Xie Sen's food event went very smoothly. The lucky audience members and invited friends ate with great satisfaction, almost wanting to stay on stage and eat dinner as well.
Many audience members, having learned from experience, brought dried meat, munching on it with relish, a bittersweet experience.
The event didn't end until almost 1 a.m., everyone stuffed. The audience members and friends thanked Xie Sen one by one and left satisfied.
Xie Sen and Maine returned to the apartment. Xie Sen rubbed his stomach: "No, I need to walk around to digest, otherwise I'll want to sit down whenever I see a chair, and my stomach will feel uncomfortable."
He had recently gotten used to eating smaller, more frequent meals, unlike when he first started eating vegetables and fruits and always wanted to eat until he was stuffed. The atmosphere was too good today, and everyone around him was eating so deliciously that he couldn't control himself.
Maine reached out and rubbed his stomach: "Do you want to take some digestive medicine?"
"No, medicine is bad for your health," Xie Sen shook his head, "Let's take a walk together."
The two walked from the apartment entrance to the contracted beast accommodation area, lingered for a while, and then slowly walked back.
After waking up from his nap, Mei made Xie Sen a glass of juice. Xie Sen sat on the living room sofa, drinking it while reading the news. The entire news page was dominated by food-related events.
He didn't read the official news, but clicked directly into the most popular post. He read it quickly; most of the replies were copied and pasted exclamations.
"I've never seen so many edible plants before!"
"So many edible plants! I want to eat them!"
"Can someone kindly describe the taste? My imagination is so limited, I can't even picture it! Ugh!"
"I've decided, starting today, I'll be watching the live stream every day. I'll definitely win the next event!"
"I'm begging the streamer to sell food! I'm greedy, I'll pay for it! How much do you want?"
"Yeah, if I'd known they were providing a venue for lunch, I would have booked a table right away."
Xie Sen scrolled through a few pages of replies, watching the number of comments rise, but didn't continue. He knew what the netizens would say even without reading.
He closed the post, and his bracelet rang. It was a call from Jie. He had a guess in his mind and answered.
"Ah Sen, did I disturb your rest?" Jie was very polite.
"No, is it about forming contracts?" Xie Sen asked directly.
Jie laughed, "Yeah, I'm still thinking about how to bring it up. Is now a good time?"
Xie Sen glanced at the contracted beasts in the distance outside the door, "I'll ask first and get back to you later."
Jie was a little confused, "Ask whom?" He immediately replied, "Okay."
Xie Sen contacted Mu Lin. Someone from the military had come to see him and wanted to try forming contracts with the contracted beasts. He told him, "Can I form contracts with the contracted beasts I brought back from the lab?"
These contracted beasts weren't brought back by him, and it would be difficult to explain if they were formed. So he asked Mu Lin first. If it wasn't possible, he would have to separate them from the previous contracted beasts when the military came.
Mu Lin: "Just go through the normal procedures to form bonds. Their mental state is too poor; forming bonds is a good option for them. The military personnel have high combat power, so the success rate of forming bonds is also high. You arrange it; it would be best if all of them successfully formed bonds."
Xie Sen: "All of them? Okay, Jie will definitely be happy to know."
Mu Lin said: "These past two days, A Luo and I have been making plans, also preparing to contact the military. Let's try with the Abben family first, then contact the other legions. The Abben family alone is too conspicuous."
Xie Sen was only thinking about making a deal with the Abben family and hadn't thought too much about it. When Mu Lin mentioned it, he immediately reacted: "Yes, I will contact every legion."
After asking Mu Lin, Xie Sen contacted Jie: "Have you chosen your people? I have time this afternoon."
"All chosen, ten in total," Jay said excitedly. "They're all A-rank beast masters. Do you have their contracted beasts?"
Xie Sen replied, "Then have them come over this afternoon."
Jay led ten officers into the room, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the contracted beasts lying around. "Ah Sen, I brought them."
Xie Sen glanced behind him; there were exactly ten people, all dressed in military uniforms, with physiques that clearly indicated exceptional skill, and all remarkably handsome.
But then he thought, there weren't any unattractive people here, just varying degrees of good looks.
The live stream chat exploded instantly: "Ahhh, so handsome, I'm drooling!"
