“Yes, yes, you're right, Sister," Li Cheng颐 said, nodding with amusement.

"Don't be embarrassed. I'm off, see you!" Chen Pi slurred loudly.

"See you." Li Cheng颐 closed the car door.

The taxi slowly accelerated and moved forward.

He stood up, intending to hail a cab home himself, but he checked the estimated fare on his phone.

18 yuan.

He silently put his phone back in his pocket.

The thought of wanting to open a botanical garden and buy a Feiyi (flying instrument) reminded him of his need for money, making every penny he spent feel like a painful loss.

‘I have to find a way to make money.’

Turning around, just as he was about to head toward the bus stop, he suddenly paused, his eyes slightly focused.

Across the street, in front of a bar, amidst the coming and going of men and women, stood a fair-haired, blue-eyed woman in a pure white long-sleeved shirt and trousers.

Marian!

Li Cheng颐 recognized the woman's eyes at a glance. Although she hadn't shown her face when she came to his house before, her striking golden braid and gentle, unique aura were unforgettable.

Marian seemed to be talking to a tall, thin black man, a faint smile on her face.

The black man appeared agitated, gesticulating wildly.

Just as he glanced over, Marian immediately noticed Li Cheng颐's gaze and looked over in his direction.

Seeing that it was Li Cheng颐, she smiled at him gently.

"Who is it?" the black man asked impatiently, following her gaze.

"It's that little genius's younger brother. What a coincidence," Marian said with a smile.

"That Li Chengjiu?" The black man frowned.

"Yes, she's very talented, but her temper is terrible, and she's offended a lot of people. In the Zhimengshi (Mechanic) business, you can't do anything without capital support. She's proud and arrogant, thinking that talent and hard work can overcome everything, but unfortunately..." Marian watched Li Cheng颐 walk away and replied softly.

"I don't like that woman. She's bitter, mean, and has a terrible temper. Didn't she say she didn't care if we wiped out her whole family?" The black man mimicked Li Chengjiu's tone in a grotesque voice.

"She was like that at first. Later, I went to her house, ready to make a move. But at the crucial moment, she changed her mind." Marian adjusted her collar, covering the exposed part of her chest.

"A useless piece of trash. If you can't abandon everything, don't even mention it. You just expose your weaknesses for nothing," the black man said disdainfully.

"Actually, she probably really didn't care at first. Although this little girl is selfish and has a bad temper, in the end, she must have realized that some things, once lost in this world, are gone forever. There's no going back. That's why she changed her mind at the last minute."

Marian turned and walked away along the halo of light beneath the streetlights.

"Let's go."

"Go my ass! Where's my money!? My salary!?? The commission you promised me for the job!!" The black man suddenly remembered the purpose of his visit and hurried to catch up, agitated.

"Why are you asking me for your salary? Isn't the funding all with the group?" Marian said nonchalantly.

Under Li Cheng颐's gaze, the two gradually walked away, soon disappearing around the corner into the light of the streetlights.

Only after Marian had completely disappeared did Li Cheng颐 frown and slowly turn around, heading toward the bus station.

He took the bus home and dealt with his parents' questions with a few words.

After washing up, he lay back on his bed, listening to the sounds of passing cars outside the window.

These sounds, which he previously found annoying, now gave him a sense of security.

At least if he could hear these sounds, it meant he was still in reality, not trapped in a dead angle.

Li Cheng颐 clasped his hands behind his head, using them as a pillow, stared at the ceiling, and pondered the main flower for the second Flower God Position.

‘Since the strength of the floral armor is not advantageous against cyborgs and Zhimengshi (Mechanics), my choice should focus on the power of the floral language.’

‘Floral language... It's best to form a complementary system with the previous Entrancing Hand, constructing an offensive, defensive, and recovery system.’

Li Cheng颐 closed his eyes and began to recall the supersonic Feiyi (flying instrument) that Ding Ning demonstrated.

‘That kind of speed, ordinary people can't react at all, right? If I have to face that kind of opponent... What should I rely on to protect myself?’

He racked his brains, but couldn't figure out how to defend.

‘Perhaps the only way is to attack before the opponent does and take them down.’

At this stage, Li Cheng颐 had no idea how to counter Feiyi (flying instruments).

Whether it was the gladiolus, morning glory, pure white floribunda rose, fleabane, or crape myrtle... Not reacting would mean instant death.

Previously, he had been very interested in the floral language of the white floribunda rose, after all, Desperate Dawn was extremely suitable for Dead Angle exploration.

But now that he thought about it, the premise for using Desperate Dawn was to be in a desperate situation.

This limited its application, only working when he was forced into a corner.

If there was reaction time, it would be fine, but if there was no reaction time at all... If you were killed instantly before you even had time to despair, it would be meaningless.

‘Indeed...’ Li Cheng颐 sighed inwardly.

‘Looking at it now, there's really only one best choice.’

He secretly made up his mind, and the thought that had been hesitating was completely settled with the determination of this most important matter.

He slept without dreams all night.

The next morning, before six o'clock, Li Cheng颐 quickly got up and took a bus to the botanical garden.

This time, he wasn't going to Wanhe, but to Dongsheng Botanical Garden, which was closest to his company.

