Free Web NovelChapter 68: Chapter 68: Revealing the Spirit Body
After leaving the detention area, Shi Lan immediately summoned Xiao Du. "Xiao Du, what happened to you last night? How could you just pass out like that?"
She’d only been thinking about it at the time, but she hadn’t expected her own spirit body to be so cooperative.
Xiao Du nestled in her arms, tilting its head excitedly. [Hehe, Master, I absorb energy faster when you’re asleep. Look at me, have I changed a little?]
Shi Lan looked down, held it up before her eyes, and gasped in surprise. "Huh, what’s going on? Why are you sprouting on your head?"
Not only had it sprouted, but its body beneath the green mushroom head was now entwined with what looked like vines, making it resemble a mutated plant.
The tender green sprout on Xiao Du’s head swayed. [Of course! It’s because I absorbed that ball of energy.]
[Master, can you guess what new ability we have now?]
"We really have a new ability?"
Shi Lan’s eyes instantly lit up. She hugged Xiao Du and planted a firm kiss on its head. "My Xiao Du is the best."
Xiao Du was so shy that the green sprout on its head turned a tender pink.
It was the first time Shi Lan had seen its mood reflected so visually. After a moment of thought, she asked, "Did I awaken a Wood Element-related superpower?"
[Master is so smart! Something like that. From now on, wherever there are plants, they will be at your command.]
[So now, Master, you basically have two Talent Skills: Immunity and Plant Control.] freewёbnoνel.com
Although it wasn’t the high-damage ability Shi Lan had imagined, Plant Control clearly offered an extra layer of security.
For example, in a situation like last night’s, she wouldn’t have to just run away. She might even have the power to counter-attack the Insect Clan.
She arrived at the kitchen and, while having a robot prepare the ingredients, continued her questions. "What was that ball of energy last night?"
Having absorbed it, Xiao Du had also managed a rough analysis. [Actually, on all underdeveloped planets, once plant life becomes abundant, they absorb the planet’s vitality and in turn feed energy back to it. That energy last night was the plants’ feedback energy.]
[If we had waited another day or two to go, that energy would have probably been absorbed directly by the planet.]
[Oh, or by the Insect Clan. This energy is very useful to them too.]
"I see."
Shi Lan nodded. No wonder the Insect Clan had appeared on Black Star last night. They were probably after that energy too. It was a good thing she got there first. Otherwise, if the Insect Clan had taken something so valuable, it could have posed a new threat to human society.
The process had been a bit convoluted, but the result was good.
With this thought, Shi Lan hugged Xiao Du and gave it another kiss. "Xiao Du is still the most amazing."
The tender sprout on Xiao Du’s head, which had just managed to return to green, shyly curled its leaves and turned pink again.
Seemingly too embarrassed, Xiao Du retreated back into her spirit sea.
Shi Lan smiled at this and finally settled down to prepare breakfast.
With one of the five mushrooms in the prison gone, Mu Tangfeng felt his room had become drab and boring again. His gaze frequently drifted to the green mushroom on He Hanshi’s climbing wall, and he checked his own mirror over and over.
But alas, the mushroom still hadn’t returned.
He was starting to regret it. He wished she had taken the one from Jiang Xia’s room last night. She must have taken the one from his room by mistake.
Now that everyone knew the mushrooms were connected to Shi Lan, all the Beastmen began to unconsciously protect the ones in their cells.
When He Hanshi climbed, his tail used to accidentally brush against it, but now he would carefully avoid it.
Ye Ming had once tried to pull it out, but now he had specially installed a small night light above the leather sofa where the mushroom stayed, to keep it from being afraid of the dark.
Jiang Xia no longer dared to bite it, afraid the mushroom would feel pain. He even kept whispering apologies to it, terrified it would tattle on him to Shi Lan.
Yan Huoshui also forbade the robot in his room from even touching the mushroom.
Perhaps before, everyone had more or less found the mushroom of unknown origin to be an eyesore, but now, everyone’s attitude was cautious and gentle, terrified that the mushroom would suffer even the slightest bump.
Only Mu Tangfeng, who wanted to be a little nicer to the mushroom, couldn’t even find it.
His mood soured even more. Annoyed, he looked at the robot in his room and started using it for practice again.
It wasn’t until Shi Lan arrived with breakfast that he draped his blanket back on and spared the robot for the time being.
Everyone has their secrets. Shi Lan didn’t ask why Mu Tangfeng was able to leave the prison last night; she only knew that he had gone out for her sake.
She finished distributing breakfast to everyone. Seeing the small night light installed for the mushroom in Ye Ming’s room, she paused for a moment before explaining, "Actually, the mushrooms in your cells are avatars of my spirit body."
The Beastmen were very surprised by this. They had considered some kind of technological method, but had never suspected it had to do with a spirit body.
Because the investigation had shown Shi Lan’s spiritual power was F-rank, and in the perception of Beastmen, a so-called "useless female" meant she wouldn’t have a spirit body, and therefore no Comforting Ability.
’Why does Shi Lan have a spirit body?’
’Could it be as Yan Huoshui said before? Is Shi Lan’s disguise really that deep, and are her origins not so simple?’
’And she put her spirit body in our cells to monitor us.’
’But if that’s true, why would she confess now?’
’Unless... she really did come here with a purpose, and now that she feels exposed, she thinks there’s no reason to stay.’
’Does that mean she’s going to leave?’
At this, the hearts of all the Beastmen sank. After all, they had spent too long in political circles and were prone to overcomplicating things. Even Jiang Xia sensed that something was wrong.
But how could they know? Shi Lan’s thoughts were simple. She just wanted to use this opportunity to reveal her spirit body and, while she was at it, propose the idea of healing them.
Before she could get to that point, Ye Ming, who was usually a man of few words, spoke up first. "It’s okay. It’s very cute."
Ye Ming had never seen such a strange spirit body, but as long as it was Shi Lan’s, he found it unique and endearing.
Shi Lan smiled in surprise. At that moment, He Hanshi also said, "Don’t overthink it. We don’t mind your spirit body being in the prison."
Jiang Xia nodded in agreement. As a young master from a noble family, although he seemed pampered and clueless, he was still from that circle, and his thoughts were inevitably more complex than an ordinary person’s.
Especially when they had first arrived at the prison, a few previous Prison Directors had indeed been foolish enough to try and sneak in to draw their blood for research, and had even tried to drug them.
But they had killed those people directly.
But Shi Lan was different. He didn’t care if she had ulterior motives toward them.
Yan Huoshui also spoke up slowly. "Shi Lan, from the moment we accepted your perfume, you should have known that these are not things you need to worry about."
"We are all willing."
Mu Tangfeng chimed in to agree, thinking to himself, ’She even touched me. She can’t just be irresponsible about it.’
’Don’t even think about leaving the prison.’
Shi Lan’s eyes were full of confusion. ’Wait, why is everyone being so weird?’
’I’ve only just started. At least let me finish what I was saying...’
"I..."
She opened her mouth and had only said a single word when her wrist comm started vibrating nonstop.
She glanced at it and saw that someone was ringing the doorbell. Someone had arrived on Prison Star, and it was a notification for the Prison Director to head over.
With no other choice, Shi Lan could only look for another opportunity to talk about this later.
