Chapter 89: Trivial Matters

Green represents hope. When Zhao Hai and Mei Lin saw the green seedlings, their hearts were filled with hope. Although the green seedlings were not growing well, they symbolized a resilient spirit. They could grow out of the ground despite being covered by toxic bird droppings, which was an impressive feat.

Zhao Hai and Mei Lin bent down and gently touched one of the seedlings. The seedling looked somewhat malnourished, and even if it grew to maturity, it wouldn't produce much grain. However, to be honest, Zhao Hai and his group didn't really need this bit of grain.

Zhao Hai slowly stood up, glanced at Mei Lin, and said with a smile, "Grandma Mei Lin, it's already beyond my expectations that these seedlings can grow here. Now, let's water them with the space water and see if we can make them grow better."

Mei Lin nodded and stood up, walking to Zhao Hai's side. Zhao Hai waved the Evil Spirit Staff in front of him and shouted, "Water!"

He knew that the Evil Spirit Staff could use all the functions of the space, so this time, he could release the space water just by using the staff.

Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, the space prompt sounded: "Portable space detected contaminated land ahead. Do you want to improve it?"

Zhao Hai was taken aback for a moment and then replied, "Yes." The space immediately prompted again: "Please choose the amount of improvement." A projection appeared in front of him, showing a row of numbers from ten to one hundred, with the unit being acres.

This made Zhao Hai pause. He hadn't expected that the space could now improve so much land at once. The number one hundred meant he could improve up to one hundred acres of land at a time, ten times the original amount. It seemed that this was another benefit of the space upgrade.

Zhao Hai immediately chose the largest number, one hundred acres. As soon as he made his choice, a stream of clear water shot out from his staff, slowly rising into the sky and then falling like raindrops. The land in front of Zhao Hai was immediately moistened, and the color of the soil began to change.

Mei Lin also noticed this, but since she already knew that the space water could improve the land, she wasn't too surprised. However, she did notice that the area of land being improved this time seemed much larger, far exceeding the ten acres Zhao Hai had mentioned before.

Mei Lin looked at the increasingly wet land, puzzled, and asked Zhao Hai, "Young Master, this water?"

Zhao Hai turned to Mei Lin and smiled, "Don't worry. After the space upgrade, the area of land that can be improved has increased. Now, one hundred acres can be improved each day."

Mei Lin's face lit up, "That's great! In about ten days, the land here can be improved. Although it's a bit late for the season, it's not too late. We can still plant something."

Zhao Hai nodded. To be honest, improving one hundred acres of land per day was a huge benefit for him. Not to mention, they could make good use of the land in the valley.

However, Zhao Hai had already decided that he would plant corn on the one thousand acres of land here. This way, the feed problem for the ranch wouldn't be a concern.

The ranch could support one thousand animals, and these animals would consume a significant amount of feed daily. Although there was a good stock of feed in the space, it wasn't abundant. Zhao Hai still planned to store more.

Zhao Hai had plenty of grain, so he wasn't worried about food. He decided to plant a season of corn first. After the corn was harvested, the weather would likely turn cold, and nothing else could be planted. Next year, he planned to plant bamboo rice, which had a high yield. After the space improvement, the yield would be even higher, and it could gradually become their main food source.

Initially, Green and the others had bought the most grain. The grain Zhao Hai had was enough to feed everyone for ten years. This was why he wasn't in a hurry about food. He planned to use up the grain he had before planting more. Although the grain wouldn't spoil in the space, the thought of eating the same food every day made him uncomfortable.

Moreover, after trading with Laura, they would buy more slaves. With more people, the food consumption would increase. The grain he had could last ten years for one hundred people, but with more people, it wouldn't be enough. Therefore, he still needed to plant more food.

However, using the space solely for planting food would be a waste. They needed to plant food outside as well, not for selling but for their own consumption. As long as the one thousand acres of land were planted with bamboo rice, they wouldn't have to worry about food in the future.

