Chapter 20: Safety Part II
“You’re thinking too much. I’m just a father who’s not content with his lot, with a bit of money, a bit of strength, just wanting to find my son,” Sindra shook his head.
“So, when do we start? How do we start?” Li Chengyi asked.
“First, you need to undergo a comprehensive physical examination. After the results come out tomorrow, I’ll arrange for your training course. For now, you need to detail all the scenes you witnessed upon entering the Dead End, to facilitate model reconstruction.”
“What’s the use of reconstruction?” Li Chengyi frowned.
“Dead Ends are places that once existed but disappeared over time. Finding traces is the only way to find a thorough exit,” Sindra replied.
Li Chengyi spent the entire day in the New Century building until after four in the afternoon, exhausted, before finally leaving. He stopped at the bus stop at the parking lot exit, quietly waiting for the bus to arrive.
Modeling required depicting many characteristic details, then making him confirm with examples found, both time-consuming and labor-intensive. Fortunately, it was now completed, and the modeling was entirely successful; what remained was awaiting the results.
‘Next up is the matter of the flower scale armor, including other variants of the Wisteria flower; perhaps the botanical garden has the most.’
Li Chengyi took out his phone to check the time: four fifteen. He then quickly searched for the nearest botanical garden. After inputting the botanical garden into the mobile map, several different options nearby popped up immediately. He decisively picked the closest one.
‘Four point three kilometers, not too far.’
After setting the destination, he let the map automatically plan the route. He decided to visit the botanical gardens one by one while also contacting online flower sellers to inquire whether they could order the finished Wisteria flowers.
Of course, it would be best if the botanical garden offered them for free. If not, he would have to spend a lot of money to build his own garden. After all, the flower scale armor needed to absorb living flowers for repair, and it was most convenient to grow them himself.
‘Additionally, the specific strength, enhancement, and abilities of the flower scale armor must be thoroughly tested. In the presence of outsiders, it is impossible to test while maintaining secrecy. I’ll have to spend money to create a testing venue. All these require money, a lot of money.’
Thinking it over, Li Chengyi suddenly felt that the salary Sindra offered was far from enough.
Testing the flower scale armor was urgent; he needed to know if wearing the flower scale armor could protect against certain weapons, whether it could block bullets. This relates to the direction of the training he would start afterwards.
Soon, as he was mulling these things over, an unattended bus arrived. Following the stream of people, he boarded the bus, grabbed the handrail, and with the vehicle’s sway, made his way to the nearest Dongsheng Botanical Garden.
Unfortunately, after wandering around in the botanical garden for over an hour and just as they were about to close, Li Chengyi had no choice but to leave. He touched many other flowers, but the variant of Wisteria was genuinely not found.
At dusk, he wearily boarded the bus home, sitting down, his eyes hazy and drowsiness continuously surging up, nearly falling asleep several times. The seats around him changed several times with different people.
Li Chengyi initially didn’t care at all, only wanting to take advantage of this time to rest properly. However, a few primary school students standing by the seats, chattering with their backpacks on, caught his attention.
There were three kids in blue and white school uniforms, two boys and a girl.
“Today, my mom brought me a succulent that grew a layer of green fuzz. Do your succulents do that too?” the little girl seemed a bit sad.
“I don’t have one,” another little boy wiped his nose, about to run out, and smeared it on his pants.
“I do! I watered my succulent with milk and shampoo! The shampoo is colorful, mixed with milk, it looks super pretty; now it’s changed color in several places, part of the flesh turned yellow, so beautiful!” the last boy with a buzz cut said loudly, his expression proud.
“Doesn’t the shampoo kill it?” the little girl worriedly asked.
“How could it? We use it to wash our hair and it’s fine. My dad said my succulent is very hardy. As long as you don’t mess with it too much, it certainly won’t die,” the buzz-cut boy said assertively.
“That’s amazing, I also want a color-changing succulent,” the little girl’s eyes began to sparkle.
“Let me tell you, I even secretly poured some of my dad’s hair growth tonic into it.” The buzz-cut boy whispered loudly.
“Doesn’t that kill it?” the sniffling boy asked.
“What are you talking about? Some plants have super strong vitality; they’ll absorb nutrients on their own. Maybe feeding them something random could even produce mutated varieties,” the buzz-cut boy replied.
Mutation??
The last statement sent a bright flash through Li Chengyi’s mind. It seemed like an inspiration flashed across his mind. ‘Right! How did plant variants initially come about?’ He suddenly thought of this.
At that moment, he became fully alert and quickly searched on his phone. Page after page of various information was displayed on the screen.
He soon found the answer. ‘The causes of plant mutations include: 1. Influence of chemical substances, such as watering with special solutions. 2. Radiation exposure treatments, such as space breeding. 3. Virus invasion. 4. Significant changes in the growth environment’s water and soil, causing adaptation over a long period.’
“That means, I can induce mutations myself!” Li Chengyi thought excitedly.
However, this would be for later. After all existing variants had been absorbed and were of no use, then he would produce variants himself.
Keeping this in mind, during the rest of Li Chengyi’s journey home, his mind was filled with much anticipation. He also developed many ideas for the development direction of the evil flower.
Upon returning home, his sister Li Chengjiu had already arrived, talking with their parents, paying him no mind as he entered.
Instead, his mother Feng Yurong got up, hurriedly serving him rice and chopsticks. At this point, Li Chengyi was entirely focused on how to evolve the flower scale armor, showing no interest in his previously uninterested sister.
