Chapter 58
[It’s just a tree, that’s all:] Hahahahahaha I’m dying—those space pirates probably never expected the thing ruining their “robbery career” would be a store!
[My mom docked my allowance:] Oh my god, my brain just auto-generated a million scenes! Like: the pirates swagger in yelling “This is a robbery!” and then a bunch of A-rank and S-rank mental-power users step out and rob them back—LOL.
[Everyone come look:] Like this? ?? Low EQ: “Legendary mobile one million!” High EQ: “Thanks, bro, for sponsoring my travel funds!” Hahahahaha!
A sea of “hahaha” turned the StarNet trending page into a carnival for the “LOL monsters.”
Just imagining something this absurd was already hilarious—people couldn’t help but snort-laugh the moment they heard it.
Then “Lucky No. 1” released the onboard video of the passengers counter-robbing the pirates, and everyone laughed… even harder.
Hahahaha—it’s not that it was totally different from what they imagined. It was exactly the same.
Only… people had assumed these unlucky pirates were some unknown small-timers. Turns out they weren’t—they were a somewhat famous pirate gang that had become notorious over the past two years.
This gang specialized in speed. Once they picked a target, they waited for the right moment, boarded immediately, used all kinds of brutal intimidation to rob everyone, then ditched the ship and fled before the military arrived.
Since their emergence, they’d committed countless crimes over two years. But because they weren’t many in number and always went for quick in-and-out jobs—never fighting the military head-on—they hadn’t suffered losses. And because they escaped so quickly, survivors were common.
The authorities had considered sting operations, but somehow the traps failed multiple times—no one knew whether there was a mole leaking information.
And to-day, they got beaten up by a bunch of passengers.
Ah—what a thrilling development!
They totally deserved it.
Today’s dumb-funny incident: unlocked ?
If there was one thing that spread fastest in the world, it was always dumb-funny incidents.
Or maybe the hashtag #UnluckySpacePiratesBeatenByPassengers was just too funny. In any case, those pirates—caught on surveillance getting robbed and then beaten—were turned into endless reaction memes, becoming a lifelong humiliation for pirates everywhere.
But aside from the pirates themselves, everyone else was having a great time—so great that they didn’t hesitate to follow Earth Commerce. Even more people who’d been suspicious of Earth Commerce got dragged into the fandom.
These past few days, “Earth Commerce passengers,” “pirates,” and “Earth Commerce products” were basically traffic passwords. Every major app was flooded with related content. The hype around Earth Commerce got so high that others practically wished they could drag Xie Xingchen off his perch and replace him.
But for Xie Xingchen, whether the hype rose or not didn’t matter much.
Products still had to be listed. He still had to stay busy.
As for hype… whatever. His stuff was always a mad scramble anyway. More hype just meant: it went from “hard to grab” to “even harder to grab.”
Right now, Xie Xingchen’s top priority wasn’t Earth Commerce’s popularity—it was raising his three mu of tea trees. Otherwise, that huge milk-tea machine of his would just sit there like useless scrap metal.
But dreams were beautiful; reality was painful.
Over the next stretch of time, the tea-tree cultivation plan got revised again and again—until it nearly became impossible to continue.
Why?
Because these tea trees were all mental-power monsters.
Even though Xie Xingchen’s mental power had already reached a level comparable to the original protagonist (at the same stage), it still wasn’t enough to feed three mu of tea trees.
He pumped mental power into them for months. The lily, rose, and camellia encyclopedias were all unlocked—yet the tea trees still weren’t mature.
The bigger they grew, the slower their growth became. If Xie Xingchen hadn’t stubbornly kept grinding every day, they’d probably still be nothing more than saplings by now!
Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life watched this with words on the tip of their tongues. They wanted to tell Xie Xingchen to give up on this “forest” and nurture other plants instead. But every time they saw how stubborn he was, they couldn’t bring themselves to say it. In the end, the three robots developed a habit: whenever they saw Xie Xingchen, they sighed.
