Chapter 17: Madman

In the Ark Continent, it wasn't that no one had ever researched the Black Soil Wasteland before. About a thousand years ago, a famous high-level Wood Mage joined forces with several Water Mages, alchemists, and several Elves who were experts in botany to study the Black Soil Wasteland. Their goal was to transform the soil quality and turn the area into the largest granary on the entire continent.

However, after twenty full years of research, they still couldn't manage to make even a single blade of grass grow, and they were ultimately forced to give up in frustration.

Since then, no one had researched the Black Soil Wasteland. People believed there was no longer any value in studying it and that it was simply a waste of time.

In truth, this was closely related to the general situation of the Ark Continent. Although the population was significant, the continent's landmass was even larger, providing plenty of arable land. Consequently, food security was never a concern, so agriculture had never received much attention from the people of the continent.

However, because the continent had been peaceful for many years with no major wars, the population had grown rapidly. Now, some small nations were beginning to face food shortages. But since the five great empires of the continent enjoyed favorable weather and bountiful harvests, this issue had not gained widespread attention.

Furthermore, one must not forget that there were slaves on the Ark Continent. If food prices rose, it wasn't a major issue; they could simply reduce the rations given to the slaves—as long as they didn't starve to death.

Slave owners, of course, would never go out and announce that their slaves' rations had been cut. In fact, slave owners wouldn't even discuss their slaves when they gathered; they would rather discuss women or the moon than talk about slaves. Thus, the people of the continent had not yet realized that a food crisis was drawing closer and closer to them.

The continent was currently at peace, and the economies of various nations were developing well, causing prices to rise steadily. However, those in power failed to notice that while national economies were growing, the living standards of most commoners were not improving; on the contrary, they had dropped significantly, to say nothing of the slaves.

As national economies grow, prices naturally rise. When prices rise but commoners' incomes do not increase, many people become unable to support themselves. Unable to afford food, more people fall into slavery, and social contradictions intensify.

Of course, Merlin was unaware of all this. She only knew that food on the continent was currently very expensive. If Zhao Hai could truly turn the barren, lifeless black soil of the Black Soil Wasteland into fertile land, the Buda family would find it impossible not to prosper.

Seeing Merlin's excitement, Zhao Hai smiled slightly and said, "Yes, Grandma Merlin, this is a capability I have obtained. However, I can only transform ten *mu* per day. So, this afternoon, you should organize them to survey as much land as possible. Let's aim for one thousand *mu* as a starting point; if we do more, we won't be able to keep up. Once we've surveyed a thousand *mu*, we'll stop."

Merlin nodded excitedly. "Yes, Young Master, I'll go arrange it immediately." Having said that, she turned to leave.

Zhao Hai quickly stopped her. "Alright, Grandma Merlin, don't be in such a rush. There's plenty of time after lunch. Also, we must not survey too much, and we shouldn't go too far from the castle. We cannot let outsiders discover this ability of mine. Otherwise, with the current strength of the Buda family, we wouldn't be able to stop those people."

Merlin was someone who had seen much of the world. Upon hearing Zhao Hai's words, she immediately calmed down. She nodded and said, "Understood, Young Master. Leave this matter to me."

Neither Zhao Hai nor Merlin noticed that Meg, standing behind Merlin, was watching Zhao Hai with eyes full of obsession.

Previously, whenever Zhao Hai appeared, Meg would lower her head. But now, she held her head high, gazing intently at him, no longer possessing that shrinking, timid demeanor she had before.

Meg had grown up with Adam. Since Adam was two years older than her, they had played together since childhood. Back then, Meg was Adam's little shadow; wherever Adam went, Meg followed. If other children bullied her, Adam would fight for her. Because of this, she had held a deep affection for her "young master brother" from a young age.

But as they grew older and became more mature, Meg realized that Adam was her master. She could no longer call him "brother" because she was a girl, and Adam no longer wanted to play with her, which left her very heartbroken.

As they grew even older, Adam made many noble friends, and it was around that time that he began to go astray, seemingly forgetting his childhood playmate.

As the years passed, Adam's behavior became increasingly unruly, while Meg grew more beautiful, more sensible, and even demonstrated great magical talent. She and Adam had taken completely different paths. Yet, Meg became increasingly unhappy. Seeing Adam's daily antics, she desperately wanted to stop him, but it was useless. Adam wouldn't even listen to her grandfather, let alone her. She wished so much that time could return to the past—to the childhood when that young master brother who played with her every day and fought for her would return to her side.

