Chapter 96: Take it back

After Cen Jun finished speaking about compensation, he grunted coldly, walked out of the office and slammed the door behind him.

Xie Sen’s mouth turned down. If he judged Cen Jun’s reaction right, he knew that it was impossible to get the necklace through peaceful means. When he heard Adam’s words, he felt happy and asked, “What’s the solution?”

Adam said proudly, “Cen Jun has water energy, so Maine can’t beat him. But if I separate some of the energy, put it on a carrier and Maine wears it, can’t we beat him?”

It sounded reasonable, but Xie Sen eeked, “Your energies can be separated?”

“Sure. I can control them, so I can release or absorb them.”

Xie Sen was a little uneasy when he thought about the effects of the energy.

Ma Qun’s expression wasn’t very good. “Vice President Cen is getting more and more grumpy. He used to just ignore people, but now he’s actually hurting females. It’s too much!”

When Xie Sen heard this, he was even more uneasy. It seemed that the energy had the same effect on people as the contract beasts. It made one’s emotions more volatile, and had an effect on the spirit as well.

Adam was puzzled, “A’Sen, why don’t you say something? Don’t you think my solution is great?”

Xie Sen was at a loss. “It’s great, but I’m worried about Maine being affected by the energy, and the damage it will do to his spirit.”

“It’s okay,” Adam was confident. “The energy is incomplete and will have very little effect. Cen Jun has had the energy for a short time, and look, he’s still normal. If he realized something was wrong and had stayed away from the energy, he would be in better shape than he is now.”

Adam advised, “I will only separate one fifth of the red energy out. Just get the necklace as soon as possible. It will be maybe less than half a day. For such a short time, there’s no problem.”

Xie Sen hesitated, “I’ll discuss it with Maine later.”

Ma Qun finished venting his dissatisfaction with Cen Jun, and looked at Xie Sen, “A’Sen, you came to see me today. What’s the matter?”

Xie Sen came to the Institute just to find the water energy, so when he heard Ma Qun ask this, he froze for a moment and then smiled. “I wanted to ask if I could attend the meeting?”

Whatever the method, he had to see Cen Jun. Today was the 14th. The exchange would last five days, from the 15th to the 19th, and on the 20th the Moon City researchers would leave, so he had to find an opportunity within those days.

Ma Qun hesitated. “The Sun and Moon City Research Institutes have asked for you to attend, but we refused considering your health for fear of accidents. You want to participate?”

Xie Sen nodded, “The conference attendees are all top researchers of Brandt Star plants. There’s no plant student who doesn’t aspire to attend.”

Maine looked at Xie Sen with doubt in his eyes. He didn’t know whether other plant students wanted to attend, but Xie Sen definitely didn’t. He had more types of plants than the whole of Brandt Star. Xie Sen saw that Maine was looking at him. Having been caught telling lies on the spot, he was a little embarrassed, but still maintained a sincere expression as he looked at Ma Qun.

When he saw Ma Qun hesitate, Xie Sen immediately said, “There’s no need to specially announce my presence. I can just disguise myself as a recorder in the back. Maine will accompany me, so nothing will happen.”

Ma Qun saw how positive he was and laughed. “Okay. If you want to attend, I’ll arrange a corner seat for you. The meeting may last a long time, so if you don’t feel well, you can leave at any time.”

Xie Sen smiled. “Thank you, Dean.”

When they were about to return home, Xie Sen went to drive his shuttle back, but Maine stopped him, so he left his shuttle in the parking lot and they took Maine’s shuttle home. When they got back to the house, Maine asked the question. “Why do you want to attend the exchange?”

Xie Sen didn’t hide anything, and told him about Cen Jun’s necklace with the energy. “Just now when you fought with him, what did you sense about his strength?”

Maine said, “Very strong. Not like an A class contract beast master.”

Xie Sen, “It’s true. He’s been affected by the energy, so his ability has been strengthened. It won’t be easy to snatch the necklace from him.”

Maine looked down at him. “You want the energy that badly?”

Xie Sen nodded, “Mn, this is the last of the energy. If we recover it, we won’t have to look for it again.”

Maine asked, “Just to get the necklace?”

Xie Sen, “Yes, but he values the necklace, and wears it all the time, so it’s not easy to grab it.”

He hesitated and didn’t tell Maine about Adam’s proposal. He wanted to see if there was another way. After all, he still had the enigma-causing agent given by Bai Jiao in his spatial pack!

