Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

Most people, understandably, were reluctant to expose their precious purchases to someone else.

However, there were those who were willing to trust him—more accurately, they trusted the research institute—and agreed to let Lee Kang examine their cabbage.

These people hadn't had the rare ingredient for long, and they all cherished it deeply. When Lee Kang saw it, most of them still had more than half of it left.

That's when he noticed that the cabbages still had their roots attached.

Lee Kang was overjoyed!

Anyone with a bit of gardening experience knew that cabbage with roots could regrow!

Lee Kang immediately began collecting the cabbage roots.

The cabbage roots were also edible, and anyone who had taken a single bite of the cabbage could sense just how precious this ingredient was. Naturally, no one was willing to sell it, not even the cabbage roots.

Money was important, but was it more important than life?

Some people nearly chased Lee Kang out of their homes.

Fortunately, Lee Kang fully understood their mindset. He wasn't planning to purchase the roots with money. Instead, he made a different offer: once the cabbages regrew from the roots, two-thirds of the new crop would go to the root provider, while the research institute would keep one-third for further study.

In addition to that, Lee Kang would provide three tubes of nutrient liquid to the root provider.

The nutrient liquid was a refined extract made from various plants and animals, containing the essential nutrients needed by the human body. It was meticulously filtered to remove the mutagenic virus and was intended as a substitute for regular food.

Though the nutrient liquid was successfully produced and contained minimal amounts of the mutagenic virus—almost none—a single tube could sustain a person for two to three days.

However, the nutrient liquid couldn't be widely distributed.

It was far too expensive. Before the apocalypse, extracting and producing a substance that satisfied hunger wasn't a difficult task, but now, in this barren, ravaged world, the cost was astronomical.

Even more problematic was the filtering process to remove the mutagenic virus, which was the primary reason the price couldn't be lowered.

So, while consuming nutrient liquid was much better than eating directly from mutated plants and animals, only a small number of people could afford it.

Lee Kang had to offer three tubes of nutrient liquid per cabbage root by cutting into his own share.

Upon hearing these terms, some people thought it over and agreed.

After all, keeping the cabbage root for themselves would only lead to one outcome: eating it. Even if they rationed it carefully, it would only last a few more days at best. By giving it to Lee Kang, they could advance research while also benefiting themselves.

Still, not many people were willing to give their cabbage roots to Lee Kang. Some didn't trust his promise, even with a signed contract. Others didn't want to wait for the uncertain results later, preferring to hold onto what they already had.

In the end, Lee Kang received only three cabbage roots for the research institute, one of which was sent by the city lord after hearing that Lee Kang needed them.

However, even after receiving the cabbage roots, Lee Kang still hadn't dared to start planting them.

Growing new cabbage leaves from the roots was straightforward enough: simply bury the root in the soil, leaving a small portion exposed above ground. Water it normally, and soon, fresh leaves would start to sprout.

If soil wasn't available, the cabbage root could also be grown in water. As long as the root wasn't fully submerged, and with the addition of some nutrients to the water, the cabbage would soon sprout and grow.

Lee Kang knew all this, but he still couldn't bring himself to plant them.

These were perfectly normal cabbage roots without any trace of the mutation virus, and there were only three of them. The virus present in the soil and water couldn't be filtered out—once filtered, the soil and water became unusable.

If such soil and water were used to grow these cabbage roots, not only would they fail to produce the cabbage Kim Haru hoped for, but the roots themselves might become contaminated.

Now, those three cabbage roots were carefully stored by Lee Kang. Since he had plant-typr ability, it wasn't difficult for him to keep the cabbage roots alive and healthy.

As soon as Lee Kang heard Kim Haru ask for the cabbage roots, he immediately brought all three of them out.

"These are all of them. I didn't dare plant them, so what do you plan to do?" Lee Kang offered his lab freely for Kim Haru to use.

Kim Haru didn't need any complicated laboratory equipment. He took a virus detection tool and tested all the water and soil in the lab, finally selecting a bucket of water with the lowest mutagenic virus content.

"We'll use this—hydroponics. Can you do that?"

"Yes, yes, I can," Lee Kang nodded repeatedly, though he had some reservations. "But… is it really okay to use this water? Even though the mutagenic virus content is minimal compared to the others, viruses can spread. What if the cabbage absorbs it?"

Everyone else looked at Kim Haru with confusion as well.

"It won't," Kim Haru replied, confident in the system-grown cabbage. "It's been genetically modified."

Lee Kang's face instantly lit up with excitement. "Ah, I see! So that's the issue—it's a matter of the variety. As expected of Mr. Kim! You've solved the problem right at the source.

By modifying the cabbage from the seed itself, you've made it resistant to the virus. No matter what kind of soil or water it grows in, the results will be outstanding! I can't thank you enough, Mr. Kim. I'm certain that one day, your improved cabbages will be grown all over the world. You're our savior!"

Lee Kang could already envision these three cabbage roots growing into full cabbages, flowering and producing seeds.