Are you panicking?
If it were his old self, he would indeed be panicking, feeling uncertain, and he believed that in such a state, he would quickly expose himself.
But after all the things he had experienced, and spending so long in the Little Black Room, he was no longer his old self.
Thinking about it carefully, the Little Black Room was not completely banned; it just became less convenient.
Being unable to bring living things into the Little Black Room meant that it was impossible to perfectly replicate reality one hundred percent, and he couldn't level up completely in the Little Black Room before coming out; he had to combine it with reality.
The risk had indeed increased.
But this did not mean the Little Black Room was completely useless. Even if he couldn't bring plants into the Little Black Room, he could still use it to replicate the entire Botanical Garden scene. Remembering these things could also help him.
As for practical application, there was also the Herta Puppet in the Little Black Room. He could ask her every time he made a decision, which would at least prevent him from making foolish mistakes.
Overall, it was difficult, but not unsolvable.
"Have you thought of a solution?"
"I need your help."
"I won't answer if you ask too boring questions."
"I won't ask."
Bai Luan sighed, thinking about the troublesome tasks he had ahead, and scratched his head helplessly.
"It seems I'll have to take notes here from now on."
Bai Luan stretched out his hand and clenched it in the void. A thick leather notebook and a retro-styled fountain pen appeared out of thin air in his palm.
The Herta Puppet was used to this. At first, she even tried to study it, attempting to understand the principle behind it, but later found that this operation completely defied logic and physics.
If she had the authority to do this here, it would be very convenient for her research, but unfortunately, the entity called the System was unwilling to grant her the authority.
Otherwise, the Herta Puppet would definitely create an Nous in this Little Black Room and then relentlessly question that mechanical head.
After the Herta Puppet determined that this path was unfeasible, she shifted her goal, attempting to communicate with the so-called System.
This kind of existence, similar to a Star God but completely different, was truly worth studying.
However, unfortunately, for now, she could only communicate with the System through Bai Luan, and so far, they had only exchanged a few words.
Even Bai Luan, the host of this System, didn't communicate much with it, just as the System described itself: an observer who occasionally spoke.
"Next, I'll be repeatedly entering and exiting here to draw a Botanical Garden manual."
"I should be sending you files, right? Why bother writing it yourself?"
"Doing it yourself helps you remember it better. Of course, the real reason is because—"
Bai Luan wrote the large characters "Botanical Garden Research Manual" on the blank notebook, then held the blank notebook, shook it at the Herta Puppet, and said:
"This will be more interesting, won't it?"
Then Bai Luan gently tossed the notebook upwards, and his figure disappeared into the Little Black Room.
In reality.
The Herta Puppet looked at Bai Luan and said:
"You stay here and get familiar with the place. I have other things to attend to. Anyway, you know the way home. Oh, and don't go back before 4 PM; the construction team is expanding your room."
"Understood."
The Herta Puppet nodded and left without looking back.
Now, only Bai Luan remained in this Botanical Garden.
The problems Bai Luan needed to solve now were, first, to quickly familiarize himself with the work, and second, to address the issues with the plants here.
For example, that depressed rose.
How do you treat a depressed rose?
He didn't even know why it was depressed...
Could he really try to guess the thoughts of a rose?
That seemed impossible, no matter how he thought about it...
Wait, wait...
Wasn't there a talking mushroom here?
Bai Luan walked to the brown mushroom he had just named Inspiration Shroom and squatted down.
"Hello there, Inspiration Shroom."
"Hello to you too, what's your name, Shroom?"
"My name is Bai Luan. I'm a new gardener, and I'll probably be taking care of you all from now on."
"Can you do a good job, Shroom? You won't kill the shrooms, will you, Shroom?"
"Regardless of whether I can, I have to do a good job, so just believe that I can."
"You don't seem very reliable, but Shroom can't resist, Shroom accepts its fate, Shroom."
"Unreliable... You'll change your mind about me. Let's not talk about that for now. Let me ask you a question: as a plant, can you understand what other plants are saying?"
"Yes, Shroom."
"That's great."
Bai Luan pointed at the dark rose not far away and asked:
"Do you know why it's depressed?"
"They are so far from me, Shroom can't hear them talking, Shroom."
"You don't even have ears, yet you have a hearing range?"
"What about it, Shroom?"
The Inspiration Shroom wiggled up and down and said:
"Shroom doesn't even have a mouth, but isn't Shroom still talking to you, Shroom?"
"..."
Damn it, this Inspiration Shroom actually made a valid point.
I'm actually talking to a mushroom... This world is truly too surreal.
"Can I move you, roots and soil included, over there?"
"Shroom is afraid you'll accidentally shovel me to death, Shroom."
Bai Luan drew a circle around the Inspiration Shroom with his finger and asked:
"A circle this big, surely it won't hurt you, right?"
"Make the circle a bit bigger, Shroom is scared of dying, Shroom."
