Chapter 45

Su Ci looked at the names of the three plants: Jade Snow, Ying Cui Beans, and Golden Taro.

Well, it’s confirmed, I don’t know any of them.

Su Ci put the three small bags of seeds down again and frowned slightly in distress.

Although he knew that these three plants were what he needed most at the moment, that was all he knew. He didn't know how to plant them so that they could take root, sprout, and grow better.

As for casting spiritual arts...

Su Ci's gaze fell on the withered vines of the Star Chain Fruit beside him. The scene of the wall of Star Chain Fruit withering in an instant was still vivid in his mind, and he couldn't help but shook his head.

Violating the laws of life's growth always comes at a price, big or small.

Regardless of the price, whether it is his soul power or the lifespan of these ordinary plants, it seems that it is not necessary to do so at the moment.

After all, Su Ci didn't even use his soul power to stimulate the growth of spiritual plant seeds that could reflect the spiritual energy of the earth. It was even more impossible for him to do such a thing of forcing the growth of these ordinary plants.

Let's use conventional methods to cultivate it for the time being, and then take shortcuts if it doesn't work.

But, how to do it?

It must be said that Su Ci gained a lot of knowledge during this visit to the plantation, and realized that humans do have their own unique ways of caring for plants.

At least during his time traveling around the world, he had never seen a cultivation technique that could allow so many varieties of crops to grow away from the land.

Of course, those induced by magic do not count.

Although these humans in the base had forgotten their ancestors after traveling around the universe, they still remembered the skill of eating very clearly and even developed it.

Even Su Ci was surprised that they could actually cultivate so many green plants on the current land, and there should be more than just the 24th base.

Although these plants do not grow from the soil, these creatures originate from the earth.

When they are active on this land, they are enriching the vitality of the land. This is also the most powerful weapon to fight against the death and resentment in the red fog.

Of course, this does not mean that Su Ci approves of their approach - the earth is the source of all things, and managing the land and restoring its vitality is the most correct way to clear the red fog and resolve resentment.

Using soilless cultivation is always a stopgap measure. The most important thing is land, so planting the three plants in front of him is a very important first step.

Thinking of what Gu Qingchen had just said on the communicator, Su Ci glanced at the communicator in his hand, thought for a moment, and tentatively said, "Call the base's intelligent brain."

As his voice fell, a light curtain suddenly appeared in front of Su Ci's eyes, and an emotionless electronic sound also rang out in the room.

"Hello, Su Ci, the trainee breeder at the nursery. How can I help you?"

Su Ci frowned slightly. He was just trying it out, but he didn't expect that he could actually summon out this thing called the Base Intelligent Brain.

This thing, I think it's called... an intelligent core? It's probably a very advanced puppet, at least much more advanced than a nanny robot, because it controls not just the robot's body, but the entire base.

If it wants, it can even control nanny robots like 4586.

Su Ci browsed the knowledge and information that emerged in his mind, and couldn't help but think, this kind of puppet is so smart and can manage such a huge base, can't it really be considered another form of life?

He looked at the light screen in front of him, thought for a moment, and asked, "Have you been watching me?"

"Hello, Trainee Keeper Su Ci. Adhering to the principle of fully respecting the privacy of base members, the base's intelligent computer will not record any footage within the member's dormitory unless emergency conditions are met."

The electronic synthesized sound is emotionless and has no ups and downs. It is very different from the voice of 4586 and sounds very businesslike.

Su Ci nodded. "So you will read it, but you won't record it for others to see. Is that what you mean?"

"Unless emergency conditions are triggered, the intelligent computer will not record any images inside the base members' dormitories." The intelligent computer repeated its previous answer.

Su Ci nodded. In other words, there were surveillance cameras in the dormitory similar to those in the lobby on the first floor of the logistics department, but they were not normally turned on. However... you could still watch them when you wanted to.

"Have I triggered any emergency conditions yet?"

"No."

“What exactly does emergency condition mean?”

"This includes, but is not limited to, monster invasions, personnel search and rescue, and dispatching commands from high-level authorities."

Simply translated, it is possible for someone to manually access the surveillance footage, but the other party must have the relevant permissions? Su Ci looked at the screen and said, "Are you looking at me now?"

