After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar] – CH51

Chapter 51

After leaving the Food Workshop, Xie Xingchen wandered around the Chang’an Workshop with great interest.

The smile at the corners of his eyes and brows made it obvious—he was extremely satisfied with this place.

[Friendly System Reminder: Construction-team engineer “Xiao Xiao” requests that you give the completed Chang’an Workshop a five-star review.]

Xie Xingchen’s eyes curved. “Sure. I’ll do it right now.”

He hadn’t done it before because he was afraid the building would look pretty on the surface but be garbage underneath. But now that he’d seen it—this place really was good!

Xie Xingchen quickly gave it five stars, yet the little engineer robot still didn’t look pleased. Instead, it angrily went “Zha!” and then vanished.

Xie Xingchen froze, confused. “Didn’t I give five stars? Why is he still mad?”

After a long pause—

[System: Because he has a bit of a short temper.]

Xie Xingchen: “…” Speechless.

He was one of the least picky “clients” you could find, and no one appreciated him?

He gave an awkward laugh. “Ha… ha. So system robots have personalities too?”

The system fell silent again.

Xie Xingchen: 0.0
Maybe even the system thought its own little robots were hard to deal with.

Xie Xingchen made another full round, unhurried and thorough. Just as he was about to leave Chang’an Workshop, the prompt chimed at the perfect moment.

[System Notice: Disperse the thick fog? [Yes] [No]]

Without hesitation, Xie Xingchen said, “No.”

The moment the word left his mouth, the fog—already starting to thin—instantly grew dense again.

From a safe distance, he could no longer see anything inside.

To Xie Xingchen, the fog was a layer of protection. He didn’t even have security robots yet—why would he clear it?

He got into the hovercar, preparing to return to the starship.

Since Ludwig would be coming to Earth soon, Xie Xingchen thought for a moment and placed an order directly with the big boss of the Mechanical Trading Firm.

But he didn’t order robots—he ordered security weapons. After all… the Mechanical Trading Firm didn’t sell robots.

Receiving Xie Xingchen’s sudden order, Ludwig actually froze for once.

Lowering his gaze, he told a subordinate to fetch the weapons Xie Xingchen wanted.

The subordinate’s mouth fell open, staring at Ludwig like he’d seen a monster.

The Mechanical Trading Firm was Ludwig’s business, but he rarely handled commercial matters personally.

So… who on earth was this?

Someone important enough for Lord Aelsop to take the order himself?

The captain of the royal guard straightened his expression, saluted Ludwig, and then hurried off to handle it.

Time slipped by like sand in an hourglass—blink, and half of it was gone.

In just two days, Ludwig’s group set off.

After Xie Xingchen confirmed the size of Ludwig’s party, he submitted it to the system, then worked near the small starport while waiting for Ludwig and Randy to arrive.

Yes—little Randy came too.

The moment the kid heard his big brother was going to Earth, he threw a full tantrum—rolling around, bawling his eyes out, insisting on coming along.

Watching the child cry until he could barely breathe, Ludwig couldn’t bear it. Even though he originally didn’t plan to bring him, he ended up taking the child with them before departure.

With a child present, Ludwig’s team couldn’t do prolonged spatial jumps. Even so, by the time they reached Earth, only half a day had passed since leaving.

As soon as Ludwig’s party arrived on Earth, Xie Xingchen received a system message.

He opened the lockdown program, and Ludwig’s group landed in force at the small starport Xie Xingchen had built earlier.

And precisely because the small starport was built nearby, Xie Xingchen hadn’t let them land at Qiong Island—he’d returned from Qiong Island himself to wait here.

The newest model spacecraft had barely touched down when the hatch opened. A chubby, adorable little kid stumbled and sprinted toward Xie Xingchen.

His eyes sparkled, his bright red mouth pulled into a huge grin—so excited he even ran one shoe right off.

Xie Xingchen: !

