Ch 7: Interplanetary Planting Master

Seedling

At 7 AM Earth Standard Time, Su He woke up the sleeping Han Rui. The two had agreed the previous night to go to the black market again today, and then leave for another settlement. Su He had passed through another set of ruins before arriving at this one. Han Rui recognized Su He’s description as the 36th Ruins, which used to be one of the larger settlements on Broken Star before a dark beast invasion decimated it. The survivors left, and the underground settlement gradually fell into disuse. After discussing it, they decided to make the 36th Ruins their temporary residence.

Han Rui felt embarrassed after being woken up by Su He. Usually, he never dared to sleep deeply, always staying alert. But with Su He, he had overslept on their first night together. His emotions were immediately sensed by Su He, who hadn’t yet gotten used to putting up a mental barrier when alone with Han Rui.

“I just woke up, is there anything we need to prepare?” Su He scratched his head, pretending to have just gotten up.

The kind lie eased Han Rui’s embarrassment. He smiled slightly and said, “The 36th Ruins are deserted. We should prepare some nutrient packs, clean water, basic medicines…”

As Han Rui listed items, Su He took note of each one. Although he thought he could hunt, having nutrient packs as a backup was prudent. The Galactic Federation, continually at war, had initially developed nutrient packs for convenience in combat. However, as the war persisted and ecological resources were destructively exploited across various planets, nutrient packs became staple food while fruits and vegetables turned into rare delicacies. Unlike Earth, where meat was pricier than vegetables, in the Federation, it was the opposite. Vegetables were far more expensive than meat, making them unaffordable for most people. Anyone wanting meat could hunt a dark beast outside, but growing vegetables wasn’t as easy.

This fact had once made Su He incredibly excited, feeling like he had found a golden path to wealth. He had worried about not knowing anything else but farming. It turned out farming was the easiest way to get rich. Su He was already planning to start his farming business after breaking through his bottleneck. His future on or off Broken Star depended on the success of this endeavor.

With Han Rui saying, “That’s all,” Su He turned off his terminal. He stood up, stretched broadly, and looked up at the deep blue sky, suddenly asking, “Han Rui, do you think we can leave Broken Star?”

“Leave Broken Star?” Han Rui looked up at the sky as well, “… I don’t know, I hope we can.”

“We definitely will,” Su He said confidently. Having come to the age of the great cosmos, not seeing space and being stuck on one planet would be a shame.

Han Rui, infected by Su He’s emotions, nodded vigorously, “Yes, we will definitely leave.”

The two quickly packed up. Han Rui sorted out the items he had collected in the ruins over the past six months, ready to trade them for credits at the black market. “Do you have anything to trade, Su He?”

“Yes.” Su He opened his bag to reveal a half-bag of bright red apples he had grown last night when he couldn’t sleep. He had considered growing more to secure enough energy stones and interference devices, but he refrained, fearing that carrying too much might slow him down if discovered by sentinels.

The sight of a bag full of apples was overwhelming, and Han Rui blinked in surprise but didn’t ask any questions. After disguising themselves, they reentered the underground world. The news of a guide in the black market had spread, leading to much speculation, though no one guessed that the guide would boldly show up again the next day. Despite the market being busy in the morning, there were no sentinels. Han Rui easily sold his items, but Su He’s apples were trickier.

Due to Broken Star’s harsh surface environment, vegetables and fruits for the settlements came from underground eco-boxes. For ordinary people, eco-boxes were a costly luxury, unaffordable for most. Hence, the business of selling vegetables and fruits was mostly controlled by the Silent Group in the black market, with a small portion coming from private eco-boxes. These individuals had established sales channels and rarely sold directly like Su He.

To avoid attracting attention, they didn’t sell all at once but in small amounts of two or three apples at a time. After a full hour, Su He finally exchanged all his apples for credits. He immediately went to a nearby stall and bought ten D-class standard energy stones in one go. Seeing him as a big customer, the vendor suggested he buy the higher-quality C-class energy stones, which were a bit pricier but much better in quality.

Su He hesitated and declined. He had other uses for the energy stones, and increasing their quality would reduce their quantity. He wandered around the market, drooling over the mech he had fallen in love with yesterday, and bought the nutrient packs, medicines, and other items Han Rui had mentioned. Finally, he found Han Rui at a corner stall, haggling with the vendor.

“Fifty credits.”

“Seventy is the lowest I’ll go.”

The vendor was an ageless-looking man, probably very old, with gray-white hair covering half his face, and a thin, frail body wrapped in thick clothes. He didn’t look at Han Rui but kept his eyes lowered, seemingly staring at nothing.

