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Chapter 20 – Experiment
Zhao Hai sighed in his mind as he watched the 2 acres being planted bit by bit. He finally understood the phrase ‘what is planted is hope’ now. Wasn’t he planting hope right now?
If the corns could have the effects he intended, then he would no longer need to worry about the development of his fief. But the results could only be seen after more than 10 hours.
The 2 acres were soon planted, but Zhao Hai didn’t leave the space. He just watched the radishes carefully as he still didn’t know when they would mature.
Once he thought about this, he smacked his own head in his eureka moment, “That’s right. I can ask the space! I remember that when I played Farm Game, there was a reminder function. Space, how long until the radishes reach maturity?”
The notification spoke, <3 minutes left before officially matured.> Not a single extra word was spoken.
Zhao Hai nodded and mumbled, “3 minutes. Mature in 3 minutes. 3 minutes and then I can store the radishes. Right, I gotta plant after that. Gonna buy another sack of radish seeds.”
Without further thought, Zhao Hai immediately spent 150 gold coins to buy a sack of radish seeds. Now his money was back to 350 gold coins.
But Zhao Hai didn’t mind. He had adjusted his course of development now. First, the Black Wastelands shouldn’t develop too fast. There were no means to do so, and if the development became too fast, it would attract attention. Then all of them would be dead for sure. So now, his focus of development should still be in the space.
If the space levelled up, then all of his developments wouldn’t be a problem. The space was his roots. No need to ready too many radishes. Just like he said, if he let out too many radishes at once, then the radishes wouldn’t be valuable. The one reaping the losses would still be himself.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a cellphone and he couldn’t tell his thoughts to Greene. He just hoped that Greene wouldn’t bring back too large of an order.
Zhao Hai didn’t want to rely on the space too much before, because the existence of the space was too fantastic to him. He didn’t know when it would vanish, but if it did, and he had no holdings outside, then all of them would be doomed.
But now he had no choice but to rely on the space. If it levelled up, he would gain more things, and that way he would develop his fief better. But he must not relax on the modification of outside soil. If he couldn’t improve the soil properly, then if the space vanished, he would have nothing left.
Every step that he was taking must now be calculated carefully. They had to be the best for him, both in letting the space develop, and in letting the outside environment become better.
Widening the space needed money, which Zhao Hai was very clear about. His plantable soil had just been expanded once, so further expansions would need more money. When Zhao Hai played the game before, he had 2 accounts. The first was his old personal account with more than 400 internet friends. When he was playing, he could steal as many crops as he liked, and then he got more than he could spend on, which caused him to gradually lose interest.
The second account was a newly opened one. No friends added, and just his own self. He opened this account mainly to play Farm Game alone, and he mostly wanted to see what the consequences would be if he played it all by himself.
And he knew what consequences came; Dire consequences. At first it was fine, but when the farm reached for more than level 20, he opened the ranch and he was finished. His in-game money was absolutely lacking. He levelled up the farm’s soil, and he had no money to raise the ranch’s level. By the time he levelled up the ranch, he had no money to level up the farm. But with this, Zhao Hai knew how to better plot his schemes. He calculated the incomes of the farm and ranch, and then calculated which animal was the one best raised. He played in single player bit by bit.
His second account’s situation was very close to his current situation. Both had to level up bit by bit. He had some experience, but don’t forget that he had to use what’s in his space to modify the soil of his fief. That way, he would have a much tighter budget. He must calculate every step right now.
After fantasizing for a while, the notification rang, <Radishes have now matured. Please collect them soon.> Zhao Hai returned to his senses, but he didn’t let the space collect them immediately. He just eyed the radishes with thoughts in his mind.
When he stored the radishes last time, the leaves had disappeared. He figured that the space processed them like they were wastes. Of course he couldn’t waste them this way now. He still had to use them to feed blue-eyed rabbits.
Now that the radishes had matured, if he still let the space collect them the original way, then he wouldn’t be able to get the radish leaves. If he collected them himself…..
He looked at the 10 acres of radishes, and quickly dispelled those thoughts.
Now he only hoped that the space would really be as amazing as he thought it was. His requests would have to be done. Otherwise, raising blue-eyed rabbits would be a real issue.
