Xie Sen felt that the strange timing and location of the desolate forest were too coincidental, but it didn't matter whether it was coincidental or not. Anyway, whether it had anything to do with red energy or not, he had to go there.
He asked Maine, "When are you going? I'll go with you."
Maine frowned and refused outright, "No, the deeper you go into the forest, the more dangerous it gets. You can't go." He paused, then added, as if comforting a child, "I'll be back as soon as possible."
Xie Sen spread his hands, "I have to go. If you don't want to go with me, go alone." He pointed to his right shoulder. "It sensed what I was looking for. It's in the danger zone east of the Wild Forest." Maine
frowned slightly, "Is it related to this unusual movement?"
"I don't know," Xie Sen said as he walked towards the kitchen. "I'll make dinner first, and I'll talk to you in detail later."
Maine followed him into the kitchen, "I'll help you."
Xie Sen smiled, knowing he was fine, so he didn't stop him. The thought of going to the forest made him a little worried, "It's still another six or seven hundred kilometers after leaving the city. Is there any way to get to the danger zone quickly?"
"You can rent an aircraft, fly from above to your destination, and then climb a traction ladder to land on the ground." This is the fastest way, but it's dangerous.
Xie Sen thought it sounded reliable. "Doesn't it require a high level of physical fitness? Are you afraid you'll lose your grip and fall?"
Maine paused, a hint of laughter in his voice. "If you can't even do that, going to the forest is basically suicide. The danger I'm talking about is that you could be attacked by animals at any time during the descent. Not just birds, but also various powerful and large animals, like pythons."
"Besides the dangers during the descent, since you're landing directly in the danger zone, the situation below is unknown, and your safety after landing is also uncertain."
Xie Sen was terrified, but then he remembered what Adam had said—that he exuded a natural aura and wouldn't attack animals, so they wouldn't attack him. He felt reassured.
"Any other good ideas?"
Maine said. "Besides this, the only option is to rent a flying contract beast. However, to ensure safety, each contract beast will only carry its owner and one guest, and the speed is one-tenth that of an aircraft."
Xie Sen thought of flying unobstructed on the back of a bird and shook his head. Watching TV was fun, but in reality, the turbulence generated by flying could definitely kill someone.
If he lost his grip and got blown off, it would be truly disastrous.
"Let's rent a flying machine... Is it expensive?" he asked.
"Not too much, fifty thousand a day, a hundred thousand for a round trip should be enough," Maine said. "Besides transportation, we need medicine, food, and some tools. We can't leave for a few days."
Xie Sen calculated the time: "Your birthday is in seven days. Why not go after it?"
He also had the opportunity to gather energy during these few days so he could protect himself in the forest.
Maine pondered for a moment: "Okay."
After dinner, Xie Sen contacted Sun Mao and asked for overtime tomorrow so he could work overtime next week. Sun Mao agreed immediately and offered a few compliments.
Maine sat on the sofa, the coffee table covered with various small parts, intently assembling his work.
Xie Sen didn't disturb him, but returned to the bedroom to open the system. After some thought, he exchanged for a meter of watermelon vine.
He needed to understand the vine's characteristics, usability, and combat effectiveness so he could react quickly in actual combat.
He summoned a watermelon vine. A meter-long dark green vine stretched straight across his face, a large, round watermelon dangling from its center.
Xie Sen's eyes lit up, and he swallowed silently, recalling the system prompt: the key word for watermelon vines was resilience. He gave the command to form a circle.
The vine immediately shifted from a straight line to a circle before him, connecting end to end.
He then gave various commands, such as coiling it into a scented shape and tying it in fancy knots. The vine was slow at first when tying complex knots, but after practicing a few times, it became quite fast.
Xie Sen smiled with satisfaction, his gaze shifting to the water cup on the bedside table. "Tie up the cup and lift it up."
The vine flew swiftly to the bedside table. With a thud, the watermelon dangling from the vine slammed into the cabinet door, a crack appearing in the center of the round fruit, revealing its red flesh.
The vine, oblivious to the aberration, meticulously carried out Xie Sen's command, tying up the cup and lifting it in front of him, dangling it, spilling watermelon juice all over the floor.
