Chapter 4: 004
Qin Ke found it somewhat hard to believe what he was seeing right now.
He actually saw a natural plant on Xinggou?
A natural plant bursting with vitality, vibrantly green, and blooming with flowers?
Was this real or fake?
Did he enter the wrong software—for example… accidentally entering the scientific research museum?
Natural plants were extremely rare in the entire interstellar era.
The natural plants produced by the research institutes every year numbered only a few, and almost all of them were supplied to the royal palace.
Qin Ke never even had the chance to see one in reality; he could only learn about them from encyclopedias.
And right now, a natural plant growing perfectly well and in full bloom was placed right in front of him.
Was he really not dreaming?
Qin Ke pinched his own face. Ouch… that hurts!
It was real, not a dream.
Calm down… calm down…
Taking two deep breaths, Qin Ke forced himself to calm down.
However, the faint fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose made him sink into the clear scent again the next second.
He subconsciously took two more sniffs, revealing an intoxicated smile.
Smells so good!
It’s quite different from the smell of genetically synthesized plants…
It really smells good.
Facing a natural plant for the first time, Qin Ke was captivated by its fragrance in just a few seconds.
No wonder, even though natural plants were so fragile and couldn’t survive in the interstellar environment for more than a few days, there were still people devoted to them.
Not only were they pleasing to the eye, but their scent also refreshed the mind, and they were said to have the effect of soothing the spiritual sea.
Even Qin Ke, who favored the strong, had to admit that this fragile little plant was truly lovable.
He indulged in the scent of the natural plant for a moment longer before snapping out of it.
He glanced at the certificate issued by Xinggou.
[Item Category: Living creature, Natural Plant]
[Danger Level: F-grade]
[Species: Freesia]
…
It was confirmed to be a natural plant!
Xinggou certified, absolutely authentic.
Qin Ke’s last bit of doubt was dispelled by the certificate.
He really didn’t expect to actually find a natural plant on Xinggou.
He had truly struck gold!
“It’s called a Freesia… quite a nice name.”
Qin Ke looked at the Freesia, his expression full of satisfaction.
He then glanced at the price.
Discounted price: 24,000 Star Coins. So cheap!
It was only a twentieth of the price of his hovercar.
Buy it!
Without a second word, Qin Ke bought this natural plant named Freesia and paid a 1,000 Star Coin shipping fee for the spatial delivery method.
Qin Ke revealed a rather goofy smile.
“Hehe, now I have a gift for Mu Qingzhou.”
“Using a natural plant as a gift, I bet Mu Qingzhou has never received one before.”
“This gift is absolutely incredibly rare. It will definitely leave a deep impression on Mu Qingzhou. I’m such a genius.”
Saying this, Qin Ke logged off, beaming with pride.
He was already dreaming about Mu Qingzhou accepting the natural plant, changing his opinion of him, and his favorability increasing.
Qin Ke didn’t expect to make Mu Qingzhou fall in love with him with just one plant, but drawing closer was good enough.
Qin Ke fell asleep with a smile; even in his dreams, he seemed to smell the faint scent of the Freesia.
It smells so good~
The sandstorm outside had stopped for a while, no longer kicking up gravel and smashing it against the walls with a ‘clatter’.
However, the weather wasn’t cooperating; dark clouds heavily overcast the sky, blocking out all the sunlight.
Even though it was noon, it was gray outside, with only a tiny sliver of light.
Accustomed to working with the sunrise, Zhu Ran’s biological clock failed to kick in. He slept all the way until 12 noon, and when he woke up, he felt incredibly groggy.
“Tired…”
His arms felt as heavy as lead, and his eyelids drooped constantly. Zhu Ran felt so tired that he seemed ready to fall back asleep the very next second.
With no sun and his spiritual sea injured, Zhu Ran was exceptionally lethargic.
Compared to yesterday, the Freesia seemed to have grown even lusher. A small leaf of it brushed against Zhu Ran’s finger.
The leaf was cool to the touch, emitting the fresh scent unique to plants.
Feeling the endless stream of vitality transmitted from his fingertip, Zhu Ran’s consciousness gradually cleared.
