Chapter 113 A Ruthless Playboy Who Steals from His Family's Troops
"Eat? Absolutely! You promised me this a long time ago." Mortilan grinned innocently.
"Oh, by the way, I have a name, it's Bai."
When I was a child, I was diagnosed with ice-type superpowers. My mother said that in ancient mythology there was an extremely powerful S-class ice-attribute divine beast called the White Bird.
She named me Bai, hoping that I would one day break through the tenth-level barrier and become a legendary S-class ability user.
Mortilan spoke with utmost seriousness, and Matt couldn't help but mentally exclaim in admiration: "The master is amazing! He makes up stories so naturally that you can't tell they're fake at all!"
In fact, Matt didn't know that when his mother was still alive, the name Mortilan Shield was only recorded in the family tree, and his family called him by his nickname - White.
After his mother passed away, he no longer allowed others to call him by his childhood nickname, because he felt that the name Bai was given to him by his mother and that others were not worthy to call him that.
"Bai? I like this name. It's simple, easy to remember, and sounds nice! I'll call you Xiaobai from now on. Oh right, I'll change your nickname to Xiaobai right now!" Zuo Shan felt increasingly warm towards you.
Zuo Shan had never heard of the mythical beast, the White Bird, before. It didn't exist in the mythology of Earth.
Modilan Shield was somewhat dissatisfied: What the heck is "Little White"? Why is there a "Little" in front of his name?
After exchanging pleasantries, Zuo Shan generously took out three chestnuts, roasted them in front of them, and then gave one to each person.
Mina and Matt had been drooling over the aroma of roasted chestnuts for a while. When Zuo Shan handed them the chestnuts, they both looked at the adult. When the adult nodded, they carefully took the chestnuts and quickly put them in their mouths.
"Oh dear! Don't rush! You have to peel it before you can eat it." As Zuo Shan said this, Mina had already chewed a piece of chestnut shell along with the chestnut meat, and since she couldn't bear to spit it out, she continued to chew and swallow it.
Then she saw Matt and her family calmly and elegantly peel open the chestnut shells and eat them in large bites, seemingly slowly but actually quickly.
However, because Zuo Shan distributed the roasted chestnuts to them impartially, giving each of them one chestnut, their impression of her improved considerably.
In the past, when those people didn't know their identities but wanted to curry favor with the adults, they only had eyes for the adults and treated them, the followers, as if they were invisible.
Later, as they gradually came to understand their importance, they would only show them a respectful expression when they wanted to use them to get in touch with adults.
But the pregnant woman who was scavenging was different. In her eyes, the three of them seemed to be equal people, without any difference.
She showed neither obsequiousness towards adults nor contempt for them.
While the three of them were eating roasted chestnuts, Zuo Shan remembered the purpose of their trip and suddenly recalled that Xiao Bao had picked a mutated poppy flower on the road earlier.
It was a vibrant, deep red flower, blooming exceptionally beautifully, breathtakingly so.
Ever since he first picked chive blossoms and ghost thorn vine flowers in the Ghost Thorn Forest and gave them to her, seeing how happy she was, Xiao Bao always likes to pick a few pretty flowers and give them to her whenever he comes across them.
It has now learned from Zuo Shan to store fresh flowers in its space first, and then put them in a bamboo tube filled with water when it gets back, which can keep the flowers fresh for several days.
Zuo Shan had a good impression of Xiao Bai and was very willing to help him, so he took a burlap sack and rummaged through it haphazardly.
With such a powerful presence around, Xiao Bao was worried and stayed close to her at all times. Zuo Shan seized the opportunity to say, "Xiao Bao, where's that pretty flower you picked today? Give it to your sister."
Xiao Bao touched his belly with his little paws, took out the beautiful poppy flower that was the size of a bowl, and then, using the burlap sack as cover, casually took the flower in his hand.
"I've heard people say this flower is poisonous, that its poison is hallucinogenic." Zuo Shan handed the poppy to Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai casually stuffed the flower into Matt's hand. Matt took out a delicate, small device resembling a flashlight from his spatial button, pressed the switch, and a needle popped out and pierced a petal.
Soon, the news broadcast inside read: "Plant composition analysis results: Angiosperms, Dicotyledons, Papaverales (pre-cataclysmic plants)."