Ludwig, walking behind while picking up his brother’s shoe: “…”

With his thin lips and sharp jawline, Ludwig looked cold and distant at first glance. But Xie Xingchen knew he wasn’t actually aloof—if anything, he seemed more like… socially anxious?

Thinking that, Xie Xingchen couldn’t help laughing.

Even though it was their first time meeting, they’d chatted many times over comms. Once the initial unfamiliarity faded, warmth and familiarity came naturally.

Xie Xingchen looked up, eyes shining. “Ludwig—did you bring the security weapons and the tasting-slot device?”

Xie Xingchen always went straight to the point.

After knowing him this long, Ludwig probably understood that he didn’t like small talk—and likely appreciated his no-nonsense, no-dragging-things-out style.

Ludwig nodded and signaled his subordinates to bring up what Xie Xingchen had ordered.

Both the weapons and the equipment were big—definitely not something Xie Xingchen could handle alone.

Knowing his limits, Xie Xingchen looked a little embarrassed and asked weakly, “Um… do you guys include installation?”

He wasn’t about to suffer just to save face!

Ludwig lowered his gaze, looked at the handsome young man with slightly reddened cheeks, nodded, and picked out a guard who specialized in that area.

The selected guard: shocked.jpg
Isn’t that… kind of overkill?

Why send the ace to do something anyone could do?

Luke complained internally but smiled on the outside.

Luke: Fine, sure!
Either way, this is the owner of Earth Trading Firm.

If I do a good job and leave a good impression… maybe I can get a backdoor discount later?

Thinking that, Luke instantly felt this “easy” job had a bright future. It was no worse than fighting alien beasts!

Luke’s high-energy, eager attitude made people want to smile and nod. Xie Xingchen was completely reassured.

Scooping up the chubby little lump clinging to his leg, Xie Xingchen led a group of twenty-plus people toward the flower fields.

This was what he’d promised Randy—to show him the pretty flowers.

Along the way, Randy blinked his big eyes, glowing with excitement. “Is—is this the flower field Randy saw before, when we video-called?”

Kids grew fast. In only a few months, Randy—already a little chatterbox—spoke even more smoothly now.

Bouncing the solid little “paperweight” in his arms, Xie Xingchen grinned brightly. “Yep! So is little Randy happy?”

Happy was an understatement—Randy looked like he was about to explode with joy.

If Xie Xingchen hadn’t taken a constitution-enhancing potion earlier, he probably wouldn’t have been able to hold down this constantly wriggling, solid-weight child.

Wiping sweat in secret, Xie Xingchen switched arms.

Noticing the subtle movement, Ludwig pressed his lips together.

He stepped forward and naturally took the chubby kid from him.

Since the child’s actual big brother was taking him, Xie Xingchen handed Randy over without thinking.

With the “solid paperweight” gone, Xie Xingchen’s arms finally felt much lighter.

In a good mood, he introduced everything even more enthusiastically.

Field after field of flowers stretched endlessly—too much beauty to take in at once.

A gentle breeze carried waves of fragrant scent, making everything feel wonderfully soothing—like the green matter inside the plants drifted into the air with the fragrance and was absorbed by their bodies.

“This is the rose field, this is the lily-of-the-valley field, this is the orange blossom field… ta-da! And this right here is everyone’s favorite—lavender.”

When the elegant purple and rare blue came into view, the guards’ eyes all lit up at once. They practically wanted to run over.

And then—

[Ding-dong. Congratulations, Player, you have successfully lit up the “Lily of the Valley” codex entry. Reward: 500 EXP. Details available in the system codex.]

Lily of the valley finally lit up?

Xie Xingchen felt energized.

Then another prompt arrived.

[System Notice: Congratulations, Player! Level +1. Current level: LV4. EXP to next level: 300/6000]

Xie Xingchen’s eyes sparkled.

Level four!

He finally hit level four!

Level four was a big threshold—after reaching it, he’d be able to purchase most things.