Listening to the Inspiration Shroom's words, Bai Luan's mouth twitched, then he expanded the circle a bit more.
"How about this?"
"It would be even better if it could be a bit bigger, Shroom."
"Like this?"
"Bigger, Shroom."
"Like this?"
"Bigger..."
Bai Luan looked at the extra space, which was as long as his arm, and his face was full of black lines.
"That's enough, isn't it? If your roots could grow that long, I'd just eat you, alright?"
"Ew—you don't want to eat Shroom, this size is fine, Shroom."
"...You're quite a character for a mushroom."
Bai Luan stood up, went to the place where the gardening tools were stored as the Herta Puppet had previously described, picked up a gardening shovel, and with some effort, dug up the Inspiration Shroom, mushroom and soil together.
Bai Luan wasn't afraid of getting dirty; he simply picked it up and walked towards the rose bushes.
He gently placed it next to the dark rose and asked:
"Now do you know why it's depressed?"
The Inspiration Shroom didn't answer directly but remained silent for a moment.
Presumably, it was communicating with the rose.
"Hmm... it says it has some very ugly spots on its face, and they're slowly increasing. It feels very ugly and uncomfortable, Shroom."
"Spots? Where? Let me see, maybe I can help you."
The rose in front of him suddenly bent down, and its somewhat curled petals opened a bit.
"It says it's on the lower-left leaf."
Bai Luan reached out and gently parted the leaves, looking closely at that leaf for a long time before finding the black spots the rose mentioned.
Because it was depressed, its color had turned black, making these spots exceptionally difficult to find.
"This seems to be a disease. Let me check..."
Bai Luan pulled out his phone and searched online.
It seemed to be a common flower disease called black spot disease.
Remove leaves, apply medicine...
He didn't know if these things could be used on these unusual flowers.
Bai Luan put down his phone, planning to ask the Herta Puppet later. He looked at the dark rose, reached out, and touched it.
"Let me check, and then I'll come to save you, okay? You'll get better, don't worry."
The rose didn't speak, but its color subtly shifted from black to blue.
He remembered that this color meant... friendliness.
Anyway, it was a good start.
Bai Luan picked up the Inspiration Shroom and left the rose bush.
"Inspiration Shroom, do you want to see the scenery of the entire Botanical Garden?"
"N-no danger, Shroom?"
"I'm protecting you, what are you afraid of?"
"Because you don't look very strong, Shroom."
Bai Luan's smiling face immediately vanished.
"...Inspiration Shroom, as a mushroom, you shouldn't be too honest."
"Is that so, Shroom?"
Bai Luan placed the Inspiration Shroom in front of him, looked directly at it, and asked:
"Have you seen as much as I have?"
"But..."
"Have you lived as long as I have?"
"But..."
"Do you know as much as I do?"
"...Why are you staring at Shroom's back and saying these things, Shroom?"
"...I didn't know that was your back! Besides, you don't even have a face, how do you have a front and back?!"
"Shroom's front and back patterns are different, Shroom. Shroom's front has a white dot, Shroom!"
"Where? Let me see... There really is one... I learned something new."
Bai Luan carried the Inspiration Shroom and ran all over the Botanical Garden, understanding the condition of most of the plants.
After doing all this, Bai Luan put the Inspiration Shroom back in its original place and left, covered in dirt.
Then, he entered the Little Black Room.
In the Herta Puppet's view, the notebook was tossed upwards by Bai Luan, then Bai Luan's figure disappeared for an instant, immediately followed by his reappearance.
He looked up at the notebook, watched it fall, and caught it.
He quickly wrote and drew in the notebook.
"Have you finished collecting information?"
"Yes, quick, right?"
"Not bad."
The Herta Puppet curiously leaned over and glanced at what Bai Luan had drawn.
A mushroom occupied most of the page, with a conspicuous arrow drawn on its cap, pointing to a bolded small white dot, next to which was a flamboyant note:
"This side is the front! Look for the small white dot to avoid talking to the wrong side!"
The next page showed several grinning pumpkins with various expressions, next to which was written:
"Telling jokes works wonders! Cold jokes may worsen the crying faces, use with caution!"
Flipping further, there was the iconic black rose, with the small black spots on its leaves circled in red pen, annotated:
"Source of depression: Black spot disease! Requires pruning + medication. All roses need a check-up!"
A small first-aid kit was also drawn nearby.
"I didn't expect you to be so serious."
"Of course I have to be serious, because this is the job you gave me."
The Herta Puppet chuckled softly.
Bai Luan heard the laughter, looked up, and asked:
"Did I move you?"
"I'm just laughing at your drawings, they look like a child's scribbles."
"What's wrong with looking like a child's scribbles?"
Bai Luan casually sketched a few strokes in the notebook, and a Q-version Herta Puppet appeared.
Bai Luan showed the Q-version Herta Puppet to the Herta Puppet:
"Look, how cute."
"Of course, a genius like me is cute no matter what."