After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar] – CH12

Chapter 12

Perhaps because a drizzly rain had fallen late last night, the forest still carried a clear, earthy fragrance of soil and greenery.

Some of the moisture had been steamed away by the midday sun, yet walking beneath the trees, he could still occasionally feel droplets that hadn’t evaporated in time—shaken loose when the leaves above swayed.

Compared to the primeval forests on other habitable planets, the forest Xie Xingchen was in wasn’t very large. Even so, it still covered an area the size of two or three mountains.

Endless trees stretched beyond sight, the dense green woodland like a giant beast sleeping in silence.

For pioneers, forests were dangerous no matter where they were. Unless absolutely necessary, they would never go deep into the mountains—sometimes they wouldn’t even step into the forest’s outer edge without first deploying scouting robots.

Xie Xingchen had brought scouting robots too. Unlike intelligent robots, this type wasn’t “smart” in the conversational sense. It was more like a machine: it only performed its assigned functions and had no mind for communication.

Xie Xingchen had no intention of entering deep mountain territory. He only planned to circle around the outskirts. Still, for safety, he sent out the scouting robot first.

When it returned, it brought good news—no mutant beasts detected within a hundred-li radius.

Xie Xingchen, who had been peering around the edge, immediately broke into a grin. He called back the three robots who had split up along the forest boundary to search for seasonings.

Excited, he said, “Get-Rich, Prosperity, Long-Life—come here, quick.”

The robots responded and came over, waiting blankly for instructions.

Xie Xingchen said, “In a moment, we’re going to enter the forest for real. When you’re looking for ginger, scallions, and garlic, remember to help me look for flowers too.”

He hadn’t forgotten that unfinished system quest, and for some reason he felt confident he might find the plants he needed here.

After all, this was a forest. Shouldn’t a forest have every kind of plant?

Get-Rich, Prosperity, Long-Life: “……”

“Yes, Boss. Understood, Boss.”

Before Xie Xingchen could add any more reminders, the three robots scattered in a rush.

Watching their backs, Xie Xingchen fell into thought.

Why did it feel like his robots had little attitudes now?

That couldn’t be right… could it? They were the most basic models. How could they possibly awaken after only being activated yesterday?

He racked his brain, then finally nodded with certainty. “Yep. Must be my imagination.”

With refined features and a youthful air, Xie Xingchen still looked like a freshman who had just entered an advanced academy—even though he was already twenty-two.

But that wasn’t important, and he didn’t dwell on it. He’d only mentioned it offhandedly before letting it go.

Right now, what mattered most was finding the seasonings he wanted.

Ginger, scallions, garlic—chilies, Sichuan peppercorns—whoever found those would become his precious little darling in his heart!

He glanced at his three “high-quality” robots again. Seeing them all diligently searching, he nodded in satisfaction.

It had rained just last night, so the forest was still damp. If you weren’t careful, you’d end up with feet full of mud.

The scents of plants, soil, and rotten wood mixed together into a distinct “forest smell.”

Xie Xingchen had wandered for quite a while without noticing anything unusual—until he suddenly snapped awake.

Wait. Rotten wood?

Hit by that scent, he abruptly remembered something—mushrooms!

After rain, mushrooms grew in forests.

He spun around and bolted straight toward the source of the rotten-wood smell without a second thought.

A B-rank mental power was only mid-to-upper tier in the Star Alliance, but at that level it still provided a noticeable boost to the body.

Not to mention Xie Xingchen naturally had a keen sense of smell. Combined, it made perfect sense that he could catch the scent of decaying wood. In fact, lately he felt especially sharp—almost better than when his mental power had fully recovered.

He had done another test, though, and it still read B, so he didn’t worry about it further.

He walked less than a hundred meters, passed several towering trees, and finally reached his destination—a place littered with rotten logs.

So many mushrooms.

The sight made Xie Xingchen’s mouth fall open.

No wonder he could smell the rotten wood from so far away—how could he not, with this many?

He observed carefully. These fallen, decaying logs weren’t uprooted, nor were they neatly cut. They didn’t look like they’d been snapped by beasts or mutant beasts, either.

The breaks had a ripped, torn look—like a nearby giant tree had fallen for natural reasons, crushing neighboring trees and snapping branches, which then toppled down together.

It was just that these towering trees were far, far too tall, so their “branches” were so thick they looked less like branches and more like trunks.

But… who cared? Any branch that could grow mushrooms was a good branch!

Avoiding the brightly colored mushrooms, Xie Xingchen picked every mushroom he recognized.