He had first randomly stumbled across the floral armor there.

Compared to Wanhe Botanical Garden, Dongsheng was much smaller. The gate was no different from an ordinary park, with no ticket sales, just an automatic ticket gate where you could scan a QR code with your phone to enter.

Inside, there were three paths, each leading to three landscape gardens: orchids, chrysanthemums, and roses.

There were also roses here, but the number was much smaller than in Wanhe, and they were more scattered and less concentrated.

Li Cheng颐 quickened his pace, choosing one of the paths and practically jogging along the quiet road.

Before long, he arrived at a field of red, yellow, purple, and white flowers.

Early in the morning, besides him, there were only two workers wearing masks spraying insecticide.

Li Cheng颐 slowly exhaled, approaching the nearest butter-yellow flower and extending his devilish claws.

‘Yellow Gladiolus: Also known as sword lily or ten-brocade, named for its sword-like leaves. The bulb can be used medicinally, with a bitter taste and cooling properties, clearing heat and detoxification, often used to treat mumps, lymphadenitis, etc. It prefers warmth, is not cold-resistant, prefers long daylight hours, and blooms from July to September.’

‘Floral language: Solidity (After use, greatly increases physical and mental solidity for fifteen minutes each time, with a one-hour interval between uses.)’

‘Floral Armor Collection: Do you want to use it as the main flower for the second Flower God Position?’

That's it!

Li Cheng颐 had originally been thinking about all sorts of strange floral language abilities, but after seeing the exaggerated destructive power of the Feiyi (flying instrument), he felt that directly enhancing his combat abilities was safer.

The gladiolus's Solidity floral language, if looked at alone, was indeed just a limited-time defensive ability.

But this ability actually had a hidden effect.

That was, the strength of the floral armor depended on the wearer's physical strength. In other words, activating the gladiolus's Solidity would likely greatly increase the strength of the floral armor.

This dual amplification would bring him unimaginable enhancement.

Of course, that was if his guess was correct.

But in any case, the gladiolus was the floral language that could most quickly enhance his actual combat strength.

Confirming the information flow of the question in his mind, Li Cheng颐 immediately saw a yellow light slowly illuminate his back of hand.

It was the same color as the gladiolus petals.

A trace of cool air quickly flowed into the grid on the back of his hand along his fingertips.

At the same time, the Floral Armor section was unlocked.

‘Floral Armor Collection: 1%, Number of possible evolutions: 3 (Each time a Flower God Position is opened, the number of possible evolutions for all main flowers will increase by 1. Note: The flower itself has an upper limit; after reaching the ultimate form, it will not be possible to forcibly increase the number of evolutions.)’

Awesome!

Li Cheng颐 didn't expect this change. The number of possible evolutions increased by 1. Could it be that the wisteria in the first grid could continue to evolve?

He reached out and touched the first grid with his fingertip.

Suddenly, the information about the wisteria appeared.

‘Secondary Evolution Level: 0%, Number of possible evolutions: 3.’

Sure enough!

Li Cheng颐's eyes lit up, and a hint of anticipation rose in his heart.

He had already verified the strength of the wisteria flower. Now with one more evolution, perhaps after opening all the Flower God Positions, he could increase it to an exaggerated level.

Originally, he had been worried that as he grew stronger and acquired more powerful floral armor, the wisteria floral armor might slowly fade from view and lose its usefulness.

But now it seemed that the increase in the number of evolutions was a disguised form of amplification.

Thinking of this, Li Cheng颐 refocused his thoughts. The most important thing now was to quickly increase the gladiolus's collection level to one hundred so that he could truly acquire the power of the floral language.

Immediately, he groped around, circling the gladiolus field, trying not to miss a single blooming flower.

Time slowly flowed by.

Soon, the morning passed.

He casually bought two grilled sausages and a box of sandwich cookies at the entrance of the botanical garden, making do with them for a meal, and then continued to enter the garden to find other gladiolus of the same type.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the gladiolus in Dongsheng Botanical Garden had been exhausted, and the collection level had reached 73%.

Li Cheng颐 decisively switched to other locations and headed to Wanhe Botanical Garden, where he had previously found the crape myrtle and floribunda rose.

He took a taxi directly, arriving at Wanhe at almost four o'clock, and then bought a ticket to enter the garden. He went straight to the gladiolus area.

Soon, in an area next to the sunflower garden, he found a large field of gladiolus.

Without hesitation, like a rat falling into a rice jar, Li Cheng颐 plunged into the gladiolus field, groping around with both hands.

A large amount of cool air flowed into the Evil Flower pattern along his fingertips.

78%.

82%.

89%.

94%.

100%!

A dozen minutes later.

Li Cheng颐 suddenly froze, standing still.

On the back of his right hand, in the second grid of the Evil Flower, a yellow light slowly illuminated, revealing a delicate pattern of a yellow gladiolus.

An inexplicable feeling welled up in his heart. He could feel that he could use the new floral language ability at will, as simple as raising his hand or shaking his head.

The floral armor could also be freely switched in his mind. He just needed to add a prefix when calling it in his mind.

For example, wisteria floral armor, gladiolus floral armor.