"His aura is just too good! Streamer, can you help me get his contact information? And while you're at it, can you ask if he's single?"
"The guy on the right is mine, don't even try to take him." It wasn't
until someone sent him a watermelon rain that Xie Sen heard the gift announcement and remembered he was live streaming. Black Panther had probably turned it on that morning and hadn't turned it off.
He was used to being live streaming all the time, and recently, without worrying about being seen eating, he felt relaxed and hadn't bothered to turn off the stream.
He glanced at the comments on his bracelet and couldn't help but laugh: "Okay, I'll ask around for you guys later. I'll end the stream for now and tell you the results next time."
"No!!! Don't turn off the stream."
"Keep streaming! Why turn it off?"
"Are you going to form a contract? We've seen it before, keep streaming!"
Before Xie Sen could even press the end button, the audience had already flooded the chat with comments, making his eyes dizzy: "Sorry, it's inconvenient to stream."
Looking at the black screen, the viewers in the live stream frantically spammed 'crying' emojis in the chat channel, and soon started talking about the handsome young man they had just seen, and were speculating about why the stream had to be turned off.
Although the live stream was off, the popularity of the live stream room was still very high. The new viewers were confused: "What's going on? Are you waiting for the stream to start?"
"Come on, let a kind person give you a lesson..."
When the ten officers behind Jie saw the contracted beasts, their tense expressions all showed excitement.
Xie Sen pointed to his right and laughed, "Let's follow procedure and test the synchronization rate first."
Maine had already set up the testing device. There were ten different contracted beasts beside him, watching Jay and the others. Opposite them were the other contracted beasts, lying down and discussing their masters.
"Looks pretty good, quite muscular."
"Let's guess who will successfully form a contract? Whoever is right will shield Asen from the sun tomorrow!"
Xie Sen couldn't help but laugh. To ensure the shadow completely covered him, the contracted beasts that shielded him from the sun usually stayed very close to him. The contracted beasts changed their methods every day to choose the lucky beast.
The synchronization rate test was very fast. After Xie Sen read out the names of the people and their corresponding contracted beasts, the officers stepped forward and stood in their positions. A few seconds later, the synchronization results were displayed on the monitor. The people and beasts stepped aside, and the next group moved on.
Jedu was stunned, and the ten officers stared with fervent eyes at their contracted beasts that matched their own beast markings. One of them couldn't help but exclaim, "They're so smart!"
Xie Sen seized the opportunity and said, "Contracted beasts are highly intelligent. If you want to form contracts, treat them as true partners."
All ten officers had a synchronization rate above 65, with two exceeding 75. Xie Sen knew from the results that these men were definitely elites.
In the end, two officers successfully formed contracts, both with beasts brought from the laboratory: a gray giant wolf and a giant tiger.
The other eight officers looked somewhat somber, reluctant to part with their contracted beasts.
Jay, however, was delighted; two out of ten had successfully formed contracts, a remarkably high probability.
Xie Sen stroked one of the contracted beasts about to leave with its owner, instructing the two owners, "You should have seen the news; they were rescued from the lab. They recently underwent surgery and haven't fully recovered physically or mentally. You must take good care of them."
The two nodded solemnly. Xie Sen added, "If you have any problems, you can contact the Contracted Beast Research Institute. Dean Mu knows them very well. If they want to come back to their friends, you can bring them anytime."
The two said gratefully, "Thank you."
Xie Sen smiled and rubbed the two's necks. "Go say goodbye to your friends."
The two darted into the group of contracted beasts, their voices mingling together. Black Panther and Big Tiger remained as domineering as ever: "If you get bullied, I'll bring my brothers to get revenge for you!"
Xie Sen thought about the film they had watched together yesterday afternoon and deeply felt that the shows that needed to be banned were far more than just family dramas.
Over the next two days, Xie Sen contacted the leaders of various legions, including the Yaben family, asking them to select people to try forming contracts.
Representatives from the military came one after another, and five more contracted beasts successfully found owners, all of them brought back from the laboratory.
Eleven contracted beasts brought back from the laboratory still hadn't found owners, but fortunately, Xie Sen spent most of his time in his apartment, so they were in relatively good spirits.