It is said that a young girl's sentiments are always poetic, and Merlin was just like that. She always hoped that one day Adam would return to his former self, but reality ruthlessly shattered her dream: Adam actually attempted to rape her.

As Adam approached her with a lewd grin, she felt her world collapse. Those beautiful memories suddenly drifted far away. Although she escaped that ordeal, she felt as though she had lost her soul; her world lost its color, and she lived in a daze every day.

Then, disaster struck. The Buda family reached a moment of life and death. She watched with her own eyes as the people she had lived with since childhood left the Buda family one by one. She watched her childhood home being taken by the King. She watched Adam being fed the "Water of Void," falling into a deep coma, and watched her home vanish in a short amount of time.

Then they arrived at the Black Soil Wasteland, this land of death. Adam had not woken up. She watched her grandparents working tirelessly every day, struggling for the survival of the Buda family like a drowning person making a final struggle.

Meg was just a girl who had not experienced much of the world, and the sudden succession of blows was almost more than she could bear. If her grandparents hadn't been there to support her, she might have succumbed to despair and committed suicide long ago.

But not long after they arrived at the Black Soil Wasteland, Zhao Hai arrived. Although Merlin realized that her Young Master had changed—he was no longer the ignorant boy who only knew how to cause trouble, but had become mature and knew how to work for the family—she was still stunned.

First it was the magic, then the Blue-Eyed Rabbits, and now the improvement of the Black Soil. She suddenly realized that the Young Master had become a stranger, yet he was slowly merging with the perfect image of the Young Master in her heart.

Meg noticed that something about Adam seemed to be attracting her. His temperament was no longer that of a reckless, frightening person; instead, it had transformed into a steady, natural aura that made people instinctively want to be near him.

She loved seeing Adam so full of confidence; she loved his gentle smile; and she loved the slightly awkward, somewhat guilty expression on his face when he saw her. Unknowingly, the young girl's heart was being tied to Adam once again.

Merlin, however, did not notice Meg's change. After speaking with Zhao Hai, she immediately headed toward the kitchen. This snapped Meg out of her thoughts; she quickly lowered her head, her face flushing red, and followed Merlin to the kitchen to bring up food.

The group ate together, though today Merlin and the others ate very quickly, finishing their food in just a few bites. Then, Merlin and Meg immediately headed outside, seemingly preparing to organize people to survey the land.

Watching Merlin, Zhao Hai could only smile helplessly. He could understand her feelings. Merlin and the others had always believed the Black Soil Wasteland was a dead land. Now, someone was telling her that he could turn this dead land into living land. It was like telling a terminally ill patient that they could be cured; how could they not be excited?

Zhao Hai finished his lunch slowly before leading Mu Tou and Shi Tou out of the castle. Once outside, they discovered that Merlin and the others had already led the slaves to begin surveying the land.

Although the slaves had no special skills, they had experience farming soil before. They might not be able to do other things, but surveying land and planting crops were tasks they were perfectly capable of handling.

Ten *mu* of land was surveyed quickly, but Merlin and the others did not continue surveying. Instead, they all stood still, staring at Zhao Hai, waiting to see if he could truly improve the land.

Zhao Hai stared at those ten *mu* of land and froze. He knew how large ten *mu* was from his time in the Space, but in the Space, he didn't have to worry about planting or harvesting. Now that he had to improve this land, he truly didn't know what to do. Once the Space Soil and Space Water left the Space, could they still be controlled by him?

While he was in the Space, he had been so focused on calculating the ratios that he had forgotten this detail. How was he supposed to do it now? Was he supposed to just sprinkle the Space Soil and Space Water onto the ground bit by bit?

Just as Zhao Hai was pacing anxiously, a spatial prompt suddenly rang out again: *"Do you wish to improve the land before you? Yes/No."* Along with the voice, a projected screen appeared before him, displaying two buttons: one labeled "Yes" and the other "No."

Overjoyed, Zhao Hai immediately reached out to tap the "Yes" button, only to find his hand passing straight through the screen without touching anything. The screen and the two buttons remained perfectly in place, while he looked like a madman waving his hands in the air.