Star Ocean: Starting from the Abandoned Mining Space Station.

Chapter 317 Fairy Ancient Tree
After watching the people from the empire disappear near the banquet hall.

Chen Ming returned to the banquet hall.

Together with Cheng Xinghai, we toasted to every guest at the table.

I have gone through other rituals before, after completing one round.

The engagement party is essentially over.

The wedding banquet after the engagement has to be postponed for some time.

Maybe soon, maybe a long time.

It depends on the situation of the mechanical war in the future.

If everything goes well, Chen Ming should be able to return to his headquarters and get married after the war.

Anyway, we don’t have the opportunity or time to do it now.

Cheng Xinghai has to go back to school.

Because the current time has reached June in Earth Standard Time.

Summer vacation is about to begin under normal circumstances.

But Cheng Xinghai is now a junior, and a student at a specialized military school. He will be on the battlefield after his senior year.

Therefore, during the summer vacation at the end of the junior year, the school will carry out intensive training for officers to deal with actual battlefields.

She would never be free for at least a year.

The same goes for Chen Ming.

Although he does not have any tasks, he still has requirements for himself.

He needed to get acquainted as quickly as possible with the three institutes of which he had honorary membership.

Because these three research institutes will provide him with help in the subsequent mechanical war.

This is only what he has to do at his headquarters. The situation in other places, such as An Wuping's side, the main body far outside the empire, and the insect queen's planet, is also very similar.

He and Cheng Xinghai couldn't spend all day together like a real couple. They both had things to do.

In addition to the things he just thought of and some additional preparations, Chen Ming now has one more important thing to do.

That's where he needs to go after deciding.

Is to stay in the headquarters.

Let’s go back to the branch.

This question is actually easy to answer.

The war between the mechanical clan is about to begin, and the Gallo Star Region is about to become the frontline.

The branch will eventually go to the branch. It is impossible for him to stay at the headquarters after the war begins.

Moreover, Chen Ming had previously promised to help Bai Quan control the entire branch with spiritual energy. This was something he had to do.

At this stage, although there should be nothing going on here at the headquarters, only the branch is as far away as the sky is high and the emperor is far away. Some people may have other ideas.

In addition, Cheng Xinghai will be on the battlefield after training, and Gallo is the battlefield.

Chen Ming must pass.

But while he likes it when you need to make an immediate decision, there's actually no rush to do what he decides.

The war has not yet begun.

After having determined his idea, the most urgent thing he had now was to control the branch.

As for controlling the branch, in addition to Chen Ming himself returning to control, there is another way to use the afterglow core.

Not only devices, equipment, or buildings, but also anything with electronic systems, once it is accessed by the Afterglow Core controlled by Chen Ming, it will be completely under his control.

The branch itself is built under a dome on a volcanic planet. There are electronic systems everywhere in the dome, and there is an afterglow core that can be controlled at will.

It just so happened that Chen Ming had experienced the training in the scarlet dimension.

His psychic powers can already be transmitted through the Crimson Dimension by psychically sealing the Afterglow Core.

The number of afterglow cores and their locations are no longer limited by Chen Ming's psychic range.

Therefore, Chen Ming can completely hand over the branch to a robot equipped with a new Afterglow Core.

The control power of the Afterglow core is enough to control a branch.

Not to mention Baiquan’s acquiescence.

When the war starts in the future, he needs to go to the branch, and the headquarters can switch to a robot.

This is what Chen Ming thinks.

Once you have a rough idea, all that's left is to fill in the details.

But just when Chen Ming was sitting alone in the corner of the banquet hall, thinking about what was going to happen next.

Cheng Xinghai's voice suddenly rang in her ears: "You are here."

Chen Ming raised his head and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Of course I'm looking for you, what else can I do? You disappeared as soon as I finished eating, which made me look for you outside for a long time. Who knew you were hiding here."

Cheng Xinghai sat next to Chen Ming and leaned against Chen Ming. After finding a comfortable angle, she put her entire weight on Chen Ming's body.

She whispered to Chen Ming: "I'm going back to school soon."

"I know."

"I still have to go to a training camp, closed management, three months, about one day a month to rest, and I can make phone calls and so on."

Chen Ming thought about what he should say at this time and said, "Can I play games?"

Cheng Xinghai suddenly laughed when he heard Chen Ming's question: "This is not like a question you would ask."

"Can't I suddenly want to play games?"

"of course can."

Cheng Xinghai held Chen Ming tighter with a gentle smile on his face. .

Chen Ming also put his arm around her shoulders and said, "Remember not to take off the wrist guard then."

"Instructors in intensive training may be very strict."

"It's okay. I'll drive over in the cruiser and ask someone to allow you to wear this wristband."

"You really are... don't be joking."

