Xie Sen asked Yang Shun for the next day off and left work. He was preoccupied with the system and decided to go straight home. While searching his wristband for directions home, he checked the supermarkets he'd pass, hoping to save money by cooking his own meals.
He was also more comfortable cooking his own way.
There happened to be a convenience store near his residential complex, so he took the shuttle bus and, after a while, followed the map to the supermarket.
The supermarket on Brandt Star was similar in structure to a modern supermarket, but the food sections were quite different, divided into fresh produce and dry goods.
The fresh produce section consisted of open, vertical, refrigerated drawers, each lined with a variety of meat. Meat was a popular purchase, as it was the staple food here.
Xie Sen didn't buy immediately, but instead browsed around to get a rough idea of the prices.
Large beast meat—the meat his lunch box was made with—was five star coins per pound. Small beast meat was ten star coins per pound, bird meat was fifteen, and the most expensive was fish, at twenty-one pounds.
He spent a long while perusing the fish drawer before ultimately purchasing three pounds of large beast meat.
He was running low on cash, feeling anxious. His part-time salary at the maintenance center was paid weekly, so he had to be frugal.
He made barbecue back home, and it tasted delicious, but after two days in a row, he was tired.
He'd eaten vegetables every day without realizing it, but now he realized it! He couldn't help but balk at himself.
Fortunately, the red pepper had been activated. As long as he had energy, he could at least have chili peppers as a side dish for his barbecue. Not only would it be an extra vegetable, but it would also add flavor.
He tidied up the kitchen, stood in the middle of the hall, opened the system panel, and looked at the "Go to Battle" icon in the upper left corner of the pepper symbol.
[Do you choose the red pepper to go to battle?]
"Yes."
Instantly, a red pepper tree, about the length of his forearm, appeared before his eyes. The main trunk branched into three slender branches, all covered in lush, long green leaves, but no fruit.
The front branch of the red pepper bent, and the tip gently touched Xie Sen's forehead. The leaves trembled, a look of great pleasure.
Xie Sen pinched a leaf and smiled, "We'll be fighting side by side again. Let's train first and get to know each other better."
The tip of the branch nodded. Xie Sen concentrated on sensing the chili tree's presence and mentally commanded an attack: Attack the wall.
He stood in the middle of the living room, facing the empty wall, which stood about two meters from him.
At the command, the chili tree's trunk suddenly extended, striking the wall. With a snap, the tree snapped in two, its leaves drooping with a rustle.
Xie Sen sensed the chili tree's frustration and quickly reassured himself, "It's okay, it's okay. I didn't explain myself clearly."
The chili tree's leaves fluttered, and the two halves healed automatically, returning to their original form and floating beside Xie Sen's left shoulder.
Xie Sen didn't issue another command immediately, but instead considered that each plant had its own specific attack capabilities, and the system would indicate when a plant was activated.
The red chili pepper's warning was: "You decide the spiciness."
This meant that the red pepper's greatest offensive power lay in its spiciness, leaving the remaining branches and leaves powerless. While they could stretch, they lacked resilience, making them unlikely to inflict harm.
He had indeed neglected his previous command. In the apocalypse, he had activated two plants, and he had rarely used the pepper in the later stages, so he hadn't considered it thoroughly.
After thinking it over, he gave another command: "Reach the wall."
The red pepper whizzed and stopped in front of the wall. Xie Sen praised, "Excellent! Do it again."
The leaves of the red pepper swayed happily before returning to their original position.
Xie Sen tilted his head to examine the red pepper, then said, "One branch reaches the wall."
The main body of the pepper tree remained motionless, while one branch extended and stopped in front of the wall.
Xie Sen, delighted, mentally ordered again: "Another branch reaches the ceiling."
The pepper tree did as he was told, executing it perfectly. Xie Sen then returned it to its original state.
He continued training, having two branches reach different locations simultaneously, then three, then moving with timed movements, even practicing the flexibility of the branches to circumvent multiple obstacles.
At first, the chili tree could follow simple commands perfectly, but complex ones would cause it to become confused, and even its branches would become disorganized. With practice, the tree was now able to follow his instructions perfectly.
Around 8:30, his body suddenly lost control. He was startled. Hadn't he rested in the afternoon?
Fortunately, he was in the apartment and out of danger. Not long after, he fell into a coma.
He was woken by Adam. Without waiting for Adam to say anything, he got up from the ground and asked quickly, "I rested in the afternoon. How come I'm out of control before eight hours?"
Adam was puzzled: "That shouldn't be the case... How long did you rest?"
"Half an hour."
"No wonder, you rest too little. You should rest for at least an hour during the day. You only rested for half an hour, so the next time you lose control will be four hours later."
Xie Sen patted his pants and walked to the room: "Alas, there's nothing I can do. The situation today is special. I'm lucky to have managed to get half an hour of rest."
He searched for a change of clothes in the closet, checked the time, and said in surprise: "It's only eleven o'clock. You showed up at one o'clock yesterday morning. Shouldn't you show up at one o'clock today too? It's only been ten hours."
"Every time you activate a plant, my sleep time will be reduced by two hours," Adam said, and suddenly said in a tone full of emotion, "Asen, you really surprise me. You're collecting energy much faster than before."
The little boy's voice and this tone made Xie Sen laugh. He coughed lightly to calm down: "It's mainly because of you. I have a high affinity with animals, which has helped a lot."
"I'm awesome, right? Hehe," A'dan boasted.
"Super impressive!" Xie Sen lavished praise.
A'dan's laughter faded, and he suddenly said seriously, "Keep working hard. Activate the three plants as quickly as possible. Then I'll be able to sense the energy's location. The faster you can recover the energy, the better for your body."
Xie Sen nodded, "I know."
Being out of control was like a madman. While he could fix it with regular rest periods, things were unpredictable, and he couldn't guarantee he'd be able to rest on time.
A'dan fell silent after his reminder. Xie Sen showered, checked his exam room and number for tomorrow's exam, and went to bed.
The next day, March 28th, was the day of the Botany Department's graduation exams.
Xie Sen woke up at 6:30, washed up, went to the kitchen, and fried two portions of meat. He ate one himself and put the other in a lunchbox, bagged it, and left.
Maine had just finished washing up when he heard a knock on the door. Surprise flashed in his eyes, he hadn't expected who would be looking for him.
He opened the door to see a young man with a bright smile, his black eyes bright and clear.
"Good morning." Xie Sen twisted the lunch box with his left hand and raised his right hand to shake it.