Chapter 1200
Chapter 1200 - 1186: Excessive Maturity
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7 min read
"Excuse me, could you move over a bit...?"
"Why? Does Lu think I’m heavy? I know I’ve grown a little bit recently..."
"No, it’s not that. Didn’t you see the way your sister is looking at me? It’s very strange, isn’t it?"
Lu Ping’an struggled to sit up, pushing the "little girl" out of his arms.
Although he had promised to play games with her today, looking at Xiao Mu, who still had the innocent face of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, Lu Ping’an could hardly bear the piercing glares from the people around him.
Especially since last night, just like before, letting the little girl play games in his arms... well, the way others looked at him, it was almost like looking at a criminal.
By this time, Qian Xiaomu looked seventeen or eighteen years old, sharing about eighty to ninety percent similarity with Fei’er, yet she possessed a youth and vitality that Fei’er did not have.
Lu Ping’an wasn’t sure if it was a side effect of the Growth Magic Potion, but Xiao Mu had been particularly energetic these past few days, full of vitality twenty-four hours a day, dragging Lu Ping’an around... And she unfortunately lacked the personal boundaries a grown woman should have, which made Lu Ping’an feel quite helpless.
"...What about Eve?"
"She couldn’t make it past four in the morning, so useless!"
One day, the "Dragon Liquid" not only transformed her body but also activated her latent powers... After her body matured, her "Reincarnation" was inevitably accelerated.
At that time, prompted by Fei’er, Qian Xiaomu had jumped directly into that sea.
Perhaps for others, shortening one’s childhood would be considered a reduction in lifespan, and it was uncertain whether there were any hidden dangers, but for her, it was definitely a net gain.
These past few days, Xiao Mu had been complaining about the sudden increase of knowledge in her mind, and the physical maturity hastened her full adult development.
Amid these drastic changes, Fei’er’s counterpart also fell into an unstable state, entrusting Lu Ping’an to take care of the similarly unstable original.
However, in the long run, this was clearly a strengthening for Fei’er; she should soon regain a perfect state, becoming a true Rule-level Combat Power.
It’s worth mentioning that Fei’er had acted first without planning, leaving no mental preparation for Lu Ping’an and instead leaving behind a mess.
"How is the situation in the garden?"
"Good. You’d better schedule the next shipment soon. Our warehouse is going to burst."
Noticing the acceleration effect of those "liquids" on biological growth, Lu Ping’an naturally used it in his "farming."
However, the rapid maturing caused overcrowding in the storage, and since he wasn’t the only one engaging in such activities, it naturally led to a drop in the market prices for "Magic Plants Materials" and "Magic Pet Cubs," making shipments less profitable.
"...Plant more vegetables, the price of food is still very high, and because everyone has made quite a bit of money, the turnover of our ’hometown dishes’ has tripled."
But it seemed that he was probably the only one using such world Treasures for farming.
Getting up, washing up, playing games with the little girl until noon, Lu Ping’an also had to report to the work area. Recently, there were frequent accidents, and everyone was quite busy.
While passing through a square, Lu Ping’an saw the fountain in the center where members of the Long Hand Clan occasionally walked over to take a drink... and then, an "adult" would appear.
It was the world’s expectation to have more adults in that Ethnic group to speed up their Reproduction and population growth.
Even with Magic Potion available, many professionals could not bring themselves to let the children of the Long Hand Clan accelerate into adulthood.
It was best to offer a bounty... When there truly were a large number of Long Hand Clan adolescents turning into adults, the bounty was promptly canceled.
Was it because the numbers were sufficient? No, it’s just that it was no longer necessary. Too many Long Hand Clan children had run over, hoping to drink the magical liquid that would let them grow up on their own.
The reason? Actually quite simple, generally an adult’s income is double that of a child worker, one-and-a-half times that of a "semi-child worker."
Even for those piecework labor jobs, adults can do more and naturally earn more... In fact, many types of work were simply for adults only.
"Losing a happy childhood? Why do you think childhood would be happy? Weaker children are the ones most bullied, aren’t they...?"
Lu Ping’an was initially hesitant, but a child’s remark made him dismiss the idea.
Whatever the issue of lifespan, Lu Ping’an had not yet seen any member of the Long Hand Clan live out their natural lifespan... In fact, he had not even seen an elderly member of the clan; most of them were youths and children, with middle-aged individuals being rare.
On the other hand, as far as Lu Ping’an knew, the "Education Office" was already gathering "children."
Some were being trained as future Soldiers, others were being cultivated as reliable labor... The proliferation of Growth Magic Potion made it easy to fill labor gaps, also allowing more organizations and powers to begin cultivating their own reinforcements.
𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
After all, what used to take ten or twenty years to be useful, could now produce seasoned soldiers in half a year, and with a suitable Advancement path available, cost-effectiveness had significantly increased, thus boosting local enthusiasm.
Originally, they had also offered "compensation" to collect young children, but then too many children were sent, so they switched to free collection, which still overwhelmed them... Eventually, it turned into a selection process, choosing the ’best of the best,’ leaving the Informed-person sighing in resignation.
In this world, many actions that challenged ethical boundaries became great deeds. When societal morals were generally low or nonexistent, providing a way for people to survive was the greatest deed.
"Has the battle plan not started yet?"
"Still in preparation, it’s not easy to assemble the forces to strike so many areas at once, but there’s a lesser known piece of news that our ’employer’ has delayed the plan..."
This revelation somewhat surprised Lu Ping’an. Wasn’t It the one pressing him and his team to work before?
"...The lesser-known news says that It has sensed more of the Exotic Races accelerating entry into this world and wants to wait a while."
In recent days, many places in the world had seen "Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures" appear, apparently stimulating those outsiders to commit more resources.
"It looks like It wants to take a bigger bite all at once."
Once the plan starts, those Exotic Races left in this world will find themselves trapped like fish in a barrel, and considering the reality of this world seeing outsiders as "nutrition," It naturally hopes the barrel is as full as possible.
Delaying the plan, for most human professionals, is a good thing, after all, they’re actually the most active in harvesting various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
As for Lu Ping’an’s own storerooms and workload, these days, they’re also bursting at the seams.
— End of Chapter 1200 —