Even if, as Adam said, things were resolved quickly, Maine would hardly be affected. But he didn’t want to even risk such a little possibility.

Maine patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out.” He got up, poured Xie Sen a glass of water, then took out a dark green nutrient solution. “Drink the nutrient solution first.”

Xie Sen disgustedly pushed away the nutrient solution. “I’m eating fruit every day. I don’t need the nutrient solution.”

Maine advised in a gentle voice. “I asked Dr. Bai. This is the latest one. It’s very comprehensive and suitable for early pregnancy. I’ve tasted it and it tastes better than the normal nutrition solution.”

Xie Sen looked at him skeptically, but when he saw that he was worried, he reached out to take the nutrient solution and pulled off the cap. The smell reached his nose, and made him nauseous. He stretched his hand to hold the nutrient solution away, as he tried his best to keep himself far from the smell. His hand twitched as he started to dry heave, and the dark green nutrient solution spilled onto the back of his hand.

Maine’s expression changed instantly. He took the nutrient solution from his hand, and tossed it aside. He wrapped his arms around him, and gently stroked his back, as he handed him some water. “Take a sip of water.”

Xie Sen got over it, and took a sip of water from Maine’s hand. His face had turned green. “I’m definitely not going to drink the nutrient solution. I’m not even going to smell it.” He really hated the feeling of dry heaving.

Maine kissed his face, his expression pained. “No, no, no, no. I’ll talk to Dr. Bai about it, and see if we can supplement with injections.”

“No,” Xie Sen grabbed Maine’s arm. “Fruits and vegetables are enough nutrition. I’m in good health.” He thought about it. “Let’s make a juicer. I’ll drink more juice. It’s easier than eating fruit.”

He described to Maine what a juicer looked like, and how it worked. Maine listened and said, “This is easy.”

Maine opened his bracelet, and skillfully designed the program. Xie Sen leaned over curiously to look at it, but was confused until the final design shape appeared.

“What pattern do you like?” Maine asked.

Xie Sen thought about it. “The simplest cylinder shape will do.”

On the morning of the fifteenth, Xie Sen woke up and Maine had already gone to make breakfast. He sat up, and was turning sideways to get his clothes when he suddenly felt like something was wrong and lifted the covers.

He brought his leg up, and looked at the anklet on his foot. It glowed a faint red, and had a strong energy emanating from it. He asked in his mind, “Adam, what’s going on?”

Adam whispered, “I thought about it, and didn’t feel comfortable, so I separated one-fifth of the red energy and put it into your anklet. Don’t worry, the System is on you. Your touching it won’t affect you in any way. I used a special method, so it won’t automatically be absorbed by you. When you need to get it back, I’ll take care of it.” As if to cover up the self-initiated weakness, his voice raised, “This isn’t harmful at all. If the situation is critical, give the anklet to Maine, and it will improve his combat power. It’s very safe!”

Xie Sen rubbed the anklet. It really didn’t have the same feeling as before when he touched the energy carrier, and the energy ran into Maine. He smiled “Adam is very smart. If you had told me about this solution directly, I would have agreed.”

Adam laughed. “Aren’t I super smart?!”

“Yes, yes, yes. Adam is the smartest and the best!”

After breakfast, Maine went to the front door to pick up a delivery and brought back the juicer. He cleaned it, then asked Xie Sen, “What do you want to drink?”

Xie Sen redeemed two apples, had them split into small pieces and handed them to Maine.

A minute later, there was a freshly made four hundred milliliter glass of apple juice.

Xie Sen took a sip, and the sweet and sour taste filled his taste buds with the fresh taste of apples. He smiled contentedly, and raised the glass to Maine’s mouth. “Try it. It’s good.”

Maine bent down and took a sip from the glass in his hand, and his eyes lit up. “You drink it. Later you can tell me what you want to drink in advance, and I’ll squeeze it for you at breakfast.”

Xie Sen nodded, “Mm-hmm.” Fruit juice was much better than plain water.

He looked at his remaining energy. There was still 8,003. The effect of the chili pepper had become very weak, and would increase very little each day. In a few days, it would stop.

He wasn’t worried. He now ate vegetables and fruits every day which took about 15 energy. Maine provided him with 9 energy every day, and there was more than eight thousand remaining energy, which was enough to last until he gave birth to the baby.

He finished his juice, walked around the house with Maine, went to see the contract beasts and played with them for a while. When he saw it was about time, the two of them headed to the Plant Research Institute.

