Xie Sen looked at Maine in surprise. He knew he was a plant-type beast master? When did he know that?
No, he wasn't one at all!
Xu Da laughed, "I knew it. You live together and have such a good relationship, there's no way he didn't know."
Xie Sen smiled awkwardly, thinking that he hadn't really told Maine he was a plant-type beast master.
He turned the topic to business and spread his hands to Xu Da: "I'm sorry, I can't help you. I don't know why it can't germinate."
"It's okay," Xu Da's disappointment quickly dissipated, and his tone was open-minded, "Plant research is a long-term thing. I just don't want to give up any hope, so I came to ask you."
Xie Sen was a little curious: "Do you also work in the research institute?"
Xu Da's expression was dazed for a moment, and then he smiled and said: "I am a nominal staff member of the research institute. After I retire from my job, I will study the plants I am interested in."
Xie Sen nodded with an "oh": "So that's how it is."
Xu Da stood up and prepared to say goodbye, but thought of something and reminded him: "By the way, many people have become suspicious of your identity. In the past few days, many people have called to inquire about Ma Qun, and he always responded vaguely, but those people are smart and probably guessed it."
"Guessed what?" Xie Sen asked.
"Of course I guessed you were the Master of a plant-type contracted beast," Xu Da said, smiling teasingly. "Based on my life experience, I'm guessing more and more people will be pursuing you lately."
Xie Sen thought of the inexplicable attention he'd received at Rui Luo's birthday party, and his mouth twitched. "Not really, is it?"
Seeing his clueless expression, Xu Da patiently explained, "It's been a long time since a plant-type beast Master has appeared. Not to mention the ability to reproduce..."
"Ahem..." Xie Sen choked on his saliva. What the hell was reproduction?
Xu Da smiled knowingly. As someone who'd been through it all, he understood why young, inexperienced people would be shy about such a topic. "It's okay. You're an adult now, you can get married anytime. You should learn more about physiology."
"Stop talking..." Xie Sen waved his hand speechlessly. He was a grown man, getting married? A ghost story?
Xu Da smiled. "Besides the reasons I just mentioned, plant-type beast owners themselves are a huge temptation for others. Not to mention, your plants can provide an extinct plant—chili peppers!"
At this point, he let out a puzzled expression. "I still don't understand how you got your potatoes."
Xie Sen half-said, half-truthfully, "Maybe my contracted plant isn't a mimic beast but a mimic plant, capable of disguising itself as any plant."
"Really?" Xu Da was stunned, even involuntarily taking a step closer to Xie Sen.
"Haha, I'm kidding. There are only chili peppers and potatoes, nothing more!" Xie Sen said quickly.
Xu Da couldn't hide his excitement: "I have never seen such a magical plant contract beast in historical documents. If it is true, it would be great!"
Xie Sen poured cold water on him: "Don't be too happy. The biggest role it plays is to produce fruits to improve my diet and enhance my combat effectiveness. It has little to do with others. You have tried it. They can't be planted." Xu
Da came back to his senses, sighed and shook his head: "That's right."
After a while, he cheered up again, looking at Xie Sen with shining eyes: "When will you make dried bacon again? When will you make stewed potatoes with meat? Make more and I will buy it!"
Xie Sen shook his head, waking him up from his sweet dream: "I won't do it recently."
He had made up his mind to activate the third plant on Saturday. In order to ensure that it could be activated, he was not prepared to spend energy.
Xu Da showed disappointment, then looked at him expectantly: "Then you must tell me when you make it!"
Xie Sen looked at him with amusement at the identical expressions he and Long Teng had when they mentioned food, and nodded: "Okay, but let me make it clear first, even if it's someone we know, the money still has to be paid!"
"Of course, I wouldn't do it if you didn't want the money!" He couldn't help asking, "I see you go out early and come back late every day, are you working?"
"Yes, I work for Gold Medal," he said with a laugh, "I've been made a regular employee!"
Xu Da laughed: "Not bad, not bad. If you encounter any difficulties at work, remember to find me. I happen to know the boss of Gold Medal."
Xie Sen was surprised and said: "Is there anyone you don't know?"
Xu Da laughed again, very modestly: "I'm older, and I must know more people than you. Okay, I won't bother you anymore," he said, his expression becoming serious: "If you have any new discoveries in plant cultivation, remember to let me know."
