How Am I Still Alive?

"By the way, what did you mean by 'Ark of Doomsday' earlier?"

"Literally, my world is gone. That boring and simple world, where even a fool like me could become a Quasi-God, has been gone for many years."

"....I'm sorry."

The Secret Realm of Life Bank had only two buildings, but that didn't mean there was nothing else but the "stadium" and "bank building."

It was like an island in the void, with the two buildings occupying the core area and the edge still awaiting reclamation of wasteland.

Behind the bank building, a small field had already been built.

But after all, it was just a process of clearing the rubble and making a piece of land suitable for planting.

Chris, transformed into a beast form, did 99% of the agricultural work, swiftly and cleanly.

Her skillful use of her tail and claws revealed that she was not born from a rich family.

Though her semi-phantom form had lost its physical body, within this small world where she acted as the "manager," she could still interfere with matter.

"The Demonized Monkey Shield Tree and the weapon-variant of the Poisonous Evergreen Vine, I think it's called the Snake Whip Vine? Among low-level magic plants, it's a good combination of offense and defense."

Chris approved of the two small bags of Magic Plants that Lu Ping'an had bought for two hundred credit-coins.

There are two types of Magic Plants: modified local plants and Exotic Realm-variant plants, corresponding to the Gardener series' two basic professional skills: Grafting and Cultivating.

Generally speaking, Exotic plants have more functions and a higher limit, even including the Medicine of Immortality and Undead Medicine, but it also means higher demands on the Gardener's professional skills and abilities.

Local Magic Plants have a lower limit and are usually modified to be more specific and functional. It is generally believed that their ceiling is also low...since high-level Magic Plants must be modified, why not use Exotic Magic Plants as a blueprint that has a higher starting point and a higher pollution tolerance?

However, low-level altered Magic Plants are overwhelmingly popular among low-level Gardeners.

This is because their low material consumption and powerful functions make them valuable, and since they are native, they can often thrive without any specific conditions.

There is no need to create exotic greenhouses to serve them, and their cost is not on the same level.

The Snake Whip Vine, originally based on the Poisonous Evergreen Vine, added a special neurotoxin that would cause rapid paralyzing effects upon entanglement.

The Monkey Shield Tree, based on the Breadfruit Tree, was a tree with strong regenerative and water storage capabilities.

After being remodeled, its trunk had become tough on the outside and soft on the inside, possessing a sturdy shield like that of a "water shield."

"The poison of the Snake Whip Vine is quite difficult to deal with among low-level enemies and can be lethal even when swung indiscriminately. Though the Monkey Shield is weaker in comparison to other defensive Magic Plants, it can come back to life if given water, has a low set-up difficulty, and can also be used for defensive strategies."

In fact, the Monkey Shield Tree was often used to build temporary defensive installations.

"With its unique wooden fiber, it has strong recovery ability. If you keep supplying it with life energy, it becomes a hard-to-penetrate 'self-recovering shield' or even a 'living wall' in low-level fights."

In face-to-face situations, AI Chris now had much more to say, but still answered only questions that were asked and moved only when pushed.

If Lu Ping'an asked questions like "How can I become stronger?" or "Which path has the best chances?", her answers would be frustratingly unhelpful, like "go hunt gods" or "the path of Evil Gods is generally stronger."

Now she was just saying what Lu Ping'an had thought of when he was shopping.

With these two Magic Plants—one offensive and one defensive—he would not be defenseless in terms of offense and defense.

In front of him were the short-term challenges of entrance exams and the more distant threat of cultists, so he needed more reliable offensive and defensive means.

Five hundred Forest Coins were spent on two small sets of Magic Plant seeds, rhizomes and planting methods, which cost two hundred coins, and the remaining three hundred went toward additional purchases.

"...you didn't lose, at least not too much. This water supply system is quite good, and the natural water production should be enough to meet daily needs. And these pollution fertilizers are essential."

