Xie Sen couldn't help but marvel at how quickly netizens processed the video!
Maine opened the door, and the four of them entered the living room. Xie Sen sat on the sofa, and Maine patted him on the shoulder: "I'll go cook."
Xie Sen nodded, thinking about the cabbage that hadn't been processed yet, and summoned it. The cabbage was still flat, but much smaller than it had been in the mall. Many blackened holes from drone debris were visible on its white leaves, making it look quite pitiful.
He pulled over the trash can, picked up a cabbage leaf, shook it, and shoved the debris into the trash can.
Long Teng curiously reached out, "Let me help you."
Xie Sen let go, and Long Teng, holding the leaf, gave it a sudden shake. With a snap, the leaf broke, and the cabbage fell to the ground. Long Teng quickly caught it, "Ah, it broke! I didn't use enough force!"
Xie Sen took it back, "It's okay, the cabbage is very brittle, and many of the outer leaves were burned."
He supported the cabbage by the root and the center of the bottom, starting to pull from the innermost leaves. He pulled off the damaged leaves and threw them in the trash can. After pulling out two layers, he saw the broken remnants on the third layer.
Long Teng didn't mind getting his hands dirty, grabbed some, and carefully examined them. He pinched a small, white remnant about the size of a finger and exclaimed happily, "Sunflower seeds!" He put one in his mouth.
Bai Jiao grabbed his hand in time: "Don't eat it, it's not clean, throw it away."
Long Teng stared at it regretfully for a while, then threw it into the trash can: "Such a big sunflower seed, what a waste."
Xie Sen also felt it was a pity. If there hadn't been a bomb, the sunflower seed wouldn't have been blown to pieces and could have been salvaged and eaten. Now it was mixed in with the residue and couldn't be eaten
. He plucked off the third layer of leaves and threw them into the trash can. Many of the lower layers of leaves were still intact. He ordered the cabbage to shrink, separating it from the root, and plucked the good leaves, placing them on the coffee table, intending to save them for cooking.
Bai Jiao said, "It really is a large cabbage!"
Xie Sen smiled: "Yes, it grew a lot bigger before, but now it's a normal size."
Although a large cabbage has more leaves, which can be used to cook a lot of dishes, the taste becomes particularly bland, which he doesn't like.
Long Teng squatted beside the trash can, his eyes full of curiosity: "Can it grow bigger or smaller like a potato? That's so cool!"
Xie Sen nodded, and Long Teng looked at the sunflower on his left shoulder: "Little Sunflower is super amazing too, her reaction is so fast! I didn't even realize it when I was watching the live stream!" He pointed to the sunflower's center, "Can I have some sunflower seeds?"
Little Sunflower twisted its stem, grew a little bigger, and spat out a handful of sunflower seeds into Long Teng's hand, then turned its flower head towards Xie Sen.
Xie Sen laughed: "I don't want any." Little Sunflower nodded its flower, shrank back to the size of a finger, and continued to stand upright.
Long Teng was overjoyed: "Thank you, Little Sunflower," he sat back on the sofa, held the sunflower seeds in his palm, and held them out to Bai Jiao, "Eat."
Bai Jiao didn't refuse and ate sunflower seeds with him. Xie Sen chuckled, "Sunflower seeds taste even better roasted. I'll stock up on some; when I have a large quantity, I'll try roasting them."
Long Teng's eyes lit up: "I want some."
Xie Sen finished processing the cabbage, patted the crumbs off his hands, and said, "You'll get yours." He washed his hands and returned to the living room. Mei Yin had already taken the cabbage to the kitchen.
Bai Jiao said, "The video is going viral online. You can see it very clearly in slow motion; many people will definitely recognize it."
Xie Sen leaned back on the sofa, opened his bracelet, and searched for his name. Sure enough, he found a bunch of news articles about today's event, with a trending post at the top discussing what the suddenly appearing thing was. Xie
Sen sighed. He didn't intend to reveal any other plants in front of the audience, but the situation was urgent, and he barely thought about it, instinctively summoning the cabbage.
Of course, he would still do it after thinking it over. There were too many people present; if the crumbs fell and burned someone, it would definitely cause panic, and a large crowd could easily lead to a stampede, which would be very dangerous.
He rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, and looked at the three of them: "Didn't we announce before that my chili peppers are a type of mimicry plant? Now, in this situation, is it believable that the cabbage is another type of mimicry?"
Long Teng blinked: "Isn't that how it is?"
