Chapter 68
The exploration task was currently 3/10 complete. Fifteen hours had already passed, and Xie Xingchen had found rice, papaya, and Sichuan pepper.
Looking out toward the shore, Xie Xingchen felt like he could be a little willful for once and choose to rest (not really).
“Get-Rich, Prosperity—how about we go beachcombing?” Xie Xingchen’s eyes lit up.
When he first said it, his tone was a bit embarrassed, but after he finished, he somehow became shamelessly confident about it.
Eh—this was reasonable rest!
How could you keep working after high-efficiency labor without relaxing a bit?
Clearly, the two robots agreed wholeheartedly. They even rushed to the beach ahead of him—so fast that by the time Xie Xingchen arrived, they’d already collected half a basket of big lobsters and king crabs, and other good stuff.
Xie Xingchen had prepared extremely thoroughly. Seeing the two robots beachcomb with such gusto, he set up his “vacation gear” right there on the sand.
A sun umbrella, beach chairs, a table, a stove, a small freezer, a condiment box, drinks… the whole resort setup made its triumphant return.
By the time Get-Rich and Long-Life came back with a full basket of seafood, Xie Xingchen had just finished arranging everything neatly.
He took the seafood, rinsed it with fresh water, then put it into a big basin, poured in top-grade high-proof baijiu, and shook it evenly.
He put the lid on and let the seafood “get drunk.” Once they were all properly “tipsy,” Xie Xingchen poked Prosperity and had him start processing the seafood.
Cracking shells, removing gunk, trimming, chopping… After the lobsters and king crabs were cut into marinating-sized pieces, Prosperity took them to be sterilized and disinfected to kill parasites. Only then did Xie Xingchen pour in all the seasonings he’d prepared, then add large amounts of lemon slices, bird’s-eye chilies, minced garlic, scallions, ginger, and garlic—finally pouring in a generous amount of chilled boiled water until it fully covered the ingredients.
Seal it, give it a gentle shake, confirm all the seafood was evenly submerged in the raw-marination brine—then Xie Xingchen pulled out an energy stone, stuffed it into the freezer, and placed the marinated seafood in the chilled compartment to sit.
He clapped his hands. Work done, the one human and two robots sprawled comfortably onto the lounge chairs, each holding a coconut that had been frozen.
Well, not exactly—because although the coconuts in the robots’ hands were real coconuts, they didn’t contain coconut water. Inside was Xie Xingchen’s custom “robot-only energy drink,” lightly coconut-scented—his patented product and, recently, the household robots’ favorite.
With the sea breeze in their faces and drinks in hand, even though it was still a bit hot, Xie Xingchen brought out a precious item: a small protective shield.
As long as you were willing to toss in energy stones, you could set whatever temperature you wanted!
After adjusting it to a comfortable temperature, Xie Xingchen slept for a full hour. When it was time to leave, he was even a little reluctant.
Packing everything back into the storage button, the group headed east.
The east had sparser greenery than the south. There were no tracks of large animals, but plenty of small ones.
Maybe because Qiong Island was too hot, the animals here had thin fur—nothing like the glossy, sleek look of northern animals. Their looks took a serious hit.
And they weren’t afraid of people at all. When they saw Xie Xingchen and the others, some even tossed fruit as a greeting.
“Hey, little guy! Don’t you think you’re going too far?” Xie Xingchen snapped at a monkey that had just thrown another banana at his head.
The monkey—now singled out—nimbly climbed around the tree. Its golden fur made its little black face look even darker.
Xie Xingchen had seen photos of this kind of monkey online: a Hainan gibbon, a once “you’re-going-to-prison” protected animal, rarer than pandas.
Well… actually, in modern times plenty of animals were rarer than pandas—after all, by the time he transmigrated, pandas had already been “downgraded.”
“Ji-ji-ji-ji…”
This little gibbon really wasn’t afraid of him!
Seeing Xie Xingchen looking at it, it tossed him another banana.
Xie Xingchen:
If you’d thrown a longan at me instead, my attitude would be totally different.
Picking up the banana on the ground, Xie Xingchen didn’t know what possessed him, but he suddenly pulled out a coconut from his storage button, stabbed in a straw, and waved at the gibbon.
That mischievous, innocent-looking gibbon—clearly one that had never suffered under humanity—actually swung down from the tree, hopped over, and took the coconut from Xie Xingchen’s hands.
Afraid it wouldn’t know how to drink it, Xie Xingchen took out another coconut to demonstrate—only for the monkey to snatch it and run.
Run.
Xie Xingchen: ?
It ran?
Xie Xingchen stared, slack-jawed, at the gibbon’s retreating back, feeling utterly betrayed.
