Consciousness returned to the body, and the familiar hot, dry air and the silent ranks of soldiers came back into view.
Jiang Chan took a deep breath, suppressing the lingering dizziness.
She immediately checked the corner of the room—a silver-gray water source detector, with a simple and streamlined design and a size no bigger than a small refrigerator, was sitting quietly there.
Next to the water tank were several large jars of clean water that she had purified and collected in the mission world.
The water problem has been temporarily resolved!
A long-lost sense of ease swept over me.
"Keep going." Jiang Chan's voice broke the silence of the group.
She pulled Xiaotao up and took the first step.
The crowd silently followed.
Over the next few days, the team traveled along the desolate official road. As Jiang Chan walked, she frequently released detectors.
The detector's field of view continues to expand.
A desolate village... a dried-up pond... cracked fields...
Sudden!
At the edge of the detector's image, a winding, faintly blue line appears at the end of the field of view!
It's a river! A river that hasn't dried up yet!
Jiang Chan's spirits lifted! She immediately directed the detector to focus and scan!
Zoom in on the image.
A river that isn't too wide but has a steady current!
The riverbanks are vast stretches of relatively flat wasteland with decent soil! There is also the ruins of an abandoned village nearby! Most importantly, this place is neither too far nor too close to the official road, making it neither easy to be discovered nor too difficult to access!
This is it!
Jiang Chan stopped and turned to look at the silent team behind her.
“I’m not leaving.” She pointed in the direction indicated by the detector. “There’s a river ahead, and wasteland along its banks. I plan to settle down there. You can decide for yourselves whether to stay or leave.”
A stir ran through the crowd, and for the first time, a noticeable change appeared on their numb faces.
"Fairy...you mean...Anjia? We...we can stay too?" The old woodcutter's voice trembled, filled with disbelief and anticipation.
“You can stay,” Jiang Chan said calmly, “but the rules will remain the same. I will only provide one meal a day. There is water in the river, but you have to fetch it yourself. As for the house, we will all work together to build it. As for the land, we will all work together to clear and cultivate it.”
Her gaze swept over everyone. "Those who are willing to stay will have to work from now on. Those who are not can leave now and find their own way to make a living."
Leave? In this desolate wasteland where no one can see anything? Where to go? How to survive?
"Stay! I'll stay!"
"I'll stay too! I'm strong!"
"I'll do any work for the girl! Anything is fine with me!"
The crowd practically scrambled to express their opinions! A long-lost, humble glimmer of hope appeared on their faces!
For them, having a place to settle down near a water source, so they no longer had to flee aimlessly, was paradise!
Chen Yan looked at Jiang Chan, then at the unknown land, and nodded: "My master's wife and I will stay as well." They also had nowhere to go.
"Okay." Jiang Chan said no more. "Let's go."
Half a day later, the team arrived at their destination.
The scene before our eyes is more intuitive than what we see inside the detector.
The river was indeed still flowing, and the water quality was acceptable. On both banks were large tracts of wasteland overgrown with withered weeds and low shrubs; the soil was neither fertile nor barren. Not far away was a ruined village, with only a dozen or so crooked earthen walls and charred beams remaining. It was clearly an abandoned or destroyed village.
"Let's find a place to shelter from the wind in that abandoned village tonight," Jiang Chan said, pointing to the ruins. "Starting tomorrow, we'll clear the wasteland and prepare to cultivate the land."
The crowd looked at the wasteland with a mixture of hope, confusion, and helplessness in their eyes.
They had experienced things like venturing into forests and riding iron birds, but clearing land for farming? That seemed like a more distant and complicated matter.
The old woodcutter squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, rubbed it between his fingers, then looked at the river in the distance, his brow furrowed. "Young lady... this land... has been abandoned for a long time, it's very hard... without a plow or a hoe... I'm afraid..."
“Yes, Fairy...we...we don’t have any tools at all…” a man said with a worried expression.
"Without seeds... even if we clear the land, what will we plant?" another woman muttered under her breath.
Clearing land requires tools, sowing requires seeds, and drawing water requires channels... everything was started from scratch!
Jiang Chan didn't speak. She walked to the side, pretending to rummage through her bundle, but actually took out the cloth bag containing the drought-resistant seeds. The seeds were dark and inconspicuous.
“I have seeds.” She handed the seed bag to the old woodcutter. “They’re drought-resistant. Plant them like this.”
The old woodcutter took the seed bag, his face filled with awe. "The fairy's seeds... they must be good seeds! But... this land..."
Tools! And more tools!
All eyes in the crowd turned to Jiang Chan again, filled with anticipation and a touch of habitual dependence. It was as if they were waiting for the fairy to conjure up her magical tools once more.
Just then!
【bite!】
That familiar, timely electronic voice rang out without warning!
The system panel pops up:
[Host's infrastructure needs detected: Efficient land reclamation and planting!]
[Mission Name: Escape from the Sacrifice Tomb]
[Mission Description: Escape the tomb within the time limit! Countdown: 04:59:59]
[Mission Reward: Smart Land Reclamation/Sowing Machine x1 (with Unlimited Energy Core)!]
[Mission Penalty: Death!]
[Accept the mission: Yes/No?]
Hiss~
The famine relief story has turned into a farming story?! Even the quest panel has changed?!
A land clearing and sowing machine that can be used in one?!
Jiang Chan's eyes lit up instantly!
This is just like a pillow delivered to someone who's sleepy!
She didn't even bother to look at the mission penalties, since it was all "death" anyway!
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