Chapter 42 Part 1 Cooperation
Striding over to Xiào Mu, Leo took the umbrella from Xiào Mu’s hand and held it up for him. Then he blankly looked at Wood, “If I remember it correctly, you came from the special training team, right? But now you are so ‘delicate’ that you need to use the umbrella when going out. It seems that I need to arrange more training tasks for you.”
The ‘delicate’ Xiào Mu: “…”
Upon hearing those words, Wood felt a chill down his back. He quickly said, “No, no, no, I don’t need it,” he glanced at the umbrella and added, “The umbrella is too big so I got covered as I’m a bit too close.”
As soon as he said this, Wood found Major General Leo’s face turned darker so he immediately said, “No, it’s not that I’m too close, it’s…”
Leo frowned and interrupted Wood, “You are already 60 years old!”
Wood: “… I’m only 56 years old in December.”
Leo ignored Wood’s rebuttal and looked at Xiào Mu with a serious reminder, “Wood is almost 60 years old.”
Leo remembered clearly how Xiào Mu was taken aback when he(XM) knew that he is 38. Although he is considered young before reaching 100 years old, Xiào Mu didn’t seem to like older people. Leo thought that his own age is just right, while Wood is a little too old.
Xiào Mu looked at Wood in surprise. To him, Wood looked almost like a 30-year-old in his world, or even younger. He couldn’t tell that Wood is more than 50 years old at all. Xiào Mu squatted down and stretched out his hand, “Let me dig ba. If I know earlier that you are so old, I definitely won’t let you do the rough work.
The corner of Wood’s mouth twitched, “Master Xiào Mu, I’m still very young. Digging medicine is very simple, and not a rough job at all.” He said, as if to verify his words, Wood waved the medicine shovel and shoveled towards the root of the herb.
“PENG…” Due to using too much strength, the metal part of the medicine shovel flew off from the handle and rolled a few times on the ground.
Xiào Mu stayed silent for a moment before saying, “I believe what you said. You are indeed very young and strong.”
Leo said blankly, “No, he’s old. See, he can’t even control his strength.”
The corner of Wood’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch again. He walked to the side and picked up the medicine shovel.
Xiào Mu leaned over and stared at the shovel, “Can it still be used? I only bought one.”
Holding the umbrella, Leo followed Xiào Mu closely, making sure that he would not be exposed to the sun. He heard Xiào Mu’s question and glanced at him, “Don’t worry, it’s easy to fix. If it can’t be fixed,” Leo glanced at the herbs on the ground, “There are other ways to harvest the herb.”
The method Leo said is simple and rough. He got someone to drive an excavator to shovel a piece of land containing the herbs. Then he gets his men to pick up the herbal medicine, knocked off the soil adhering to the roots, and placed them neatly aside.
Xiào Mu only needs to put the herbs in his space storage, which is simple and fast. When it is time for dinner, Xiào Mu’s backpack is already full. Seeing the fruits of the harvest, Xiào Mu’s eyes are slightly curved with a smile, “Thank you, Major General.”
Xiào Mu’s black eyes are extremely bright. Leo who is holding the umbrella with his right hand, and couldn’t help raising his left hand and rubbed his thumb lightly at the corner of Xiào Mu’s eye. Seeing Xiào Mu froze, Leo restrained the urge to continue and retracted his hand naturally.
Coming back to his senses, Xiào Mu rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, and asked in embarrassment, “Is my face dirty? I’m going to wash it.”
To put something in the system backpack, Xiào Mu has to touch the item. He has been storing the herbs, so he will inevitably touch some soil too. Perhaps he accidentally smudged some dirt on his face.
Leo’s eyes flickered. He lifted his hand to touch Xiào Mu’s forehead, down to the side of his face, and finally pressed on the corner of his lips. Then, Leo said with a low voice, “It’s clean now.”
Xiào Mu blinked, he had a feeling that something is wrong, and took a step aside, “I’ll go back to my room.”