Pointing at it in disbelief, he said, “People always say the monkeys at Mount Emei are evil—are you telling me they can’t possibly be worse than these Qiong Island gibbons?!”
Get-Rich stepped up, concerned. “Boss, are you okay?”
Prosperity blankly watched the gibbon disappear, scratched his head, and asked, “Boss… should we keep going?”
Xie Xingchen deflated.
He glanced at the little squirrel on a tall tree nearby, staring at him with its head tilted, and said awkwardly, “Of course.”
Please, let him escape this socially-dead place as soon as possible!
What kind of gibbon even is that?!
So social—once it enters society, it’s definitely going to get “taught a lesson” by society!
With his ears slightly red, Xie Xingchen marched straight ahead, refusing to look sideways. No matter how cute the small animals were, they could no longer distract him.
Thankfully, embarrassment came fast and left fast. Better yet, Get-Rich and Prosperity were still unawakened robots—they hadn’t even realized their owner was embarrassed before Xie Xingchen recovered.
After looping around the jungle for a full search, Xie Xingchen’s breathing grew ragged.
“Let’s stop for a bit.” He couldn’t help bracing a hand against a huge tree to rest.
[Ding-dong, congratulations! You found the plant “Hopea chinensis var. angustifolia (Xia-ye Po-lei).” Exploration task “Find 10 plants” progress +1. Current progress: 4/10.]
[Xia-ye Po-lei: Also known as “Hainan Sacred Tree,” a rare-grade tree species. Because it has extremely demanding growth conditions, its numbers are scarce. (Friendly reminder: If you’re not confident you can cultivate it, please do not dig it up at will.)]
Hearing that, Xie Xingchen slowly straightened up.
Staring at the enormous tree he’d just leaned on, his mouth gradually fell open.
N-no way…
This was the legendary Hainan Sacred Tree?
Was his luck really that good?
He could randomly pick the one-in-ten-thousand?
Earlier he’d tried searching for trees too, but every tree he found was something he’d already discovered on Qiong Island.
He’d wasted a full hour—every tree was familiar. After that, he stopped doing it.
But now…
He’d just casually leaned on a tree—and it turned out to be the Hainan Sacred Tree?!
Xie Xingchen didn’t know what it did, but if it was called “sacred,” it had to be amazing. And the system had certified it as “rare.” He was so thrilled he didn’t even dare touch it again.
He circled it again and again. After a full lap, his first reaction was to open the map and draw a little tree icon at its coordinates.
Only then did he seriously examine the surroundings—and ultimately gave up on transplanting it.
Still reluctant, he observed it for another half hour. When he finally left, he took a step and looked back, then another step and looked back again.
He wasn’t saying goodbye to a tree—he looked like he was parting from a lover. It nearly made Get-Rich and Prosperity want to tell him to just stay.
Luckily, once he left the jungle, he returned to normal immediately—though his expression was normal, the smile on his face refused to leave.
Taking advantage of the dusk, he returned to his tropical plantation on Qiong Island.
Now, a line of robots stood before him.
He pointed to the first, a cool-looking robot on the left. “Any discoveries from Squad 001?”
The cool robot shook its head, voice stiff and mechanical. “No.”
Xie Xingchen sent it back, then pointed to the more lifelike robot beside it. “Besides the papaya tree, did Squad 002 find anything else?”
This handsome, realistic robot looked more lively than the cool one. Stepping forward, it smiled slightly before reporting:
“Squad 002 found a coconut grove in the southeast jungle. It’s not a new plant you requested, but it’s larger than any coconut grove we’ve found before. It should produce more coconut oil.”
Hearing that, Xie Xingchen couldn’t help patting the captain’s shoulder.
Good stuff—seriously good stuff!
This robot had a bright future!
A truly excellent worker!
Xie Xingchen was convinced it could awaken into mechanical life someday.
And then the 996 “blessing” would be yours.
He rewarded Squad 002 with a whole crate of coconut-scented energy drink.
Under everyone’s envious gaze, the captain lifted his head and puffed out his chest like he owned the place.
After Squad 002 returned, Squad 003, Squad 004… all the way through Squad 007 reported one by one.
None of them could beat Squad 002—until Squad 008 appeared, breaking Squad 002’s monopoly.
Squad 008’s leader was a management robot the system had awarded Xie Xingchen after the Chang’an workshop was built.
He had a humanoid appearance—like a sharp, capable man in his thirties. If not for his striking mechanical arms, you wouldn’t even know he was a robot.