Mu Lin contacted him: "There are also various special units not belonging to the legions, like the units to which Zhao Hao and Qi Shao belong. Those selected are the strongest soldiers from each legion. I'll contact them."
Xie Sen said: "Okay, but I don't have time tomorrow; I have to go back to school to get my graduation certificate in the morning."
Mu Lin: "Okay, I'll contact them first and have them select people. I'll come to your place the day after tomorrow."
In the morning, Xie Sen sat in the back seat of the shuttle, thinking about getting his graduation certificate today, feeling somewhat excited. In the modern world, he hadn't even graduated before the apocalypse and had never even seen a graduation certificate.
He carefully read the notice sent by the teacher: "After receiving the graduation certificates, there will be a group photo. What about you guys?"
Maine: "The same arrangement for everyone."
Xie Sen rested his hand on the back of the seat in front of him: "Then after taking the photo in class, we'll find a place on campus to take a commemorative photo together?"
Maine: "Okay."
After the shuttle landed in the school parking lot, Xie Sen and Maine put on their hats and sunglasses, covering most of their long faces. When they reached the gate, they saw that the school gate was full of people, all of whom were stopped behind the activity fence. The school's security check was much stricter than usual.
Xie Sen pushed up his glasses, thinking to himself that it was good that he was prepared. He and Maine swiped their wristbands to enter the school gate.
Maine took his hand and led him to the botany classroom. There were also many people at the classroom door, all discussing 'when will Xie Shen arrive?'
Maine frowned and sat down with Xie Sen in the last row. There were more than a dozen people in the classroom. They were discussing something, but when they saw the two of them, their eyes suddenly lit up after exchanging glances.
Others weren't familiar with the botany department, but they were. These two looked like strangers at first glance, but after a moment's thought, it wasn't hard to guess their identities.
Xie Sen rested his chin on his hand: "Go back to your classroom, you'll be late. I'm fine, at most I'll get a crowd."
The botany department was the worst department, and its classrooms were in the most remote location, at least a fifteen-minute walk from the information science department. He already knew he would be recognized by his classmates, so he and Maine arrived almost right on time. It was almost nine o'clock, and every class received their graduation certificates at nine o'clock.
Maine glanced around the classroom and squeezed his hand: "Contact me if you need anything."
Xie Sen nodded: "Okay."
Maine left the classroom, and a lion's roar followed, causing a chorus of exclamations. Xie Sen looked at the window high on the wall, where the silhouette of a flying lion beast flashed by.
The people outside immediately shouted towards the classroom: "Xie Shen!"
"Which class are you in? What time is it? Why aren't you back in the classroom? Don't you want your graduation certificate?" A stern voice rang out, and soon the crowd outside the door dispersed, and the teacher entered the classroom.
教室里的同学都朝后扭着脑袋看谢森,全都没看老师.
谢森见到老师,为表尊敬,取下帽子和眼镜,对着同学们笑了笑,没说话,看向老师.
"哇,真的是谢神!"
"啊啊啊,和谢神一个班,真是太有面子了!"
老师拍了下手,看着谢森笑了笑,然后看向其余学生:"安静!"等教室安静下来后,老师道,"今天能到这里的同学,都很棒,我要特别表扬一下谢森同学,他所有的考核项目,全部都是优秀."
掌声让谢森不好意思起来,他实践考核其实什么都没做,全靠马群.
他心里还有些庆幸,还好前身是植物系,要是其余的系他恐怕拿不到毕业证了.听了老师的话他才想起来,这里的毕业证,综合分不合格,是拿不到的.
而找工作没有毕业证,会很麻烦.
他手指无意识在在桌面上写下工作两个字,他好像一不小心成了无业游民?也不对,至少还有直播间和农场,应该算是创业者.
不过一切进行的太顺利,他没有什么感受到创业的艰难和欣喜,有种不踏实的感觉.
老师继续在前面说话:"毕业证电子档稍后会发到你们的手环,现在我来发纸质毕业证,这是给你们留作纪念的."
毕业证发的很快,整个班拿毕业证的只有十七个人,谢森最后被老师念到名字,他接过毕业证时,老师满脸欣慰,说了很多夸赞和鼓励的话.
