The other two nodded. If they were close enough to the Peach Blossom Base, future travel would be much more convenient.
Trading supplies would also be much easier!
"Alright. Do you want to grow a Banyan Forest from a single tree, or from multiple?" Ren Yuanyang continued. "A Banyan Forest grown from a single tree will have excellent integrity, but it will take longer. A forest grown from multiple trees won’t be a single, cohesive unit; different parts might press against each other or separate. But the advantage is that reaching the same scale will be exponentially faster."
Ji Yizhi frowned in thought for a moment before asking, "Can we understand this in terms of continental plates? A forest grown from one banyan is like a single continental plate, while forests from different banyans are like separate plates that might squeeze together or drift apart due to geological movement?"
Ren Yuanyang gave him a thumbs-up. "Exactly! That’s precisely what I mean."
"Master, will the Banyan Forest shift much after it reaches a certain scale?" Wang Jun suddenly asked.
Ren Yuanyang immediately shook his head. "Not much. We’re in the Seventh-level Wind Sea Region, and the daily displacement is only a few centimeters. As the Banyan Forest expands, the displacement will become even smaller!"
"In that case, we’ll choose to expand with multiple banyan trees!" Wang Jun decided firmly.
Ji Yizhi immediately nodded in agreement. Long Zhan, on the other hand, had no particular reaction. In his view, it didn’t matter how they expanded, as long as they had more land to develop.
"Then how many banyan trees do you want to use?" Ren Yuanyang asked.
"Let’s go with seven," Ji Yizhi said after a moment of thought. "One in the center, with the other six surrounding it, like a honeycomb structure."
"Right. We just need to determine the distance between the seven trees based on the area our population needs and let them all expand at the same time," Wang Jun agreed.
"Okay, I’ll prepare seven enhanced banyan trees for you," Ren Yuanyang nodded. "As the Banyan Forest expands, you can prune the aerial roots to form internal river channels. Of course, you can also choose to wait until the expansion is complete before slowly cutting and trimming them."
"Yes, we understand!" the three leaders chorused.
Long Zhan suddenly said, "Seven banyan trees are like seven continents. Isn’t this like creating the new Seven Continents?"
Ren Yuanyang was taken aback for a second, then smiled and said, "It really does sound a bit like that! Work hard. Let’s see if you can really develop your own Seven Continents."
"According to what Master said, the Banyan Forest can expand outwards almost infinitely. It’s truly possible," Ji Yizhi nodded.
"Then you’ll have your hands full. If you run into any problems building the Duckweed Continent, contact me or Lu Jiamei’s team right away," Ren Yuanyang said with a smile.
"There are a lot of people at the base. It’s better to keep them busy so they don’t get any funny ideas," Long Zhan said. "Among the prisoners from the Xi’an Base, I saw that group of scum who betrayed the Aircraft Carrier Base. Right now, they’re getting one bowl of thin porridge a day. We’ll starve them for a bit first, then all the heavy labor will be their job!"
"Exactly. That’s how they should be handled," Ji Yizhi chimed in, a rare moment of agreement.
After that, Ren Yuanyang began to chat idly with the three leaders.
「Soon, it was noon.」
Xin Wan had already prepared lunch and came over to let Ren Yuanyang know.
Ren Yuanyang smiled at Wang Jun on the big screen and said, "Captain Wang, I’m afraid I can’t treat you to a meal this time. Come over after the Aircraft Carrier Base has been relocated!"
"Alright. I’ll definitely come and impose on you then!" Wang Jun replied with a cupped-fist salute.
"That’s all for today. Let’s go eat lunch," Ren Yuanyang said with a wave of his hand. Ji Yizhi then cut the video feed.
Lu Jiamei and the others immediately cleared the area, and various dishes were brought to the table.
As the aroma of the food wafted over, Long Zhan couldn’t help but gulp.
Ji Yizhi was speechless. He took a couple of steps to the side, as if trying to distance himself from Long Zhan.
"There are no strangers here, so everyone, please make yourselves at home!" Ren Yuanyang called out. "Let’s get some food in our stomachs first. We’ll save the alcohol for later!"
"Master, then I won’t stand on ceremony!" Long Zhan immediately picked up his chopsticks and started to dig in.
Watching Long Zhan eat as if he hadn’t had a meal in days, Ji Yizhi felt deeply embarrassed.
’The Dawn Base isn’t that poor, is it!’
Of course, Ji Yizhi didn’t hold back either. Food this delicious couldn’t be wasted!