Xie Sen felt a sudden pain in his flesh and hurriedly grabbed the watermelon. Before he could move, the watermelon fell from the vine and landed in his hand.
Xie Sen tapped the watermelon with his fingers, confirming that it was just like the one grown in the field—very brittle. Its only offensive use was probably to hit people.
As for the vine, he had many ideas in mind, but he had a requirement for length. He didn't have much energy left, so he wasn't ready to try it for now.
After careful consideration, he couldn't help but laugh. The vine was extremely resilient. Unless a sharp weapon broke it, there would be almost no loss. It was more energy-efficient than using chili peppers as weapons.
And getting one watermelon for every energy was fantastic!
He recalled the vine and happily took the watermelon out. He cut the watermelon in half, putting one half in the refrigerator and the other half in half, giving it to Maine and him.
"Rest a while and have something delicious," Xie Sen said, handing the watermelon to Maine.
Maine washed his hands, then took it. After examining it for a moment, he asked, "What is this?"
"Watermelon. Eat the red part in the middle and spit out the black seeds," Xie Sen said. He took a big bite, the sweet watermelon juice filling his mouth and a faint sweet aroma filling his nose. It
was so delicious! Xie Sen was so moved that he wanted to cry. He hadn't eaten watermelon in ages since the apocalypse.
He didn't bother to talk, just focused on chewing, finishing a quarter of the watermelon in one go. He collapsed on the sofa and rubbed his stomach, "So full, so satisfied!"
He tilted his head to look at Maine, who was eating a little slower than him, but still eating.
Xie Sen couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the energy 2 indicator in front of him. Every morning for the past few days, Maine had given him 3 energy. With the 2 energy today, Maine had given him 5 energy for the day.
Maine followed Xie Sen's instructions, leaving the green rind and eating the flesh. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Xie Sen, "It's delicious!"
Xie Sen had no doubt about his evaluation and gave him 2 energy! Enough to buy two watermelons.
Xie Sen smiled and said, "There's still half left. We'll eat it tomorrow."
Maine asked, "Is this... also the fruit grown by your contracted beast?"
Xie Sen nodded, "Yes."
Maine looked at the melon rind on the table, picked it up and smelled it, "It's still very fragrant. Can't we eat this anymore?" As he spoke, he took a bite and felt that it was crispy and fragrant. "It tastes very good."
Xie Sen slapped his head. It was already this late, and he still remembered not to eat melon rind. Melon rind is also a good thing here!
He had heard of the dessert of cold melon rind, but he had never eaten it or made it. However, this fully proved that melon rind can be eaten.
He picked up the melon rind he had eaten and said, "I'm so full now. I'll deal with it tomorrow and see how to eat it."
Maine handed him the melon rind in his hand, "I'm full too."
"Chiu~!" Tuan Tuan flew in from the window, heading straight for Maine, pecking at his wrist. Maine pulled his hand back, and it pecked at the melon rind, pulling out its beak and letting out a cheerful "Chiu~."
Then, its neck, like a motor, began to peck at the rind frantically.
Maine withdrew his hand, looking at it sullenly: "This isn't for you."
"Chiu~!" Tuan Tuan stared at the rind, flew over, and tried to eat it, but Maine dodged it again.
Xie Sen felt a little embarrassed. If someone had once told him that melon rind would be so popular, he definitely wouldn't have believed it.
He took the rind from Maine's hand with amusement, flattened it into the size of his palm, and placed it on the corner of the coffee table: "You can only eat this much. No stealing."
Tuan Tuan nodded, then flew to the corner of the coffee table to eat what was, to him, a truly delicious snack.
Xie Sen took the rind to the kitchen, scraped off the eaten layer with a knife, washed the rest, put it in a bowl, and put it in the refrigerator.
When he returned to the living room, Maine had already wiped the coffee table clean and was sorting out his parts.
"What did you make?" Xie Sen asked.
"An unmanned detector."
"Is it similar to the one on Yuzhu Island?" Xie Sen asked curiously.