“Boss,” Long-Life finally spoke up after watching him keep butting heads with the tea trees, “have you really not considered using your mental power elsewhere?”
He’d assumed Xie Xingchen wouldn’t respond.
But Xie Xingchen actually nodded. “Sure.”
Long-Life had been about to continue his own speech: “Boss, even though you won’t agree, I still want to say—”
“…Wait. Boss, you agreed?” Long-Life’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Xie Xingchen chuckled. “Yeah. What’s wrong?”
The tea trees were basically taken care of. He really didn’t feel like finishing the final stretch, so… fine.
He’d let them grow naturally for ten days or half a month. Perfect chance to compare natural growth versus mental-power boosting.
The moment he decided to be casual about it, Xie Xingchen felt instantly relaxed.
Once he relaxed, he finally had the mental space to think about other things.
“Oh right, Long-Life—how much mugwort-and-mint balm do we have now?”
Yes. Xie Xingchen had ultimately brought in a production line.
Waiting for the system shop to refresh a machine was just too slow.
And the machines weren’t expensive. Buy them first, start producing, and when the system eventually refreshed a better one, he could treat it as a tech upgrade.
Because processed goods were way more profitable than selling raw materials.
Of course, the most important reason was this: recently, Feifei had brought Xie Xingchen a “gift”—
[Business Route Bonus Effect].
This so-called bonus was a positive buff. The description was too scientific for Xie Xingchen to repeat exactly, but roughly it meant: from now on, he could earn revenue not only by selling system-related items, but also by selling items tied to his bound territory—Earth.
The first thing Xie Xingchen did after receiving the buff was place an order with Ludwig.
Ludwig had already returned to the Mechanic Planet. He was surprised, but asked no questions. He quietly helped Xie Xingchen obtain the machines and had a subordinate deliver them.
Because what Xie Xingchen wanted were extremely simple machines—so simple they basically didn’t exist on the market—he had to go through Ludwig instead of ordering from a normal mechanic merchant.
To be honest, even now, Xie Xingchen clearly remembered Ludwig’s weird expression when he heard the machine requirements.
If Ludwig hadn’t been so well-mannered, he might’ve blurted out: “This counts as machinery?”
But Ludwig was well-mannered. Even with that strange expression, he seriously agreed to help and had several machines manufactured—so simple that mechanical lifeforms might legitimately question whether they were machines at all.
And they didn’t even bother with personal delivery. These were so small they just got shipped like normal packages.
When Xie Xingchen received the package through the small wormhole receiver and saw those silver-white, simple machines barely over a meter tall, his face burned with embarrassment.
When he made the request, it didn’t feel weird. But once the machines were in his hands… they were truly simple—so simple that if Prosperity studied a few books, he might be able to build them too.
No wonder Ludwig had looked at him like that…
It was basically like asking a top-scoring genius: “So, what’s 1 + 1?”
Xie Xingchen fell silent at the sight of them—but he still had the nerve.
They looked like a lot of machines, but in reality they were mostly repeating components, and assembly was ridiculously easy. According to Ludwig, the captain of the royal guard had designed them in one hour after dinner.
Xie Xingchen: “…” I knew mechanical lifeforms were multi-talented, but I didn’t realize you were this terrifying at design.
After assembling this “one-hour-after-dinner” machine, Xie Xingchen started it up with a faint sense of existential doubt, and then—
Fine. I’ll take the knee. Here. It’s yours.
Although the machine was only a little over a meter tall, it stretched about four meters long, perfectly reproducing every step Xie Xingchen described for making mugwort-and-mint balm.
With this machine, all Xie Xingchen had to do was hook up power and water, and have a management robot replenish raw materials on schedule. Everything else could be ignored.
Technology really did change life.
Xie Xingchen sighed in amazement as he opened the machine, poured mugwort, mint leaves, beeswax, and olive oil into their respective compartments, and pressed [Start].