[Player Info Panel]
Name: Xie Xingchen
Race: Human

Territory: Earth

Level: LV4
Companion: Chubby Bunny Ji (Feifei) [+]
EXP: 300/6000
Plant Affinity: ? +1
Mental Power Rank: A- (?)

Game Progress: 0.1%
Codex Progress: 0%
Infrastructure Progress: 1%

If there weren’t so many people around, Xie Xingchen would’ve wanted to howl at the sky.

Even holding it in, Ludwig—whose senses were sharp—could tell Xie Xingchen’s mood had suddenly soared. His already-bright eyes now looked like they were literally glowing.

Somehow, seeing him like that put Ludwig in a better mood too.

Watching these three—who looked relaxed and cheerful even in the way they walked—the guards couldn’t help feeling like they were watching a family of three out for a stroll.

They exchanged silent, teasing looks for a while, until the guard captain cleared his throat. Then they straightened their faces and returned to their usual “tall, long-legged, hard-featured iron-blooded tough guy” mode.

But it didn’t last long.

The entire route was nothing but gorgeous flower fields. Just holding themselves back from running wild took all their willpower—there was no way anyone could keep a serious expression.

Glancing back and seeing them look like cats staring at catnip, Xie Xingchen snorted a laugh.

They happened to arrive beside a brilliant sunflower field. After laughing, Xie Xingchen stepped into the flowers and swiftly picked more than twenty sunflowers.

When he walked back holding them, no one could tell whether the sunflowers in his arms were brighter—or the smile on his face.

Xie Xingchen smiled. “Welcome to Earth! These are little gifts for you!”

One sunflower per person.

The recipients looked stunned and deeply honored.

No matter how detached from worldly matters they were, how could they not know Earth Trading Firm’s current hottest item—sunflowers?

Outside, people fought over these!

“Thanks, boss! Boss is generous!”
“Wuwuwu, Boss Xie, you’re too kind!”
“Hahaha, good thing I managed to get picked to come out!”

The mechanical lifeforms expressed their gratitude with overflowing emotion.

Xie Xingchen wasn’t stingy with affection either. “No need to thank me— you’re all so cute!”

Calling a bunch of tough, handsome men “cute” was a bit odd… but none of them argued.

They looked calm, but once they were praised as “cute,” everyone got a little shy—like they suddenly didn’t know what to do with their hands.

But Xie Xingchen’s praise came fast and left fast.

After complimenting them, he suddenly asked—half excited, half worried, “Everyone, can I ask you something?”

They all nodded.

Xie Xingchen scratched his cheek awkwardly. “Um… I wanted to ask—how did you awaken back then? Were there signs before awakening? What about after? Do awakened mechanical lifeforms have to register with the Mechanical Civilization? And what kind of help does the government provide to newly awakened citizens?”

Everyone: ?

They didn’t understand, but Ludwig understood immediately—Xie Xingchen was asking on behalf of his three robots.

No denying it: those three were very smart, and had great potential to awaken as mechanical life.

But as things stood, they were still far from awakening.

Xie Xingchen looked even more confused. “Huh? Why? I think my Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life are amazing—and they’re super ‘human.’ Sometimes I even feel like they’ve already awakened.”

Like when they talked back and made him mad.

This time Ludwig didn’t need to answer—Randy blurted it out first.

“Because of… feeling!”

Xie Xingchen blinked. “Feeling?”

How did science suddenly become mysticism?

The chubby kid nodded solemnly. “Yep! If a robot is about to awaken, high-level mechanical lifeforms can feel it within a certain range.”

Xie Xingchen: Wow… what a weirdly specific civilization talent.

Xie Xingchen sighed, then kept pressing. “So after awakening, do mechanical lifeforms have to go live on the Mechanical Civilization’s planet? If they go, does the government give them a house and provide them a job?”

The guards nearby almost rolled their eyes.

You must be dreaming.

Free housing and jobs?

Some of them still couldn’t afford decent housing now!

