Mutant Farmer in The Apocalypse

"What is the formula to create Roselia?" Yang Zhang wondered. "Is it two Brain beads? Because all I can remember is planting two Brain beads in Roselia's soil."

Yang Zhang started theorizing because he might be the first person to ever discover the creation of a mutated plant mixed with zombies.

Roselia had a clear zombie body, but she could speak like a normal human and function like a normal human. She could cook, clean, and even put some thought about gardening around the hut.

Yet, she didn't have a name before Yang Zhang gave her one.

"Master, I cooked porridge for your breakfast. I have to use the stock in your food container because I want to give you healthy food…." Roselia said as she sat on the stool beside the bed.

She stirred the porridge and scooped the content before offering it to Yang Zhang, "Master, let me feed you. You have had a long exhausting week."

Yang Zhang stared at Roselia for a second and then at the porridge.

The porridge didn't seem to be poisoned, and Roselia must've mentioned the food container he took from the Minimarket before. There were few packs of instant rice.

Yang Zhang opened his mouth, and the warm and smooth porridge warmed his mouth and his body instantly. It had been a while since he had real food.

Since his travel to the east, he mostly ate mutated river fishes or fruits in the forest. Since he was immune to any mutation, he had no worry about getting sick.

But of course, nothing beats one bowl of real food suitable for humans before the apocalypse. Even a bowl of porridge made out of instant rice already made him feel grateful for what he had right now.

"Roselia," Yang Zhang called.

"Yes, Master?" Roselia responded while she kept stirring the porridge.

"Do you know nothing about your past life? Even if you don't remember your name, you still know how to care for this house and even tend my wound. So you must've remembered a few things at least."

Roselia stopped stirring the porridge and nodded lightly, "I am familiar with this house, Master. I know every spot in this house, but I'm not sure if I lived here before or not."

"And other than that, do you remember something else?"

"Yes, I remember that this bedroom is the safest place to hide, so I put something here to keep it safe. But after that, I don't remember anything else."

…

…

"Master, are you alright? Why do you become silent suddenly?" Roselia asked worriedly. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," Yang Zhang said. He cleared his throat as he felt a bit thirsty.

"Please drink first, Master," Roselia said as she offered the glass of water.

"Well, whatever your past is, I will accept you as part of the group. I just want you to take care of the hut while I'm outside, okay?" Yang Zhang said.

"Oh! Yes, thank you so much, Master!" Roselia looked genuinely happy after she got accepted by Yang Zhang.

But Yang Zhang felt a bit complicated because somehow, he could guess the identity of Rosalia before her mutation to be one of Yang Zhang's pets.

"Master, you should rest for now. Your body fully recovers in a few hours," Roselia said. "I will clean the house again. Please excuse me."

"Un, thank you, Roselia."

"I—It's my duty, Master…." Roselia might not have any blood flow to show that she was embarrassed, but her fidgeting body already told Yang Zhang that she was happy and embarrassed to be thanked by her master.

Roselia left, so did the rest of his pets except Chestnut.

Because Yang Zhang told Chestnut to stay.

"Squeak?" Chesnut asked why it wasn't allowed to leave.

"Chestnut, do you not remember the face of the zombie we faced when we entered this hut for the first time?" Yang Zhang asked.

"Squeak?" Chestnut tried to remember. Yang Zhang knew it was difficult to identify because the zombie attacked them so suddenly, and it was kind of dark.

It didn't help that Chestnut literally blew the zombie's face with its electric explosion.

But Yang Zhang knew the zombie was a female, and she didn't seem to wander around because she stayed in the house, waiting for someone to come, so she could ambush them.

But if his theory was correct…

"Rosalie is probably the young woman living in this hut before the apocalypse and then mutated into a zombie," Yang Zhang theorized. "She mentioned just now that she thinks this bedroom is the safest, yet we only see the baby's skeletal remain here, so she must've realized that there is something wrong with her and decided to separate herself from her baby. She turned into a zombie while the baby died because of starvation…."

Yang Zhang based his theory on his experience with Xiao Mei Jiejie, whose Brain bead created Little Ivy.

Little Ivy inherited Xiao Mei's fear of zombies since she spent the rest of her apocalypse life inside the attic of that Minimarket, wishing there would be someone who could help her.

But her wait became a futile effort when she realized that she had a slow mutation until she became a zombie, the last day of her life must've been filled with dread.

That was why she got scared of zombies.

"Squeak…" Chestnut looked sad because it was the one who killed Zombie Roselia before.

"Oh no, don't feel sad. Those zombies are hostile, and they will kill us if we don't kill them first," Yang Zhang said, so Chestnut wouldn't be upset. "Besides, we did the right thing by planting Roselia's Brain bead inside the rose, and she is now happy with us, right?"

"Squeak!" Chestnut's mood gradually improved again.

"Just make sure the secret stays with us," Yang Zhang said.

"Squeak?"

"If we tell Roselia about it, I'm afraid she will be sad. Especially the fact that she had a baby, and the baby did not survive. She remembers nothing, so let her forget her past life and be happy for now, okay?"

"Squeak! Squeak!"

Yang Zhang smiled and patted Chestnut's back, "Good boy, you can go and play with your friends now."

"Squeak!"

Chestnut left Yang Zhang alone in the bedroom. Yang Zhang observed the bedroom, thinking he could find something, maybe a picture to confirm that Roselia was the first female zombie that Yang Zhang killed.

But this hut was very simple. There was no picture hanging on the wall, as if it was intended to put Roselia in this lonely hut in the middle of the forest, maybe to lock her up because of something.

"Well, it's in the past. Roselia has no memory of her previous life, and she seems happy right now…."

Yang Zhang gradually felt warmth all over his body after an hour. He could finally move his body again, though he didn't want to move so much, afraid that it might injure him.

He sauntered to leave the bedroom and saw that his pets were playing around in the living room.

Chestnut took out its stash of chestnuts and roasted it inside its mouth before giving them to everyone, including Roselia.

Lt. Spicy Wing ran around Roselia, who was busy sweeping the floor with a broom. It seemed that Spicy Wing saw Roselia as some sort of big sister or its senior.

Meanwhile, Poddie and Little Ivy were talking in their own languages. They were very calm while rooting themselves in two small pots filled with soil.

Yang Zhang cleared his throat to alert everyone, his pets quickly turned their head at Yang Zhang, and Rosalie was the first one to rush to Yang Zhang.

"M—Master, please don't move too much. You've just recovered!"

"No, I'm okay. I need to walk a bit anyway," Yang Zhang smiled.

Roselia assisted Yang Zhang to sit on the long chair, and his pets all gathered around him.

"You guys, why are you gathering around like this?" Yang Zhang asked. "I was just resting! Why do I feel like a Godfather or something?"

"Chirp! Chirp!" Spicy Wing saluted and told Yang Zhang that he was the honorable General Yang Zhang.

"Pii! Pii!" Poddie opened his back and showed the Mana bead inside.

"Oh! Thank you for keeping it safe, Poddie!"

"PII!"

Yang Zhang picked up the Mana bead. The color was still brilliant blue, but holding it for too long reminded Yang Zhang of how torturous it was to swallow this Mana bead twice.

It was because he needed to win the fight against that man with deadlock eyes, but the payoff was definitely not worth it because of the unbearable pain.

"Okay, do we still have some Brain bead inside the tote bag?" Yang Zhang asked. He hadn't checked the content of the tote bag after it washed away in the river.

He should have at least 4 to 5 Brain beads before.

"Squeak!" Chestnut grabbed the Brain bead inside the tote bag, showing that there was only 1 surviving Brain bead, while the rest were washed away in the river.