The process was divided into six sections, matching six steps exactly:
- Wash
- Dry
- Grind mugwort and mint into a paste
- Add olive oil, steam in a water bath, then filter the extract
- Add beeswax, melt and stir
- Bottle and let set
The finished balm was a beautiful pale green paste. It felt cool to the touch and carried a strong mint scent mixed with the distinctive fragrance of mugwort—just one whiff made you feel refreshed.
Most importantly, it worked extremely well on mosquito and insect bites. Apply it and the swelling went down quickly. A must-have for home and travel.
Even though Earth was in late autumn now, half the other planets were still in mosquito-heavy summer. You could imagine how wide the market would be.
In short: the Star Alliance had way too many planets.
Different planets had different seasons, so products that used to be “seasonal” only needed to worry about quality and effectiveness here—no need to stress over timing.
The jars Xie Xingchen ordered were small metal tins. They sealed well and blocked light. The tin was a flat silver disk with a twist lid, printed with pale green mint and mugwort images—simple but tasteful, cute enough to make you want to keep it.
Because it was a traditional herbal balm, unless your body attracted mosquitoes like a magnet, one 10g tin could last a normal person for a whole year. So he set each tin at 10g.
Once the balm was made, Xie Xingchen needed to submit it for regulatory review and apply for a patent.
These steps happened at the same time: only new medicines required review of quality and effectiveness, and since it was a new medicine, the Star Alliance handled patent filing together with the inventor.
After producing the finished balm, Xie Xingchen immediately applied for review. Since it was made from pure, harmless natural plants, approval only took two weeks.
When he received the notification and saw it categorized under “Traditional Medicine,” no one knew how overwhelmed he felt—a surge of pride and confidence rushed through him, leaving him deeply moved.
He wanted the balm to explode in popularity. That meant the initial launch quantity couldn’t be small.
Half a month of stockpiling gave him a decent pile, but to let more people grab it immediately, he delayed the listing date and ordered six more machines from Ludwig. Once he had ten machines total, he put them in an empty room of Chang’an Workshop.
Ding-dong! Your bunny companion has returned from traveling! This time, it seems to have gone very, very far—and brought back lots of gifts for you~
Ding-dong! Congratulations! You obtained travel souvenirs from the bunny—Four-leaf clover ×2, Photo ×1, Wild grass ×1, Luoyang peony ×1
[Four-leaf clover:] A legendary item said to bring luck. Wearing it when you go out supposedly increases your travel luck!
[Photo:] A photo the bunny took out of boredom during its trip. But aside from a small stream, it seems there’s no other scenery.
[Wild grass:] A wild grass the bunny pulled up while playing and eating carrots. After finishing the carrots, it brought the grass back too.
[Luoyang peony:] The lucky bunny traveled to the legendary Luoyang! When it left, it even took a pot of a peony renowned for its beauty with it.
Xie Xingchen: starry eyes.gif
Luoyang… was it the Luoyang he was thinking of?
Could the bunny travel through time and space?
Xie Xingchen was stunned.
This long-distance-travel bunny had brought back a bunch of junk, but honestly—just this pot of Luoyang peony alone made it all worth it.
He opened the bunny’s bag, still in shock, and took out the peony.
Ding-dong! Congratulations, player has discovered “Peony.” Peony unlocked.
Xie Xingchen’s eyes widened. Curiosity surged as he poked the pot of Luoyang peony—then the [Peony] description changed.
[Peony:] A beautiful flower the bunny discovered in the legendary Luoyang. But the Luoyang the bunny visited is no longer what it once was. The ancient capital Luoyang, which declined together with Earth, left the bunny feeling gloomy.
Xie Xingchen: Uh…
So it wasn’t time travel after all.
This Luoyang wasn’t that Luoyang.
Still—another encyclopedia entry unlocked was a win!
After a moment of regret, Xie Xingchen cheered up again.
He rubbed the bunny’s head and asked softly, “Feifei, are you going traveling again in the next couple of days?”
Who could’ve guessed that one day he’d be relying on a rabbit to complete tasks?
But honestly—this was great.
