Chapter 17: The Madman

In the Ark Continent, it wasn't that no one had studied the Black Soil Wasteland before. About a thousand years ago, a famous high-level wood mage, along with several water mages, alchemists, and a few elves who were most knowledgeable about plants, conducted research on the Black Soil Wasteland. They aimed to change the soil quality and turn it into the largest granary on the continent.

However, after twenty years of research, they still couldn't make even a single blade of grass grow in the Black Soil Wasteland and had to give up in disappointment.

Since then, no one has studied the Black Soil Wasteland. People believed that further research there was worthless and a waste of time.

In fact, this has a lot to do with the basic situation of the Ark Continent. Although the population is large, the area is even larger, and there is plenty of arable land, so there is no food shortage. Therefore, agriculture has never been a priority for the people of the continent.

However, in recent years, with the continent being relatively peaceful and no major wars occurring, the population has grown rapidly. Some small countries have already faced food shortages, but since the five major empires have had favorable weather and no such issues, it hasn't attracted widespread attention.

Moreover, don't forget that there are slaves on the Ark Continent. If the price of food rises, it's not a big deal; just reduce the food given to the slaves. As long as they don't starve to death, it's fine.

The slave owners certainly wouldn't admit that they are reducing the food for their slaves. In fact, when slave owners gather, they never discuss their slaves. They would rather talk about women or the moon, but never about slaves. Therefore, the people of the continent have not yet realized that the food crisis is getting closer and closer.

Now, with the continent being peaceful and the economies of various countries developing well, prices have been rising. However, the authorities have not noticed that although the economy is growing, the living standards of most commoners have not improved; on the contrary, they have declined even more, let alone the slaves.

With the economic development, prices have naturally risen, but the income of the commoners has not increased. This has made many commoners unable to support themselves, leading to more people becoming slaves, intensifying social contradictions.

Of course, Merlin doesn't know about these things. She only knows that the food on the continent is very expensive. If Zhao Hai can really turn the barren black soil of the Black Soil Wasteland into fertile land, the Buda family will surely thrive.

Seeing Merlin's excited expression, Zhao Hai smiled slightly and said, "Yes, Grandma Merlin, this is a power I have obtained. However, I can only transform ten acres per day, so you need to organize them to measure as much land as possible this afternoon. We'll start with a thousand acres. If we measure more, we won't be able to handle it. Stop after measuring a thousand acres."

Merlin nodded excitedly and said, "Yes, Young Master, I'll go arrange it right away." She was about to leave.

Zhao Hai quickly stopped her, "Grandma Merlin, don't be in such a hurry. It's fine to go after we finish eating. Also, we mustn't measure too much land and mustn't be too far from the castle. We can't let outsiders discover my ability. Otherwise, with our current capabilities, we won't be able to stop those people."

Merlin, who had seen many things, immediately calmed down upon hearing Zhao Hai's words. She nodded and said, "Alright, Young Master, I understand. I'll take care of it."

Neither Zhao Hai nor Merlin noticed that Meg, standing behind Merlin, was now looking at Zhao Hai with a gaze full of infatuation.

Previously, whenever Zhao Hai appeared, Meg would lower her head, but now she raised her head and was carefully observing Zhao Hai, no longer showing the timid demeanor she had before.

Meg grew up with Adam. Since Adam was two years older, they played together from a young age. At that time, Meg was Adam's little tail, following him wherever he went. If Meg was bullied by other children, Adam would fight for her, so she had always had a good impression of her young master brother.

However, as they grew older and became more aware, Meg knew that Adam was her young master, and she couldn't call him brother. Since she was a girl, Adam also didn't want to play with her anymore, which made her very sad.

As she grew older, Adam made many noble young master friends and began to misbehave, seemingly forgetting his childhood playmate.

