Chapter 190

"How many are there here?" Lucas asked as he closed the box and pushed it aside. Selling these ginseng roots would greatly improve his financial situation.

What was even more important was the set of Iron Man armor that Lucas had been dreaming about. He planned to buy two sets—one for the storage room and one for the study room.

"City Lord, there are a total of seventeen large ones, and some smaller ones, which I also managed to dig up." Chris said quickly.

"Very good. This time, you'll receive a 50% increase in your mission reward and a two-day vacation. Enjoy yourself." Lucas said with satisfaction. The small ginseng roots they had dug up could be planted in the backyard.

"Understood." Chris's eyes showed delight at the thought of a vacation.

"Did you remember the location? Is it far from Sedona City?" Lucas asked.

"It's not far; it only takes two days for a round trip." Chris replied quickly. They had spent eight days in total, with six of those days spent finding the ginseng location provided by Ben.

"Is there still a lot of ginseng at that place?" Lucas asked, expressing his greatest concern.

"Yes, a lot. The whole place is full of it." Chris nodded repeatedly. The ginseng they had brought back was just what they had casually dug up.

"Very well. Remember that location—it's top secret. Keep it confidential."

Lucas said solemnly. On Earth, many main medicinal ingredients in prescriptions are ginseng-based, and they could potentially make life-saving medicines from it.

"Understood." Chris said with a serious expression.

Being able to issue a top-secret confidentiality order, Chris would be tying a cloth strip around his mouth while sleeping during this period. He was genuinely afraid of accidentally talking in his sleep and revealing the secret, which could cost him his head.

"Huh? What are you holding? It keeps moving around?" Lucas now noticed the sack of gunny that was wriggling in Chris's arms.

"Uh…" Chris was at a loss for words. How was he supposed to explain it?

"Open it and let me take a look." Lucas was intrigued. Since Chris, who was usually so decisive, was being so hesitant and mumbling, he wanted to see what the item was.

"Understood." Chris carefully set down the gunny sack and poured out its contents.

"Huh?" Lucas's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the thing sitting on the floor. It had glossy black eyes fixed on Lucas.

With black-and-white fur, a round face with black eye patches, and it was rubbing its sleepy eyes with its front paws. It had two black ears on top of its head, its limbs were black, its tail was short, and its body was round and chubby, looking very adorable and clumsy.

The sight was so familiar that it was unmistakably a panda.

"This… this… a panda???"

Lucas's mouth fell open as he took a few steps toward the panda. He crouched down and poked the panda's chubby stomach with his finger, and the panda responded with its little mouth wide open.

"Hey… you little silly thing." Lucas laughed happily and gave the panda's small belly another poke.

The adorable and clumsy panda looked to be about six months old, with its baby teeth just coming in, meaning it had just started eating bamboo shoots.

The people present were momentarily stunned. They had never seen this childish side of Lucas before. In their minds, Lucas was always a person with a perfect noble demeanor.

The three people there softened their gazes, finding they preferred seeing this side of Lucas. The perfection of his usual demeanor could be quite intimidating.

"By the way, how did it come here?" Lucas continued to play with the baby panda, curious.

"It was encountered by us on the way back. Its mother had just been killed by a pack of wolves, and this little one climbed up a tree. We heard its cries and went to rescue it." Chris explained briefly.

Yes, this panda was what Chris and the others had intended to catch as a pet for Lucas. It was so cute that they had hoped to bring it to him. Fortunately, its cuteness spared it from being killed and eaten.

"Very well, I'll keep this panda." Lucas said with satisfaction, nodding his head.

"Understood." Chris grinned, relieved. This was the best outcome. If the city lord hadn't accepted it, the little thing would have ended up in the kitchen today… They had no time to keep a pet.

Lucas stood up, his smile wide. Seeing a panda in this otherworldly place brought him a bit of comfort. On Earth, countless people would dream of having such an adorable creature at home.

He walked to his desk, pulled open a drawer, and took out a chocolate bar wrapped in paper, roughly the size of a palm. He tossed it to Chris with a light chuckle, saying, "You can eat this."

"Thank you, city lord." Chris said excitedly as he caught it with both hands and quickly put it into his pocket. Receiving a personal gift from the city lord was something many people envied.

"Go enjoy your vacation." Lucas waved his hand.

"Understood." Chris bowed and then followed Ben out of the study.

"Mina, go to the kitchen and get some radishes and bamboo shoots." Lucas instructed.

"Okay." Mina left with a smile on her face.

"Heh. If people knew I had a panda as a pet, they'd probably be insanely envious." Lucas thought, resisting the urge to pull out his phone to take a picture and post it online.

Lucas thought about the people who posted photos of their dogs and cats on social media and couldn't help but smirk. Who could top his level of pet? If you're going to have a pet, it should be a panda.

"Hey, hey. Don't bite that." Lucas, momentarily distracted, saw the panda climbing toward a nearby bookshelf and trying to chew on the leg of the shelf.

"Come here." Lucas pried the panda's claws off the bookshelf leg and placed the little creature on the desk. But before he could even set it down, the panda was hugging his arm.

"Little thing, come down." Lucas tried to pry the panda's paws off again, but the next second, it clung back on.

At that moment, Lucas recalled videos he had seen on Earth, where pandas were famous for their clinginess.

"Young Master, the items have arrived." Mina announced as she pushed open the door with the things in her hands.

Annie followed behind. She had been sent back by Nicole for being unhelpful and even causing some trouble.

"Eh? Such a small wild beast? Are we going to slaughter it for meat tonight? Won't there be too little meat?" Annie asked, licking her lips at the sight of the panda, immediately thinking about food.

"…" Lucas rolled his eyes and replied irritably, "Eat it? Don't even think about it. This is my pet."

"Pet?" Annie's eyes widened. For her, and even for Mina, wild animals were usually meant to fill one's stomach, much like how people view chickens.

It wasn't surprising for them to think this way. They had always been hungry in the past, and Mina often hunted wild beasts. They didn't care about whether something was cute or not; they only cared if it could be eaten and if it would fill their stomachs.

In this era, people generally thought like this. If one were to keep an animal, it would be a warhorse; everything else was just meat for consumption.

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