CH 134

The matter of forming an alliance was firmly settled, which meant that they were about to enter an incredibly busy period. Dealing with the mutant creatures was one aspect, resisting the kill order was another, searching for other fleets was yet another, and carefully considering the establishment of the Shui Jing Gong’s own camp also required manpower and resources.

Although the pressure was immense, everyone was full of motivation, both eager and excited. After all, who could have imagined that the mutant creatures, once considered enemies by them, had now become allies? It’s likely that Zone A and Zone S, who issued the kill order, had never thought such a possibility could arise.

The news brought back by the Gray Rat Team set the entire fleet abuzz. It seemed as though, in an instant, they had transformed from drifting duckweeds into firmly rooted trees, ready to take root and grow tall once again.

These days of drifting on the water had also gained meaning, with everyone enthusiastically discussing the possibilities of their future lives. It appeared that what lay ahead was not an apocalypse but a future filled with hope and beauty.

Amidst such a positive and optimistic atmosphere, the fleet wasted no time and immediately issued a notice to set up camp on the outskirts of the mountains tonight and discuss the basic matters of entering the Cangyu Mountains tomorrow.

The entire fleet became lively, with preparations for celebrations underway at every base. They were not only celebrating finding a new home but also marking the end of their long migration journey.

From two o’clock in the afternoon until seven in the evening, the outskirts of the Cangyu Mountains were filled with the sounds of people bustling about. Some were busy moving supplies from the ships that might be needed tomorrow, while others were preparing food and drinks for the evening celebration.

Since they needed to make a fire, no one ventured deep into the jungle. The vast mountains accommodated them comfortably, and there was no need to take unnecessary risks in the forest.

While everyone was busy, a tent had already been set up early on. Leaders from several bases of the fleet gathered inside to discuss the specific procedures for entering the Cangyu Mountains tomorrow. Of course, although it was called a discussion, the decisions were ultimately made by the Shui Jing Gong’s people. They had grown accustomed to this mode of operation throughout the journey.

Even before the meeting began, leaders from two small bases had approached Nan Ge, expressing their desire to join the Shui Jing Gong. Nan Ge didn’t immediately respond, only stating that he would consider it.

The current size of the Shui Jing Gong was just right. If they continued to expand, resources and personnel would need to be reallocated. If expansion happened too rapidly, where resources couldn’t match the personnel, it could potentially lead to system disruption or even collapse.

Of course, Nan Ge didn’t explain these matters to others. So the two base leaders who couldn’t immediately join the Shui Jing Gong only had slight regrets for not applying to join at the beginning of the migration.

In the temporary meeting room, Nan Ge was giving an explanation. Shu Shuishui and Gu Langu were present as well, and two gray rats were nearby, even though they couldn’t speak. It seemed like they took pride in being part of the Gray Rat Team.

“The Cangyu Mountains have a vast and safe altitude and abundant biological resources. But, in relative terms, the terrain is mostly steep, with few flat areas. Our knowledge of the Cangyu Mountains is still far from sufficient, so the main task for tomorrow is to dispatch teams to explore the Cangyu Mountains and find suitable footholds.” In front of Nan Ge, there was a rudimentary map of the Cangyu Mountains, but its practicality was limited.

“This map is quite old and can only serve as a reference. Currently, we have designated a few areas for exploration. Each exploration team from each base will be led deep into the Cangyu Mountains by a gray rat. The keen sense of smell and sharp instincts of the gray rat will help determine which places are safe to visit and which are not. Powerful mutant creatures have their own territories, so do not act recklessly. Of course, there will be a daily fee for the gray rats’s services during the exploration, which is two sweet potatoes per day.”

“I have a question,” spoke Shi An’an, who had come with Fei Luo. During the migration, everyone mostly stayed within their respective fleets, so they rarely interacted.

Shu Shuishui looked at Shi An’an, examining him closely, hoping to catch a glimpse of the so-called system but found nothing. It seemed that only Shi An’an could see the system.

Nan Ge gestured for Shi An’an to continue.

“During the exploration, if we discover valuable resources, do they belong to us personally? Regarding suitable living areas found during the exploration, can only the discovering base inhabit them, and what should be done if other bases try to seize the right to live there?” Shi An’an’s words immediately drew the attention of everyone present.

Clearly, Shi An’an had great confidence in tomorrow’s exploration, especially the part about what to do if other bases tried to claim living rights, which was clearly directed at the Shui Jing Gong. After all, the Shui Jing Gong was currently the most powerful within the fleet.

