Chapter 41: Is Her Ability a Defective Product?
The two of them sat side by side against the wall, looking up at the stars in the sky.
Jiang Ning pursed her lips and turned to look at the somewhat disheveled Chang Ming. “Tomorrow…”
Chang Ming produced a small white flag from somewhere. He weakly raised the white flag to his chest and waved it. “Let me go. I want to live.”
If this continued, he would shed a layer of skin even if he didn’t die.
“Alright,” Jiang Ning thought for a moment. Today, Chang Ming had been sent flying by a Squirting Cucumber and frozen by a watermelon. He was indeed quite miserable…
She thought for a moment, then got up and walked towards the three withered plants.
After resting for a while, Chang Ming also prepared to get up and see what Jiang Ning was tinkering with.
When he walked closer, he saw that Jiang Ning had already pulled out all three withered plants, and three new seedlings had been planted in the pots.
“!”
Chang Ming’s conditioned reflex was to instinctively move away from the three seedlings.
Jiang Ning released her perception. Under the urging of her psychic energy, one of the seedlings quickly sprouted and bloomed.
After seeing the plant’s form clearly, Chang Ming heaved a sigh of relief.
It turned out to be just a sunflower.
“Didn’t you want a sunflower?” Jiang Ning handed the flower to Chang Ming. “This is for you.”
Chang Ming lowered his head and stared blankly at the sunflower she had stuffed into his arms, an indescribable feeling of being moved in his heart.
She had actually remembered.
“Master, I feel like I’m alive again.”
He was almost moved to tears.
“Tomorrow…” Chang Ming gritted his teeth. “I will definitely assist you with the new product experiment with all my heart, even if it costs me half my life!”
He was going all out!
Although those plants were a bit dangerous, as the saying goes, fortune favors the bold!
“No need. You should rest well,” Jiang Ning said with a smile.
Jiang Ning held out her Star Brain. “Don’t forget to settle the bill for the flower. I’ll give you a friendship discount. You can give me ninety-nine thousand star coins.”
Chang Ming nodded repeatedly and transferred the money without another word.
A top-tier spirit tool, even if it sold for ninety thousand star coins, was still cheap.
He had finally gotten a chance to experience such a good thing.
“Master, do you really not need my help tomorrow?” Chang Ming asked tentatively.
Jiang Ning shook her head.
“Let’s put the plant testing aside for now. I have something else to do tomorrow.”
She had just suddenly changed her mind.
Perhaps she should come into contact with some other plant-based ability users and see how others summoned plants.
She happened to know a place where there were all plant-based ability users.
After bidding farewell to Chang Ming, Jiang Ning returned home.
She opened the chat interface with Jiang Qing and asked if she could visit their ecological farm tomorrow.
While Jiang Ning was washing up, a message came back from the other side.
Jiang Qing had agreed to her request.
The two agreed on a time, and the next morning, Jiang Ning arrived at the entrance of Shi Shang Ju on time.
At ten in the morning, there were almost no customers in the shop.
The staff was preparing today’s ingredients.
Jiang Qing personally waited at the entrance to welcome her.
“Teacher Jiang, you communicated with me in the message yesterday. I wonder which aspect of our farm you would like to visit specifically?” Jiang Qing asked politely.
“I want to know if you have any requirements for the species when you summon vegetables,” Jiang Ning said.
She actually wanted to know more about how other plant-based ability users summoned them and whether the summoned plants had any other effects.
Jiang Qing nodded. “Yes, the types of our vegetables have all been experimented with many times by the researchers in each branch. They will only be put on the market after it is confirmed that there are no problems.”
“What is considered a qualified product?” Jiang Ning became interested.
Jiang Qing: “Considering all factors, quality, taste, yield, growth cycle, and cultivation cost are all standards we consider for whether a vegetable is qualified.”
Jiang Ning asked again, “Will there be any dangerous plants, such as those that will attack people?”
Jiang Qing said decisively, “No!”
“Those that attack people are all mutated plants. They are absolutely not allowed to appear on Shi Shang Ju’s cultivation list.”
Jiang Qing: “Teacher Jiang, let me take you to see.”
Jiang Ning nodded and followed behind Jiang Qing.
Jiang Qing did not take her to the same place as last time. She pressed the elevator button for the 43rd floor.
The elevator indicator light lit up, and the elevator door slowly opened to both sides. Jiang Qing walked in front of Jiang Ning to lead the way. The two walked out of the elevator and came to a corridor. The corridor was very dark, pressed by black metal plates. The floor under their feet was a transparent glass mirror. The bright blue light strips embedded in the metal steel plates reflected on the surroundings, forming lighting.
After walking for more than ten meters along the narrow corridor, the front suddenly opened up.
A high-ceilinged space of four or five floors appeared in front of her.
The metal display rack walls on both sides were connected to the ceiling. Each grid was sealed with glass, and various plants were stored inside. The light shone on each plant, making it look extremely transparent.
Jiang Ning noticed that there was an extended viewing platform every ten meters or so, surrounded by a half-human-high enclosed railing.
“This is our company’s display area,” Jiang Qing said as she walked. “All the plant samples and cultivation methods of the vegetables sold are displayed here, so that customers can also be assured of our vegetables.”
Jiang Qing walked to a glass display case. The glass on the surface also had the function of a virtual screen. Jiang Qing clicked ‘start cultivation’ on it, and the seedlings in the glass case began to change.
“This will show the customers the entire process of the vegetables from seed to maturity,” Jiang Qing said.