"No."

"That's very rude of you."

“…”

The intelligent computer did not speak, but six dots appeared on the screen in front of Su Ci. It was unclear whether there was no answer option in the database or it was speechless.

Su Ci did not continue to tease the intelligent computer, but returned to the main topic.

"I want detailed information and planting methods for these three plants," he said, pointing to three small bags of seeds on the coffee table.

Even if the dormitory was really full of cameras, so what? Without his consent, no one could see anything - just like he had cultivated a piece of land in the yard and no one had noticed it so far.

Of course, being under such surveillance all the time does make it very inconvenient to do things.

Maybe I have to find a way to solve it later. The best thing would be... to let the base's intelligent core stand on his side and actively help him conceal it.

Su Ci touched his chin. This was indeed a bit difficult to do, mainly because he didn't yet understand the intelligent core, which was called high-tech by the human race.

But Su Ci believed that this would not be a problem for him, it was just a matter of time.

"Okay, please wait."

After Su Ci finished speaking, a beam of light swept across the three bags of seeds that Su Ci had picked out. "The plant seeds have been scanned. Their species names are: Jade Snow, Ying Cui Beans, and Golden Taro."

"Inquiries are ongoing..."

"Ding—the query results are as follows: Keeper Su, you are not a staff member of the breeding garden and do not have permission to access the relevant database. If you need an answer, you can consult the relevant personnel of the breeding garden."

"How else can I help you?"

Su Ci: “…”

He gave the intelligent computer screen a look that said "what's the use of you?" and then turned on the communicator.

Plantation, Zhuang Shisong's greenhouse.

Two fully armed figures wearing protective suits and gas masks walked out of the greenhouse. When the greenhouse door closed, the two took off their masks.

"The smell of garlic doesn't seem as strong as before?" After taking off his gas mask, Wei Ming took a deep breath and suddenly said.

The greenhouse was still filled with a strong smell of garlic. They had just come out of it and their bodies were inevitably contaminated by the smell, but compared to the pungent smell when he first entered, he felt he could accept it now.

even……

"Is there something wrong with my sense of smell? I actually think the smell of garlic is quite pleasant!"

Wei Ming couldn't help but fall into deep self-doubt.

He turned and looked through the glass at the plants in the greenhouse.

Originally, he and Zhuang Shisong planned to move all the plants out of the greenhouse and leave only that special little garlic sprout - after all, the garlic smell was too pungent, and they didn't know if it would harm other plants.

However, after observation, they found that after the garlic smell became stronger, the other plants in the greenhouse not only did not wilt, but grew better?

They had no choice but to call up the surveillance records and check the data, and then they found that it was not their illusion.

Amidst the strong, suffocating smell of garlic, the growth of other plants in the greenhouse was not negatively affected, but benefited from it!

In order to verify this, they didn't even have time to eat lunch, and they moved more than a dozen different plants from other greenhouses one after another. Then, after observation and comparison, they preliminarily confirmed this.

Whether it is because the strong garlic smell promotes the growth of other crops, or because the concentration of pollutants in the greenhouse is reduced to a very low level, needs further research.

But the current discovery alone is enough to make Wei Ming so happy that he is at a loss.

Just now, no trace of pollutants was detected in the entire greenhouse. This was enough to prove that this small garlic sprout was the purification plant they had always wanted!

Whenever he thought of this, Wei Ming smelled the rich smell of garlic, and he felt more and more excited, and more and more intoxicated.

“Ding Di——”

Zhuang Shisong, who was standing next to him, didn't have time to respond. He had just taken off his gas mask and protective suit when his communicator rang.

Because of the appearance of the suspected purification plants, Zhuang Shisong had not yet found the time to study the water source problem. When he heard the communicator ringing, he immediately remembered what the director had told him, and he hurriedly turned on the communicator to check.

However, he discovered that the person who contacted him was not the director of the breeding center, Wu Yunqin, but Su Ci, the trainee breeder at the nursery.

After seeing the content of the message sent by the other party, Zhuang Shisong could not help but be silent for a moment, and finally replied: [Okay, please wait a moment.]

Then he really started searching through the database.