Leo followed tightly Xiào Mu and shaded him under the umbrella. Though the sunlight is weaker now, he still worries about Xiào Mu getting burnt by the sunlight. Xiào Mu is helpless and felt that Leo is too nervous. Seeing that he insisted on not letting him basking, Xiào Mu offered to hold the umbrella instead, but Leo refused. He gave a good reason too. “Your hands are dirty, so you will get the umbrella’s handle dirty.”
Xiào Mu glanced at his dirty hands and decided to let Leo hold the umbrella.
At the door of Xiào Mu’s room, Leo said, “My room is just next door. The one in the west is to the cafeteria. I will come to see you in 5 minutes and we’ll have dinner together.”
Xiào Mu nodded. After entering his room, he went directly to the bathroom and washed his hands carefully. Xiào Mu looked at his face left and right in the mirror but his face looked clean and there are no traces of dust on his face. That man Leo, did he, he couldn’t be taking advantage of him just now? Or did he wipe it too clean? Xiào Mu subconsciously chose the second explanation.
As soon as Xiào Mu and Leo walked into the cafeteria, they almost get burnt by the scorching gaze. Some stared with worshipping eyes at Leo, but most of them looked at Xiào Mu curiously. Xiào Mu’s immunity to the gazes has improved day by day, but he still got affected when he is eating. Leo looked around coldly, and the gaze that fell on Xiào Mu immediately retracted. Xiào Mu felt relieved.
“Eat well,” Leo wrinkled his brows. “You are too skinny.”
Xiào Mu glanced at his hand and pinched at the flesh on his wrist, saying, “Actually, I have enough flesh. It’s just that my bone structure is smaller than yours, hence looked thinner.”
Leo picked up a piece of meat and said, “Not as much meat as this piece of meat.” After speaking, Leo stared intently at Xiào Mu’s wrist and took a bite of the meat.
Seeing that makes Xiào Mu felt an inexplicable pain in his wrist.
After eating, the two went back to their room together. Leo stood outside the door of Xiào Mu’s room, “There is still training in the evening, I have to go and oversee it, are you going with me?”
Xiào Mu is thinking about making a new medicine with the herbs so he shook his head, “I’m not going.”
Leo nodded, “Generally speaking, there is no danger here. But just in case, Wood stays behind to protect you, so yell out if something happens.”
Xiào Mu nodded, “Okay.”
Returning to his room, Xiào Mu took out the big medicine mortar. He put in the herbs and started to pound them with the pestle. Due to the scorching sunlight on this planet, the leaves of Wuming Extract are dry, but it is still very different from the processed dried ingredients he bought online before. Worried that the efficacy of the medicine would be compromised, Xiào Mu wanted to mash the herbs first before starting to make the medicine.
Although the leaves are dry, they are still fresh leaves. After being mashed, a lot of water is squeezed out and it mixed with the broken leaves, which made the content looked really ugly. Xiào Mu silently glanced at the messy large pill mortar and stopped pounding to avoid wasting the medicine. He opened the system panel and switched to the medical-making panel. Trying his luck, Xiào Mu touched the button for the intermediate low-grade healing pill.
[Do you want to start making this medicine?]
“Yes.”
[Please select the quantity, ?/10]
Without hesitation, Xiào Mu choose the maximum quantity of 10, and a familiar feeling swept over his body. Soon after, his spiritual filaments shimmered, and when the light dissipated, 10 light green pills fell into the big medicine mortar. The mortar which is originally dirty is very clean now, there’s nothing in there except for the pills. Xiào Mu could smell a faint fragrance of nuts. He couldn’t help but twitched his nose and swallowed his saliva. He began to regret that he didn’t put nuts in his system backpack.
Taking a pill to his hand, Xiào Mu can smell that the scent came from the pill. At the same time, a notification appeared in his mind: [Recover 3,000 spiritual power with 2 hours interval between use.] Xiào Mu checked the system panel and saw the progress of his medical skills had increased by 10, and his spiritual power has been consumed 400 points. He casually gave himself a Pin Hold buff and thought with his chin on his palm.
