Chapter 104: The Mighty Battle Plant

The enlarged Peashooter called out in a lively voice, “Hey, now I feel full of strength! Even if there’s a horde of zombies, I won’t be afraid. I’ll take them down one by one, knocking their heads off!”

Like the Sunflower before it, this battle plant emitted a radiant burst of light, flashing in all directions. Amidst the rotating white beams resembling a spotlight, it transformed into a card emblazoned with the Peashooter’s image.

“That’s it! Let the seeds sprout and grow under the sunlight, then transform... and you’ll receive all kinds of plant cards. Now, I’ll use this card...”

As the card vanished, a Peashooter appeared on the grass. It swayed cautiously, eyes gleaming with determination. “I don’t see any zombies yet, but I can’t rest. Zombies always attack when least expected. I must stay vigilant at all times!”

Dave laughed heartily, chattering excitedly, “How’s that? Isn’t it great? But remember, once you use a card to summon a battle plant, you can’t turn it back into a card. If you plant it where no zombies pass, it won’t have any power... Haha! That’s all I have to tell you for now. Next, I’ll plant some for you. We still have time before the zombies arrive.”

Wang Ling, who had played Plants vs. Zombies before, felt this resembled the “Zen Garden” from the game—cultivating plants, nurturing seedlings, and eventually growing mature plants. Only now, in this story world, there was the added feature of transforming them into cards.

Thinking this, Wang Ling asked, “Dave, do you know about the Zen Garden?”

“The Zen Garden? Sounds familiar...” Dave scratched the frying pan on his head, wearing a thoughtful expression. “Let me think... I remember there might be such a place... Hmm, I can’t quite recall if it really exists...”

The Dreamers exchanged glances. Unlike more common worlds like Street Fighter or Double Dragon, they had no prior intel on this one; all hidden elements were completely unknown. Suna, who also played the game, spoke up, “What about the Mushroom Garden, Water Pavilion, and Wisdom Tree? Do you remember those?”

“Hmm... familiar names...” Dave’s pupils darted erratically as he pondered for a moment, then he burst out laughing, “I forgot.”

Under the murderous stares of the group, this crazy man continued, “Relax, crazy Dave will never disappoint anyone... Give me some time, and maybe I can recall something...”

“Do you have any items for sale?” Wang Ling inquired further. He knew that in the game, Dave ran a shop selling “Crazy Dave’s fancy gadgets.” Though it was notoriously overpriced, it held many useful items.

“I once collected many good things, all stored in my car’s trunk... but I lost the keys. Without them, I can’t get to the stuff.”

“Just break open the trunk,” Castrol interjected.

“No way! That’s my beloved car!” Dave clenched his fists and glared fiercely at Castrol, shouting in a terrifying tone, “I absolutely forbid anyone from damaging my car! Otherwise, you’ll face... Crazy Dave’s wrath!”

After this exchange, Dave ignored the others and began burying seeds in the grass, watering and planting the flora.

Seeing nothing amiss, the six Dreamers retreated to the house base to rest. Wang Ling took out canned luncheon meat from his backpack, fetched a bucket of purified water from a nearby house, and found some biscuits and instant foods to share with the four summoned allies. The other five also ate some food they had gathered earlier.

After filling their stomachs, everyone, fatigued from battle, yawned endlessly. With no enemy Dreamers present yet, no infighting among their own, and no zombie assault underway, this house served as a safe haven. Seizing the rare chance, they all prepared to sleep briefly to restore their energy and spirit.

After more than three hours, Dave came in to wake everyone and handed out all the plant cards he had transformed. Wang Ling was delighted to find that from over fifty plants he had given earlier, he received back more than fifty cards!

Such a large collection included: 5 Sunflowers, 11 Peashooters, 2 Sunshrooms, 8 Puffshrooms, 1 Chomper, 5 Wall-nuts, 4 Lily Pads, 6 Fume-shrooms, 3 Corn Cob Cannons, 2 Cabbage-pults, 3 Potato Mines, 1 Cherry Bomb, 1 Doom-shroom, 1 Ice-shroom, 1 Hypno-shroom, and 2 Jalapenos.