Xie Sen nodded: "Okay."
Xu Da left with relief. Xie Sen sent Xu Da away and went to the kitchen to cook dinner. While cutting meat, he called out in his mind: "Adan, Adan..."
"Asen, did you miss me?" a soft male voice echoed in his mind.
"Yeah," Xie Sen nodded naturally. "I have something else to ask you." He explained why the peppers and potatoes couldn't be planted.
"Of course not. I haven't recovered the red and yellow energies yet. They're effectively dead matter now."
Xie Sen paused in his chopping, tilting his head in confusion. "Red and yellow energies, what are those?"
"That's my source energy." As A Dan finished speaking, Xie Sen felt the peony on his right shoulder warm slightly. He turned on the tap to rinse his hands, then pulled down his collar. A faint glow shone on the surface of the five-colored peony.
A Dan continued in his mind, "My source energy is composed of the five elements: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. These represent white, green, black, red, and yellow, respectively. Each energy corresponds to the plant of that color. Peppers and potatoes belong to the red and yellow energies. Only with source energy do they have life and can be planted."
Xie Sen pondered his words for a long moment, staring at the dull petals of the peony on his shoulder. A sudden foreboding of something bad happened.
"Does this mean that your original energy has been dispersed into five parts? If I want my body to fully recover, I must find all the energy."
Adam said vaguely: "Maybe..."
"What do you mean by maybe?"
Adam raised his voice and advised: "We should always think positively. Maybe there are two energies together. Besides, as long as you activate the three plants, I can feel the location of the energy. It will be a matter of minutes to find it!"
It added: "It's very simple!"
I believe your nonsense! Xie Sen said without hope: "It is absolutely impossible for the same energy to be dispersed, right?"
Adam was silent. Xie Sen asked again, and Adam stammered: "It's not impossible, but the possibility is very small. Moreover, it will definitely not be dispersed too much. It is more difficult to disperse the same energy than to disperse my original energy."
Xie Sen's eyes went dark. He always felt that he would have to go an extremely long way to fully recover. He couldn't help but said excitedly: "Your original energy has been dispersed! How difficult can it be?"
"Asen, you are so fierce." Adam accused aggrievedly.
It spoke in a boy's voice, which sounded quite distressing. Xie Sen thought that its energy had been dispersed because of saving him, and he felt guilty. "I'm sorry, I was wrong. You're right. We should think positively. Maybe all five energies are together! I have good news for you. The day after tomorrow I can activate the third plant!"
"Wow!" A'Dan's voice was devoid of any grievance; instead, it was filled with exceptional excitement and energy. "A'Sen, you're amazing! Don't worry. For every energy you find, your time out of control will be extended by four hours, and your health will improve."
Xie Sen's eyes lit up. This meant that if he found one energy, his safe time after waking would increase to twelve hours. If he found two, it would be sixteen! This way, his daily activities would barely be affected.
He breathed a sigh of relief, finally getting some good news. He smiled, "That's good! I'll call you when I activate the third plant."
"Okay!" A'Dan agreed, and went back to sleep to replenish his energy.
"What kind of plant is this?" Maine's voice suddenly came from behind him, startling Xie Sen and causing him to turn sharply.
Maine was so close to him that when he turned, they were almost touching. His heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he instinctively took a step back, bumping into the countertop.
"How come you walk so quietly?" He patted his chest and sighed softly.
"You're just too focused," Maine said. He reached out and pulled down Xie Sen's collar, revealing the peony plant that had been hidden by the fabric since Xie Sen had let go. He asked again, "What kind of plant is that?"
"Peony." Xie Sen shuddered at the unintentional touch of his fingers on his shoulder. Maine looked at him curiously. "Cold?"
Xie Sen shook his head. "No," he slapped Maine's hand away, straightened his collar, and lied, "Hungry."
He turned and continued chopping. "Wait outside for a while. Dinner will have to wait."
Maine leaned against the counter, his hand on the table, tilted his head, and asked, "Are all plant-related beast patterns on the right shoulder?"
"I don't know," Xie Sen answered honestly.
Maine: "That's right. It's been a long time since a plant beast master has appeared." He pondered for a moment. "Does it grow the peppers and potatoes?"
That made sense. Xie Sen nodded.
"The colors it sees look a little off. Is it injured?" Maine asked again.