Modern water supply facilities require a pipe network. The Secret Realm, suspended in the void, obviously didn't have the conditions for that. Instead, the lady statue holding a water bottle was the automatic water supply system that Lu Ping'an had bought for two hundred coins.

Chris had dug the water supply system with her as the source, so it was free of charge.

And as pollution-born creations, magic plants also need to absorb pollution to grow.

Even the Gardener profession was initially created by Secret Keepers for using plants to absorb and purify pollution.

Lu Ping'an didn't know how long the five big bags of "Wang Fugui Brand Polluted Fertilizer" would last, which he bought for 100 credit-coins.

Now, with Lu Ping'an's abilities, the Snake Whip Vine had already climbed onto the prepared frame, while the short and thick Monkey Shield Tree had huddled together to form a giant tree stump group.

"... Professional skills are still zero growth."

Lu Ping'an sighed helplessly. It would take months to cultivate magic plants with conventional methods, let alone mature them in one season.

Now, both types of magic plants had been forced to mature, and as long as they were properly cared for, there was no need for additional expenses for the seeds and short vines needed in actual combat.

Looking at the "parts" that were much more expensive than the "core," Lu Ping'an contemplated.

"Right, aren't there functional buildings in the Secret Realm? Can we build a garden recognized by the Secret Realm system like my gymnasium, bank buildings, etc.? If we can, how do we build it?"

Lu Ping'an had inquired that "buildings" in the Secret Realm were not simply man-made.

Bank buildings and gymnasiums had their own "names" and were actually "functional buildings" with rules assigned by the Secret Realm.

There were two for gymnasiums. One to speed up physical recovery and indirectly improve training effects.

The second one was a familiar life system rule - "Immortality."

These two abilities combined undoubtedly make it a great tool for training people like cattle, but sadly they cannot be exploited in the short term.

In theory, the bank building, as the core of the Secret Realm, has only one function - rule-level transactions (banking).

But after further questioning by Lu Ping'an, Chris reluctantly revealed a hidden function with an unhappy face.

"In your subconscious, this building is not only a bank but also your 'home' and your origin. You see the hotel-like rooms above, that means it should also have the basic functions of the Secret Realm core, such as providing better sleep and faster wound recovery for the inhabitants."

This was undoubtedly good news. Lu Ping'an had already confirmed that due to his abnormal ability, he could not receive most other people's abilities to heal.

Both functional buildings were very powerful, which was why Lu Ping'an wanted to inquire about the garden.

During their conversations, he had heard Chris complain more than once about her "zoo" and "Biological Research Institute" collapsing in the void, with all valuables gone.

And the life system "garden" is a combination of "zoo" and "Biological Research Institute", with a series of plant-enhancing abilities, including but not limited to increasing the survival rate, yield, and modification success rate of magic plants.

"A garden? We can build one, after all, it's part of the life system. How can there not be a core building? If you have this need, you can build one now."

Hearing this, Lu Ping'an was pleasantly surprised. Was this big cat actually not playing word games with him and not making things difficult for him?

"How do you build it?"

Chris laughed, triumphantly.

"Of course, it's the main rule of this world."

Main rule? Oh, trading?

Lu Ping'an fell silent, guessing why Chris had suddenly become so straightforward.

"...How much?"

"These things don't happen all at once. Even the lowest tier garden, a black iron-grade one with just a small biosphere to slightly improve the growth rate of magic plants, only costs 1,000 life-points. Pretty cheap, right?"

Cheap? Indeed, very cheap. Lu Ping'an hadn't seen such an "integrated environment" gadget in Lin Shen's shopping list. Similar man-made biospheres started at tens of thousands of credit-coins; these were luxury items exclusive to the Secret Realm and beloved by high-level Gardeners.

"....Chris, if you dig it up yourself, can you give a discount?"

"....Lu Ping'an, can you look at yourself in the mirror and try to be human?"