Dream Root Nodule Bacteria (13)

Wu Xiaoqing was truly the epitome of beauty, and the older sister type at that.

With her Curse Toad, she could both heal and deal damage, making her a perfect older sister figure – if only she could control her foul mouth online.

Zhou Lu remembered the most outrageous incident involving this senior: she had spent six months arguing with someone on a forum. No matter what the other person replied, she would immediately post, "You're right, but your mom is dead."

The exchange ended with the administrator banning both of them.

Seeing Wu Xiaoqing's ID, Zhou Lu suddenly remembered that he could stock up on some supplies from her lab before entering the Secret Realm.

Although the Enlarged Delicious Mushroom was a bit of a stretch as food, it was an absolutely perfect item to use as a decoy during combat or escape.

Even though the mushroom's natural attribute disadvantage meant that even a Tier 2 Spirit Beast like the Enlarged Delicious Mushroom could only fight a Tier 1 Spirit Beast to a standstill, in a crisis, those few seconds often made all the difference.

With that thought in mind, Zhou Lu decisively changed direction and headed for Wu Xiaoqing's laboratory.

Opening the lab door, he found Wu Xiaoqing in the process of taking off her stockings.

Her long legs appeared exceptionally fair against the semi-sheer black silk.

"..."

"Xiao Lu? What brings you here?" Wu Xiaoqing asked, a hint of surprise in her voice upon seeing Zhou Lu.

Zhou Lu quietly closed the laboratory door. "What are you doing, Sister Xiaoqing?"

Wu Xiaoqing glanced at the stockings she was halfway through removing and didn't try to hide it. "Collecting new fungal strains."

"Huh?"

"It's so infuriating," Wu Xiaoqing said, her anger flaring up. "I don't know which scoundrel reported me. My edible mushroom, which I worked so hard to register, was rejected by the association. They said it was a weapon, not food."

The instigator of the incident rubbed his nose and quickly tried to smooth things over. "Didn't Teacher Xiao Xi say this research was very valuable? And she gave you a lot of Fairy Coins..."

"It is valuable, it is valuable." Wu Xiaoqing couldn't help but feel proud when this was mentioned. "Yesterday, Xu Yilong from the Pioneer Army even came to me, saying he wanted to establish a long-term cooperation and provide a continuous supply of Enlarged Delicious Mushrooms to the Pioneer Army."

Xu Yilong...

Zhou Lu immediately thought of the system's mission.

He wondered if his performance in the exam had caught Xu Yilong's eye.

"Isn't that great?" Zhou Lu said, genuinely happy for Wu Xiaoqing.

Clearly, Zhou Lu wasn't the only one who had discovered the value of the Enlarged Delicious Mushroom.

While it was an item that could disrupt the balance in an exam, it was an absolute life-saving artifact for exploring Secret Realms.

Its only drawback was that as a Tier 2 Spirit Beast, its cultivation had a certain threshold.

But since it was a mushroom, no matter how high the threshold, it couldn't be that high.

It could be said that with this research alone, Wu Xiaoqing could establish a firm footing in the cultivation department.

"Great? What's so great about it?" Wu Xiaoqing rolled her eyes. "I'm from the Food Science department! Damn it! Can't I just make an edible mushroom?"

Speaking of this, Wu Xiaoqing puffed out her cheeks in frustration, balled up the stockings in her hand, and stuffed them into a nearby beaker.

"So, what are you doing now?" Zhou Lu knew that scientists often did strange things, but extracting something by stuffing her own stockings into a beaker seemed a bit too bizarre.

Wu Xiaoqing stirred the contents, saying, "I've seen many people say that beautiful girls' feet have a special charm. I'm trying to see if I can extract the corresponding fungal strains for cultivation."

Zhou Lu was speechless. "Is it possible that those people were just joking?"

"Huh? Joking? Then why would someone ask me for my stockings?"

"That's a pervert! Block them! Call the police!"

Wu Xiaoqing glanced at Zhou Lu and said meaningfully, "Then what are you doing right now?"

What am I doing?

Following Wu Xiaoqing's gaze, Zhou Lu looked down.

Huohuo was diligently touching the stockings on Wu Xiaoqing's other leg, occasionally tugging at them, trying to pull them off.

"Holy crap! What are you doing, Huohuo?" Zhou Lu almost spat blood.