He’d been tied to the land for ages. He explored sometimes, but maybe he’d used up all his luck earlier, because his recent explorations had been pretty meh. Right now, Page 01 of his encyclopedia was basically being carried by Feifei’s travel souvenirs.
Feifei turned around, presenting its butt to him, munching carrots and refusing to react.
Xie Xingchen teased it by stroking its fur and softly coaxing, “Aww, I was thinking of planting a few more mu of carrots for some rabbit… but now… I guess I need to reconsider.”
Rabbit: !
It dropped the carrot and instantly became unbelievably adorable.
It rubbed against Xie Xingchen’s arm, acting cute, and even did a head-tilt kill.
What a realistic rabbit.
Xie Xingchen sighed while continuing to rub it.
Seizing the chance, he almost rubbed the good rabbit bald. In the end, satisfied, he said he’d remember to water those few mu of carrot fields.
Rabbit (angry): I may not be human, but you’re truly a dog.
You said you’d plant a few more mu, and it turned into “I’ll remember to water”? After my sacrifice, is that really all you’ve got?!
But since the rabbit couldn’t talk, Xie Xingchen happily ended the conversation with a firm “Deal.”
The cold-hearted man finished rubbing the rabbit, sent it back home, then went into the seed-breeding room to start propagating the peony.
Before starting, though, Xie Xingchen thought for a moment—and posted on StarBlog.
[Xie Xingchen V:] I’ve prepared a traditional herbal balm for everyone recently—mugwort & mint balm. It smells cool and refreshing, and it’s extremely effective at relieving itchiness and treating mosquito/insect bites.
He wasn’t exaggerating at all—if anything, he was understating it.
His balm wasn’t just “great at treating bites.” It was basically a god-tier preventive.
Cool and comfortable, with a crisp scent that cleared the head—and it lasted. As long as the smell was there, mosquitoes would keep their distance.
The staff responsible for testing the balm’s effects were moved to tears.
One tester even used his position to get friendly with Xie Xingchen and eventually succeeded in getting several dozen jars as trial samples for his clan.
They were a tree-kin branch of the Plant Civilization. Their species attracted insects easily—even after taking humanoid form, mosquitoes still loved them.
Since the balm was made of pure natural, non-toxic plants, and the mixture didn’t produce toxins either, it could be called one of the safest medicines possible.
So after the tester learned the materials and effects and ran multiple rounds of testing, he decisively asked Xie Xingchen for dozens of tins for clan trials.
Ten-day trial period. Everyone who used it praised it.
Once they found out it would soon be a product at Earth Commerce, the clan worried they wouldn’t be able to grab it. In the end, they begged the tester to “go through the back door” and buy it for them.
Xie Xingchen was stunned by the request, but thinking he might need to work with these departments often in the future, he immediately gave the tester a whole box. He didn’t want to charge at first, but couldn’t out-argue the smooth-talking tester, so he ended up giving an 80% “friends price.”
And that “friends price” was worth it.
Because through them, Xie Xingchen suddenly realized his target market could expand—expand a lot.
Humans?
No—species that attracted insects needed this kind of balm even more!
Was he selling herbal balm?
No. He was taking care of the entire galaxy!
That confident.
So he posted without a shred of guilt.
When a bunch of netizens asked what “traditional herbal balm” even was, he replied directly:
[Xie Xingchen V:] Traditional herbal balm is a powerful solid medicine made from pure natural plants. Its medicinal properties are strong yet gentle, and it has great effects for certain symptoms.
Made from pure natural plants!
Netizens’ eyes widened.
Just the phrase “pure natural” was enough to make people believe it worked.
Everyone knew: Earth Commerce never sold plants with zero green-substance content.
So if this balm was truly what Boss Xie said, then it was the concentrated essence of green-substance plants.
In that case, its effects were perfectly normal!
[Pulling at the blue sky:] Wow, I’m so excited—an ointment made by extracting green-substance plant essence. There aren’t many medicines like that in the entire Star Alliance, right?
