Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

"Bro, you... how are you here?" Lin Zhou jumped, startled to see Lin Mo.

Lin Mo looked at his cousin’s bruised and swollen face, then at the cuts on Chen Nan’s face, and finally at Ning Xuan, who was watching him with a detached expression. A bad feeling immediately washed over him.

Just then, as if remembering something, Lin Zhou rushed over and grabbed Lin Mo’s arm. "Bro, Uncle told me you found a really powerful Contractor. I just pissed her off. Can you...?" Lin Zhou wanted Lin Mo to find someone to help smooth things over.

But before he could finish, Lin Mo violently flung his arm away. Lin Mo looked at Ning Xuan, about to kneel and beg for forgiveness, but she stopped him with a single glance.

"Senior Brother Lin, long time no see! When did you get back?" a pretty, vivacious girl from Huangfu Xinyue’s group of friends asked, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Lin Mo.

"Have you found a Contractor, Senior Brother Lin? I haven’t heard anything about you forming a Contract. Do you have someone in mind? I wonder what kind of girl could capture your heart," another girl asked tentatively, deliberately inching closer to him.

Lin Zhou had a reputation for being a good-for-nothing, but Lin Mo was his complete opposite. Exceptionally talented and strikingly handsome, he had participated in numerous competitions during his academy days, winning many honors for the school. He was also a battlefield veteran with countless merits to his name. Currently, he was a high-ranking, active-duty officer with real authority in the Second Legion.

As a result, Lin Mo was quite famous at the Central Star Military Academy. He had a large following of underclassmen who idolized him, and the girls who had just spoken were some of his biggest fans.

Sensing the girls’ approach, Lin Mo immediately took several steps back to create distance. His movements were sharp and decisive, without the slightest hesitation. The crisp CLICK of his military boots on the ground was like an invisible barrier, freezing the two advancing girls in place.

"This has nothing to do with you two." Lin Mo’s voice was cold. He then turned to his cousin. "Lin Zhou, you’re used to causing trouble all day. It’s about time you learned a lesson." He noted that Ning Xuan was uninjured and her expression was relatively calm. Looking at the injuries on Chen Nan and Lin Zhou, he figured that whatever his cousin had done to offend Ning Xuan, it probably wasn’t too serious.

The words had barely left Lin Mo’s mouth when the roar of eight Flying Cars thundered overhead. A dozen spider-shaped interceptors dropped from the vehicles, their crimson beams weaving together to form a cage that enveloped the entire area.

Twenty-four law enforcement officers in Obsidian Uniforms leaped down from the Flying Cars. They were fully armed, their presence cold and sharp. The gleaming silver thorn badge on their left shoulders signified their special authority—they answered only to the Supreme Tribunal.

"Lin Zhou, Xie Yang, Zhou Zihan... you are accused of harassing and offending a noble Controller, in violation of the Controller Protection Act. In accordance with Article 37 of the Controller Safety and Security Act, all involved parties are required to undergo ideological-cognitive re-education administered by the Controller Protection Association." The leader of the unit was a female officer. Her icy gaze swept over Lin Zhou’s group, and Lin Zhou was so terrified he ducked behind Lin Mo. That single glance made him feel like he’d been targeted by a viper.

"I’m not going! Don’t take me! Bro, you have to save me!" Lin Zhou and his cronies were used to throwing their weight around at the academy, mostly bullying other male students. When they took things too far, it was usually the school’s disciplinary committee or the public security’s Inspection Department that got involved. The worst they ever got was a scolding and an order to pay compensation. But today, for what they considered just a few jokes, they had somehow summoned the enforcers of the Controller Protection Association.

Lin Mo stared at the silver thorn badge, recalling the time he’d been taken in by the Association and punished. He still bore the scars on his back.

Before Lin Mo could say a word, one of the girls with Huangfu Xinyue spoke up. "Sister Ning, it was just a bit of private chatter. Disrespectful, maybe, but it’s not like they caused any real harm. Lin Zhou and his friends have already learned their lesson. Why not be the bigger person and let them off the hook?"

The girl kept glancing at Lin Mo as she spoke. Her plea wasn’t for Lin Zhou and his friends, but purely for Lin Mo’s sake. ’After all,’ she thought, ’Lin Zhou is his cousin. He can’t just stand by and do nothing.’

The moment her friend opened her mouth, Huangfu Xinyue had tugged on her sleeve, trying to get her to shut up. But the girl was determined to help Lin Mo out of his predicament, and Huangfu Xinyue couldn’t hold her back.

Huangfu Xinyue stomped her foot in frustration. Ning Xuan, however, paid the girl no mind, her attention focused solely on dabbing ointment on the cut at the corner of Chen Nan’s mouth.

"You make it sound so simple, Miss," the lead officer said. "Once our enforcement team is deployed, we don’t return empty-handed." She tapped her finger lightly. The dozen sets of electromagnetic shackles hovering in the air began to hum, then, as if locking onto their targets, shot toward Lin Zhou and his group with a SWISH.

After a series of agonized howls, Lin Zhou and his friends were stunned unconscious by the shackles and forcibly dragged away by the enforcement team.

Lin Mo watched the entire scene unfold, his expression unchanging.

Huangfu Xinyue’s friends assumed Lin Mo must be furious. They rushed to surround him, tripping over each other to offer comfort. At the same time, they started subtly criticizing Ning Xuan, calling her insidious and petty. Their every word was meant to show solidarity with Lin Mo. Trapped in the middle of them and seeing Ning Xuan’s expression—one that clearly refused to acknowledge him—Lin Mo felt so exasperated he could have wept.

"Xiao Yu, all of you, stop talking!" Huangfu Xinyue cut in, reminding them before they could say something unforgivable. "Weren’t you just asking me who the miracle doctor that cured me was? It’s Sister Ning."

The main reason she intervened was that most of these girls had sisters or other female relatives in the same boat as her: a High Spiritual Power Level but a constitution too weak to handle it. Just moments ago, they had been pestering her for details on how she recovered, begging for an introduction so they could seek treatment themselves. If they offended Sister Ning here... well, knowing how well Sister Ning held a grudge, they probably wouldn’t get the time of day from her.

The girls surrounding Lin Mo froze. ’What did Xinyue just say? That Miss Ning is the miracle doctor who cured her? She’s so young! Xinyue has to be joking, right?’

The girls abruptly turned toward Ning Xuan, their faces breaking into brilliant smiles. "Sister Ning, Lin Zhou and his gang have a terrible reputation at the academy! They’re always causing trouble. They should have been arrested and taught a lesson ages ago. You’ve done a great service for everyone today!"

"Exactly! What Sister Ning did was for their own good. I’m sure they’ll turn over a new leaf and become better people now, right? Hahaha." The girls scattered from around Lin Mo, allowing him to finally breathe a huge sigh of relief.

He had been simultaneously trying to keep the girls from touching him and watching Ning Xuan’s expression, his nerves completely on edge. Only when they finally scattered did he relax.