Xie Sen called out to Adan, who quickly replied, "Asen, what's wrong?"
Xie Sen explained that the chili peppers had been successfully planted, but the tomatoes had failed, and asked in confusion, "The red energy has been retrieved, so shouldn't all the corresponding red plants be able to be planted now?"
Adan explained, "They can be planted, but tomatoes aren't plants obtained through the system exchange, so their vitality isn't as strong. The soil here isn't suitable for edible plants."
"Then how did the tomatoes grow in the wild before?" Xie Sen asked, puzzled.
"They grew near the red energy, and now there's no red energy where we're cultivating them," Adan said.
Xie Sen frowned: "So, besides the edible plants exchanged through the system, we can't grow anything else?"
"No, as long as the soil quality is improved, it'll be fine."
Xie Sen sighed: "Brant Star has so few edible plants. If the soil quality could be improved, it would have been improved long ago. It seems we can only slowly exchange for system plants; wild plants are unreliable."
Adan said, "You can grow wild plants. Each type of energy-corresponding system plant, after being planted in the ground, can improve the soil quality." It couldn't help but become proud, "System plants are all cultivated by my five elements energy; they're incredibly powerful."
Xie Sen was surprised: "That powerful?"
"Of course! Didn't you notice how well the vegetables grew when you used to grow them? You didn't tend to the garden at all, but you always had a bumper harvest."
Xie Sen recalled that it was indeed true. In the apocalypse, he only activated chili peppers and potatoes, but he planted many vegetables in the garden, and they all grew very well. He ate vegetables every day until he dreamed of eating meat.
Completely opposite to the current situation.
Instantly, he felt a surge of resentment! Why couldn't things be combined?
Adan reminded him again, "The soil improved by the system plants will be more suitable for plants of the same color to grow. Of course, soil changes take time and are diffuse."
Xie Sen pondered, "So, the closer the soil is to the system plants, the sooner it will improve?"
"Yes, Xie Sen is so smart!"
Xie Sen smiled, "Thank you, Adan," he glanced at his remaining energy of 388/400, "I have good news for you, we can activate the fourth plant today!"
"Really?" Adan's voice became excited, "Xie Sen, you're amazing! I'm going to rest now, call me when the plant is activated."
Xie Sen nodded in his mind, turned to look at Maine, and their eyes met. He smiled at Maine.
Maine's eyes changed slightly, and he turned to kiss Xie Sen's lips several times.
Xie Sen held Maine's arm, his eyes filled with laughter.
The energy collection speed was a few days faster than he had expected, and Maine deserved a lot of credit for this. After they confirmed their relationship, Maine would give him seven energy every morning, but since the day he wore the anklet, the daily energy had increased to eight.
Ten days have passed since the red energy was recovered, and the total energy gain is over 260, averaging 26 per day, with Maine accounting for almost a third of that.
He was deeply moved every time he woke up to the energy notification; he knew very well that it represented Maine's feelings for him.
Sometimes he felt very lucky to have the system, so he never had to doubt Maine's feelings.
"Don't look at me like that," Maine said, pulling away from Xie Sen's lips, his hand stroking the back of Xie Sen's head, pressing Xie Sen's head against his shoulder, his voice low and husky in Xie Sen's ear, "I want to pin you down and possess you fiercely, leaving my mark on every part of you."
Xie Sen's ears turned red, his heart burning. He didn't dare to meet Maine's gaze, patted Maine's arm, lifted his head from Maine's shoulder, and turned to look out the window: "We're here, I'm going to work now."
Maine looked at his flushed profile, his eyes deep and unfathomable, his fingers lightly tracing Xie Sen's ear, then sliding down to his chin, gently pulling his face towards him, and kissing him forcefully.
He finally let go after a long pause. Xie Sen, breathless, clung to his shoulder, one hand covering his ear, and glared at him: "Stop messing around!"
These past few days, Maine's wounds hadn't fully healed, so they'd mostly kept it brief, only occasionally going all the way. Now it seemed Maine was really holding back.
Xie Sen sighed inwardly; indeed, he was in the prime of his youth.
Maine looked at him intently, leaning back slightly, lifting his shirt to reveal his well-defined abs: "The wounds are completely healed."