Cheng Xinghai lightly punched Chen Ming on the arm.

Although she had restrained herself, Chen Ming still felt a pain.

Cheng Xinghai also felt Chen Ming's body tremble slightly and asked, "Did I hurt you?"

"My spiritual power does nothing to improve my physical fitness."

"Then let me apologize to you."

Cheng Xinghai suddenly let go of Chen Ming's arm, stood up, and stood in front of Chen Ming.

She bent down and tapped Chen Ming's lips.

He disappeared in a blink of an eye.

the next day.

Chen Ming showed up at the parking lot of the military family accommodation area after sending Cheng Xinghai to school early in the morning.

Because Chen Ming slept on the floor last night, nothing happened.

So today he was energetic enough to go to the Psychic Research Institute.

He carried out his previous plan to go to the Psychic Research Institute when he had time.

However, the specific location of the Psychic Research Institute is not on the planet of the headquarters.

After all, some things related to psychic energy are simply too dangerous.

Once an accident occurs in some experiments of psychic research institutes, it may lead to quite tragic consequences.

Therefore, the location of the Psychic Research Institute was chosen elsewhere.

The planet where the Fourteenth Legion is based has two satellites.

One of them became the site of the Psychic Research Institute.

Although Chen Ming, as an honorary member of the current Psychic Research Institute, can go directly.

It is obviously more appropriate to visit for the first time if someone brings the past.

So Chen Ming told He Gu yesterday and asked He Gu to pick him up.

Of course He Gu wouldn't mind taking Chen Ming to heaven.

So when Chen Ming sent Cheng Xinghai to school, he saw He Gu already in the parking lot.

He Gu greeted Chen Ming from afar and asked, "Didn't you just finish the engagement party yesterday? Are you free to come today?"

Chen Ming responded: "Yes, there are always a lot of things to be busy with."

"I'm going to go over and get what I need to pick up today, and then I'll learn more about the Psychic Research Institute. Do you mind being a tour guide?"

"of course not."

He Gu stretched out his hand to the shuttle boat next to him and motioned for Chen Ming to get on board: "The things and tour guide are ready."

The shuttle takes off.

Soon after, it left the atmosphere of its home planet.

When the white fog in the atmosphere dissipated, the bright starry sky appeared in front of Chen Ming.

Chen Ming saw the satellite orbiting the planet.

Since the timing was not perfect when he came last time, he had not seen the actual appearance of the satellite.

It was only now that he saw that the satellite where the Psychic Research Institute is located is a planet with about 20% of the ocean area, and the land part is generally green and orange-red.

This is also a habitable planet and habitable satellite.

Chen Ming didn't know much about the local geographical conditions before, so after he saw the two habitable planets, he sighed and said: "The satellites are also habitable planets. This galaxy really has unique advantages."

I don’t know if the suitable galaxy he finds in the future will have such conditions.

But He Gu had something to say about this: "That's not the case, because that planet has experienced climate modification."

"The collection of water-bearing asteroids from throughout the galaxy and neighboring galaxies was quite a spectacle."

Climate modification technologies.

Chen Ming has heard of it.

This is a technology for transforming planets that are not habitable but have the potential to become habitable.

This technology has been theoretically proposed for many years, but only a handful of actual modifications have been made.

Because it is extremely difficult to modify the planet, especially the climate, there are few successful cases.

Coupled with the fact that the Empire had mastered hyperspace channel technology long ago and expanded the Empire to previously unimaginable levels, habitable planets themselves were no longer rare.

The value brought by simply transforming an uninhabitable planet is not proportional to the cost.

The investment in this technology did not change much until the end of the pioneering era, and this technology has not made any obvious progress and has remained at the same level as before.

Only some galaxies that are already highly developed may need to transform some uninhabitable planets into habitable planets.

Just like the satellite that He Gu is talking about now.

The fact that this planet is a satellite actually reduces the difficulty of climate change to a certain extent.

And this technology is also quite interesting, and he can use it.

You can find opportunities to learn a skill.

Just when Chen Ming saw the satellite where the Psychic Research Institute was located.

Another satellite orbiting the home planet just poked out from the edge of the planet.

The satellite that had just entered Chen Ming's eyes was completely different from the satellite from the Psychic Research Institute that he had seen.

Compared to the Psychic Research Institute's satellite, this satellite is smaller.

But on its periphery, there are two man-made ring structures of different sizes surrounding it.

It is a highly developed rail industrial facility in the two rings. And surrounded by orbital industrial facilities.

Only the color of metal can be seen on the surface of that satellite.

The entire planet has become part of mechanization.

Chen Ming doesn't know whether the entire planet has become completely mechanical, but maybe he will know later.

Because that satellite belongs to the Naval Research Institute.

