Chapter 62

"You crazy woman! I'll make you pay!" Liu Ge clutched his shin, writhing on the ground, but he still managed to hurl threats.

"You still want to fight?" Lin Tu watched him warily, her leg itching to strike again. But she was new here and hadn't yet gotten the lay of the land; another kick would be overstepping.

She adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses and said with restraint, "It was your price-haggling that broke the deal, so I offered him an alternative. Do you think everyone else must accept your terms, and those who refuse deserve to be attacked?"

The onlookers let out a chorus of realization, their initial sympathy for the fallen Liu Ge swiftly turning to disgust.

These were ordinary players, toiling to haul supplies through low-level worlds, all physical labor. Life was already hard enough; nobody wanted to enter Doomsday Town and get fleeced by someone like him.

A few who had done business with Liu Ge before even spat on the ground, cursing, "Serves you right!"

No one spoke up for him, a testament to how often Liu Ge had bullied others and how little goodwill he'd earned.

"Maybe we should let it go for now," the burly man said, pulling Lin Tu aside and lowering his voice. "It won't end well if this blows up—he's got a relative in the Black Market. Let's add each other as friends; next time you need something, we can trade privately."

"Yeah, let it go, miss. One kick was already generous," someone in the crowd who knew his background chimed in.

Liu Ge stared at Lin Tu with a mix of hatred and fear, saying nothing, until a few people pushed through the crowd toward him. Then his spirits lifted, and he changed his tune, "Uncle! Come help me! This crazy woman is causing trouble! She's trying to kill me!"

The crowd parted to let Liu Shu through. He was the manager here, but today he didn't carry his usual authority.

Behind him stood two young strangers, watching anxiously. Given how Liu Shu hunched slightly, the young men seemed to have some status. But Liu Ge wasn't curious about who they were; he was eager for his uncle to mete out justice.

Lin Tu actually recognized one of the men behind Liu Shu. She had been in contact with Dong Huadan earlier, who said she'd send someone familiar to pick her up—she hadn't expected it to be Zhang Zisheng.

Lin Tu offered Zhang Zisheng a slight smile.

"What's going on? What's all this racket?" Liu Shu snapped.

The crowd quickly explained on Lin Tu's behalf, but Liu Ge looked smug, as if victory were assured, and shot Lin Tu a provocative glare.

"We heard everything! You were being a bully, and my Sister Lin just defended herself!" Zhang Zisheng said indignantly. "Now you're twisting the story—you think we'd believe your nonsense?"

Liu Shu glanced at the young man beside Zhang Zisheng, and seeing him nod in agreement, quickly echoed the sentiment, a look of anger spreading across his face.

"Apologize to Miss Lin right now. Even Professor Lü's assistant has spoken," his uncle said, and Liu Ge's face turned pale. For a moment, he couldn't recall who Professor Lü was. Then Liu Shu reminded him, "That expert from the Black Factory who studies special plant items. He's our Black Market's honorary advisor."

Liu Ge broke into a cold sweat. He never expected he'd kicked a hard bone.

"Sister Lin, Professor Lü heard you were coming and set aside half a day to wait for you," Zhang Zisheng said deliberately, as if to say, 'two can play at this game.' "Who knew you'd be held up by this? You'll have to tell Professor Lü all about it."

"Apologize to Miss Lin now!" Liu Shu walked over and kicked his nephew in the rear.

The kick clearly carried force; Liu Ge's eyes instantly reddened.

"No apology needed," Lin Tu said. "We're all struggling in this disaster. I just hope this doesn't happen again." Her words drew murmurs of agreement.

"I'll handle it," the professor's assistant said.

The two nodded hastily. Lin Tu paid them no mind, turning to the burly man and offering him the points. "Do you have more wood with special functions like this?"

The burly man beamed and nodded. "Yes! I'd been holding onto these rather than sell them cheap."

They quickly added each other as friends and agreed to trade later.

"Thanks! I'm Ye Lin. Find me anytime if you need anything!" the man said, nodding.

Lin Tu finally turned to Zhang Zisheng. "Long time no see. Didn't Sister Huadan say it'd just be you?"

"Word got out that you were selling corn cobs, so Professor Lü sent his assistant as well—after all, those are perfect fruits," Zhang Zisheng said with a smile, leaning in to whisper, "Sister Huadan said perfect fruits are rare, and Professor Lü would probably offer a better price."

Lin Tu understood, thanked him, and they rode to Professor Lü's residence.

