Chapter 9: Sooner or Later

After looking around the space again and seeing that there was truly nothing left to do, Zhao Hai exited the space. He lay quietly on his bed, his mind constantly replaying everything that had happened since he woke up.

Ever since he realized he had transmigrated, Zhao Hai hadn't felt a shred of fear; instead, deep down, he felt a hint of joy. Back on Earth, Zhao Hai was a shut-in who lived off a meager monthly royalty check, and the pressures of life were immense.

But things were different here. Here, he was a noble. Although he was ostracized, he had his own fief—even if it was a dead land. He had a few loyal subordinates, a hundred slaves whose lives he could decide with a single word, and his own castle with people to serve him. Most importantly, he had the space farm.

Although he didn't know where this space farm came from, as long as it existed, he would never have to worry about food or drink for the rest of his life. Living a carefree life would be quite nice.

As he thought about these things, he kept considering the future development of the farm. But thinking about it now was useless; he could only wait for the farm to develop further.

However, the farm had clearly undergone a mutation, and whether this was a good thing or a bad thing was hard to say. Therefore, if he had the chance tomorrow, he must bring some of the black soil from outside into the space to see if it could be improved using the space soil and water. Furthermore, he needed to accumulate capital as quickly as possible to buy more seeds from the space. It would be best to also bring some space water outside; that way, even if the space farm were to disappear in the future, he would still have his own piece of land—the foundation for his survival.

Thinking and thinking, he drifted off to sleep without realizing it. In his dream, he built a massive manor, became a manor lord, and lived his own little life. It was wonderful.

Just as he was having this beautiful dream, a voice suddenly came: "The radishes have matured. Please harvest them as soon as possible."

Zhao Hai woke up with a start and quickly entered the space. He discovered that the radishes had indeed matured; the large white radishes were so crowded that they had cracked the ground open.

Zhao Hai couldn't care less about anything else. He rushed to the side of the space plot, dug out a large white radish in a few quick motions, wiped the dirt off with his hand, and, not caring if it was dirty, took a bite.

The radish juice, sweet with a hint of spiciness, filled his mouth. Zhao Hai couldn't help but sigh; the taste was truly excellent. Back on Earth, Zhao Hai had been particularly fond of white radishes. They tasted sweet, unlike green radishes, which were always very spicy. The white radish grown in the space plot tasted far better than anything he had ever had on Earth.

While chewing the radish, Zhao Hai examined it. It weighed at least three pounds, which was not small for a white radish. It was straight, plump, and white, looking very appetizing.

Zhao Hai laughed happily. He took the radish to the window of the grass hut, picked up the basket labeled "Harvest," and shouted toward the soil, "Harvest!" The radishes in the ground seemed to be pulled out by invisible hands; one by one, they flew out of the soil and landed in the basket. Yet, no matter how many went in, the basket never seemed to fill up. Zhao Hai looked down and realized that as soon as the radishes entered the basket, they vanished.

Before long, the entire plot was harvested. Zhao Hai checked the warehouse and, sure enough, all the radishes were stored inside, leaving only radish pits in the field.

Zhao Hai didn't sell the radishes. Instead, he bought another bag of seeds and ordered the small iron shovel to till the soil, then planted the new seeds. As soon as he finished planting, he heard a "ding," followed by a voice: "Congratulations, you have reached Level 2. The system gifts you two bags of cabbage seeds. Each bag can plant one mu of land."

Zhao Hai curled his lip and said, "How stingy, the gifted seeds can only plant one mu."

After finishing his work, Zhao Hai exited the space. He looked at the sky outside and saw that it was still very early; the eastern horizon was just beginning to turn a pale white.

At this hour, Green and the others couldn't possibly be up, and even the slaves were still sleeping. But Zhao Hai was too excited to sleep. He sat alone in his room, gnawing on the white radish he had dug up from the space; the taste was truly addictive.

Zhao Hai couldn't finish a three-pound radish; he was full after eating only half. But then, a strange thing happened. Zhao Hai felt a warm current in his stomach, and his body seemed to be suddenly filled with strength. All traces of sleepiness vanished.

Zhao Hai was stunned. This had never happened before. He had eaten a radish, not a stimulant—how could this be? Could it be that this wasn't a radish, but ginseng?