Seeing that he was busy, Wei Ming did not disturb him, but continued to look through all the data of the garlic sprouts from the beginning of hydroponics to the present.

He tried to determine the time period when the small garlic sprout mutated and the factors that caused it to mutate, which would be of great help to their future research on purifying green plants.

After a while, Zhuang Shisong finally gathered all the information, packed it up and sent it to Keeper Su.

Although Keeper Su only asked about three of the plants, Zhuang Shisong still helped him find the information of all ten plants.

"Is it the director looking for you?" Wei Ming asked.

"No, it's breeder Su from the nursery." Zhuang Shisong said.

"Breedkeeper Su?" Wei Ming couldn't help but frowning when he thought of the breeder who stayed where he was and picked fruits with his bare hands when the plants mutated.

"What does he want you for?"

"He traded some seeds with me this morning and just asked me about the relevant planting methods, so I told him." Zhuang Shisong said truthfully.

"Huh? He doesn't know how to plant. Then what's the point of the seeds? Planting them for fun? Isn't that a waste of resources?" Wei Ming shook his head, and his impression of the breeder Su became even worse.

"He should have some basic knowledge."

Zhuang Shisong defended Su Ci, saying, "The three plants he just asked me about are all fertilizer crops. If planted in the land, they can effectively increase soil fertility."

Moreover, the other seven plants also have some effect in this regard, so he felt that the breeder Su should not be a complete novice in planting.

Wei Ming still insisted on his point of view.

"Even if he has the basics, this knowledge is not applicable on Prison Star, so in the end, he just wasted those seeds and fertilizers. Just like that Doctor Gu, you still played along with him!"

Gu Qingchen's talent in planting is so poor that he can't even do it properly even if he follows the tutorial. Zhuang Shisong can only scratch his head.

"But I have diseased plants that need to be purified, and Dr. Gu will be very dedicated to helping me. And if it weren't for Keeper Su, I might not have discovered this little garlic sprout until much later. By the time I discovered it, it might have already developed problems due to improper care."

Compared with purifying plants, it’s just some seeds, fertilizers, and related planting materials, which are all trivial matters.

Wei Ming was speechless.

The fact is indeed as Zhuang Shisong said, the plants in the greenhouse are very fragile. If the purification plants wither and die due to untimely discovery, it would be a huge loss.

But when he was asked to change his words, he felt suffocated.

In the end, he could only curl his lips and said angrily, "That Su Ci is just lucky. If he can finally grow something fruitful, I... I will personally come to his house to apologize to him!"

Zhuang Shisong didn't know what to say.

Although rationally, he also felt that without greenhouses and soilless cultivation equipment and technology, it would be difficult for Breeder Su to grow anything on Prison Star, but...

For some reason, the image of the young man standing still in front of the wall full of overgrown plants, and finally gently picking a star chain fruit, appeared in front of his eyes again.

Is it really just because he is brave that he has such confidence?

"Okay, let's not talk about Su Ci anymore. Let's continue studying the purification capabilities of the garlic sprouts," Wei Ming said. "Also, the question of its cultivation: should we maintain the same fertilizer and water usage as before? Are any adjustments necessary?"

Zhuang Shisong was attracted by his words and was about to express his opinion when he heard the communicator ringing again.

Keeper Su: Thank you.

He took a quick glance and was about to close it when he saw a second message coming from the other party.

Keeper Su: [Also, the ability of that little garlic sprout in the greenhouse might not be purification.]

Looking at this sentence, Zhuang Shisong was stunned.

Then, a flash of inspiration suddenly came to his mind. He hurriedly seized the inspiration at this moment and had no time to reply. Instead, he snatched the greenhouse data panel from Wei Ming's hand and quickly flipped through it.

"Shisong, what's wrong with you? Have you found anything?" Wei Ming asked.

Then, he saw Zhuang Shisong's speed of flipping through the book gradually slow down, but his eyes became brighter and brighter. He said, "Wei Ming, we were wrong. The ability of this mutant garlic sprout is not purification!"

"What is that?" Wei Ming looked confused.

However, Zhuang Shisong did not answer him. He rushed back to his laboratory, ready to prove his conjecture through experiments.

Nursery, Room 303.