They were on the verge of extinction during the Great Cataclysm, and there have been no related records for three hundred years.
The seeds of this plant are rich in toxins such as morphine and codeine, and long-term use can lead to addiction and seriously affect health.
This plant's flowers have hallucinogenic effects, which are even stronger after mutation. It can be used to formulate hallucinogens to combat mutated animals, but it must never be used on ordinary people.
"Poppy?! A plant from before the Great Cataclysm? The legendary king of hallucinogens, which was said to be extinct?" Matt's hands started trembling with excitement, as did Mina's.
Although Xiao Bai was also pleasantly surprised, he didn't show it too obviously. Zuo Shan automatically filled in the blanks in his mind: Xiao Bai is just a playboy who doesn't care about worldly affairs, so he probably doesn't know much about these things.
But in any case, these poppies should be what they need, and Zuo Shan felt gratified that they could help Xiao Bai.
"Xiao Bao, I really like this flower. Do you remember where I picked it? Can you take us there?" Zuo Shan waved the flower in front of Xiao Bao.
The hallucinogenic properties of poppies require specially extracted agents to be effective. The flowers themselves must bloom in an entire field of poppies at the same time for them to have a hallucinogenic effect.
Zuo Shan didn't think about hiding Xiao Bao at this moment, because Xiao Bai and the others appeared so suddenly that there was no time to hide them.
Now that they've discovered Xiao Bao, Zuo Shan can only gamble on Xiao Bai's luck.
Besides, the two superhumans with him also look very powerful. They probably wouldn't stoop to steal her baby, right?
While Zuo Shan was still hesitating about how to leave the flower wall, Mina conjured up a tornado and sent everyone outside the flower wall.
Xiao Bai didn't ask how they got in, nor did his two attendants. It seemed they intended to respect her privacy, which pleased Zuo Shan.
After leaving the flower wall, Xiao Bao led them on a leisurely stroll (actually, he kept sniffing the air) and soon found the mutated poppy.
Its plant is not very tall, only a little over two meters, which is considered "petite" among mutant plants. Xiao Bao picked the best-looking one, and there are still three or four left.
Some of the flowers had gaps on their petals from insects, while others had already bloomed and their petals were withered. Zuo Shan, with her sharp eyes, spotted a dozen or so small, winter melon-shaped poppy pods, each about the size of a fist.
Mina and Matt didn't actually know much about this plant. All their knowledge of poppies came from the broadcast of the instrument earlier, so they didn't know that the ugly-looking green fruit contained poppy seeds.
Zuo Shan plucked a poppy pod to keep as a memento, and Matt and the others immediately followed suit, picking the remaining poppies and storing them in their spatial storage.
Matt marked the spot, planning to report back to the family and have them send agricultural experts to dig up the entire plant and transplant it using a planting box.
Xiao Bai stood by and watched, and after they finished their work, he glanced at Matt indifferently and said, "According to family tradition, how much should we reward someone like Miss Zuo who provided precious medicinal plants?"
Matt: ...
In such situations, family members usually trick scavengers or low-level ability users into buying the information at a very low price. They then bring the precious plants back to the family and exchange them with Lord Augustine for highly effective potions to enhance their abilities.
But what can he do when an adult asks him that question?
"The reward is usually between 100,000 and 1 million silver coins, depending on the amount of contribution," Matt said carefully. He dared not say too much or too little, and could only use the highest reward amount outside the 40th district as the upper limit.
"Huh? So much? I can't take it, Xiaobai. We're so close, I can't really take advantage of you!" Zuo Shan declined.
She certainly knew that friendships couldn't be exhausted all at once. With Xiaobai as a friend, she might be able to get important inside information from him in the future.
"How can I refuse? It's the family's money anyway, and I don't have to pay out of my own pocket. You can even treat me to a meal later if you take the money!" At this moment, Xiao Bai showed the image of a spoiled brat who would not hesitate to poach family members.
Matt: ...
Mina: ...
“Then… go for the maximum!” Matt tried hard to keep his shoulders from shaking as he laughed out loud, while Mina turned her back and squatted behind a bush, her body shaking as she suppressed her laughter.
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