Chapter 20: The Experiment

Watching the two acres of land being planted bit by bit, Zhao Hai couldn't help but sigh. Now he finally understood what it meant to sow hope. Wasn't what he was planting now hope?

If the corn really had the effect he imagined, then he wouldn't have to worry about the development of his territory anymore. However, the result wouldn't be known for another dozen hours.

The two acres of land were quickly planted, but Zhao Hai didn't leave the space. Instead, he carefully watched the radishes, not knowing how long it would take for them to mature.

Thinking about this, Zhao Hai suddenly had an idea and patted his head, saying, "Right, I can ask the space. I remember that in the farm game, there was also a reminder function. Space, how much longer until the radishes mature?"

The space's prompt sounded, "The radishes will mature in three minutes." Without any extra words.

Zhao Hai nodded and muttered, "Three minutes, three minutes, that's good. I can harvest the radishes in three minutes. Right, after harvesting, I need to plant again. I need to buy another bag of radish seeds."

Thinking of this, Zhao Hai immediately spent 150 gold coins to buy a bag of radish seeds, leaving him with only 350 gold coins.

But Zhao Hai didn't mind. He had already adjusted his development plan. He wouldn't develop the Black Earth Wasteland too quickly for now. First, there were no conditions for it, and second, if he developed too quickly, he would certainly be noticed, and then they would be in trouble. So, his current focus should be on the space.

As long as the space's level increased, all his development issues would be resolved. The space was his foundation. He didn't plan to sell too many radishes, as he had said before, if he sold too many radishes at once, they wouldn't be valuable, and he would be the one to suffer.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a mobile phone and couldn't tell Green about his thoughts. He could only hope that Green wouldn't bring back a large order this time.

Previously, Zhao Hai had always tried not to rely too much on the space, as the existence of the space was too illusory for him. He didn't know when the space would disappear, and if it did, and he had no other business outside, they would be finished.

But now, it seemed he had to rely on the space. As the space improved, he could get more things, and his territory could develop better.

However, he couldn't relax his efforts to improve the land outside the space. If he couldn't improve the land outside, and the space disappeared one day, he would have nothing.

Now, every step he took had to be carefully calculated to be most beneficial to himself. He needed to develop the space while improving the living environment outside.

Upgrading the space required money, and Zhao Hai was very clear about this. Now that his space had just been upgraded once, the cost of each subsequent upgrade would be higher. In the past, when Zhao Hai played the farm game, he had two accounts. One was his old account, with over 400 online friends. In the farm game, he could steal vegetables freely, and the money he stole was so much that he didn't even need it, gradually losing interest.

His second account was a new one, with no online friends added, only himself. He opened this account mainly to play the farm game and to see what would happen if he played it alone.

The consequences were severe. At first, it was fine, but when the farm reached level 20 and he opened a ranch, it was over. His game gold coins were not enough to upgrade the farm land, and without money to upgrade the ranch, he couldn't upgrade the farm. However, this made Zhao Hai more adept at calculating. He carefully calculated the income from the farm and the ranch, then figured out which animals were the most cost-effective, gradually playing the single-player version of the online game.

His secondary account's situation was similar to his current situation, both requiring gradual upgrades. He had some experience with this, but he couldn't forget that he still needed to use the things in the space to improve his territory. This made his financial situation even tighter, so he had to carefully calculate every step.

After a while of deep thought, the space's prompt sounded, "The radishes have matured, please harvest them as soon as possible." Zhao Hai snapped back to reality. He didn't immediately call for the harvest but looked at the radishes thoughtfully.

The last time he harvested the radishes, the leaves disappeared. He guessed the space had treated the radish leaves as waste. Now, he couldn't afford to waste them; he needed to keep them to feed the blue-eyed rabbits.

Now that the radishes were mature, if he let the space harvest them the same way, he wouldn't get the leaves. If he harvested them himself... Looking at the ten acres of radishes, Zhao Hai quickly dismissed the idea.

Now, Zhao Hai only hoped that the space could be as magical as he imagined, and that it could meet his requirements. Otherwise, harvesting the radishes would really be a problem.

In the space, when plants matured, if the space automatically harvested them, it would only collect things that could be eaten or used, like corn stalks and radish leaves, which the space treated as garbage. This was fine in the game, but now Zhao Hai needed these things to improve his life, so they were very important to him.

Thinking about this, Zhao Hai frowned. He was really afraid that if the space couldn't harvest the radishes as he wished, he would have a big problem.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, he said firmly, "Harvest the radishes, and separate the leaves from the radishes."

After saying this, Zhao Hai's heart started pounding. He was really afraid of failure. If he failed, he would have to find another way, and the only way he could think of was to have the slaves enter the space to harvest the radishes, which would not only cause problems but also increase the risk of the space being exposed.

As he spoke, the space responded, and the radishes flew into the basket. After all the radishes were harvested, Zhao Hai took another deep breath, walked to the warehouse, and touched it.

Soon, all the items in the warehouse were displayed before Zhao Hai. The first items were the radishes and their leaves, followed by the materials he had previously stored in the warehouse.

Zhao Hai withdrew his hand, clenched his fist, and let out a cheer. He really didn't expect the space to give him such a big surprise. This success not only helped him harvest the items but also represented a deeper understanding of the space. It turned out that the space really listened to him, and he could command it to do anything.

Since the space appeared, Zhao Hai had always felt a sense of unreality, as if he were playing a particularly realistic game. He had always operated the space according to the game's procedures.

But this success made Zhao Hai realize that the space had truly mutated. He wasn't just an operator in the space; the settings he used in the game didn't necessarily apply here. He had more control over the space than in the game, and he might be the god of the space, the supreme existence.

After a while, Zhao Hai calmed down. He looked at the space again. There was nothing left for him to do in the space, so he left.

As soon as he left the space, Zhao Hai couldn't help but smile. With the space, the Black Earth Wasteland could become the largest granary on the continent, just like his hometown, where the Great Northern Wilderness would become the Great Northern Granary. However, in the future, he would use the space's abilities less in reality to adapt to the feeling of not having the space's help, as he always had a sense of insecurity.

Zhao Hai was always afraid that the space would disappear one day. Although he had put the focus of his development in the space, it was only to get more help from the space and to develop his territory faster. He was a very practical person and didn't believe in things he couldn't see or touch. He only believed that what he held in his hands was his, and a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

To Zhao Hai, the space was like the internet on Earth, too illusory. Although he was a homebody, he never met his online friends because he didn't trust those illusory things.

Because of this mindset, Zhao Hai was determined to change his real-life situation, which gave him a sense of security.

He didn't believe in luck, so he never bought lottery tickets on Earth. Every cent he earned was through his own efforts. He didn't believe that anyone would give him money for no reason; he only believed that people could only get what they wanted through their own efforts.

After leaving the space, Zhao Hai didn't go outside. There was too little he could do now. He needed to think more about his future development, especially the development of the Black Earth Wasteland.

Zhao Hai realized that his land improvement today was not well thought out, too hasty, and too rash. No one could guarantee that no one would come to the Black Earth Wasteland in the future. If one day they suddenly came and found a large area of land in front of their castle growing crops, it would certainly raise suspicion.

Thinking about this, Zhao Hai muttered, "I need to understand the Black Earth Wasteland better tomorrow." Then he fell into a deep sleep.

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End of Chapter 20