After hastily finishing his meal, he went to bed to browse his phone.
The phone could provide him with a plethora of various information and knowledge, allowing him to quickly recall aspects of his predecessor’s memory that were forgotten or vague.
—
In Suoyang City’s Blue District, within a villa area on the mountainside, in one of the corner villas.
In the backyard lawn, Meng Dongdong suddenly woke up from a nightmare, drenched in sweat, sitting on the lounger, her heart rate nearly hitting a hundred and forty.
She wiped the sweat off her forehead, supporting herself from the lounger. Looking around her home’s yard, although the wall was lined with electric fences and spikes, she still didn’t feel a bit of safety.
Picking up her phone, she quickly dialed a number. After a waiting tone, the call connected.
“Hello, Dad, is there a solution?”
There was silence on the other end for a moment.
“I’ve consulted with a reliable source. To come out safely, one person must die each time.”
“One person?” Meng Dongdong’s pupils involuntarily contracted. She remembered, if it wasn’t for the gunman attracting the monster’s attention last time, she might have died. Perhaps she came out mysteriously because one of the other two had died…
“Yes, as long as one person dies, the rest can quickly escape. So, if you want to survive, you must let someone else die!” the man on the phone answered.
Meng Dongdong fell completely silent at his words.
“You mentioned three entrants, excluding you, there are still two. You came out mysteriously last time, so one must have already died. The remaining one, if no new people come in, will be your next target to confront,” the man explained.
“Isn’t there any other way?” Meng Dongdong lightly bit her lip.
“You draw the portrait out, your mom and I will help you search. With the comparison of portraits, since the others are likely local, as long as we find their identity, everything can be managed,” the man continued.
“Are you planning to…!?” Meng Dongdong knew their family business had some grey areas, but from her father’s tone, it seemed he was already prepared for something.
“I’ve consulted with the reliable source again; if we find the other participants and eliminate them outside before the entry time, it can also extend the interval time,” the man said.
“Dad…” Meng Dongdong trembled, wanting to say more.
“I won’t let you die, Dongdong,” the man interrupted her, “you also need to be prepared. Next time you go in, you have to train how to use a gun. I will prepare it for you.”
—
A new day dawns.
Early the next morning, Li Chengyi hastily got up, cooked a bowl of egg noodles, and left the house to take the bus to New Century.
The journey was uneventful, taking about fifteen minutes to arrive at Hongjin Biopharmaceutical Company, which was actually Sindra’s shell company. The woman who led him previously was already waiting for him at the door.
“The boss hasn’t arrived yet. I’ll take you to the physical training area to start the physical fitness test,” she said with a smile, a very formulaic expression.
“Also, I’m your dedicated liaison. If you need anything, you can contact me directly. The boss might not always be around, but I will relay messages at the right time,” she added.
“Understood,” Li Chengyi nodded in acknowledgment.
They still took the side entrance and took the elevator to the eighteenth floor.
As the elevator door opened, rhythmic drum music immediately greeted them. There was no corridor, no transition; just outside the elevator was a floor covered with grey mats.
Directly in front of the elevator was a spacious rectangular space.
Li Chengyi stepped out of the elevator and looked up. Above were rows of bright, high-power light bulbs, the entire right wall was mirrors, and the left side held various black exercise equipment, easily more than twenty different types.
In the corner on a mat were two dumbbell racks, used by a short pony-tailed, blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman doing forearm muscle training.
Seeing Li Chengyi enter, the woman stood up and walked towards him, putting down the dumbbells.
“Kristin.” She extended her hand, hanging it between them.
“Chengyi.” Li Chengyi shook her hand. “You’re not from here?”
“Hmm, I’m from White Star, Erlenbar State. Your physical trainer,” the blonde woman answered, her Mandarin surprisingly fluent, indistinguishable from a local without looking at her appearance.
“I hold three professional fitness training certifications from White Star, with fifteen years in the field, invited by several star-ring universities to teach physical enhancement courses. So, in terms of physical fitness, I’m the most professional.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you,” Li Chengyi said seriously.
The star-ring university system represents the pinnacle of White Star’s education certification system, consisting of the top thirty universities in a premier league, symbolizing the highest standard in White Star and globally.
Being able to teach physical enhancement courses among them meant the salary of this blonde woman in front of him was definitely not low.
“The boss’s suggestion is to complete physical enhancement and restructuring in the shortest time. So, you have to work hard, young man,” Kristin said indifferently.
“Understood!”
His response was brisk, but the training that followed was painfully hard.
A whole day of training, coupled with massage, medicated baths, and stretch recovery, confirmed for Li Chengyi that others could not see the evil flower on his hand.
It also made him realize how poor the constitution of this body was. Just the endurance training left him completely exhausted, unable to even stand up after completing the standard exercises.
Fortunately, Sindra’s various recovery methods were very effective. After a massage and medicinal bath, he could at least stand up and go home.
Time slowly passed by.
Every morning he went to the company for training, leaving in the evening to wander around flower shops and botanical gardens, searching for Wisteria variants, while also collecting other flowers’ abilities for future preparation.
Meanwhile, after receiving the salary Sindra provided, Li Chengyi immediately ordered a good amount of Wisteria flowers and seeds online, planning to find a place to plant them himself.
In the blink of an eye, a week passed, and the goods he ordered finally arrived; the new Wisteria variant was named: White Flower Wisteria.
(End of Chapter)