The responsibility of the Ship Research Institute itself is to design the spacecraft, so naturally it will need to test the designed spacecraft.

So as one of the three giants of the Legion Research Institute.

The Ship Research Institute, like the Psychic Research Institute, is eligible to have a satellite as the base of the research institute.

Therefore, this satellite has naturally become a testing ground for the ship research institute.

The ship research institute itself does not require large-scale industrial facilities, but there is a need to manufacture prototypes and high-precision equipment.

The orbital industrial facilities built around the satellite, which is relatively small in size, can just meet the needs of saving costs without wasting too much industrial facilities.

Chen Ming is also very interested in such a mechanized satellite.

Of course, as interested as he is, he has other things to do now.

The shuttle continued to fly towards the satellite of the Psychic Research Institute.

After being reviewed and approved by the space station.

Chen Ming was able to enter the satellite's atmosphere and see the planet belonging to the Psychic Research Institute.

And soon, Chen Ming also noticed that the satellite's architectural distribution was somewhat special.

It is not the kind of urban branch on a normal colonial planet, but a distribution style somewhat similar to a pastoral farm.

Basically, you have to fly quite a distance to see several research buildings that are relatively close together.

He Gu explained: “Since some psychic experiments go wrong, the consequences may have a huge impact, so the planet usually does not arrange too dense buildings to avoid the associated dangers caused by experimental accidents. too many people."

"The basic supplies of researchers in these places are guaranteed by unmanned transport ships, but those who can come to such places are basically people who have their own subject experiments to do."

"Normally, most people stay in other places."

"where?"

"We have a major city that won't allow any psionic experiments, and we'll be there soon."

Chen Ming nodded.

Keep looking out the window.

And while the shuttle boat continued to move towards the main city of the Psychic Research Institute mentioned by He Gu.

At a certain moment, Chen Ming suddenly felt a soft spiritual energy wave suddenly enveloped him.

It made him calm down suddenly because he was a little restless due to recent events.

This psychic wave is very familiar...

"Fairy tree?"

Chen Ming had just asked this question when a fluorescent light suddenly appeared on the edge of the distant horizon in front of the low-altitude shuttle.

Chen Ming realized something and moved closer to the front of the cab to get a clearer view.

And as the shuttle boat accelerated closer.

What caught Chen Ming's eyes next was a towering tree.

A tree huge enough to envelop the city under its majestic canopy.

It was a fairy tree.

The bright leaves with faint fluorescence were floating, covering Chen Ming's vision like a sea of ​​fluorescence.

Beneath this fluorescent sea is a bronze tree trunk whose diameter seems to be enough to support the sky.

To be able to support such a huge crown, the strength of the trunk is definitely not comparable to that of ordinary trees.

The tree roots further down are invisible to the naked eye.

But according to normal experience, the depth of the roots of this fairy tree is probably larger and more complex than its crown exposed on the surface.

It seemed as if the entire satellite was supplying nutrients to this fairy tree.

The core city of the Psychic Research Institute is built around this giant tree.

Chen Ming originally thought that the mechanical satellite was exaggerated enough, but he didn't expect that he would be shocked again in just a few minutes.

"No wonder I changed the route when I saw you flying the spaceship just now. You just didn't want me to see it outside the atmosphere, right?"

Chen Ming was talking to He Gu, but his eyes were on the giant fairy tree.

He Gu admitted: "Yeah, how do you feel?"

"It's... shocking."

"How did such a fairy tree grow?"

"A level 6 psyker once died under a fairy tree when it was still a sapling."

"This is the last appearance of the Fourteenth Legion before the reorganization, and it is also the biggest appearance of our new Fourteenth Legion today."

"There is no fairy tree in the entire empire bigger than this."

He Gu's words were full of pride.

The shuttle boat continued to approach.

All the way down to the canopy of trees.

Originally, Chen Ming thought that it would be completely dark under the canopy of this giant fairy tree, or there would be only a small amount of fluorescence, and artificial lighting equipment would be needed to ensure lighting.

But he didn't realize it until he actually came over.

All lit places in the city have very bright natural lighting.

The faint fluorescence emitted by the leaves of the fairy tree magically illuminates the surface of the earth, as if the light of a star shines directly through the leaves, maintaining the harmony of the environment.

"What an exaggeration."

Chen Ming kept sighing and couldn't think of any more adjectives.

Such an existence really made it difficult for him to find the right words to describe it.

And the closer he got to this fairy tree, the more Chen Ming could feel it.

The spiritual power and fluctuations of this fairy tree itself can definitely be regarded as a level 6 psychic creature, and creatures are not just animals.

A level 6 psychic creature, even more powerful than he is now.

"Is it conscious?" Chen Ming asked.

