Chapter 150 - 148: Curly Reluctantly Agrees to Take in an Underling

Eager to secure the two patches of "Black Carpet," Sev Steele and Hayden Hanson abandoned their foraging. They immediately turned their handcart around and headed back.

Before approaching the safe zone gates, they grabbed two torn burlap sacks, stuffed them with worthless wild vegetables, and draped them over their haul. The two Guards didn’t ask a single question, simply waving them through.

Sev had messaged Doctor Jenkins on the way back. By the time she walked through her front door, he was already waiting in the courtyard with a solemn expression.

"Are you sure that thing can actually purify soil?" he asked urgently the moment he saw her.

"Based on Hayden’s and my judgment, yes. We’re sure," Sev replied. Hayden nodded in agreement.

"Good. Leave the specific data analysis to me. If I can confirm this is real, I’ll pass it on to professionals for cultivation," Doctor Jenkins said. "Once that happens, I’ll petition the higher-ups for a substantial bonus on your behalf."

"Substantial? How much are we talking about?" Sev’s eyes gleamed. She had just spent eighty thousand points on sandwich panels and was desperately trying to figure out how to recoup the massive expense.

Doctor Jenkins winced in sheer agony at the sight of them carelessly wheeling such a priceless treasure back in a rickety handcart, crushed beneath two sacks of wild vegetables.

"This is absolute sacrilege! The next time you encounter something like this, stay exactly where you are and wait for me to come to you!" Doctor Jenkins scolded. With a flick of his wrist, he stored one of the patches into his Space Button. Before either of them could respond, he vanished into thin air.

Hayden had always known Doctor Jenkins was no ordinary man, but watching him disappear so silently made him finally realize just how incredibly powerful the doctor truly was.

After leaving behind his share of the Black Soil they had gathered today, Hayden took his leave. Before he departed, Sev packed him a plate of ten mashed potato and vegetable balls. Thanks to the mutated black fungus incident, they had skipped lunch out in the wilderness.

Hayden accepted the food without hesitation and headed home. As for the second patch of "Black Carpet," he simply urged Sev and Rose to be careful with it. He never had any intention of claiming a share for himself. He knew a Mutated plant like that would be incredibly difficult to keep alive; taking it home would be the true sacrilege.

When Rick Kaye heard that Sev had brought back a mutated black fungus, he wandered over to take a curious look. Unfortunately, as a Thunder Ability user, he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Putting on a show of bravado, he told Rose, "Don’t you worry, my sweet disciple. Go ahead and communicate with them boldly. Your master is holding down the fort. If they dare misbehave, I’ll obliterate them in seconds!"

"Master, you can’t be so unreasonable when communicating with plants!" Rose said with a bright smile. "If they ignore me, I’ll just send Curly over to reason with them. Since they’re all plants, they’ll definitely understand each other."

Rick wondered if Curly was truly capable of being reasonable.

He had never seen a plant more vicious than the Mutated Quillwort in his entire life. He had heard Jared Jenkins mention how, during the rat tide, Curly had driven a spike straight through a Mutant Rat’s skull and sucked its brains completely dry.

Could a ruthless monstrosity like that really sit down and have a polite conversation with other plants?

Sure enough, the moment Rose released a gentle green glow to communicate with the mutated black fungus, a single vine slithered out from the master bedroom and stretched into the living room.

The seemingly delicate vine dangled in the air, swaying menacingly back and forth right above the fungus. Sev watched as the patch of "Black Carpet" visibly trembled.

"Is this how they communicate? Through vibrations?" Sev asked, pointing curiously at the quivering fungus.

"No, Mom! Curly told me that Mushroom wants to acknowledge me as its master too, but Curly doesn’t agree. Curly just scared it a little bit, and now it’s shivering in fear. Sigh! Mushroom is such a coward!" Rose explained.

"What? You’re calling this thing a coward?" Sev didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She seriously questioned her daughter’s judgment. Had she already forgotten how many Purple Lime Wood branches this mutated black fungus had effortlessly snapped? Then again, with a tyrannical big sister like Curly around, this newcomer really had no choice but to obediently play the role of the lowly Mushroom.

Considering Mushroom’s unique capabilities, Sev figured it would actually be a wonderful thing if it took Rose as its master.

"Rose, can you convince Curly to let you take Mushroom as a Contracted Plant?" Sev asked.

"Curly says she’s way stronger than Mushroom, so there’s no need to sign a contract with a useless fungus," Rose relayed bluntly.

"That’s not true. Curly and Mushroom are both incredibly strong, just in completely different ways," Sev explained patiently. "It’s just like how you’re amazing at cultivating plants, while your big brother is amazing at molding metal boxes.

"Curly has phenomenal Combat Power, but Mushroom is exceptional at neutralizing radiation residue. It’s like a cleaner that sweeps away all the invisible toxins hidden in plants and the soil!"

Rose somewhat grasped the concept and immediately used her mind to communicate with her Mutated Quillwort. The human and the vine went back and forth for quite a while before Curly finally agreed to let her form a contract with Mushroom.

"Little Master, even if you have a new favorite, you still have to love Curly the most! Otherwise, I’ll be so heartbroken!" a childish voice chimed in her mind.

"Don’t worry! I only like Mushroom a tiny little bit, but I like you so, so much." Rose knew exactly how to coax her little companion.

Although Mushroom couldn’t understand their conversation, it could acutely sense the sheer malice radiating from Curly. It shivered even harder!

The only reason Mushroom hadn’t resisted Sev and obediently followed her back was because it had sensed a Wood Ability radiating with pure Vitality.

Much like how Curly had resolutely chosen to follow Sev home in the past, the lingering traces of Rose’s Ability were utterly intoxicating to Mutated plants. It was like sweet nectar to wild bees. Drawn by primal botanical instinct, Mushroom simply couldn’t resist.

What it hadn’t expected was that the master it so desperately desired was already guarded by such a vicious monstrosity—one with a Combat Power that absolutely eclipsed its own.

What else could Mushroom do but tremble in fear?

Fortunately, Curly understood that Mushroom was important to her Little Master. Pinching her metaphorical nose, she begrudgingly accepted this new underling on her master’s behalf.

Sev had no idea how her daughter managed to communicate with the two Contracted Plants. Regardless, Rose successfully forged a bond with Mushroom.

The moment the contract was finalized, a timid, reedy little boy’s voice echoed in Rose’s mind.

"Master, you have to protect me from now on. Please don’t let Boss Curly suck me dry, okay?"

"Huh? You’re actually a boy?" Rose asked in surprise.

Mushroom felt that its master was focusing on entirely the wrong thing. It was pleading for its life, yet she was fixated on its gender!

Even so, it answered obediently, "Not exactly, Master. We plants don’t actually have a gender. Boss Curly only uses a little girl’s voice to communicate because you’re a girl. But she banned me from using the same voice as her, so I had to choose a boy’s voice instead."

"Oh! So plants don’t have genders! Then do you call your elders ’Dad’ or ’Mom’?" Rose asked.

Mushroom was left entirely speechless. It was just a mutated black fungus; how was it supposed to know something so complicated? It wanted to tear its hair out in frustration, but alas—it didn’t have any hair!