"Mutation?"
Han Ning's expression shifted as he aligned his palm once more with the tomato seedling.
An emerald-green light pillar enveloped it.
[Nature's Blessing (Basic) Proficiency +1, Current 33/200]
Whoosh~
The moment the green light permeated, the red glow at the tomato's roots flared like flames doused in oil, suddenly intensifying.
It emitted a warm yet peculiar crimson radiance, pulsing rhythmically like breath.
The verdant plant trembled slightly, growing upward by about five or six centimeters until it reached just over 80 centimeters before stopping.
Then, several immature tomatoes on the branches—originally small and green—seemed to have an invisible hand press fast-forward.
Their color visibly shifted from green to pale yellow, then rapidly transitioned to orange...
"Maturing? This fast?"
Just as the hue began shifting toward ripe red, it abruptly halted, as if paused.
"?"
Han Ning's gaze dropped, noticing the soil around the tomato's roots was losing moisture and color at an alarming rate.
The once-moist cultivation soil cracked and dried in an instant, all its water evidently sucked dry by the plant, leaving behind lifeless, parched earth.
"Did it drain all the nutrients from the soil, stopping the transformation once there was nothing left?"
Han Ning understood.
He dug out the dry soil and hastily grabbed several bags of nutrient-rich cultivation soil scavenged from other households.
Tearing open a bag, he quickly filled the pot with the dark, organic-rich soil, carefully replanting the tomato's roots.
Sure enough.
With the new soil, the tomatoes' color continued changing—though only deepening slightly from pale yellow.
Within seconds, the soil beneath the plant dehydrated, grayed, and hardened again.
The fruits remained stubbornly yellow, showing no signs of ripening.
"Again!" Han Ning kept replacing the dry soil with fresh batches.
Each time, the soil dried even faster.
Bag after bag was depleted.
Finally, after exhausting nearly all his reserves—dozens of pounds of soil—the desiccation slowed to a more normal pace when he added the last batch.
The tomato plant ceased its voracious consumption.
Several fist-sized, plump tomatoes, so ripe they seemed ready to burst with juice, hung heavily from the branches, exuding an indescribable allure.
Most striking was the faint, gauzy crimson mist rising from each fruit's surface—not like vapor, but rather an energy seeping from the tomatoes themselves, swirling mysteriously around them.
"Success? Is this the enhanced effect of Nature's Blessing...?"
Han Ning swallowed hard, reaching out to carefully pluck the most luscious-looking tomato by its stem.
The moment it separated from the plant—
"Plop~"
A substantial crimson mist gushed out from the severed stem of the tomato.
The red mist rapidly spread, enveloping an area of over one meter around Han Ning, forming a faint red haze.
"Hissss!"
Snowflake, who had been intently watching the tomato, couldn't resist sniffing the air.
After inhaling a trace amount of the crimson mist, Snowflake suddenly let out a loud sneeze, its body shaking violently as a human-like confusion appeared on its face.
"Growl!"
It instinctively retreated several steps, distancing itself from the mist-covered area, staring uneasily at the tomato in its master's hand.
Han Ning himself didn't feel particularly uncomfortable, only noticing that the red mist carried a peculiar scent—a faint mixture of post-rain soil and some spicy plant.
Why is this tomato like chili peppers, capable of driving Snowflake away?
He looked down at the mist-emitting tomato in his hand, then at the retreating Snowflake, his thoughts racing:
"This mist... Snowflake's strong reaction clearly shows it's harmful or extremely uncomfortable for it, but it doesn't seem to affect me much? Is it a difference in constitution, or do I have some immunity as the Druid who cultivated it?"
He decided to first test the mist itself.
Waving his hand through it, the mist would disperse with the air currents but quickly reform around the tomato within a certain range.
"Hmm? It seems to have cohesion?" Han Ning had an idea and carefully placed the tomato on the ground in a corner of the balcony.
Something magical happened.
The spreading red mist actually behaved like a miniature "smoke generator," maintaining a stable, faint red mist circle with a radius of about one meter around the tomato as its center.
The mist no longer spread randomly but formed a relatively stable hemispherical zone.
"It can create a fixed-range mist zone..."
"But what exactly is this mist for?"
He wasn't in a hurry to eat the tomato, wanting first to understand the purpose of the red mist.
"Snowflake, come here." Han Ning beckoned, pointing at the red mist zone. "Approach it slowly and see how it feels."
"Growl?"
Snowflake clearly resisted but, under Han Ning's command, cautiously moved forward, its nose twitching continuously as it inched toward the edge of the faint red mist.
Just as the tip of its nose touched the thin layer of red mist.
"Growl!" Snowflake instantly pulled back its head, sneezing again, its eyes once more showing strong aversion and discomfort.
From the emotions transmitted through their soul link, it seemed the mist made it feel extremely "pungent" or "nauseous," instinctively wanting to stay away.
It scratched the ground irritably with its claws.
"Not physical harm, more like mental interference or stimulation..."
Observing Snowflake's reaction, Han Ning made a preliminary judgment.
"This red mist seems to create an area that causes strong discomfort or repulsion in other creatures? Like some kind of... biological repeller?"
This discovery invigorated him.
What if this red mist could drive away monsters? Like... those annoying Mist Zone Monsters?
Unfortunately, he couldn't test it now. He'd have to wait until tomorrow in the Mist Zone for a proper experiment.
Next was the tomato's flesh.
He carefully broke off a small piece about the size of a fingernail.
The flesh was translucent, resembling carnelian, with abundant juice exuding an extraordinary sweetness several times more intense than ordinary tomatoes, mingled with that faintly spicy, earthy scent of the Crimson Mist.
"The Crimson Mist doesn't affect me, so this fruit should be safe too, right?"
To be cautious, Han Ning opened his mouth and took a small bite of the flesh.
The flesh tasted slightly sour at first, then an indescribable, refreshing sweetness swept across his taste buds, surpassing any fruit he'd ever tasted.
However, this sweetness lasted less than a second.
Boom!
"Damn it!"
An indescribable dizziness surged from his stomach straight to the top of his head.
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