Everyone quickly finished dinner and followed Ren Yuanyang to the bamboo stalk.
Staring at the bamboo stalk, which was as thick as a bowl, Hua Lingfang exclaimed, "This is unbelievably fast!"
Qin Haonan, however, was staring at the sharp-tipped bamboo shoots sprouting nearby and asked, "Boss, these bamboo shoots are edible, right?"
Ren Yuanyang shook his head, exasperated. "Of course they are, but you can’t eat them now!"
Qin Haonan chuckled. "I know that. Once they’ve multiplied into a whole grove, we can dig up the shoots and eat them!"
"Then why ask?" Ren Yuanyang shot him a glare.
"At this growth rate, we’ll have a bamboo grove in no time!" Hua Lingfang said, a little excited.
Xin Wan looked at the spreading rhizomes and remarked, "The way this bamboo propagates is remarkably similar to the banyan trees! If we get enough of them, they should also be able to act as a windbreak and reduce the waves!"
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. "They can, but their root systems are only connected underground. They don’t have interlocking branches above ground to support each other. If the wind is strong enough, they’ll be easily blown over."
Xin Wan paused for a moment, then nodded.
The concept was actually quite simple. A banyan’s aerial roots grow down from its branches. After forming new individual trunks, they remain connected to the original tree by those same branches, creating a network of support between them.
Bamboo, on the other hand, reproduces only through its underground stems, or rhizomes. Above the surface, the individual stalks have no support between them, making them more susceptible to being toppled by strong winds on the open water.
Of course, with enough bamboo stalks clustered together, they would still provide some protection against wind and waves.
Hua Lingfang looked up. The bamboo stalk had already grown into the banyan’s canopy. He asked worriedly, "Won’t the banyan tree and the moso bamboo interfere with each other?"
"Don’t worry, they won’t," Ren Yuanyang replied with a smile. "The nutrients in the rainwater are so abundant that no single plant could possibly absorb them all. And since the light comes from those Fluorescent Cacti, there’s no risk of them being deprived of sunlight."
’Most importantly, the system had explained that strengthened plants don’t compete with one another.’
Under normal circumstances, competition among plants is incredibly fierce. They vie for water, nutrients, sunlight, and growing space. Some plants even release special organic compounds to inhibit the growth and reproduction of others.
But this kind of competition didn’t occur among the strengthened plants!
It seemed unbelievable, but considering the moso bamboo was maturing in just three days, Hua Lingfang decided not to dwell on the issue of plant competition anymore.
"Haonan, go get some rest," Ren Yuanyang said, turning to Qin Haonan. "You’re heading out at midnight. Remember, safety first, and be sure to stick to our plan for the trade!"
"You got it! I’m off to bed then!" Qin Haonan called out as he walked toward the speedboat.
Another batch of rice in the shipping container had ripened. With Hua Lingfang’s help, Ren Yuanyang harvested it and planted a new crop.
Ren Yuanyang placed a new Dripping Lotus that was in its Flame-shaped Inflorescence stage in the drying area to dry the freshly harvested rice stalks.
Near the drying area lay some clothes and bedsheets that Hua Lingfang had brought over.
Hua Lingfang felt the clothes. They were almost dry—a vast improvement over the damp garments they were wearing.
"Once the clothes are dry, you can heat a basin of water to wash up and change," Ren Yuanyang reminded him. "Have Xin Wan boil a few extra kettles for you."
"Alright, thank you, Sir!" Hua Lingfang said, cupping his hands in a gesture of thanks.
Ren Yuanyang waved his hand dismissively and walked over to the rabbit cage. The system had already notified him that he had enough Mental Energy to strengthen a rabbit.
’For now, I can only strengthen one, and doing so will cause me to pass out.’
Ren Yuanyang carried the rabbit cage straight back to his room and sent a message to Lu Jiamei: "I might sleep in tomorrow! If any problems arise, try to handle them amongst yourselves first."
"Okay, Boss, got it!" Lu Jiamei replied.
Ren Yuanyang shut the door, lay down on his bed, and placed one hand on the small rabbit to begin the strengthening process.
[Strengthening Successful!]
Ren Yuanyang barely registered the "Strengthening Successful!" notification before he blacked out.
Meanwhile, Hua Lingfang got some hot water from Xin Wan, gave Hua Wen a bath, and changed him into a set of dry clothes.
"This feels amazing!" Hua Wen said, a look of pure bliss on his face.
"When we have the means in the future, I’ll build you a big wooden tub. A proper soak in one of those will feel even better!" Hua Lingfang replied with a smile.
"Yeah! Grandpa, you should wash up too!" Hua Wen nodded excitedly.
Hua Lingfang washed up as well and changed into dry clothes, feeling completely refreshed.
Lying in bed, Hua Wen was too excited to sleep. He tossed and turned a few times before suddenly asking, "Grandpa, do you think our base will always be this nice?"
"Of course it will," Hua Lingfang replied with absolute certainty.
Hearing the answer he wanted, Hua Wen smiled. Then another thought occurred to him, and he asked, "In the future, when Brother Nan goes out on missions, can I volunteer to go with him?"
Hua Lingfang paused, taken aback. Then he replied earnestly, "In that case, you’ll have to work hard and improve your skills."
"Then how do I improve my skills?" Hua Wen asked, looking at his grandfather with a very serious expression.
"Right now, you need to focus on training your body," Hua Lingfang said after a moment’s thought. "You need to at least be able to protect yourself. Otherwise, if you go out and people have to worry about protecting you, you’ll just be holding everyone back. Also, you can’t be impulsive. Plan before you act, be ready to adapt..."
Listening to his grandfather’s guidance, Hua Wen slowly drifted off to sleep.
Xin Wan was on duty for the first half of the night. She idly scrolled through the regional channel’s chat on her phone. This wasn’t a dereliction of her duty; she was standing watch with her ears.
She had been eating the meat of an evolved crocodile lately, and though it wasn’t much, it had made her hearing far more sensitive.
The wind and waves were blocked by the outer Banyan Forest, leaving the interior calm. The only sound was the patter of raindrops on leaves. She was certain she would hear if any person or boat approached the center of the forest.
As the winds picked up, no survivor would dare venture into the Seventh-level Wind Sea Region in the dead of night. With no threat of human intruders, the night watch was quite relaxed.
Midnight arrived quickly. Xin Wan got up, prepared some food, and brought it to Qin Haonan on the speedboat, waking him up.
"Just heat this up when you’re ready to eat," Xin Wan said, placing the food on the table inside the speedboat’s cabin.
"Okay, thanks, Sister Wan!" Qin Haonan replied with a smile.
"Be careful out there! And make sure to communicate if anything comes up!" Xin Wan reminded him again.
"Yes, ma’am!" Qin Haonan gave a playful salute.
Xin Wan shook her head. "I’m heading back to rest. If you need anything, communicate with Jiamei first."
"Alright!" Qin Haonan had already started the speedboat’s engine and was steering it out of the Banyan Forest.
Outside the Banyan Forest, both the wind and rain intensified.
’I thought the rain was going to let up, but it’s gotten heavier instead!’ Qin Haonan shook his head with a sigh. He checked the map and began to pilot the boat along the Third-level Wind Sea Region, taking a roundabout route toward the Aircraft Carrier Base.

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