Chapter 138 - 135: Xuan Jin’s Monopoly Dream Shatters

Nan Zishi ripped open a bag of corn seeds.

"The seal is broken!"

Lu Ming watched curiously as Nan Zishi poured the seeds into his hand.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. "Should we go clear some wasteland and plant these now?"

As she gazed at him like that, Lu Ming’s heart beat just a little bit faster. He closed his hand around the seeds, feeling them for a moment before nodding in approval. "No problem. But if we want them to grow well, they’ll need better soil and more nutrients."

Now that she considered Lu Ming one of her family’s Beastmen, Nan Zishi no longer felt the need to hide her abilities.

She took out a few tools from her dimensional space and handed a hoe to Lu Ming.

Lu Ming watched as she suddenly produced tools he had never seen before. His pupils constricted slightly as he couldn’t help but ask, "Sui Sui, where did you get something so big?"

Nan Zishi answered, "I have a pack for carrying things. It can hold quite a lot."

Lu Ming walked a full circle around her, studying her carefully. "But I don’t see a pack that big on you."

Nan Zishi casually ruffled his head. "It’s a space. It looks like just a tiny spot on me, but it’s actually really big and can hold a lot."

Lu Ming stared at her for a long moment. "That’s amazing."

"What’s so amazing about it? It’s just technology, even if it’s a bit more advanced than what we had on Earth," Nan Zishi said. "In places with advanced technology, they have cars. People sit inside, and they run on fuel."

Lu Ming’s eyes lit up. "Cars?"

"Things with four wheels."

"Wheels?"

Nan Zishi decided to just pull out her motorcycle. "Look. This isn’t a car, but it also runs on fuel and uses wheels. It’s called a motorcycle."

Lu Ming’s eyes grew even brighter.

Nan Zishi put the motorcycle back into her dimensional space.

’That was her one and only treasured motorcycle in her space; she couldn’t let it get broken.’

Lu Ming looked a little wistful, but he temporarily reined in his curiosity and started turning the soil with the shovel.

"Pretty Sister, you have a dimensional space and you have power. Have you ever considered pursuing greater ambitions?"

Nan Zishi asked, "What kind of ambitions?"

"An Empire."

Nan Zishi was completely lost. "?"

’What in the world is going on in that little head of yours?’

"I feel like this world is missing an Empire."

"Pretty Sister, why don’t you just become the Empress?"

Nan Zishi was speechless. ’See? I was right. This little kid is as mature as a grown-up.’

Having no interest in that kind of rat race, Nan Zishi said, "That’s enough. Kids shouldn’t be having such wild fantasies. By the way, where did you even learn words like ’Empire’ and ’Empress’?"

Lu Ming pointed to his own head. "I thought of them myself."

’...’ ’What a strange brain. I’m tempted to dig it out and take a look.’

’I’m not even sure I’ll be in this world for long. An Empire? An Empress?’

’I was just an average college student who barely scraped by. Am I really cut out for that?’

’I’m probably just fit for farming.’

Nan Zishi didn’t consider that with her few contracted Beast Husbands all being Lord-level existences on the Eastern Continent, she already possessed the means to unify the East.

But at this very moment, Nan Zishi, the woman with the power to command the East, was diligently farming with a little kid in tow.

After she finished clearing the wasteland, she planted the corn seeds, watered them a little, and called it a day.

Just as she was dusting off her hands, ready to pack up, the six-year-old little deer cub squatted down and pressed his hands to the ground.

Nan Zishi looked over curiously. "Lu Ming, what are you doing?"

At that moment, faint wisps of sacred, green power flowed from Lu Ming’s hands, enveloping the patch of land.

Then, for some reason, Nan Zishi suddenly got the feeling that all the life in the area had been activated.

"Done." Lu Ming also dusted off his hands. "They’re all quite healthy."

The corner of Nan Zishi’s mouth twitched. ’...This is what he meant by knowing how to farm?’

"Is that your superpower?"