"I guess so," Xie Sen thought for a moment and took the opportunity to explain the situation, "It's also related to my body. Do you remember I said my body needs to find something to treat it? It will tell me where those things are."
"I'll help you find it." Maine said immediately.
Xie Sen put the cut meat into a large bowl, turned on the fire, and said while cooking dinner: "The location is uncertain, maybe it's very far away."
Maine suddenly reached out and grabbed his shoulder. He didn't use any force, but moved his body closer to Xie Sen, saying in a firm tone: "No matter how far it is, I will go with you. You must tell me where you are going. You are not allowed to leave alone!"
Xie Sen glanced at his tense face and smiled: "Don't worry, I will definitely tell you. I am not the kind of person who leaves without saying goodbye." He shrugged his left shoulder, "Take your hand away, it's in the way."
Maine was satisfied, and the corner of his mouth curled slightly, and took his hand away from his shoulder: "I am also planning to go out, but I haven't decided on a destination yet. It's just right to follow you."
Xie Sen was shocked. What he feared most was Maine leaving Star City suddenly: "Going out, what do you want to do?"
"Looking for a contracted beast." Maine turned his head to look at the wound on his shoulder, his eyes cold, "With a contracted beast, I will be stronger."
Xie Sen glanced at him and asked the question he had wanted to ask but didn't dare to ask for the past two days: "Are you planning to... take revenge?"
"Of course," Maine said with a dark look in his eyes. "I don't care if they like me or not, but I can't stand them deceiving me for so long, especially..."
His tone became extremely low and dark, and Xie Sen instantly understood what he was going to say. Moreover, his father's death was inextricably linked to the Kes family.
Maine concluded coldly, "I won't let any of them go!"
Xie Sen quickly asked, "What do you want to do?"
Maine didn't answer, but instead asked, "What do you think is the most painful thing?"
Xie Sen immediately replied, "Definitely not death."
He didn't want Maine to retaliate against the Kes family through destruction. He worried that Maine would attack indiscriminately, just like in the book.
He quickly organized his words: "Death is but a moment. The real pain is standing on a high and falling to the dust, losing everything you desire and possess, being trampled under the feet of those you despise."
"You're right," Maine said. "Last night in the forest, I frantically wanted to send them all to hell. Then... I had the same idea as you." Xie
Sen was astonished. Was Maine's words implying that even if he hadn't said those words, he wouldn't have resorted to the extreme measures in the book?
And was Maine's change of heart due to him?
Xie Sen smiled. "We just thought the same thing, but the Kes family is very powerful, so it won't be easy to deal with them."
"No rush," Maine said calmly. "We're still young, we can take it slow."
"Yes, and besides revenge, there are many other things worth doing," Xie Sen continued, curious. "What's your dream? Is there anything you want to do?" Maine
looked at him intently. "When I was very young, my friends around me all had other people to play with, but I didn't. I thought at the time that I would design a robot to play with me in the future."
"Later, I got used to being alone and didn't want a robot to play with me. I realized that the most reliable thing is strength, so I wanted to design a robot that could fight with me."
"Now..." He paused. "I think you've always been there."
Xie Sen was stunned, his heart pounding. He laughed and said, "I said I would always be with you. Robots sound cool, and I can't wait for you to make them. Robots are mostly used in factories nowadays. I think your idea is great. If you make it, you will definitely make money. It can be used as a way to accumulate funds. To deal with the Kes family, you will definitely need a lot of money." "
Well, I have sorted out the design I made in college these past two days. It has a complete program for a child companion robot. In a few days, I plan to open a robot program company and cooperate with a manufacturing company to jointly develop robots."
Xie Sen exclaimed: "So you have thought about it a long time ago! But why wait a few days to start a company? Not enough money? I still have more than 500,000 here, why don't you use it first?"
More than 200,000 of them were earned by asking Maine to borrow money.
Maine's mouth curled slightly: "I have enough money, but I am not yet eighteen years old, so I can't start a company."
Xie Sen turned his head in disbelief: "You, are not yet eighteen? Not yet fully an adult?"
Maine nodded.
Xie Sen suddenly felt that people really cannot be compared with each other, it is completely self-abuse!
"You are too good!" He couldn't help but sigh, and suddenly felt that he was too weak.
After speaking, he thought about what it meant for Maine not to be eighteen years old, laughed, and jokingly said: "Hey, call me brother!"