Xie Sen really hoped that everyone thought the same as Long Teng.
Bai Jiao smiled at Long Teng and shook her head: "Not very believable. When you attacked with potatoes before, some people suspected it. Mimicry involves changes in the basic form. Chili peppers mimicking potatoes, changing round and color, can be barely explained, but turning into cabbage, with its layers of leaves, is too different."
Xie Sen was helpless. He also felt that this excuse was useless. However, his two contracted plants had already caused a sensation. If people knew that he had far more than two plants, he couldn't imagine what kind of consequences it would cause. As
he was thinking, Long Teng suddenly jumped up from the sofa: "What did you mean by what you just said? If it's not a mimicry plant, then..." He looked at Xie Sen with shining eyes, "...the food you usually eat isn't transformed from chili peppers?"
"Ahhh, that's so cool, A-Sen, how many contracted plants do you have?"
Actually, it's only one type!
Xie Sen sighed, "Not necessarily, the variety will increase."
"Ah Sen, you're amazing!" Long Teng exclaimed, grabbing Bai Jiao's arm, "Ah Jiao, how come you're not surprised at all..." He paused, his cheeks puffing up angrily, his eyes wide, looking heartbroken, "Did you guys already know, but just didn't tell me?"
He already had a baby face, and his puffed-up cheeks made him look cute and comical, but seeing his expression, both of them held back their laughter.
Bai Jiao was quite helpless, as was Xie Sen. Xie Sen felt it was better for him to explain, so he said, "I didn't tell Ah Jiao. Ah Jiao guessed it herself. I didn't hide it from you, it's just hard to explain, I don't know why it's like this."
Having a system was indeed a very unexpected thing for him, and he couldn't explain it.
Long Teng's heartbroken look was instantly replaced by a bright smile, revealing a set of white teeth, "Hahaha, you're a good friend, it's good that you didn't hide it from only me."
Xie Sen and Bai Jiao both laughed.
Xie Sen thought to himself, if he didn't know that Long Teng was a naive and innocent person, he would definitely think that Long Teng was a good actor because of his speed of changing his expression, and he would even suggest that Long Teng go into acting.
After laughing, Long Teng asked in confusion, "Ah Sen, you're so amazing, why did you hide it? If I had a lot of contracted beasts, I would definitely tell everyone right away, it's so cool!"
Xie Sen replied, "Unlike others, I'm afraid of being captured and experimented on." He lamented, "What should I do? Now that people know, will someone come to arrest me? Should I run away?"
Bai Jiao was surprised, "Why would you think that? I thought... I thought you didn't want to be in the limelight, afraid that fame would be too troublesome."
Xie Sen said, "That's part of it, but after the live stream became popular, I stopped thinking about fame altogether. I'm just afraid of being studied."
Bai Jiao asked, "Why are you afraid of being studied? You're afraid of having your blood drawn?"
Xie Sen shook his head, then shuddered as he thought of the movies he had watched, "I'm not afraid of having my blood drawn, but I'm afraid of the cruel research methods like slicing, dissection, and stimulating the brain."
Bai Jiao was stunned and exclaimed in surprise, "Why would you think that? This type of intelligent entity research is a serious illegal act, it's prohibited, and no one but criminals would do that."
Xie Sen whispered, "Maybe there's some secret research that hasn't been made public."
Bai Jiao sighed, "No, plants are a precious resource that all planets desperately need. Once your situation is exposed, Brant Star will protect you like a treasure and will absolutely not let anyone harm you."
Xie Sen asked, "Really? You really won't use me as a guinea pig?"
Bai Jiao nodded firmly, "Of course not," he chuckled, "I'm actually not sure if those plants are all your contracted plants. I just have this suspicion, but I don't dare to think about it too much. Even if it's just a suspicion, I still think that you absolutely cannot be harmed—you are hope."
Bai Jiao spoke the last four words very slowly, each word with great emphasis. If it weren't for this, Xie Sen would definitely have complained that it was too childish.
Xie Sen waved his hand in surprise, "Don't say that, I'm just an ordinary person."
Just then, Xie Sen's bracelet rang. He answered it, and Ma Qun's excited voice came through, "Ah Sen, is it true? Do you have more than two kinds of contracted plants?"
Xie Sen hesitated. Bai Jiao's words reassured him a lot. If his personal safety wasn't affected after the exposure, he was also looking forward to it. That way, he wouldn't have to hide anymore, he could eat whatever he wanted, and grow whatever he wanted.