Because he wasn’t sure whether long-term evolution had changed their properties, he also cut off and packed a small piece of rotten wood while harvesting, planning to take it back for testing.

He looked regretfully at the mushrooms carpeting the ground, but after filling a small basket he stopped.

The stuff wasn’t going anywhere. Since that was the case, he’d confirm whether these mushrooms were edible first, then come back later.

Otherwise, if he worked his butt off picking a mountain of mushrooms only to find out none could be eaten, that would be a total scam.

Still…

Xie Xingchen’s gaze returned to the brightly colored mushrooms. After thinking for a moment, he stepped forward and picked a few anyway.

Satisfied, he placed the basket full of mushrooms into his storage button and happily continued on his search for flowers and seasonings.

The forest had abundant vegetation and, in theory, plenty of flowers. It was April–May, peak bloom season for many species.

Yet along the way, Xie Xingchen didn’t see many flowers. The occasional wildflowers he did spot weren’t the ones he needed, and they were scarce—usually only one or two blossoms—making him reluctant to pick them. He could only memorize their locations and plan to transplant them later if needed.

Unexpectedly, just as he walked on and on—until he’d practically lost hope of finding what he wanted—he suddenly caught a familiar scent.

He blurted out, “Osmanthus?”

The moment the word left his mouth, he denied it himself. “No way. It’s only April.”

But the faint fragrance drifting through the air was too familiar. That was absolutely the scent of osmanthus!

After all, Xie Xingchen’s elementary school, middle school, high school—had osmanthus trees. There was no way he’d mistake it.

Had he run into some hallucinogenic plant?

He wasn’t sure.

Osmanthus was also called “August osmanthus,” or “golden autumn osmanthus,” because it bloomed in the eighth lunar month—around September to October—right in the heart of autumn.

It was April. Where would osmanthus come from?

Even though he suspected hallucination, Xie Xingchen couldn’t help but follow the scent.

And the closer he got, the more stunned he became—until he finally saw the tree.

It really was osmanthus. Osmanthus blooming in this month?!

Had the species… evolved?

Staring at the osmanthus tree, its branches stretching freely in the wind, Xie Xingchen could barely close his mouth.

“So… so tall.”

He had never seen an osmanthus tree this tall.

The osmanthus trees at school topped out at three to five meters. This one was at least twenty meters, wasn’t it?

Since when could osmanthus grow that high?

Well—osmanthus could naturally reach about eighteen meters at most. With no human interference, growing to twenty meters… seemed almost normal (…maybe?).

He could transmigrate into the future; who knew how many years had passed for Earth? Why couldn’t an osmanthus tree grow this big?

Time changed everything. Evolution and variation were perfectly normal.

It was just a twenty-meter osmanthus tree. Just a twenty-meter osmanthus tree blooming in April. Nothing to see here.

Xie Xingchen: “……”

Nothing… except it slightly shattered his worldview.

Closing his mouth, Xie Xingchen circled the tree three times with fascination. Then he found an easier spot to climb and prepared to go up and collect samples.

But the moment his hand touched the osmanthus tree, the system’s notification sound rang out.

[Ding-dong. Congratulations, player, for discovering “Osmanthus.” Osmanthus unlocked.]

[Ding-dong. Congratulations, player, your quest progress has increased. Current quest “Find Fresh Flowers” progress: 33.33%]

Xie Xingchen’s eyes curved with delight. “I almost forgot—you’re one of the twenty-five I need to find.”

Truly: you search everywhere and find nothing, then it falls into your lap when you least expect it.

Osmanthus essential oil, osmanthus hydrosol, osmanthus perfume, osmanthus tea, osmanthus wine, osmanthus cake, candied osmanthus…

Osmanthus was unbelievably useful.

Xie Xingchen’s shameless heart was moved.

He not only picked an entire sack of osmanthus blossoms—he even snapped off several fresh branches to test later.

The forest grew dark quickly beneath the heavy canopy. It wasn’t even six o’clock, and it was already too dark to see clearly. Xie Xingchen didn’t dare linger. After messaging the three robots, he left the forest, thoroughly satisfied.

As expected, the three robots returned empty-handed, but Xie Xingchen didn’t mind. Searching depended on luck, and they hadn’t even seen the real items yet—of course it was normal to find nothing!

Still, even though they hadn’t found what he wanted, they had taken many photos. If any of those photos contained something he needed, they could come back tomorrow.

He pushed the hovercar at full throttle. By the time he returned to the starship, it still wasn’t six o’clock.

Xie Xingchen placed all the items he and the robots had collected into the testing device one by one, waiting nervously and anxiously for the results.

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