Ch 12: Interplanetary Planting Master

Good Person

In the dark underground world, a small white light shone, illuminating a few meters around it.

Su He and Han Rui had packed their bags and were fretting over the several metal boxes containing energy stones. They were busy preparing to flee but couldn’t carry the energy stones with them. Leaving them in the ruins felt unsafe.

“What should we do?”

“Maybe we should dig a hole and hide them.”

They couldn’t make up their minds, and hiding them securely was still an issue. After some discussion, they decided to let Xiao Bai dig a hole. Xiao Bai looked at them with a plaintive gaze but dutifully began digging. It worked quickly, creating a 5-meter deep and 1-meter wide hole in just a few minutes.

Su He and Han Rui lifted the metal boxes to place them in the hole when a black hawk silently flew through the tunnels. The dark underground world perfectly concealed the hawk’s presence, and its flight allowed it to bypass the warning traps Han Rui had set. The hawk soon found Su He, folded its wings, and landed on one of the metal boxes.

Su He: “…”

Han Rui screamed, “A spirit animal!” Reacting quickly, he dropped the metal box and grabbed a nearby backpack, hurling it at the hawk. “Xiao Bai, attack!” Xiao Bai, with red eyes, charged forward and kicked at the hawk with its hind legs.

Su He: “…Wait.”

His “wait” was drowned out by Xiao Bai’s angry growls. The hawk disdainfully spread its wings and easily dodged Han Rui and the rabbit’s attacks, gracefully circling in the air before landing in front of Su He, placing the inhibitor it had been carrying on the ground.

Han Rui: “…What’s that?”

Su He shook his head, confused. Han Rui cautiously approached Su He, and upon seeing what the hawk had delivered, he was shocked. “An inhibitor!”

Su He was taken aback. “Is it really an inhibitor?”

Han Rui quickly nodded, looking at the hawk with a peculiar expression.

Outside the ruins, Lu Li was at the coordinates provided by Zhao Jingguang. It was a half-collapsed room filled with debris. He didn’t find any trace of the energy stones but detected Su He’s lingering scent in the air from about 22 hours ago. His gaze swept over the room, pausing at the central hole made by a weapon and the window, where another unfamiliar scent mingled with the smell of dried blood. Lu Li frowned, considering the abnormal behavior of his spirit animal at the same time, and concluded that Su He had been attacked here. He imagined Su He fighting and ultimately winning, feeling both proud and angry—proud that his guide won and angry that someone dared attack him.

Perhaps because Su He had lived here, his scent was everywhere in the ruins. Thankfully, the desolation and lack of other scents, aside from the dark beast stench, made Su He’s sweet scent as clear as a lighthouse in the night, guiding Lu Li through the ruins, following the traces of Su He’s life there.

He quickly found the room where Su He had set up the array, with fertile black soil still on the floor. This type of soil shouldn’t exist on Broken Star, but Lu Li merely glanced at it. His attention soon focused on a corner of the room, where white radishes emitted a distinct vegetable fragrance beneath a pile of broken furniture. The scenes from the hawk’s perspective replayed in his mind. Lu Li raised an eyebrow with interest, realizing that Su He had grown the radishes without an ecological pod. He knelt in the room’s center, picked up some black soil with his fingers, and detected faint energy waves in it. Was it because of those energy stones?

Lu Li’s curiosity was fully piqued, driven not just by a sentinel’s instinct for his guide but also by “Lu Li’s” interest in “Su He” as a person. For him, this was good news.

The hawk’s vision returned to him, showing Su He and Han Rui in the underground world, hesitating over the inhibitors the hawk had brought. The temptation of the inhibitors was hard to resist, but they were reluctant to owe Lu Li a favor. Han Rui, especially, felt there might be some underlying scheme. He whispered to Su He, “Is that sentinel you met… not capable?”

“What? Not capable of what?” Su He didn’t catch Han Rui’s meaning.

Han Rui blinked, too embarrassed to clarify, giving Su He a knowing look.

Su He suddenly understood and blushed deeply, recalling Lu Li’s earlier reaction, which didn’t seem incapable. “Uh… probably not.”

To avoid the hawk, they had moved to the edge of the light. The shadows masked Su He’s red face, and he was glad Han Rui couldn’t see it—otherwise, it would be too embarrassing. Han Rui initially thought this reason was the most plausible, but since Su He said no, it probably wasn’t. He tactfully changed the subject, “So, what do we do? Should we take the inhibitors?”