Xie Sen found it amusing—such a blatant hint! He reached out and touched it, then quickly withdrew his hand, turned on the shuttle, and was about to get out when Maine grabbed his waist, pressing him against the seat and kissing him passionately before releasing him. Maine whispered in his ear in a low voice, "I'll pick you up this afternoon."
Xie Sen felt a slight heat rise in his body. He nodded haphazardly, quickly pushed open the door, and got out. If he stayed any longer, he might as well ask for leave.
As he walked towards the male section, pulling at his wrinkled clothes, Sun Mao suddenly reached out from behind and patted his shoulder, his gaze sweeping playfully over his lips: "Young man, you have so much energy!"
Xie Sen coughed and decisively changed the subject: "Good morning, Manager Sun. Didn't you say you had a few friends who wanted to try forming contracts?"
Upon hearing him mention this, Sun Mao stopped teasing him and quickly nodded: "Three. Can they meet their contracted beasts?"
Xie Sen said: "Sure, there are ten more people in the live stream coming along."
"I know that, I've been watching your live stream," Sun Mao asked, "They don't need to send gifts, but they should at least give you a ticket. How much is the ticket?"
Xie Sen was initially a little embarrassed to ask for a ticket, since they were Sun Mao's friends, but hearing his question, he didn't refuse, especially since the contracted beasts had suggested tickets.
Thinking about his ranking on the gift leaderboard, he tentatively asked, "How about 10,000? If it's too expensive, we can lower the price."
"Haha, that's too cheap. Don't be shy about taking the money, let's take 100,000," Sun Mao laughed. "Your livestream's top eight viewers will need at least 500,000 in gifts, and that might not even be enough. To be honest, they asked me a couple of days ago if 500,000 was enough." "
Then 100,000 it is. We'll meet at the entrance of the merged server at 8:30 am on Saturday. Will you come?" Xie Sen asked.
"Of course," Sun Mao nodded. "Shall I help you test their synchronization rate?"
Xie Sen said, "That would be great." Only when the synchronization rate exceeds 50% is there any need to continue contact; otherwise, even if they click, they can't form a bond.
Xie Sen thought about how he was still a little short of energy to activate the fourth plant and said, "Manager, I'll take all the tasks today. After these past few days, people with other ideas know that I don't take simple tasks, so I shouldn't encounter them again."
Sun Mao readily agreed to his request.
After the job content changed, Xie Sen received many more tasks, but they all took very little time, and most of them were very simple. Just before midnight, he had finished bandaging the wounds of a greyhound and returned it to its owner when a notification appeared: Energy 1.
Immediately afterward, a warm sensation spread through his mind, and a hard, green book slowly unfurled in his head. On the fourth blank page, a golden plant—rice—slowly appeared.
[Congratulations, Master, activating the plant Rice. One ounce (600 grains) of rice requires one unit of energy. Sharpness is up to you.]
Xie Sen looked at the golden rice; the ears of rice were empty. He wondered what the rice grains looked like, and its sharpness? Was he supposed to use rice as needles in a fight?
It seems that from now on, not only can we rain down pear blossom chili powder, but also pear blossom rice needles!
Xie Sen couldn't help but laugh at the thought. It sounded a bit silly, but thinking about it carefully, it was actually quite powerful. With both attacking simultaneously, the chili powder would impair the opponent's vision, making it easier for the rice to hit.
And there were 600 grains in 1 liang! They could finish them in one go. If they were fighting, attacking with so much rice at the same time would surely turn the opponent into a sieve!
"Thank you." The beast master rubbed the gray hound's head and expressed his gratitude again. "Are you feeling unwell?"
In his opinion, although Xie Sen was smiling, his expression was dazed, and something seemed wrong.
Xie Sen snapped out of his reverie and shut down the system: "Nothing, just thinking about work."
The Beast Master said, "That's good," his eyes shining slightly, "It's almost midnight, are you going to start a live stream? I need to hurry home to watch."
Xie Sen was a little surprised and glanced at the Greyhound Beast: "I thought it was all unbonded Beast Masters watching the live stream!"
"Of course not, I still need to learn from you how to get along with contracted beasts! Besides, the contracted beasts in the live stream are strong and cute, very likable."