终于夸完,他拍了下谢森肩膀,对教室的学生招手:"走,我们去拍毕业照."
毕业照的地点离教室不远,不过更偏,是学校的一角,墙边还长着两株高大的树木,在植物稀少的世界,已经算是不错了,算是植物系活动范围的标志.
Teacher: "Stand together, I'll take a group photo first."
"I want to stand next to Xie Shen!" a student immediately shouted, running towards Xie Sen. After a couple of steps, someone pulled him back. "That's my spot!"
Xie Sen looked at the students pulling and tugging around him, bewildered and helpless.
The teacher scolded: "Didn't you know Xie Sen is pregnant? Don't play around, be careful not to bump into him!"
The students quieted down, obediently lining up according to their grades, with Xie Sen at the center. Finally, the group photo was taken.
"Alright, now you can take photos freely. Xie Sen, come and take a photo with the teacher," the teacher said with a smile.
Xie Sen didn't refuse and took a photo with the teacher. As soon as it was finished, his classmates crowded around, vying to take photos with him. Xie Sen was a little overwhelmed; he didn't remember any of them and didn't want to take photos with them.
The teacher stepped in front of him, saying, "I told you, don't push." He turned to Xie Sen, "Xie Sen, who do you want to take a picture with?"
Xie Sen couldn't say a single name, so he simply raised his hand to his forehead and frowned, "Teacher, I'm not feeling well, I want to go home and rest first."
"Then you should go home quickly, do you want me to take you?" the teacher asked hurriedly.
"No need, thank you, teacher," Xie Sen turned and ran back, waving goodbye. "Goodbye, teacher."
He put on his hat and sunglasses, ran to the back of the teaching building, looked at the school map, and headed towards Class 1 of Information Science. The Information Science department had many students, many top students, and many people coming to collect their diplomas, so the diploma distribution process was definitely much slower than in the Plant Sciences department.
If the teacher talked about career planning, it would be even slower.
Xie Sen decided to wait for someone at the Maine classroom door.
There were very few people on campus at this time; few departments finished as quickly as the Plant Sciences department, almost everyone was distributing diplomas, and there were few people on the road.
After walking for a few minutes, Xie Sen heard a shout behind him. He turned around, and a somewhat familiar, refined-looking male quickly approached: "Student Xie, can I take a picture with you?"
Xie Sen hesitated for a moment. The male said, "We're in the same class. If the teacher hadn't stopped me, I would have caught up with you already. I'm a fan of your live stream and really want to take a picture with you."
Xie Sen thought back for a moment; no wonder he looked familiar. He had indeed seen this person during the group photo earlier.
Since they were classmates and he had come all this way, he nodded, "Okay."
The male approached and smiled, "Thanks." He stood next to Xie Sen, holding a camera in his right hand: "Look at the lens, one, two, ah..."
A shrill scream suddenly came from beside his ear. Xie Sen jumped to the side in fright, rubbing his ear and looking at the male in surprise. He saw a sunflower seed embedded in the male's left arm, the seed piercing his arm like a knife, and soon a lot of blood flowed out. His hand was bent, holding a syringe.
Xie Sen was shocked. Seeing his posture, he immediately understood. When taking the picture, the male was holding the camera in his right hand, but his left hand was making small movements behind his back, which Xiao Kui had discovered.
At this moment, Xiao Kui's branches were about the length of his arm, standing on Xie Sen's shoulder, her flowers facing the male, spitting out sunflower seeds with a "biubiubiu" sound, each seed with an exceptionally sharp momentum.
The male, recovering from the pain, dodged while summoning his contracted beast, a giant lynx with black hide and a massive, intimidating form.
As the beast appeared, he drew a gleaming silver blade and donned a helmet.
Xie Sen paused in summoning Chili Pepper, tapping his bracelet twice to contact Maine and Qi Shao.
No sooner had he finished than the giant lynx and the male attacked simultaneously. The male, struck in the shoulder by a melon seed, faltered, and the lynx pounced, trapping Xie Sen in its shadow. Gritting his
teeth, Xie Sen summoned two vines: one to bind him and pull him backward at high speed, the other forming a net to block the lynx in mid-air.