Su He longingly eyed the inhibitors at the hawk’s feet. The hawk noticed his gaze and nudged the inhibitors toward Su He with its claws. It was an exceptional spirit animal—quiet, aloof, cold, and elegant—simply watching Su He. Meeting its gaze, Su He felt inexplicably guilty, recalling Han Rui’s earlier words.

As they hesitated, the hawk suddenly spread its wings and flew off, its silhouette blending into the darkness without a sound.

Su He: “…”

The hawk returned to the surface, while Lu Li continued to navigate through the ruins. In his mind, he was piecing together Su He’s life in these ruins, using the remnants of Su He’s scent and abandoned belongings to construct a picture of his existence here. It was an intriguing task that greatly tested the sentinel’s observation and attention to detail. Lu Li hadn’t yet decided how to handle his relationship with Su He, but his instincts drove him to desire Su He, to know everything about him.

The hawk circled overhead, detecting someone approaching the edge of the ruins before Lu Li did. He felt a sense of territorial infringement, but soon recognized the newcomers as Reno and the fourth team led by Wei Na.

In the distance, Wei Na signaled her team to halt. Any further, and they would enter the area Lu Li had implicitly marked as off-limits. She turned to Reno, who was fully covered in a black robe to avoid drawing attention, and confirmed, “The young one’s presence is just ahead?”

Reno’s leaves quivered under the robe as he replied excitedly, “I can feel the young one’s presence. He’s very small, just recently born. He should be on the home planet, receiving meticulous care, not wandering in space. This planet is too barren, without energy minerals he can’t grow up. Poor little one, we’re almost there.”

Wei Na: “…”

Before proceeding, she needed to confirm one thing. She seriously asked her subordinates, “What do you think the boss is doing right now?”

All the sentinels exchanged glances, smiling knowingly.

“Great, we’re all on the same page.”

Wei Na turned apologetically to Reno, “Sorry, due to some personal reasons, we can’t go any further. Can you summon the young one here, Mr. Reno?”

Wei Na’s words cunningly led Reno to make a choice. Oblivious to the fact that he could just leave Wei Na’s group and proceed alone, Reno followed her suggestion. He removed the black robe, and the leaves on his head glowed with a light green fluorescence under the bright “sunlight.”

“I’ll try. The little one’s mental power is weak, so he might not receive my message.”

Galactic Treemen could switch between physical and spiritual forms, and their communication method was somewhat like the mental sensing of guides. The leaves on Reno’s head extended, and green light points floated out, with invisible mental tendrils reaching far away, searching for Su He’s location.

“Found you, little one.”

The joyful voice echoed in Su He’s mind. He blinked in surprise, releasing countless green light points from his body, which swirled and formed a tree over two meters tall in front of him. In a daze, Su He’s surroundings changed instantly, as if he was on a strange planet where the entire planet was a massive tree. The tree was lush, glowing with light green light. Su He found himself on a branch as thick as an arm, sitting there dazedly while stars swirled around, seemingly within reach. Thousands of green light points condensed into light ribbons, circling around him, occasionally breaking away to enter his body, bringing a feeling of deep familiarity.

In his mental world, the little seedling joyfully shook its leaves, and Su He felt a sense of peace he hadn’t felt since his master’s death.

“Hello, little one.”

It was a tree across from Su He that spoke. Su He struggled to describe what he saw—he saw a tree, but it seemed to have eyes and a mouth, smiling kindly at him.

“Little one, I’m Reno, your kin. How did you leave the home planet and wander alone in the universe?”

“Me?” Su He asked, bewildered.

“Of course, you. Have you forgotten your origins, little one?” Reno asked, puzzled.

Su He: “…”

Did he have some grand origin? He remembered coming from a small town at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain on Earth. Could it be that he wasn’t human, but a tree demon, and his master never told him?

Su He looked so confused that Reno’s leaves extended, wrapping around Su He like human arms and patting him gently. “Don’t be afraid, little one. You are a Galactic Treeman from the Forest Blue Star. Maybe you left the home planet too early and forgot your memories. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Su He: “…”

He must be dreaming.

“Did you find the wrong person?”

Reno shook his head firmly, his leaves quivering. “Although your physical form looks like a native of the galaxy, your spiritual form is still that of a Galactic Treeman. I won’t mistake it.”

“Spiritual form? Is it the little seedling?”

As Su He spoke, the green seedling appeared on his head, shyly shaking its leaves at Reno.

Reno joyfully touched the seedling’s leaves and then worriedly told Su He, “You are too small. This planet is too barren and not suitable for a Galactic Treeman to live. I am responsible for taking care of you, little one. I hope you can leave this planet with me. There are other members of our race in the galaxy, and they will be happy to see you.”