The herbs he placed in the big medicine mortar just now are at least 100 grams. Logically speaking, 10 pills should only require 20 grams of Wuming Extract, but the actual consumption is far more than that. No, it should be because the medicine has not been processed. Xiào Mu couldn’t help but glance at the clean mortar again. It seems that when he made the medicine (using the system), he will automatically process the ingredients to remove the unwanted parts. So, the weight of the usable parts will be calculated and show the number of pills that can be made. The corner of Xiào Mu’s mouth curved up, the system is so convenient.
Having gained experience from the 1st try, Xiào Mu took out a bunch of herbs. In order to put more herbs into the big medicine mortar at one time, Xiào Mu will still mash them up. He put about 1 catty1 and made 50 pills. After making 2 more batches, Xiào Mu made a total of 160 intermediate low-grade healing pills.
Continuously making the pills caused Xiào Mu’s spiritual power to be consumed a lot. He glanced at the time and took a rest. After a good rest, Xiào Mu went out for a run and exercise and used his skills to restore spiritual power while running. He ran in the open space in the middle of the dormitory building. The sky gradually dimmed, but there are street lights on the streets so it did not affect his running.
A faint shout and applause came from a distance, and Xiào Mu glanced in the direction of the training ground, where the lights are bright and especially conspicuous at night. Xiào Mu’s physical strength has now reached the lower level of ordinary people. Moreover, he took boost medicine halfway through the run. He relied only on running to exercises so his running time is much longer than before. Even though he has been trying his best to run as fast as he can, by the time his physical strength reaches the safe point, it’s only a bit more than half an hour later. Xiào Mu panted and walked slowly for a while before returning to the dormitory, which by then, his spiritual power has returned to full value. He continued to make more intermediate low-grade healing pills and produced another 200 pills. At this moment, Wuming Extract is almost used up.
Xiào Mu previously thought that he harvested quite a lot of Wuming Extract, but now he thinks he was too naive. The herbs might look like it’s a lot, but they are light in weight and occupy a lot of space. Xiào Mu is about to put the pills into the porcelain bottle when he heard a noise outside the door. He thought that it’s strange and then someone knocked on the door. Leo’s voice came from outside, “Xiào Mu?”
Xiào Mu is taken aback. He got up and opened the door. Leo is standing outside the door with a cold face. Behind him stood 3 sentinels in combat uniforms, 2 of which are restraining a red-faced dark-skinned sentinel.
The dark-skinned sentinel is extremely irritable and yelled, “Let go of me!” As he struggled, he suddenly stopped and stared in the direction of Xiào Mu in a daze, “It smells good.”
“What is that?! It smells so good!” The other 2 sentinels’ complexions changed instantly, and they couldn’t wait to peek inside the door through Xiào Mu.
Leo looked at Xiào Mu, “Are you making medicine again?”
Xiào Mu nodded and pointed to the dark-skinned sentinel, “Mental confusion?” The manic sentinel in the promotion for Delish Meds before this had a similar expression with this dark-skinned sentinel.
“Yes,” Leo replied, his expression sinking, “His spiritual power is unstable, but still wants to challenge me. So he went into mental confusion during the battle.”
The 2 most serious mental illnesses occur in sentinel. One is zoning that is caused by the severe lack of spiritual power and their spiritual state loses its vitality. The other is the mental confusion caused by the insufficient control of the spiritual power. The former is a quiet death, while the latter will always cause some trouble to others.
Chapter 42 Part 2 Cooperation
Understood what happened, Xiào Mu gave the dark-skinned sentinel a Pin Hold buff. He can see that man’s stat – Spiritual power Level A+, the current value is 460/8700, which is less than 10%. Then, he took out a mid-grade healing pill and gave it to Leo.
Leo took it and fed it to the dark-skinned sentinel, “50,000 star coins for a pill, remember to pay Xiào Mu.”
