Vines in all shapes and sizes, like writhing tentacles, dug out every Zombie Crystal Core.
Without their Crystal Cores, the zombies' bodies quickly crumbled to dust. All that remained on the ground were flowers of every kind, blooming more brilliantly than before.
Li Xingye raised his hand, and a vine placed a fist-sized Zombie Crystal Core into his palm.
Compared to the hazy, gray Crystal Cores of low-level zombies, this one from a Sixth-tier Zombie was as clear and lustrous as a gemstone.
With his backpack full of Crystal Cores and all his seeds recovered, Li Xingye headed toward the bank.
The once-secure bank vault now had its ceiling torn open. The paper money inside had long since turned to dust, ravaged by the extreme weather.
Only the gold bars remained, heavy and useless, scattered unceremoniously across the floor.
Li Xingye patiently directed his vines to wipe the dust from each gold bar and stack them in the space. Soon, he had built a platform of gold half his height.
The corners of Li Xingye's mouth lifted into a slight smile as he imagined Chi Wan's reaction to seeing all these gold blocks.
Once all the gold blocks were packed away, he sat cross-legged in a hanging chair woven from vines and took out the Level 6 Crystal Core.
Remembering how the last Crystal Core he'd placed in the space had mysteriously vanished while the space itself expanded, Li Xingye placed the Level 6 Crystal Core inside, full of anticipation.
The instant the Crystal Core entered the space, he felt a strange vortex form within it. It began to absorb the Crystal Core's power, and at the same time, his connection to the space grew even stronger!
It was a bizarre sensation. He felt as though he could completely control the space, yet it was different from simply retrieving items like before.
He closed his eyes and could almost see his Wood Ability and the Crystal Core's energy weaving together, crisscrossing through the space.
And driven by these two forces, the space continued to expand.
At the same time, he realized that with a mere thought, he could directly control the plants and move them into Chi Wan's world, without her needing to take them out herself.
A Level 6 Crystal Core was, after all, in a completely different league from a Level 1. The energy was immense, and the expansion process lasted a long time.
By the time the Crystal Core had dissolved into dust and vanished, the space—*Chi Wan's* space—was more than ten times larger than before!
But that wasn't the only thing that shocked Li Xingye.
After the expansion stopped, the Wood Ability that the Crystal Core had guided through the space slowly flowed back into Li Xingye's body.
But he sensed something different about it.
Within his normally gray-black superpower, there now seemed to be a faint hint of green.
It was so faint that it was gone in a flash. If not for Li Xingye's exceptional control over his superpower, he might have missed it entirely.
Li Xingye's normally steady hands were now trembling slightly.
He tried to suppress the thought forming in his mind, but he couldn't stop his heart from pounding.
'Could this sliver of green bring with it the hope of new life?'
Li Xingye didn't know.
All he knew was that in the apocalypse, using a superpower was like drinking poison to quench a thirst.
The superpower flowing through their bodies was perhaps a curse from the land itself. After the apocalypse began, the earth could no longer foster new, untainted life. The water summoned by a Water Ability, the plants grown by a Wood Ability—all of it was toxic.
A superpower user's body was no different, a product tainted by the environment. Perhaps one day, everyone would become as twisted and unrecognizable as the flora and fauna that had been completely warped by their surroundings.
And green... Li Xingye hadn't seen true green in many, many years.
"Li Xingye? Are you there... Oh my god!! What happened?! How did my space get so huge!!"
Just as Li Xingye was lost in his own surging thoughts, Chi Wan's astonished voice suddenly rang in his ears. "Wait, did you rob a bank?! Why are there so many gold bars!!
"Units, tens, hundreds, thousands... Godfather! Who am I? Where am I? Somebody help me! I'm definitely the richest little girl in the whole world, right?!"
Her voice, brimming with Life Force, instantly pulled Li Xingye back to reality.
He couldn't see her, but he could tell from her voice just how excited she was.
He replied matter-of-factly, "I'm sitting in a bank vault right now. What do you think?"
Chi Wan's voice was practically giddy. "If this is a dream, please don't let me wake up. No, even my dreams aren't this daring. Li Xingye, from this day forward, you! You are my god!"
Li Xingye had known Chi Wan would be happy, but he had still underestimated just how ecstatic she would be.
After all, he had lived in the apocalypse for so long that the "food is more valuable than gold" mindset was deeply ingrained. He couldn't possibly imagine the impact such a sight would have on someone from a peaceful era.
*
Chi Wan spent a good while jumping, shadowboxing, and squealing under her breath before she finally calmed down. Only then did she remember why she had called for Li Xingye in the first place.
But before she could bring up the matter of the fruit trees, Li Xingye explained how the space had expanded.
Chi Wan blinked. "So, you're saying my space can absorb Zombie Crystal Cores to expand?"
"Not only that, I can now directly control the plants and make them appear on your side."
Hearing this, Chi Wan's eyes lit up. "Does that mean our fruit trees can be saved? Quick, give it a try! Can you sense them?"
Li Xingye sounded a bit embarrassed. "I still can't sense them... It seems I can only control plants that have been inside the space before."
'He can only control plants that have been in the space before?' Chi Wan looked hesitantly at the thick fruit trees. "I can't just dig them up, put them in the space, and then take them out again, can I?"
'Wait a second... maybe I can?'
'After all, the space is so big now, it's more than enough to hold a hundred or so fruit trees. And even if I'm worried about damaging the roots by digging them up... I've got Li Xingye, don't I?'
Just as Chi Wan was seriously considering how to transplant the fruit trees into the space, she suddenly heard Li Xingye's soft voice. "Actually... I have another idea. It might not have to be so complicated."
"What is it? Tell me, tell me," Chi Wan urged.
But for some reason, Li Xingye seemed to hesitate, not saying a word.
Chi Wan grew impatient. "Just spit it out! All this hemming and hawing doesn't fit your 'all-powerful expert' persona at all!"
Li Xingye cleared his throat before finally speaking. "Actually, to create a connection with the space, the fruit trees don't have to enter it. We could... go through you."
'Go through me?'
Chi Wan blinked. "Elaborate, Mr. Expert?"
"What I mean is... if you held my hand, my superpower might be able to affect the fruit trees through you." Li Xingye's voice held a resigned tone, as if he worried Chi Wan would find him too presumptuous.
Chi Wan was indeed silent for a couple of seconds after hearing that.
Li Xingye seemed to scramble to fix it. "If you think that's too forward, we could also—"
But Chi Wan cut him off. "...That's it?"