It was morning, he should wake up.
The pale gray mist in his green eyes dispersed, and his pupils grew bright.
Zhu Ran woke up.
He glanced at the Freesia.
The filtering net woven from his spiritual power last night was still functioning perfectly. The purified water in the test tube had decreased by about 2 milliliters, and the Freesia was even more vibrant than yesterday, having bloomed two more flowers.
His spiritual power could isolate interstellar pollution and help natural plants grow.
This was good news for Zhu Ran.
After washing up and drinking the colorless, tasteless nutrient solution, Zhu Ran went onto ‘Xinggou’ to check his shop.
As soon as he logged in, the AI assistant summarized yesterday’s data for him.
Shop [Zhuying Anxiang] December 25th Daily Report:
[Yesterday’s Foot Traffic]: 1 person
[Yesterday’s Sales]: 1 item
[Yesterday’s Turnover]: 24,000 Star Coins
[There is 1 item awaiting special delivery. Store owner, please contact Xinggou’s exclusive logistics immediately~]
[Since there are no items available for sale in the shop, it has been closed.]
[Store owner, please list new items as soon as possible.]
“It sold?”
Seeing the data displayed in the daily report, Zhu Ran knew his Freesia had been sold.
Based on the foot traffic of 1 person, the single customer who entered the shop bought his Freesia. His luck seemed pretty good; he met someone who liked natural plants.
After the buyer confirmed receipt of the 24,000 Star Coins turnover, deducting the platform’s cut and personal taxes, he would receive around 21,000.
This money was enough for Zhu Ran to move to a better residence on the D-grade planet.
Making so much revenue on the first day of opening greatly improved Zhu Ran’s mood.
This way, at least he could be self-sufficient after coming to this unfamiliar future world.
“The buyer chose the ‘Spatial Delivery’ logistics method. I’ll contact Xinggou logistics first.”
Xinggou offered three shipping methods: Standard Delivery, Express Delivery, and Spatial Delivery.
The shipping fee for the first two was under 100 Star Coins. Intra-planet delivery took 1-2 days, while inter-planet delivery took anywhere from 3 to 15 days.
The shipping fee for spatial delivery was over 500 Star Coins. It utilized the spatial transportation channels jointly established by Xinggou and Spatial Ability Users of the Interstellar Alliance, achieving a ‘whoosh whoosh, item instantly at your door’ delivery speed.
Such an efficient delivery method was also one of the reasons Xinggou stood out from numerous shopping platforms.
All spatial delivery personnel were retired military veterans who strictly adhered to confidentiality agreements and absolutely never leaked any information about the buyer or seller.
Zhu Ran had a good impression of military personnel.
Because even in the chaotic order of the apocalypse, there was a group of people’s soldiers fighting on the front lines. Even when insulted and misunderstood, they remained steadfast in their original intentions.
“Analyzing spatial coordinates…
Matching delivery personnel…
…
Delivery personnel successfully matched, expected to arrive within 5 minutes…”
After sending the pickup request to Xinggou, a delivery person was matched almost instantly. This made Zhu Ran marvel once again at the convenience of interstellar technology; they had even developed delivery methods like spatial teleportation.
With 5 minutes left until pickup, Zhu Ran opened the window first to dissipate the fragrance in the room, then proceeded to pack the ‘Freesia’.
Though he called it packing, in his current condition, there wasn’t much Zhu Ran could do.
He added another 10ml of purified water to the test tube holding the Freesia and infused it with his spiritual power.
Then, he manipulated his spiritual power to reinforce the spiritual net enveloping the Freesia.
Finally, Zhu Ran snapped off a small branch of the Freesia and placed it into a separate small test tube, creating a cutting.
Using the same method, he wrapped the cutting in a spiritual net.
This way, even with natural plants being extremely rare in the interstellar era, Zhu Ran could continue cultivating the Freesia using the cutting.
After finishing this, Zhu Ran wrapped himself in the blanket and waited for the delivery person to arrive.
Once the 5-minute countdown ended, spatial ripples emanated from within Zhu Ran’s room.