All were one-time use cards. Sunflowers and Sunshrooms generated sunlight to speed plant growth but could not fight. Lily Pads floated on water, creating surfaces for planting.

Peashooters, Fume-shrooms, Puffshrooms, Corn Cob Cannons, and Cabbage-pults made up the bulk of basic combat plants. Each had 300 health points and dealt 20 base damage per shot—peas, liquid projectiles, poison spores, corn kernels, or cabbages respectively.

Unassuming Wall-nuts had no offensive power but boasted a staggering 4,000 health points, serving as impenetrable steel barriers.

The Chomper could swallow any non-elite, non-boss zombie but required time to digest. Potato Mines were underground bombs causing up to 1,800 base damage to zombies upon explosion. Against non-zombie creatures, damage dropped to one-twentieth—90 points.

The rarer explosive plants included Cherry Bombs causing 1,800 damage in a radius, Jalapenos dealing 1,800 fire-element damage over a linear area, and Doom-shrooms inflicting 1,800 damage in a radius while destroying surrounding terrain. These powerful bombs’ damage to non-zombie targets was also reduced to one-twentieth.

Wang Ling found Ice-shroom and Hypno-shroom most intriguing. Ice-shroom dealt 20 ice-element damage in a 10x10 meter area, freezing all freezable targets for 4 seconds and slowing them for 15 seconds. Against non-zombie foes, damage remained 20, but freeze lasted only 1 second and slow 5 seconds. Hypno-shroom could charm any non-boss creature to fight for the user for one hour.

Though all these cards were specialty items from the Plants vs. Zombies world, there was no restriction on taking them outside—meaning they could carry them forward.

Castrol and his group marveled at the cards, recognizing them as highly practical tools, though they wondered how many would remain after completing the world’s tasks.

Each of them received only about a dozen cards, mostly low-level combat plants like Peashooters and Puffshrooms. Wang Ling, with over fifty cards plus four rare plant seeds obtained after Gargantuar’s death, stood far ahead.

At that moment, the Dream Badge flashed a mission prompt:

“Mission Three: Starting at 8 AM tomorrow, for the next five days, repel Dr. Edgar’s zombie army attempting a full invasion of Plant Town. Defend the housing base at all costs. Additionally, enemy Dreamers will arrive at noon tomorrow.”

“Complete Mission Three successfully to finish all tasks in this world. Failure will result in annihilation.”

Hearing this, Wang Ling’s heart jolted, then he forced a bitter smile. “So it’s a defense mission after all... Looks like the tough battle is coming soon. We have to defend for five days with these plant cards—two days longer than I expected.”

Initially pleased with the useful plant cards, Castrol and the others’ faces fell upon hearing the length of the defense—five full days of intense combat, constant mental strain, and facing enemy Dreamers openly. Their expressions turned pale.

After handing out the cards, Dave returned to his adjacent house to sleep. The rest, having rested, had no mood to relax further and gathered to discuss the upcoming mission.

“It’s 9 PM now, eleven hours before the mission starts. The space won’t give us this blank time without purpose. I think this period is absolutely crucial.”

Wang Ling looked around at the frowning group and continued, “Here’s my take: There are few factions in this world... Essentially, Plants vs. Zombies can be seen as two opposing forces—plants and zombies.”

“I don’t know if this world has governments or armies, but since Dream Space left only Dave as the sole human in Plant Town, it likely wouldn’t create unrelated forces like governments or militaries to add extra storylines. So, we can’t rely on outside help here—only our own strength.”

“From what Dave said earlier, the Zen Garden, Mushroom Garden, and Water Pavilion probably exist. His forgetting might mean these hidden elements require specific conditions to unlock. Although we don’t know their purpose yet, I believe they will greatly aid our mission.”

“Also, Dave’s locked car must be a hidden quest! In the game, you need to find the car keys to open the trunk shop, which sells many items... Even top-tier plants like Spikeweed King, Winter Melon, and Corn Cannon cards might be sold there! We must unlock this shop!”

*Ugh, I slipped while copying and pasting... lost the entire chapter I had written and had to rewrite it... tears... So just one chapter today, but I’ll catch up with three chapters tomorrow. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.*

C