Nan Ge didn’t show any signs of displeasure and continued with a businesslike tone, “Items discovered during the exploration belong to individuals, including all bases and the accompanying gray rats. Regarding the discovered living areas, other bases cannot enter without the permission of the discoverers, and violators will lose their qualification to settle in the Cangyu Mountains.”

The penalty for not being able to settle in the Cangyu Mountains seemed quite severe, causing everyone to immediately pay attention, and it also brought a satisfied expression to Shi An’an’s face.

“In addition to the teams exploring living areas, each base will need to dispatch another team tomorrow to search for and contact other surviving fleets, uniting forces as much as possible. The remaining personnel will work on improving the landing points. The main river of the Cang River flows there, and even during the dry season, it remains navigable. We will construct ports for future travel…” Nan Ge distributed tasks in an orderly manner.

Those present listened attentively, as it was evident that, given the current circumstances, settling in the Cangyu Mountains relied on the Shui Jing Gong.

After Shi An’an’s earlier question, he remained silent. It wasn’t clear what was on his mind. At one point, it seemed he felt Shu Shuishui’s gaze, and he raised his head, coincidentally meeting Shu Shuishui’s eyes.

Shu Shuishui wore his usual smiling face, his eyes curved as he extended a friendly greeting. “Hi, can you hear me?”

Shi An’an clearly paused for a moment. He wasn’t familiar with Shu Shuishui, and they were only separated by the table, so why the unnecessary greeting? Shi An’an smiled somewhat perfunctorily. For some reason, Shu Shuishui had just greeted him, but it felt as though he wasn’t really greeting him. This strange feeling made Shi An’an uncomfortable, especially since Shu Shuishui wasn’t the type he liked.

He averted his gaze and stopped paying attention to Shu Shuishui. Instead, he pondered how to spend his remaining points to find a comfortable and safe place. This task exceeded Shi An’an’s expectations. He still hadn’t successfully navigated his system, and Fei Luo’s favorability towards him fluctuated unpredictably. Shi An’an couldn’t help but suspect that he was being played by Fei Luo, but obviously, that couldn’t be true.

The meeting ended, and everyone dispersed. Shu Shuishui went to find Cheng Que with a palm-sized lotus, while Gu Langu took the opportunity to meet with the gray rats, collecting his share of today’s earnings.

Cheng Que had been holed up in the laboratory with Xie Feng for the past few days. Although their research directions were different, Xie Feng made improvements to Cheng Que’s instruments and equipment one by one. These enhancements greatly surprised Cheng Que. Even within the Galactic Alliance, no one could achieve this level of expertise.

The updates to the equipment made Cheng Que eager to revalidate his experimental results. So, even though the landing was a significant event, he only recorded a video message to welcome Shu Shuishui and then dove back into the laboratory.

When Shu Shuishui found Cheng Que, he was still hunched over the microscope, completely engrossed in his work.

Xie Feng was the first to notice Shu Shuishui and abandoned the equipment he was tinkering with to come over. “Shui Shui, why are you here in the lab? Did you bring something delicious?”

Shu Shuishui pulled out a plate of fruit salad from his spiritual storage. “I was planning to make grasshopper salad, but I didn’t have time. So, make do with this.”

Xie Feng clearly couldn’t fathom what a grasshopper salad looked like, but the fruit salad was enough to satisfy anyone’s appetite. “No need to make do, Shui Shui. Thank you.” After saying that, he unabashedly poked Cheng Que. “Old Cheng, Shui Shui’s here.”

Cheng Que naturally heard their conversation. He withdrew his gaze from the microscope, still with a trace of excitement in his eyes, the look only seen in those who were passionate about science. “Shui Shui’s timing is perfect. I’ve made progress in my research.”

Shu Shuishui instantly became interested. He placed the palm-sized lotus aside. “That’s great. Just today, I was bragging to Xiao Bai Bai about your achievements, and now it seems the cattle here are already on the market.”

“Xiao Feng helped me improve a batch of equipment, changing some of the observation and detection angles. We unexpectedly discovered that human brain activity can be connected to mutant creatures. The reason most mutant creatures become aggressive is primarily due to their own intelligence being unable to handle the overload of information. By establishing a connection between human and mutant creature brain activity, humans can help calm the aggression of mutant creatures. Once this hypothesis succeeds, it means that humans can use their brain activity to inspire the intelligence of mutant creatures…” Cheng Que’s speech was nearly twice as fast as usual, indicating just how excited he was.

As Shu Shuishui listened for a moment, he became more and more familiar with the concept. Wasn’t this essentially a contract? Practitioners formed contracts with spirit beasts through various special methods, and depending on the circumstances, there were many types of contracts, including equal contracts and contracts with one side suppressing the other.

