Apocalyptic Gratitude Duck - Chapter 2

When Kexin woke up again, it was already the next morning. The sky was a dull gray, and a torrential rain poured down. Plants grew upward at a terrifying rate, and weeds overtook the yard. The lone cherry tree stood tall, clearly dominating this mutated landscape as it recklessly scattered seeds in all directions. The rustling of leaves rose and fell, accompanied by the relentless drumming of the rain.

Kexin pushed open the window and looked out. The courtyard walls were covered in newly sprouted cherry trees, their intertwined branches bursting with vitality as they effortlessly pierced through the steel-reinforced concrete and continued their upward growth.

Their home had been invaded by cherry trees!

In her previous life, she and her owner had awoken entangled in vines, nearly devoured by the cherry tree as sustenance. This time, she awoke earlier even before the newly sprouted trees had climbed beyond the first floor. Her owner remained unconscious, still in the throes of the mutation.

Kexin stretched her wings and flew from the windowsill to Qiao Yanyu’s side. She gently touched her owner’s face with her pale yellow beak, its warmth just slightly cooler than a duck’s body temperature, still within normal range. Yet Qiao Yanyu’s brows were furrowed, her body trembled faintly, and her lips were pale, suggesting she wasn’t feeling well.

Kexin thought for a moment, then dragged a blanket from the bed and covered her owner with it. She nestled against the crook of her owner’s neck, using her own body heat to warm her. This should make her warmer, Kexin thought.

Her owner’s body was soft and fragrant. After warming her for a while, Kexin’s little head began to droop with sleepiness. Little by little, she drifted into a sweet slumber.

Qiao Yanyu felt as if she had been trapped in an endless dream, a landscape of endless ice and snow, bitterly cold. Her feet were covered in deep frostbite, the wounds so severe they revealed white bone. Her stomach twisted with pain, almost numb from the spasms. She trudged through the icy sludge, each step faltering, the freezing slush slowly swallowing her. With her remaining hand clutching a wooden staff, she staggered forward aimlessly.

The only warmth in her body was her still-beating heart, where Kexin, with two broken legs, huddled in a tiny, trembling ball, unable even to cry out. She stopped, bit her fingertip, and as the warm blood welled up and froze into crimson frost, she carefully tucked it into Kexin’s duck-like beak. The icy frost slowly melted into thick, warm blood.

As the blood drained from her body, Qiao Yanyu’s face grew increasingly pale. Yet the small heart pressed against her chest began to revive, growing hotter and hotter, like a wildfire spreading across a plain. The scorching heat threatened to engulf her, enveloping her entire body in a wave of warmth. Lost in this overwhelming heat, she slowly tightened her arms, clutching Kexin close to her chest.

Kexin, suffocating under Qiao Yanyu’s tight grip, struggled to free herself. Only then did she notice Qiao Yanyu’s drenched forehead and how much worse her complexion had become.

Hastily, Kexin fanned Qiao Yanyu with her wings. Her wings now possessed far greater power; even the slightest flutter of their full plumage radiated a surge of energy.

But her exertion was too great. A fierce gust swept across Qiao Yanyu’s face, knocking over the already precarious red-glazed plum vase. It crashed to the floor with a shatter, scattering porcelain shards across the ground.

Kexin clutched her head, realizing she’d made a mess. “Quack!”

After a guilty moment, she saw that her owner remained unconscious, but her body was no longer trembling, and her furrowed brow had smoothed considerably. Kexin relaxed slightly.

A high-frequency buzzing suddenly filled Kexin’s ears—the sound of mutated bees approaching from a kilometer away. Her body had evolved, granting her extraordinarily sharp hearing. The arrival of the mutated bees meant the cherry blossoms on the cherry tree were beginning to bloom.

Blossoming cherry blossoms release massive amounts of sweet pheromones that attract all kinds of insects. Mutated bees are the most difficult to deal with; a single sting can range from poisoning to fatal.

To protect her master’s safety, she had to get rid of the cherry tree before the mutated bees arrived.

Kexin fluttered her wings and flew out the window, weaving through flowers and leaves until she reached the tree’s roots. She cleared away the concealing weeds and, without hesitation, slashed at the thick roots with her newly grown claws.

The roots were covered in moss, making them slippery under her claws. Undeterred, Kexin used her duck-like beak to scrape away a patch of moss. Aiming her claws at the exposed root, she swung down with all her might.

Claws met the resilient root with a crisp crack. In that instant, Kexin felt a searing pain shoot up her arm. It hurt terribly, but remembering her master, she didn’t hesitate to swing her claws again.

The claws swung with blurring speed, fresh blood mixed with fragments of broken nails splattering onto the ground. Before long, the cherry tree’s roots were reduced to a thin layer of bark.

