Chapter 130 - 130 113 Rescue and Scenic Tree

130: Chapter 113 Rescue and Scenic Tree 130: Chapter 113 Rescue and Scenic Tree “Holy shit! This treeboat actually has auxiliary wheels so it can move on its own in shallow water!” The huge tree, which had already vaguely surpassed the limits of the flood, suddenly opened a series of auxiliary wheels, which became its moving power. “Damn, what the hell is this, there are even tentacle symbiotic plants? They can automatically climb on rugged terrain.” Those parasitic and symbiotic magic plants on-board the boat began to act under the command of the “Spaceman Gardener.” Some helped move the auxiliary wheels, while others pulled debris apart, gently placing rescued injured people on the ship. These parasitic magic plants were like dozens of robotic arms working automatically, performing rescue tasks perfectly. Lu Ping’an doubted whether he had mastered level twelve of All-Weapon Specialization (Tentacles), but upon closer observation, he realized that the magic plants’ actions were automatic, and the Gardener did not control them directly. “How did you train them? Can magic plants be so obedient?” Outside the boat, there were several large magic plants acting as an active power source. Due to the numerous force points and enough auxiliary mobility “devices,” the ark was much more flexible than expected. The ark seemed to move slowly, but the area it passed through was cleaned up, and most lives could not hide from the eyes of a “Life Manipulator.” There were more and more people on the ark, and Lu Ping’an and Meow found suitable jobs for themselves, persuading people to take refuge inside the ship. The senior brothers were also well-prepared. Not only were there signs and banners, but inside the hollow tree, there was also hot water and sufficient food reserves. The aroma of grilled meat was enough to calm the traumatized survivors. Those twisting tentacles in mid-air, as well as all kinds of supernatural scenes and magic monsters, restrained many people from the mysterious era that was still mostly hidden. Fear shaped the first wave of order. “My…my family, my daughter…” “Please, I’m begging you; my house is in the south…” Not all rescuers were obedient. Their wailings and screams were even more frustrating than their “requests.” Facing these heartfelt pleas, even though she knew it was just a past event, Meow quickly fell into a difficult predicament. Perhaps because it was genuinely a false reality, and because it was already over, that’s why she hesitated so much. “We will rescue at the highest efficiency, Meow. We are a professional disaster relief team; please trust us, Meow!” She could only recite insincere lines. “Even if you are professional rescuers, my family is not in this direction. Can you save us first?” “Yes, please, I beg you; I’ll give you five hundred thousand… I’ll even sell my house…” “You are a disaster relief team? Why is there a disaster relief team here? Did you already know this was going to happen?!” These words made Meow even more anxious and shaken. The senior brothers were busier on the other hand, and plainly pretended not to see. In a way, this might be a test for the younger individuals… “Get in, or I’ll throw you off the boat,” said Lu Ping’an with a smile, uttering cruel words that rescuers should never say. “How can you do this? I’ll file a complaint… Aaahhh!” The moment the first opponent opened his mouth, a black tentacle suddenly appeared. Instantly, the man was thrown off the ship, screaming. “A complaint? You need to be alive to do that. Don’t bother us; we’re busy, very busy.” Smiling ever so sweetly, Lu Ping’an chose the cruelest and most efficient way to handle the situation. Behind him, countless tentacles danced wildly, striking the boat furiously as if the Magic King had arrived. As the screams of the unlucky ones being made an example of echoed in the air, the survivors entered the lower level at a faster pace. But this still wasn’t the most efficient way. “You, you, and you, stay back. When more people come, talk to them. We need to focus our attention on the rescue. Don’t let them interfere with our work, or we’ll throw you off, too.” He randomly picked out a few uninjured strong men. The cruel words made the other survivors behave even more obediently. As most of the people left, a tentacle quietly crawled back onto the deck, carrying an unlucky man who had screamed himself unconscious. Naturally, the three senior brothers saw this scene as well. “How many points?” “Eight points, I think. Decisive and efficient, and similar to Old Guan’s ability, should be useful in the rescue.” “Reason for deduction?” “Being so brutal will lead to many complaints; it would be a headache afterwards. Not a good thing for a superior.” At this time, the Old Guan they were talking about walked up to Lu Ping’an with a smile, casually asking a question to his junior. “Not bad, but if it’s a real rescue, can you be so decisive? Killing the chicken to scare the monkey might actually lead to death, that’s different from dying due to rescue. Are you prepared to kill to save more lives?” This was a well-intentioned reminder from the senior brother to let Lu Ping’an be aware and not hesitate when facing a real situation. What he got was Lu Ping’an’s calm smile. “If it’s real…hehe, I think I’d