After Breaking Up, I Married the General-Chapter 137 - 136: In an unknown planet 2

Chapter 137: Chapter 136: In an unknown planet 2
"Don’t worry, I still have enough nutrient solutions with me to last for a while. And if there are edible things outside, I’ll get some. This place already has plants in it, so there are probably other living creatures too—maybe even edible animals."
"Yeah, there are probably edible animals out there," Ryzel replied, his eyes on the screen showing the plants outside.
"Then, you should go now so you can return earlier," Ryzel said to Layton.
"Yes. I’m heading out now. Fully activate your protective cover. If there’s any danger, make sure to contact me using this." Layton handed him a small device. "I’ll come back as soon as possible."
"Okay. But... I thought communication wasn’t possible." Ryzel asked, eyeing the communicator in his hand.
"This was developed by the military a long time ago," Layton explained. "It wasn’t distributed to the public since we already had our light brains for communication—even between planets. This model was only issued to soldiers for special missions.
It has its own signal system and can send messages to other units as long as they’re on the same planet. As long as there’s no magnetic interference or any other strong disruptions, it should still work."
"Alright," Ryzel said, starting to fiddle with the communicator to understand how it worked.
"I’m going now. Be sure to stay alert," Layton reminded him again.
"I know, you’ve already reminded me so many times," Ryzel said, glancing up at him. "You too—be careful out there."
As their eyes met, Layton leaned in and kissed him deeply. Ryzel could feel the weight of reluctance in the kiss. When they parted, Layton kissed him again—softer this time—before finally pulling away.
"See you later," Layton said, then pressed the button on Ryzel’s suit to activate the protective cover before opening the mecha’s hatch.
"Okay... Make sure you come back early," Ryzel replied, watching quietly as Layton jumped out of the mecha and disappeared from view.
After watching Layton disappear from his view, Ryzel couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.
Even though he didn’t see anything particularly dangerous outside—just a landscape filled with plants—his nerves still crept in. This was the first time he had ever been left alone in such an unfamiliar environment.
He had experienced being in forests before, even more dangerous ones, during field training back at the academy. But those training exercises were always conducted with the cooperation of the mecha department and other departments—they always moved in groups.
As a guide, he had never been left alone in a forest. The others would always prioritize their safety and never leave a guide unattended in a potentially dangerous setting. Even in safer locations, they weren’t allowed to be completely alone during field training, just to prevent accidents.
Besides, in those training exercises, at least they always knew what planet they were on. Even if the instructors didn’t reveal the destination beforehand, once they landed, the planet’s identity would still be disclosed. They had studied all the planets used by the academy for training, so it was never truly unfamiliar.
On top of that, assistant instructors and soldiers were always monitoring them from the shadows. If something went wrong, they could be rescued. Their light brains also functioned normally, so there was no need to worry about losing communication.
But now... it was different. He had been left completely alone, in a place he didn’t recognize, without full access to communication, and with no backup. Naturally, it made him uneasy.
If Storm wasn’t damaged, maybe he wouldn’t be this nervous. At least Storm could have accompanied him and kept him company. Maximus, Layton’s quantum beast, was also still recuperating in Layton’s mental sea.
Maximus had provided them with an extra layer of protection when they passed through the unstable space tunnel. Though Maximus could usually travel through space without issue, even he had been injured by that tunnel. So now, he remained in a deep recovery state.
Ryzel didn’t want to sit here completely alone, so he released Liya from his mental sea to keep him company.
"Liya, accompany me for a while," Ryzel said softly.
"Mi," Liya meowed in reply before curling up in his lap and closing its eyes to sleep.
Well, even if Liya was just napping on him, it was enough to give him a bit of comfort.
At least he doesn’t feel completely alone anymore.
His nervousness had eased a little, so he turned his attention back to his surroundings, watching through the screen.
The plants outside didn’t seem poisonous—they looked like ordinary flora—but he couldn’t recognize any of them.
As a potion maker, it was essential for him to study different plants that could potentially be used for research or refining new potions. He had never slacked off when it came to studying plants. In fact, he always kept up with the latest updates in the plant library, checking every new entry that was added.
Whenever new plants were added, Ryzel made sure to review them. He was confident that he could identify most documented plant species wherever he went, as long as they were registered in the plant library.
But the plants currently in front of him... were not listed in the library at all.
To double-check, Ryzel opened the plant library through his light brain and scanned through the existing entries—none of the plants outside matched any of the records.
Even though his light brain couldn’t connect to the main brain at the moment, it still retained cached data and previous access history, including the plant library and several other important apps.
So while he couldn’t get any new updates or real-time data, he could still view all the information that had already been downloaded before the signal was lost.
No updates meant no access to new additions or modifications in the database, but everything else was still fully functional.
Well, if he could step outside later, he could collect some samples and run basic tests on the plants to determine their properties—whether they were poisonous, edible, or had potential alchemical uses.
Ryzel had brought enough equipment with him to do that. His research kit included plenty of tools for analyzing plant composition, since he often used them in his research.
Ryzel hadn’t removed the tools he used during his academy days from his space bracelet.
Layton had bought him a full set of new equipment and tools, so everything he used before was now simply stored in his space. There were also extra tools and equipment that Layton had brought along, and Ryzel had stored all of them as well.
So, if he wanted to study the plants outside, he definitely had more than enough tools at his disposal.
He hadn’t seen those plants before, which only made him more interested in studying them. He just hoped that the planet they were on wasn’t too dangerous, so he could safely collect and analyze the plants in peace.
Discovering new plants and identifying their properties was incredibly valuable—some might help create new potions, while others could enhance the existing ones they already had.
Registering new plants in the library always came with high rewards.
That’s also why many mercenaries and explorers in the Federation regularly submitted new plant species they discovered during their travels to various planets.
The military couldn’t conduct such extensive exploration, even if it was beneficial, because they were already too busy dealing with the Zerg. Unless there was a special request from the research institute or a highly recognized researcher, they rarely ventured out specifically for plant exploration.
Usually, they only submitted plant samples they happened to find during their missions.
Because of that, the task of discovering new plants was mostly left to mercenaries and explorers who were truly passionate about planetary exploration.
As a potion maker, Ryzel was naturally interested in discovering new plants. He understood just how many undiscovered species still existed across the countless planets in the universe.
Unfortunately, as a guide, he rarely had the chance to go out on such expeditions like the explorers or mercenaries. His physique simply couldn’t handle the dangers of those harsh environments.
That’s why, whenever he did get a rare opportunity to learn about unknown plants, Ryzel would always be eager to take it.
Just like during their search for one of the plants he needed for the stabilizers, he had volunteered to go with Layton and the others, even though he could have left it to them.
Now that he was seeing unfamiliar plants again—without the added worry of Layton’s mental sea and without being overly nervous about being alone—his interest in studying the plants outside had heightened.
He genuinely hoped the plants weren’t dangerous so that he’d have the chance to examine and study them while they were still on the planet.
Layton could focus on repairing Storm, while he could dedicate his time to analyzing the local flora—as long as they weren’t harmful.
If the plants turned out to be poisonous or dangerous, even if they were rare, Ryzel was sure that Layton wouldn’t allow him to study them, no matter how much protection he had.