Randy shook his head, pouting in confusion. “Nope. Big brother said you have to work hard to get those things!”

He made a little “why are you so lazy?” face, then sighed dramatically.

Xie Xingchen cupped Randy’s pale, squishy cheeks and sighed along with him.

At first, Xie Xingchen bought robots simply to make working and land-clearing on Earth easier. But after living on Earth for a few months, he’d already come to see Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life as companions.

Humans were social creatures. For months, the only ones he could talk to were those three robots—of course feelings formed.

And once feelings were there, treating them like disposable tools became unbearable.

Since he was oddly confident his robots would awaken—and now knew the Mechanical Civilization was pretty “stingy”—Xie Xingchen suddenly felt like a struggling single dad who’d have to save up to buy houses for his three kids.

Seeing him frown, Ludwig said, “Actually, your three robots can earn a lot of money themselves.”

Then, as if worried Xie Xingchen wouldn’t believe it, he added quietly, “At the very least, they’re better at making money than most of the guard unit.”

Of course. What kind of robot also cooks and farms, on top of its normal duties?

That level of talent could make money anywhere.

After all, two of the most profitable professions in the Star Alliance were planters and chefs!

Guard unit: Damn. Right in the heart.

They were depressed, but had to admit it was true: in terms of earning power, they really couldn’t compete with Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life—who hadn’t even awakened yet.

But what could they do?

They hadn’t met an owner who, before they even awakened, thought through everything for them—worried they’d starve after awakening—so he taught them survival and money-making skills early… and actually succeeded.

To be honest, their attitude toward Xie Xingchen was so friendly not only because he provided food and flowers, but also because of how deeply he cared about his three robots—planning far ahead for them.

Otherwise, given mechanical lifeforms’ usual attitude toward humans, ignoring him would’ve been generous—let alone chatting happily.

Because humans had excluded them for so long, mechanical lifeforms generally didn’t treat humans well. The fact that Xie Xingchen received so much goodwill came down to luck—and his own attitude of being kind first.

Xie Xingchen’s eyes curved as he laughed. “Of course they’ll do well! Just look at their names—Get-Rich, Prosperity, Long-Life. I picked those carefully!”

The moment he said it, the area fell silent.

Only the little kid kept nodding, agreeing in a soft baby voice: “That’s right! Xingchen?? picks names soooo, soooo well! In the future, Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life will definitely be rich and noble and live long!”

The kid was too adorable.

Xie Xingchen couldn’t resist—he yanked the child out of his brother’s arms and kissed him hard on the cheek, then carried him into the flower field so he could pick a bouquet for himself.

Guard unit: Damn. We misplayed that.

If they’d known that was the reward, they could’ve praised him too—even if it hurt their consciences!

Ludwig shot his subordinates a look. When the ones about to move immediately behaved again, he calmly watched Xie Xingchen play in the field with Randy.

Well—“play” wasn’t quite right. Randy didn’t run around at all. Xie Xingchen said “pick flowers,” and he picked flowers.

Compared to bright sunflowers, Randy clearly liked the bell-like lily of the valley more.

When Xie Xingchen asked if he wanted more sunflowers, Randy’s chubby little hand decisively pointed at the lily of the valley.

Xie Xingchen wasn’t surprised—kids were kids.

Compared to the green-matter content, children cared more about cute, unique-looking flowers.

Lily of the valley was adorable—so what if a kid liked it?

Randy was too small to hold a huge bouquet, so Xie Xingchen picked only three to five stems. Even then, Randy’s arms were already full.

He refused to hold hands or be carried. Staggering out of the field on his own, he walked toward his brother with shining eyes, proudly making an “Ah!” sound and sticking out his little belly—showing off his “little bells.”

Ludwig bent down and patted Randy’s head.

He didn’t carry him—he just lifted him lightly by the straps of his overalls and let him walk.

There was nowhere to host guests on the starship, so Xie Xingchen didn’t invite them aboard.