He Gu shook his head uncertainly: "At present, it seems that this fairy tree only has weak instincts. Of course, it may also be conscious. However, its concept of time after it grows up is different from that of us humans, so it cannot communicate."

"But basically the psykers who have spent time here are convinced that the tree is sentient and that it's protecting us."

He Gu took Chen Ming to circle around the trunk of the fairy tree several times, and finally landed in an area close to the trunk.

The headquarters building of the Psychic Research Institute is here.

The director of the Psychic Research Institute was greeting Chen Ming at the door.

He briefly exchanged a few words with Chen Ming, confirmed Chen Ming's purpose, told He Gu to try his best to meet Chen Ming's needs, and then left.

After receiving the director's instructions, He Gu easily took Chen Ming to the underground of the research institute building.

After passing through the intricate underground passages with fairy tree roots and layers of tight protection.

Chen Ming finally arrived at the warehouse of the Psychic Research Institute, which covers an area almost the same size as the cross-section of the fairy tree trunk.

And this is just one layer.

The first time he came here, a question appeared in Chen Ming's mind: "Why build a warehouse here?"

Because there must be some things related to psychic energy that are extremely dangerous just by putting them there, and building a warehouse underground in this city may obviously cause these things to directly affect the entire city.

Of course, He Gu also understood Chen Ming's problem. He pointed at the top of his head and said, "The spiritual energy fluctuations of the fairy tree tend to soothe the spirit."

"It's equivalent to having a top psyker exerting his influence on things below all the time."

"The existence of such a fairy tree can suppress all rioting spiritual things."

"With a little guidance from us, we can use the fairy trees to create a powerful containment system."

He Gu briefly explained to Chen Ming and continued to take Chen Ming deep into the warehouse.

Some time passed.

After passing through a protective layer, Chen Ming suddenly noticed that the spiritual energy fluctuations belonging to the fairy tree around him suddenly became thicker.

He seems to have arrived at the warehouse area where spiritual items related to the fairy tree are stored.

He Gu confirmed to Chen Ming: "What you need are two fairy tree species and a spiritual nerve, right?"

"Yes, this is the most expensive thing on the list. It must be very rare, right?"

He Gu confirmed the document and responded: "Of course."

"Although the fairy tree looks big and has many leaves, you can only get tree seeds after the fairy tree blooms."

"The flowering time of the fairy tree is not fixed, but there are usually less than ten flowers every year, and the flowers will eventually form seeds."

Chen Ming noticed the problem in He Gu's words and asked, "Is there no fruit?"

"There are no fruits, just flowers and seeds."

"And generally speaking, we need the flowers of the fairy tree more than its seeds, because the flowers are more suitable for use and research than the seeds, so we usually only have a small amount of seeds in stock."

"These fairy tree species are not only used by our legion, the Fanchao Research Institute comes and takes some from time to time."

"In addition to our cooperation with other research institutes, the number of fairy tree species can be said to be quite rare."

"You just took two of them, but you took away half of our current inventory."

He Gu said, leading Chen Ming to a room containing psychic objects.

He pressed the file in his hand directly on a screen at the door of the room.

"After you take the fairy tree seed, its cultivation method will also be handed over to you. You can try to cultivate it."

"But to be honest, it's difficult. Generally speaking, a research institute only cultivates one or two trees, just like the ones you see outside."

"It would be very difficult if you wanted to try it yourself."

Chen Ming said: "I have to try it, so I want two."

He needs the fairy tree's continuous and stable output of plant-like psychic materials.

It can be used to make various medicines to calm the mind, ensure mental stability, or assist meditation.

Although Chen Ming could decisively not use any psychic drugs before, now after coming into contact with the scarlet dimension.

Chen Ming feels that these drugs are still somewhat necessary at least when facing the scarlet dimension.

Even if these drugs can only allow him to stay in the scarlet dimension for 0.1 seconds longer, these drugs have their value.

Not to mention that this type of drug has other uses.

For example, feed it to the Queen of Insects, or feed it to Cheng Xinghai.

He could even try to cultivate such a fairy tree like the Legion.

He Gu did not put forward any opinions on Chen Ming's decision: "As long as you have an idea."

With the document signed by the legion commander himself, He Gu easily took out two fairy tree species.

"Next there is a Spirit-Qing Nerve, and the new testing equipment I told you before to get. I have asked someone to help take out the equipment, but the Qing-Ling Nerve requires us to go there in person."

After He Gu finished speaking, he put away the documents, turned around and handed two fluorescent apple-sized tree seeds to Chen Ming.

And the moment Chen Ming touched the fairy tree species.

The insect queen suddenly felt an extreme desire.

Chen Ming looked at the two tree seeds in his hand silently.

Fortunately, he had the foresight.

(End of this chapter)