N-M Chapter 295 We Are in Heaven
Chapter 295 We Are in Heaven
Inside an armored personnel carrier.
Miller sat next to the driver, looking through the bulletproof glass at the still-smoking area outside, his expression complex.
In the back seat, the three rescued survivors huddled together.
The bald man and Jack have returned to normal, but Tom is still grinning foolishly and occasionally spouting nonsense like "I saw God."
The soldier who had just taken a puff of green smoke was leaning against the side of the carriage, staring blankly at his fingers, muttering, "Fingers are so amazing."
Damn, marijuana becoming sentient is truly terrifying!!
Miller cursed inwardly, then ignored the two who were already having a blast and turned to look at the bald man.
Tell me about your situation.
"How many of you are there? How have you managed to survive until now?"
The bald man dusted himself off:
"My name is Bruce, this is Jack, and that's Tom. The three of us are the... managers of this plantation."
"Administrator?" Miller repeated expressionlessly.
"Yes, yes, that's right, the administrators. We're legal." Bruce emphasized again, just in case Miller didn't believe him, "We have a valid license from Oregon."
"What's the use of a license at this hour?" a soldier muttered to himself.
Bruce coughed lightly and continued:
"Cough cough... When the disaster broke out, we were working on the plantation, and we were hiding in the tin warehouse next to the plantation."
We stocked up on a lot of canned food and water, and that's how we survived.
"and then?"
"Then today those marijuana plants suddenly went crazy."
Jack replied, his voice still trembling.
"Just a few hours ago, while we were fetching water, we discovered that the plants in the plantation had started to produce."
No, that's not even fair to say it's growing wildly, you know... those damn plants grew to four or five meters tall in less than two hours...
What's even more outrageous is that they can actually move and chase people.
We originally intended to hide back in the warehouse, but who would have thought that those damned things would actually pry open the warehouse's metal door...
"So you set it on fire?"
"Uh, right, in that situation, what do we do if we don't burn it?" Bruce shrugged. "Bullets can't kill those things at all, and it's too dangerous for us to cut them with knives. In the end, we can only use gasoline and propane."
Miller nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
If it were him, he might have chosen to do the same, since setting fire was the simplest and most effective method.
After much deliberation, he decided to inform the nuclear power plant about the situation beforehand.
He picked up the car radio:
"Mr. Lin, the people have been rescued. There are three survivors, all civilians, and none of them are seriously injured."
Soon, Lin Fan's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "What's going on over there? How did it catch fire?"
Miller glanced at the three people in the back row and carefully considered his words:
"They are... agricultural workers. Their plantation suffered a plant mutation, forcing them to set fire to save themselves."
"An agricultural worker?" Lin Fan's tone held a hint of amusement. "What do they grow?"
Miller paused for a second.
"marijuana."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie, then Lin Fan's voice came through again: "Mutant marijuana? Then you guys are high?"
Upon hearing this, Miller's lips twitched, and then he turned to look at the soldier and the other one.
That's right!
This is more than just being high; it's driving them crazy.
"Some people did get high, but the effects were extremely strong. One soldier is already acting strangely."
There was silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie for a while.
Then Lin Fan said something that Miller never expected.
"How many of those mutated marijuana plants are still alive?"
Miller was taken aback: "What do you mean?"
"I'm asking you, how many mutated cannabis plants are still alive in the plantation?"
Miller looked puzzled, but still turned to Bruce and asked, "How much did you burn?"
Bruce thought for a moment: "At most a third has burned. The rest... should still be alive. We don't have enough gasoline."
Upon hearing this answer, Lin Fan's voice came through the walkie-talkie without Miller needing to relay it.
"Stop burning it. Bring the people back, but don't touch that plantation yet."
"...Why?"
"it works."
Miller waited two seconds and realized that Lin Fan did not intend to explain further.
"receive."
He put down the walkie-talkie, started the armored vehicle, and turned around to drive towards the nuclear power plant.
Bruce peeked out from the back seat: "Um... sir, where are we going?"
"nuclear power plant."
"A nuclear power plant?!" Jack's eyes widened. "Wasn't that place leaking?"
"The leak is being dealt with," Miller said. "You're safer staying with us than outside for now."
Bruce and Jack exchanged a glance but said nothing more.
They have no demands now, as long as they can live, they don't care where they go.
……
The plantation is not too far from the nuclear power plant.
But when they returned to the nuclear power plant, the sight outside still surprised Miller and his companions.
When they left, the vegetation around the nuclear power plant had merely stopped growing, but now, those plants have shrunk considerably at an unbelievable rate.
The shrubs that were originally over ten meters tall have now shrunk to six or seven meters. The dark red vines on the ground have turned yellow and withered in large areas as if they have lost their nutrients. Most of the membranous canopy tissue has fallen off and hangs on the branches like rags swaying in the wind.
