Ch 41: Interplanetary Planting Master

Submission

“Overnight riches, instant transformation into Jack Ma!”

Even when the green life forms stopped, these two phrases kept repeating in Su He’s mind.

The green life forms probably truly regarded Su He as a “Creator God” and led him all the way to the center of the energy sea. There, energy stones were piled up like small hills in the middle of the sea. For these green life forms, their only purpose for being created was to produce energy stones. Now, millions of years had passed, and the beings who created them had long disappeared into the universe, but these life forms continued diligently consuming most of the planet, tirelessly producing energy stones.

Su He jumped off the life form, and stepping on the energy stones felt indescribable. The giant life form lay down on the ground, and its green tentacles gently touched Su He. Su He extended his mental probe, passing over the light spot representing the life form. His consciousness transmitted a gentle message: “You’ve done well.”

Although this residential planet had been largely consumed, and most of its native species had been eaten, the responsibility should lie with the man in the projection. These life forms were just pitiable tools. Su He’s consciousness caused the light spots in the spiritual world to tremble slightly, and all the life forms in the energy sea simultaneously quivered. A massive, joyful consciousness surged forward like a hundred-meter-high wave towards Su He.

Su He: “…”

Lu Li promptly expanded his sensory barrier to strengthen Su He’s spiritual shield, and Su He awkwardly laughed. The giant life form waved its tentacles, gently wrapping them around Su He’s arm. Su He, feeling inspired, gathered a ball of energy and sent it into the life form. The second wave of joy surged towards Su He, but this time he was prepared.

A few minutes later, the Iris arrived, breaking through the waves, with cheers from the sentinels echoing across the energy sea. Soon, the Iris stopped moving, and everyone jumped off, sharing Su He’s complex feelings of becoming wealthy overnight. Several sentinels surrounded Su He, and before Lu Li could react, they lifted him and tossed him into the air. Su He screamed in surprise, falling into a warm embrace.

Everyone expressed their admiration, “You’re our lucky charm, little guide.”

“We’ll follow you from now on, little guide.”

“Please don’t abandon our boss, little guide.”

The last comment made everyone laugh. Before Lu Li could issue any orders, the sentinels began moving the energy stones onto the Iris. To be cautious, the people in the lower deck were strictly confined to their quarters and not allowed to come out. Over thirty sentinels, like industrious worker bees, filled every room—command center, storeroom, energy stones, and the living quarters—with energy stones, even clogging the corridors.

Just like a cup cannot contain the sea, the Iris could only carry a teaspoon’s worth of the energy sea. The planet before them was essentially an energy star, and no one wanted to abandon such a fortune. Everyone agreed that once they found a way back to the Federation, they would make this the first team’s logistics base and defend it at all costs.

Su He did not participate in moving the energy stones. Instead, he and Lu Li moved Reno out. Unlike last time, when he was completely asleep, Reno’s consciousness now showed slight activity. Following his own ideas, Su He found several watermelon-sized pure energy stones and set up a formation, placing Reno inside it. He made a series of intricate hand gestures, and milky white light spilled out, gathering energy in the air. An invisible whirlwind arose, causing Su He’s figure to appear blurry due to the energy fluctuations.

Lu Li’s expression remained calm, but his body tensed slightly, like a leopard ready to pounce, ready to shield Su He at any moment. Su He looked serious and a bit strained; his planting technique was not advanced enough, and the purity of the energy stones was too high, making the setup challenging for him. He struggled to complete the last hand sign, and with a hum, vast energy collided intensely, causing the air to expand. The energy wave, centered on the formation, radiated outward, and the sentinels in the distance felt a warm sensation wash over them.

“It’s done.”

Su He breathed a sigh of relief as the formation was finally completed. Within the boundaries of the formation, everything appeared normal, but reaching into the formation, one could feel a warm sensation. Reno’s leaves at the top of his head moved without wind, and green light spots from Su He’s body floated around him.

A green life form quickly rushed past Su He and jumped into the formation. It grinned with its remaining half-mouth, looking pitifully at Su He, with several newly grown tentacles on its back wagging in a flattering manner.

“…” Su He recognized this spirit form as the severely injured one from the beach last night. “Fine, just stay put and don’t move around.” Su He extended his mental probe, poking at the grain-sized light spot. The formation’s energy was abundant and pure, and having one more life form would not affect Reno.

This life form obediently lay at Reno’s feet, and Lu Li chuckled, “It’s quite clever.”

“Yes,” Su He also smiled, “It probably knows that staying in the formation will help it heal faster.”

The formation quickly attracted all the nearby life forms, but none dared to enter like the injured one. Su He and Lu Li stayed by Reno, waiting for him to wake up. Suddenly, exclamations erupted near the Iris, drawing their attention.

