Hearing the voice, Ning He froze for a second. Then, as if realizing something, her loose pace tightened into a rush as she ran back toward her home.
As she approached her rented residential area, Ning He noticed a good few sizing-up glances. By the time she reached her front door, the children who had been playing in the open space nearby scattered all at once, hiding far out of her way.
Ning He didn’t have time to pay them any mind. Step inside, lock the door, head over to the ladder behind the bed, climb up to the attic, and hunch down to squeeze inside.
When Ning He first woke up in this world, the voice calling itself the Biological Encyclopedia System had resounded in her head, gifting her four cubic meters of mysterious black soil and claiming that planting things in it produced miraculous results. Ning He had scattered a few handfuls of seeds back then and left them alone for a few days—and now they were already mature?
The original wooden bed in the attic had been dismantled by Ning He and reassembled into a wooden box frame, filled with a twenty-centimeter-thick layer of black soil, while a temporarily unused pile of soil sat in the corner.
Lighting in the attic was average, so the electric light remained on constantly. As soon as Ning He stepped inside, the scene before her became crystal clear.
In just a few short days, the once-bare black soil had turned lush and verdant.
The seeds Ning He had scattered back then were basic relief packs bought from a local store, a mix of various species.
Right now, she could see spinach, chives, lettuce, green onions, cilantro, tomatoes, chili peppers, and radishes, every single one growing vigorously.
The leaves of the spinach and lettuce were full and plump, with thick stems; the chives and green onions had sprouted a foot tall, their stalks sturdy and stout. Beneath the emerald leaves of the radishes, round white bodies had already pushed up out of the soil.
These few items were clearly mature.
Even if Ning He hadn’t done much farming in her past life, she knew that this kind of growth speed was entirely illogical.
“Host, are you satisfied with this outcome?”
The system’s slightly proud voice sounded in her head.
Ning He suppressed the astonishment in her heart, swiped her finger across the floating control panel, and stopped at the last line of the task column.
“Biological Encyclopedia 0/3000”
“Prestige Points 0/1,000,000”
“If I complete the encyclopedia task, or reach one million prestige points, I can return to my original world?”
“Yes, Host. Complete either one, and you can go back; complete both, and you can even bring one person back with you.”
The system’s words were laced with temptation, but Ning He merely gave a soft hum.
Treating her like a harvestable crop, were they?
Either task was extraordinarily difficult; completing even one would be a stroke of luck.
Still, in this godforsaken place where working her fingers to the bone wouldn’t even guarantee a piece of meat to eat, she was definitely going back!
“I understand. Let’s begin then.”
“Very well, Host. Wishing us a pleasant collaboration! At the same time, to show our support for the host, the system has prepared a beginner’s gift pack for you, along with one hundred experience points redeemable in the mall. Please accept them.”
Ning He’s vision blurred, and a cardboard box appeared on the floor.
Opening it up, she found a complete set of cooking spices.
A wave of emotion crossed Ning He’s mind. She took inventory of the bottles and jars inside—every variety of spice she knew was included. It was indeed a generous gift.
Ning He carefully stored the bottles and jars away. Meat spices like these were priceless in the market, better suited as a hidden ace in her sleeve.
Next, Ning He browsed the system mall.
There wasn’t much available—just crop seeds and various spices. The exchange rate wasn’t particularly favorable either: one hundred points could only buy fifty grams of seeds or a small jar of spices.
After some thought, Ning He bought seeds for a few flavor-enhancing fruits and vegetables, such as mint, cumin, ginger, and lemon, and immediately buried them in the black soil to let them grow.
Having taken care of all this, Ning He sat cross-legged, staring at a bed full of vegetables and falling into thought.
The only way to make money that she could think of—and actually execute—was selling food.
Given her current financial state, meat was priced out of reach; she couldn’t possibly afford it. Average people wouldn’t drop big money at a street stall anyway, so she could only make vegetarian-focused snacks.
With vegetables as the primary ingredient, she could rely on this black soil to produce and sell them herself, saving a massive chunk of overhead cost.
The mature produce right before her eyes included spinach, chives, lettuce, cilantro, and radishes.
The tomatoes and chili peppers had only just set fruit. Picking them now would be a waste, so Ning He decided to let them grow a bit longer.
With seasonings scarce and ingredients limited, there weren’t many snacks she could prepare.
Fortunately, Ning He used to be a food content creator in her past life. From restaurant reviews to cooking, her knowledge and experience were extensive, and she quickly thought of several wildly popular street snacks.
Ning He scrambled down the ladder, opened her computer, and filled out an online application for a mobile stall permit.
The official government of Beiluo City had plenty of support policies for food stalls.
Low tax rates, discounted stall fees, dedicated personnel to maintain order, and even monthly food festivals set up across various districts to encourage citizens to spend and feast to their heart’s content.
