Running the race, Ziye unexpectedly took first place: because she subconsciously pushed her speed to the maximum whenever she was deep in thought, and thanks to the training she received from Little Sprout, she undeniably secured the top spot. Even the burliest Old Dog couldn't keep up with her! As she stood at the highest point of the mountain peak, Old Dog, while stunned by her speed, grumbled, "You make something yourself, and then you have to snatch it back—that's stingy of you!

My temporary convenience store is ruined in the rubble, and you won't even let me have a mecha?" —Old Dog was the miserable runner-up. Ziye laughed, "If you dig out all the tiger meat for me, I'll give you the mecha." Old Dog rolled his eyes at her. The tiger meat was all scattered; even if dug out, it would just be dirt—unfit to eat, right?

Ziye shrugged, stuck out her tongue playfully at him with a grin, waved her hand, and ran toward the robots. She handed the airship surface particles scraped off by the robots to Leg-Weak Brother, keeping a portion for metal testing herself, then gathered all the disabled robots, boarded the airship, and headed home with Little Sprout. Before leaving, she simply sent An Junlie a silver message: "I'm leaving." An Junlie was somewhat bewildered.

He wasn't very familiar with the others present, and feeling he had nothing else to do by staying, he decided to follow them back by airship. However, he didn't mention the matter of the red hair to Ziye. Being a man, he wasn't skilled at gossip.

Ziye felt a slight discomfort in her heart, but she had no reason to ask about such things, nor did she allow herself to inquire about something so embarrassing. She only thought to herself that An Junlie belonged to a different world than hers; even if they met briefly, he would eventually return to his own life, and they would have nothing to do with each other. Consequently, Ziye's attitude toward him gradually cooled.

Her face still held the same smile, but her state of mind was vastly different. Her mood had already been depressed, and when she arrived home, that gloom instantly elevated to shock. Before she even disembarked from the airship, she saw swarms of insects and moths flying everywhere, and on the ground, she could spot tracks left by snails and slugs, wriggling their way through.

Little Sprout stared with wide, shocked eyes, and in the next second, it abruptly burrowed into her arms, burying its head tightly, shivering as it squeaked, "Those disgusting bugs, Ziye, hurry up and drive the nasty bugs away!" Little Sprout was actually afraid of insects? Ziye found it quite surprising, though she disliked them too, feeling a deep aversion to these creatures both psychologically and physically. She soothed it by stroking its head and directed the airship to land in a slightly cleaner spot.

It was all the fault of the rain. The thunderstorm had been sudden and severe, soaking the ground, leaving the insects nowhere to hide, so they all flocked toward her house. After stepping off the airship, she carefully avoided them, terrified of crushing them underfoot and having their purple or red entrails stick to the ground, making cleanup a nightmare.

Entering the workshop, her disappointment deepened to the point where she couldn't utter a word. Rats were running everywhere inside; they had chewed through several critical lines, and the workbench was covered in rat droppings. Damn it, she really wanted to burn the whole place down and be done with them!

Ziye’s already poor mood worsened, bringing her close to a violent outburst. She stood in the workshop, so angry her veins bulged. She forced out several deep breaths, calming down slightly.

Just as she was about to instruct the robots on what to do, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see An Junlie walking in. She didn't have time to wonder why he was back so early; she simply said, "Go to the Pervert's house and get some white roses for me.

Get plenty. If the Pervert isn't back, just steal them." An Junlie nodded and turned to leave. He didn't miss the ashen and greenish pallor of Ziye's face.

Perhaps Ziye was quite timid, frightened by these bugs. Although he wanted to comfort her, he felt that fetching the white roses was more practical, so he said nothing. Ziye paused, then said, "Wait, take T89 with you." T89 was a successfully repurposed sample from T88, considered a success after being rebuilt.

Ziye retrieved T89 from the robot warehouse; fortunately, the rats hadn't damaged it, and its exterior was intact. After activating its program to test it, she found no issues and handed it to An Junlie. When An Junlie arrived, the Pervert had just returned home.

In stark contrast to Ziye's dismal situation, his greenhouse was filled with white roses, and not a single insect approached. All the insects had hidden in the red rose garden, biting and stinging only the red roses. The red roses were highly toxic, and what the Pervert saw was a spectacular sight of dead insects and fallen red rose petals everywhere—a scene of mutual destruction.

An Junlie guessed the Pervert wasn't in a good mood either. He hardened his resolve and explained Ziye’s predicament, handing over T89 and pleading for urgent help. The Pervert, however, did not get angry.

He simply laughed heartily and instructed 438 to clip a whole airship-load of white roses for him, along with an extra bouquet of purple roses and a bouquet of black roses. Purple roses alleviate pain, and black roses eliminate toxins—they sounded quite potent. An Junlie instantly viewed the Pervert more favorably.

Although he couldn't see why Ziye needed to eliminate toxins or alleviate pain, they were clearly high-quality goods, so he took them all back. For the first time, An Junlie witnessed the miraculous effect of the white roses. There was no need to drive off the insects or spray insecticide.

He merely needed to place the white roses, still beaded with dewdrops, into vases around the rooms. The moment the insects caught the scent, they retreated outside in droves. After he had placed white roses in all the rooms, the workshop, and the storage areas, he returned to the living room.

All the living insects had completely fled, leaving only bodies and excrement. 120 was already sweeping up. An Junlie inhaled the scent of the white roses—it was fresh, elegant, and remarkably invigorating.

He couldn't fathom why the bugs were so terrified of it. Perhaps animal senses of smell differed vastly from human ones? Seeing that there were still white roses left, he simply rolled up his sleeves and went into the kitchen to make a few jars of rose jam, using the rest to make jelly, which he placed in the chiller to freeze.

When Ziye returned, he presented them on the dining table like a treasure: "Try it, how does it taste?" Ziye's mood had mostly settled down, and her stomach was rumbling. She picked up a spoon, scooped a little, and touched it to her tongue. The fragrance was pure and distant, and the texture was refreshingly pleasant—it was actually much tastier than the yellow rose variety!

She looked up and saw his expectant expression, his eyes sparkling. Her heart softened, but she maintained a stern face: "It's just so-so." An Junlie looked disappointed. He glanced toward the chiller; he had made so much, and Ziye didn't like it.

What should he do? After a moment's thought, he decided to have a robot send a few jars to the Pervert as a form of reciprocation. The next day at breakfast, Ziye noticed the rose jam was half gone and exclaimed, "You ate some?" An Junlie smiled carelessly, "Sent a few jars to the Pervert." "What?" Ziye sprang up from her chair in exasperation.

That was too infuriating! The good stuff she finally had was given away by him? A father can tolerate it, but a mother cannot!