Nan Yao stepped forward, opened a work report, and began:
“Reporting, boss. Current findings in the jungle are as follows: Northwest coordinate 02035—small lychee grove of about 100 trees. Northwest coordinate 030569—small banana grove and passionfruit grove within a 100-meter diameter. Northwest coordinate 05987—medium jackfruit grove… and due west coordinate 10659—one large fruit tree suspected to be a longan tree.”
The detailed report stunned everyone present.
Nan Yao’s tone didn’t change at all.
He activated the projector in his body and displayed a 360-degree projection of the suspected longan tree for everyone (the robots) to see.
Xie Xingchen: “…”
Looking at the huge longan tree projection, then at Nan Yao’s elite demeanor, Xie Xingchen clicked his tongue.
So this was the strength of a system-gifted management robot?
He was genuinely impressed.
He praised him solemnly: “You’re very good.”
Nan Yao nodded modestly.
He returned to the robot line with a faint smile, not asking for any special treatment.
But that very restraint made Xie Xingchen approve even more—he silently decided to upgrade Squad 008’s reward from two crates of coconut energy drink to three.
Of course, the robots had worked hard all day, so Xie Xingchen also decided everyone would get one bottle of limited-edition coconut energy drink.
That night, the rich coconut scent had the plantation robots swallowing constantly.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Xie Xingchen had Squad 008—led by Nan Yao—guide everyone to the due west coordinate 10659.
They hadn’t even reached the destination when they saw a massive tree that would take ten people to wrap their arms around.
It was a gigantic longan tree—so big that only the words “blocking out the sky” could describe it.
There was an idiom: “A single tree cannot hold up the roof.” But this tree shattered that idea, telling everyone that one tree could absolutely hold its own.
It was truly “one tree becomes a forest.” It was only one tree, yet it felt like an entire woodland. Xie Xingchen reasonably suspected the tree was ancient enough to be on his ancestors’ level.
Sure enough—
[Ding-dong, congratulations! You found the plant “Ancient Longan Tree.” Exploration task “Find 10 plants” progress +1. Current progress: 5/10.]
[Ancient Longan Tree: A massive longan tree. Over millennia, it absorbed the essence of the sun and moon of Earth, eventually growing into its current form. It is a treasure of Qiong Island and a treasure of humanity. With it here, no dark matter can approach.]
Reading the system’s description, Xie Xingchen’s mouth hung slightly open, eyes sparkling.
So that’s why… the plants on Qiong Island had such abnormally low dark-matter contamination!
He’d found so many plants, and not a single one contained dark matter!
It was because this ancient longan tree was here!
A treasure—an enormous treasure!
Xie Xingchen began to think—
Detecting Xie Xingchen’s dangerous thought, the previously quiet system immediately sounded an alert.
[System Friendly Reminder: The ancient longan tree has stringent growth requirements. Do not transplant.]
This time it even removed the word “casually” from “please do not casually transplant”—clearly not advice, but a warning.
Xie Xingchen pulled himself back from daydreaming, full of regret.
After circling the ancient tree again, he waved the robots over. “Come on, buddies—come lean on the tree and rest a bit. Let’s ‘borrow’ some luck and finish the rest of the task in one go!”
If the robots were human, they’d definitely roast him for this “borrowing luck” nonsense. But unfortunately, they weren’t human—they were robots.
So when Xie Xingchen told them to borrow luck… they literally started rubbing themselves against the ancient tree.
Robots are made of what?
Metal!
Even the realistic ones had tough synthetic skin.
Now imagine—
A bunch of robots rubbing their hard bodies against bark.
Xie Xingchen, the person who suggested it, didn’t explode—but the system did.
[System Notice: Please view the tree civilizedly!]
[System Notice: Player, please view the tree civilizedly!]
[System Notice: Civilized tree-viewing is for you, me, and everyone—protect the environment!]
Xie Xingchen: “…I’m starting to feel like this system has a deep connection with Earth.”
He rubbed his nose and stopped the robots’ uncivilized “luck rubbing.”
His sixth sense told him: if he didn’t stop them, the system would really blow up.
“Everyone stop rubbing. Get ready—we’re moving out.”
The correct way to stop robots was to give them a new command.
Hearing they were leaving, the robots immediately stopped.
Xie Xingchen gently patted the ancient tree again, lips curling upward, then pointed forward with high spirits. “Let’s go—keep working on the mission!”
At his command, the robots split into eight squads and departed in eight directions, leaving only Xie Xingchen, Get-Rich, and Prosperity by the ancient tree.
Xie Xingchen had intended to leave too, but at the last second—
He changed his mind.
This was a system-certified feng shui treasure ground!
How could he not explore it?
If nothing else, finding just one more new plant here would be great!
So far he’d only found five new plants—he was only halfway done.