After the Greyhound Beast left, Xie Sen went straight to the four-five combination area. As soon as he entered, he saw the Giant Tiger Beast and the Giant Lion Beast lying on two huge alloy balls, one on each side, rolling around with the balls.
Two Giant Leopard Beasts lay close together on the soft cushions, their eyes closed, leisurely swishing their tails. Two Giant Elephant Beasts were happily playing with water spraying, and the Giant Rhinoceros Beast lay nearby, letting them splash water on it, looking very pleased.
The Giant Wolf Beast lay on the soft cushions, swishing its fluffy tail, watching them from a distance, its front paws pressing against a huge white bone-shaped toy.
He was the first to spot Xie Sen, quickly scrambling to his side. Xie Sen rubbed its neck, told the other contracted beasts, and then turned on the live stream.
"Live stream started! So exciting!"
"Streamer, just keep streaming 24/7! You don't have to worry about it, we can see them anytime."
"Yes! 24/7!"
Xie Sen read the comments and explained, "They need rest too, and contracted beasts are more sensitive than humans. If it's always live, they won't get enough rest."
Seeing that the contracted beasts were alright, he left after starting the live stream, but kept monitoring it with his bracelet.
He bought lunch, ate, and returned to the rest room, then called out to Adan.
Adan's voice was excited and full of energy: "Asen! You're amazing! I haven't felt this energetic in ages! I'm going to sense the locations of the other energies now!"
Xie Sen, worried about disturbing it, only said "okay" and didn't say anything more.
After a long while, Adan spoke again, its voice much weaker than before: "I sensed earth energy on a planet to the west. Open the map."
Xie Sen quickly opened the interstellar map on his bracelet. Around Brant Star were many planets of varying sizes, some named, some unnamed.
The peony on his shoulder gradually warmed. Soon, Adan said, "Over there on the third planet."
Xie Sen looked at the third planet to the west: "A Mineral Planet? Judging from the symbol, it should be a resource planet."
"It's there," Adan said. "Due to interference from the earth energy, I can't sense the other energies. Their location must be farther than A Mineral Planet."
Xie Sen looked at the various spheres on the interstellar map, the handsome face of Maine appearing in his mind. He clenched his fist; he would definitely find all the energies!
He thought for a moment and said, "Does that mean that unless the two energies are together, I can only sense the location of one energy at a time?"
"Yes," Adan said, "The closest energy is too strong and will interfere with me, but it's okay. Even if I find the locations of both energies, I still need to search for them one by one!"
"You're right." Xie Sen smiled and marked Planet A. "I'll go to Planet A as soon as possible."
"Good luck, Adan. I just used up a lot of energy, I'm going to rest now. By the way, earth energy governs gold and yellow. Judging from the influence of red energy, the location of earth energy must contain many things of these two colors."
Hearing this, Xie Sen had a sudden thought. Red energy governs red, and earth energy governs gold and yellow—doesn't that correspond to chili peppers and potatoes?
He asked, "Is there any connection between the plants and energy I activated? Chili peppers, potatoes, and watermelons are red, yellow, and green respectively... Is rice white or gold? No, watermelon flesh is red, so is it green or red?"
"Wait, didn't I say? The activated plants are colors corresponding to the five elements. Every five plants form a cycle. After activating one of each color, then repeated colors and off-colors will appear. The primary color is based on combat power. Watermelon vines are wood-element green, rice is metal-element white, so the fifth plant must be water-element black!"
Xie Sen: "You didn't say that, but it doesn't really matter whether you know or not, since they're all randomly activated anyway."
"Hahaha, that's true!" Adan smiled. "I'm going to rest now. Ask me if you have any questions."
Xie Sen stared at the interstellar map for a while, searching for ways to enter Mine Star A. Seeing the search results, he couldn't help but frown.
Mine Star A is a government-controlled resource planet managed by the military. Part of the mine is used for government affairs, and part is sold to major companies, making it an important source of government revenue.
Therefore, public spaceships cannot go there; a permit is required, and only three types of people are allowed to go: military personnel, mining workers, and employees of companies cooperating with the government.
Should he apply to be a mining worker? He looked at the requirements for mining workers—a mining license was mandatory!
Judging from the name of the license, Xie Sen guessed it was just a formality and didn't think it would be too difficult; perhaps he could give it a try. He looked up the mining license exam content, and after a short while, muttering "Sorry to bother you," he logged off.
