Chapter 65: Little Sweet Potato
A week later, the vegetation in the villa district was mostly cleared, leaving only the houses standing alone in the white snow.
First thing in the morning, everyone received their backpacks from Luna Dawson.
They were filled with three days of rations, two 500-milliliter bottles of spirit spring water, and ten Crystal Cores. Everyone shouldered a pack, just in case.
The whole family was heading out today, planning to make the most of their time collecting Crystal Cores.
Luna Dawson took Little Sweet Potato out of her space and held it to her chest.
"Let me introduce you all. This is Little Sweet Potato, a mutated and evolved sweet potato."
She had wanted to introduce it to everyone for a while, but Little Sweet Potato had been dormant for a long time and only woke up in the last two days.
Everyone gathered around, curiously sizing up the large sweet potato.
"So this is that blood-sucking sweet potato you guys were talking about?!"
Aaron Palmer yelled dramatically, finding it hard to accept that a plant could actually suck blood.
"Potato, suck blood."
Little Sweet Potato mimicked Aaron Palmer.
"Huh!"
"Holy shit!"
"Auntie, it can really talk!"
Little Sweet Potato’s words made them all jump out of their skin.
Miles Dawson looked at everyone and howled, "See! See! You all get freaked out in broad daylight. Just imagine! The mall was pitch-black, the floor was covered in bodies it had killed, and it kept mimicking our voices. It was super terrifying!"
"I... good..."
Little Sweet Potato was trying its best to defend itself.
Kevin Keane leaned over to get a closer look. "No, it’s actually pretty cute."
Miles Dawson looked utterly bewildered, staring at Kevin Keane as if he’d seen a ghost.
As soon as Rollo saw Little Sweet Potato, he ran over, bouncing excitedly.
Little Sweet Potato extended its small vine toward Rollo’s head, and they sniffed each other.
The two of them often hung out together in the space. When Little Sweet Potato was asleep, Rollo would occasionally go over and give it a few licks.
Hector was overjoyed. "It’s very well-behaved! It doesn’t drink blood as long as it has water to drink!"
Luna Dawson put on the air of the Big Bad Wolf coaxing Little Red Riding Hood. "Little Sweet Potato, I have a mission for you: guard the house. Don’t let any bad guys in, okay? You’re the only one who can protect our home."
"Okay. Come in, kill."
It spoke terrifying words in a childish voice.
Kevin Keane gently pinched its little leaf. "You’re a fierce one, little guy."
Lynn Shelby was also quite interested. "This thing can really kill people?"
Meanwhile, hearing that Little Sweet Potato was to stay home, Rollo licked it nonstop, showing how much he’d miss it.
Then, one of Little Sweet Potato’s vines curved toward its own body, and its little leaves wrapped around a fruit, plucked it off, and offered it to Rollo’s mouth.
Luna Dawson’s eyes lit up. "It likes Rollo! Eating its fruit can enhance superpowers."
Everyone: "?!?!"
The moment she finished speaking, everyone snapped their heads to look at her in unison.
Luna Dawson coughed dryly. She had forgotten all about this and hadn’t gotten around to telling everyone. Then, with a hint of mischievousness, she changed the subject.
"It used to suck blood, you know..."
Miles Dawson was so angry he wailed, "Did you forget? Or were you just keeping it all for yourself?!"
Luna Dawson gave him a rap on the head and retorted, "I did not! Little Sweet Potato gives Evolution Fruits to whoever it likes. I’m not exploiting it."
While the two bickered, Rollo swallowed the fruit in one gulp.
He scarfed it down without a single chew.
A moment later, Rollo transformed directly into his evolved form. Small whirlwinds gathered under his four paws, lifting him about half a meter off the ground.
Everyone’s eyes went wide as saucers, their gazes fixed fervently on Little Sweet Potato.
Little Sweet Potato seemed to shy away, shrinking back into its main body. Its two little leaves peeked out from behind, secretly watching everyone.
Seeing the group about to pounce like a pack of hungry wolves, Luna Dawson quickly explained.
"You guys are looking at it too scarily! If you want a fruit, you have to earn it."
Because of that one sentence, everyone started fawning over Little Sweet Potato, taking turns trying to curry favor.
