Stepping Out of the Wasteland, Almost There

Five months later, the caravan finally crossed the border of the Maslow Alliance, bidding farewell to the desolate Visas Wasteland. As the terrain changed, the vegetation gradually grew lush. It was the season between summer and autumn, and the weather was pleasant, with gentle breezes drifting by and putting the mind at ease.

At the border, the caravan encountered quite a few groups likewise heading for Ellendal Harbor. Most of them were minor nobles who had fled from the Lodin Kingdom. Through their conversations, Green gathered information about Ellendal Harbor.

Over the past six months, Green's physique had improved significantly. The constant circulation of the Breathing Method had brought him close to his limit. As a Formal Knight, Green was now able to control the Life Energy within his body and release it externally. Though the caravan's conditions were crude, Green had still freed up a carriage and converted it into his own laboratory.

This was Green's first in-depth investigation into the essence of the world. Previously, lacking research tools and living in a harsh environment, he had been forced to set aside his thirst for knowledge. Now that he possessed the ability to protect himself, Green could finally return to his true calling as a scientist and explore the mysteries of this world.

Although his knowledge of this world was extremely limited, Green could rely on the memories of his previous life to modify existing models and improve the knowledge he already possessed so that it suited this world's environment. Combined with the extraordinary memory and analytical abilities granted by the Chip, Green's research entered a highly efficient state from the very beginning, without a single error.

Across the vast green plain, a caravan was moving slowly forward. What set it apart was that among the two or three dozen carriages in the caravan, one was particularly eye-catching. It always remained at the very back, keeping a certain distance from the carriage ahead, and its appearance was also unusual. This carriage was wrapped up tightly, connected to the outside world only by two special windows and a heavily locked door. This was Green's laboratory.

The laboratory was divided into two sections. The left side was packed with flowerpots containing all kinds of strange plants, while the right side was lined with bottles and jars containing various living creatures.

In an independent space at the rear of the carriage, Green was holding a bottle and carefully observing the creature inside.

"Life Force affects animals and plants in completely different ways." As he pondered, Green gently stroked his head. Ever since he had gained the ability to control Life Force, he had begun investigating how it worked, deliberately collecting large numbers of plants, insects, and animals for experimentation.

Inside the bottle before him, a giant centipede half a meter long was slowly writhing. Its flattened body was dark red, and its shell was as hard as armor. Its walking legs were densely arrayed along both sides like sharp little sickles. Its head was broad and flat, its compound eyes glimmered with a ghostly light, and its mouthparts were extraordinarily sharp, like a cluster of sickles. The bony spines rising from its carapace secreted slime. There was no doubt that it was highly poisonous.

"Ah, another failure." Looking at the centipede before him, Green felt somewhat vexed. Though this centipede was enormous, in truth, it had little of its lifespan left. Under Green's catalysis, it had grown rapidly, but it had already reached the limit of its cells and would soon die.

As soon as Green finished speaking, the centipede began to lose its vitality. In the end, it went limp inside the bottle and stopped moving.

[The Chip recorded the results of five experiments and conducted a comparative analysis with the quality-inspection results]

[Research Result One: After receiving Life Force, plants tended more toward extending their overall lifespans. Xenomorphization was less common, and mutated evolution was extremely rare. Flowering plants tended to extend their blooming periods so that they could spread more seeds.]

[Research Result Two: After receiving Life Force, insects tended more toward increasing their body size and greatly strengthening their offensive organs, while their lifespans were sharply reduced. Even if the insects' growth was interfered with, once the interfering factor disappeared, they would still choose to increase their body size.]

[Research Result Three: After receiving Life Force, mammals experienced an overall increase in ability. However, because they could not continuously produce Life Force, once the external Life Force was depleted, this enhancement would regress to their original state.]

Green took out a specially prepared liquid from the side and poured it directly over the centipede's corpse. This was a potion Green had formulated specifically to dispose of failed specimens after experiments. As soon as the liquid touched the centipede's body, it began to corrode it, and the hard carapace dissolved rapidly like paper paste. The liquid, originally transparent, also became murky as the organs inside the centipede leaked out.

