Lin Mu knew that Hua Lingfang was an old doctor of traditional medicine. He naturally figured that Hua Lingfang must need the licorice for experiments with some medicinal formulas.
’Researching medicinal formulas seems pretty useless right now,’ Lin Mu grumbled to himself. ’It’s like no one’s gotten sick since the flood!’
Of course, he wasn’t entirely sure about that. After all, he hadn’t seen many people at Dawn Base.
’Perhaps the leader has his own plans.’ Lin Mu shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.
Back at his bamboo house, the first thing he did was check on the licorice he had set out before the meeting.
"So fast!"
Lin Mu’s eyes widened as he stared at the licorice in the container. It had already sprouted stems and leaves.
But the licorice leaves were a bit wilted.
Forgetting his shock at its growth speed, Lin Mu immediately began to inspect it. Wilted leaves were a major problem.
When he pushed aside the licorice leaves, he immediately understood why they were wilting.
The water in the container had dried up. This licorice grew so fast, its water consumption was naturally just as rapid!
The small amount of water Lin Mu had left in the morning wasn’t nearly enough!
Thankfully, the meeting hadn’t taken too long, and the handover from Hua Lingfang had also been quick.
After figuring all this out, Lin Mu wanted to slap himself. ’I never should have doubted the Leader’s words!’
He immediately grabbed the container and ran outside.
Ren Yuanyang had said that as soon as the licorice grew stems and leaves, it could be planted in water.
Now that they had sprouted, they could be planted right away!
Arriving at the prepared cultivation plot, Lin Mu carefully removed the licorice from the container and placed it in the water.
The licorice, which had been slumped over in the container, instantly straightened up in the water.
"This is incredible!" Though Lin Mu already knew they could stand upright in the water, he was still struck by a sense of wonder.
Just then, Jianghu walked over from the distance.
After the meeting had ended, Ren Yuanyang had spoken privately with the two Evolvers, Jin Ziyu and Jianghu, for a little while.
Apparently, they were finished talking.
"Minister Lin, busy as ever! Is there anything I can do to help?" Jianghu’s tone was exceptionally cheerful.
Coming to Lin Mu’s side, he saw the few plants in the cultivation plot and asked curiously, "What kind of crop is this? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it!"
"It’s the licorice we just brought over this morning!" Lin Mu replied with a smile.
"It grows that fast!" Jianghu said, somewhat surprised.
Hearing others say the plants at Peach Blossom Base grew quickly was one thing, but seeing it with his own eyes was another.
Lin Mu nodded and asked casually, "Did the Leader give you two any special assignments?"
Jianghu shook his head. "No, the Leader just said we should help out where we can. If there’s a mission, he’ll summon us."
"It seems Evolvers really do get special treatment," Lin Mu remarked.
"Yeah, this place is way better than Dawn Base!" Jianghu said, extremely excited. Then, he added through gritted teeth, "At Dawn Base, I was just a janitor—a janitor with no freedom whatsoever. Here, I feel respected by everyone!"
"Mhm," Lin Mu nodded slightly. "But we still have to work hard to earn the Leader’s trust."
Jianghu paused, a flicker of confusion on his face. "He’s already appointed you as a department head. Doesn’t that mean he trusts us?"
Lin Mu let out a soft sigh. "If they trusted us, they would have returned our phones. This department head position... it’s just a way to make use of our skills, to assign us work. That’s all."
Jianghu was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. "I get it."
"In any case, we’re off to a good start at Peach Blossom Base," Lin Mu said in a low voice. "As long as we don’t do anything stupid, the Leader will see our loyalty sooner or later."
"Right! I’ll go see if Si Youqin needs any help!" Wanting to make a good impression on Ren Yuanyang, Jianghu decided to be more proactive.
"Okay, go ahead. I can handle things here by myself for now," Lin Mu said with a wave of his hand.
Jianghu nodded and turned to leave.
Seeing the leaves of the licorice perk up quickly after being placed in the water, Lin Mu finally relaxed and left to inspect the other cultivation plots.
Meanwhile, in the center of the Banyan Forest, Lu Jiamei found Ren Yuanyang, her eyes filled with confusion and a hint of worry. "Leader, isn’t it a bit rushed to give Lin Mu a department head position right after he arrived? Shouldn’t we observe him for a while longer?"
Ren Yuanyang smiled faintly. "Observing him while he’s in the position works just as well. Since he has agricultural expertise, let him do work in that field. If we find out he doesn’t have any real talent, we can just strip him of the title."
Lu Jiamei was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.
Ren Yuanyang continued, "The same goes for the others. If they have a particular expertise, we can give them a corresponding position and observe them that way. We just need to control their access to tools like cell phones that could connect them with the outside world, preventing them from colluding with anyone. Just the two of them, Lin Mu and Jianghu, can’t stir up too much trouble."
"I understand," Lu Jiamei replied. "Leader, how is the research on the Evolution Potion coming along?"
"The results from Elder Hua’s experiments have already shown that the licorice is effective. Now, we’re just waiting for the evolved licorice!" Ren Yuanyang’s eyes betrayed his eagerness.
He didn’t want to be stuck in the novice phase forever; he was desperate to break through the limits of the Enhancement System. Enhancing plants was always so restrictive, and as for animals, he still couldn’t even enhance those two little pigs.
He needed to increase his Mental Energy as quickly as possible, and becoming an Evolver was the fastest way to do it.

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