Zhu Ran looked curiously toward the source of the ripples and saw the smooth space warp.
The distortion expanded to form a black hole the height of a person.
Someone leaped out of the black hole.
The person was very tall, estimated to be around 1.9 meters, with broad shoulders. His arms, wrapped in a black uniform, were full of power.
He wore black gloves on both hands, not exposing a single inch of skin. On his head was a matching hat that concealed his eyes, revealing only a few strands of golden hair.
His aura was extremely fierce. Even though he restrained it considerably, the hostility hidden like a submerged iceberg was enough to trigger Zhu Ran’s vigilance.
What an intense sense of oppression!
Zhu Ran only glanced at the other party, and his green pupils suddenly contracted.
He instantly shifted from a lazy, relaxed posture into a state of high alert.
His calm spiritual power continuously condensed and fortified behind him. If the other party made any transgressive moves, his spiritual power could morph into a net to bind him.
At the same time, because of Zhu Ran’s nervousness, the fragrance on his body became richer.
The woody scent carried a hint of sweetness, rich and fragrant.
Zhu Ran didn’t speak; he merely observed the person, his eyes locked tightly onto the other’s joints and muscles, not daring to shift an inch.
He looked just like a highly vigilant little animal.
“Delivery person Z.”
The delivery person glanced at Zhu Ran, a fleeting sweep of his eyes, finally lingering on the densely blooming Freesia for a moment.
His voice was deep, carrying the coercive aura of someone in power.
“Is this plant the item?”
“Yes.”
Zhu Ran kept a straight face; his voice was slightly hoarse from nervousness.
“I reinforced my spiritual power around it, ensuring it won’t be polluted for 3 days.”
Delivery person Z nodded and didn’t speak further.
He picked up the Freesia Zhu Ran had set aside, used a specialized device to scan it, confirmed the pickup, and recorded the plant’s current condition.
Zhu Ran noticed the other party’s movements didn’t seem very practiced. Was he a newbie?
Afterward, Delivery person Z left through the spatial black hole carrying the Freesia.
Without saying another word.
The distorted space gradually returned to normal.
Only after Delivery person Z had left did the highly alert Zhu Ran quietly heave a sigh of relief, his back already covered in cold sweat.
The oppressive feeling the man gave him was far too strong, just like the deterrence high-level ability users imposed on low-level ability users in the apocalypse, leaving him breathless.
With a damaged spiritual sea, he had absolutely no power to fight back against Delivery person Z.
The scent in the room became richer due to Zhu Ran’s cold sweat.
“Are even delivery men in the interstellar era this powerful?”
Meanwhile, Delivery person Z had just entered the spatial channel when he took off his hat, revealing a pair of iconic blue and gold heterochromatic eyes.
His gaze was sharp and cold, as if a blizzard was raging in the depths of his eyes.
He was Zefaer Suoye, the supreme ruler of the entire interstellar era.
With his merciless, iron-blooded political maneuvers and unrivaled ability talent, Zefaer Suoye firmly sat at the pinnacle of interstellar power.
Rumors had it that he had killed his own father and brother with his own hands to seize the throne. Due to his cruel methods, he was also known as the Brilliant Slaughterer.
Zefaer delivering goods for Zhu Ran was purely a coincidence.
He was investigating the case of weapons stolen from an S-grade research institute. Secret investigations revealed that the case involved his close aides, so he stepped in personally.
The investigation indicated that the origin of the smuggling was highly likely the D-grade planet Aispu. To hide his identity and investigate deeply at the same time, Zefaer pulled some strings to become a Xinggou delivery person, accepting only spatial deliveries from Aispu.
And on his first order on his first day of work, he received Zhu Ran’s order.
Zefaer was rather surprised that someone on a D-grade planet could grow a natural plant, but that was all.
It was just…
The pleasant scent still seemed to linger by Zefaer’s nose—a clear fragrance with a hint of sweetness, which somewhat stabilized his persistently violent and savage spiritual sea.
His eyes darkened as he memorized those green eyes filled with vigilance.
“Interesting.”
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