Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 294 The Appeasing Bird Personality

In the taxi leaving No. 99 Luochuan Road, the voice on the radio sounded like a storyteller.

"Welcome to Qianshi Traffic Radio, FM101.9. Recently, two outstanding young people have emerged in Qianshi."

"Qianshi has always been a place of flourishing martial arts. We all know that Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King, was born in Qianshi. But in the past two years, it has also made progress in its cultural heritage. In addition to the young writer Zhai Da, young female writer Lu Siwen and mathematical genius Lu Wei have also emerged. The latter was also the top scorer in last year's college entrance examination."

"These two outstanding women have recently become very famous and are known as the Twin Beauties."

Dongyang County is under the jurisdiction of Qian City, although it is closer to Lian City.
The taxi driver was a young man who looked through the rearview mirror at the figure in the back seat who was resting with his eyes closed.

After a long while, I couldn't help but ask, "Are you Teacher Zhai Da?"

Zhai Da thought to himself, "How can they still recognize me even with a mask on? Dongyang's reputation is really off the charts."
Do you get discounts on purchases?

Zhai Da gave a soft "hmm".

After a long silence, the driver said, "I'm your junior from school."

"Huh?!" (Second tone)

Zhai Da opened his eyes and looked at the driver, who appeared to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.

The driver chuckled and said, "I should be a senior in high school this year, but I'm not going next semester. I worked on a construction site for two months, and now I'm back to drive a taxi."

Zhai Da could only nod: "The construction site is a place where people can grow."

The driver seemed unsure what to talk about for a moment, mainly because he hadn't bought Zhai Da's book.
I go to the construction site because I don't want to read books. If I bought books to read, wouldn't I be working on the construction site for nothing?
On his way back to the city from the industrial zone, Zhai Da passed through a desolate, godforsaken place. Feeling tired but unable to sleep, he suddenly remembered something.

[Execute Old Elm] After consuming so much nutrition, I wonder if the panel has changed. For example, the range of effect, it shouldn't be too much for it to increase from 50 meters to 51 meters, right?
However, there had been no system messages before, perhaps because it was considered "live equipment".

So, after the car stopped at the traffic light, Zhai Da mentally activated the system and instantly turned the [Execution of Old Yu] function on and off to see if there was any difference.

Sure enough, the system panel changed.

"Blue equipment [Execute Old Elm]".

“装备效果1：范围内意外事故概率+55%、致死率+110%，树身下方尸身腐烂速度加快330%，当前有效范围55米”

The base values ​​have all increased by about 10%, especially the range.

As for the other effects, they remain unchanged. Effect 2 is that the thoughts of intelligent beings within the alienation range will have negative effects, including madness, anger, fear, etc.
Effect 3 is a passive description, indicating that Old Elm can continue to grow and even acquire new abilities.

And indeed, a new ability has emerged on the control panel.
"Newborn Effect 'Small Animal Home': Small warm-blooded creatures (under 20KG) within range have a +30% chance of developing malignant mutations."

It's safe to say this tree won't have any positive effects; it seems to be related to the crows continuously providing small animal carcasses.

But it doesn't matter, everything will change when it's planted upside down, except the values ​​will be drastically reduced.

"Special Effect → Upside-down Tree: Immune to the negative ecological effects of upside-down planting. If planted upside down, all its effects will be reversed, but will be 'weakened'."

"Current reversal effect: Slightly increases luck within range, increases vitality under the tree trunk by 16.5%, and increases immunity by 5.5%. Slightly increases the probability of intelligent beings within range having their 'thoughts' transformed into positive mental states, including but not limited to: inspiration, happiness, satisfaction, and stability."

"Newborn Effect 'Small Animal Home' (Upside Down): Small warm-blooded creatures (under 20KG) within range have a +1% chance of developing a benign mutation."

It's still a significant reduction. But regardless of whether it's 30% or 1%, what scale is this probability measured on?
Every generation? Every year? Every day?
It shouldn't be too outrageous. After all, this is only the first time the effect has appeared.
The crow shouldn't have been affected either; it had all effects turned off before, so even if it didn't refresh, it shouldn't have taken effect.

If so, it would be under the condition of "proper breed," where the crows would likely become deformed rather than intelligent.

Biological variation is not entirely determined before birth. In fact, cancer can also be understood as a type of variation, as radiation, sunlight exposure, habits, and chemicals can all lead to variations after birth.
Of course, it's not like in the movies, where someone gains superpowers after taking a bath with nuclear waste, and then becomes a failed man who wears his underwear on the outside.

The reality is: lifestyle habits lead to cancer, chemical factors cause hematopoietic dysfunction, and excessive stress leads to vitiligo.

The new effects of the old elm tree might have a positive impact on biological research, but unfortunately, it only affects "small animals." Is it because many small animals were buried there?
Well, we can't make arbitrary inferences about what would happen if "many people were buried".

You can't think about it, even if you do, it's not allowed.

There are no biology geniuses among the members of "π". We should pay attention to the new round of submissions. Student unions in various schools should have received quite a few.

The car slowly stopped in front of the Sanmao residential area, and Zhai Da got out and was about to walk inside.

The junior driver rolled down his window and couldn't help but say, "Senior Zhai, may I ask you one last question?"

Zhai Da turned to look at him.

"Were you dating Senior Lu back then?"

Zhai Da: "Never."

"So how did the nickname 'Captain' come about?"

Zhai Da:
"Because I mean what I say."

Sanmao Residential Area remains unchanged; the security guard is always watching TV with his legs crossed, and the ivy on the walls is always neglected and grows lushly.

Zhai Da walked straight inside. It was Saturday, and his mother should be home. He wanted to give her a surprise.

