the plants have already mutated ahead of schedule, the zombies may also evolve ahead of schedule. I'll find an opportunity to go out after returning to the base, dig out a zombie, and crack its skull to take a look.

Zhou Yang made up his mind, then took the Yuan Core back to the crowd and handed it to Shen Zechuan.

"This is what Chai Jin and I just found inside the main root of the Virginia creeper. It feels like some kind of energy carrier. As soon as I took it off, the main root withered and died. Do you want to take it back and have Uncle Gu find someone to study it? It might be helpful for people with superpowers to enhance their energy."

"Okay." Shen Zechuan nodded, took the crystal, looked at it curiously for a couple of seconds, and then put it into the inner pocket of his clothes to store it.

After Song Lian and the others had finished cremating all the bodies, everyone returned to the main entrance together.

Zhou Xian and his teammates, supporting each other, staggered back.

Upon seeing this, Song Lian rushed over to inquire and learned that the brother who was dragged away first could not be saved. The group only found a body that had been drained of its life force. If the vines behind them had not suddenly withdrew for some reason, they probably would have lost several more bodies there.

Most of them were injured or unconscious, and they dared not linger any longer. So they seized the time and rushed back to the base as soon as they got on the sleds.

This time, there was no need for any pea-based provocation; the military dogs themselves were very anxious, and their human handler was also injured.