Zarude wasn't just showing off; he genuinely knew how to cook.
The scrambled eggs on the plate looked like a golden cloud, and their aroma made Mu Zong's stomach rumble.
"luzha."
Zarude handed over the chopsticks, his scarlet eyes revealing a human-like pride.
He had been learning this for a long time.
"Amazing... Delicious!" Mu Zong's eyes lit up after his first bite.
All the high-tech, processed foods he'd tasted in his previous life couldn't compare to Zarude's bowl of scrambled eggs.
"luzha~!" Zarude folded his arms, like an otherworldly master.
"You should teach me too, I want to learn," Mu Zong said, slumping onto the sofa after eating his fill.
Zarude froze, memories swirling in his mind.
He recalled the summer day when the young boy patiently taught his younger self.
"Huh? What's wrong? Is there some difficulty?" Mu Zong's words interrupted his recollection.
Zarude stood up; he would start today.
"Tomorrow, tomorrow. You've been working all day, rest for a bit," Mu Zong quickly advised.
Zarude stood still, pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Then you can stay in Grandpa's bedroom, I'll go back to my own," Mu Zong said, then walked towards his bedroom.
There was a clean quilt here, out of place with the rest of the house.
He lay on the bed; the quilt still seemed to have some warmth, as if a pair of aged hands had tidied it over and over again.
"A qualified Miltank for milk production costs 100,000, building a cowshed requires 200 self-provided wooden planks, and various facilities cost 30,000."
"A qualified chicken coop costs 20,000, but a single chicken only costs 100."
He had also learned about the prices of goods while purchasing supplies today.
"The prices are a bit strange, but it's Pokémon after all."
As he pondered, he saw Zarude push open the door and enter.
He skillfully made a bed on the floor.
"Hmm..."
Mu Zong tilted his head, a little surprised.
Zarude was more approachable than he had imagined.
His intuition told him that this Zarude held a great secret.
As he thought, he fell into a dream.
In his dream, he saw his farm flourish, filled with adorable Pokémon everywhere, and an Arcanine letting him lie in its embrace to sunbathe.
"Heh... hehe..."
But he hadn't laughed for long before Zarude shook him awake from his dream.
"What's wrong?" Mu Zong rubbed his eyes, holding the unhatched Pokémon egg in his arms.
Zarude pointed out the window.
It was raining, and heavily too.
"It's raining? If it's raining then... Oh no! My starf berry!"
Mu Zong realized something was wrong, casually put on some clothes, and rushed out of the bedroom.
He grabbed the shovel by the door and ran towards the cultivated land.
Zarude quickly followed.
One human and one Pokémon arrived at the cultivated land in the heavy rain.
"Crop Status: Yellow."
"Environmental Warning: Waterlogging."
At the same time, the maturation time was rapidly fading, as if the crops were about to die.
"luzha!" Zarude pointed at the field, reminding Mu Zong what to do.
Mu Zong instantly reacted, realizing he needed to dig drainage ditches.
Meanwhile, Zarude rushed towards the repaired waterwheel; Mu Zong had no time to worry about what he was tinkering with.
Not long after he started digging the drainage ditches, the sound of the waterwheel turning echoed.
Zarude had activated the waterwheel.
"Reverse drainage? How do you know how to do that?"
Zarude didn't answer, snatching the shovel from his hand in the rainy night.
He was digging incorrectly; it couldn't be dug like this.
"luzha!"
Zarude pointed to one side of the artificial ditch, while also using the shovel to dig up dry soil from the lower layer nearby, creating small soil mounds around the base of each starf berry plant.
This was to protect the starf berry.
At the same time, he pointed to one side of the artificial ditch.
"You're telling me to block one side to store the water? You're a genius!" Mu Zong suddenly understood and quickly ran over.
Fortunately, there were some stones at one end of the artificial ditch.
At the same time, a phrase from his memory echoed in Zarude's mind.
"The rain was heavy back then, but thankfully Zarude diverted the water into the ditch, dug drainage, protected the starf berry, and we didn't need to carry water for many days afterward."
He was acting precisely according to this memory.
The heavy rain only began to subside towards dawn.
"Haa..."
Mu Zong sat in the mud, looking at Zarude, who had put down the shovel, and smiled.
They had finally gotten through this ordeal.
Morning and clear skies arrived together.
"luzha." Zarude was a little proud.
Through his efforts, the starf berry seeds were successfully saved.
At this moment, a line of text appeared before Mu Zong's eyes.
"Safely survived the first rain."
"Triggered Special Event: Gentle breeze, calm waters."
"Mutation rate increased, increased."
Immediately after, green light points entered the soil from Mu Zong's eyes.
When he looked at the soil again, the data had already changed.
"Mutation rate: 10%."
"Mutation rate: 1%"
"Mutation rate: 50%."
"Mutation rate: 100%"
Mu Zong's eyes widened instantly as he looked at that patch of land.
Zarude was squatting there, seemingly having also noticed the anomaly of this plant.
"luzha."
He beckoned, signaling Mu Zong to come and see.
Mu Zong, covered in mud, stood up and walked to that plot of land.
Because they were fruit trees, the planting areas were segmented, and the panel defined a plot as a one-meter by one-meter cube; this particular plot happened to only have this one seed.
Next, Zarude drew a vine from the green tendrils that resembled arm guards on his arm.
Mu Zong quickly looked, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Zarude clasped his hands together, placing the vine in his palm and squeezing it.
Brilliant golden-green light spilled from the gaps between his hands.
In the distance, the waterwheel gently turned, the sound of flowing water mixing with the crushing of the vine, creating an exceptionally quiet and beautiful scene.
Under the golden light, the seed quickly germinated and grew into a tree as tall as an adult man's calf.
"Crop Name: starf berry Tree (Mutated)."
"Crop Status: Purple."
"Maturation Time: One month."
The change in the status bar surprised Mu Zong the most; he didn't remember ever writing this status, only having red, yellow, and green under his control.
And the maturation time was also compressed from three months to one month.
Mu Zong keenly sensed that this might not be due to mutation, but rather Zarude's doing.
"Can you ripen this one too?" Mu Zong pointed to a plot of land in the distance.
The mutation rate there was the highest in the vicinity.
"luzha!" Zarude stood up, shaking off the water from his body.
He drew a vine, crushed it in his hand, and another seed miraculously became a small tree.
"Crop Name: starf berry Tree."
"Crop Status: Green."
"Maturation Time: One month."
It hadn't mutated, but the maturation time was still one month.
So, this wasn't the work of mutation, but Zarude's power.
"You're truly amazing," Mu Zong quickly praised.
Zarude clenched his fists, feeling the joy of being praised, but also a deep sense of powerlessness.
If not for his injury, he could instantly ripen this entire patch of berries.
"Can you continue?" Mu Zong asked with anticipation.