Maybe the giant tree gave him courage. Xie Xingchen daydreamed about completing the task today.
But sometimes you really have to respect one truth:
Luck may follow a conservation law.
This place looked like a treasure ground, but in reality, there wasn’t space for much besides weeds.
He searched once—nothing.
Searched again—still nothing.
A third time—still nothing.
In the end, Xie Xingchen had to admit the ancient longan tree had probably sucked all the nutrients dry. Only tough wild grass could survive here—no other plants to be found.
Disappointed, he said, “Fine. I lose.”
He patted the towering tree gloomily, voice full of regret.
He’d thought a blessed land should have lots of treasures, but it turned out a single gigantic treasure could drain the whole area, leaving not even scraps for others.
Suddenly, he felt this ancient longan tree was kind of domineering.
Get-Rich asked, “Boss, when do we leave?”
Prosperity said at the same time, “Boss, I see a weed over there with tiny purple flowers.”
Hearing “tiny purple flowers,” Xie Xingchen immediately asked, “Where? Where’s the plant with the purple flowers?”
Prosperity pointed northeast. Xie Xingchen squinted and stared for ages, but still couldn’t see it.
He looked so hard his eyes almost hurt. “Prosperity, where is it? I can’t see it at all!”
Forget it. He wasn’t going to torture himself—he’d just have Prosperity take him to it.
Prosperity led him over to the plant. This was already outside the ancient tree’s immediate area.
And yet—
Xie Xingchen still couldn’t see the “purple flowers.”
He wiped his face, helpless. “Prosperity, can you just point it out directly? I really can’t find it.”
“Understood,” Prosperity replied.
He brought Xie Xingchen right up to the plant and touched it.
It was supposed to be “purple flowers,” but actually the buds had only barely emerged—so subtle you’d never notice unless you stared hard.
Xie Xingchen was honestly impressed.
“Prosperity, your eyesight is incredible!”
So far, so small, in such a weird spot—and you still noticed that tiny bit of purple?
If Prosperity hadn’t said it, Xie Xingchen could’ve searched until he went blind and still not found it!
He placed his hand on the plant, and sure enough the system prompt sounded:
[Ding-dong, congratulations! You found the plant “Licorice.” Exploration task “Find 10 plants” progress +1. Current progress: 6/10.]
[Licorice: A common legume plant named “licorice,” a sweet-tasting medicinal herb loved by the public since it was discovered. It originally grew in the north, but through its own efforts it can now grow in the south too~]
Xie Xingchen: Holy—licorice!
This was great!
Licorice lotus-leaf drink, licorice mint rock-sugar drink, licorice lemon syrup, herbal tea…
If he could find pears, he could even make licorice pear paste—sweet, delicious, and good for soothing the lungs and throat.
Laughing, Xie Xingchen said, “Get-Rich, Prosperity—this time we found something really good again!”
The two robots tried to help dig it up, but Xie Xingchen waved them off.
He had them keep searching around for more licorice while he crouched by this plant, carefully digging, afraid of damaging the roots.
After pulling it out, he wiped his face—forgetting his hands were dirty—and smeared himself into a little painted face.
Standing up, he stretched, then cupped his hands like a megaphone and called to the two robots, “Get-Rich! Prosperity! Did you find any other licorice?”
Both answered at once: “No.”
That didn’t exactly crush him, but it didn’t make him any happier either.
He walked over and bent down to search alongside them.
Then a banana fell from above—smacking right into his head…
Xie Xingchen froze.
Looking up, he saw a monkey that felt oddly familiar.
When it saw him look up, it started dancing excitedly.
It chattered “ji-ji-ji-ji,” grabbed another banana from a bunch stashed on a nearby branch, and threw it at him again.
Xie Xingchen: “…”
Damn (a kind of plant)—is it giving him bananas, or attacking him?
Not understanding its intent, Xie Xingchen didn’t dare go closer.
But when the monkey didn’t get what it wanted, it dragged its bunch of bananas down quickly and shoved them toward him.
For a moment, Xie Xingchen was speechless.
He took two steps back.
Seeing him retreat, the monkey chattered even louder.
And still—Xie Xingchen couldn’t understand what it wanted.
Until the monkey produced a straw from who-knows-where.
Xie Xingchen: ?
Then he got it.
Oh. This monkey wanted coconuts!
Unbelievable—animals had learned barter trade now?
Seeing Xie Xingchen still not taking the bananas, the monkey—thinking he wasn’t satisfied—hopped in place a few times, then turned and ran off, glancing back repeatedly.
Xie Xingchen: Emmm…
If he hadn’t misunderstood…
Was the monkey signaling for him to follow?
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