[Shepherd Star guide author:] Boss Xie is insanely rich and insanely badass! Hahahaha—you actually dare to make something like this. I’m definitely supporting!
[I’m just a remote-planet person:] I’ll support, sure, but here’s the question—will it be expensive? How much? If it’s too pricey, can we do installments?
Online chatter was noisy, but one thing was clear: the general tone was supportive.
Partly because Earth Commerce had a reputation for not selling junk, but mainly because everyone had immense confidence in medicines made from plant extracts.
These days, any plant with green-substance content was already expensive. Extracting it into medicine wasn’t unheard of, but those were luxury items ordinary people could never afford.
But Earth Commerce was different.
Most of what it sold was within reach of average people. Even if you couldn’t afford it immediately, if you tightened your belt and saved for a year or two, you could still get there.
So when the new-product teaser dropped, some worried about the price, but most felt it would be fine.
And it was.
When they learned each tin was 10g and cost only 1,000 star coins, everyone had the same thought: yep, that’s Boss Xie.
Boss Xie really is a good person.
10g of extracted essence from green-substance plants, and he’s only charging 1,000?
Conscience level: massive.
What they didn’t know was: if Xie Xingchen didn’t have to buy olive oil and beeswax from outside, he could’ve priced it even lower.
Because the mint and mugwort he’d found in that underground cavern were the exact opposite of the tea trees.
They grew like crazy. The moment seeds hit the soil, they exploded.
Exploded to the point that if Xie Xingchen didn’t find ways to consume them, the quantity would spiral out of control.
Waiting for things was always painful. Waiting for good things was even worse.
The tester who had previously “gone through the back door” heard Earth Commerce was about to launch mugwort & mint balm and immediately rallied his clan to grab it.
“Why do we need to? this stuff?” some clan members didn’t understand.
To them, you had to be cautious with new medicines—side effects could be disastrous.
That mindset wasn’t strange; it was common for new drugs.
But because everyone thought that way, the earliest days were the best time to snag it. Once word of its effectiveness spread, it would become impossible to buy.
Seeing complaints, Leia didn’t argue. He carefully pulled out his treasured balm from his storage button.
The small, beautiful tin made everyone admire it.
Then Leia opened the lid. The pale green balm and the fresh, invigorating mugwort-mint scent instantly shut everyone up.
They were plant people; they had a special sensitivity to plants.
This balm truly was made from extracted plant essence. And the plants used were… something special.
Leia carefully scooped a tiny bit and dabbed it onto everyone’s hands. By the time he finished, two-thirds of the balm was gone—and the mugwort-mint scent was strong enough that the mosquitoes that had been hovering around them left.
Everyone: !
The effect was immediate.
“Leia, you’ve used so much already… why don’t you just give that tin to me?” Mu Di’s eyes shone as he stared at Leia.
Leia snorted, quickly tucked away the remaining balm into storage, and didn’t even look at Mu Di.
With his chin lifted smugly, he said, “See? Effective, right? Well? Want to grab it with me later?”
You could skip food. You could skip drinks. But you couldn’t skip a balm that repelled mosquitoes and insects!
Leia used results to convince his clan to the balm, and the clan used videos of those results to convince their friends.
In the end, before the balm even officially launched, it was already famous within the Plant Civilization.
During the sale, people only hesitated a few seconds about whether this new solid medicine might have drawbacks. By the time they snapped back—
Not a crumb was left.
They checked the purchase IPs—every single one was from the Plant Civilization.
Everyone: ?
Not only did the public not understand, even Xie Xingchen didn’t understand.
Sure, 80% being snapped up by Plant Civilization buyers was one thing—but his Plant Civilization grain supplier actually @-tagged him, requesting to buy the balm and offering an even better grain price?
Xie Xingchen: ?
Supplier: “Boss Xie, everything I said is true. If you’re willing to use mugwort & mint balm as payment for the goods, I can give you another 20% off on top of the already discounted price.”
Xie Xingchen: “…So it’s real? That’s… kind of tempting.”
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