Jiang Ji organized his thoughts and said, "Dean Xu and I discovered that there are slight cracks in the spatial structure."
After saying that, he felt it wasn't quite right, scratched his head, and frowned: "I don't know if this is the right way to put it, but anyway, it's not as stable as before. It's like those failed experiments in my lab, you know, they exploded after a few days."
General Li stared wide-eyed in shock and asked, "Are you serious?"
"Hmm." Jiang Ji nodded: "This crack is very small. If I hadn't happened to catch it, I wouldn't have noticed it at all."
General Li tried his best to control his emotions and said in as gentle a tone as possible, "How long do you think the space can hold out?"
Jiang Ji thought for a moment: "If we can maintain the current level, it's not impossible for the space to last forever. But the key is that the space needs to be upgraded. Xiao Kai can't control the faith points on his body."
Suddenly, General Li thought of something and asked, "Do you think it's possible that it's related to him absorbing that black stone?"
"Unlikely. How long has that black stone been absorbing? The cracks in the space have existed for at least a year."
General Li breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Then what does it mean to let him absorb the black stone? Could the black stone repair these cracks?"
Jiang Ji rubbed his aching temples: "It's highly unlikely. I just think that since he can absorb it, it means that his body or space must need it. Although we don't understand exactly what's going on yet, if we have enough research materials, it's not impossible to let him absorb one or two pieces."
"As for all of them, there's no need. Xiao Kai also said that once these black stones are absorbed into the body, they disappear without a trace. None of us can detect them. Now that it's confirmed that the black stones can support space folding technology, the remaining materials might be more valuable for making storage devices than for Xiao Kai to absorb them."
Mainly, he was afraid that Xiao Kai's space might collapse one day.
General Li fell silent, then looked at Dean Xu and asked, "Dean Xu, what's your opinion? Is it the same as Engineer Jiang's?"
Dean Xu sighed and shook his head: "Different, but similar."
"What do you mean?"
"Engineer Jiang studied the structural aspects, while I focused on observing the soil and plant growth." Dean Xu closed his eyes, wiped his face with his hand, and continued, "Have you noticed that the fertility of the soil in this space is being rapidly depleted?"
General Li was bewildered and somewhat puzzled: "Aren't those plants growing normally?"
There was no reduction in production or slowdown in speed, so how could the soil fertility be insufficient?
"Yes, that's the problem. Normally, land can rest for a while after being cultivated. But with this land, one crop is harvested and another is planted immediately. Years of continuous and excessive cultivation have depleted the soil's fertility, and it hasn't been replenished. If this continues, the only way forward is desertification."
"Don't be fooled by the fact that there's no visible effect now, and the plants are still growing and yielding crops. That's because they're overdrawing the land's vitality. Do you know that overdrawing accelerates desertification?"
Dean Xu glanced at Jiang Ji and said leisurely, "It's hard to say. The spatial cracks that Engineer Jiang mentioned are caused by overdrawing the vitality of the land."
Jiang Ji frowned and nodded: "That's possible, after all, they complement each other."
General Li tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table and asked, "Then what do you suggest we do?"
Dean Xu was very frustrated because what he could think of was simply impossible to achieve.
But he still spoke up: "Stop upgrading, stop farming, fertilize, and nourish the land; maybe we can still salvage the situation."
The three fell silent.
Leaving aside the psychological trauma Li Sikai must have endured for storing that organic fertilizer in his space, none of them could afford to stop farming.
Most of Qinghua Kingdom's bases have run out of food. If it weren't for the relief efforts from the capital, those survivors would have starved to death.
"Thump, thump, thud!" General Li's tapping on the table grew faster and faster. The sounds echoed in the silent office, making Dean Xu and Jiang Ji's hearts pound with anxiety.
Li Zongmeng, the chief official, did not notice the subtle changes in the two men's expressions, because he was thinking about how much grain Haishi could provide.
Li Zongmengguan thought of Shen Yanming. Although he gave him supernatural water, who knew if it came from his spatial dimension?
But then he shook his head.
The Haishi base is already responsible for supplying rice and grain to several surrounding cities. The pressure is already immense; it would be somewhat unfair for him to ask for more.
Moreover, this matter was originally quite secretive. If the news of needing grain were to leak out, it's hard to guarantee that someone wouldn't suspect Xiao Shen.
If Xiao Shen really has a spatial ability, then he'll become like Tang Sanzang's flesh, and everyone will want to take a bite out of him.
If he hadn't, he might have ruined his peaceful life because of his own decisions. In that case, Shen Yanming would most likely have taken his family into seclusion. His friendly relations with the alliance would also have crumbled.
That's quite a high price to pay!
The more I thought about it, the more I felt I shouldn't do it this way, but Xiao Kai just couldn't stop.
Li Zongmengguan felt a headache coming on. He looked up at Dean Xu and Jiang Ji and said, "You two go back first. Don't tell Xiao Kai about this."
Dean Xu and Jiang Ji nodded, thinking that Chief Alliance Officer Li had probably given up on Xiao Kai. After all, in his position, he had to choose the greater good over personal feelings. It was quite tragic.
What they didn't know was that Chief Alliance Officer Li was planning to send someone to Hai City to ask Xiao Shen for some supernatural water, and if possible, get something else.
Another month passed, and the stone in Li Sikai's hand grew to the size of a goose egg.
Every day, General Lee would ask, "How are you feeling?"
Li Sikai always smiled and said, "I'm fine, there's nothing to feel bad about." Thanks to the spiritual spring water given to him by Shen Yanming, his condition had improved a lot.
"That's good. If you feel uncomfortable, please let me know." He left without mentioning the problem with the space.
Back in the research lab, Dean Xu and Jiang Ji had been thinking about Li Sikai. They came over as soon as they had some free time.
The two made up an excuse, saying they were lacking inspiration and wanted to go for a walk in the space to get some fresh air.
Li Sikai, without suspecting anything, took the person in.
Dean Xu and Jiang Ji strolled around the space as if they were having a leisurely time, but their eyes were fixed on every inch of the land, trying to find anything unusual.
Li Sikai glanced at the two of them and then snapped out of his daze. He'd been cooped up in the hospital room for too long and was actually quite eager to go out and have some fun.
However, because of the growth on his hand, he was afraid of causing panic if he went out, so he could only stay in the small hospital room and was not free.
When Qiu Man found out, she found him a few novels. Li Sikai clicked his tongue and opened the tattered little book that he had almost memorized for the nth time.
Dean Xu and Jiang Ji didn't stay long this time, only about a day and a night, before they came out.
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