"I...am...your...father..."
The tree person spoke intermittently, his dry voice still carrying a hint of filial piety.
"..."
Fang Mo was silent after hearing everything.
After a while, he took a lamp of ashes from Steve's hand, the only thing in the game that could counter the dusk thorn: "Come on, say it again facing this thing."
"Father... Father..."
The tree person stuttered after seeing the lamp of ashes.
"See, isn't that spoken well?"
Fang Mo laughed upon seeing this: "In fact, everyone in this world can speak well, just some people need a little help..."
"Need...help..."
The tree person continued to learn to speak in his dry voice.
Fang Mo looked at the tree person in front of him, originally intending to let him show his strength, but considering the previous performance of the red-hatted goblin's small talent show, and his decision to play with some TNT explosives, he gave up on this idea.
After all, this is a spaceship.
What if the tree person directly unleashed a small dusk descent?
He wasn't afraid, but the Milano, Star-Lord's ship, would probably be gone.
However, while Fang Mo was thinking about these things, sudden footsteps came from the door, and then the door was pushed open, and Star-Lord walked in.
"Fang Mo, Rocket told me to let you know, we have arrived at the Kree Empire's territory... Wait, Groot?"
Star-Lord looked bewilderedly at the thorny tree person: "I just saw you wandering in the cabin, how did you come here now? Can you teleport? And why has your bark turned back to dark brown?"
"You...ma..."
The tree person stuttered.
"Oh my! You can actually talk!?" Star-Lord was shocked: "You've only been living with Fang Mo for three days, and you've already learned to swear? Does Rocket know about this?"
"You...dirty...Rocket...knows..."
The tree person said.
"You..." Star-Lord, upon hearing this, also had a hard time keeping face.
However, before he could say anything, the door was pushed open again, and a curious Groot walked in: "I am Groot? (What's happening?)"
Groot looked up and saw the thorny tree person, and was immediately stunned.
Actually, the thorny tree person was also stunned.
He looked down at his vine-like hands, then at the gray-white tree person Groot, seeming to realize that they were of the same kind.
"I am...Groot? (He... looks like Groot's kin.)"
Groot walked over to the thorny tree person in surprise: "(But he seems still a child, did you do this, friend? Is he... my child?)"
"Strictly speaking, he should be your, um... grandson?"
As Fang Mo spoke, he subconsciously looked at the blooming tree person, only to find that this tree person had completely withered away, as if blooming had exhausted all his nutrients, but this guy originally had no sentience, probably just a tree or something like a nursery bed.
At this point, Fang Mo was too lazy to think too much, and directly said to the Thorn Tree Person, "Go ahead, hurry up and say hello to your grandfather, you are his grandson."
"You... grandfather... is... grandson..."
The Thorn Tree Person stuttered in greeting Groot.
"..."
Groot was stunned after hearing this, his mouth agape.
"Wait, two Groots!?" Star-Lord only came back to his senses at this moment, completely bewildered: "Isn't this... Fang Mo, did you do this?"
"Quill! Are you slacking off here again?"
Just then, Drax and Rocket Raccoon also walked in through the door: "I only asked you to inform Fang Mo, not to slack off. Now it's your turn to pilot the ship... Damn! Groot, how did you have a child!?"
"I am Groot! (I didn't give birth to it, it's Fang Mo who borrowed my seed!)"
Groot hurriedly explained.
"What the valve!?" Rocket Raccoon's fur stood on end, his little paws scratching his head in utter disbelief: "This... isn't... oh my God... I mean, dude, there are no women on this ship, but you can't do this to a tree, right!? Dude, your XP is so freaking weird!!!"
"No, listen to me first..."
Fang Mo, holding his forehead, realized this was a huge misunderstanding and quickly wanted to explain.
"Yeah, I thought using a frying pan as a toilet was weird enough."
However, the others didn't give him the chance, as Drax couldn't help but say: "I didn't expect you to be weirder than me. Honestly, I always thought this tree was male, how did you figure out it was female?"
"You guys listen to me first..."
"Trees don't have gender, you idiot."
Rocket Raccoon yelled at Drax, then slapped his face in realization: "No, this isn't the time for that... I'm screwed, I thought being the captain meant dealing with a bunch of messes, but I didn't expect the first one to be about a teammate's personal life... Speaking of which, Fang Mo, don't you know about taking precautions?"
