Chapter 46: Red Dot

Meg looked at Zhao Hai with a smile. She truly hadn't expected a person's character to change so drastically. The old Adam had been an arrogant, extroverted, and incredibly thick-headed idiot. But the current Zhao Hai was an introverted, steady, and thoughtful young man; she preferred this version of him much more.

Seeing that Meg wasn't speaking, Zhao Hai felt even more at a loss. He could only say, "Then just sit wherever you like. I'm going to check the situation outside." With that, he turned and walked to the screen by the bedside, tapping it to view the surroundings.

The 3D map of the castle appeared once again, but there were no longer any green dots on it. Since yesterday, Zhao Hai had not seen a single green dot on this map.

Seeing no green dots, Zhao Hai lost interest in looking further. He had already seen clearly enough over the past few days how much the castle had been ravaged; he didn't want to look anymore.

Zhao Hai sighed. He planned to wait for two more days. If no green dots appeared on the map after that, he would let Merlin and the others go out to see if the magical beasts had actually retreated.

Meg stood beside Zhao Hai, also watching the screen. Over the past few days, she had learned how to read the display, but she had no way to operate it. She could only do so with Zhao Hai's permission, just like everything else in this space; without his permission, no one could manipulate it.

Mutou had tried to take the small shovel and the bucket, but the result was that the two items seemed to be nailed to the ground; even with Mutou's strength, he couldn't move them an inch.

Meg also knew that the green dots on the map represented the magical beasts. They had been very concerned about the situation outside these past few days, so she knew that no magical beasts had appeared on the screen since yesterday. Merlin had wanted to go out and check at the time, but Zhao Hai had stopped him.

Merlin hadn't strongly opposed the idea either, as she understood Zhao Hai's concerns. However, seeing that there was still not a single green dot on the map, Meg grew anxious. She said to Zhao Hai, "Young Master, there might not be any magical beasts left outside. Let me go out and look. I am fast; I won't be in any danger."

Zhao Hai shook his head and said, "It's not the time yet. Those beasts have only just disappeared; they might still be wandering the wasteland outside. If they sense living beings in the castle, they might rush back in, which would cause us even more trouble. It's safer to stay in the space for a few more days."

Hearing Zhao Hai say this, Meg couldn't insist further and could only nod. Suddenly, she seemed to notice something and immediately looked at the screen, saying, "Young Master, why has a red dot appeared?"

Zhao Hai, whose attention had not been on the screen, hadn't noticed the red dot. But Meg had. A small red dot had appeared on the screen, and it was moving at a very high speed. Zhao Hai understood that this dot was moving through the rooms of the main castle at a rapid pace. This caught him off guard, as he had never encountered such a situation before.

Zhao Hai immediately tapped the screen. Because the red dot was moving too fast for him to click on it directly, he tapped the location of the living room instead, waiting there quietly to see what this red dot actually was.

Meg's eyes were also fixed on the screen, occasionally glancing up at the miniature 3D map above. From that map, she could see the direction of the red dot's movement. The dot was currently active on the third floor, moving in a very systematic pattern, inspecting every room, albeit very quickly.

Before long, the red dot descended from the third floor and quickly moved toward the living room. Zhao Hai and Meg's focus instantly sharpened on the living room, eager to see what this red dot truly was.

Suddenly, a figure flashed across the screen, and a person abruptly appeared, startling both Zhao Hai and Meg. However, upon seeing the person, both were filled with joy. It was none other than Green, who had been missing for several days.

Seeing it was Green, Meg couldn't help but cheer, grabbing Zhao Hai's shoulder and saying, "Young Master, it's Grandfather! Grandfather is back! He's looking for us!"

Zhao Hai nodded. With a thought, a misty spatial rift appeared in front of Green. Then, Zhao Hai said in a low voice, "Grandfather Green, come in quickly."

Green was indeed extremely anxious. He had returned to the Black Soil Wasteland two days ago. This time, after leaving the wasteland, he had traveled to the Principality of Versailles, a principality under the AKS Empire. The Grand Duke was Ivan Versailles. While the principality was not very large, it developed well because it was backed by the Black Soil Wasteland and faced no threats. Its economy was highly developed, making it one of the most prosperous regions in the AKS Empire, and Grand Duke Ivan was naturally one of the most powerful dukes in the empire.

