The people from the Ministry of Security proposed that they were willing to let Lin Xiaohe use the 150 acres of natural soil on the satellite for free, and would also provide an annual budget of 10 million star coins.
However, if Lin Xiaohe cultivated stardust mutant plants with lower aggression, she would have to give half of them to the Ministry of Security.
The white-haired old man spoke with genuine emotion, full of concern for his country and its people. “The evolution speed of stardust mutant plants and stardust mutant creatures is too fast. They keep eroding the space where we humans live. The Federation spends trillions of star coins every year just on cleaning up stardust mutant creatures, and still, we haven’t seen much results.”
He let out a long sigh and continued sadly, “The soldiers we’ve trained so hard shouldn’t have to make meaningless sacrifices. So we want to explore a new path—one where humans and stardust mutant plants and creatures can coexist.”
Lin Xiaohe lowered her gaze.
Everything this old man in front of her said sounded noble, but the real intention was simply to use the guise of cooperation to openly keep an eye on her.
Lin Xiaohe gently stroked Xinbao’s leaves. Xinbao softly wrapped its little leaves around her fingers, full of trust and dependence.
Then she thought of the Giant Sound Whales that had lost their home. Forced to become stardust mutant creatures, they could only recall their homeland from within the Whale Sea.
“Okay,” Lin Xiaohe said firmly.
So what if she was being watched? Even if she refused to cooperate, would they just stop monitoring her anyway?
The white-haired old man pulled out a contract that he had already prepared. Lin Xiaohe read it carefully several times, and only after making sure there were no hidden traps did she solemnly sign her name.
She had so many questions in her heart.
When a plant catches stardust sickness, it becomes a stardust plant. Why do most stardust plants have no self-awareness? Yet some stardust plants have fairly high intelligence?
The Giant Sound Whales actively absorbed stardust and evolved into stardust Giant Sound Whales.
Why is it that when humans inhale stardust, they get stardust sickness and eventually die?
If she wanted to find the answers to these questions, she’d have to start with 150 acres of experimental farmland!
Lin Xiaohe handed the contract back to the white-haired old man, and a notification quickly popped up on her personal smart device.
The 150 acres of natural soil on the satellite had been officially transferred by the Ministry of Security into Lin Xiaohe’s name.
Unlike the 50 acres of experimental land in the Central Academy’s Agriculture Department, this land now truly belonged to Lin Xiaohe herself.
The white-haired old man extended his hand. “Happy cooperation. We look forward to your research results.”
Lin Xiaohe shook his hand. “Happy cooperation.”
Walking out of the confinement room, Lin Xiaohe felt like she had been given a new lease on life.
Especially knowing she now owned 150 acres of natural soil and billions of star coins—she could hardly stop herself from bursting out laughing, hands on her hips.
See? Take a risk, and a bicycle turns into a motorcycle. Take another risk, and that motorcycle turns into a flying car.
“I’m so awesome!” she thought. One person taking on the entire arena and walking away with over ten billion all to herself!
Hehehe.
No matter how hard Lin Xiaohe tried to press down the corners of her mouth, they just wouldn’t stay down.
Cassian and Chu Huaizhi walked over, and seeing the bright smile on her face, they couldn’t help but feel relieved.
Cassian said, “Looks like the Ministry of Security didn’t give you a hard time.”
Lin Xiaohe said proudly, “They gave me 150 acres of land! Principal, when will the Agriculture Department’s budget arrive? Everything is ready except for the star coins.”
Cassian was very cooperative. “After the final decision, the budget allocation for the Central Military Academy this year is 10 billion for the Agriculture Department, 8 billion for the Deep Space Combat Department, and 7 billion for the Alien Planet Combat Department. The money has already been transferred to the Agriculture Department’s corporate account.”
He glanced at Lin Xiaohe, then at Chu Huaizhi, and added, “According to the prior promise made by Dean Chu Huaizhi of the Agriculture Department, this account is now directly managed by Lin Xiaohe.”