He couldn't reveal the system's existence, and after much thought, he admitted, "Yes."
Ma Qun was silent for a moment, then his voice suddenly rose, "That's great, that's really great!" He took a deep breath, "You're not telling me, is it because you don't trust me?"
Xie Sen: "...It's not that I don't trust you, I'm just afraid of being captured and used for research."
Ma Qun was surprised: "Why would you think that? Who's trying to scare you like that? Is there someone who doesn't want you to tell others? Who is it? I suspect that person has a conspiracy!"
"Myself." Ma Qun's attitude reassured Xie Sen even more.
Ma Qun choked up for a moment, then earnestly advised, "You young people, don't always let your imaginations run wild. You turn baseless tales into reality just by overthinking them."
Xie Sen coughed, "Oh."
Ma Qun tentatively asked, "How many plants do you have now? Do you have any fruit? Can you provide some to the researchers? Or should we sign a contract as you requested before?" Xie Sen replied
, "I still have quite a few. I'll organize them and send them to you. Some of the plants Professor Lu discovered already have them."
Xie Sen pouted. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have bothered Lu Qingxing, who had even been put in danger. But then he thought, if this hadn't happened, the research base wouldn't have been discovered. A few years later, with the increased number of alien beasts, they might have attacked Star City on their own.
Ma Qun said, "You child, sigh, you really are a good child. Even though you're scared, you still try to get the plants to the research institute. Thank you for your hard work."
Xie Sen thought: I don't have such lofty intentions; I just want to eat them openly and honestly!
Ma Qun, unaware of Xie Sen's true thoughts, grew increasingly convinced of Xie Sen's noble character, praising him excessively.
Xie Sen, feeling uneasy and inexplicably embarrassed, had to interrupt the praise, saying he would send the seeds over as soon as they were ready, before hanging up.
Long Teng laughed and patted his shoulder: "What are you afraid of being praised?"
Xie Sen slapped his hand away: "High praise is too scary. You know I'm just doing this for the food."
Bai Jiao laughed: "The reason doesn't matter. Your act of providing the seeds deserves any praise."
Just then, Xie Sen's communicator rang again. This time it was Mu Lin: "Ah Sen, you've been lying to me all this time. How many contracted plants do you actually have?"
Xie Sen rubbed his ears, explained his concerns, and then said: "Dean Mu, I've been very cooperative."
Mu Lin: "Could your imagination be any wilder? No wonder you've been refusing to work at the Contracted Beast Research Institute. You were afraid I'd dissect and study you! If you weren't female, I would have beaten you up. This is slander!"
Xie Sen: "I didn't go to work because it wasn't suitable. I didn't doubt you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to cooperate with you. I'm just afraid..." "What kind of mad scientist?"
Mu Lin: "Bullshit, I'll kill every single one of them! Hiss..." Xie Sen vaguely heard Gu Luo's voice. Mu Lin quickly said, "Okay, okay, be civilized, don't swear."
Mu Lin continued, "I have to give you a full check-up again. It's too amazing. I've been studying contracting for so many years, and contracting is always one-on-one, with mutual loyalty. Even in historical records, there are no cases of one-to-many."
Xie Sen refused without thinking, "The usual check-ups are already very comprehensive. A blood test is my bottom line."
Mu Lin laughed, "What are you thinking? A blood test is enough. Are you thinking of being dissected?"
Xie Sen's lips twitched, "I'm not thinking about that! I just had my blood drawn not long ago, and my body hasn't changed. I don't need another check-up for now... How do you plan to respond to the public's doubts?"
The Contract Beast Research Institute is an authority on contracting. With the public's discussions, the institute will definitely have to give an explanation in the end.
Mu Lin said, "Biodiversity."
Xie Sen was silent for a moment, then loudly praised, "Good reason."
Mu Lin said, "If you're scared, Gu Luo and I will come to your house to check you out. Don't worry, we absolutely won't hurt you."
Seeing his insistence, Xie Sen thought about Gu Luo's last check-up and agreed. As
soon as he hung up the call, Long Teng looked at him with bright eyes: "Ah Sen, can we still have boiled fish for lunch? Is there watermelon?"
Xie Sen glanced at the time; it was already past noon. He was a little hungry. There was still some ginger and garlic left, and some fish from yesterday. He nodded: "Sure, I'll make it."
