Chapter 10: The Wild Botanist

A flicker of melancholy passed through Hu Lingfei’s eyes.
“Hopefully so.”
The nutritional fluid served only to satiate hunger; it could never replace the satisfaction derived from edible plants.
Coupled with the mental strain of outer space and the looming threat of the insectoid race’s death, the warriors’ spiritual pollution remained alarmingly high.
Only a specialized medical pod and edible plants could alleviate this condition.
However, the medical pod’s efficacy paled in comparison to that of edible plants. If they wished to stabilize their mental energy, edible plants were the optimal choice.
One hundred and fifty pounds—a seemingly modest figure—was enough to spare their warriors some torment from spiritual pollution.
Spiritual pollution was categorized into five grades.
0%-20% was Grade E pollution, a level only newborn infants could achieve.
21%-40% was Grade D pollution, considered mild, and characteristic of the majority of females.
41%-60% was Grade C pollution, typical of most males aged between 18 and 200 years who were not enlisted.
61%-80% was Grade B pollution, seen in enlisted males and those over 200 years old who had not enlisted.
81%-90% was Grade A pollution, a dangerously high figure. Without sufficient edible plants, once spiritual pollution exceeded 90%, regardless of gender, individuals would regress into primal beasts, devoid of reason. Their fate was inevitably death.
The average pollution level aboard the Scarlet Blood Battlecruiser was around 70%, a perilous figure already.
If they failed to supplement with edible plants...
Hu Lingfei rubbed his throbbing brow.
This unknown botanist was an ally, not an enemy, yet building a good relationship would be a long journey.
The significance females placed on this matter was evident; they could not covet the edible plants belonging to those females. Thus, Xiao Ningxue’s wood-elemental abilities offered a glimmer of hope.
Xiao Ningxue, excited, carried the light computer back to her room.
The legendary light computer!
She was about to power it on when she suddenly recalled her persona of being illiterate.
“...”
What a curse!
Why had she thought it wise to disguise her anomaly by feigning illiteracy?
Left with no choice, she stepped outside and sought guidance from Bai Haiping and the bear soldier stationed at the door.
“Excuse me... does this have a blind mode?”
Xiao Ningxue could only pray that current technology was not yet advanced enough to exclude the visually impaired from using light computers.

“Yes, please wait a moment. I’ll set it up for you,” Bai Haiping took the light computer and enabled the blind mode.
Xiao Ningxue decided not to enter, instead testing whether she could operate the device outside.
Once confident, she thanked Bai Haiping and went inside to study the light computer.
She recognized familiar characters and skillfully opened websites and forums.
The content was explosive, opening the eyes of this “ancient” girl.
#Shock! The Most Beautiful Female Visits Hotel at Night—Who Will Become Her Fifth Beast Husband?!
#The Most Beautiful Female’s Fifth Beast Husband Is Surprisingly Him!!
#The Fierce Battle for the Strongest Botanist!
#Duan Yilin Pregnant Again!
...
Xiao Ningxue learned a great deal. On the trending list, besides botanists, it was all females—did the Federation people have no other entertainment?
However, her searches couldn’t appear in the history. Lacking entertainment habits and not particularly interested in Federation hot topics, Xiao Ningxue reluctantly opened the top trending page.
She hoped to glean some clues from the netizens’ discussions.
Scrolling down endlessly, all she found were praises for females.
No, not just praises—hopes to become the beast husband of such females.
From the text, she could sense the envy and jealousy directed at that male.
It was a yearning so intense it felt like a desire to offer oneself completely.
Xiao Ningxue glanced once more at the trending title.
Indeed, it was about a female choosing her fifth beast husband.
Not the first.
By interstellar law, a female’s first beast husband was called the “head husband,” who governed the other males at home. Apart from the head husband, the remaining males were equal in status, holding no special privileges.
Whenever a female chose a head husband, it sparked the most intense disputes among the prominent families’ sons.
This was because the female’s head husband had to be the strongest one.
As for appearance... since all were handsome, this became secondary.
Of course, the female could decide on the head husband herself.
After all, the female was the head of the household; if she wished, even the second or third male to enter could become the head husband.
However, to prevent family chaos, a female had only one chance to make this choice.

Once chosen, it could not be changed unless the head husband died.
Though, that was nearly impossible.
After much browsing, Xiao Ningxue found nothing useful, so she decided to open the search interface.
Since she couldn’t directly search for what she wanted, she thought to start with the law—laws best reflected a society’s order and codes of conduct.
Knowing more would be helpful for her future.
As she read and listened, her memory and focus had greatly improved since awakening her abilities. She nearly skimmed at ten lines per glance, finishing the page quickly. Then she repeated it aloud with the light computer’s narration to ensure accuracy.
These days, Xiao Ningxue stayed indoors, no longer hungry after drinking the nutritional fluid Bai Haiping provided, which instead gave her enough concentration to study.
Anyone who had studied law knew the texts were intricate; memorization was insufficient without comprehension.
Three days were too short; she hadn’t finished all interstellar laws, only the basic general, criminal, and civil laws.
The rest she would study after obtaining her own light computer.
Though a botanist’s status ranked below females, their attention and influence were no less.
News of Xiao Ningxue’s light computer application had leaked.
A wild new botanist had emerged.
This attracted not only male attention but also eager females hoping to recruit her.
Because she had been engrossed in legal texts, Xiao Ningxue hadn’t noticed her “botanist” identity had hit the trending list, rapidly climbing into the top ten as she neared the capital star.
The ascent was accelerating.
With many females vying for her, by the time Xiao Ningxue landed on the capital star and obtained her light computer at the administration office, she had reached number one.
“Ding!” The notification sound of a webpage alert rang out.
Xiao Ningxue, curiously fiddling with her light computer, glanced at the screen upon hearing it.
#Shock! Wild Botanist Appears! Multiple Females Submit! Who Will She Choose??
Xiao Ningxue’s expression froze.
Could this... be about her???
Her fingers felt heavy; she hesitated to look inside, but if it truly concerned her...