Soon, the dark-skinned sentinel’s face could be seen visibly calmed down. He said to the 2 sentinels who are restraining him, “You can let go now. I won’t attack indiscriminately anymore.”
The sentinels looked at Xiào Mu in shock. The dark-skinned sentinel reacted the same as them and asked, “Did you just gave me a mid-grade healing pill?”
Xiào Mu nodded, and Leo hurried the men away with a cold face, “Go back to the training ground, the evening training is not over yet.”
The dark-skinned sentinel touched his head and smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, “I’m one of the instructors, no need to rush,” he looked at Xiào Mu with piercing eyes, “The scent in your room should also be a kind of medicine for spiritual power recovery? So fragrant. You should have a lot of it, right? Sell me some!”
Recently, the news about the healing pill is overwhelming. The sentinels in the empire are making a lot of noise because of Delish Meds suspending their business. He did not expect that he would meet the medicine-maker in Planet Ba. The source of medicine is near to him, the dark-skinned sentinel doesn’t want the golden chance to pass by like that. Even if he only buys 1 pill, it’s still worth it; the pill he just eaten doesn’t count!
Xiào Mu hesitated for a while and then had a sudden flash of inspiration. When a guide has awakened, they will be taken to the Golden Tower for their protection. This smooth progress1 is inseparable from the support of most of the military. Xiào Mu’s current goal is to let Golden Tower gradually let go of their strict management towards guides, giving the guide the greatest freedom, at least their right to choose. If there he has the support from the military, their plan will be simpler. The military is the place with the most sentinels, and they have the greatest demand for spiritual power’s medicine. Xiào Mu can get the support of the military by relying on his pills.
Thinking of this, Xiào Mu smiled and asked, “Are you the person in charge of Planet Ba?”
The dark-skinned sentinel replied, “I’m the chief instructor Irwin. Don’t worry, my salary is completely enough to pay for the medicine. For now, I will transfer the payment for the pill just now, 50,000 star coins.”
After the man said that, Xiào Mu corrected him, “The market price for mid-grade healing pill is just 10,000 star coins, no hurries,” he thought a little bit and asked, “you should have guide pheromone agents here, right?”
“Yes,” Irwin nodded, “but we used it since we were young, so the effect is getting lower and lower for us. On the other hand, the medicine I took just now is very effective.”
Xiào Mu asked again, “What is the range of the sentinels’ spiritual power training in Planet Ba?”
“Level B (7000) and above,” Irwin smiled confidently, “All the top students from various army groups are trained here. Tomorrow, the sentinels from other army groups will come for special training. If you don’t believe me, you can take a look.”
Xiào Mu is overjoyed when he heard that the trainees are made up of various army groups. It would be even better.
“Can you decide matters related to medicine procurement?”
Hearing that, Irwin’s eyes lit up, “You want to sell us the medicine? If it’s your medicine, I can make the decision right now. I can pay as much as needed, out of my own pocket.” Irwin laughed, he wouldn’t lose any money anyway as he could resell it.
Xiào Mu: “As for now, the medicines sold in our store are basic level pills. Just now, I made a batch of intermediate low-grade healing pills. The effect is 3 times that of the medicine you just took. The interval of use is the same.”
“3 times?!” Irwin widened his eyes. “You must be joking. If your words are true, then even if the spiritual power of a Level S sentinel is exhausted, they can recover fully with just 3 pills!”
More than 9,000 spiritual power is Level S, and 1 intermediate low-grade healing pill restores 3,000 points, which is almost the same indeed.
Xiào Mu spread his hands, “I’m not kidding and I hope to do long-term business with you. The price of intermediate medicines will not be cheap. It’s fine if you use a guide pheromone agent for minor mental confusion. I am confident that my medicine being used during critical time can completely replace the need for a guide.”
“I accept, no matter how expensive it is!” Irwin said immediately.
Planet Ba has a harsh climate and the guides are weak and precious. Even if some instructors have guide companions, they won’t allow their partners to come to Planet Ba. Therefore, Planet Ba has no guide at all, and everyone relied on the guide pheromone agent to treat mental confusion.