[Chip, establish a new interference method based on the fifth experiment.]

[Establishing]

[View the analysis model for the conversion of external energy inside and outside the body]

[Model establishment progress: 7%; large amounts of data missing. Please supplement research on the properties of external energy.]

Still no good? It seemed that once he reached Allendale, he would have to find an instrument capable of researching external energy.

After glancing at it once more, Green saw that the Chip had begun simulating the experiment. Feeling the carriage come to a halt, he opened the laboratory's door—or rather, the carriage door. The moment it opened, Green heard a voice.

"Big Brother Green, you're out! Steward Ward has prepared some food. Come with me to the front and eat!" The speaker was Ashlyn. Ever since Ashlyn had helped Green handwrite the slave contracts, she had begun assisting him in managing the people in the Candia caravan. Ashlyn herself was quite talented and managed the caravan in perfect order. Seeing how enthusiastic she was, Green was more than happy to enjoy some free time, so he handed Total Authority over management affairs to her.

This greatly encouraged Ashlyn. She put even more effort into management and used her authority to seek frequent contact with Green.

The wasteland journey, which had lasted half a year, had changed Ashlyn's bearing. Her appearance had not changed much. During the journey, nearly all the young women had wrapped themselves up tightly, refusing to loosen their coverings even in hot weather for fear that the sun and windblown sand would harm their skin.

Ashlyn's changes were mainly reflected in her bearing. The immature air she had once possessed had now settled into composure. However, paired with her girlish voice and fiery figure, she always seemed somewhat strange to Green.

"Let's go." Green answered Ashlyn and stepped down from the carriage. Ashlyn immediately moved close, took Green's hand, and drew it toward her chest. Feeling the softness, Green glanced at Ashlyn but said nothing.

In the open space nearby, the people from Green's caravan had prepared food and laid it out on a carpet. Several people were already sitting there. Green turned his head toward the food on the carpet. Though there were only a few pieces of white bread, after half a year on the road, this was already an exceptionally precious meal.

Green could not help sighing. It was fortunate that Baron Candia had sent them that "package"; otherwise, by the halfway point of the journey, everyone in the caravan might have been gnawing on black bread.

After arriving beside the table and chairs, Green sat down. Ashlyn very naturally took the seat beside him and cast provocative looks at the two people next to her—Leila and Mia. Green had initially thought the two of them would give up, but they had continued openly and covertly battling Ashlyn and had never backed down.

Green could understand Mia's situation. Her status in the original castle had been low, and once they reached Allendale, the baron would very likely stop supporting her. She would have to support herself, and Green was her best destination, even if it meant becoming nothing more than a maid.

Leila's refusal to give up had puzzled Green at first. Later, he learned the reason. The baron had already made up his mind that once they reached Ellendal Harbor and settled down, he would marry Leila off to a local noble in order to establish a foothold.

Under such circumstances, Leila naturally wanted to resist. But this time, even Leila's mother could not stop the baron. In the entire group, there was only one person who could stop him—and that was Green.

Green felt that if Ashlyn had not kept such a close eye on her, Leila would have already run to his carriage and offered herself to him.

Green had already made a decision in his heart, but he had merely watched in silence all this time without interfering too much. Since Green did not state his position, the three women continued circling around him. Green glanced at Old Green, who was grinning beside him. As a seasoned old hand, Old Green had seen through the situation long ago; he was simply very pleased to see it.

"How much longer until we reach Ellendal Harbor?" Seeing Old Green's beaming face, Green asked helplessly.

"Not much longer. We should arrive in at most half a month. Once we enter the territory of the Maslow Alliance, the roads will keep improving, and our speed will increase considerably." Hearing Green's question, Old Green immediately lowered his head and began calculating.

"Half a month? That isn't even enough time for one experiment. Looks like I'll have to consider how to live in Allendale." Green lowered his head and, based on the information he had gathered, began arranging his life after reaching the harbor.