The Max-Level Sacred Mountain Begs Me to Save the Interstellar [Apocalypse] - Chapter 11

“Zhou Zhou, were the bees delicious?” Shen Ye asked, nestled comfortably in his soft bed.

[Mhm, mhm, sweet!]

“Then have you unlocked any new types of plants?”

Shen Ye was gradually mastering the user manual for Mount Buzhou. After eating the Veiled Guest, Zhou Zhou had produced small mushrooms. After eating the parasitic wasps this time, surely it could produce a new variety? Logically speaking, bees equal sweet, which equals sugarcane, sugar beets, or maybe locust trees?

[Green melons! Hee hee, lots!]

“What green melons? Quick, let me see!” Shen Ye was excited.

A slender, green vine slowly emerged from his left hand. The stem was ribbed and not very thick. The leaves looked like emerald palms with serrated edges. Densely hanging among the green leaves were fruits covered in lumpy, wart-like protrusions.

It was bitter gourd.

Shen Ye thought: I am dead; please burn paper for me. For the person who hated bitterness the most to receive the bitterest crop—how could this not be a unique form of luck?

“Fine, bitter gourd it is. I am not the one eating it anyway. But the vine is so big; can I really bring it into the Ghost Mist?”

Shen Ye opened his Star Ring.

AAA Plant Field Master (Shen Ye): [Mei Ba, are you there?] Mei Ba: [I am here, Boss!!!] AAA Plant Field Master: [I have a batch of new plants. Do you want them?] Mei Ba: [Waaa! This is great! You’ve finally returned to the scene!] AAA Plant Field Master: [What is wrong?] Mei Ba: [Since Zhang Hao’s stream, my private messages have exploded! People are begging to buy plants every day. Even the Agricultural Alliance and Nova Foods want to partner with me. But my hands are empty. I can’t touch the fat meat in front of me, and I’m just staring at orders with anxiety!] AAA Plant Field Master: [Don’t worry. Something to clear the heat is coming soon.] Mei Ba: [?] AAA Plant Field Master: [100 bitter gourd vines. 200,000 Star Credits each. Any gourds they grow are a bonus for you. How about it?]

Zhou Xiaofu suddenly bolted upright, his mind blank. What was he seeing? Those were bitter gourds that could actually bear fruit! Not just flowers like orchids or plum blossoms, but edible plants. Every single one was a priceless treasure!

Zhou Xiaofu slapped himself. It hurt. He wasn’t dreaming!

Mei Ba: [I want them! I want them!] AAA Plant Field Master: [36.12 / 44.32. Go to these coordinates in one day for self-pickup.]

Transporting one hundred bitter gourd vines at once was a massive undertaking. But Shen Ye was the brother-in-law of the strongest commander in the galaxy. Who would dare inspect what he was sending? Who!

Shen Ye immediately took out the latest autonomous navigation cargo box Xie Songnian had given him and stuffed all one hundred vines inside. As long as the coordinates were entered, it would automatically reach the target area—as long as it wasn’t too far from the base—with absolute safety.

“Hehe.” Thinking about the 20 million Star Credits about to hit his account, Shen Ye couldn’t help but let out a lewd giggle.

On the morning three days later, the Agricultural Alliance delivered seeds suitable for the soil to Shen Ye, per Xie Songnian’s request.

The researcher said, “Here are the seeds you requested. They have been delivered as ordered. Please make sure to… have fun playing.”

Sensing the malice, Shen Ye’s automatic defense kicked in. “Thank you for making the trip. Please tell the ‘higher-ups’ that I have received their trust. Also, would you like me to write a thank-you letter regarding your ‘special reminder’ to send along with them?”

The assistant researcher’s face turned black as coal. He thought disdainfully: If these seeds grow anything, I’ll take my head off and use it as a ball. Stupid well-connected brat.

“Then I wish you success in your planting.” With that, he turned and left.

Shen Ye thought: Rude.

After closing the door, Shen Ye opened the seed dormancy chamber. Inside were seven seeds and a fungus pack. The seeds were a lifeless shade between gray-white and light brown, and the fungus pack was already overrun with black mold.

Summary: They were all dead.

Fortunately, Shen Ye was prepared.

“Zhou Zhou!” Shen Ye called out in a sweet, high-pitched voice.

[? Ye Ye, weird. Zhou Zhou, scared.]

“What are you scared of? Look at how you’ve been eating and drinking the best since you followed me. How comfortable!”

[Zhou Zhou, eat sweet. Don’t eat, spicy.]

“That’s just an expression. You don’t understand. I’ll send you to school one day. Anyway, I’m getting off-topic. Can you produce some mature mushrooms?”

[Ye Ye, don’t like mushy-mushy? Don’t want mushy-mushy.]

“That was the old Ye Ye. He was sick in the head. Today’s Ye Ye loves mushrooms.”

[Zhou Zhou hungry, waaa. 1 mushy-mushy for 1 monster.]

“That’s too greedy, little one. Can I buy on credit first?”

…

Zhou Zhou was getting harder to fool! After throwing a tantrum and using every trick in the book, Shen Ye only managed to get two small mushrooms. For this, he now owed a debt of three monsters.

However, all of that faded away when the green light in his palm flickered. The small caps of the mushrooms expanded smoothly at the base of his fingers, like an emerald dress, ready to overturn the inherent arrogance of the planet.

