Chapter 121 Missing Personnel, New Plan

Chapter 121: Chapter 120: Missing Personnel, New Plan

Evening. The commercial district. An office building.

Han Ning and Chairman Wu sat at a desk.

A portable gas stove rested on the desk, supporting a kettle with a blackened bottom. White steam puffed from its spout to the sound of a steady BUBBLE BUBBLE.

Chairman Wu lifted the kettle and poured the boiling hot water into two teacups containing a few Tieguanyin tea leaves.

Immediately, a faint tea fragrance diffused into the air.

"Mr. Han," Chairman Wu said, pushing one of the teacups in front of Han Ning. With a look of gratitude, he sighed, "Those vegetables you’ve accelerated the growth of these past few days have really been a huge help to us.

"It’s been a long time since everyone has eaten such fresh leafy greens.

"To be honest, quite a few of the ordinary people in our group are already showing symptoms of vitamin deficiency."

Han Ning picked up his teacup, blew on the hot steam, and took a sip. "It was just a small effort. There’s no need to be so polite, Chairman Wu."

In truth, he had just been grinding his Skill Level.

High Level Rapid Growth accelerated crops with short growth cycles to the point where they could be harvested almost every day or two. With so many crops, it was better to share them with everyone than to let them go to waste.

Chairman Wu was just about to say something else when hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from outside.

Before Chairman Wu could continue, a young man with a panicked expression rushed over. Disregarding whether his behavior was polite or not, the young man spoke in a rushed tone, "Chairman, the hunting squad led by Brother Song hasn’t returned yet. I’m worried something might have happened to them."

"When did they leave?" Chairman Wu frowned slightly.

The Awakened from Biyun Resort had been divided into many squads. Some were led by Vice President Level Awakened, while others were led by stronger Awakened who hadn’t quite reached the Vice President Level. Depending on their strength, the areas they explored also differed.

"They left this morning. It’s almost dark now, and they still aren’t back. Didn’t you make a rule that anyone exploring outside must return before dark? Most squads usually come back half an hour early, but there’s not even a shadow of them," the young man quickly replied.

Realizing something was wrong, Chairman Wu stood up. "Which direction did Song and his team go?"

"They went southwest, west of Biyun Resort."

Thinking of the Black Snake Monster Swarm that had been uncharacteristically quiet lately, Chairman Wu’s expression turned serious. "It’s getting dark... Wait for me for a moment!"

The wilderness at night posed a completely different level of danger compared to the day. In the dark, visibility dropped, and it was also the active period for the snake swarm.

"Quiet down, everyone. I have an announcement."

Chairman Wu left the desk and went to the area where the Awakened and ordinary people of Biyun Resort usually gathered. He clapped his hands and repeated the situation the young man had just described.

"Song still isn’t back?"

"Could something have happened...?"

"Chairman Wu, do you want us to go out and take a look?"

Instantly, quite a few Awakened, including several Vice Presidents, stood up.

Chairman Wu thought for a moment and said, "Old Zhao, Old Xie, take a few capable fighters and go out to take a look. Qianqian, your injuries haven’t fully healed yet, so stay at the camp and rest."

"Understood!" the people called responded in unison.

Time was tight, so no one hesitated. They quickly prepared themselves, fully equipping their makeshift weapons and first-aid supplies before gathering at the entrance of the office building on time.

Outside the office building, the sky had turned completely pitch-black.

The beams from a few flashlights illuminated a patch of the darkness.

Chairman Wu stood at the very front. His gaze swept over the people before him as he said in a deep voice, "Night is different from day. Visibility is limited, so please pay attention to your safety. If you encounter danger, don’t hesitate—come straight back. Understood?"

"Understood!"

Just as the group was about to leave, the other Awakened and ordinary people stood at the second-floor windows, waving and shouting down to them.

"Everyone, make sure to come back safely!"

"Be careful out there!"

"..."

The search party members raised their hands and waved in response to their blessings. Then, one by one, their figures gradually disappeared into the heavy night.

Upstairs, Professor Ye found Han Ning standing in front of the office building’s floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing outside.

"Boss, the new crop planting room has been set up, and the seeds have just been sown," Professor Ye’s voice rang out.

Han Ning snapped back to reality and nodded. "Good work. Let’s go take a look."

One planting room was no longer enough for him to grind his Skills, so at his request, a new one had been added. The matters regarding the Awakened Association currently only involved some ordinary Awakened, which wasn’t enough to warrant him stepping in personally.

The two walked through the corridor, heading toward the newly opened area on the other side of the office building.

On the way, Professor Ye spoke up.

"Boss, your abilities have exceeded my expectations. We can actually start trying to plant crops with longer growth cycles, like rice and wheat.

"These will be the true staple food sources of the future. Relying solely on spinach and sprouts is not a long-term plan."

"Rice, wheat..." Han Ning didn’t stop walking, gesturing for him to continue.

"Doesn’t snow cake have Earth Element Manipulation? We can ask it for help to try and extract large patches of relatively dry soil from the mud or the Earth, and then add some compost to this specially made soil as a base fertilizer.

"As for water, we can have some Awakened with Purification Ability try to irrigate it with the floodwater after Purification.

"This way, we can artificially create a field suitable for growing rice and wheat.

"Having large patches of rice and wheat would also be more suitable for you to unleash your abilities," Professor Ye said.

Hearing this, Han Ning violently clapped his hands together. "That’s right! How could I have forgotten about that? Using snow cake to extract dry soil from the mud..."

He had been so busy with various things these past few days that he had completely forgotten about this. Sometimes, you were just too close to see the obvious.

This was exactly where Professor Ye’s usefulness lay.

"Makes sense. We can add this to the plan and start working on it tomorrow!"

As they talked, they soon arrived at the newly set-up planting room.

This planting room was located further inside than the basic crop area. The space was relatively independent and slightly smaller in area. Inside, modified shelves, plastic bins, and other containers were similarly arranged. The newly turned soil emitted a moist scent. On a few neat ridges of earth, the recently sown seeds were covered by a thin layer of fine dirt.

"This is it. These are all ordinary crops," Professor Ye said, pointing at the containers. "The seeds have all been planted by category, and their status is recorded here."

He handed a clipboard to Han Ning.

"Very good."

Han Ning took the clipboard, glanced over it, and nodded. He fully acknowledged Professor Ye’s professional capabilities.

Without another word, he walked to the center of the planting room and slowly stretched out his hands.

Yesterday, he had already upgraded Natural Blessing to Middle Level. Aside from the light being brighter and the purification effect being better, Middle Level Natural Blessing didn’t seem to have anything special about it for now. The squirting cucumbers he had been continuously applying it to hadn’t mutated either.

Based on past experience, Middle Level Skill Level generally only slightly enhanced the skill’s effects without producing any new ones.

Among his current Skills, only Rapid Growth was at the critical point of breaking through.

BUZZ!

A rich, emerald-green radiance flowed from his palms, washing over the newly planted crops in the second planting room one by one.

[Rapid Growth (High Level) Skill Level +1. Current: 492/500]

...

[Rapid Growth (High Level) Skill Level +1. Current: 500/500]

As the final point of Skill Level maxed out, a system prompt instantly popped up:

[Rapid Growth (High Level) -> Rapid Growth (Perfection)]

[New Skill Unlocked: Crazy Growth]