It was worth mentioning that the Versailles family had a very close relationship with the Buda family. Even now, Adam Buda still had a marriage engagement with Ivan's precious daughter and future Grand Duchess, Ryan Versailles. Nominally, Ryan was still Adam Buda's fiancée—and thus, Zhao Hai's fiancée.

However, any observant person on the continent could see that it was impossible for the Versailles family to honor this engagement. Everyone understood that there was no true friendship or love between nobles; even the engagement between Adam and Ryan was more of a political marriage plan.

Therefore, when the Buda family fell into hardship, Green did not seek help from the Versailles family, and the Versailles family chose to "forget" the Buda family. Even when the Buda family passed through the Principality of Versailles to enter the Black Soil Wasteland, no one from the Versailles family came out to meet Green and the others.

Green had never intended to meet the Versailles family either; he knew that the Versailles family not kicking them while they were down was already a form of consideration.

But Green had to admit that the Versailles family managed their territory exceptionally well. It was precisely because of this that, despite its small size, their territory had become a principality.

With a well-developed territory, the living standards of ordinary citizens were relatively high, making magical vegetables easier to sell. Thus, Green hadn't traveled too far, going straight to the Principality of Versailles to find a large magical vegetable supplier to negotiate the price of radishes.

Eighty thousand catties of radishes was a lot, but it was impossible for such a quantity to impact a national radish market, even if that nation was just a small principality.

However, Zhao Hai and the others didn't just have eighty thousand catties of radishes at their disposal. If Zhao Hai wished, he could plant and harvest three seasons a day. This meant he could harvest two hundred and forty thousand catties of radishes in a single day. Two hundred and forty thousand catties a day? What kind of concept was that? If Zhao Hai maintained this harvest for a month, there would be enough radishes to feed the entire AKS Empire.

This was the dilemma Green faced. He knew too little about Zhao Hai's space, so he could only try to maximize the profits from the radishes. The supplier he had approached this time was a famous large-scale merchant spanning half the continent: the Makidell Trading House.

The Makidell Trading House was a famous oligarchy of daily necessities on the continent, and magical vegetables were one of their main businesses. Their family business was so vast that even ordinary high nobles dared not offend them.

Normally, a small business like Green's, involving only tens of thousands of catties, would not catch the eye of the Makidell family. However, one thing made them take notice of Green: the quality of the radishes.

The radishes produced on the continent, known as "Molae Radishes," were not very large and had a pungent, spicy taste that wasn't particularly delicious. The white radishes produced in the space, however, lacked that pungent taste; they grew straight and plump, and were crisp and sweet, making them irresistible. To use a popular internet phrase: "Space-produced goods are guaranteed to be premium."

It was precisely the quality of the radishes that allowed Green to reach an agreement with the Makidell family. Green would sell his radishes to the Makidell family at 80% of the market price, with the family purchasing 200,000 catties per month. This was only a guaranteed minimum; if the radishes continued to sell well, they could purchase even more.

Just as this deal was finalized, Green heard news from the mercenaries in the Principality of Versailles: the magical beasts in the Corpse Swamp had revolted. This news sent Green's heart sinking to the bottom. He immediately rushed back to the Black Soil Wasteland, but at that time, there were too many magical beasts and undead creatures in the wasteland, preventing him from entering the castle's perimeter.

With a heart burning with anxiety, Green waited on the outskirts of the Black Soil Wasteland for two full days. During these two days, he felt like an ant on a hot pan, driven nearly to madness by worry, yet completely helpless.

It wasn't that Green and the others didn't know the magical beasts in the Corpse Swamp would eventually erupt; it was just that they had always been active near the capital of the AKS Empire and didn't know much about the situation in the Black Soil Wasteland. Furthermore, the Black Soil Wasteland was a dead land that few visited, so there wasn't much attention paid to it, and the information available was vague. They only knew that the magical beasts in the Corpse Swamp erupted once every ten or twenty years. The last recorded eruption was two years ago, so both Green and everyone else on the continent believed this period should be a safe one.

Because of this, Green had not invested heavily in the castle's defensive forces. When he heard of the eruption in the Corpse Swamp, it felt as if someone had struck his head heavily with a hammer. He feared something would happen to Zhao Hai and the others; if they fell, the Buda family would be finished.