Evolving infinitely from ground zero

```

It seems that the tree-devouring Gu seed must be a rather special existence...

Shenanigans aside, he thought for a while.

Soon, Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan left the factory and asked the young female security officer to drive them back to school.

He was curious about the Divine Plant Cult but had no desire to become entangled with them.

For safety's sake, he would proactively avoid any heretical sects; he didn't want to create unnecessary trouble for himself.

As long as one doesn't court death, one won't die.

...

On the way back to school.

The young female security officer driving the car would occasionally make small talk with the two in the back seat.

She tried to ingratiate herself.

Checking to see if she could add them on WeChat and maybe get to know them a little.

Lin Zichen was rather reticent and silent throughout the entire journey, with Shen Qinghan chatting with the officer instead.

The female security officer was skilled at finding topics for conversation.

She started by complimenting Shen Qinghan on her pretty and cute appearance, winning her favor, then moved on to playing the caring older sister role to steer the conversation towards the relationship between Shen Qinghan and Lin Zichen.

"The university semester has just started, and you two are already a couple; did you know each other before?"

"Yes, we've been childhood sweethearts."

"Such childhood love stories are really enviable. I have a childhood sweetheart too, and I really like him, but we are currently just friends. I'm not sure how to express my feelings to him. Could I add you on WeChat to ask for your advice on how to get along with a childhood sweetheart?"

"Sure."

Shen Qinghan agreed without hesitation.

The female security officer was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly recited her phone number for Shen Qinghan to add her on WeChat.

Lin Zichen was listening to the entire conversation and knew that the female security officer was trying to build a connection.

Nevertheless, he thought that adding a female security officer on WeChat wasn't a bad thing, so he didn't stop Shen Qinghan from adding her.

"Hm?"

Just as the security car was about to exit the suburbs, Lin Zichen suddenly furrowed his brow.

Through the car window, he noticed an unusually large rat on the side of the road not far ahead.

This rat was incessantly digging in the dirt at the roadside, and within moments, it had made a small hole.

Then, it spat out a bizarre seed with pulsating veins on the surface into the hole and carefully buried it.

It appeared to be planting something.

To Lin Zichen, the sight triggered a chilling contemplation.

A rat working for the Divine Plant Cult to plant seeds was evidently not any ordinary rat.

And if not ordinary, the first thought that came to his mind was three words – Rat God Cult!

Could it be that the Rat God Cult was not completely eliminated and was now in collusion with the Divine Plant Cult?

Wait a second! Both of these heretical sects have the word "Divine" in their names; could they possibly be branches of the same organization?

In just a brief moment, Lin Zichen considered many possibilities.

Therefore, he asked the young female security officer who was driving, "Excuse me, could you help me get in touch with Chief Fang?"

"Right now?"

"Yes."

"I've connected you."

The female security officer handed Lin Zichen the walkie-talkie.

Lin Zichen took the walkie-talkie and informed the square-faced Chief of what he had just witnessed and his suspicions.

Afterward, he turned to Shen Qinghan and asked her to convey everything he had just told the square-faced Chief to Yuan Dongzhi via WeChat.

Having done all this, he had fulfilled his duty.

Not even being an advanced-level creature himself and considering his own safety, he could only go to such lengths.

As for the rat he had seen on the roadside, he neither wanted to deal with it nor dared to.

At this stage, he was just a freshman who had turned eighteen years old, no match for a colossal entity like a heretical sect, and certainly didn't dare to tempt fate and provoke one.

```

The only thing he could do was to inform someone capable of handling it of the eerie scene he had just witnessed, along with his own speculations, in full detail, so that they could deal with it.

...

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Lin Zichen took on a mission to capture arms smugglers and went to execute it with Shen Qinghan.

Those involved in arms smuggling were all extremely vicious characters.

As soon as they realized someone was coming to capture them, they would open fire with machine guns without a second word, just like the last time they pursued drug traffickers in the abandoned factory.

This time, Lin Zichen still took the lead.

He was ruthless and a man of few words; with a single burst of speed, he charged forward and effortlessly crippled the enemy's main force, leaving a mess behind for Shen Qinghan to train on.

Compared to the last time, Shen Qinghan clearly performed much more adeptly.

Even when confronted with a scene bloodier than before, she didn't cover her mouth and retch. Her mental fortitude had greatly improved.

Lin Zichen felt relieved.

...

Three days later.

With the aim of training his capability to lead a team, Lin Zichen invited Song Yuyan to undertake missions to earn academic credits together.

Song Yuyan readily agreed.

After discussing it,

ultimately, Song Yuyan used her advisor's privileges to accept a mission to kill a Mechanically Modified Human.

This Mechanically Modified Human was a ferocious criminal who had robbed numerous banks, killing many people in each heist. His strength was at the Advanced First Rank.

Both Lin Zichen and Song Yuyan were at the Ordinary Ninth Rank.

But—

One had achieved Body Tempering Great Accomplishment.

The other, Second-stage Body Refinement Completion.

Both had extremely strong physiques.

With full preparation, joining forces against an Advanced First-Rank Mechanically Modified Human, they had at least an eighty-percent chance of victory.

Even if they couldn't take it down, they could easily retreat unscathed.

The day after accepting the mission,

Lin Zichen and Song Yuyan set off lightly, heading to the location of their task.

Then, after three days of searching, they found their target and resolved it with ease.

The rewards were split fifty-fifty.

Lin Zichen received 500 academic credits.

...

Two weeks later.

After the pleasant experience of teaming up previously, Song Yuyan took the initiative to approach Lin Zichen one day, proposing to team up for missions to earn academic credits.

She had her eye on a mission to kill a member of the Divine Plant Cult.

The target was an elder of the Divine Plant Cult, a Genetic Integrator who had recently evolved to Advanced First Rank.

The two of them together could easily take him down,

and the task would be even easier than defeating the previous Mechanically Modified Human.

However, as soon as Lin Zichen heard the target was an elder of the Divine Plant Cult, he didn't even think twice before decisively declining.

He wasn't even considering missions related to Heretical Sects at this stage, fearing retaliation afterward.

Although his family was now settled in Shanhai University and under the protection of the school, the problem was that heretics were omnipresent. Who knew if there were heretics from the Divine Plant Cult inside Shanhai University?

Lin Zichen felt there probably were.

After all, he remembered the incident involving Lu Gang and Wang Shujie like it was yesterday and remained vigilant at all times.

...

PS: Begging for monthly and recommendation tickets!