The plant exchange was held in Conference Room 101 of Building One. By the time they arrived, it was only ten minutes before the meeting started, and most of the attendees and staff were already seated.

“A’Sen.” One of the Institute’s staff members was at the back door of 101 and waved when he saw him. He waited for him to approach and whispered, “The two seats closest to this door are the ones the dean prepared for you.”

Xie Sen thanked him. He and Maine walked in among several staff members, then sat down in the last seats with very quiet movements.

Xie Sen’s eyes scanned the conference room, which wasn’t very large. There were three long tables, each with six seats. The long tables were arranged in a triangle, each with a huge screen behind it.

The long table in front of him had the Star City plant representatives. At the long table on the left hand side, he didn’t recognize a single person, but when he saw Cen Jun on the right hand side table, he figured out that the left had the Sun City representatives, while the right had the Moon City representatives.

Cen Jun folded his arms in front of his chest, and leaned back against his seat. His eyes nonchalantly sized up the representatives of Sun City and Star City.

Xie Sen made sure of Cen Jun’s position and that the necklace was still on Cen Jun’s body, then stopped watching. Xie Sen wasn’t interested in listening to the meeting, and was browsing the school forum. Lu Qingxing had already gone to the ruins of Force City, so those plants would soon be available. Then the farm could start cultivating plants, and the recruitment of people should be on the agenda.

The school forum had a special section for graduates with a lot of information about job hunting, as well as job application strategies from seniors, and information about recruiters.

Xie Sen focused on the information posted by recruiters, and found that the Software, Information, Engineering, and Combat Departments were the most popular departments and had a lot of recruiters. As for the Plant Department, when he searched for keywords, there was only one message, or a possible comment from a student, [Ahhhhh, why is there no company hiring plant students?]

He looked up and saw Cen Jun was standing there with an ugly expression on his face. “President Ma, the three cities have always been friendly and helpful to each other, yet you are refusing to provide us with chili seeds. Do you want the chili to be exclusive to Star City?”

Ma Qun’s voice was still gentle, “Vice President Cen, I didn’t refuse. It’s true that the three cities have friendly relations, but new plant research is expensive. Star City also paid when a new plant was introduced from Moon City in the past.”

“Expensive?” Cen Jun sneered. “The chili is the contract plant of the plant beast master. What did it cost you? It’s just luck that you have a plant-based beast master.”

Ma Qun, “Luck is also a part of strength. If Moon City really wants to cooperate, there must be some sincerity. I believed you had thought about that before coming.”

Cen Jun said, “I think your so-called price should be lowered depending on the situation.”

Sun City’s representative also said, “I agree with Vice President Cen. This plant is a common resource of Brandt Star. Generally speaking, we should share the cost of new plant cultivation. This time the situation is special. The new plant has almost no research costs. Of course, we can’t therefore not pay, but to pay according to the average of past payments is very unreasonable.”

Xie Sen understood. It was a bargain.

Ma Qun said, “If you think it’s unreasonable, you’re more than welcome to use another method. Such as a new plant.”

The Sun City representative’s face was hard. “There is no new plant.”

Cen Jun looked slightly disturbed, and didn’t speak for a moment.

Xie Sen raised his eyebrows. He thought about the effect of the energy on plants, and wondered if Cen Jun had found a plant.

The room began to fight again, as they continued to haggle.

Xie Sen looked down to brush the forum. He had drunk too much water that morning, and after sitting for an hour, he wanted to go to the toilet. He pulled Maine’s sleeve and pointed outside. Maine followed him out.

Cen Jun’s eyes shifted. He saw Xie Sen, dropped his gaze in deep thought, said sorry, and also walked out.

When Xie Sen came out of the bathroom, Maine and Cen Jun were standing face to face in the hallway. The atmosphere was tense, as if they were going to fight in the next moment. With a twinkle in his eye, Xie Sen jumped onto Maine’s back. He was startled, and hastily held him by the knees. He scolded him softly, “Nonsense.”

Cen Jun’s face showed surprise and disgust. “You really don’t know how to be honest…”

Xie Sen didn’t say a word, didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence, just took out the enigma-causing agent and sprayed it at him twice, as he said to Maine, “Back up.”

Maine quickly moved back. Cen Jun was sprayed, but subconsciously dodged the spray, and also quickly backed up, so both sides pulled away.

Xie Sen stared at Cen Jun, but found he was still standing. He asked Adam in his mind, “What’s going on, is the energy still poison proof?”