At this thought, Zhao Hai couldn't help but touch his nose, fearing a nosebleed. However, he found his nose was clean; there was no blood.

Zhao Hai laughed at himself. He was a person who tended to overthink, often doing things that seemed ridiculous to others.

Yet, he was certain that what he felt just now was no illusion, because he still felt energetic, his eyes bright, and he had no desire to sleep.

This situation was abnormal. From Adam's memories, he knew that he had drunk the Water of Nothingness. Although drinking it had no effect on those who didn't study magic or battle qi, it still made one feel very tired. Even if one wanted to rely solely on physical strength to become a warrior, it would be impossible. How could he have this endless supply of energy? There was only one possibility: that radish.

Thinking of this, Zhao Hai became even more expectant of the radish. He immediately stored it in the space warehouse, planning to ask Green later what exactly this radish was.

He looked at the sky outside; it was beginning to brighten, but it was still very early. Since no one else was up, Zhao Hai didn't feel right waking them, but staying in the room was too boring. So, Zhao Hai slowly walked outside; he wanted to get a good look at this castle that belonged to him.

He exited the inner keep and walked slowly forward. After passing through a small square, he reached the outer keep. The structure of the outer keep was very simple: blue stone floors, rows of stone houses, and behind the stone houses was the city wall. The wall was quite high, nearly ten meters. He walked over to the wall and saw that it was also very thick, about four meters. The city gate seemed to be made of pig iron and was over four meters high, held in the middle by a massive iron bolt. There was a rotating device on the gate, which appeared to be used for inserting and removing the bolt.

The device was cleverly designed; as long as one turned a handle at the bottom of the gate, the gears above would rotate, driving the iron bolt to lock the gate, and the same for unlocking it.

Zhao Hai nodded. He hadn't expected the machinery of this world to be so advanced. He looked around again and didn't find anything else; apart from the pile of supplies Green had bought sitting in the middle of the square, there was nothing at all.

Seeing those supplies, Zhao Hai couldn't help but smile bitterly. It seemed Green really wasn't material for business; he had actually traded all the gold coins he had for these things. Didn't they know that gold coins could beget more gold coins, while these supplies would eventually run out?

It seemed Green wanted to turn this place into an isolated manor. But thinking about it, he was right. If it weren't for Zhao Hai transmigrating here—if it were still the original Adam—living here might have allowed him to live a little longer. If he had been given money to run around outside, he probably would have died very quickly.

He turned to the stone stairs next to the gate and slowly walked up to the city wall. The wall was built entirely of a dark, iron-blue stone and looked very sturdy. The top of the wall was well-preserved, and the battlements were neat, requiring no repairs. At the four corners of the wall, there were arrow towers that could provide all-around protection for the castle.

Zhao Hai turned to look at the inner wall. The inner keep's wall was even higher than the outer one and also had several arrow towers built on it. It seemed the castle's defensive capabilities were truly no joke.

He turned back to look outside the wall. Beyond it was a moat about five meters wide. The water in it was clear, and it was clearly running water. There was a drawbridge over the moat, about five meters wide. The suspension ropes were made of iron chains as thick as an arm and were very heavy. The drawbridge itself was made of a massive iron frame covered with wooden planks, which looked new—clearly recently replaced.

Directly opposite the gate was a straight road, also paved with stone. He didn't know how far it went, and it seemed it hadn't been used for a long time, as it was covered in weeds.

Zhao Hai knew this castle had been abandoned for many years. That road had only been used once when they arrived. He believed that in the past month or so, no one had left the castle, which was why the road looked the way it did.

Apart from this road, everything outside the castle was black soil, barren and desolate, carrying a deathly silence.

Just then, the sun began to rise. Golden sunlight shone on Zhao Hai. He stood on the wall with his hands behind his back, watching the rising sun, and couldn't help but feel a surge of ambition. He laughed loudly, "Good! This castle, everything here is mine! Although it is just starting, like this rising sun, one day, I will make this sunlight shine across the entire land!"

Zhao Hai didn't notice that at some point, Green and the others had already risen. They stood below the wall, quietly watching Zhao Hai standing on the castle, bathed in golden light like a god, their eyes shimmering with tears of excitement.

(End of chapter)