Kevin Keane’s fingertip hovered above a small purple leaf. His gaze shifted between the fruit and the vine twice before he clicked his tongue. "No wonder tens of thousands of zombies swarmed the mall. The source was this Evolution Fruit all along."
The delicate little purple leaf suddenly came to life, slowly twining itself up his finger.
The pale white tip of the vine, like a curious little head, straightened up and swayed before Kevin Keane’s eyes, then brushed his cheek with its little leaf.
With a "MUAH!", Little Sweet Potato gave Kevin Keane a peck.
Everyone: ???
Kevin Keane: ?!
Lynn Shelby, enjoying the drama, chimed in, "I want a kiss too~"
The funniest part was that the little leaf, as if embarrassed, actually curled up halfway, just enough to cover half the vine’s tip. The way it tried to hide looked exactly as if it were afraid of people seeing it "blush."
"Handsome, hmm."
Little Sweet Potato suddenly murmured in its soft, mushy voice.
Kevin Keane froze for two seconds before it dawned on him. ’Was I just hit on by a sweet potato?’
He immediately raised his hand and flicked the little leaf. "Hey, hey, hey, little guy, you’re taking advantage of me."
Across from him, Luna Dawson let out a "PFFT" and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Haha!"
The others couldn’t hold it in any longer and all burst out laughing together.
Before their laughter had even died down, the round little sweet potato swayed its vine.
It plucked a plump Evolution Fruit from its leafy cluster and, dragging the vine, held it up to Kevin Keane’s mouth with an air of intimacy and insistence.
"Holy crap!"
Miles Dawson couldn’t help but let out a low cry.
The others’ eyes widened in disbelief too!
Their smiles vanished instantly. Aaron Palmer’s face was a mask of incredulous surprise. "It works like that? Purely based on looks!"
A smile played on Kevin Keane’s lips. He spread his hands and said, "Hey, not laughing anymore? Go on, keep laughing."
Aaron Palmer spat. "You’re just selling your looks! Watch, I can get a fruit too."
After speaking, he hip-checked Kevin Keane, who was taking the Evolution Fruit, to the side and flashed a wide, eight-toothed grin at Little Sweet Potato.
Kevin Keane wasn’t angry. He casually tossed the Evolution Fruit into his mouth and began to chew, the series of movements effortlessly cool. "Go on, be jealous."
The sweet, soft, and chewy texture instantly melted on his tongue. It was dense and smooth, without any trace of pulp or astringency.
It was so delicious that his eyes widened unconsciously, and even his eyebrows lifted in surprise.
As soon as the flesh of the fruit entered his stomach, a warm energy quickly spread out, radiating from his lower abdomen to every limb and bone.
This energy actually surged toward the meridians in his body that carried his superpower!
The meridians, which had been somewhat thin and occasionally felt sluggish when he channeled his superpower, were now being gradually widened and reinforced by the nourishment of the warm energy.
The slight feeling of blockage completely dissipated, and the inner walls of the meridians felt as if they had been polished smooth.
The thunder superpower within him seemed to have been summoned, and it began to surge wildly.
It flowed rapidly through the widened meridians, each cycle smoother than the last. The energy fluctuations were several degrees stronger than before, clamoring to break free from the shackles of his body and erupt outwards.
Kevin Keane quickly focused his mind, guiding the restless thunder energy to circulate steadily through his meridians, feeling an unprecedented sense of fullness and power in his body.
"How is it?"
"Any changes?"
The group asked all at once, their voices overlapping. After all, every one of them was obsessed with getting stronger.
Kevin Keane glanced at everyone with a smile. A Thunder Snake shot from his palm toward the sky, and it was as thick as the mouth of a bowl!
Luna Dawson’s brow twitched as she watched.
’That’s no First Order Thunder System. It’s clearly more powerful than someone else’s Second Order superpower!’
Seeing this, the group immediately formed a circle and squatted down in front of Little Sweet Potato, begging it to open its eyes and take a good look at them...
"Kiss me!"
"Look at me!"
Luna Dawson almost died laughing. "I’ll give you ten minutes to work your charms. After ten minutes, we get in the car and leave."
The family was already boisterous so early in the morning, filling the courtyard with lively chaos.