Sun Chonglai had a profound understanding of the notion that fortune and disaster come hand in hand.

He originally thought that after years of exploration, he could reactivate the Alien buried deep underground, only to have a group of outside enhancers come and snatch it away.

When these people met with disaster, Sun Chonglai led a team to settle in Jade City, intending to transform it into a mobile Mushroom Castle. However, he found it completely unfeasible; the consumption of explosive mushrooms was too fast, and they simply couldn't be sustained.

Later, Jade City was taken over by the Wasteland Development Company, and Sun Chonglai also joined this mysterious company.

Since then, the development of Mushroom Forest has far exceeded any previous period.

Not long ago, Sun Chonglai made the secret improvement of the giant mushrooms public, and Mushroom House immediately became a focal point of attention for all parties.

In hurricanes and wars, Mushroom House played a huge role, helping many people survive.

But now, Sun Chonglai has encountered a new problem.

Two of the Black Hand Mushrooms had undergone peculiar changes.

They grew a lot of fluff on their mushroom caps, their bodies turned white, they grew taller, and their movements became more agile and brisk.

Both of these Mushroom People worked on the Breeding Platform, and they were the oldest two in the Black Hand Mushrooms, both 14 and a half years old.

They would emit a white toxic fog, inhaled from the haze of the Dead Sea.

Although this would not poison the Black Hand Mushrooms, they very much disliked it and kept far away from it.

However, these two didn't mind at all; they spent their days standing on the deck, puffing and blowing clouds of smoke.

"This job is really boring; every day it's either with these smelly fish or messing with shells, leaving an odd smell all over me."

"It's genuinely stinky."

"Let's go find some fun."

"You say."

"Dare to jump into the Dead Sea, to show those youngsters around?"

"If you dare, I dare."

The first white Black Hand Mushroom leapt from the deck.

The other one, without a second word, followed suit.

The Black Hand Mushrooms on deck were so frightened that they frantically screamed for help.

Sun Chonglai jumped into the Dead Sea to save them but found that these two kids were acting as if nothing had happened. They were adeptly backstroking in the water of the Dead Sea.

Black Hand Mushrooms could not enter the Dead Sea.

Entering the sea, they would quickly become unconscious, rapidly dying due to the erosion of the high-concentration Death Light force.

But these albinized Black Hand Mushrooms were not afraid at all.

Therefore, Sun Chonglai took them to Maria Hospital.

Doctor Da Vinci examined the two and said, "They are no longer Black Hand Mushrooms. Judging by their physiological characteristics, they have become White Smoke Mushrooms."

"This is a type of Guangna Species fungal life, mostly found on some Floating Islands. They emit poisonous white smoke, different from the poison of giant mushrooms; they can control whether to attack other lifeforms with the toxic smoke."

"Exhaling and inhaling smoke is a way of metabolism for White Smoke Mushrooms. They like the stimulating taste and smoke, which makes them excited and happy, so the haze of the Dead Sea is also something they enjoy."

"White Smoke Mushrooms have variable personalities, with many records of helping and killing, a life community that is not very stable."

That's when Sun Chonglai found out.

One of the evolutionary directions of Black Hand Mushrooms turned out to be White Smoke Mushrooms.

He then asked, "Doctor, over the past few decades, I've seen many Black Hand Mushrooms born and die, but why have I never seen White Smoke Mushrooms appear?"

The Mechanical Doctor speculated, "It's probably due to the supply of Light Seeds and changes in the environment."

"Life evolution requires a lot of energy, and Light Seeds are essential. In the past, the Black Hand Mushrooms lived mainly inside the Mushroom Forest, although very safe, they lost the environment that could bring about change."

"White Smoke Mushrooms also usually appear along the edges of the Dead Sea. They have a high tolerance for Death Light and will enter the shallow areas of the Dead Sea to exercise themselves."

Sun Chong thought for a moment.

That made sense.

In the past, the Mushroom Forest was poor and short on Light Seeds; it was more about helping the weak or injured Black Hand Mushrooms.

Black Hand Mushrooms have a lifespan of 10 to 15 years, and Sun Chong once tried to prolong their lives with Light Seeds, but to no avail.

The life cycle would not change because of the Light Seeds.

Now, the difference was that, normally, Black Hand Mushrooms had the opportunity to obtain Light Seeds as rewards and supplements.

As the person in charge of the Mushroom Forest, Sun Chonglai had received a startup fund of 300 Light Seeds from the chairman, Zhou Yi, very early on.

Subsequently, as the company's profitability climbed, and after the Breeding Platform trained Bone Fish deliverymen, the chairman gave him a fixed wage to distribute to the Black Hand Mushrooms responsible for the labor there; for every deliveryman trained, there would be a reward of 20 Light Seeds...

After the creation of Mushroom House, Sun Chonglai applied for a mushroom research and development fund.

Zhou Yi was generous, approving 5000 Light Seeds for Sun Chonglai to manage freely, promising that once Mushroom House was commercialized and sold, Mushroom Forest would receive 5% of the patent royalty.