If you come up empty-handed, it's not too late to call.

As Zhai Da entered the residential area, a large black bird flapped its wings and landed on the security booth, tilting its head to look at Zhai Da's back.

"Good shot! Slam it down!"

"Hey~!" "I can catch it! I can catch it!"

Downstairs in the familiar apartment building, two figures, one tall and one short, are playing badminton.

Yu Xiaoli, dressed in sportswear, remained mostly still, while Tang Xiaokui, wearing a pretty little dress, ran briskly with her slender legs.

The badminton game turned into a back-and-forth race.

Tang Xiaokui's laughter mingled with her mother's laughter, creating a joyful scene. Zhai Da felt that he had made the best decision at that time.

When he recalled his childhood, his mother would play badminton with him in the neighborhood, where there was no net or boundary. He could never beat her because she was taller and stronger than him.

Back then, Zhai Da always said that he would beat his mother sooner or later, and Ms. Yu would also smile and say that she would wait for that day. However, in the end, Zhai Da forgot to keep his promise.

As we grow up, the outside world offers so many fun things to do. Going to internet cafes to play games or having fun with friends until late at night is much more tempting than playing badminton with my mother.

That badminton racket just lay there in the corner of the balcony.

While Tang Xiaokui was reminiscing, she dropped a shuttlecock, which got stuck in a tree. Yu Xiaoli walked over and jumped twice, but it was still quite a distance away. She threw her racket twice but couldn't bring it down.

The two looked up, helpless. Yu Xiaoli said dejectedly, "If only your brother were here."

Zhai Da chuckled in the distance, thinking to himself that this was the perfect opportunity for him to make his appearance. He prepared to take a running start and jump to make a dazzling entrance.

Just as it was about to start, a dark shadow flew past from behind, bringing with it a gust of wind.

A huge crow swooped down to a branch, deftly snatched the shuttlecock, startling the two people below, before quickly returning and landing on Zhai Da's shoulder.

Yu Xiaoli and Tang Xiaokui followed the trail and froze on the spot when they saw Zhai Da.

Dazzled?
Finally, Tang Xiao Kui, whose eyesight was better, realized what was happening and exclaimed in surprise, "Brother!"

Yu Xiaoli exclaimed in surprise, "Hey~ why are you back?"

Ms. Yu was pleasantly surprised and wanted to hug her son, but she was a little scared when she saw the big crow perched on Zhai Da's shoulder, which was a third of a head taller than Zhai Da.
"Brother, you're amazing! Is that bird your pet?!"

Zhai Da turned his head stiffly to look at the crow; he was actually startled as well.

Raising his hand, the large crow skillfully released the shuttlecock, which landed precisely in Zhai Da's palm.

Well... things have come to this.

Let's finish this show-off act first.

Zhai Da smiled at the lady and said, "I had to come back for a while because of something urgent."

He shrugged, shooed away the guy who had chased after him, then went up and hugged his mother, before picking Tang Xiaokui up and holding her in his arms: "I'm leaving tonight. I just came to show my face and give you a surprise. Why are you calling me 'brother' again? Call me 'brother'!"

Tang Xiao Kui looked up, her face slightly flushed from exercise: "Brother~!"

Zhai Da weighed it in his hand for a moment: "You seem to have grown taller? Let's go upstairs."

Yu Xiaoli: "Where's the bird?"

"Never mind, I'm not familiar with it."

The group laughed as they went upstairs, while the crow perched back on the branch, watching the three of them ascend the stairwell through the window, floor by floor.

Back home, Yu Xiaoli was busy preparing another meal. Although the two of them had already eaten, she still hoped that her son could have a "Mom's meal" when he came back.

Zhai Da did not stop her, but joined the kitchen helpers, chopping and washing vegetables, and chatting with his mother in the process.

Yu Xiaoli has already bought a new house for 32 yuan. The building area is 120 square meters, with an average price of around 2600 yuan per square meter. This is the highest price ever recorded in the small county town. However, the renovation has not yet started, and it will be half a year before she can move in.

If Zhai Da is lucky, he can stay here when he comes back during the summer vacation, turning into a human formaldehyde absorber.

Zhai Da skillfully sliced ​​the meat, his nimble hands displaying knife skills comparable to a seasoned veteran.

When will Xiaokui start elementary school?

“She’s already six years old, but she was born at the end of the year, so she won’t be able to start first grade until September. I was thinking about taking a long leave of absence because I was busy with renovations, so I decided not to send her to preschool. I’ll teach her at home myself. These six months are a crucial period for her to integrate into the new family, so I’ll spend more time with her.”

“That makes sense. Integrating into a new family is more important than learning some math in preschool. She seems very smart, so I’m not worried about her not being able to catch up.”

As they were talking, a noise came from outside the window. Zhai Da looked up and saw a large crow holding half an apple, standing outside the security window.

After putting it down, he pushed it forward with his foot, as if to say, "Here you go."

Zhai Da:
Would you like to add another dish?
Seeing that Zhai Da remained unmoved, the crow paused for a moment, then flew away again.

Yu Xiaoli clicked her tongue in amazement: "You really didn't raise this bird?"

"No, it's not. It's a bird from Utopia's yard, but it seems like it really wants me to keep it..."

A while later, the crow returned, carrying half a biscuit in its beak.

It seems like something was swapped out from the same garbage dump.

Zhai Da tilted his head and observed for a while, thinking to himself, "Is this a way of repaying a debt of gratitude?"
No, we just wiped out their nest, there's no gratitude, only hatred. In fact, this bird is trying to curry favor with us.

Do you want to return the tree to it?
(End of this chapter)