The daily guide pheromone agent for military usage does not work well. Advanced guide pheromone agent on the other hand is not available to ordinary people. The quantity is small and expensive. This causes many soldiers to return to Area A once a month to get treatment from the hospital. The most troublesome thing is that sometimes there is a sudden case during training, and there is no way to treat it in time. If they are lucky, they will be sent back to Area A for treatment. The unlucky ones will suffer spiritual power damage and even sudden death. Every soldier who comes to Planet Ba is a valuable asset of the empire. Any death will also make people feel heartache. As the chief instructor, Irwin hopes that they won’t need to use the sacrifice quotas given by the military.
Xiào Mu smiled and took a step back, letting the door open, “Let’s go into the room and talk!”
Everyone sat on the L-shaped sofa. Leo directly sat next to Xiào Mu, and coldly glared at Irwin who wanted to get closer. Irwin sat down to the opposite side of Xiào Mu instead and stared intently at the pills on the table. The other 2 sentinels who followed in had the same reaction, and even one of them couldn’t help taking a deep breath, “Such a pleasant scent.”
Xiào Mu pointed to the medicine, “After it goes on the market, I will sell it at 50,000 star coins. But I will give you a special discount. For every 100 pills you buy, I will give 1 free. How many you want?
Irwin: “I want it all.”
Xiào Mu reminded Irwin, “Use it only when you are close to zoning or mania, it is not cost-effective to use in normal times, you can give me a specific number ba.” He smiled and continued, “Also, we are doing long-term cooperation. You may not be able to grasp the speed of consumption now, so do not buy too much for the first time. I will trade with you once a month, then you can buy the quantity according to your needs.”
Irwin calmly thought for a while and said, “You’re right, but… these are less than 500 pills. Our troops in total are more than 10,000 people, which is not enough.”
“I don’t have enough raw materials,” Xiào Mu expressed his intention, “Wolfberry leaf is the main material of intermediate low-grade healing pill. The main production of the ingredient is at Planet Ba. That’s why I also want to make a deal with you.”
“Do you want us to gather medicine for you?” Irwin immediately understood what Xiào Mu meant.
“Yes,” Xiào Mu said helplessly, “I can’t always come to Planet Ba to pick the medicine by myself. So, you can exchange a catty2 of Wolfberry leaf for 1 pill. What do you think?”
Xiào Mu felt a little for setting the exchange rate. He can make 50 pills per catty, but if he set the rate to more pills, then the price of Wolfberry leaf will be too expensive. This exchange rate is something Xiào Mu had seriously thought about. 1 catty of Wolfberry leaf is equivalent to 50,000 star coins, and 1 catty only left 100 grams after processing unwanted parts. The price of Wolfberry leaf is 500 star coins per gram online, which is 5 times more expensive than Plantago. Both require interplanetary transportation, but Planet Ba is a military star, and there are restrictions on entry and exit. This price (exchange rate) is not too exaggerated.
“Okay,” Irwin nodded without hesitation, “but I will need you to teach me to recognize the herb.”
Xiào Mu took out a leftover Wolfberry leaf, “This is it.”
“Isn’t this found everywhere?” Irwin asked in surprise, “I thought it is just some useless weeds! Really can exchange a catty for a pill?”
Xiào Mu nodded, “Yes, but I suggest digging herbs at intervals. Don’t dig too much, so that it won’t extinct.”
“These are all star coins now. I will definitely let the soldiers take care of them to make them grow better.” Irwin said.
“Can you guys pick some for me tomorrow morning? I will sell you 500 pills for the first time, and 5 complimentary pills. Then I will a few more pills based on how many herbs you can give me.”
Irwin nodded, “I’ll bring it to you tomorrow morning.”
The next morning, when Xiào Mu washed up and went out, he saw the Wolfberry leaf piled up on the doorway.