The mention of leaving immediately caught Su He’s attention, making him temporarily forget whether he was a Galactic Treeman. “Can I really leave?”

“Of course,” Reno said, patting Su He affectionately and explaining seriously, “We Galactic Treemen can survive directly in space, so leaving a planet is easy. But you are too young to survive in space on your own. Fortunately, I met a good person. He’s a native of the galaxy and a friend of the Galactic Treemen. His starship is on this planet, and he promised to take you with him.”

Happiness came so suddenly that Su He found it hard to believe. He tentatively asked, “Can I bring a friend?”

Reno hesitated for a few seconds, “I need to ask my captain friend. But don’t worry, little one. He’s a generous person, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Wait for my message.”

As Reno finished speaking, the giant tree, star river, and green light vanished, and Su He found himself back in the dark underground world. Everything felt like an illusion, but… the lively seedling bouncing on his head and the genuine sense of familiarity and peace in his mental world were real.

“Su He,” Han Rui called worriedly, seeing Su He dazed when he returned after spraying the inhibitors.

Su He snapped back to reality and quickly opened his terminal to search for images of the Galactic Treemen. The virtual screen displayed an image of a tree, not much different from what he had just seen. Su He stared in disbelief, then explained to Han Rui what had just happened, though he left out the part about being a Galactic Treeman. The idea seemed too far-fetched, and he doubted anyone would believe it. He only mentioned that a kin had contacted him and offered to take them away from Broken Star.

“Really? Is it reliable?”

Whether it was reliable or not, Su He couldn’t be sure, but his desire to leave Broken Star was too strong. Especially with Lu Li now on Broken Star, Su He wanted to stay far away. “I want to check it out. We can meet here. We have inhibitors and are familiar with the terrain. If anything goes wrong, we can still escape.”

The temptation to leave Broken Star was too great, and Han Rui, like Su He, couldn’t resist. Despite the risk, the two anxiously waited for news from Reno.

At the edge of the 36th ruins, Lu Li arrived in his mech. The group eagerly watched the mech, and upon seeing that Lu Li was alone, they all showed disappointed expressions.

Lu Li jumped out of the mech, guessing the reason they were there. “Is the young Galactic Treeman inside the ruins?”

Wei Na nodded. Lu Li was a bit surprised, as he hadn’t found anything in the ruins.

Wei Na gave a knowing smile, expressing understanding, “When a sentinel faces a guide, the whole world only sees the guide.”

The following sentinels laughed and teased Lu Li, “Boss, where’s the guide? Don’t hide anymore, let us meet him.”

Lu Li smiled but didn’t explain.

Reno was the most excited to see Lu Li. “Captain, I was just looking for you.” He quickly shook his leaves, indicating that he had found the young Galactic Treeman. But… Reno was a bit troubled. “The young one’s situation is quite special and not suitable to stay with me. I implore you to take care of him for a while until he gets through the initial stage.”

“Of course, no problem,” Lu Li generously agreed.

“Oh, he also wishes to bring a friend from the galaxy with him.”

That request was even less of an issue.

Reno, excited, stretched out his branches and leaves to hug Lu Li. “Captain, you are truly a good person.”

He immediately contacted Su He and arranged to meet in the ruins. Although everyone was curious about what a young Galactic Treeman looked like, given the special circumstances of the 36th ruins, only Wei Na accompanied Lu Li and Reno into the ruins. Along the way, Reno kept talking about the little guy, describing him as both cute and shy. He believed that Captain Lu would definitely like the youth.

In an underground pipeline somewhere in the ruins, Su He, covered in inhibitors, cautiously poked his head out. Seeing that the hawk wasn’t around, he felt relieved and jumped out, jogging cautiously in the direction Reno indicated.

Su He was a bit excited. If they didn’t need to buy a spaceship themselves to leave Broken Star, they could sell some of the energy stones from the underground world as living expenses for him and Han Rui. The two of them would have new identities and start a new life in the universe.

The promising future seemed once again within reach, and Su He’s heart began to race. He hesitated for a moment, sensing something was off. The excitement he felt was too intense—was it because he could leave Broken Star? Suppressing the strange feeling in his body, Su He extended his mental tendrils, carefully confirming there were no ambushes around. He sent a short message to Han Rui and continued toward Reno.

Rounding a corner, Su He stepped out. “Re…”

Lu Li turned his face, and Su He, wide-eyed with surprise, immediately turned around and ran.

Lu Li: “…”

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