Chapter 9 She was blasted to a crisp.
Along the way, most of the bushes showed signs of being cut, indicating that scavengers had swept through the area yesterday or even earlier.
The left fan then stopped and continued forward.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, she came to a three-way intersection. Not knowing which way to choose, she asked Mao Li, "Which way do you feel the energy fluctuations are stronger?"
"The energy fluctuations on both sides are below 10 points, so there's no energy crystal you're looking for," Mao Li replied listlessly.
He was utterly disappointed along the way. The radiation levels on this planet, both in the soil and the plants, were far beyond the standard. By his standards, it was an uninhabitable planet that should have been abandoned and turned into a garbage dump long ago.
Yet, this planet is home to approximately 1.5 billion people. It's truly baffling how these people manage to survive.
Just like his newly minted young master, even without conducting a health check on her, he could tell that she was severely malnourished and in poor health.
However, he was powerless to change this situation, and even less able to take her away from this planet to those habitable planets he knew, so that they could live the life that normal intelligent beings should live.
Unable to get an answer from Mao Li, Zuo Shan simply picked up a stone from the ground, turned his back and threw it behind him, then asked Mao Li, "Was the stone I just threw closer to the left intersection or the right intersection?"
"Master, why are you asking such a meaningless question?" Mao Li asked, puzzled.
"This is called following the will of Heaven, understand? We'll choose the path that's closer to the stone," Zuo Shan said.
“Master, what you are doing has no scientific basis whatsoever,” Mao Li retorted.
"Has anyone ever told you this truth? The end of science is metaphysics!" Zuo Shan said.
"No, Mao Li has never seen this sentence in any book," Mao Li said earnestly.
"Well, then you're really ignorant." Zuo Shan said to him without any qualms.
Ignoring the cat's eyes that kept circling around, she ultimately chose the left path because the stone was closer to the left intersection.
As a mechanical being who chooses his behavior pattern based on scientific data and after careful analysis, Mao Li couldn't understand her choice at all. But as a loyal servant, he still firmly perched on her shoulder and followed her.
Zuo Shan walked along this unknown path for more than an hour, but Mao Li still couldn't detect any plants or minerals with an energy value exceeding 10. He felt more and more that his master was too willful and acted entirely on his feelings.
Just as he was thinking that even if it displeased his master, he would try his best to stop her irresponsible behavior, he suddenly detected an unusual energy fluctuation.
"Master, Mao Li has detected a significant energy fluctuation at point 98 ahead. Preliminary assessment suggests it's an energy stone. Please speed up!" Mao Li excitedly jumped on Zuo Shan's shoulder.
Upon hearing that there were energy stones ahead, Zuo Shan immediately took off running, sprinting at top speed to the designated location.
Mao Li leaped down and stretched out a paw to fiercely scratch the ground.
Seeing the sparks flying from the violent collision of metal, Zuo Shan quickly took out the scavenging hoe he always carried with him and said with a pained expression, "Mao Li, let's use this to dig, don't hurt your paws."
“Master, you must have a misunderstanding about the toughness of our mechanical race’s bodies, right? Let alone blue uranium stone with a hardness of 15, I can even cut through purple gold uranium stone with a hardness of over 50.” Mao Li raised his neck high, like an elegant and noble real cat.
Just five minutes later, Mao Li dug out a basketball-sized piece of ore from the ground, then quickly cut it open and finally dug out a beautiful sapphire the size of a baby's fist from the center.
This sapphire is like the finest deep blue silk, subtly radiating a brilliance more noble than pearls and more dazzling than diamonds.
"The energy value inside this blue uranium stone has been detected to be 325 points, which is considered an ungraded energy stone." Mao Li's tone was full of disdain.
Zuo Shan had never seen such a beautiful sapphire before, and couldn't help but reach out to touch it. The moment her fingertips touched the blue uranium stone, she felt a warm current flow from her fingertips into her palm.
The warm current continued to flow through her body, eventually reaching her lower abdomen.
In just over ten seconds, the light visibly emitted by the blue uranium stone dimmed considerably.
"Chestnut, it, it, why has it turned dark? What happened?" Zuo Shan asked in a panic.
Mao Li reminded him from the side, "Master, have you never absorbed an energy stone before?"
"This is the first time I've ever seen an energy stone," Zuo Shan said honestly.
"If this is your first time absorbing an energy stone, I suggest you stop immediately. This is because the chestnut hasn't tested you yet and doesn't know how much energy your body can hold at once. If it exceeds the limit, your meridians will be severely damaged."
As she spoke, Mao Li suddenly pulled her claws back, forcibly separating the blue uranium stone from her fingertips.
"Upon testing, this blue uranium stone has a remaining energy value of 105 points. You absorbed a total of 220 energy points this time," Mao Li said after testing the blue uranium stone again.
"What? In just a short while, I absorbed two-thirds of this energy stone? This is such a waste!" Zuo Shan was heartbroken.
As she searched through the original owner's memories, she belatedly realized that she had once seen information about the purchase price of energy stones in the mission hall of District 50.
In this wasteland world, the value of silver coins is determined by energy points, meaning that the official price is 1 point of energy equals 10 silver coins.
However, this is only the official price. Many gene warriors will buy energy stones at high prices, with an average purchase price of 12 silver coins for every 1 energy point.
So, in just those few seconds, she absorbed a total of 2,640 silver coins.
"Waaah! Heavens! What terrible things have I done?! I've just absorbed 2,640 silver coins like that!" Zuo Shan cried, feeling like she had wasted a fortune!
"Master, please take a closer look and see if there's anything unusual about your body," Mao Li said.
"Abnormal? No! I just felt a warm current flow into my lower abdomen, and then nothing happened." Zuo Shan carefully sensed it and shook his head.
"Flowed to the lower abdomen? That's not right. Normally, when a superhuman absorbs the energy from an energy stone, it flows to their limbs and bones, nourishing their meridians and tempering their bones and muscles, instead of flowing to a specific place."
"Unless..." Mao Li hesitated. If he weren't currently short of energy, he would have immediately performed a physical examination on his master instead of guessing like this.
"Unless what?" Zuo Shan pressed.
"Unless you are pregnant, and carrying a fetus with spiritual power, only then can the fetus actively absorb energy, causing it to flow directly into your abdomen." Mao Li's words struck Zuo Shan like a thunderbolt, leaving him utterly stunned!
After the initial population decline following the Big Bang, the total population of the entire Green Algae Star has plummeted from 15 billion to 1.5 billion.
Women in the wasteland have difficulty conceiving due to consuming radiation-contaminated food. Many couples can only have one child in their lifetime, and many are infertile for life.
Therefore, the upper echelons of the safe zone unanimously decided to destroy all contraceptive drugs and also strictly ordered all hospitals and clinics to prohibit abortions, with violators to be severely punished.
The safe zone also stipulates that pregnant women will receive a one-time subsidy of 5,000 silver coins after giving birth, which is enough to support them through a year of breastfeeding.
Even so, wasteland women are not keen on having children, but if they do get pregnant, they will do everything they can to give birth.
After all, the subsidy of 5,000 silver coins could actually allow a family of three to live frugally for more than half a year, which was undoubtedly a great subsidy for the unbearable extreme heat and cold.
Some families survived countless near-starvation attempts thanks to these 5,000 silver coins.
Of course, there are also some unscrupulous parents who take the baby subsidies and do not raise their children properly, which is why the infant mortality rate in the wasteland is also high.
Thinking of all this, Zuo Shan couldn't help but wail: No way? How could she be so unlucky as to get infected on her first try?
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