Chapter 315 - 288: Born Extraordinary
Logically, since Sea Grapes are a type of algae—and algae is incredibly resilient—a separated piece should be able to grow into a whole new plant.
Unfortunately, the small cutting of Deep Sea Oxygen withered completely in just half a day, eventually turning into a scorched, dead stalk.
Wei Zhaohua guessed that either this particular specimen was unique, allowing only one to exist at a time, or his propagation method was wrong. Perhaps it required a special medium or ritual to be successfully divided.
He didn’t dare try again.
If he kept trying and failed again, it would affect the Deep Sea Oxygen’s yield, a responsibility he couldn’t bear.
"It’s alright. That wasn’t directed at you."
Qin Ziwen patted Wei Zhaohua on the shoulder. "I know you did your best," he said calmly. "I’ll figure something out."
’If only there was a Card that could duplicate Extraordinary plants. One could become two, and the yield would instantly double.’
’Unfortunately, he’d never seen a Card like that and wasn’t even sure if they existed.’
These Extraordinary plants were special; unlike resource points, they couldn’t be duplicated with Cards.
"Are all the harvested vegetables in the warehouse?"
"They’re all stored away," Wei Zhaohua replied quickly.
A smile spread across Qin Ziwen’s face as he recalled something. "Jia Liangcai told me you keep a close eye on the harvested vegetables. He said he has to talk himself hoarse just to get a few things from you."
Wei Zhaohua gave an embarrassed, dry cough. "President, it’s not that I’m stingy... We really don’t have much. Look at how many people are in the Gated Community, and then look at how few vegetables are in the warehouse. If anyone could just come and take them, we’d be out in a few days."
He then muttered under his breath, "Besides, they can eat kelp. Don’t clams and oysters provide nutrients, too? Why does everyone have their eyes on my small stash of vegetables..."
Qin Ziwen waved a hand dismissively, his tone gentle. "I’m not blaming you. But we should store what we’re not eating in the cellar so it doesn’t spoil."
Wei Zhaohua breathed a sigh of relief. "President, what would you like? I can go get it for you right now."
"Bring me a pumpkin. I’ve been craving some pumpkin porridge."
As Wei Zhaohua turned to leave, Qin Ziwen called out to him again. "No rush, we’re not done with business. I need you to draw up a proposal for how much farmland you need and your planting schedule. Give it to Jia Liangcai, and he’ll help you put it into action."
"Will do!" Wei Zhaohua’s energy returned.
"Alright, you can go now." With that, Qin Ziwen headed to the Giant Beast Breeding Center.
After climbing to the top floor, he discovered that the other egg was finally showing signs of hatching.
The surface of the shell was covered in a dense network of cracks, each as fine as a spider’s thread and spread with perfect uniformity.
"Taking your sweet time, aren’t you? Much later than your brother," Qin Ziwen murmured to himself, a flicker of anticipation in his heart.
’In myths and legends, the longer the gestation, the more extraordinary the child.’
’Nezha, for instance, was only born after a three-year pregnancy.’
Black crouched beside him. It had grown another size, its shoulder height now nearly level with Qin Ziwen’s when it stood.
Its thick tail swayed gently behind it, crimson eyes fixed on the egg that emanated a familiar scent.
It unconsciously leaned closer, sniffed, and then slowly opened its mouth.
SMACK!
Qin Ziwen smacked it on the snout.
"What do you think you’re doing? Trying to get a taste of your little brother?"
Black whimpered. Having been raised by Qin Ziwen from a young age, it held a healthy fear of him. It meekly retracted its head and crouched to the side, wringing its small claws as its gaze remained glued to the egg.
Light slanted down from the skylight, illuminating the incubation platform.
Amidst the floating motes of dust, the round, brownish-purple egg with white spots suddenly gave a faint wobble.
CRACK... CRACKLE...
A sound as faint as a mosquito’s buzz emerged.
In Qin Ziwen’s perception, tiny streams of air were flowing out from the cracks in the shell.
Qin Ziwen hadn’t been able to witness Black’s hatching, so this time, his wish was being granted.
CRACK... CRACKLE...
The eggshell began to crack faster and faster, the sounds growing more frequent.
Suddenly, a small bulge formed on top of the egg. Something inside was pushing, trying to force its way out.
PFFT!
A tiny, cream-colored claw tip pierced the eggshell.
Then the opening grew wider and wider.
Finally, after a long moment...
A small, wet claw struggled to emerge.
Black watched anxiously, reaching out a claw to help, but Qin Ziwen gently held it back.
"Don’t interfere. Let it come out on its own."
Black tilted its head, confused.
Qin Ziwen smiled. "Didn’t you break out of your own shell? This is its first step into the world. If it needs help with this, what will it do later on?"
The cracking sounds grew more frantic. The cream-colored claw that had poked out first pushed down hard.
A large piece of the shell broke away, revealing a gap.
Immediately after, a wet little head struggled to squeeze through the opening.
It seemed to be startled by the two large heads leaning in.
It let out a "guu" and pulled back.
After a moment, it slowly poked its head out again, opening a pair of golden eyes and gazing curiously at the man and dragon before it.
"How beautiful."
Qin Ziwen couldn’t help but marvel.
The first thing he saw were its milky-white scales, smooth and lustrous like ivory. The edges of the scales were still slick with amniotic fluid, refracting the sunlight into a faint, iridescent shimmer.
Its head structure was similar to Black’s.
They were both Tyrannosaurus heads, but this one’s was a bit more "rounded," making it look less ferocious than Black.
Most striking of all was its pair of vertical pupils, like molten gold.
The little creature’s eyes darted around before finally landing on Qin Ziwen.
"Guu..."
It chirped sweetly.
Delight filling his eyes, Qin Ziwen quickly helped peel away the remaining shell and then picked her up.
"Such a good girl."
Black: ???
"Guu guu~"
The little cream-colored dinosaur made a soft noise in its throat. As it was lifted, it instinctively grabbed the corner of Qin Ziwen’s shirt, its head tilting to rest against his shoulder.
Then it lifted its head and stared at Qin Ziwen with big, glistening eyes.
As the first living being it saw upon hatching, combined with Qin Ziwen’s status as the owner of the Giant Beast Breeding Center, it naturally imprinted on him as the one closest to it.
"So cold." Qin Ziwen felt his hands grow frigid.
It was like holding a block of ice.
’Why is this little one’s body temperature so low?’
’It’s not sick, is it?’
He quickly used Insight on it.
[Extraordinary Ice Tyrannosaurus: ☆]: Level 1 Frost Touch, Level 1 Super Hearing
’It was born Extraordinary!’
Qin Ziwen was surprised.
Black was a mutated individual, and this little one was an Extraordinary one.
’Neither of these two eggs was ordinary.’
𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
’The nest of that Female Tyrannosaurus really produced two supreme talents from a single clutch.’
’Of course, it was also possible that the building’s effects had caused the eggs to mutate.’
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