During the early stages of mutation, not only animals and humans, but many plants also underwent terrifying transformations. Some plants produced dazzling treasures that could enhance the physical abilities of humans or animals.

However, other mutated plants developed extreme aggressiveness. The more powerful the mutated plant, the wider the hunting range it would later establish, with both humans and animals becoming its sustenance.

The current cherry tree was one such aggressively mutated plant, itching to kill this tiny, ant-like creature that dared to provoke it.

Sharp branches relentlessly pierced Kexin’s fluffy feathers, tiny pinhole wounds oozing blood across her wings. Some branches and leaves entangled around her body, trapping her completely.

Kexin, with a fierce and fearless determination, continued to slash at the tree roots with her sharp claws.

With her final, all-out strike, the root snapped with a crack. Deprived of its nutrient source, the cherry tree withered instantly, its blossoms rapidly wilting and falling.

Kexin shook her blood-stained wings, flinging off the withered branches, and in the process, sent nearby saplings flying out of the courtyard.

Having finished, Kexin stood under the eaves, her fluffy feathers dripping. She spread her wings, shook off the rain, and gently licked her bloodstained claws.

Her head soaked from the rain, Kexin recalled her owner’s words about being a clean duck. She retrieved a dedicated duck towel from the clothesline, rubbed her head against it, and dried off the moisture.

A series of faint noises came from behind. She turned and collided with a mutated rat, now several times its normal size, carrying a bag of rice as it emerged from the kitchen doorway.

What a narrow escape! How dare it steal her owner’s food! Kexin vibrated her wings and let out a fierce squawk.

The mutated rat’s whiskers trembled incessantly as it frantically dropped the sack of rice and scurried away, clutching its head.

The marble tiles were riddled with holes from the rat’s desperate burrowing, but Kexin darted forward like lightning. Her wings whipped up twin azure gusts, sending rows of tiles flying.

[Duck’s Rage Wind:] A basic skill for duck-type creatures, lasting ten seconds. It unleashes two powerful whirlwinds with a three-meter range. When both whirlwinds hit the same target simultaneously, they deal devastating damage.

The mutated rat weaved left and right, evading the whirlwinds. Anticipating its escape route, Kexin extended her sharp claws and seized it by the scruff of its neck, hoisting it into the air.

The rat squeaked in terror, its plump rear trembling uncontrollably.

“Don’t run!” Kexin growled menacingly. “Where do you think you can run, you rat?!”

The mutated rat hadn’t yet developed intelligence and couldn’t fully comprehend Kexin’s words. But its animal instincts recognized her overwhelming presence. Knowing it couldn’t fight, it froze in her grip, trembling violently.

Kexin knew this was an unintelligent mutated rat. Later, when she became the Mutated Beast King, she would have many such little minions. Though they couldn’t understand human speech, they understood her commands.

But what Kexin hated most was having her food stolen. This wretched rat was doomed!

Kexin’s sharp claws pierced the mutated rat’s thick skin with ease, and blood gushed from the wound.

Realizing death was imminent, the mutated rat began to thrash wildly, but Kexin’s claws gripped it tightly, leaving no room for resistance. The rat’s body twisted and convulsed in mid-air like a spinning glass ball.

As the mutated rat struggled violently, the objects hidden on its body began to fall out one by one.

Thud! A plump, round apple rolled from the mutated rat’s body.

“Huh?” Kexin’s eyes widened as she stared at the terrified mutated rat, her dark pupils slowly glowing with a dazzling light.

Claws still gripping the mutated rat’s fur, Kexin shook it vigorously.

Thud, thud, thud! A continuous stream of food tumbled from the mutated rat’s body.

A box of chocolates, a bucket of instant noodles, a pack of sausages, a hard-boiled egg, a bag of salt… A chaotic pile of food crashed to the floor, quickly forming a small mountain.

The Mutated Rat shrank into itself, trembling as it stared at Kexin. Its fur, now dull and lifeless, bore witness to its desperate, weathered state.

Kexin’s eyes curved with amusement. She paused briefly before shaking the rat again, causing another avalanche of food that formed half a second mountain.

The last large apple tumbled from the Mutated Rat’s body. The creature had long since given up struggling, its body was stiff and its eyes were vacant; such a pitiful sight.

Satisfied, Kexin retracted her claws, her heart brimming with the joy of a bountiful harvest. She swiftly gathered both mountains of food into her small warehouse. The 20-square-meter space was now half-filled. She waved her wings nonchalantly. “You can go now. But no more stealing my food, got it?”

The Mutated Rat, now clinging to its newly regained life, was in a daze. It cautiously poked its head out, took a small step forward, and only after confirming Kexin had entered the kitchen and wouldn’t return to grab it, dove back under the floor and fled at breakneck speed.

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