Maine nodded. "I've improved it a bit. It has a longer detection range and uses anti-detection and camouflage systems, so it's harder to detect."
Xie Sen, though not very knowledgeable about electronics, thought it sounded impressive, and without disguising it, he praised, "You're amazing!"
Maine's lips curled slightly.
The next morning, Xie Sen added some watermelon rind to his broth and found it surprisingly delicious. The meaty smell was gone, and the broth still had the faint fragrance of the rind.
He ate heartily and contentedly, then went to work overtime at the Gold Medal. Just as he was clocking in, Sun Mao approached, teasing, "There's a pile of your gifts at the security office again. I think you should quit working and just sell them." Xie
Sen was helpless. The number of people offering him favors had been increasing these days, and the melon rinds were annoying him.
Sun Mao took a step closer and whispered, "I heard a piece of news that you are the master of plant-type beasts. Is that true?"
Xie Sen looked at him without answering. Sun Mao smiled knowingly and said, "No wonder you suddenly have so many suitors, and no wonder you have such a high affinity for animals." His eyes lit up, "Can you sell me a red pepper?"
"No." Xie Sen refused. He had to save energy to go into the forest.
Sun Mao sighed: "Are you planning to save all the fruits as a dowry?"
Xie Sen's mouth twitched: "What the hell?"
"It's just like a resource-based contracted beast. The output of the contracted beast is saved from childhood, and then used as a dowry when you get married," he said with curiosity in his eyes, and whispered, "I wonder if Manager Yang did the same thing before."
"Manager Yang?" Xie Sen couldn't help asking, "What is his contracted beast?"
"A long-wool sheep. Clothes made from its wool are expensive and popular. Manager Yang's partner is so lucky," Sun Mao sighed, and added, "Of course, your boyfriend is even luckier. Red pepper is an extinct plant. Not even a research institute has it!"
"No wonder everyone is pursuing you. Marrying you is like marrying a treasure chest! A treasure chest that can give birth to a bunch of cubs."
Xie Sen frowned: "I'm a male, what's the point of giving birth to a bunch of cubs!"
"What are males afraid of? I heard that both male and female plant-based beast owners can give birth to offspring. That's really great."
"No, I'm not. I'm the kind of male who can't sire offspring!" Xie Sen said firmly, deciding not to listen to Sun Mao's nonsense any more. Who knows what explosive topics he'll bring up next?
After work, he contacted Bai Jiao on his way back to his apartment, hoping to buy the insect repellent and detoxification pills she'd applied to her body.
After listening to this, Bai Jiao asked directly, "Are you going to the Wild Forest?"
Xie Sen didn't hide his words. "Yes."
Bai Jiao said, "What a coincidence! I'm planning to go too. There have been more and more reports of unusual things happening deep in the forest these past few days. This afternoon, someone emerged safely, bringing back a fruit. According to the Botanical Research Institute, it's the extinct medicinal herb wolfberry. I'm very interested."
Bai Jiao asked, "How about we go together?"
Xie Sen hesitated for a moment. "It would definitely be better to have someone knowledgeable about medicine with you, but I'm going with Maine. I can't make this decision alone. I'll ask him
later." "That's okay," Bai Jiao smiled. "I'll mail the medicine you want to you. As for the price, I'd prefer a red chili pepper. I've looked up relevant literature and it has medicinal value."
Xie Sen calculated: "Your medicine will cost at least several thousand yuan in total. If you don't mind, I'll mail it to you."
"Thank you," Bai Jiao said excitedly.
When Xie Sen returned to the apartment, he saw two people fighting in the distance. It was Long Teng and Maine. Xu Da, standing not far away, saw him and waved.
Xie Sen walked over. Xu Da said, "A-Teng's been training for a few days now. I thought he'd already made rapid progress, but Maine is no less impressive. For an A-rank Contracted Beast Master, he's achieved this level. It's truly astonishing." Xie
Sen smiled, not wanting Xu Da to doubt Maine's identity. He praised him, "He's been training very hard."
Xu Da laughed heartily. "It's a good thing for young people to be ambitious. All they need is to find their Contracted Beasts. After they form a Contract, they'll be able to improve a lot."