As they grew older, Adam became more and more unruly, while Meg grew more beautiful and mature, showing excellent magical talent. They took completely different paths. However, Meg became increasingly unhappy, seeing Adam's daily mischief. She wanted to stop him, but it was useless. Even her grandfather's words didn't work, let alone hers. She longed for the past, for the days when Adam would play with her and fight for her.

People say that a girl's feelings are like poetry, and Merlin was like that. She always hoped that one day Adam would return to his former self, but reality cruelly shattered her dreams. Adam actually wanted to rape her.

When Adam approached her with a lecherous grin, she felt her world collapse. The once beautiful memories suddenly seemed distant. Although she escaped, she felt like a soulless being, her world losing its color, living in a daze every day.

At this time, disaster struck. The Buda family faced a life-or-death situation. She watched as the people she grew up with left the Buda family, saw the place where she grew up being taken by the king, saw Adam being fed the Void Water and falling into a coma, and saw her home disappear in a short time.

Then they came to the Black Soil Wasteland, this dead land, and Adam never woke up. She watched her grandparents work tirelessly every day, striving to keep the Buda family alive, like a drowning person making their last struggle.

Meg, a young girl who had never experienced much, was overwhelmed by the sudden series of blows. If it weren't for her grandparents, she might have committed suicide long ago.

However, not long after they arrived at the Black Soil Wasteland, Zhao Hai came. Merlin noticed that the young master had changed, no longer the ignorant troublemaker he used to be, but mature and working hard for the family.

First, it was the magic radish, then the blue-eyed rabbit, and now the soil improvement. She suddenly found that the young master had become a stranger, but one who was gradually merging with the perfect image of a young master in her heart.

Meg noticed that something in Adam was attracting her. His demeanor was no longer the arrogant and frightening one, but a calm and natural one that made people want to get close to him.

She liked seeing Adam's confident and full-of-assurance demeanor, his gentle smile, and the awkward, somewhat guilty expression on his face when he saw her. Unconsciously, the young girl's heart was once again tied to Adam.

Merlin, however, didn't notice Meg's changes. After talking to Zhao Hai, she immediately headed to the kitchen. This made Meg snap back to reality. She quickly lowered her head, blushing, and followed Merlin to the kitchen to bring the food.

The group ate together, but today Merlin and the others ate quickly, finishing their food in a few bites. Then Merlin and Meg immediately went outside, apparently preparing to organize people to measure the land.

Seeing Merlin's behavior, Zhao Hai could only smile helplessly. He understood Merlin's excitement. Merlin and the others had always thought the Black Soil Wasteland was a dead land. Now, someone told them that they could turn it into a living land, which was like telling a terminally ill patient that their disease could be cured. How could they not be excited?

Zhao Hai slowly finished his lunch and then led Mu Tou and Shi Tou out of the castle. Once outside, they found that Merlin had already led the slaves to measure the land.

Although the slaves had no special skills, they had experience in farming. They might not be able to do other tasks, but measuring land and farming were tasks they could handle.

The ten acres of land were quickly measured, but Merlin and the others didn't continue. Instead, they all stared at Zhao Hai, waiting to see if he could really improve the land.

Zhao Hai looked at the ten acres of land and was at a loss. He had seen ten acres in the space, but there, planting and harvesting were done automatically. Now, he had to improve this land, and he didn't know how to do it. Could the space soil and space water still be controlled outside the space?

When he was in the space, he was so focused on calculating the ratios that he forgot about this. Now, what should he do? Should he sprinkle the space soil and space water bit by bit?

Just as Zhao Hai was pacing anxiously, the space prompt sounded again: "Do you want to improve the land in front of you? Yes/No." A screen projection appeared in front of him, showing two buttons, one labeled 'Yes' and the other 'No'.

Zhao Hai was overjoyed and immediately reached out to touch the 'Yes' button, but his hand passed through the screen without touching anything. The screen and buttons remained, and he looked like a madman waving his hands around.

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**[AD Start]**

**[AD End]**