It was a modest two-story courtyard with a small garden. The glass-enclosed greenhouse was likely the most expensive feature of the place. The owner, Professor Lü, was already waiting for Lin Tu. He matched his home in simplicity—a white shirt and black cloth shoes, looking like a farmer selling his own vegetables at the market.

"Miss Lin, finally we meet! I didn't expect you to be so young," Professor Lü said cheerfully. "Are you sure you won't consider joining my research? I'm no expert, but I've dabbled in farming. An old man like me can't do the heavy lifting anymore; I just want to pass on what I know!"

This wasn't the first time he'd said such things, but it was the first time Lin Tu had heard it.

The assistant lowered his head, his hand trembling, nearly drawing blood from his palm.

"Just call me Xiao Lin," Lin Tu said with a polite smile, already labeling Professor Lü in her mind—

An angel investor.

In her eyes, angel investors were all good people. In this cold, harsh world, someone willing to throw money around right away—what ill intent could they have? Even if they did, you'd take the money first and worry later.

As for actually joining his research, Lin Tu knew she could only grow corn because she had good land at home. She was a pure novice learning on the fly, nowhere near the level of research. Besides, she had less than a month before entering an S-level disaster world; she had no time to delve into the science of farming.

But precisely because of that, she needed Professor Lü's help even more.

The last disaster had shown her the potential of plant-based items. She wanted more easy-to-grow plants like corn, plus a few simple planting techniques to boost her abilities quickly.

"I am genuinely interested in farming," Lin Tu said sincerely. "I was thinking of raising some special plant items, but I've never studied it and have no talent, so I'm in the dark."

"No need for flattery," Professor Lü said, his enthusiasm waning as he sensed Lin Tu wasn't going to join his research. "The waves push forward; Xiao Dong already told me you're all about clearing the games..." He sighed helplessly. "Let's see the plant items you're selling. I'll judge how good your perfect fruits really are."

Lin Tu reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of corn cobs like candy. Each one glowed softly, beautiful in her palm.

"One... two... three... four... eight... nine... ten?! All ten are perfect fruits?"

Everyone stared in disbelief at the miniature cobs in her hand.

"Didn't you say just a few?" Zhang Zisheng was shocked. Was ten also a few?

"Isn't this a few? You can count them on two hands," Lin Tu said. She'd originally had twelve, but two were used in the last disaster, leaving ten.

"Do you have several corn plants?" Professor Lü couldn't believe it, mentally counting on his fingers but coming up short.

"One plant," Lin Tu explained. "I went through another disaster in between."

"But these were hard-won! You can't just stuff them in your pocket! What if they get damaged?" Professor Lü said, exasperated. He pulled a velvet tray from his backpack, expertly extracted a portable magnifier from his coat pocket, and examined them closely, nodding repeatedly.

"They are indeed perfect fruits. To cultivate these in a disaster world—truly a gift." He felt a pang of regret; it was a shame Lin Tu wasn't pursuing farming.

But not collaborating didn't mean he couldn't discuss things. His enthusiasm reignited.

"Can I ask..." Lin Tu said after a moment's thought, "what's so special about perfect fruits?"

Professor Lü: "..." He was struck dumb.

Even Zhang Zisheng's eyes widened. "Sister Lin, didn't you grow them?"

Lin Tu rubbed her nose, being utterly honest. "But I don't know why they turned out perfect." She wanted to figure that out herself.

Professor Lü: "..." Again, he was speechless.

"Perfect fruits," he recited, "refer to the produce of plant-type items. They can fully realize the effects described in the item's description; their glow is fluorescence. Once black spots appear on the fruit, it's no longer perfect. Based on the number of spots, you can gauge how much of the effect it can exert."

After his rote explanation, he suddenly recalled what Dong Huadan had said about Lin Tu growing corn with a flowerpot and grow light—a thoroughly unscientific scenario. He pondered for a moment, then gave up pondering and gave up discussing it with her. Perhaps now, at least for now, he just wanted to keep his distance from this unscientific person.

"Perfect fruits are typically 200% the value of regular ones. This corn cob is C-rank, market price is 250 points each, but I'll pay more—300 points a piece." After he finished, seeing Lin Tu still staring at him with sparkling eyes, he sighed. "If you want special plants, have Zhang Bao recommend some. Get a planting manual from him too. I'll give you a 20% discount."

"Thank you, Professor Lü!" Lin Tu was overjoyed. She took back four cobs from the tray for self-defense. Learning that Lin Tu would soon enter another disaster—this time C-level—Professor Lü reluctantly returned them.

After Professor Lü left, Lin Tu followed Zhang Bao into the greenhouse and picked out two special plant items.