At this point, he sighed. "Alas, I only just read the news from the past few days. I was busy researching potatoes and peppers and didn't pay attention to the news." He patted Xie Sen's shoulder. "If you ever have financial difficulties, let me know."
Xie Sen politely thanked him for his kindness.
Twenty minutes passed before Maine and Long Teng finally stopped fighting. The fight was tied. Long Teng smiled, his teeth shining, and put his arm around Maine's shoulder. "You're amazing. How do you train?"
Maine slapped his hand away, and he took it again, a look of curiosity on his face.
Xie Sen answered his question aloud, "Main trained through hunting."
Long Teng tilted his head, looking at Maine in a daze. "No wonder you're so good at hunting wild animals." He jumped in front of Xu Da, "Grandpa, I want to go hunting too."
He finished, then added rapidly, "By the way! Didn't you tell me to go deep into the forest to find the flying dragon beast? I can hunt them all the way there!" He waved his arms as he spoke.
Xu Da slapped him on the back of the head. "Do you know how many kilometers it is from the edge of the wild forest to the center? And you're still fighting all the way there? You'll be lucky if you can survive a day."
Long Teng covered the back of his head. "Grandpa, I'm very good!"
"Ignorance is a big deal," Xu Da complained bluntly.
"Grandpa," Long Teng complained. "I understand."
Xu Da ignored him and quickly followed Xie Sen into Maine's apartment. He sat on the sofa and looked at Xie Sen. Xie Sen asked, "Grandpa, what's up?"
Xu Da smiled and said, "What did you make this morning? I smell it. Can you sell me some?"
Xie Sen laughed. What kind of nose is that!
He was just thinking about how to fool him when, with a chirp, Tuan Tuan flew to the coffee table in front of him. It had a fingernail-sized melon rind in its claws. It tossed the rind onto the table, lowered its head, and ate it. Then, it spread its wings and let out a low, "Chirp."
Xie Sen's mouth twitched. What did this mean? Was he supposed to tell him it was done?
"Huh," Xu Da exclaimed in surprise. "Is this a bald eagle?"
Xie Sen said, "It seems so."
"Chirp~" Tuan Tuan jumped on the table, flapping its wings and flying towards the refrigerator. Grabbing the handle with its claws,
it turned and called out, "Chirp~" Xie Sen stroked his forehead. Did it think it got a portion of melon rind every day?
"No more," he said.
"Chirp!" Tuan Tuan flapped its wings and patted the refrigerator door, clearly aware that there was more inside.
Xu Da sighed, "With that kind of intelligence, it's definitely a bald eagle." His eyes grew eager. "What did it just eat? There should be more in the refrigerator, right?"
Xie Sen had no choice but to finally pull out the melon rind and give Tuan Tuan a small piece, warning, "This is the last piece. There won't be any more."
Tuan Tuan looked at the rind, but instead of eating it immediately, he let out a sad "Chirp.
" Xu Da examined the rind. "Is this a watermelon? I want it! This looks like the rind. Where's the flesh? I want that too?"
A silent Maine spoke up, coldly saying, "Not for sale!"
Xie Sen was amused. It seemed Maine really loved watermelon.
Xu Da helplessly said, "Sell me some of the rind!"
Xie Sen cut a quarter of the rind from the remaining half of the watermelon and offered it to Xu Da. Xu Da held the rind with a delighted look. Long Teng curiously leaned over and took a bite, his eyes lighting up. "Delicious!"
Xie Sen thought to himself: when I return from the forest this time, I'll sell the whole watermelon to Xu Da. Long Teng is such a softie.
Xu Da's foodie goal achieved, and then he got down to business: "Have you read the news about the Wild Forest? I think this is a good opportunity to find a contracted beast. I'm worried about Ateng going alone. If you go, take him with you. He may not have other abilities, but he's pretty good at fighting."
Xie Sen thought to himself, in fact, the best thing is his luck.
Long Teng is the protagonist in the book. Although he is always in danger, he always manages to escape, and his abilities are constantly improving. His luck is incredible.
But thinking about it, according to the timeline of the book, Long Teng should have already ventured into the Wild Forest alone.