Shen Ye tore the mature mushrooms into tiny pieces. The mushrooms, along with invisible spores, sank to the bottom of a cup. Where the original arrogance drowned, prejudice would be reborn in its most primitive biological form.

This was the “Spore Holy Water” Shen Ye had prepared.

Shen Ye looked out the window. It was misty and rainy—perfect for sowing. Rectangular, yellowish-brown blocks lay neatly on the soil. Opening the back door, Shen Ye sprayed the spore water evenly over the surface of the synthetic lignin and cellulose blocks. Then, everything was left to time and luck.

If he was lucky, in less than half a month, Shen Ye would be drinking delicious mushroom soup.

[Wow! Ye Ye is great! Ye Ye is great!] Mount Buzhou was shocked by Shen Ye’s professionalism.

“Hehe. I am not some fragile gold-digger or a useless talent. In my past life, I had an offer from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, I published in Nature, and I could even rap! I just died too early and made too little money. Sigh! Actually, if there were wood or straw, the mushrooms would grow better. But I believe that even under simple conditions, the seeds Zhou Zhou gives will shine brilliantly.”

[Ye Ye is super great! Zhou Zhou is also super great, hehe!]

“Hehe.”

Opening the champagne halfway is the most dangerous thing. Shen Ye had no idea how much trouble these mushrooms would bring him.

After planting the mushrooms, it was already noon. Shen Ye again washed down compressed biscuits—deliciousness: 0; satiety: 100%. After eating, he received a message from Xie Songnian and hurried to the base building.

The building was exceptionally quiet today. Shen Ye followed his memory to Xie Songnian’s office. Upon opening the door, he saw Xie Songnian in his chair, and a girl with a baby face surrounded by the cleanup squad.

The baby-faced girl was tearfully recounting her experiences. Her name was He Xiaoxiao, and she worked for the base rescue team. Her life had been a precise measurement between home and work until she met Zhou Hui.

Initially, she had just kindly helped Zhou Hui pick up some packages. But slowly, the pickup locations moved from inside the base to outside.

Xiao Liu interrupted, “Did you never suspect anything? Why didn’t Zhou Hui dare to have the items delivered directly to the base’s receiving station?”

He Xiaoxiao replied, “I asked. Zhou Hui said she wanted to buy some cloned plants to join a private mining squad to earn money for her family. But since she and Changfeng were getting married, they didn’t have enough savings to buy from the Agricultural Alliance, so she used a black market dealer. Those plants are resold from the Alliance, and they would be confiscated if found. I thought a few plants were no big deal, so I kept using my position to help her.”

Xiao Liu asked expressionlessly, “Then when did you realize something was wrong?”

He Xiaoxiao paused, then spoke with sudden determination. “The day before yesterday, Zhou Hui asked for help again. This time, after getting the item at the designated spot, I smelled something unusual and disgusting. I opened the box and found an aberration embryo inside! I immediately realized I had been tricked. I went to Zhou Hui’s house with a gun, but she was gone. I only found that notebook.”

The legendary notebook sat before Xie Songnian. The yellowish pages rustled as he flipped through them. Shen Ye leaned in and saw the contents:

Star Calendar 3000.8.17: Spider Slave x 1 Star Calendar 3000.8.29: Source Egg x 10 Star Calendar 3000.10.3: Flesh Embryo x 1 …

In one year, Zhou Hui had transported dozens of aberrations into the base! It was unbelievable.

Xie Songnian’s face remained as calm and steady as a whetstone. He asked, “Have you heard of Zhang Hao?”

He Xiaoxiao seemed not to expect a question about Zhang Hao. She was clearly stunned for a moment, but she quickly adjusted her expression.

“You want to know why the rescue team didn’t save that streamer! I only heard about it. That day, the third team of the rescue squad was on duty. They follow the orders of their leader, Song Huaiyuan. Song Huaiyuan has a sister taking the Agricultural Alliance exam, and Zhang Hao was taking that exam too.”

The implication was clear to everyone present.

He Xiaoxiao looked up. “That is everything I know.”

“Comrade He Xiaoxiao, thank you for your cooperation. However, until the truth is fully uncovered, please do not leave the base, okay?” At Xie Songnian’s signal, Xiao Liu stepped forward to speak.

He Xiaoxiao kept sobbing into her hands. “I’m sorry, everyone. I brought trouble to the base. I will definitely stay home and go nowhere!”

Xie Songnian remained noncommittal. “Xiao Liu, take her back.”

“Yes, sir!”

Xiao Liu helped He Xiaoxiao out. Shen Ye’s thoughts were a bit scattered after hearing the interrogation, as if he was missing a key point. He followed Xiao Liu toward the door when he heard Xie Songnian speak:

“Shen Ye, you stay.”

Shen Ye stopped in confusion. “Me?”

Xie Songnian crossed his hands on the desk, his gaze piercing. “After hearing He Xiaoxiao’s account, what are your thoughts?”

The feeling came back. Shen Ye felt like he was back in a university classroom, feeling the pressure of being called on to answer a question.

“Well, it seems Liang Changfeng and He Xiaoxiao are complete victims, while Zhou Hui is the one manipulating the aberrations inside the base. But I can’t figure out: what was Zhou Hui’s purpose in kidnapping me? Why didn’t she just kill me?”

Xie Songnian asked, “Shen Ye, did you notice how He Xiaoxiao addressed Zhou Hui and Liang Changfeng?”

“I did. Zhou Hui and Brother Changfeng?”

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