Cassian saw the corners of Lin Xiaohe’s mouth lift even higher and deliberately lowered his voice. “You can use your administrator privileges to set the spending limits and approval processes.”
In other words, as long as Lin Xiaohe didn’t agree, Chu Huaizhi couldn’t take a single coin out of that account.
The look of joy on Chu Huaizhi’s face froze, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. First, he glared at the gloating Cassian, then turned to Lin Xiaohe with a pitiful expression, trying to play the sympathy card.
“Xiaohe, you know I’m still in debt. How about—”
“No!” Lin Xiaohe shot Chu Huaizhi a sideways glance and didn’t bother to hide her feelings. “I’m a pretty petty person, you know.”
With that, she turned and marched off proudly, heading to the satellite to take charge of the kingdom she had won.
Watching her straight back, Cassian teased, “The most important thing in life is honesty. Oh man, you’re done for. In Lin Xiaohe’s heart, you’re no longer Marshal Chu or Dean Chu—you’re now Chu the Liar.”
Chu Huaizhi dropped his pitiful act and punched Cassian in the chest. “Enjoying the show? Is it fun?”
So what if he was Chu the Liar? Lin Xiaohe was still coming to farm, wasn’t she?
…
There were only two spaceship flights a day from Tigre Star to Satellite No. 3.
Lin Xiaohe had missed the first one, so she had to wait three hours at the port for the second.
“Lin Xiaohe, are you really going to the Agriculture Department?” Besid and Li Hao, along with the others, rushed over as soon as they found out where she was going.
Lin Xiaohe was holding Xinbao in her hands.
Ever since Xinbao was born, it had never seen natural soil. When it heard that the new home would have 150 acres of natural soil, it was so excited it insisted on witnessing that historic moment.
Lin Xiaohe nodded. “Yep. My student file has already been transferred.”
Even though Chu Huaizhi could be a real piece of work, having 10 billion all to herself was simply too good to pass up!
Cassius was anxious. “But on the battlefield, mechs and warships are what really matter. If you go into farming, you’ll just be wasting your talent. Don’t you think that’s a shame?”
Lin Xiaohe said righteously, “If you’re made of gold, you’ll shine no matter where you are. Besides, the Agriculture Department and I are destined to be together.”
Seeing that Lin Xiaohe was stubborn and wouldn’t listen, Besid snorted coldly. “You’re going to regret this! While we’re out piloting space warships and racing across the star sea, you’ll be stuck farming on some tiny satellite. The gap between us will just keep growing.”
He added, “A person really can’t achieve things beyond their understanding. Even if fate gives you unmatched talent and opportunities, you’re still limited to this.”
Then he frowned, turned, and walked away, his irritation rising in wave after wave.
He must be crazy, he thought, agreeing to come with Li Hao and the others to try and talk Lin Xiaohe out of this.
What did her future have to do with him anyway? Let her rot in the dirt for all he cared.
Li Hao glanced at Besid, then said apologetically to Lin Xiaohe, “He didn’t mean it like that. He just feels bad for you.”
Lin Xiaohe didn’t say much. She simply waved goodbye to the group. “The ship is here. See you all later.”
The spaceship was quite large, but most of it was cargo hold. There were only 100 passenger seats.
Lin Xiaohe found her seat and sat down, taking a quick look around the passenger cabin. It was sparsely filled—maybe only twenty or thirty people.
From their clothes, most of them seemed to be women and children.
Just as Lin Xiaohe was about to close her eyes, a young woman carrying a child sat down in the seat next to hers.
The child in her arms looked to be about three or four years old, with bright, clear eyes, staring curiously at Xinbao.
The woman, perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed by her child’s staring, spoke up first. “Are you going to join the military too?”
Lin Xiaohe shook her head. “I’m going there for school.”
The woman looked confused. Satellite No. 3 is so small, she thought. How does it have a university?