Huohuo was startled by Zhou Lu's voice, its leaves trembling.

It immediately retracted its vines and obediently extended its branches and leaves to greet Wu Xiaoqing.

"Don't do such weird things," Zhou Lu said helplessly, picking up Huohuo.

Huohuo looked confused: Huh? Doesn't Master like this thing?

"..." Zhou Lu fell silent for a moment. "I don't know what you're saying, but I have a feeling you're thinking something very disrespectful."

Huohuo drooped its leaves in disappointment.

It thought Master didn't like its legs because it wasn't wearing stockings, so it planned to steal them to study...

"Oh, right, what did you come here for today?" Wu Xiaoqing didn't dwell on these matters; she was naturally a rather oblivious woman. "I haven't congratulated you yet. You got a perfect score on your preliminary exam and obtained an Exploration Permit."

"I have to thank you for giving me the Fairy Coins, Sister Xiaoqing," Zhou Lu said gratefully.

"Those things are no use to me anyway."

"Only you, Sister Xiaoqing, can say that..."

Wu Xiaoqing seemed to recall something. She opened a drawer beside her and took out a paper bag. "Oh right, this is for you as a reward for passing your exam~!"

Zhou Lu curiously took the bag. Inside were some black lumps.

"What is this?"

"Dream Root Nodule Bacteria," Wu Xiaoqing said, examining the beaker in her hand with a serious expression.

If it weren't for the pantyhose in the beaker being so distracting, this would have been a textbook scene of a scientific research laboratory.

"Dream Root Nodule Bacteria..." Zhou Lu repeated the name.

Wu Xiaoqing put down the beaker. "Dream Rain Flowers don't have natural toxicity, and they might not evolve to have it either. If Plant Spirit Beasts don't have the Poison Attribute, they can't learn poison-type skills, which puts them at a disadvantage in battles. Dream Root Nodule Bacteria can grant the Poison Attribute to Plant Spirit Beasts that it symbiotically coexists with, and it doesn't have any other side effects."

"Directly granting the Poison Attribute?" Zhou Lu asked in surprise. He had never heard of such a thing.

Attributes were usually something Spirit Beasts naturally possessed or awakened through evolution. He had never heard of them being acquired in this way.

Wu Xiaoqing shrugged. "It's useless for anything else, isn't it? Pretty trashy for a Tier 1 Spirit Beast. I actually wanted to research a special symbiotic bacterium that could increase the yield of root crops like potatoes, but instead, I ended up researching this."

Speaking of which, Wu Xiaoqing looked a bit dejected. "Sometimes I really doubt if I have any talent for research..."

Sister Xiaoqing, how about we try a different direction? I don't think you're very suited for developing food-type Spirit Beasts...

"Will the root nodule bacteria make the roots look ugly?" Zhou Lu asked, glancing at Huohuo in his arms.

Huohuo, who had been looking at mushrooms, turned its leaves with concern.

To be honest, Huohuo's roots were clean and white, like works of art. It would be a real shame if they became ugly after being parasitized by the root nodule bacteria.

"Don't even get me started on that!" Wu Xiaoqing said indignantly. "It's called root nodule bacteria, but it doesn't even provide any extra benefits to the roots! It doesn't even cause them to grow lumps."

Huohuo turned back with relief and continued watching the mushrooms.

"Didn't you publish these results?" Zhou Lu asked quietly.

Wu Xiaoqing looked at him strangely. "Why would I publish trash results?"

Trash results?!

This is bacteria that can grant the Poison Attribute to ordinary Plant Spirit Beasts!

You know, many Plant Spirit Beasts have excellent potential in combat, but they are eliminated by other Poison Attribute Plant Spirit Beasts simply because they lack the Poison Attribute and cannot learn skills that require both Grass and Poison Attributes.

Dream Root Nodule Bacteria can absolutely change their fate.

"What about that mushroom last time?" Zhou Lu remembered the mushroom that had almost killed Wu Xiaoqing. Its rapid-acting toxicity was explosive even in the world of poisons.

"That's also trash results," she said, glancing at the mushroom field behind her. "Speaking of which... why do I feel like my mushrooms are constantly decreasing?"

Huohuo, lying by the mushroom field, looked like it was basking under a grow light, occasionally rubbing its vines together with a gesture like a fly rubbing its hands.

Two more chapters.