be even more excessive.” Although it was vague, Guan Xinxian understood instantly. “Serious deduction. Although I personally like your attitude, Junior Brother, your superiors will have a hard time, probably spending all day writing reports and cleaning up your mess.” Both senior brothers seemed to give similar evaluations. But unexpectedly, neither of them had any ill feelings towards this reckless young man. “We are the Ancient City Special Disaster Relief Team, the Water Squadron of the Third Team, and saving more people is our duty and job. Don’t listen to those feel-good stories and nonsense, our time is other people’s lives, and we professionals aren’t ordinary rescuers. When necessary…” ————- ———– “I met Little Sang while traveling in East Sea.” “At that time, it was just a small sapling, less than half a person tall…” “…I ‘selected and bred’ it when it was still small. Cultivating it was very hard, as it grew too fast…” “I needed to find it a small world to grow in, where it could freely display its beauty and strength…” “…Does it like it? Why would you ask such a silly question? I doubt how you learned the basics of being a gardener. Love and dislike, even the meaning of life, are things only creatures like humans have…” “…What does it feel like for fruit trees to have their ‘children’ taken away, or for the wheat in a wheat field to be tightly restricted and regularly harvested? By human standards, it’s probably torture. But it’s meaningless, as plants aren’t animals; their desire for ‘living’ and ‘growing fast’ far exceeds anything else…” “Cough, back to the main subject. As a Bonsai Master, the first thing is to choose the protagonist of your ‘scene’, which is often a very promising ‘main tree’. Remember, you are a designer of the ‘pot’ that provides a living space. The real protagonist is…” Under the guidance of the senior brothers, Lu Ping’an gained a deeper understanding of the Bonsai Designer profession and even gained more experience in the Gardener system. Cruel to plants? Cruelty is probably a concept only animals have. What is the relationship between a new plant regenerated from a cutting and the original mother plant, and between it and the offspring of the mother plant reproducing again? Looking at plants from a human perspective will inevitably lead to a mess, as they are fundamentally different in nature. This involves the fundamental difference between animals and plants, as well as the basic logic conflict as to why Beast Tamers and Gardeners can’t practice both, which we won’t elaborate on for now. At this time, Lu Ping’an was taught a lesson by his seniors. Is it cruel to treat plants as ornamental trees? Is regular pruning torture? The logs that are randomly cut down in the wild or the weeds that are completely deprived of their chances of survival probably don’t even have a chance to make a sound. At this moment, Lu Ping’an deeply understood why the first Abnormal Ability that Gardeners awaken is “Listening to Life”. When they’ve been listening for a long time to the desires of plants to survive, grow, and even reproduce, they will naturally discard the constraints they’ve placed on themselves. “…Using human moral standards, our exploitation of any plant is utilitarian and cruel. But for the plants we choose, they have the opportunity to defeat others of their kind in the competition for survival, so they will be relatively friendly to us. But for the other plants that lose their chances of survival to them…” The death of thousands of people in a human disaster is terrifying, but when harvesting rice fields and burning down forests, the “screams” and “fears” the Gardeners “harvest” would make most of those suitable for this path quickly discard certain moral views that only apply to humans. If we really want to “anthropomorphize plants” in human moral terms, Gardeners and farmers themselves are extremely cruel professions. People who need to eat rice every day are probably the cancer of the planet. Lu Ping’an’s time as a first-tier Gardener was too short, and his grasp of the basics was insufficient, which led him to ask some questions that seemed baffling to the old hands. At the same time, he also understood why Bonsai Masters and Floriculture practitioners, despite having similar abilities and expressions, are seen as two completely different paths. “Floriculture practitioners’ ‘flowers’ are dead; they use human aesthetics to create artificial scenes with the remains of plants. In contrast, Bonsai Designers create scenes that are alive and changeable, with the plant itself as the protagonist, preferably cultivated from a young age.” The two paths look similar early on, but they become entirely different as they progress. The protagonist of Floriculture is always the person; the core is the ‘beauty’ composed of plant materials by humans, a subjective projection of consciousness, similar to a ‘man-made artwork’ like a painting. But the protagonist of a Bonsai Master is the ‘tree’, with people serving as a support. Although it can also be called artwork, it seeks more of the ‘beauty of nature’. Some things can only be roughly understood through documents. Only by truly experiencing them can one discover that they are not the same thing at all. “Both paths are interesting, but for me, there seems to be no need for hesitation.”