"You guys listen to me..."
"Holy smokes! So that's what's happening!?"
After hearing Rocket Raccoon's words, Star-Lord finally understood: "I thought I was lecherous enough, but Fang Mo, bro, you're even more incredible..."
"Enough of your nonsense, right?"
Fang Mo slammed the table and then drew out his Manyullyn Sword.
"..."
The previously noisy crowd instantly quieted down.
"That, Fang Mo..."
Star-Lord paused before speaking: "I think there might be a misunderstanding, why don't you explain first?"
"Not convincing enough without a blade, huh?"
Fang Mo rolled his eyes and then began to speak, "I just broke off a branch from Groot, and then used a bit of magic to stimulate its growth, and it turned out like this... You can question my character, question my morals, but you absolutely can't question my XP. I am definitely a pure love war god."
"So, he's just a branch from Groot?"
After hearing Fang Mo's explanation, everyone seemed to gradually calm down. Rocket Raccoon stroked his chin and said oddly, "But he doesn't look like a Groot. Groot is a tree, but he... seems more like some kind of vine, right?"
Rocket Raccoon was indeed correct.
After all, this thing was a hybrid of Thorn Rose and Groot, so it also had some characteristics of the Dusk Thorn.
Although he looked like a tree person, he was actually formed by countless vines entwined and twisted together, a bit different from Groot. Among those present, only Rocket Raccoon, who had lived with Groot for a long time, could notice these details.
"Uh... well..."
Faced with Rocket Raccoon's doubt, Fang Mo had his own unique explanation: "He only looks like a vine plant, but in reality, he's a genuine tree, so... I call him 'Vine Tree'."
"Is that his name?"
Star-Lord asked, "Sounds a bit strange. Isn't that more like a biological genus?"
"Hmm, you do have a point..." Fang Mo nodded thoughtfully, calling this thorn tree person 'Vine Tree' was indeed too scary. What if it suddenly started throwing flame punches one day?
"Emmm..."
Fang Mo pondered for a moment, then suddenly clapped his hands and said, "Got it! Since he's covered in thorns, how about calling him 'Thorn Dominator'?"
"Thorn Dominator?"
Rocket Raccoon grinned, "Wow... so does he also 'shoot thorns'?"
"True to your role as Captain Rocket and the commentator, your salary this month is doubled." Fang Mo gave Rocket Raccoon a thumbs up: "As the Thorn Dominator, of course, he'll shoot thorns, and not only that, he will also..."
"I can see it now."
Rocket Raccoon, rubbing his head with a headache, said: "You just like to see others in pain, don't you?"
"You caught me."
Fang Mo laughed: "Actually, in my past life, I was a head-splitting maggot, I loved to see people in pain... I didn't expect this habit to continue even in this life."
"Likes... to... see... people... in pain..."
The Thorn Tree Person began to speak in a halting manner.
"This tree can actually speak human language?" Rocket Raccoon didn't want to continue the conversation with Fang Mo, so he simply changed the subject: "Is his vocal system more complex than Groot's?"
"It's normal for each generation to be stronger than the last,"
Fang Mo explained, "But he probably doesn't understand the meaning of these words, he's just simply mimicking the sounds."
"Alright, looks like we're going to have one more crew member."
Rocket Raccoon waved his hand and said, "But the good news is that this crew member doesn't need to eat, so our food conditions won't deteriorate because of him. Just give him some water and sunlight."
"Do they need to be fertilized?"
Drax asked with a bit of eagerness.
"No need!" Rocket Raccoon glared fiercely at Drax: "If you ask such unreasonable questions again, I'll throw away your broken pot!"
"Haha, it's no use even if you throw it away."
Drax burst into laughter after hearing this, waving the frying pan in his hand: "This thing is very loyal. You could throw it into outer space and it would fly back on its own. I really love this weapon now, who needs knives anymore... that's a fool's weapon."
"I really should have listened to Fang Mo's advice back then."
Hearing Drax's words, Rocket Raccoon helplessly touched his forehead: "If only we had buried Ronan in the ground as compost, at least you wouldn't be strutting around with a toilet all day..."
However, before he could finish.
The hull of the Milano suddenly shook violently, as if it had been hit by something.
"Fuck!" Rocket Raccoon slapped his head and quickly turned to run towards the cockpit: "I was too busy talking nonsense with you guys!"