Next, Ning He pulled out paper and pen, swiftly calculating the various expenses of running a food stall and deciding on what to purchase tomorrow.
Once all that was finished, Ning He felt a bit hungry.
Though she desperately wanted to go to the noodle shop and eat a bowl of piping hot egg and vegetable noodles, Ning He ultimately behaved and fetched a packet of grain powder, mixing it with hot water to make dinner.
The small packet of powder swelled rapidly upon absorbing water, turning into a full bowl. The artificial strawberry flavor added to it made it slightly less unbearable to swallow.
Gulping down the slurry, Ning He listened to the system explain the details of the two tasks.
“…Simply put, Host, as long as you come into physical contact with a mutated species, the system will record it into the encyclopedia within a few seconds. As for Prestige Points, whenever anyone generates any kind of positive emotion toward you, Host, you will gain one prestige point. Positive emotions include but are not limited to: gratitude, admiration, affection, appreciation, recognition…”
The more Ning He listened, the heavier her heart sank.
With the original owner’s reputation out there, this prestige task might as well be declared an immediate loss.
As for the encyclopedia task, it required collecting the mutated organisms of this world. But inside the city, which was designated a safe zone, no such things existed.
To collect them, she had to go outside the city.
In Beiluo City, ordinary people could not simply leave the city as they pleased.
The outside world was fraught with danger. Every time the mecha units went out on a mission, they went fully armed; running out there by herself would be suicidal.
Based on the information currently available to her, there were only two ways to leave the city:
First, hire a security company to accompany her outside to collect various organisms. But the cost was astronomically high, usually something only large corporations and the ultra-wealthy could afford.
Second, go through the Mecha Academy route.
The academy had several secure fortresses outside the city, as well as reconnaissance outposts further out on the perimeter. These places required cooks as well. If she could compete for one of those spots, she could leave the city legitimately and then look for opportunities to start the encyclopedia task.
However, the academy typically selected cooks from the Grade 3 stalls in the cafeteria. Even if she managed to raise enough money to rent a Grade 0 stall, she would still have to find a way to upgrade that Grade 0 stall all the way to Grade 3.
Upgrading a stall required achieving the highest overall evaluation score for three consecutive months. In the original owner’s memory, no one had ever accomplished such a massive leap in upgrades.
Starting out with such high difficulty—it really was enough to break anyone’s spirit.
Whatever. Fill her stomach first.
Having finished her makeshift dinner, Ning He turned on the television.
She knew too little about this world, and television could serve as a great source for the information she needed. Hourly news programs, in particular, covered news regarding livelihood, the economy, society, technology, and more. Over the past two days, she had picked up plenty of basic facts through them.
Right now, the news was broadcasting the repair progress on the water supply pipeline outside the city.
To build a safe city like Beiluo with nearly a million residents, the primary requirement was having a clean and abundant water source nearby.
Beiluo City’s water supply reservoir was located thirty kilometers outside the city. A local earthquake had struck yesterday, severing the supply pipeline and causing the city’s water volume to plunge. The Mecha Armed Forces Department dispatched a squad to make urgent repairs immediately; given the emergency, the news naturally provided real-time updates.
Looking at the footage captured by the drone camera, Ning He suddenly raised an eyebrow.
The mecha squad leader being interviewed in front of the camera was in his early thirties, with thick eyebrows, hawk-like eyes, and an imposing presence even without anger.
Ning He couldn’t be mistaken.
That was the man who had pulled her out of the river that day.
His name appeared on the screen: Lieutenant Colonel Jean Reor.
Lieutenant Colonel Jean’s words were concise. A single statement that water supply inside the city would be restored before dark caused the reporter’s subsequent tone to carry a noticeable wave of relief.
Ning He knew nothing of this lieutenant colonel’s past achievements, but judging by the reporter’s reaction, the man was clearly dependable.
Dependable indeed.
The water where she jumped had been rushing so fiercely back then, yet he had managed to pull her up swiftly and revive her consciousness with emergency first-aid in no time—his capabilities were absolute top-tier.
At the time, he had left without leaving behind any information.
An unsung hero was worthy of respect, but according to the original owner’s memory, they actually knew each other.
This Lieutenant Colonel Reor was a senior commander at the Mecha Academy, seen in the cafeteria every day, and had previously maintained a good teacher-student relationship with Qiu Luo. There was no way he had no impression of her.
Rescuing her and then leaving without a word, Ning He could only guess that he wished to avoid any further connection with her.
It seemed the original owner really was quite unlikable.
Every single one of them couldn’t wait to stay as far away from her as possible.
Ning He curled her lip, switched off the television, and turned over to go to sleep.
No time to fret over so much. Tomorrow, she still had to go out to buy supplies and set up her food stall.