The exam covered the appearance of various ores, their flammability, explosiveness, characteristics, uses, and the most scientific mining methods; a mining truck driver's license was also required!
This wasn't just difficult; it was incredibly difficult. He decisively abandoned the idea of applying to be a mining worker.
Just then, a message from Maine came through: "You should take a lunch break."
Xie Sen was taken aback and subconsciously replied, "How did you know I haven't taken a lunch break yet?"
"Your account is in the live stream, you need to rest," Maine replied, and then added another message a moment later, "Waiting for you to get off work."
Xie Sen smiled and left the live stream: "Okay, I'll rest now."
Xie Sen had collected nine units of energy that afternoon. He checked on his contracted beasts just before leaving work, made sure everything was alright, and then left. He ran into Maine as soon as he stepped outside. Maine
pulled him to the parking lot, made him sit directly in the back seat of the shuttle, and the moment the door closed, Maine covered him completely. His fingers seemed to be electrified, sliding down Xie Sen's forehead, and his lips followed.
Xie Sen was both helpless and amused, and put his arms around Maine's neck: "Let's go home first."
"I can't stand it."
After a while, Xie Sen lay half-reclined in the back seat, glanced at Maine in the driver's seat, breathed heavily, and ran his fingers over his burning lips. Thinking about what had happened before, his heart pounded wildly. It was both exciting and exhilarating.
Before he could catch his breath, the shuttle had already stopped in the parking lot. Maine immediately picked him up in her arms. He moved his legs, looking extremely embarrassed: "Put me down! I can walk by myself."
Maine walked quickly: "It's okay, no one saw."
Back at the apartment, Maine took him directly to his room, and he didn't get to eat his late dinner until three hours later.
The next day, Friday, Xie Sen returned to the apartment after work and had dinner with Maine. Then he opened the streamer's interface, held two raffles, and selected two lucky viewers to participate in the meet-and-greet.
"Ahhh! I'm so envious of the lucky ones!"
"What's the use of my hands if I can't win a ticket!"
Xie Sen looked at the comments and couldn't help but laugh. He said, "Thank you all for your support. At midnight, the schedule for tomorrow's meet-and-greet will be automatically sent to the first eight guardians and lucky viewers. The meet-and-greet will be streamed live tomorrow morning."
He looked at the fan list. The first one was still Huo Feng, followed by Qiao Shao. He didn't recognize the others. The lowest fan value was over seven million, which meant that over seven hundred thousand star coins had been given as gifts.
He glanced at his account balance and exclaimed, "Live streaming is incredibly profitable!"
Maine chuckled, "That's because you're popular."
"Not me, but the contracted beasts," Xie Sen corrected, pointing to the fan section. "Do you know anyone here?"
The top eight all used their real names, since their names would be called out every time a gift was sent, and the contracted beasts were quite intelligent, so at least they'd become familiar faces.
Maine nodded: "They're all celebrities, mostly presidents of powerful families or well-known companies. The fifth one is Kumo... from the Kex family, the master of the Giant Lion Beast."
Xie Sen turned to look at him, and Maine said, "I don't know him well. His grandfather and Han Zheng are brothers." Xie
Sen nodded, his eyes lighting up as he thought of the company president: "Are there any companies that do business with A-Mining Star?"
Maine: "Most companies that need mineral materials are manufacturing companies. Huo Feng's robot company is one, but I don't know where he imports his materials from. I work with him, only handling the software."
Xie Sen quickly said, "Ask him." Huo Feng was practically an acquaintance; it would be best if he could help, but if not, he could ask others.
Aside from the matter of getting close, Maine almost never refused Xie Sen's requests. He suppressed his doubts and dialed Huo Feng's number.
After the other party answered, Maine asked directly, "Does your company have any cooperation with Planet A in purchasing raw materials?"
Huo Feng's tone was deep, with a kind of indifference that came from someone who had long held a high position: "The main material for the mechs, gold crystal ore, is purchased from Planet A. Have you seen the news about the significant reduction in mineral resources on Planet A? I told you before that if there is a shortage of materials, the production of the first batch of robots will be halved, precisely because of the insufficient supply from Planet A."