By the time they finished talking, one hundred acres of land had been improved. The land was just moist enough for planting. Zhao Hai's staff had the ability of the small iron shovel from the space, so he could use it for planting. He directly planted corn on the remaining seventy acres of land. Although it was a bit late, it didn't matter. They could just water it more frequently to make it grow faster.

Using the staff to plant corn was much easier than using the small iron shovel. With a command from Zhao Hai, the land in front of him transformed as if by magic, and the corn was planted in no time.

Using the water staff, he realized its power. It could use all the functions of the farm.

However, this reminded Zhao Hai of something. Everything in the space was based on a game. In the game, the farm had various tools, but when he opened the ranch, he didn't see any ranch tools. Why was that? Could it be that because the ranch used a free-range model, all the tools were canceled?

Zhao Hai wanted to go into the space to study, but he decided against it. The matters in the valley were settled, and they should return to the castle.

Mei Lin, of course, didn't know what Zhao Hai was thinking. Seeing that everything was settled and Zhao Hai wanted to return to the castle, she didn't stop him. However, she planned to go back and instruct Jú and the others to make a small boat from the remaining oil trees. Although Zhao Hai had planted the land, it still needed to be tended. She couldn't keep delivering supplies to everyone, and she didn't have the time.

Previously, they wanted to make a grass boat because they lacked wood and didn't know how to build a boat. Now that they had wood, they could learn to build boats gradually. If necessary, they could start with simple rafts. The lake in the mountains had no waves, so rafts would suffice.

When they returned to the castle, the slaves had already been settled. Zhao Hai and Mei Lin planned to go to the Rocky Mountains, as their main focus would still be there. Although Zhao Hai and the others had returned, Zhao Qi and the others were still leading many undead to mine stones in the Rocky Mountains. Even after trading with Laura, they would need to go to the Rocky Mountains to collect stones from time to time.

Before leaving, Zhao Hai left a lot of alfalfa seeds with Mùtou. Alfalfa is a soil-enriching crop. Zhao Hai planned to have Mùtou and the others plant alfalfa on the mountain when they had free time. The alfalfa could be harvested as feed and would also enrich the soil on the mountain.

After settling the slaves, the next matter was Zhao Zui and the others. Zhao Hai planned to leave Zhao Chong and Zhao Lu at the castle to lead two hundred undead to guard it. He would have Zhao Zui lead the remaining three and the undead into the Corpse Swamp to capture more undead and monsters.

Humans couldn't enter the Corpse Swamp, but since Zhao Zui and the others were undead, they were perfect for the task. Capturing more undead and monsters would strengthen Zhao Hai's forces, which would be very beneficial.

Before they left, Zhao Hai gave Zhao Zui and the others detailed instructions. They were to focus on exploring the swamp, staying on the outskirts and not going too deep. If anything went wrong, they should come out immediately.

Zhao Hai had only a few capable people at his disposal, and he didn't want to lose any. Although Zhao Zui and the others were undead, they were still Zhao Hai's summoned creatures and provided significant combat support. Zhao Hai didn't want them to be lost in the Corpse Swamp.

Although Zhao Zui and the others were now Zhao Hai's summoned creatures, they still had their intelligence. They had roamed the continent for many years and had only suffered setbacks at the hands of the Xinya family and Zhao Hai. In terms of combat experience, Zhao Hai couldn't match them. However, they listened to Zhao Hai's instructions carefully and didn't say much.

Zhao Hai was now their god, and they had to listen to whatever he said, especially since it was for their benefit. After giving them instructions, Zhao Hai let them go.

Although Zhao Hai had almost all his undead out, he kept the Alien with him. The Alien could be used as a mount and was very convenient. Moreover, the Alien was a mental-type mutated undead, much stronger than ordinary undead, and served as Zhao Hai's personal bodyguard.

In addition to the Alien, Zhao Hai kept a few humanoid undead with him. These humanoid undead, similar to Zhao Qian, were originally not very powerful but had been strengthened by the space and now had the combat skills of at least a fifth-level warrior. Zhao Hai kept them as his personal guard.