Mutant Farmer in The Apocalypse

"Okay, do we still have some Brain bead inside the tote bag?"

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.

"Oh no, only one?" Yang Zhang asked.

"Squeak?" Chestnut checked the tote bag to find the remaining Brain bead but came out empty handed. "Squeak…"

"Ah, damn it. Everything must've been washed away in the river," Yang Zhang said as he cursed himself. He blamed himself for being too vulnerable against that man with deadlock eyes. He was the one to blame because he couldn't protect his pets and lost the Brain beads he worked so hard to find.

Yang Zhang took a deep breath a few times to calm himself down and then cupped 1 Brain bead and 1 Mana bead in his hand.

"Alright, we will have to experiment right now. Who knows planting Brain bead and Mana bead in the same soil might give us something," Yang Zhang said.

**

Yang Zhang walked around the hut once he was able to walk normally. He still felt weak, so he couldn't explore far away.

Besides, his pets deserved to rest after long days of journey and meeting many dangerous situations.

Yang Zhang walked around the barren land surrounding the hut. Other than a few potted plants that Roselia might have planted before the apocalypse, there seemed to be nothing more.

Maybe that triggered Roselia to start her own gardening job and plant the backyard with many flowers later.

Yang Zhang looked at the beads in his hand. He had one Brain bead and one Mana bead.

Based on the previous uses, you could only use Brain beads on plants and Mana beads on animals.

At least, so far, neither Chestnut nor Spicy Wing seemed to have any interest in Brain bead. So, Yang Zhang assumed that animals were only interested in Mana beads.

"Squeak?" Chestnut asked its master as it climbed to Yang Zhang's shoulder.

"Ah, Chestnut, I'm just trying to find something that we could mutate. Maybe a plant or animal," Yang Zhang said. "I wonder if there is any plant that would be useful with Brain bead. I don't know about the Mana bead, though. Finding a suitable animal that wants to join us is pretty difficult."

"Squeak?"

"Huh? You want to try it?"

"Squeak! Squeak!"

"Uh… no, not now," Yang Zhang hummed for a second. Chestnut basically said that the squirrel was interested in eating the Mana bead.

Yang Zhang wondered what would happen if a mutated animal ate their second Mana bead as well, but he had another idea for now.

He wanted to see what would happen if he planted Brain bead and Mana bead at the same time.

So he was trying to find a good plant for now, too bad the land was quite barren.

Yang Zhang found himself circling around the hut for at least 3x already. He saw that his pets starting to get bored, and he got an idea, "Guys, do you want to do a mission?"

His words quickly got into his pets' ears. They listened attentively to the next order given by Yang Zhang.

"Hehe, let's do a fetch mission, okay? You guys are free to roam near the hut, don't get too far, and don't be separated. Take a plant that interests you, and return to me after that, understood?"

"Chirp!"

"Vii! Vii!"

"PII!"

"Squeak!"

The pets quickly went to the bushes near the hut. Yang Zhang watched them, trying to find a plant that would interest them.

"Master, do you want me to accompany them?" Roselia asked as she came out from the hut.

"Oh, sure, just make sure they don't get into trouble. Poddie and Ivy aren't exactly fighters. They might be in danger if facing wild animals," Yang Zhang said.

"Certainly, Master."

Roselia did a few quick steps towards the other pets and watched them taking plants that took their interests.

After about 20 minutes, everyone returned safe and sound towards Yang Zhang. They were bringing plants they liked, and Yang Zhang checked them one by one.

"Okay, start from you, Chestnut."

"Squeak!" Chestnut climbed Yang Zhang's body and gave the plant he plucked on his palm.

Chestnut gave him a—well, a freshly roasted chestnut! Duh!

"Why would you give me a roasted chestnut?" Yang Zhang asked.

"Squeak!"

"Ah—" Yang Zhang wasn't sure on how to answer that. Basically, Chestnut thought that Yang Zhang was just hungry and wanted his pets to find him some food, so the squirrel went to find chestnut, roasting it inside its mouth, and gave it to Yang Zhang to eat.

