The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 1320: Foraging Wild Greens

Looking at the "grass" in Ji You’s hand, Guan Ning was very skeptical about whether it was edible. It’s not surprising she had such doubts now, because the current environment is nothing like during the times of Ancient Earth. The majority of plants are exposed to strong radiation and are harmful to the body.

In today’s society, there are two types of food supplied for residents: synthetic food and natural food. Synthetic food is created by combining several or various edible materials. A large portion of these materials comes from radiated animals, plants, or minerals, which are continuously filtered and purified to ensure they are harmless to humans before being processed into different foods.

These synthetic ingredients, due to deep harmless processing, become colorless and tasteless, and their nutritional value is lost. Food factories take these raw materials and add necessary nutrients for the human body, then produce the nutrient solutions most widely circulated in the market. The better the added materials, the more nutrients they contain, and the higher the price of the nutrient solution.

Nutrient solutions are the basic food supply, ensuring the minimum nutrition and sustenance intake for interstellar citizens. The processed raw materials can also undergo further processing to create synthetic fruits, synthetic meats, synthetic drinks, and so on...

Since the raw materials for synthetic food are not difficult to obtain, the price of synthetic food is generally not high, making it affordable for most families with modest financial means, thus fully ensuring every family’s basic survival rights.

But!

Synthetic ingredients have a significant drawback: they do not aid in the increase of spiritual power at all.

That is why natural food is so sought after.

However, despite humans covering territories involving eight Star Systems, natural food is extremely scarce. Due to cosmic radiation and various harmful substances in the universe, every inch of land humans set foot on is covered. Even every planet humans live on must have artificial Protective Shields, allowing them to freely move on their resident planets without danger from radiation and other hazards. Only a few planets have been spared, providing the vast majority of natural food sources for humanity.

Of course, relying solely on a few planets to supply natural food for humans across several Star Systems is far from sufficient. Therefore, countless agricultural scientists and researchers have invented and created various improved cultivation methods for growing natural food and breeding natural animals. However, the cost of these technologies is extremely high, which is why the price of natural food remains high.

Let’s skip over this topic for now.

Guan Ning took the "grass" from Ji You’s hand, carefully observed it, and discovered it was just ordinary grass, nothing special about it. After thinking for a second, Guan Ning asked, "Ji You, can this grass really be eaten? Is it free of radiation?"

Plants containing radiation are not only harmful to the body but also to spiritual power. Guan Ning was highly cautious about this, understanding, as did everyone present, how difficult it is to enhance spiritual power...

Upon hearing Ji You suggest that everyone dig up potentially radiated grass for consumption, many hesitated at first.

Ji You said, "Do you all spend all your time training and not read anything about nature and plants? This is a type of wild onion unique to your planet, with a radiation content of less than 0.1%." According to the Alliance Food Safety Bureau, foods with radiation content below 0.1% are safe for direct consumption. Edible plants with radiation content below 0.01% are classified as natural food.

Guan Ning: "!!!"

The Squad Leader of Team 1 also widened his eyes: "Is that so?"

Ji You abruptly grabbed the wild onion, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it—down in a couple of bites, saying, "This food is spicy and warm in nature, and it has the effects of inducing sweating, expelling cold, and reducing swelling."

Guan Ning and the Squad Leader of Team 1: "!!!"

Meanwhile——

The students watching from outside the screen were all wide-eyed, and those among them quick to take action started researching the wild onion Ji You held. Once they verified it, they found it was indeed true!

"Oh my god!"

"I was really ignorant!"

"I’ve lived on Nami Star for so long, and I didn’t know there was such a magical wild onion?"

"Same here, I had no idea before."

"Cough... sorry, my knowledge of Nami Star natural studies isn’t great because I’ve never heard of it before either."

"I have heard of it before, but only knew that this plant grows by a riverside at the far back of the Alliance First Military Academy! Although it’s called wild onion, it looks no different from wild grass, so many people can’t tell which is which... This also ensures its survival and proliferation..."

...

Facing Guan Ning and the Squad Leader of Team 1’s astonished expressions, Ji You chuckled lightly and said, "I don’t blame you for your ignorance, since your minds are full of thoughts about fighting and various fierce Star Beasts every day, and you pay little attention to these harmless, inconspicuous little grasses."

Upon hearing this, the two felt slightly ashamed.

Guan Ning, being very meticulous, thought of a question, "Since it’s an edible plant, could it be a protected plant? Like a plant that could get us imprisoned? What if we eat it or gather it in large quantities... and end up breaking Alliance laws?"

"Good point, you’re quite aware of the problems," Ji You praised, smiling as he explained, "The wild grass has a radiation content lower than 0.1%, but not enough to meet the natural food standard. Using it in large quantities doesn’t benefit or aid in spiritual power enhancement. Also, it has a strong reproductive ability, growing in large patches by the riverbanks. Moreover, it’s easy to transplant; agricultural scientists have taken it to other planets for cultivation where it generally survives well. The issue with transplanted wild onion on other planets is that its radiation content tends to be higher than on Nami Star, typically between 0.5%-5%, which still doesn’t meet the edible standard."

"Therefore, it’s not listed in the endangered plants and animals directory." Ji You looked at Guan Ning and the others with a smile and said, "Feel free to eat it."

Guan Ning and the others’ eyes lit up, and the Squad Leader of Team 1 patted his chest, loudly proclaiming, "I’ll have people digging it up immediately."

After consideration, the Squad Leader of Team 1 asked, "So how much exactly should we gather?"

Ji You pondered for a moment and said, "Gather enough to fill the stomachs of everyone in your group."

With that, the Squad Leader of Team 1 understood and immediately shouted, "I’ll send someone now."

Ji You advised, "When digging, make a bit of a scene, enough that those on the other side can vaguely sense our actions."

Huh?

The Squad Leader of Team 1’s eyes suddenly brightened, and he asked, "Are we trying to?"

Ji You smiled at him and said, "Just doing some ordinary wild vegetable digging."

Squad Leader of Team 1: "..."