Huo Feng thought he was concerned about production, and added, "The new head of Planet A, Sokto, has been reported for embezzlement, and the relevant departments are investigating him. If we can find the hidden gold crystal ore and purchase it in time, the production will not be affected."
When Maine heard the name Sokto, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He looked at Xie Sen: "What else do you want to ask?"
Huo Feng was wondering what he meant when he heard a familiar voice coming from the live broadcast room.
Xie Sen said directly, "I want to go to A Mine Star. Can you arrange it? I can refund half the gift money."
The other half belonged to the contracted beasts, which he couldn't decide on his own.
Huo Feng said, "That's a small matter. Our purchasing department was going to investigate the situation on-site anyway, and we've already sent a team. If you want to go, we can arrange it for you anytime. You don't need to return the gifts; just give me a chance to interact with the giant wolf beast."
Xie Sen replied, "If it doesn't reject you, no problem."
"Okay, when do you plan to go?" Huo Feng wasn't curious about his reason for going and asked directly about the date.
Xie Sen said, "I'll let you know when I've thought it through. We'll discuss it in detail when we meet tomorrow."
"Okay." Huo Feng hung up the communication neatly.
Maine looked at Xie Sen, who, without waiting for him to ask, said directly, "The next type of energy I'm looking for is on A Mine Star."
Maine said, "Then let's go as soon as possible."
Xie Sen checked the calendar. Tomorrow was Saturday. He had a meeting in the morning, but he would have time in the afternoon. However, he only had 9 energy left from the afternoon's meeting, and even with the 8 Maine would give him in the morning, he would only have 17.
The situation on Planet A is unclear. Sokto is still there, and although he's under investigation, we have to be cautious. His energy is too low; if something goes wrong, his ability to protect himself is too weak.
He thought for a moment: "I'll go next Friday the 15th. I'll work overtime tomorrow, so I can take a day off in lieu of work. I'll have three days off next week. If it takes longer, I'll ask for more leave."
Maine had no objection: "Okay."
Before going to sleep, Xie Sen set a timed message on the livestream interface, sending it to two lucky viewers and the top eight guardians in terms of fan value: "Saturday at 8:30, meet me at the entrance of the Gold Medal Branch, Area 4-5, Anguang District."
The next morning, when Xie Sen and Maine arrived at the Gold Medal parking lot, several brand-new luxury shuttles were already parked there.
Xie Sen raised an eyebrow: "Looks like quite a few people have already arrived."
Maine said, "It's normal to be so eager to see the contracted beast."
Xie Sen squeezed his hand: "You'll definitely find the Flying Lion Beast."
Maine glanced at him: "Yeah."
Reaching the entrance to the merged area of Zones 4 and 5, Xie Sen saw that there were three times more security guards than usual and quickly apologized to the security captain: "I'm sorry for causing you trouble."
"It's alright." The captain looked at the beast lords who were famous in the business world and aristocratic families at the entrance, "Are you sure you want to let them all in?"
Xie Sen said, "I'll verify their identities first."
As he spoke, he asked them one by one according to their fan value from highest to lowest: "Ban?"
"I am." A deep and distant voice came. Xie Sen looked over and saw a tall man with black hair and black eyes, with strong features and a cool, aloof CEO vibe.
Maine nodded, and Xie Sen continued to ask the others, confirming their live stream accounts through their personal bracelets, verifying their identities one by one. After confirming the guardians, he used the same method to confirm the identities of the lucky viewers.
At this moment, Sun Mao walked over with three friends: "Ah Sen, I'm not late, am I?"
Xie Sen glanced at the reactions of the others; no one expressed dissatisfaction. He sighed inwardly, thinking that these were indeed not ordinary people, and that using connections was probably commonplace for them.
"No, just in time." He smiled at Sun Mao, gestured to the security captain, and the gate to the combined area opened. He led the others inside, simultaneously starting his live stream. As
soon as he entered, exclamations and praises came from behind him. Xie Sen looked at the contracted beasts rushing towards him, feeling helpless yet amused. They hadn't welcomed him like this in a long time.
This aggressive demeanor was clearly a test of the fans.
"Wow! Is this a lack of welcome?"
"Oh my god, will there be some bloody scene?" The chat was filled with screams