"This is amazing!" Hua Wen exclaimed, incredibly excited. "With these shotguns and grenades, ordinary survivors pose no threat to us."
"Exactly. Those scattered survivors were never our competition anyway. The main issue is still the big ships!" Qin Haonan nodded.
"Can I use these weapons too?" Hua Wen asked, his face flushed.
"Of course. Didn’t the Boss say that all of you need to learn how to use these plant weapons!" Qin Haonan replied. "Weren’t you listening to what the Boss said!"
"I was, I was! I just can’t quite believe that we get to use these advanced plants too," Hua Wen hurriedly explained.
Lu Jiamei said in a serious tone, "The Chief wants you to practice with the plant weapons, which naturally means he considers you one of us. You must not betray the Chief’s trust!"
"Everyone, rest assured. My grandson and I will never betray the base, much less Sir!" Hua Lingfang promised with a solemn expression.
Hua Wen nodded vigorously at his side, as if to say, ’Me too!’
"Alright, let’s hurry up and finish clearing this last bit. Then our morning’s work will be done!" Lu Jiamei called out, resuming the task of clearing away the unwanted aerial roots.
Back near the house, Ren Yuanyang picked several Spray Melons and Iron Melons, then carefully cut them open with his combat knife.
Although they were powerful, their effect wouldn’t activate as long as the stem wasn’t pulled off.
After getting their seeds, Ren Yuanyang immediately began the enhancement process.
The last time he got a Spray Melon plant, his Mental Energy only allowed for five enhancements. He enhanced the spray power three times and its toxicity twice.
But his Mental Energy was on a whole new level now. Plus, since he was enhancing seeds this time, he pushed them to the limit all in one go.
Three enhancements to spray power were already enough. Since he was planting from seeds this time, Ren Yuanyang focused on enhancing the growth cycle.
[Spray Melon Seed (+9): Growth cycle enhanced six times, shortening it to 1.4 days. Spray power enhanced three times, granting greater initial velocity...]
He did the same for the Iron Melons, prioritizing enhancement of their growth speed, followed by their explosive power and fruiting speed.
Growth speed referred to the time it took for a seed to grow into a mature tree. This was the difference between woody and herbaceous plants; for herbaceous plants, the growth cycle was their entire lifespan, from birth to death.
But most woody plants were perennials. Some trees might take several years to mature enough to flower and bear fruit. Therefore, he had to get it to grow into a mature tree first before considering the issue of flowering and fruiting.
[Iron Melon Seed (+9): Growth speed enhanced seven times, shortening the time from seed to mature tree to 2.8 days. Explosive power enhanced once, and fruiting speed enhanced once...]
After finishing the enhancement of these seeds, Ren Yuanyang immediately sowed all of them nearby. He used the stolons of bitter grass to secure the seeds near the water’s surface, preventing them from sinking.
At that moment, Lu Jiamei and Xin Wan returned.
"Chief, is there anything we can help with?"
"You two can pick all those Cherry Tomatoes," Ren Yuanyang said, pointing to the main trunk of the banyan tree, which was covered in them.
"Okay!" Lu Jiamei replied. She then found a few clean containers and started picking the Cherry Tomatoes with Xin Wan.
Ren Yuanyang went back to his room, sat on a stool, and closed his eyes to rest. He suddenly noticed that his Mental Energy seemed to have increased by a fair amount.
’Has the rate my Mental Energy increases quickened?’ Ren Yuanyang wondered.
[The Five Animals Qigong that the host practices can improve bodily functions, allowing for better absorption of the Energy from the blood of evolved animals.]
Ren Yuanyang had a sudden realization, then remarked with some emotion, "The people Haonan brought back are truly invaluable!"
The person he was just thinking of, Hua Lingfang, was currently looking at the Banyan Forest and asking, "Haonan, do you think we could live here in the Banyan Forest?"
Qin Haonan, who was in the middle of eating Cherry Tomatoes, was taken aback for a moment before replying, "I think so, but we’d have to clear it with the Boss first!"
Hua Lingfang nodded slightly. "What do we do next?"
"The Boss said we have free time for now, so you can do your own thing," Qin Haonan said, standing up. "I’m about to go out on a patrol round. Do you want to come along?"
Hua Wen immediately responded, "I’ll go!"
"You two go on ahead. I’m going to pack up my things and take the opportunity to ask Sir about a few matters!" Hua Lingfang waved his hand and hopped off the speedboat.
"Alright, then we’re off!" Qin Haonan replied and started the speedboat.
"Xiaowen, observe more and do more. If you’re not sure about something, ask Haonan first!" Hua Lingfang called out to the speedboat, reminding him again.
"Okay, Grandpa!"
Hua Wen’s voice drifted back on the wind.
Hua Lingfang paddled his raft inward. Piled on his raft were many of the aerial roots that had just been cut down today.
Arriving in front of the shipping container, Hua Lingfang stopped and called out in a loud voice, "Is Sir here?"
Ren Yuanyang, who had been resting with his eyes closed, immediately opened them, stood up, and walked out.
Lu Jiamei, who had also heard Hua Lingfang’s call, stopped picking Cherry Tomatoes and followed Ren Yuanyang toward the container.
When the two of them arrived inside the container, they saw that Hua Lingfang was still four or five meters away from it.
"What are you stopped there for? Come on over. If you have something to discuss, come on in and we’ll talk!" Ren Yuanyang said with a smile, waving him over.
"Okay!" Only then did Hua Lingfang paddle his raft to the front of the container, tie it to a nearby banyan tree, and walk inside.
"Elder Hua, is there something I can help you with?" Ren Yuanyang asked.
Hua Lingfang nodded. "I wanted to ask if we might be permitted to live within the Banyan Forest?"
Ren Yuanyang was slightly surprised, then replied, "Of course you can, but it seems we don’t have the resources to build a cabin in the woods right now!"
"As long as it’s possible, that’s enough. I was thinking of using those aerial roots and my raft to build a small hut. I’ve observed the banyan trees; they’re much more stable than a small boat, at least!" Hua Lingfang said, apparently having already thought it through.
"Mm, I only have two conditions. First, you can’t damage the main trunks of the banyan trees. Second, the area can’t be too large—four meters square at most."
After saying that, Ren Yuanyang seemed to think of something else and added, "And of course, it can’t occupy any of the pre-designated functional areas, like the planting zones."
"That goes without saying!" Hua Lingfang was very pleased.
"Do you need any tools?" Ren Yuanyang asked casually. "I only have some simple ones, though."
"Yes!" Hua Lingfang replied decisively. "It’s much better than using my bare hands!"
"Jiamei, bring the toolbox over. Come with me, let’s go decide on a location first," Ren Yuanyang instructed.
Lu Jiamei immediately went to get the toolbox.
Meanwhile, Ren Yuanyang continued speaking to Hua Lingfang, "If you don’t have any special requirements for the location, then somewhere near this container would be good. We’ll be eating and holding meetings in this container from now on, so living nearby would be more convenient!"
"No requirements. As long as there’s a spot, it’s fine!" Hua Lingfang immediately shook his head.
Once Lu Jiamei returned with the toolbox, Ren Yuanyang walked out of the container. But instead of getting onto a raft, he used Round Duckweed to lay a path leading to an open space where no aerial roots were hanging down.
Walking on the enhanced Duckweed for the first time, Hua Lingfang felt as if he were on solid ground. It was truly magical!

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