Adam said, “I won’t be poisoned anyway. In his case, it should be related to the water energy. Your spray is liquid.”

Cen Jun’s face sank, and he touched the black cord around his neck. “Enigma-causing agent? You want to steal my necklace?” His eyes roiled with anger. “Where is your stuff? Give it to me, and I’ll let it go.”

Xie Sen played dumb. “What’s that?” As he spoke, he loosened his grip on Maine’s neck and whispered, “Put me down.” 

Maine stared hard at Cen Jun and put him down, while he stood firmly in front of him.

Cen Jun’s expression was grim. “You’ve come to rob me, and you’re still playing dumb. It’s disgusting!” He pulled up the corner of his mouth. “However, you’re just in time. Now I don’t have to find a way to get to you.”

After he finished, he stomped his feet on the ground and rushed towards Xie Sen with great speed. Maine stepped forward to block him, and stop him from going further. The two of them quickly fought.

Xie Sen crouched down, and removed the anklet from his foot.

Maine was clearly more skilled than Cen Jun, but Cen Jun had an energy cheat. He was so strong that his punches dented the wall, and created cracks all over the place.

Xie Sen was afraid Maine would accidentally get hit by him. He thought of something and summoned the black fungus. He covered the surrounding surveillance, then let the black fungi cover Cen Jun’s eyes.

The black fungi covered Cen Jun’s eyes, but the next second they slid off, affected by the energy. It couldn’t hurt Cen Jun, but in that second, it had affected Cen Jun’s vision. Maine kicked him in the abdomen.

However, Cen Jun seemed to feel no pain, and his movements were hardly affected as he continued to fight back.

Xie Sen thought about it. The chili pepper was the most powerful way to hurt Cen Jun, but Maine and Cen Jun were close to each other, so it would be too easy to accidentally hurt him. He continued to summon the fungi and kept interfering with Cen Jun’s vision. While Cen Jun’s vision was blocked, he threw the anklet and shouted to Maine, “Catch it!”

Maine automatically turned around. When he saw the anklet, his pupils suddenly shrank, and he paused for a moment. Xie Sen was shocked, and quickly summoned the potato. He had the black fungi interfere with Cen Jun’s vision again while he expanded the potato to separate the two.

He shouted, “Grab it. I’ll hold him back while you put it on!”

Maine came to his senses and reached out to catch the anklet. He instantly felt the strong surge of energy that swept through his body, as his muscles filled with power. The potato behind him was pierced by a fist, and the flesh of the potato shattered into mush.

Maine turned around and caught Cen Jun’s fist with a precise hand. He pulled him backwards and kicked him in the abdomen.

“Ugh…” His body arched forward, and his hand subconsciously covered his stomach. Maine took the opportunity to reach out. He pulled his necklace off, and threw it back to Xie Sen.

“Give it back to me!” Cen Jun erupted into a loud roar. His whole body went crazy, and he struck with extra viciousness.

Maine attacked while he also avoided him, and forced him backwards away from Xie Sen.

Xie Sen caught the necklace, and the heat instantly ran from his palm to his right shoulder, while Adam cheered in his head, “Great!”

“What are you doing? Stop it!” Cen Jun’s yell caught the attention of the security guards. Someone rushed over, and shouted at the people in the fight.

Maine’s eyes twitched and he stopped actively attacking, just kept dodging as he prevented Cen Jun from approaching Xie Sen.

Cen Jun’s eyes glowed red, and he looked at Xie Sen as if he wanted to eat him. “Give it back to me!”

Soon, two security guards stepped forward to control Cen Jun, but they couldn’t stop him for a while, so two more security guards helped subdue him.

Xie Sen finished recovering the energy, and went to Maine’s side. One of the guards asked, “A’Sen, what happened?”

Xie Sen reached out his hand to pass over the necklace, but Maine grabbed it. Maine took the necklace and gave it to the guard. Xie Sen said, “He made a move on me. Maine fought with him, and during the fight he lost his necklace.”

Cen Jun’s hands were restrained, but he opened his mouth to bite the necklace, which made the security guard jump and retract his hand. “What are you doing??”

Cen Jun said fiercely, “Give it back to me!”

Ma Qun got a report and came over in a hurry, followed by the representatives of Moon City. The Dean of the Moon City Institute saw Cen Jun being restrained, and looked angry. “Is this how you treat your guests?”

Ma Qun’s expression was not good either. “Let go of Vice President Cen Jun.”

