Chapter 130: Jason’s Downfall

“It really does seem that way…”

The dim-witted space pirates were completely taken in, their faces grave as they nodded solemnly. “Alright, let’s keep watching and see what happens.”

And as they watched, they saw two more space pirates and two tourists who’d tried to slip away in the chaos all get snatched back by several vines, bound up like green caterpillars. Jason himself had been turned into a five-headed, bare-bottomed little kid, stomping his feet and wailing in the snow.

Zack: …

Monkey Qi slapped his thigh in excitement, laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. “Hahaha! Jason, that big lug, turned into a little brat! He was so fair and chubby as a kid—nothing like how dark and brawny he is now.”

“Damn, he’s even got a big mole on his butt! That’s so damn fancy.”

The space pirates, who’d been worried sick, all turned to look at the mole on Jason’s pale little butt. They couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing, howling like pigs.

Little Jason’s face turned black as he clutched his butt, almost fainting from anger.

What kind of useless boss was this? Not only did he not come help at a time like this, he was over there laughing so hard he was slapping his thigh! Just goes to show he’s not as good as the second-in-command. Hmph.

Realizing their group was utterly useless now, Jason glanced up at Yun Qimu, who was looking down at him with an amused, expectant smile, as if just waiting for him to try and escape. Jason gritted his teeth and admitted defeat.

“I’ll hand it over, I’ll hand it all over. It was our fault before, Village Chief Yun.”

He shouted, but his childish voice made his face darken even more—he wanted to crawl into a hole.

Yun Qimu smiled at him, lips curving in satisfaction. “See, wasn’t it easier to cooperate from the start? No need to waste anyone’s powers.”

Pei Yu, standing nearby, glared at him with peach blossom eyes full of resentment and nodded in agreement. “Exactly! You wasted my ability. I was planning to save it for an experiment to speed up vegetable growth.”

Yun Qimu raised an eyebrow, turning to Pei Yu with a look of approval. “That’s a good idea. If you really have that skill, it could save us a lot of plant nutrient solution. If you want to work in my greenhouse, I’ll pay you a salary.”

Pei Yu’s eyes lit up. “How much?”

Yun Qimu: “Ten spirit coins.”

Pei Yu, eyes sparkling: “Ten spirit coins per vegetable?”

Yun Qimu rolled her eyes. “Dream on. Ten spirit coins per day.”

Pei Yu’s face fell. “That’s it? My ability’s only worth that much? Can’t you pay a little more?”

Yun Qimu ruthlessly refused. “Nope. All my greenhouse workers get that rate. No special treatment.”

Pei Yu was unwilling. “But aren’t your other workers all temps? Shouldn’t full-timers get more? Doesn’t Delis get a hundred spirit coins a day?”

Yun Qimu: “If you can ripen all the fruits and veggies in the greenhouse in a single day, and work 365 days a year with no breaks, I’ll pay you a hundred—no, five hundred spirit coins a day.”

“Hiss—” That was tempting.

But working year-round, never leaving the greenhouse…

Pei Yu, who loved to move around, thought: No way I could do that!

So, the salary discussion was put aside for now. The two of them turned to Jason, who had turned back into an adult and put his clothes on, signaling for him to hurry up and hand over his stuff.

Seeing how slow and reluctant he was, Yun Qimu smiled “kindly” and reminded him, “Our Earth Village products have a special magnetic field. Even if you put them in a spatial ring, we can still detect them. So, I advise you to be smart—don’t try to hide anything, and search carefully. If we find out you’re holding back, I’ll charge you with smuggling and keep you here as a slave.”

Jason, who’d been wavering and struggling inside, shuddered at that. He started pulling things out much faster.

Can’t keep anything, can’t keep anything! No way he was staying here as a slave.

The tourists like Lai San, who’d been thinking of sneaking something, also sped up, hands moving nimbly.

On the snowy ground, the pile in front of Jason grew.

A huge slab of Jingjing beast meat, several Mengji drumsticks and ribs, a defensive jade pendant, a strength ring, an agility card, a light torch, snow boots, a big red potion… There was quite a haul! And—oh!—there was even something Yun Qimu had never seen before.

A beautiful butterfly hairpin.

[Name: Golden Butterfly Hairpin]

Effect: +100 Vitality

The description was unexpectedly simple, but it was novel—this was the first item that boosted HP, which could be a lifesaver in a pinch.

Of course, that wasn’t why all the girls nearby were staring at it with sparkling eyes. The real reason was its looks.

Never mind the effect—just the hairpin itself, with its hollowed-out wings and delicate golden-yellow color, looked like it was about to take flight. Two butterflies overlapped, each with four bright red gem eyes. Against the snow, the gems looked even more vivid and dazzling. In short: gorgeous!

Any girl would love it!

Of course, some boys might love it too—like Pei Yu, whose eyes were shining just as brightly.

Not far away, Zack and the others were looking more and more sour.

Monkey Qi let out a gleeful laugh. Jason was really in trouble now—serves him right!

He suppressed his smile, put on the same angry, pained face as Zack and the others, and scolded, “Boss, see? I told you Jason was hiding stuff. Didn’t he say all the meat was given to the brothers? Look at that—whole slabs of meat, and ribs too. No way he just forgot. I can’t even make excuses for him.”

“And those snow boots—Boss, your shoes are falling apart and your feet are frozen, but this jerk didn’t take them out. What did he bring them for? It’s not like you can wear snow boots in the heat outside. Clearly, he just didn’t want to give them to you.”

Zack’s face darkened, jaw clenched, anger rising.

Monkey Qi, satisfied, gave himself a mental thumbs-up and kept fanning the flames. “And that strength ring, that agility card—we all need those! With those stat boosts, we wouldn’t have to work so hard. He talks a good game about appreciating our hard work, but where are the good things to make our lives easier?”

The other space pirates were furious. Jason had tricked them and even taken the spirit coins they’d worked so hard for.

With Monkey Qi’s relentless instigation, Zack and the others’ anger only grew. Eyes red, they looked ready to tear Jason apart.

Good night, good night~"