Looking at the documents that Zhuang Shisong had packed and sent to him, Su Ci nodded with satisfaction.

This human was quite nice. He had only asked about three kinds of plants, but he hadn't expected him to send all of them to him. He didn't mind returning the favor and helping him avoid some detours.

As for whether he listens or not, it is not his business.

Su Ci opened the file and looked at it carefully. He read it quickly, barely glancing at it before he understood and memorized the text. By the time he finished reading, the relaxed and cheerful expression on his face had faded.

He didn't expect planting to be so troublesome.

The seeds of these ten plants have different suitable growth temperatures, suitable sowing time periods, required fertilizer amounts and light duration, etc.

Moreover, in Zhuang Shisong's data, the control of these indicators is very precise, even accurate to the second.

After reading it, Su Ci couldn't help but feel deeply puzzled. Was it so troublesome for humans in the past to grow crops?

The most troublesome thing is that many of the knowledge points mentioned in the materials are basically not applicable to him as he currently has limited resources.

There are even fewer aspects about soil cultivation. Most of it is Zhuang Shisong's insights and experience in soilless cultivation. This knowledge is valuable, but not suitable for Su Ci.

Of course, it cannot be said to be useless.

Su Ci stood up and walked to the kitchen. He picked out ten empty cans left over from previous meals, put them all in the dishwasher to wash and dry, then took out three, filled them with spiritual water, and threw the three bags of seeds in to soak.

Finally, he placed the can of soaked seeds next to the can of soil.

They were originally placed in a row, but Su Ci took a look and adjusted their positions so that the clay can was in the middle, and the other three were placed around it, like stars surrounding the moon.

I don’t know if it was because it felt the pressure, but the little spirit, whose slogans were becoming increasingly weaker, suddenly became louder.

"Long! Long! Long, long, long!"

The huge momentum seemed to be about to break the skin in the next second - but of course it didn't break.

However, feeling the anxiety conveyed in its consciousness, as if it was exerting all its strength to grow longer, Su Ci curled his lips in satisfaction.

That's the right thing to do.

A Yan, who was originally practicing the divine text seriously, couldn't help but be attracted by the voice of the little spirit seed. He looked over here and found that three cans had appeared on the table at some point.

When his spiritual consciousness swept over, he saw the seeds floating in the water.

Although their expressions were not as clear as those of the small spiritual seeds, A Yan could still feel that the seeds of these ordinary plants were releasing emotions of joy and happiness.

Just like what he felt in the plantation, it was full of vitality and vigor.

Then……

Su Ci stretched out his finger and flicked it lightly in the air.

A Yan's consciousness returned instantly, and the breeder's finger seemed to flick on his forehead, causing him to subconsciously raise his hands to cover his head.

Feeling the figure approaching, A Yan quickly withdrew his hand and sat up straight.

He wanted to continue writing, but Su Ci reached out and picked up the notebook in front of him. The child only wrote three words, but the charm contained in these three words was richer than the other.

By the last one, it was infinitely close to a real divine text.

Although Su Ci has already raised his opinion of A Yan, this little guy always surprises him.

He originally gave A Yan half a month, but in the end, the child was estimated to have learned and mastered the first divine text in less than three days. Then, Su Ci lowered his brows and saw A Yan's uneasy expression as if he had done something wrong, and his expression softened.

Her fingertips touched his forehead, gently stroking the spot where he had just flicked her.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

A Yan shook his head. Actually, it hurt, but for him who was enduring severe pain all the time, this little pain was nothing.

He picked up a pen and wrote a line on the notebook:

I shouldn't have been distracted just now, I'm sorry.

Looking at the child's obedient appearance of admitting his mistake, Su Ci pursed his lips and suddenly couldn't help but reflect on himself, wondering if he was a little too harsh on A Yan.

"Just be more careful next time."

Su Ci patted the child's head and said, "Since you are not concentrating, take a break. Do you want some fruit?"

A Yan blinked and looked up, only to see the breeder flip his hand and a bright red star chain fruit appeared in his palm - it was the fruit that the breeder had picked in the plantation!

A Yan, who was originally in a low mood, was immediately distracted. He looked at the Star Chain Fruit with bright eyes. Although he really wanted to taste it, but...