Therefore, for each of the 33 Black Hand Mushrooms working on the frontline of the Breeding Platform, Sun Chonglai directly gave out 20 Light Seeds each, but since the Mushroom Forest operates independently, the outside world was unaware.

Abundant energy and nutrition, suitable environments, were the birthplace of two White Smoke Mushrooms.

However, the joy brought by evolution did not last long.

Sun Chonglai soon found that the White Smoke Mushrooms were much harder to manage than Black Hand Mushrooms.

These two guys, named Bai Yi and Bai Er by him, had their own thoughts and opinions, and could be lazy and deceitful, smarter than the Black Hand Mushrooms.

But managing them was particularly exhausting.

They did have their merits though.

The White Smoke Mushrooms were strong, daring to take risks, capable of brief activity in the Dead Sea, and had the ability to spray toxic smoke for self-defense.

Sun Chonglai told them not to enter the Dead Sea casually to avoid danger.

But as soon as they heard this, they became more eager, often sneaking into the Dead Sea to swim and walk, to show their bravery and to boast to the Black Hand Mushrooms.

One day, Bai Yi and Bai Er took the initiative to find Sun Chonglai.

"Lord, we have a grievance."

"What grievance?"

"The Mushroom Forest is strong, but it doesn't get enough Light Seed allocation; the company even takes our explosive mushrooms, it's unfair!"

Bai Yi called out loudly, "Let's be independent! After independence, we will be stronger!"

Sun Chonglai calmly asked, "Then after we become independent, how would we obtain Light Seeds?"

"Explosive mushrooms, we can sell them to the company!"

"What if the company doesn't buy them?"

"Why wouldn't they…"

"If the company doesn't buy them, our explosive mushrooms will be completely unable to be converted into Light Seeds."

Sun Chonglai then asked, "In other areas, how will we profit?"

Bai Yi said, "We can continue to work on the Breeding Platform."

"What's the difference between that and staying with the company?"

"We can grow Mushroom Houses and sell them to other cities."

"What if other cities send Guangna Species to seize them?"

"…"

Bai Yi was at a loss for words.

Bone Man told them, "It's good that you're thinking. Many things, however, you probably have not fully understood."

"The world is not as peaceful as it seems, the recent Honor War caused the death of thousands in Shell City and Steel Refining City. You accompanied me to the disaster relief there, and saw the situation with your own eyes."

"The reason why it's calm here is because the company shelters us from the storm, and the chairman's deterrence. We have the protection of powerful Building Life and the Breaking Ground Light Explosions that can be dropped from the high seas, making even the Governor Duke Destructive bow down to negotiate."

"Wherever we go, everyone is very kind to us. Not because each of them is good, or because they fear us, but because we represent the Wasteland Development Company."

Bai Yi said unconvinced, "Our Mushroom Forest also has Mushroom Houses not inferior to Jade Soup. Why does the chairman treat humans better than us, he's biased!"

Sun Chonglai responded with silence, "The inventors' share of patents is 5%. This is consistent. I understand your dissatisfaction, but status is won by oneself. We currently have Mushroom Houses and explosive mushrooms, but humans have Jade Soup, Desperate Machines, and Flame Cups as well, 2:3, we are slightly worse off."

"Another point is that there are more humans, and there is strength in numbers."

"So, we need to continue to work hard, to increase our influence, add to our inventions and creations, so that one day Mushroom Forest can become the most important part of the company."

Bai Er had a different opinion.

"Lord, don't you still have that thing? I think it's time to bring it out, and we'll be on equal footing. We know you have planted Stone Bag Mushrooms in building no. 5 in Jade City, and with the catalysis of the Light Seeds, they will grow extraordinarily huge."

"That Stone Bag Mushroom, might it possibly hatch the legendary Angel of Death, right?"

Sun Chonglai stroked his jaw bone.

These two kids were indeed much sharper than the Black Hand Mushrooms.

He said, "I need to observe a little more, don't spread the word about this yet, because the Stone Bag Mushroom experiment is not over."

Since they knew, Sun Chonglai simply involved them in the cultivation experiment, taking them to building no. 5 every day to observe and record.

Now that Stone Bag Mushroom was growing bigger, occasionally shaking with accompanying localized cracks – such strong signs of life had never been seen before.

Sun Chonglai wanted to move it to the hospital for inspection.

But was dissuaded by the two White Smoke Mushrooms.

"Lord, please don't, we can sense that the creature inside is in a crucial period of growth, it's also a mushroom. It's best not to disturb it."

Then all he could do was consult Doctor Da Vinci for some medical advice on incubation.

…

Sun Chonglai finished speaking and smiled, "Chairman, that's the situation. Before, I had these two little guys tell you directly, as you see, behind your back they were filled with righteous indignation, but now in front of you, they can't even clearly express themselves."

The two White Smoke Mushrooms stood behind Sun Chonglai, heads bowed in silence.

Zhou Yi said with interest, "Come on, let's go take a look at that Stone Bag Mushroom."

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