The vines were too thin, and the pulling motion too fast; his ribs ached from the constriction. The giant lynx swung its claws, tearing a huge gash in the vine net. Xie Sen immediately summoned three potatoes and smashed them down on the lynx's head from the highest point he could reach.
"Get out of the way!" the male roared. The lynx tilted its head, one potato hitting its side of the head, the other two missing.
Xie Sen's brows furrowed even more. This guy had definitely studied his attack methods carefully.
"Go!" the male shouted, glancing behind him. The lynx tore through the vines and leaped down, turning to run without thinking. The male bent his knees and jumped towards its back.
Before he could even jump, he was bound by the vines. With a flick of his wrist, a dagger appeared. He twisted his wrist, severing the vines, and jumped onto the lynx's back. The lynx immediately began to slither like a snake, dodging Xiao Kui's attacks.
Xie Sen sneered, "Trying to run?" He quickly exchanged plants in the system.
The giant lynx was incredibly fast, so when a row of tall trees suddenly appeared in front of it, no matter how much the male shouted or how wide its eyes were, it couldn't stop.
A huge crash resounded, and the giant lynx, covered in blood, collapsed to the ground. The male on its back, propelled by inertia, was thrown from its back onto the tree, instantly falling unconscious and sliding down the trunk.
"Ah Sen!" Maine jumped down from the flying lion beast, grabbing Xie Sen's shoulder and examining him. "Are you hurt?"
Xie Sen rubbed his ribs: "No."
Long Teng jumped down from the flying dragon beast: "Ah Sen, are you alright?" Xie Sen replied that he was fine.
"Damn it, where did these people come from? How dare they attack Xie Shen?"
"Are they crazy? Go and grab him!"
Xie Sen turned around and saw more than a dozen tall males jumping off their contracted beasts. Two of them, still riding their contracted beasts, rushed directly to the unconscious male.
"Wow! It's a potato!"
"Hahaha, a big sunflower seed, delicious!"
Xie Sen snapped out of his daze. There was a sunflower seed right at his feet. He was about to bend down to pick it up when a male quickly snatched it away. After picking it up, the male darted off and went to the side to peel and eat it with a crunching sound.
Long Teng was also crunching two sunflower seeds in his hand.
The people who found the potatoes were overjoyed and immediately put them in their backpacks. There were still two potatoes on the ground. A few people who were a step behind quickly grabbed them. The dozen or so people split into two groups, each grabbing one. No one wanted to give up, and the potatoes rolled back and forth on the ground. After
a while, someone saw that they had no chance, so they picked up the vines on the ground, picked one up, and took a bite.
Xie Sen quickly said, "You can't eat this."
Maine frowned and pulled Xie Sen away from the group. "Ignore them," he said, touching Xie Sen's ribs. "Are you injured here?"
Xie Sen replied, "When I was dodging the giant lynx, I wasn't fast enough and used vines. I got a little strangled by the vines, but it's not serious."
Maine pursed his lips and slid his hand to Xie Sen's abdomen. "Does your stomach hurt?"
Xie Sen shook his head. "No, don't worry, I avoided my abdomen."
At this moment, two classmates dragged the male over and threw him in front of Xie Sen. "Xie Shen, what should we do?"
Maine coldly looked at the man on the ground. Just as he lifted his foot, Xie Sen grabbed him. "I've notified Qi Shao. He's in my class. There's definitely something wrong. Let the military investigate."
Maine withdrew his foot. "I'll take you to the hospital."
"Maine, the graduation certificates haven't all been issued yet," said the male who came with Xie Sen.
A military shuttle stopped not far away. More and more students gathered around, but none dared to approach. Almost all the top students from the Information Science and Combat Science departments were there.
Qi Shao strode over with his men, casually kicking the unconscious male: "One?"
Xie Sen nodded, pointing to a tree in the distance: "And his contracted beast."
Qi Shao looked him over: "Is he alright?"
Xie Sen shook his head: "He's fine."
Qi Shao gestured with his chin towards the person on the ground, and his men behind him lifted him up. Qi Shao glanced at the onlookers: "You guys go back first, I'll go find the principal and ask about the situation."
Qi Shao left two men behind and went to find the principal.