Han Rui genuinely liked the intelligent machine he was haggling over. Unlike the commonly used intelligent machines on the black market, this one had been modified with several interesting additional functions. Unfortunately, he only had 50 credits left. As he reluctantly prepared to leave, Su He appeared behind him, saying, “Seventy, we’ll take it.” He straightforwardly transferred 70 credits to the vendor through his terminal.

“Su He.” Han Rui hurried to stop him.

The vendor suddenly looked up, revealing surprisingly sharp eyes. Su He hesitated, the vendor lightly tapped his terminal, and handed the intelligent machine to Han Rui. Su He found the vendor’s gaze somewhat intimidating, but it quickly returned to its previous sickly state. Su He steadied himself and smiled at Han Rui, “A housewarming gift.”

Han Rui’s face turned red as he cherished the intelligent machine and smiled slightly at Su He.

As they turned to leave, the vendor mumbled in his sleep, “If you’re different from ordinary people, don’t run around recklessly.”

Su He: “…”

Han Rui frowned and pulled Su He away quickly. Su He glanced back at the vendor, who still appeared as if he was on the brink of death. He wondered what the vendor’s words meant. Did the vendor know he was a guide? But he didn’t seem like a sentinel.

Regardless, the stranger’s words made Su He and Han Rui wary. They quickly bought the remaining items and left the black market, returning to the ruins. Han Rui carefully extended his mental tendrils to ensure there was no one within a hundred miles. He summoned his spirit animal, the rabbit, and brought out a pre-hidden four-wheeled cart, strapping it to the rabbit’s neck.

“Hop on. Little White runs much faster than we do.”

Su He: “… Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’ve done this many times.”

Han Rui enthusiastically invited Su He onto the cart. Despite his anxiety about being pulled by a rabbit, Su He tentatively got on. Once he was settled, Little White started running immediately. It was indeed much faster than walking, though a bit less stable.

“Watch out.”

The cart hit a rock, sending Su He and Han Rui flying and crashing back together in a heap. They hugged each other and laughed heartily.

After nine days on Broken Star, Su He laughed freely for the first time. The wind whipped past them as they left the ruins behind. Ahead lay an expanse of red gravel, vast and open. Su He momentarily forgot about the dark beasts and sentinels, enjoying the ride on the rabbit-drawn cart with Han Rui towards their new life.

A few days later, they set up a simple home at the 36th Ruins. Preferring the open air, they chose to live above ground. Han Rui familiarized himself with the terrain for potential escape routes, while Su He focused on his cultivation, aiming to break through his bottleneck and improve his planting techniques. With the help of the energy stones, Su He unexpectedly broke through on the second night.

It was a peculiar sensation. Su He felt as if he was soaking in warm water, with gentle energy circulating through his body, flowing through his meridians, and finally converging in his mental space. Previously, his mental space was just a simple energy mass, but now, it felt like spring breaking through winter, with life sprouting everywhere. A tender seedling grew, with transparent leaves at the top, gently swaying, radiating joy.

Opening his eyes, Su He had a strange expression. With a thought, green light dots emerged from his body, floating lightly around him. The light dots gathered, forming a green light band that twisted and entwined, growing into a small green seedling.

The seedling settled into the ground, its two leaves quivering, scattering the light band. The green light dots re-entered Su He’s body. He poked at the seedling, “Are you my spirit animal?”

The seedling’s leaves trembled, and Su He’s mental space filled with joy.

Su He: “…”

Everyone else had animal spirit animals. Why was his a plant? And such a small one at that. What could it do? Pull a cart? Dig holes? As he expressed his disdain, the seedling’s leaves drooped, looking dejected.

Su He: “…”

“Su He.” Han Rui, awakened by the commotion, groggily sat up, “What’s wrong?”

Su He helplessly called Han Rui over, “Come and see my spirit animal.”

“You’ve condensed your spirit animal? What is it?” Han Rui eagerly leaned in, blinking in surprise. “…What is this?”

Su He poked at the dejected seedling and said, “This is probably my spirit animal.”

“…” Han Rui smiled gently. “It’s very cute.”

Su He asked, “Aren’t spirit animals supposed to be animals?”

“Not necessarily,” Han Rui replied. “From the first generation of sentinels and guides to now, over a thousand years, there’s no guarantee that spirit animals must be animals. There might have been others in the past, just not recorded.”

Su He thought about it and realized that the mutation of his spirit animal might be related to his sect’s planting technique. The symbol of their sect was a tree, and the condensation of his spirit animal coincided with his breakthrough. Perhaps this seedling would grow into a tree too? With this new perspective, Su He found the seedling much more appealing. He poked it again, and the seedling, sensing his emotions, immediately extended its leaves to wrap around his finger, its transparent body trembling slightly. Han Rui found it amusing and stifled a laugh.

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