“Very intuitive,” Jiang Ning said honestly.
She roughly glanced at the plants in the glass display cases. Most of them were common vegetables and fruits in the interstellar era.
Continuing forward, the corridor began to narrow again. The metal steel plates on both sides were replaced with bulletproof glass partitions.
Beyond the glass wall were two medium-sized, fully open seed cultivation rooms. Dozens of growers in Shi Shang Ju’s uniform were busy working inside.
Jiang Ning turned sideways and observed through the glass window. The growers outside had formed a complete assembly line system. Four ability users were responsible for taking turns summoning vegetable seeds according to the company’s product catalog. The other three were responsible for transporting them to the various planting sheds. In each large shed, there were two people responsible for planting.
Their planting method was very traditional, not like Jiang Ning’s shortcut of directly using her ability to ripen them.
Although the latter consumed a lot of ability, it saved a lot of cultivation costs compared to the former.
Moreover, the traditional planting method also made it difficult to guarantee the survival rate and mutation rate of the plants. She would only slow down and cultivate them properly when she had free time. In other cases, she would directly use her psychic energy to catalyze them.
But Shi Shang Ju was different. They needed to plant in large quantities. No plant-based ability user’s ability could withstand such consumption, so traditional planting was more suitable for them.
“If you’re interested, you can go in and experience it,” Jiang Qing approached and looked out the glass window with her.
Jiang Ning withdrew her gaze, turned to her, and smiled. “Okay.”
Jiang Qing called over a flying spherical device and briefly explained that she wanted to go in and visit. Then the flying device entered a circular pipe and flew outside the glass.
Not long after, when the flying sphere returned and informed the two that they could enter, Jiang Qing led her to the end of the corridor. Jiang Qing looked up and aimed her face at the camera above.
Then the system broadcasted: 【Face recognition passed. The cabin door has been opened.】
A square line was cut on the enclosed glass wall, and the glass door was pushed inward.
A man in a jumpsuit came out from inside.
Jiang Qing nodded politely to him, then turned to Jiang Ning and said, “This is the researcher in charge of the cultivation room, Dr. Tian.”
“Dr. Tian was sent from the headquarters to Planet M412. He graduated from the plant department of Saiya Ben Academy and is now one of the few A-rank ability users on our Planet M412,” Jiang Qing introduced. “Next, Dr. Tian will show you around.”
Saiya Ben Academy?
She carefully recalled this name in her mind.
Wasn’t that the school Yan Zhou was at?
Jiang Ning took the initiative to extend her hand. “Hello, Dr. Tian.”
“Welcome to visit,” Dr. Tian shook her hand back. “I heard from the manager that you also have a certain level of attainment in plant cultivation. I hope we can have a good exchange.”
Jiang Ning smiled and said, “Okay.”
Next, Dr. Tian led Jiang Ning around the various areas and briefly introduced the species planted in each area.
Until they passed by the R&D area, Jiang Ning paused.
She stopped here and watched for a while longer.
She saw one of the ability users summon a seedling, then hand it to the person next to them. The person next to them then activated their psychic energy and directed it towards the seedling. After more than twenty minutes, the seedling gradually grew into a chili plant under the nourishment of the psychic energy.
After being tested by the remaining two ability users and confirmed to be qualified, the four of them began to summon chili seeds in large quantities.
Jiang Ning carefully looked at the ripened chili tree and found nothing abnormal.
Dr. Tian led her to the next area.
On the way, Jiang Ning was still thinking about what had just happened, so she asked Dr. Tian the same question she had asked Jiang Qing.
“Excuse me, do the plants you summon have an aggressive side?” Jiang Ning asked humbly.
Hearing this, Dr. Tian stopped, turned around, and looked her up and down. He replied, “The appearance of aggression in plants is a sign of mutation. Mutated plants cannot be used and must be destroyed as soon as possible.”
Jiang Ning lowered her eyes. “What if all the summoned plants are aggressive?”
Dr. Tian crossed his arms and stroked his chin in thought. “Then we have to consider whether the summoner’s ability is a defective product.”
Her ability was a defective product?
Jiang Ning frowned.
“Aggressive plants just can’t be provided for others to use, but in the contaminated zones, they can be a powerful weapon to attack mutated beasts,” she argued. “They can’t all be classified as defective products, right?”
Dr. Tian spread his hands. “That’s not what I said. That’s how it’s stipulated in the academy, and the Federation is the same.”
He was from a very orthodox academic background.
“Besides, we plant-based ability users don’t have to go to the battlefield, and no one will go to the dangerous contaminated zones,” Dr. Tian said.
Jiang Ning, who was an exception: “…”
Mainly because she was too poor at that time and was F-rank. No one wanted her. She could only survive by hunting mutated beasts in the contaminated zones.
“Sorry,” she collected her emotions.
For the first time, she felt that the interstellar definition of abilities was not very accurate.
“It’s okay. Does Miss Jiang need to continue the tour?” Dr. Tian asked politely.
Jiang Ning pinched the bridge of her nose. “No need.”
After a tour, she was very clear that her ability was different from others, and very different.
In their eyes, she was an anomaly.
“If you want to learn more about plant-based abilities, my suggestion is to go to an academy for systematic study. The information on Planet M412 is limited after all,” Dr. Tian suggested seriously.
Jiang Qing had told him that Jiang Ning was very capable in planting, but after a conversation, he found that her knowledge of plant-based common sense was severely lacking.
Jiang Ning nodded and thanked Dr. Tian.
Yes.
She thought she really had to find a school to attend.