The fairy maid cheers for her deceased master today.

Seeing the surprised looks on everyone's faces, Sir Hooker appeared quite pleased with himself.

It's probably because his vanity was strongly satisfied.

He then lowered his voice and winked mysteriously.

"Come with me."

He turned and walked deeper into the greenhouse.

The exhibition area was still deep inside, and there were quite a few visitors.

Clearly, exploring and visiting fern farms remains one of the most fashionable activities today.

Deep inside the greenhouse, the glass dome shimmered in the sunlight. Various unusual ferns lined both sides of the interior. Some resembled feathers, others antlers, and still others were completely beyond Axe's comprehension.

This reminded X once again that this was another world. Anything could happen.

Angel skipped and hopped, her blue eyes looking around.

"Master, look! That one's glowing!"

In this gathering of nobles, Elena subconsciously maintained her aristocratic elegance. But her pointed ears had already subtly perked up. Clearly, this former Holy See fairy possessed an innate sensitivity to plants.

This made Ex sigh, "No wonder they are fairies from the Holy Way Society; they have all developed aristocratic qualities."

Sir Hooker soon stopped in front of a peculiar door. A sign on the door read "No Entry".

"This is our latest research result." He took out his keys, "a special species brought back from the swamp area."

"The swamp area?" Ex murmured involuntarily.

"What's wrong?" Sir Hook asked, puzzled.

"No, it's nothing. I was just overthinking it."

Now, when people mention swamps, they immediately think of that eerie scene—swamp mutates, and the black mud-polluted areas that appear along with them.

However, it's easy to understand that if it were truly a black mud contaminated area of ​​a swamp alien species, then no plants could possibly survive there.

Plants can be directly contaminated and die. Or worse, they might even be transformed into alien species.

The door opened.

A damp smell wafted over. The new greenhouse was even more humid and hot inside than outside, with condensation forming water droplets on the glass. On the central display stand, a peculiar plant grew quietly.

Its leaves are a deep green with metallic edges. Most striking are the veins on the leaves—which form intricate geometric patterns, resembling some kind of ancient script.

"This is..." Ex frowned.

"The marsh fern, my truly great discovery!" Sir Hooker exclaimed proudly, "It grows in the most polluted areas, yet it can survive in such extreme environments."

Wait!

What did you say?

Before Ax could even ask a question, Elena asked in shock, "From an area contaminated by alien species!?"

Swah——

Angel revealed her ice flower directly, startling Sir Hook so much that he took several steps back.

"Ahem, Angel." X quickly held down his little maid.

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry..."

Angel quickly withdrew her fairy magic.

"I apologize, Sir Hook. My maid is naturally afraid of other species," Ax apologized immediately.

"Oh, I understand, I totally understand. A lot of people react that way."

Sir Hooker pretended not to care, stroked his beard, and laughed.

"Or rather, it's your lack of shock that surprises me."

X looked at Elena.

Elena frowned as she looked at the swamp fern before her. After a long while, she gently shook her head at Ex.

With the former Holy Way Fairy certification, this plant is clearly fine.

Angel cautiously and curiously approached, "But it's so beautiful!"

"Be careful," Sir Hook warned. "This plant may possess special magical properties. We are still researching it."

Elena exclaimed, "Your courage amazes me even more."

For ordinary people, going to areas contaminated with foreign species to pick plants is no different from sending themselves to their deaths.

Sir Hooker smiled: "Discovering and cultivating great plants has been my life's goal."

He walked to the booth, put on special gloves, and gently touched the leaves.

"We were all shocked when we first discovered it. Most plants in the swamp area have been polluted and mutated. But this fern remained pure. Even..."

Sir Hook paused for a moment, then looked at the three of them mysteriously:

"It can even purify the surrounding pollution."

Purification?

"How is that possible?" Elena questioned. "The contamination from the swamp monsters cannot be reversed by plants on their own. Unless there are magical artifacts or fairy magic."

"That's the theory," Sir Hook nodded, "but this plant defies our understanding. Perhaps its survival depends on some kind of magic."

He pointed to the patterns on the leaves: "Look at these patterns. We suspect they are some kind of ancient magical patterns. For such magical patterns to grow naturally... this plant may have an extremely long history."

So this really isn't man-made?

However, Ax didn't intend to say this aloud, lest he upset the other party.

So all Axe said was, "If this is true, then it is indeed a miracle."

"Haha, yes, a magnificent plant is indeed the embodiment of miracles." Sir Hook stroked his chin. "By the way, since you all seem to know so much about plants, how about a quiz with prizes?"

"If you can answer my question correctly, I'll give you a small gift."

Angel immediately raised her hand: "Me! Me!"

Sir Hooker smiled. "Very well. The question is simple—in Mr. Linnaeus's biological classification system, what is the correct unit from the highest to the lowest level?"

That's a very technical question!

"Kingdom → Phylum → Class → Order → Family → Genus → Species," Elena answered with ease.

"When we place a geranium in a room with light coming from only one side, its stem will bend and grow towards the light source within a few days. What is the reason for this phenomenon?"

Elena answered again: "This tendency helps plants get the maximum amount of sunlight to maintain the vitality needed for growth."

"In the fields, dandelion seeds drift away on the wind like tiny umbrellas, while burdock seeds always seem to cling to your clothes. Please explain the dispersal methods of these two types of seeds, and why they evolved such structures?"

"Dandelion seeds are dispersed by the wind. The light, fluffy seeds allow them to be carried far by the breeze, avoiding competition with the mother plant for sunlight and soil nutrients. Cocklebur seeds, on the other hand..."

Ax, who was standing to the side, subconsciously held his forehead as he listened.

Angel tilted her head: "Master, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing...it just feels like I've suddenly gone back to high school."

It wasn't a particularly pleasant memory.

"Astonishing, Miss Fairy. Your knowledge is in no way inferior to that of my students."

Finally, the answer was finished, and Sir Hooker showered the question with praise.

He then walked to the cabinet next to him and took out three exquisite boxes.

"This is a reward for you."

The box was opened. Inside were golden ferns.

"Ah, this, this is far too precious." X never expected that the gift would be gold.

This is far too valuable.

Even Angel nodded, but quickly shook her head, leaning close to X's ear to whisper a reminder to her master: "Master, our workshop actually still owes money..."

Can you please be mindful of the occasion when you speak?

Irene hesitated and dared not accept the gift.

Fortunately, Sir Hooker immediately realized that everyone had misunderstood and burst into laughter: "Hahaha, don't worry, it's just a gilded plant specimen, it's worthless."

Ax picked it up and examined it closely. The leaf had been carefully pressed and coated with a thin layer of gold leaf. It shimmered in the sunlight.

"A special souvenir from the Royal Botanic Gardens," Sir Hooker smiled. "A gilded fern specimen. Each one is unique."

Angel accepted it with a mixture of relief and disappointment. But she quickly perked up: "It's so beautiful!"

Elena smiled, revealing her fangs: "Thank you, Sir Hook."

But Ax's attention was entirely focused on the specimen. He carefully observed the shape of the leaves, the gilding technique...

Then suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.

Silverware that suddenly disappears in a silverware theft case... Is it really still silverware?