"Go wash it." Su Ci placed the Star Chain Fruit on A Yan's desk.

A Yan immediately stopped hesitating. He excitedly picked up the fruit, which was a little big for him, ran to the kitchen, put the fruit under the faucet, and washed it carefully.

The Star Chain Fruit is not dirty, and its skin is bright red. After all, it is a gift to the spirit of the earth, so it is naturally of excellent quality. After being washed with spiritual water, the surface is glistening with water droplets, and it looks as beautiful as a spiritual fruit.

Spiritual fruit?

A Yan blinked, feeling a little confused because of this strange yet familiar word, but he quickly put the doubt behind him. After turning off the water, he flashed back to Su Ci.

"Um!"

He held the fruit in both hands, and his short baby voice was crisp and cute.

Su Ci reached out to take it, touched the child's head in appreciation, and then split the Star Chain Fruit into two halves.

The ripe fruit has thin skin and thick flesh, and is plump and juicy. The flesh itself is petal-shaped, separated by layers of shallow membranes. It is crystal clear and you can see black seeds embedded in the middle.

Su Ci waved his hand, and a dozen seeds flew out and landed in the empty can on the coffee table.

"Eat it."

Su Ci generously handed half of the fruit flesh to A Yan, then walked to the coffee table and put away the dead vines on it.

A Yan held the Star Chain Fruit in his hand and looked at the breeder stupidly. Finally, he opened his mouth obediently and took a small bite of the fruit flesh.

The sour and sweet aroma of the juice immediately spread throughout his taste buds. The soft and spongy texture was like walking on clouds, a wonderful taste that Ayan had never experienced before.

So delicious!

A Yan couldn't help but look at Su Ci, but the young man's figure disappeared in the dormitory at some point.

The joy of tasting the delicious food suddenly disappeared, and A Yan subconsciously released his spiritual consciousness, but soon he found the breeder in the yard of the nursery.

A Yan quickly put the remaining fruits into the space button, then flashed outside and saw the breeder squatting next to the exposed land.

He was putting the few pieces of Star Chain Fruit vines he had collected into the extra pit next to the small spirit seed.

Looking at the slightly moist soil, it must have just been dug out by the breeder.

Is the breeder going to bury them? A Yan thought of the three withered Star Chain fruit trees. They... should be dead, right?

Thinking of the green vines on the wall quickly withering and falling, A Yan couldn't help but feel sad in his dark red eyes.

So, are the keepers saying goodbye to them?

A Yan came to Su Ci and squatted down with the breeder.

If possible, he really hoped that these plants would not die. They loved the breeder as much as he did, and they could also produce many fruits for the breeder to eat...

At this time, A Yan tilted his head slightly, and his attention was involuntarily attracted by the breeder's hand.

The hand, as perfect as a work of art, emitted a faint golden glow and drew a simple yet mysterious gesture in the air. The handsome young man's calm face also seemed to have a bit more divinity.

"A dead tree finds spring."

Along with this ethereal sound, the fingertips of that hand lightly touched the dry vine.

With the young man's light touch, the originally rotten and withered Star Chain Fruit Vine slowly showed a little green in A Yan's surprised eyes.

The green started from the young man's fingertips, slowly but firmly, and began to spread around.

A miracle also happened at this moment.

The rotten wood that was willing to give everything for the gods and was not afraid of withering and dying finally received the response of the gods and welcomed the spring that belonged to them again.

The green spread little by little, from the surface into the dead vines, and the vine stems became plump and moist again, until all the dead vines turned green again. The faint light emitted from Su Ci's hand also disappeared at this time.

A Yan looked at the pieces of star chain fruit vines, his eyes filled with surprise and admiration.

Su Ci withdrew his hand, but sighed softly in his heart.

Although the fruit vines regained their vitality, the effectiveness of this magic was still greatly reduced by previous standards.

The current Star Chain Fruit has not yet fully revived.

He took the tools and buried all the vines halfway into the soil, then evenly poured spiritual water on them, hoping that the spiritual energy in the water could help these star chain vines.

Only when the fruit vines grow roots can they truly recover their vitality, and at that time, they may have another chance of success.