I Start with a Mysterious Island-Chapter 74: Grow Up Quickly, My Little Babies

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Grow Up Quickly, My Little Babies

The fruit tree saplings Lin Li had bought at the Flower and Bird Market were only tens of centimeters tall. Planted normally, they would need several years to grow big enough to bear fruit.

The shop owners at the Flower and Bird Market had even tried to persuade Lin Li to buy larger saplings, but he had refused.

Of course, they had no idea that Lin Li possessed a Mysterious Small Island where plants grew at an accelerated rate.

Of course, Lin Li had only experimented with vegetables before. He had no idea if these new fruit tree saplings would grow as rapidly as the white radishes he’d previously planted.

’Don’t let me down! Then again... even if these saplings don’t grow as fast as the radishes, I shouldn’t be too disappointed.

After all, for the vegetables to grow that quickly was already shocking enough. I can’t be too greedy.’

Muttering to himself, Lin Li picked up the large bag of saplings, shouldered his cheap but effective hoe, and headed for the north side of the island. He planned to plant the saplings there.

GRUNT...

Lin Li swung his hoe, digging holes in a clearing on the north side of the Mysterious Small Island.

Before long, sixteen small holes were neatly arranged in the ground.

He placed the sixteen saplings—two from each of the eight varieties—into the small holes and covered them with soil.

STOMP, STOMP, STOMP...

He stomped the freshly turned earth a few times to pack it down, then picked up a plastic bucket and went to the island’s edge to fetch water.

The hard work went much faster than usual. In just over twenty minutes, Lin Li had finished planting all the saplings.

Looking at the saplings he had planted and watered with his own hands, a fond smile appeared on Lin Li’s face.

"Grow up fast, my little darlings."

After planting the fruit tree saplings, Lin Li took out some cucumber, tomato, onion, eggplant, and cabbage seeds from another bag and planted them in his garden plot.

Having learned from his experience with the white radishes, he didn’t fill the entire plot this time.

Once everything was done, Lin Li left the Mysterious Small Island and returned to the real world.

When he reappeared at home, the power outage caused by the thunderstorm had been fixed by a crew from the electric company.

Lin Li had already been feeling a bit woozy from drinking at a classmate’s birthday party. After his recent physical labor on the Mysterious Small Island, an overwhelming sleepiness began to wash over him.

"The power’s back. Finally, a hot shower and then bed," Lin Li mumbled, fighting off his drowsiness. He quickly walked into his bedroom, grabbed his pajamas, and headed for the bathroom.

...

The next day, the thunderstorm that had raged all night finally stopped as the sun began to rise.

On this morning after the rain, raindrops clung to every branch. The lush leaves seemed even greener, the vibrant flowers even more brilliant.

Bathed in the golden rays of the rising sun, the leaves and flowers glowed with a magnificent light.

VRRROOOM...

A silver van turned a corner, driving at a steady speed along the road toward the Rongcheng North District Suburbs.

’Good thing the rain stopped,’ Lin Li thought. ’Otherwise, today’s Mutant Beast cleanup operation would’ve had to be postponed...’

Lin Li, already dressed in his camouflage fatigues, drove the van and soon entered the North District Suburbs.

The closer his van got to the meeting point announced by the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild, the more off-road vehicles he saw.

As the SUVs passed Lin Li’s van, passengers from both vehicles would turn to glance at one another through the windows.

Lin Li saw that the passengers in the SUVs were also wearing camo and guessed they were Exotic Beast Hunters like him, on their way to the Guild-organized operation.

VRRROOOM...

The driver slammed on the gas, and the imposing SUV shot forward, leaving Lin Li’s van far behind in an instant.

...

’Seriously? What’s there to be so smug about? It’s just an SUV. Once I make some real money, I’ll buy one too.’

Lin Li watched the spot where the speeding SUV had vanished. He didn’t try to race after it, just muttered under his breath and continued toward his destination at a steady pace.

Plenty of other SUVs passed Lin Li along the way.

When the passengers in those vehicles saw a young man in camo driving a silver van, they subconsciously assumed he wasn’t one of them—a fellow Hunter on his way to the Guild’s operation.

After all, while some Exotic Beast Hunters did venture into the wilds alone, they were a minority. Besides, they had never seen a fellow Hunter whose ride was a van.

If those people knew that Lin Li’s van was just a rental, their jaws would probably drop.

In the eyes of most Exotic Beast Hunters, if you could afford a pricey Spiritual Weapon, how could you not afford a simple car?

And even if you couldn’t afford to buy one, you should at least rent something decent! A van was just plain embarrassing.

...

The air was especially fresh after the heavy rain.

A deep breath of the crisp, cool air was exceptionally refreshing.

In the Rongcheng North District Suburbs, near the edge of the wilds, the parking area set up by the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild was filled with SUVs of varying prices, but basically none cost less than 500,000.

"Holy shit, who parked a van here? I thought they said no outsiders could park in this lot. How’d someone sneak their car in?"

As the members of an Exotic Beast Hunter squad got out of their vehicle, one of them spotted the silver van parked nearby and exclaimed in surprise to his teammates. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The silver van was obviously a cheap ride, costing no more than 50,000.

In a lot filled with cars worth anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions, the plain-looking van stuck out like a sore thumb.

"If we see any staff later, we should tell them someone snuck an unauthorized car in here," one of the Exotic Beast Hunters said.

"Let’s get going. It’s almost time, we can’t be late," the squad leader said to his teammates.

...

After parking his van, Lin Li walked to the meeting point designated by the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild.

As far as he could see, a small plaza several thousand square meters in size was crowded with hundreds of Exotic Beast Hunters. They were all dressed in camo, carrying backpacks, and holding various types of Spiritual Weapons.

’So many people,’ Lin Li muttered. ’I can’t believe this many Exotic Beast Hunters responded to the Guild’s call for a Mutant Beast cleanup.’ He then made his way toward a less crowded area nearby.

There was still some time before the Mutant Beast cleanup operation was scheduled to begin. Lin Li figured someone from the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild would come out to give a speech beforehand, so he decided to find a shady spot to wait.

...