Now, everything is different. Xie Sen looked at Maine and felt relieved.
Although he knew Maine hadn't fully recovered and was more sensitive and suspicious than before, he was still young, and he believed he would get better.
Maine happened to look at Xie Sen at that moment, and noticing his gaze, his expression softened considerably. "You decide."
Xie Sen was a little surprised, then began to think seriously. He had to rest every eight hours. If it was just him and Maine, and he were to rest and encounter a dangerous situation, Maine would be the only one to deal with it, and Maine would have to distract himself from watching over him. That was too dangerous.
The forest was so vast, it was very likely that they wouldn't be able to find the red energy immediately, and it wouldn't be convenient for two people to take turns keeping watch.
"I think it's okay," Xie Sen said. "I contacted Bai Jiao today, and he's going too. There are many poisonous plants and animals in the forest, so it's safer to have a doctor with you. We can go together, four of us."
Maine agreed. "All right."
Xie Sen said to Long Teng, "We plan to leave on the 26th. Any questions?"
"No problem," Long Teng smiled. "We can leave now."
Xie Sen reminded Long Teng, "It's best to make some preparations." Thinking of Long Teng's personality, he said, "Don't worry about anything else. Just bring some weapons!"
"Okay!" Long Teng smiled broadly and agreed immediately.
After the meeting, Xu Da and Long Teng left the apartment.
Xie Sen contacted Bai Jiao to explain the situation and the departure time. Bai Jiao smiled, "No problem. I'll come see you then. I'll stock up on some medicine these days."
After hanging up, Xie Sen went to make dinner. Afterward, he and Maine each enjoyed a large piece of watermelon, both of them looking very satisfied.
After dinner, Xie Sen asked, "Is there anything else I need to prepare?"
"I'll prepare it," Maine looked at him, his gaze dropping to his arms. "You should strengthen your arm strength these few days, etc."
He walked into the bedroom and soon produced a pair of dumbbells, one large and one small. "Use these for practice."
Xie Sen nodded hurriedly, remembering that he would need to land from the aircraft. He was still a little worried. Could he train well in just a few days?
He took the dumbbells and returned to the bedroom. After a moment's thought, he still felt uneasy. He checked his remaining energy: a total of thirty-three. Three of those were from Maine's contribution that morning, and the rest was from work.
He gritted his teeth, exchanged them for two meters of watermelon vines, carefully removed the watermelon, and ordered them to bind him and lift him up.
At first, the vines were very uncomfortable, and they broke apart shortly after his feet left the ground. After a long experiment, he finally found a comfortable position to hang himself up, where the vines wouldn't break apart.
If anything happened during the descent, at least he would be able to save himself.
Over the next few days, Xie Sen worked tirelessly, striving to help more contracted beasts in order to earn energy from their masters. By the 24th, he had accumulated 156 energy points.
Early on the 25th, Xie Sen deliberately rose earlier than usual. He exchanged two potatoes, allowing each to double in size. He then cut one in half and steamed it, while the other he cut into strips and fried into French fries.
When Maine emerged from the bedroom, the aroma of potatoes filled the room. He gazed at the closed kitchen door, his eyes gradually softening.
Xie Sen carefully placed the steamed potatoes side by side on a large plate, the cut side facing up. Then, using chopsticks, he wrote "Happy Birthday" on each, adding a smiley face.
He inspected them, making sure they were all right, and walked out of the kitchen carrying the "potato cake." Unexpectedly, Maine was standing in the doorway, and he nearly bumped into her.
He stopped in time, smiled, and handed over the plate: "Brother, happy birthday, I wish you happiness every day and good health!"
Maine stared at him for a long time. The boy's smile was bright and full of sunshine, which made him feel warm. This warmth went straight to his heart. He couldn't help but lean over and kissed him on the forehead: "Thank you, I'm very happy."
Xie Sen covered his forehead, staring blankly at the energy 3 prompt in front of him, and watched Maine walk into the living room with the plate.
This... is Brandt Star's thank-you ceremony?
Xie Sen thought about it and felt that this was the only reason that made sense.