Lu Ming nodded obediently. "Yes."

"What type is it? Plant System? Wood Element?"

Lu Ming answered hesitantly, "I’m not sure. I think it’s... Life."

"...That’s impossible." It wasn’t that Nan Zishi didn’t believe the boy; it was just that she *couldn’t* believe it.

’Even a Plant System superpower would be incredibly amazing!’

’If it’s a Life system superpower, wouldn’t that be completely overpowered?!!’

She asked, "How long will it take for them to grow and produce corn?"

’If I remember correctly, it should take four or five months for a corn plant to grow and mature.’

Lu Ming’s cute little face was covered in dirt. "The soil here is rich in nutrients. They should be fully grown by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!?!" ’Does he mean what I think he means?’

Lu Ming chuckled softly. He patted a shocked Nan Zishi’s arm, then diligently gathered the weeds they had just cleared, buried them in a nearby patch of dirt, and covered them with soil.

The little guy looked up again, speaking to Nan Zishi like a small adult, "Sui Sui, if you bury these weeds in the ground, they’ll turn soft and black, and then they become food that plants love to eat."

"We’re all done here. Should we go? We can come back tomorrow."

Nan Zishi’s mind was still reeling.

’She actually understood some of what Lu Ming was doing—how plants and animals decompose into nutritious humus, which other plants then absorb to grow big and strong.’

’But she only knew this because she had learned it from the knowledge passed down by her ancestors.’

’But how did this Little Deer know? Was he born with this knowledge, or did someone teach him?’

’Also, that green power when he touched the ground... could it really be Life Force? And... and will my corn really be ready tomorrow? No way.’

Nan Zishi stared blankly at the plot of land behind them.

The little guy asked, "Sui Sui, aren’t you coming?"

Nan Zishi: "...Coming!"

Nan Zishi followed him.

On the way back, the little guy walked backward, using stones to block the path and sweeping away their tracks as they went.

Lu Ming looked back. "Sui Sui, why do you keep staring at me?"

"N-nothing. Also, don’t call me Sui Sui."

Little Lu Ming said, "I’ll call you Pretty Sister when other people are around. But when no one’s here, I still prefer calling you Sui Sui. It sounds closer."

Nan Zishi tapped him on his little head. "Watch your manners."

Just after they left, the tender corn shoots in the valley burst through the humus, scrambling to break through the soil.

They began to madly absorb the nutrients in the soil.

The emerald-green stalks trembled as they grew...

...

「Inside the cave.」

The Snake Beastman, Xuan Jin, stood with his arms crossed, coldly eyeing the little deer cub off to the side.

’He just went out to do some mining, and suddenly there was a little brat in the house.’

’Where did this little brat come from?’

’He’d only had his little female to himself for a few days!’

’His dream of having her all to himself had only lasted a few days!!’

’WHERE DID THIS LITTLE BRAT COME FROM!!!!’

’The sky was falling! He was going to lose his mind!!!!’

The little deer cub was carving out a small space for himself. He had brought his things over from his own little cave next door and was arranging them on a few small Beast Skins.

’He wasn’t afraid of this snake.’

’She had already accepted him. He was a Beastman of this family now. Not even this snake could drive him away.’

Xuan Jin’s expression was grim as he asked Nan Zishi, "Little female, is this something you picked up from outside? A weak, little Weak Beastmen cub?"

"Mhm. He’s a cub who grew up in the mining area. I gave him the name Lu Ming." Nan Zishi smiled. "Don’t be fooled by his size. He’s sharp as a tack and very capable."

Hearing Nan Zishi’s praise, Little Lu Ming’s lips curved into a slight smile.

"Lu Ming, this is my Beast Husband, Xuan Jin. From now on, you can call him Father Xuan Jin."

The Little Deer lowered his head slightly, his long hair hiding his eyes.

’His beast-father was dead.’

’Even if this was his mother’s Beast Husband.’

’Right now, he didn’t want to call anyone ’father.’’

...