Chapter 198: Oliva Looking Toward the Future

"The feed troughs, chicken coops, and water basins need cleaning every few days if not daily, to prevent bacteria from making the chicks sick."

"Managing the grounds is the most important job in the chicken house; the chicks' physiological structure means they cannot metabolize in a fixed spot, so the floor becomes covered in their excrement, which not only smells terrible but makes the environment dirty and chaotic, so it's best to clean it every day."

"Outside the chicken house, I've had the construction team build a fence enclosing it; when the sun is good, we can let the chicks out to bask in the sunlight for their physical and mental health, and pecking at small stones in the soil also aids their digestion."

"That's roughly the daily routine for caring for the chicks; although it seems simple, it must be persisted in every single day."

Luo Mu's gaze fell upon several Pokémon that had 'applied' to manage the chicken house, and like assigning troops, he distributed the tasks among them one by one.

"Poliwhirls, you three are responsible for the daily cleaning of the chicken house; is that no problem?"

After exchanging glances, the three Poliwhirls happily accepted the job.

They had no talent for the Rain Dance move, and leaving the irrigation of fields and pasture grass to the boss and the Dragonair was sufficient, so they were only too eager for this new work.

"As for feeding and managing the chicks, Oliva, I'm leaving that to you; is that no problem?"

The small Oliva accepted the task with great seriousness, already beginning to look forward to the chicks' arrival.

Like the Poliwhirls, its strength was currently still very weak, the effect of the Grassy Terrain wasn't very good, and it couldn't play an outstanding role like the Dolliv and Bai Bai Pengpeng could.

It would take on the job of caring for the chicks, then continue its cultivation in its spare time, hoping to complete its final evolution soon.

Ever since seeing the valiant appearance of Feng Su Gou after its evolution, Oliva had begun looking forward to its own final evolution.

It had even pestered Luo Mu to learn about its evolved form; apparently, it would evolve into a Pokémon called Arboliva, and it was said that most Arboliva are gentle by nature, compassionate, extremely reliable Pokémon in the forest, and deeply loved by other Pokémon.

Oliva greatly admired this and decided to become such a Pokémon itself, with the first step of its cultivation being the care of the chicks.

Just as Oliva silently made its resolve, Luo Mu assigned the patrol duty for the chicken house to the Herdier and Feng Su Gou, having them stand guard for a while during the chicks' outdoor time each day to prevent passing Flying-type Pokémon, such as Talonflame, from hunting the chicks.

Tonight was the fourth night as indicated by the system; with a few hours remaining before sunset, Luo Mu picked up a fruit basket filled with farm crops and walked toward the interior of Pingdie Town.

He planned to visit Mr. and Mrs. Jones and Peter, who were lying poisoned in the hospital, and also take the opportunity to gather some clues before nightfall.

He felt that the Pokémon responsible for the poisoning was ten out of ten times the Varoom, a Poison/Normal-type Pokémon, but he still couldn't figure out the perpetrator's motive.

From Miss Miss Junsha, Luo Mu had learned a great deal of information.

For instance, including the incident at his own farm, the Varoom had poisoned a total of four times.

Why would the Varoom persistently poison edible items in human farms or homes; was it seeking revenge for something?

Luo Mu hoped to gain some inspiration through conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Jones.

However, before that, there was another matter to attend to.

Luo Mu walked straight to an ordinary ranch in Pingdie Town that specialized in selling animals.

He would order a few chicks first; by the time he finished visiting Mr. and Mrs. Jones, the ordered chicks should have been delivered to the farm.

Room 209, Pingdie Town Public Hospital, was the ward for Mr. and Mrs. Jones, the owners of Jones Farm, one of the sources of crop supply for Pingdie Town.

Luo Mu, having just left Peter's ward, gently knocked on the door.

Unfortunately, regarding this incident, Peter had nothing but complaints about his bad luck and relief that he would still receive work injury compensation.

He knew nothing about the matter, so after chatting with him for a few sentences, Luo Mu left his ward.

A gentle voice, slightly lowered in pitch, sounded from within the ward; Luo Mu could faintly perceive that the voice lacked a bit of vigor.

"Please come in."

Luo Mu pushed open the ward door, and the familiar scent of disinfectant hit his nose; before his eyes were get-well gifts nearly filling the entire hallway of the room, showing that many people had come to visit Mr. and Mrs. Jones.

Luo Mu raised an eyebrow, carefully navigated around the gifts, and walked into the room.

His gaze turned to the two hospital beds inside the ward; on the left bed, the woman was sleeping soundly, showing no reaction to his arrival.

Sitting on the right hospital bed was a man with graying hair; he pressed a finger to his somewhat dry lips and whispered, "Please forgive us; my wife has been unable to sleep well due to the numbness caused by the toxin, and she has only just managed to fall asleep; if there is anything, please speak to me."

Luo Mu nodded slightly, placed the fruit basket aside, and sat in the chair beside the man's bed: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Jones; I am Luo Mu, the person who bought the land near Jones Farm."

Jones smiled: "So it's you; Peter mentioned you to me before."

Luo Mu nodded slightly and got straight to the point: "Actually, a few days ago, I also encountered the poisoning incident that you, Mr. Jones, and your wife suffered; the only difference is that I coincidentally discovered the presence of the toxin."

"Regarding the poisoner, I hope to obtain some clues from you."

"I see." Jones lowered his head and sighed: "At the time, my wife, I, and Peter were receiving an important purchaser; we invited them to taste the crops, but we never expected the crops had been smeared with toxin; not only us, but the purchaser also ended up in the hospital due to poisoning."

"All of this was far too sudden; in fact, even now, we have not the slightest clue as to why the other party would choose to poison our place."

"I am just as angry as you are, but I'm sorry, I cannot help you."

Jones's expression was full of regret.

"It's fine; thank you for taking the time to chat with me today."

Luo Mu shook his head and was about to bow and take his leave when he suddenly noticed the orange clothing tightly clutched in Mrs. Jones's hand; raising an eyebrow, he asked: "Mr. Jones, that is...?"

Following Luo Mu's line of sight, Jones realized with a sudden enlightenment: "Oh, that; it's our grandson's school uniform; he attends Grandma Ju Zi Academy, quite excellent, isn't he?"

"Our grandson often comes to play at the farm; my wife dotes on that child very much; perhaps for this reason, clutching her grandson's school uniform makes her feel at ease, which is why she was able to fall asleep."

(End of Chapter)