And the guards had seen plenty of machines. They weren’t interested in the starship anyway.

Compared to the starship, the endless flower fields outside were far more appealing.

With the owner’s permission, everyone wandered through the fields freely.

An hour later, they returned, still wanting more—and got ready to work.

Installing machines, calibrating the tasting-slot equipment… by the time everything was done, night had fallen.

Xie Xingchen found them and suggested they pitch tents and rest wherever they liked.

But to his surprise, they asked shyly, “Can we go to Qiong Island?”

Xie Xingchen blinked. “Qiong Island? Why do you suddenly want the seaside?”

He had considered taking Ludwig’s group to forage along the shore.

But the coast was still being developed and cleared. He worried it would be inconvenient and dropped the plan.

He didn’t expect they’d want to go anyway.

The guards talked over each other so quickly that Xie Xingchen felt dazed.

He raised a hand, cutting them off, and asked in disbelief, “You… watched my livestream?”

He wasn’t shocked for no reason—

They were military personnel from the Mechanical Civilization!

So… was the military so free these days they had time to watch streams?

“Uh, no— we just happened to be off-duty that day.”

“Exactly. Even soldiers get rest, you know.”

“And your stream was huge. The hype was insane. Everyone on StarNet recommended it. In the end, even people who missed it watched the replay.”

Xie Xingchen: “…”

Xie Xingchen: “Alright then. If you want to go, we’ll go. But they’re clearing land over there right now—it might be noisy.”

Not dusty—there was plenty of space—but noise was unavoidable.

Seeing he agreed, everyone laughed. “No problem. Noise is nothing to us!”

“Yeah, back on the front lines, we could rest with battle sounds in the background. A little land-clearing noise is nothing.”

“This is easy mode for us.”

Xie Xingchen clicked his tongue.

Confirmed—these were monsters.

He was genuinely stunned. Resting on the front lines while fighting alien beasts?

Hard to believe, but he believed them. After all, mechanical citizens didn’t have the “lying gene”!

So just like that, a group of twenty to thirty people—including Xie Xingchen—prepared to head to Qiong Island.

Before they left, there was a small issue: there were too many people, and Xie Xingchen’s little hovercar couldn’t fit them all.

But in the Star Alliance, maybe anyone else would lack vehicles—this group definitely wouldn’t.

Sure enough, after Xie Xingchen explained the problem, Ludwig had someone bring over a hovercar from the starport’s spacecraft parking area.

It was the most expensive, newest, most powerful hovercar available.

Just the look of it crushed Xie Xingchen’s. The functions were even more ridiculous.

Xie Xingchen’s hovercar had to speed like crazy to get there in two hours. This one could drive normally and reach Qiong Island in seventy minutes.

At the coast, seeing everyone itching to move, Xie Xingchen announced a free activity right away.

“Alright—free time!”

“Boss Xie, can we pick up coconuts?”

“Boss Xie, can we forage along the shore?”

“Boss Xie, can we pick fruit?”

Xie Xingchen: “…”

Great. Clearly, they’d watched his stream—otherwise they wouldn’t be this familiar with his content.

Even the child clinging to his leg excitedly pointed toward the rocky tidal flats. “Open clams! Brother Xingchen, little Randy wants pretty round stones!”

Xie Xingchen rubbed the child’s soft head and corrected him. “Those aren’t pretty round stones. Those are pearls.”

The child nodded obediently, eyes bright as he looked at Xie Xingchen.

Xie Xingchen looked up at Ludwig. After getting Ludwig’s permission, he prepared to take the kid into the uneven rocky area.

But right before they left, Ludwig said, “Xie. If you open pearls, I can buy them at market price.”

For Ludwig, money was a small problem. As long as his little brother was happy, that was enough.

Xie Xingchen, realizing what that meant: Jealousy has twisted my face.jpg

He honestly hadn’t even thought about charging money!

But… this guy was so rich it felt wrong not to profit a little for the sake of the poor masses…

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