Mei Yin didn't let him do it, telling him to go and rest. When he returned to the living room, his bracelet rang; it was the doorbell.
Xie Sen tapped his bracelet, and a virtual screen unfolded above his wrist. The screen showed the scene at the door: five tall males standing there, all wearing military uniforms.
The person at the front crossed his arms, looked up at the wall, and stared at the giant python that had poked its head out. Xie Sen, connecting to the voice recorder at the door, exclaimed in surprise, "Young Master Qi, what brings you here?"
Young Master Qi was still staring at the python, his eyes full of interest: "Your identity is special. The military has ordered that your safety be protected by the special forces from now on."
Xie Sen instinctively wanted to refuse: "No need, I'm perfectly safe at home."
Young Master Qi: "No, plants are precious resources. If word gets out, other planets will definitely have designs on you. The military has strictly ordered that your security level be at the highest level, and you must have someone protecting you nearby."
Xie Sen frowned. "A disguised form of [illegal activity]?"
Qi Shao: "You misunderstand. We won't restrict any of your activities. Of course, if you really dislike it, I won't have anyone with you at your residence. But the security level of your current residence is too low, so my people have to install some protective equipment themselves."
Xie Sen thought for a moment and opened the door: "I don't need anyone with me. As long as the house has a high level of security, that's fine. Come in and go straight ahead. Don't go to the big house on the left, and don't attack the contracted beasts."
Qi Shao nodded: "Okay."
After entering, the contracted beasts playing outside curiously looked at the newcomers. Qi Shao raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and walked straight ahead.
His four subordinates' eyes lit up, and they said excitedly in hushed voices: "So handsome!"
"Yeah, look at that physique, those muscles, I'm smitten!"
"Wow, what a huge crab! If we steamed it, we could eat our fill!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the giant python that had been swimming behind them hissed and swept its tail across the leg of the blond soldier who had spoken. It was incredibly fast; the blond soldier cried out, swayed, and used the force to regain his footing.
Several roars from contracted beasts followed in quick succession, then the giant crab charged towards Qi Shao and his group of five. The giant crab, its two large pincers raised, sprinted sideways, its pincers opening and closing like scissors, the openings gleaming silver in the sunlight.
"Shut up, what nonsense are you spouting!" Qi Shao roared.
"What do we do?" one of them asked, his voice tense.
The giant tiger, the giant python, the two giant leopards, and the giant crab surrounded the five, while the flying dragon flew overhead, providing aerial suppression. The giant python relentlessly swung its tail at the blond soldier who was eyeing the giant crab. The blond soldier was quite agile, but his leaping around looked rather clumsy.
He shouted, his face pale, "Young Master Qi, save me!"
The other soldiers moved, only to be scolded by Young Master Qi: "Don't move! Didn't you see they're all attacking?"
Xie Sen hadn't turned off the surveillance cameras after opening the door, so he didn't hear what Young Master Qi's men said. Seeing the giant python attack, he quickly walked out. Long Teng excitedly asked, "Are they here to cause trouble?"
Anyone who wanted to cause trouble and could fight, regardless of their status, was a cause for celebration for Long Teng.
Xie Sen: "No, don't attack! They're sent by the military."
As they got closer, Xie Sen clearly heard what the giant python was saying. Every time it attacked the blond soldier, it said, "Enjoy your meal? Enjoy it?"
Black Panther, standing to the side, said, "Ah Python, scare him. The rest of you, don't attack. Ah Sen opened the door; he's Ah Sen's guest."
"Ah Sen," the giant python called out as Ah Sen approached, sweeping the disheveled soldiers in front of Xie Sen.
Xie Sen looked at the soldier who had fallen in front of him, recalling the giant python's words, and looked at him speechlessly: "Are you out of your mind? Did you stare at the giant python and say you wanted to eat snake soup?"
The blond soldier grimaced as he got up: "No..."
Qi Shao raised an eyebrow, glanced at the giant python, then looked at Xie Sen, pointing at the giant crab: "He said to eat it, a big one, eat as much as you want."
'Snap!' The giant crab's large pincers snapped shut, making a sharp, grinding sound.
The blond soldier instinctively shrank his neck.
Xie Sen asked him: "Do you still want to eat?"
"No, I don't want to anymore!" The blond soldier was on the verge of tears, wishing he could strangle his past self from just a few minutes ago.
Xie Sen walked up to the giant crab and touched its hard pincers: "It's okay, they're just talking nonsense, they won't eat you."