“What happened?”

Lu Li and Su He returned to the Iris, and the sentinels made way for them. Within a short time, the sentinels had emptied a small hill, revealing a buried damaged spaceship underneath.

“Dig it out and take a look,” Lu Li ordered.

“Carefully,” Liao Kai shouted, squeezing through, “Handle it gently; there might be something useful inside.” The anti-gravity system of the Iris was severely damaged, and Liao Kai didn’t have suitable tools. He was worried about how to repair it. Even if this spaceship’s technology was different from the Federation’s, finding a usable tool would be helpful.

The sentinels started shouting and moving forward, and Su He, having an idea, stopped them. “Let me try.” He extended his mental probe, and the surrounding life forms, responding to his call, gathered around.

Everyone: “…”

Su He had a mischievous look, with a hint of pride. Lu Li smiled, patted his head, and praised, “Well done.”

Su He, dissatisfied, pointed out, “You should ask me what I think about it.”

Lu Li followed his lead, “What do you think?”

Su He pretended to think for a moment and said, “It’s better to be the boss.”

Lu Li: “…”

Su He burst out laughing.

The green tentacles danced in the air, quickly clearing the surroundings and revealing the damaged starship to everyone.

Shen Shen raised his eyebrows and reminded, “That ghost ship.”

Lu Li nodded. The shape of this starship was very similar to the ghost ship they encountered in the subspace storm, looking like a bitten cookie due to the damage. It was not very large, only half the size of the Iris. On the side of the starship, the familiar emblem they had seen several times appeared again—a central star surrounded by eight different planets. Everyone exchanged meaningful glances. It was now certain that this starship, the ghost ship found in the subspace storm, and the house they had dismantled all belonged to the same civilization, which seemed to have some connections with Earth.

The green life forms were very afraid of this starship and quickly backed away after clearing the area. Lu Li ordered Shen Shen to take people inside to explore, ideally to find nearby star maps and determine their exact location.

Exploring the starship would take some time, so Su He returned to Reno. Sitting on the back of the giant life form, he looked into the distance. Under the morning light, the energy sea sparkled with rainbow colors. Everything seemed to be turning for the better. They had found energy stones and had ample energy. Reno would soon wake up, and if they could find nearby star maps and repair the Iris, they could leave this place and return to the Federation.

Su He thought of Han Rui and wondered what he was doing now. He should already know that the Iris was caught in a subspace storm, right?

At 10 a.m. Earth standard time, a battered starship emerged from a wormhole at the Federation’s border defense line, far from the heavily defended giant steel-covered planet—Zhenhai Star, the main base of the Seventh Corps.

Inside the starship, Zhuang Wei’s gaze penetrated the universe, landing on Zhenhai Star. Lin Ji stood beside him, murmuring, “Tianluo Star, humanity’s first line of defense against the Dark Beasts.”

Zhuang Wei’s expression turned strange. After a pause, he said, “It’s no longer called Tianluo Star. It’s now… Zhenhai Star.”

Lin Ji looked at Zhuang Wei with hesitation, and Zhuang Wei’s mouth twitched slightly, saying, “It means exactly what you think.”

Lin Ji: “…”

The Lin family controlled the main base of the Second Corps, known as Shanhai Star. After the Bloody Iris incident, Li Zhengdao issued a statement to the Federation, renaming Tianluo Star to Zhenhai Star. It was obvious what he meant, which infuriated Lin Jing, the commander of the Second Corps.

Zhuang Wei recalled something and said, “18 years ago, at a military report, General Lin and General Li had a public fight over this.”

A hint of nostalgia appeared on Lin Ji’s indifferent face, and he said softly, “Big Brother always cared about his face, but he probably wasn’t a match for General Li, right?”

Zhuang Wei’s expression turned even more peculiar. He cleared his throat and succinctly stated, “They were evenly matched.”

Lin Ji: “…”

At the time, Zhuang Wei thought the same as Lin Ji, believing that Lin Jing, who always cared about his image, would not be able to compete with Li Zhengdao in public. Unexpectedly, they were evenly matched. First, they had a fierce verbal duel, and then they started a physical fight. Lin Ji, losing all grace, grappled with Li Zhengdao on the ground, punching and kicking each other. Other corps commanders either watched the fun, egged them on, or took the opportunity to attack from behind. It was only after they were both bruised and battered that others pretended to intervene and separate them.

Since then, Lin Ji and Li Zhengdao’s annual brawl had become a tradition during military reports. When they were younger, both were considered graceful, and their fights were somewhat pleasing to watch. Now, with the two old men grappling on the ground, the sight was almost unbearable.

Lin Ji: “…”

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