Meanwhile, on the open ground outside the nuclear power plant, the little dog was still lying there, its tentacles stuck in the ground, quietly "feeding".
Bruce glanced out the car window and froze.
"What...what is that?"
"A member of the nuclear power plant team."
Seeing the shock in the other person's eyes, Miller inexplicably felt a surge of pride on his face.
Without Lin Fan's explanation, he didn't say anything more, so he called out and got out of the car first.
"Get out of the car and come with me."
Nuclear power plant crew?
real or fake?
The three stared blankly at Miller, who had already gotten out of the car, and then subconsciously looked through the car window at the massive figure...
This thing... doesn't look like a nuclear power plant employee at all.
But now, they had no choice. Seeing that Miller and the others had already left, they dared not stay in the car any longer and immediately jumped out to chase after them...
Miller quickly led everyone into the administration building, through the corridor, and into the underground control room.
The moment the door opened, Bruce saw Lin Fan sitting in the chair.
A young Asian man, who looked to be in his early twenties, was wearing a black jacket that was covered in dust, and was looking at the monitor screen with his legs crossed.
Bruce instinctively felt that this person must be a nobody.
But he noticed that everyone in the control room, including the fully armed soldiers, looked at the young man with an indescribable... awe.
"We've brought the person back," Miller reported to Lin Fan.
Lin Fan turned his head and glanced at the three people.
"Who is in charge?"
Bruce quickly shut out his wild thoughts and raised his hand: "Me."
Are you familiar with that plantation?
“Of course, that was the farm I ran for six years—” Bruce paused, “.
Lin Fan ignored his wording: "Before the mutation, how much land was planted in total?"
"Approximately... around 30,000 plants."
"How fast do they grow after the mutation?"
Bruce recalled, "Some of them grew from one meter to four or five meters in just over ten minutes, while others grew slowly, but they were all quite large. We only started burning them after they attacked us, and then we stopped paying attention."
Lin Fan nodded and turned to Helen: "After the catalytic spores of the radiation-eating algae stop producing, will those mutated plants continue to grow?"
Helen glanced at the brief record she had made on the monitor and said:
"Judging from the current situation around the nuclear power plant, after the catalysis is stopped, the mutated plants will not continue to mutate, but they will not revert to their original state either. They will remain in their current mutated state."
"So, those mutated cannabis plants will remain in their current state?"
"Theoretically, yes. Unless there's a new catalyst, or it gets eaten by that little octopus outside."
What the hell?
Baby octopus?
Bruce's eyes widened as soon as Helen said that.
You guys actually call that thing outside a little octopus?
However, he didn't know that compared to the already departed Big Crow, Little Crow was really just a younger brother.
Lin Fan didn't notice the changes in Bruce and the others. He leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest, as if he was thinking about something.
Seeing this, Miller couldn't help but ask:
"Mr. Lin, why are you keeping those things? They can attack people."
Lin Fan glanced at him: "You just said that the smoke released after burning can directly incapacitate people?"
"Yes, the effect is very strong, and it's indiscriminate."
"What if we made this effect into a weapon?"
There was a moment of silence in the control room.
Miller blinked. "Make it into a weapon? You mean...?"
"The smoke from mutated marijuana can instantly incapacitate a person."
A smile appeared on Lin Fan's face as he continued.
"If we could extract and concentrate it to make hypnotic or tranquilizing bullets... whether it's used against humans or other creatures, I believe it would be more effective than bullets."
Bruce's eyes widened.
He had been growing marijuana for six years and never imagined that his product would one day be developed as a military weapon.
"Furthermore," Lin Fan continued, "those mutated cannabis plants will actively attack any creature that gets close. If we can control their attack range, it will create a natural defensive barrier. It's more effective than barbed wire."
Miller was silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded: "Indeed... if it could be controlled."
Lin Fan turned to Bruce: "How much do you know about the habits of those plants?"
Bruce scratched his bald head: "I know their habits very well before the mutation. But after the mutation... all I know is that they are afraid of fire, sensitive to heat and sound, and their root system moves at about the speed of a normal person jogging."
"That's enough," Lin Fan said. "You stay here; we might need your help later."
Bruce hesitated for a moment: "Stay? With you?"
"Any objections?"
Bruce glanced at the soldiers around him, then thought about the hundred-meter-tall octopus outside, and then looked at the young man in front of him who was clearly the leader of everyone.
"No problem," he said, "but I have one condition."
Lin Fan raised an eyebrow.
"My two brothers have to stay too."
"I never intended to kick you out."
Bruce grinned, revealing a set of slightly crooked teeth: "Then it's a deal. Boss, I'm working for you from now on."
Tom, who was standing nearby, finally recovered somewhat from his "ascension" state. He looked around groggily and asked, "Guys...where are we?"
"Heaven," Jack said irritably.
"Oh." Tom closed his eyes again. "That's good."
……