This method hadn’t crossed Shu Shuishui’s mind because mutant creatures didn’t currently fall under the category of spirit beasts, and it didn’t meet the conditions for a contract. The practitioners of the Shui Jing Gong also had no training in contracts, including various restrictions in contract formations. Overall, the conditions were stringent and not easy to achieve.

“Xiao Cheng Cheng, you’re truly a genius!” Shu Shuishui praised sincerely. If Cheng Que could establish a contract between humans and spirit beasts under these conditions, it would undoubtedly pioneer a new type of contract model. Even on the cultivation continent, he would be considered a groundbreaking figure.

Cheng Que was momentarily taken aback by the praise but then pushed up his glasses to cover the hint of a smile that tugged at his lips. “Right now, it’s just a concept. Connecting human and mutant creature brain activity isn’t easy. First, we need a matrix.”

With that, Cheng Que picked up a slide he had just observed under the microscope. On it was a small crystalline structure. “This is a purified energy stone fragment. Energy stones are currently a subtle connection point between humans and mutant creatures, but I haven’t found a way to merge minerals and living organisms yet.”

Merge? Shu Shuishui thought of the fusion of plants and animals like the white deer. He took out the palm-sized lotus and placed it in front of Cheng Que, then explained its source and function.

Cheng Que’s eyes grew even brighter. After listening, it seemed he no longer paid attention to Shu Shuishui and carefully held the palm-sized lotus. He rushed over to the light brain, seemingly calculating something.

Xie Feng held the fruit salad and said helplessly, “Let’s leave him to it. Shui Shui, shall we go for a walk? Do you have anything you’d like to improve?”

Shu Shuishui nodded. “Sure. Xiao Feng Feng, have you been busy lately?”

“I made a batch of detectors a few days ago, and Cheng Que’s experimental equipment is almost ready. What about you, Shui Shui? Is there something you’d like to change?”

Shu Shuishui looked around and then pulled Xie Feng to a corner.

Xie Feng was somewhat surprised; he rarely saw Shu Shuishui acting so sneakily.

Seeing that there was no one around, Shu Shuishui flicked his hair a few times. Xie Feng raised an eyebrow, not sure what Shu Shuishui was up to. Shu Shuishui continued to fidget with his hair, while Xie Feng nonchalantly took a bite of an apple slice, still puzzled.

After the third hair flick, Xie Feng choked on his bite of apple. He saw from Shu Shuishui’s soft, warm brown hair a tiny bird cautiously emerging.

“What is this? A hummingbird? What species? It’s quite pretty!” The bird had a long beak, likely for sipping nectar, and its feathers were predominantly indigo, cyan, and emerald green. Its round, shiny eyes were now fixed on Xie Feng. After observing for a moment, it seemed afraid and darted back into Shu Shuishui’s hair.

Shu Shuishui helplessly shrugged. “It suddenly stuck to me when I came back from the mountains. Maybe its nest is brown too, and it just wouldn’t leave. I was also afraid that Gu Gu would get jealous. You know, Gu Gu is particularly prone to jealousy. But this little bird is so fluffy. I’m sure it’s much better to pet than grasshoppers. So, is there a device that can be placed on the little bird to hide it from Gu Gu?”

Xie Feng was speechless. “How could there be such a device, and even if there were, there’s no way to hide it from the boss. But Shui Shui, does this count as ‘having an affair’? No wonder you’ve been singing ‘Little Bird’ ever since you came back, hahaha…”

Shu Shuishui glared at Xie Feng. “If you can talk, just eat more fruit. Maybe you’ll become as cute as the fruits.”

Xie Feng remained silent.

In the end, Shu Shuishui had no choice but to leave with the little bird. And he secretly prayed that Gu Langu wouldn’t discover the little bird because it was so fluffy and pleasant to pet.

Shu Shuishui was torn between reassuring himself that he wasn’t fickle and indulging in the fluffy pet.

“Chirp~” A faint chirping sound came from Shu Shuishui’s hair as he opened the door. He froze in his tracks and looked at Gu Langu.

Gu Langu was busy organizing the information returned by the detectors.

Nervously, Shu Shuishui inquired, “Did Gugu hear any sounds?”

Gu Langu’s hands paused. “No, absolutely not. Shui Shui, you must have misheard.”

Shu Shuishui breathed a sigh of relief and then tiptoed into the bathroom, warning the little bird not to make a sound.

Outside the door, Gu Langu quickly approached the dormitory door, gently opened it a crack and a gray rat that had just submitted its share of the spoils quickly slipped out from the gap. Gu Langu closed the door and instantly returned to his original position, pretending to be engrossed in his work.