In the space, when plants matured, using the space to collect them automatically would only result in edible parts or usable things being kept. Things like corn stalks and radish leaves would be treated as garbage. If this were a game then it wouldn’t be a problem. But right now Zhao Hai had to use those things to change his life. They could not be more important.
Zhao Hai frowned. He was truly afraid that if the space couldn’t collect the radish leaves according to his will, then his problem would be a big one.
After taking a deep breath, he calmed down his own feelings and spoke, “Collect the radishes. Collect the radish leaves and the radishes separately.”
Zhao Hai’s heart pounded after his words. He was really afraid that it would be a failure. If the radish leaves were gone, then he had to think of another way. The only way he could think of was to let the slaves come in and harvest the leaves. This would not only complicate matters, but also increase the chances of the space being exposed.
With his voice, the space made its reaction. One radish after another flew into the collection basket. When the radishes were collected, Zhao Hai took in another deep breath. He walked towards the storage and touched it with his hand.
Soon the things inside storage were listed in front of Zhao Hai’s eyes. Radishes at the first place along with the leaves, while other spots in the list were occupied by the supplies Zhao Hai kept in storage earlier.
Zhao Hai put his hand back and fistpumped with a cheer. He didn’t expect that the space would give him such a big surprise. This success wasn’t just in collecting things, but also in helping him understand the space further. The space could really obey him completely after all. He could tell the space to do everything.
Ever since the space appeared, Zhao Hai somehow had a surreal feeling that he was playing a particularly realistic game. He had always controlled the space according to the controlling program inherent within the game.
But this success made Zhao Hai understand that this space had really mutated. He was not just a controller in this space. The settings of the game he played would not necessarily be valid in this space. It could be said that he had a greater level of control here than in the game. Perhaps he himself was the god of this space. An unsurpassable existence.
Zhao Hai calmed down his emotions after a long while. He watched the space again and there was nothing he needed to be busy with. This prompted his leave.
Once he got out of the space, Zhao Hai couldn’t hold back his laughter. With the space’s existence, the Black Wastelands would then become the largest food source of all the continent. Just like his hometown, the northern wastes would surely become the northern food storage of China. But in real life, he must cut down the use of the space in his own assistance, and adapt to the feeling of having no space, because he always had an insecurity in his heart.
Zhao Hai was always afraid that the space would one day disappear. He had put the focus of development into the space only for the sake of letting it provide him with a greater assistance and develop his fief faster. That’s why he had no choice but to do so. He was a very pragmatic person. He didn’t believe in this he couldn’t see and touch. He only believed that the things that were in his hand could truly be called ‘his things’. 100 birds in the forest are not worth 1 bird in hand.
For Zhao Hai, the space was just like the internet on Earth: too illusionary. Although Zhao Hai was a homebody, he never met his internet friends. Because he didn’t believe in those illusionary things.
It was out of such mentality that Zhao Hai gave it his all to change the things in his reality. He would have a bit of security this way.
He never believed in luck, so when he was on Earth, he never bought lottery tickets. Every single cent he earned was through his own effort. He didn’t believe that people would give him money for no reason at all. He only believed that people could only get what they want through their own hard work.
Zhao Hai didn’t go outside after coming out of the space. The things he could do were too few for now. He still needed to think about his future developments in Black Wastelands.
Zhao Hai found out that he was somewhat inconsiderate in today’s modification of the soil, like he was being too rash and acted too recklessly. No one could guarantee that people wouldn’t come into Black Wastelands. If someone suddenly came here and found out that there were a large patch of growing plants in front of the castle, it would surely cause suspicion.
Zhao Hai mumbled when he thought of this, “Looks like I have to understand Black Wastelands carefully…..” He slept soundly after that.
Thanks for the chapter
“internet on Earth: too illusionary”
Might as well not add this bullshit nonsense to the novel.
Although author’s idea of space farm is great, 90% of the novel consists of shitty written fillers that is hard to plow through.
it’d be awesome if he could put his fields at hte other side of the mountain, in the swamp of corpses or whatever it was called. Hidden by the moutain, perfect.