The Four-Legged Dragon ran between barren hills where the trees grew thin and scattered, while the dragon-claw pagoda tree pressed on — slow and steady — along valley, ridge, and summit.

The gale whipped the dust of the wasteland high into the air.

Shen Cong shadowed the pagoda tree a good while longer, until he was certain it had locked in its northwest heading. Only then did he return to the nameless hilltop, recall the Vajra Ants, and detour toward Laiwu City.

Around Yishui County, and onto the Changshen Expressway.

This was past the abundant zone now, and the barren zone made a threadbare sight — though thanks to today's wind, the Activity density was absurdly rich. Shen Cong's Vajra Ants, the larvae especially, were developing at a visibly accelerated clip. Growing by leaps, day over day.

"If the density holds at this level, sooner or later even the barren zones will turn into lush forest." Shen Cong could see it happening already: across the once-bald ground, countless little saplings were sprouting and shooting up — practically overnight.

Activity's stimulant effect on biological growth was simply that strong.

Barely a month into the apocalypse, Shen Cong had watched cockroaches mutate into gigantic digger bugs — a development process like watching a balloon inflate.

And after the great rains, ground lichen had claimed every barren hill in a single night.

No mystery to any of it. All Activity-driven.

The reason Oases boasted denser vegetation and richer species than anywhere else came down to two things: the Firestarter fragment's energy stimulating growth, and the sheer Activity concentration sending flora and fauna into runaway bloom.

"That should be Gaoqiao Town up ahead. A bit farther and I can turn onto the Qinglan Expressway."

An old hand at the wheel, Shen Cong handled the ruined expressway with practiced ease.

The scenery along the way — so different from Jiangsu and Anhui — made pleasant viewing. Trees of every strange and warped shape appeared at intervals, and now and then he came across jin fruit. A pity it was never a whole grove, and never…