Yang Zhang sighed, but he ate the chestnut anyway, "Thank you so much, Chestnut. I'm not hungry right now, but that's definitely a good snack."

"Squeak!"

After Chestnut, Little Ivy offered her finding; a few berries. But these berries were obviously mutated because there was a rainbow-colored berry and also a berry shaped like a heart.

"Berries?"

"Vii, Vii! Vii!"

"Ahh, thanks, Ivy."

"Vii!"

Little Ivy told Yang Zhang that he needed to eat berries because it was rich in vitamins, suitable for Yang Zhang, who was still recovering after being unconscious for a while.

Yang Zhang ate the berries and then accepted the plant from Spicy Wing.

Lt. Spicy Wing offered Yang Zhang nothing but a long wooden stick, which baffled Yang Zhang.

"What is this?"

"Chirp! Chirp!" Spicy Wing replied while giving Yang Zhang a dedicated salute.

…

Yang Zhang wanted to facepalm as he felt it was so ridiculous. Lt. Spicy Wing said that Yang Zhang was the respected General but didn't have a swagger stick to show his authority that should be respected by everyone.

That was why Spicy Wing brought that stick for Yang Zhang to use as a swagger stick.

Yang Zhang wanted to scold Spicy Wing for this. But he had to spare his energy. He sighed and patted Spicy Wing's head with the stick gently, "Thank you for the gift, Lieutenant. I appreciate it."

"CHIRP!"

Now, the last was a gift from Poddie.

"What do you have for me, Poddie?"

"Pii!" Poddie approached Yang Zhang with its small legs and then tried to climb the feet.

Yang Zhang helped him by picking him up, and Poddie gave him his gift, a dandelion.

"Eh? Why did you gift me this?" Yang Zhang asked.

"Pii—Pii…" Poddie was a bit shy to tell the reason. He said that Master Yang Zhang should enjoy life more. That was why Poddie decided to give Yang Zhang a dandelion because Yang Zhang could play with it!

Yang Zhang was speechless. He realized that all of his pets weren't taking something that interested them solely for themselves. They were finding stuff that would benefit their master in their own opinions.

Yang Zhang was quite touched, honestly. He knew that he had a good team, but their cares were a lot more than what Yang Zhang ever received in his life.

He tried to hide his smile as he stared at the dandelion and also the stick.

"Alright, since this is an experiment, let's see what would happen if I plant this dandelion in a pot with Mana bead and Brain bead each."

**

Yang Zhang returned to the hut while carrying a potted plant filled with soil from the front yard. He sat and put the pot on the table. He carefully planted the dandelion and then planted the Mana bead and Brain bead at the same time inside the soil.

"Alright, let's see what will happen in uh… 12 to 24 hours?" Yang Zhang wondered. He checked his phone, "Oh, it's already 5 in the afternoon. We will probably see a new friend tomorrow morning!"

"Chirp!"

"Vii! Vii!"

"PII!"

"Squeak!"

His pet was excited to meet new friends since that meant there would be more members playing their tag or hide and seek around the hut.

"Master, I will cook dinner for you. Do you want to request anything? I've checked your food container. It has plenty of instant food," Rosalia offered.

"Oh, please just cook me another instant rice porridge, and give me the cracker too," Yang Zhang requested. "I will try to find something better to eat later when I've recovered."

"Yes, Master," Roselia nodded, but before she could leave, Yang Zhang suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Wait!"

Roselia was shocked. She froze on the spot and looked at her master in doubtful gaze, "M—Master, is there something wrong? Do you need me to do something? Or do you… um… do you want to be serviced on the bed?"

"Eh?! N—No, not yet—" Yang Zhang denied. His cheeks reddened in the process. "I—I just want you to prepare a warm bath for me as well, if you don't mind, of course. My body feels so sticky right now."

"Oh, surely, Master! Lieutenant, please help me lit the fire."

"Chirp!"