"Heh, if they wanted to eat me, I would have pinched them to death. If I wasn't afraid of going too far, I would have already done it," the giant crab said slowly.
Xie Sen laughed, "You're really smart. Your pincers are too sharp; you can't just use them carelessly."
After calming the giant crab, he waved to the contracted beasts, "Go play, they're just joking."
The contracted beasts dispersed, and Qi Shao's men, no longer stiff, became excited again. Following Xie Sen's apartment, the four kept exchanging encouraging glances and trying to strike up a conversation with Xie Sen.
Qi Shao noticed their little actions, clicked his tongue, and looked at Xie Sen probingly, "You can understand them?"
The plant matter had already been exposed; with one explosive event, he didn't care about another. Anyway, many viewers already had suspicions. "Yes, they can understand you too, so don't get any funny ideas."
The blond soldier lamented, "I was just saying it casually; I didn't actually intend to eat it."
Long Teng laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "Hahaha, I wanted to eat it the first time I saw it. It's not a big deal if you want to eat it."
The soldier looked at him, his eyes even filled with expectation, "Did it hit you?"
"No!" Long Teng smiled exceptionally brightly, revealing a set of white teeth.
The soldier felt the difference in treatment and was very uncomfortable.
Upon entering the apartment, the rich aroma of food wafted out, the spiciness being the most prominent and particularly enticing, even making Qi Shao's face light up. Long Teng shouted excitedly and quickly ran inside.
Mei Yin walked to the door and frowned when he saw Qi Shao and the others: "What's going on?"
Xie Sen explained to him, and Mei Yin looked at Qi Shao: "Inside the perimeter wall, the installation of any surveillance or listening devices is prohibited."
"Of course, it won't infringe on your privacy. If needed, control of the surveillance will be placed in your hands."
Mei Yin grabbed Xie Sen's hand: "Let's go eat. You must be starving, right?"
Xie Sen looked at Qi Shao; after all, they were acquaintances. At lunchtime, he subconsciously asked, "Have you guys had lunch?"
Qi Shao smiled: "I haven't eaten, but they all have." He turned and ordered, "Get to work."
The four subordinates' faces twisted for a moment before they spread out around the apartment to install various security devices.
Qi Shao chuckled and asked, "Mind if I mooch a meal?"
Mei Yin glanced at him and said, "Come in."
"Wow, Qi Shao's shamelessness is unmatched! Of the five of us, he's the only one who ate two servings of meat at lunch!"
"I'm already full, but the aroma is irresistible, I want to eat."
"Oh, I'm so engrossed in the smell that I can't concentrate on anything."
"Hurry up and get to work! If Qi Shao finishes eating and sees we're slow, believe me, we won't even have any barbecue tonight."
Outside, the four men worked while swallowing their saliva, while inside, the five men ate with rosy cheeks. Qi Shao and Long Teng were particularly fast at picking up food, especially the boiled fish, which they kept praising: "Delicious!"
Qi Shao ate to his heart's content. After finishing, he and his men quickly installed the equipment and explained its uses to Mei Yin and Xie Sen. After the explanation, he efficiently led his men to the courtyard wall to reinforce it.
In the afternoon, Lu Qingxing arrived at the apartment, his expression filled with joy: "So those plants were all your contracted plants. I wanted to explain the situation to Dean Ma."
Xie Sen said, "I've already told him. I didn't want to say anything before because I had concerns, but now it seems I was overthinking it," he smiled, "I won't trouble you anymore. Thank you for your hard work. You must have spent a lot of time dealing with those seeds, right?"
Lu Qingxing smiled, "It's alright. If you need anything in the future, you can always ask me for help."
That evening, while watching the news, Xie Sen was surprised to find that there was less discussion about him. Maine said, "It's probably for your safety; the military has taken control."
The next day, when Xie Sen woke up, he habitually checked his energy. He was stunned to see that his energy had increased by more than 10,000 and was still increasing rapidly.
He quickly got up, opened his bracelet, and saw that the headline was an official announcement from the Plant Research Institute. He clicked on it, and the announcement was like a short essay, explaining the source of the plants discovered by Lu Qingxing and the reason.
The reason was Ma Qun's self-indulgent words, which made Xie Sen sound particularly great.
The comments were praising Xie Sen, along with many enthusiastic and imaginative remarks about plants.
Xie Sen felt a little guilty, but seeing the rapidly increasing energy, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
This wasn't energy; it was delicious food!