Cen Jun grabbed the hand of the security guard holding the necklace and twisted it. He was so strong that the security guard’s hand was instantly dislocated, and he cried out in pain.

Cen Jun caught the necklace as the man dropped it. He looked crazy, and his attack was so ruthless that the crowd was shocked. The Dean of Moon City shouted, “Cen Jun, what are you doing?”

Cen Jun ignored the dean. He squeezed the necklace tightly, but couldn’t feel a trace of energy. He slammed the necklace to the ground, and reached for Xie Sen. “Give it back to me!”

Maine, who had been watching him, grabbed his hand and pushed him brutally toward the Moon City Dean, as he said in a cold voice, “He’s mentally ill, isn’t he?”

Xie Sen looked alarmed, and went to grab Maine’s hand. “Give me the anklet.”

Maine tilted his head at him, and didn’t say anything.

Xie Sen was about to ask again, when Cen Jun frantically cursed at him, “You bitch, give it back to me! Thief! Robber! You already have it! You even have a second contract plant, do you really need more?”

Xie Sen deflated. Cen Jun really thought he had two kinds of contract plants and that it was a result of the energy.

Cen Jun was grabbed by the four security guards, and couldn’t move, Ma Qun’s eyes flashed, he was deep in thought. The other two representatives were stunned, and doubted what they heard was correct. A second contract plant?

Xie Sen said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve returned the necklace to you. You are so nervous about it. Was this necklace originally yours? You’re so excited, it’s as if someone found stolen goods.”

“Bullshit, this is something I picked up!” Cen Jun said angrily. “You’re the thief. You give it back to me.”

Xie Sen said, “Look, it wasn’t yours originally, and I already gave it back to you.”

The Moon City Dean said, “Cen Jun, stop it. Didn’t he just give you the necklace? You’re still so possessive with the things you pick up.”

Cen Jun gritted his teeth, and said loudly, “I’m not talking about the necklace. I’m talking about what’s inside it! Something that will make people stronger, and promote the growth of plants!”

The Moon City Dean said in shock, “There is such a thing?”

Xie Sen bristled, “It’s such a small pendant, what can be put in it? I picked it up and returned it to you. If there is a mechanism inside, you open it yourself to see.”

“Don’t play dumb!” Cen Jun was furious. “It’s not even physical. It’s a kind of energy. It disappeared after you took it!”

Xie Sen looked at the Moon City Dean. “Is he delusional? Did he ever tell you about this kind of treasure? He also had a strange spirit when he was fighting just now, like a sort of mania. Does he have any medical history?”

“No.” The dean said in a heavy voice.

Ma Qun said, “Then let’s do the examination here. He went after a pregnant female, and hurt our staff. The situation is bad. If he doesn’t have mental problems, I need to let the police deal with it.”

“He was just impulsive.” Moon City’s Dean tried to make peace in the situation.

Ma Qun disagreed, “Look, he’s not in a normal place, and it’s not safe for anyone to confirm the situation. Especially those who are with him regularly.”

When he heard this, the Dean of Moon City hesitated. “Then let’s do a test first.”

The results of the examination were bleak. The doctor said seriously, “He is in a very poor mental state, with extreme mood swings and a tendency to be irritable. It’s best to get immediate treatment.”

“No, I’m fine. I’m not off at all,” Cen Jun retorted loudly. He was still thinking about Xie Sen having two kinds of contract plants, and how he took the energy out of his necklace. He pointed at Xie Sen, “If I have a problem, he must have a bigger problem than me! “

Xie Sen rolled his eyes and offered, “Let the doctor examine me.”

He looked relaxed and smiled. Even if the doctor wasn’t a doctor, he knew he was in good spirits.

The doctor smiled and said, “You’re in good spirits, keep it up. Pregnant husbands are easily affected by emotions, so you’d better stay away from emotional people.”

Xie Sen said thank you. Maine looked at Cen Jun coldly, took Xie Sen and said to Ma Qun, “He was just shocked. I’ll take him back first.”

Xie Sen, who had been forbidden to ride in the passenger seat since he became pregnant, sat in the back seat and reached out to scratch Maine’s shoulder. “Give me back my anklet.”

Maine grabbed his hand with his opposite hand, and rubbed it without saying anything.

Xie Sen tensed up. “You’re not going to give it back because of the energy on it, are you? You saw what happened to Cen Jun. If you keep wearing it, your spirit will be affected!”

Maine heard his concern and opened his mouth. “I’ll return it to you.”