After everyone had been eating for a while, Ren Yuanyang finally had the alcohol brought out.
"Let’s raise our glasses together to welcome Captain Long and Captain Ji!" Ren Yuanyang said, lifting his glass.
Lu Jiamei raised her glass and said, "Welcome, welcome! Please come visit often in the future!"
"I’ll have to! The food here at Master’s place is way better than at our base!" Long Zhan replied with a grin, his mouth shiny with grease.
Ji Yizhi, looking a little helpless, added, "Thank you, Master, and everyone, for your hospitality."
Ren Yuanyang waved his hand dismissively, and everyone drank a glass together.
"From now on, if you want to drink with someone, just pick your target. I’m staying out of it," Ren Yuanyang said with a smile.
Before he had even finished speaking, Long Zhan immediately stood up, filled a glass, and said to Ren Yuanyang, "Master, on behalf of the base and everyone else, I’d like to toast you. If it weren’t for you, the Aircraft Carrier Base and the Dawn Base wouldn’t be where they are today!"
Ren Yuanyang was slightly taken aback. He raised his glass and replied, "That’s too much praise. Sit down."
Long Zhan didn’t argue. He clinked glasses with him and drained his in one go.
Then, Long Zhan refilled his glass and continued, "Master, this glass is a personal toast to you. If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid I still wouldn’t even know what Cultivation is!"
Ren Yuanyang had just finished the last glass when Long Zhan unexpectedly toasted him again. He was a bit exasperated. "Captain Long, you’re a real tank!"
"This is a token of my heartfelt gratitude, Master. You can’t refuse it!" Long Zhan insisted.
Ren Yuanyang was speechless. He clinked glasses with Long Zhan and drained his. Then, he glanced at Hua Lingfang and the others and said, "Are you all just going to watch? Keep him busy! Otherwise, if he keeps toasting me, will I ever get to eat?"
Qin Haonan immediately stood up. "Captain Long, this is the first time we’re sharing a meal. Let’s have a drink!"
With Qin Haonan joining the "battlefield" and interrupting Long Zhan’s toasting streak, the others also sprang into action, continuously toasting Long Zhan and Ji Yizhi.
Ji Yizhi felt helpless and couldn’t help but complain inwardly, ’Old Long, are you an idiot? This is someone else’s turf. Can’t you be a little more low-key?’
However, everyone present was an Evolver with a very powerful constitution, so this amount of alcohol had little effect on them.
During the meal, Ji Yizhi consulted the others again about the Banyan Forest’s expansion. Lu Jiamei and her group, naturally, told him everything they knew.
"You can take the seven banyan trees back with you this time. Settle on a planting location as soon as possible so the forest can form more quickly. That way, the base can be moved over sooner!" Ren Yuanyang instructed.
Ji Yizhi nodded. "Yes, Master!"
The meal lasted for a full three hours. They didn’t know how much alcohol they had drunk, only that by the end, everyone was a little dizzy.
Even so, Long Zhan and Ji Yizhi remained exceptionally clear-headed.
Ren Yuanyang couldn’t help but give them a thumbs-up. "You two can really hold your liquor!"
Long Zhan replied with a smile, "We’ve undergone special training. We don’t let ourselves get drunk."
"There’s training for that?" Ren Yuanyang asked, surprised.
Ji Yizhi nodded. "Yes. We have to keep a clear head at all times. To be honest, we’d like to get drunk for once, but our bodies won’t allow it."
Although he didn’t know how they had trained to such a degree, the process must have been incredibly harsh to engrave the requirement of constant sobriety into their very bones.
Ren Yuanyang gave them a thumbs-up.
Long Zhan and Ji Yizhi both saluted Ren Yuanyang and then took their leave.
"Master, we’ll be heading back now. We will likely still need the full support of the Peach Blossom Base going forward," Ji Yizhi said in a serious tone.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. "I understand. Go on and give it your all. I’m counting on you to develop the aircraft that will take us to the Sea of Stars!"
"Yes, Master!" The two of them saluted in unison once more, then turned and boarded the modified speedboat.
Ren Yuanyang waved, and the speedboat started up, speeding off into the distance.
Aboard the speedboat, Long Zhan looked at the seven small saplings and asked doubtfully, "Old Ji, can these tiny little saplings really grow into such a vast forest?"
"Of course they can. A single tree forming a forest is a unique characteristic of the banyan," Ji Yizhi said with absolute certainty. "And with Master’s enhancement, there’s no question about it!"

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