Chapter 270: Universal Planting System (9)

Xie Yang also learned from the gossipers: true Gene Warriors are not afraid of radiation.

No wonder the other party wasn't wearing an Anti-Radiation Suit, daring to leave their skin exposed to the air.

This made her feel a bit envious.

It was a pity she was already past the age for gene modification; otherwise, she would have wanted to save up Star Coins to buy a Gene Modification Potion and try it out.

【Host, less than 1% of those who evolve into Gene Warriors through Gene Modification Potion succeed; the vast majority are failures.】

The Main System couldn't help but pour cold water on her:

【Moreover, 90% of those who succeed are wealthy people from the Capital Star. They usually perform various bodily enhancements before taking the potion.】

In other words, for poor people like those on the Garbage Star, who have no money to buy Strengthening Agents to enhance their bodies beforehand, even if they scraped together every penny to trade for a Gene Modification Potion, the chance of success is extremely slim.

This is why children on the Garbage Star like Xie Ting and Xiya basically all failed their evolution and became Half-Beast Cubs.

The truth of the matter is actually very cruel, but the poor will never know.

Even if they knew, so what?

Not being able to afford Strengthening Agents is a fact, after all.

Knowing full well that the evolution rate for an unenhanced body is extremely low, they still want to try, to make a dash for it, even if there is only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of hope.

Once successful, they could lead their family to achieve a leap in social class, move away from the Garbage Star, and live a wonderful life.

To put it bluntly, gene modification is a daily routine for the rich and a high-stakes gamble for the poor.

Xie Yang couldn't afford to sigh, because the garbage dump had arrived.

Her task today was to find some seeds; whether they could sprout or had any vitality didn't matter, as long as they were seeds.

The Zone 1 Garbage Dump was very different from District 31—

Perhaps to facilitate the loading and unloading of ecological waste and avoid large-scale radiation contamination, it wasn't open-air like District 31; beneath the massive roof, several Air Purifiers were at work.

As long as the workers here didn't leave the work area, it was fine even if they didn't wear Anti-Radiation Suits.

Furthermore, there was the only Shredder on the entire Garbage Star here, specifically used to shred ecological waste dumped from Habitable Stars.

Before seeing the Shredder, Xie Yang thought it was similar to a regular Machine Tool, until she saw a functional building the size of half a football field, with a display screen standing at the entrance, scrolling through the shredding status of various types of ecological waste:

Room 1#: 1 ton of withered vegetation being shredded, shredding level 3, total time required 20min, time elapsed 12min; Room 2#: 1 ton of expired pills being shredded, shredding level 4, total time required 45min, time elapsed 2min; Room 3#: 1 ton of culled livestock awaiting shredding, shredding level 5, total time required 6h, time elapsed 0; Room 4#...

Xie Yang clicked her tongue in wonder: so the Shredder wasn't a single machine as she had imagined, but consisted of over a dozen rooms, each responsible for different ecological waste.

For instance, Room 1 was responsible for shredding vegetation, which would be transported to Industrial Stars after being shredded into powder to manufacture fertilizer or Nutrient Solution for livestock; or for instance, Room 2 was responsible for shredding expired or discarded pills and agents, which would be re-refined and extracted after being shredded into liquid, leaving behind useful components for secondary use; or for instance, Room 3 was responsible for shredding livestock culled by Breeding Stars, which would be transported to Industrial Stars after being shredded into liquid to make Low-level Nutrient Solution.

Wait!

Seeing the two characters for "livestock," a flash of inspiration struck Xie Yang.

She politely asked a middle-aged man wearing an administrator's uniform: "Sir, may I ask if I can take some of the livestock that hasn't been shredded yet?"

"You mean the livestock scraps? Of course you can!"

The Nutrient Solution manufacturers wished they could be picked clean.

Using livestock scraps to make cheap Basic Nutrient Solution to sell to low-level Star Citizens was a losing business for Nutrient Solution companies; it was purely a poverty-alleviation measure advocated by the Military and the Federation. What truly brought profits to Nutrient Solution companies were the Advanced Nutrient Solutions with three digits or more.

"But what's the point of picking those up?" The other party glanced at Xie Yang, "They're all garbage parts culled by Breeding Stars. Not only do they stink to high heaven, but they also have a strange taste when eaten. Not many people are willing to eat them even when made into Nutrient Solution; if it weren't for the cheap price, who would buy it?"

Xie Yang smiled gratefully: "The child at home hasn't seen these before and is quite curious, so I wanted to pick some up to explain the composition of Nutrient Solution to him."

"So that's how it is." The other party suddenly realized, then sighed, "Our Garbage Star's education really can't compare to other planets... Alright then, there's a batch of livestock garbage just about to be shredded, if you want to pick some, hurry up."

"Thank you." Xie Yang thanked him, and not wanting to bother him twice, she asked in passing where the discarded seeds were, as she also wanted to scavenge some to take back.

"Seeds?" The other party stopped his steps as he was about to leave and looked at her a few more times, "Are you from District 31? Did Lao Luofu introduce you?"

Lao Luofu was the uncle who managed the garbage station in District 31.

Xie Yang didn't expect that the person she asked at random would happen to be a friend of the uncle manager; this luck was actually quite good.

"Yes, you must be the warm-hearted friend from Zone 1 that the uncle mentioned, right? Thank you so much!"

"Hehe, no need to be so polite." The other party scratched his head, "The discarded seeds arrived yesterday afternoon. Lao Luofu said someone wanted them, so I delayed the shredding until this afternoon. They're currently piled at the 10th Zone, which is closer to the machine rooms."

As he spoke, he pointed out a direction for Xie Yang and couldn't help but ask:

"You're just trying your luck because you heard some people say they can be planted, right? But that's all baseless rumors; the soil here is severely compacted and heavily polluted, they won't grow."

"Thank you! My child hasn't seen natural plants since he was born." Xie Yang shook her head with a bitter smile, "I don't have the ability to get real green plants, so I thought seeds would barely count, and I just wanted to scavenge some for him to play with. As for whether they can grow, I don't even dare to think about it."

Upon hearing this, the other party understood; everything was for the child!

Xie Yang obtained two useful pieces of information, thanked the other party with a smile, and holding her son, she first rushed to the preparation warehouse outside Room 3 to rescue a batch of livestock about to be shredded.

Her guess was correct: the livestock culled by Breeding Stars were exactly offal, hooves, bones, and similar scraps.

These discarded parts were even better than she had imagined.

Livestock on the Interstellar Plane, after generations of improvement, were extremely large in size; for instance, a common pig had over a hundred catties of offal alone, the hooves were large and thick, and the bones were attached with meat and tendons.

Besides pig offal, there were also beef and mutton innards; the scene was frighteningly like a crime scene, but it proved they were fresh.

Slaughtered at dawn, transported to the Zone 1 Garbage Dump in the morning, and then piled on the sterile conveyor belt in the low-temperature warehouse waiting to be sent into the machine room to be shredded, their freshness could rival those fresh food supermarkets on Earth.

These were actually classified as garbage?

Xie Yang almost wanted to put her hands on her hips and laugh wildly.

But now was not the time to be happy; she had to hurry up and pick them first.

Offal, hooves, bones... no matter what, she wanted it all!