Irwin smiled, revealing 2 rows of white teeth, and said, “A total of 50 catties, how about it?” These weeds that he usually thought are useless actually worth 2.5 million star coins. Just thinking about it made Irwin very happy.
“Awesome!” Xiào Mu gave him a thumbs up, “Come to find me after lunch, and we will trade on the spot.”
Irwin looked at Xiào Mu in surprise, “So fast?”
Xiào Mu smiled faintly, “Of course, a good mood makes the process faster,” he sighed, “but this kind of good day may not be long. You know, my identity is known to the empire, and maybe I will be locked up soon in the Golden Tower. At that time, it may be time for our cooperation to terminate.”
Irwin blinked and chuckled, “You are really interesting. The Delish Meds Company announced that you are afraid of going to the Golden Tower and being restricted in your freedom. Hence, you are not in the mood to make medicine for the time being, but you are willing to cooperate with me.”
“I understand what you mean,” Irwin continued with a smile. “There is only 1 god-level guide. I don’t dare to dream that you can become my guide. Medicine on the other hand is real. I absolutely support your complete freedom.”
Xiào Mu smiled deeper; doing business with smart people is comfortable. He stretched out his hand, “Happy to cooperate with you. Trust me, one day, sentinels will no longer need a guide partner, and can live a long life safely.”
“I am looking forward to it so that I can,” he blinked, “find a sentinel as a partner, hahaha.”
As Irwin said that, he raised his hand to shake Xiào Mu’s hand. Before he touched Xiào Mu, his hand is slapped aside heavily by one hand.
Leo glanced at Irwin coldly, and passed the breakfast he held in his other hand to Xiào Mu, “Ignore him and have breakfast first.”
Xiào Mu felt a little embarrassed. It is obvious that Leo came back to the dorm after eating breakfast. He took the breakfast over and said, “Thank you, did I get up too late?”
“You’re just too tired,” Leo said, “Rest more later.”
Irwin shook his head and said, “When one is in love, their principle is beyond recognition.” After saying that, he dashed away.
Xiào Mu glanced at Leo, he felt that Leo is really different from before. He ate breakfast and looked at the time. He really slept longer than usual last night, probably because he consumed too much spiritual power. Although his spiritual power can be maintained at its full value almost all the time, but if he uses too much, he will gradually get mentally tired.
“How many days do we need to stay at Planet Ba?” Xiào Mu asked Leo, who is sitting across from him.
Leo: “I’m planning to leave tomorrow morning, do you want to stay longer?”
Xiào Mu shook his head, “No, the ingredient collection is left in Irwin’s hand.” He needs to return to Planet Yao as he had a lot to handle.
Leo looked at Xiào Mu quietly, and suddenly said, “The 1st Army absolutely supports you.”
The sudden declaration caused Xiào Mu to be stunned. Then he smiled and asked, “En, your army should also need medicine, right? Can you give me the contact information of the head of the logistics department? I want to cooperate with the 1st Army too.”
“No need, just talk to me.”
Xiào Mu: “Alright. But the personnel trained by the 1st Army and Planet Ba are different. Their spiritual power is different. One needs to be more careful with the medicine intake. I will talk more about it when I go back. I need to see how Zhao Sheng’s spiritual power tester is going.”
Leo’s expression changed slightly, “Are you worried that the medicine is too effective that it will cause a breakthrough?”
“Yes,” Xiào Mu looked serious. “This is very dangerous. Last time, Yan Chen’s spiritual power level is low and he can barely withstand it. So, people with high levels may not be able to endure the pain at all. In the future, people who want to buy Delish Meds pills that are at least medium-grade or higher must be prescribed according to the prescription before they can buy.”
“You are right,” Leo nodded. “I will introduce the tester to 1st Army too to make sure there are no problems.”
Xiào Mu smiled and wondered to himself. Is there any way, that even if the breakthrough condition is reached, it will only restore one’s spiritual power to the maximum and won’t break through? If they can’t find a way, then they can only rely on the tester to write a prescription and sell the pills accordingly.