Chapter 48

The surprise came too quickly. With everyone’s encouragement, Qin Yun confirmed immediately.

Name: Fengshan Farm.

Level: Intermediate.

Permissions: 1. Farmland limit 50,000 acres. 2. Staff limit 300 people. 3. AI grunt limit 1,000.

Upgrade reward: One random big lottery draw.

“Good, good!” Liu Wensheng looked at the System Interface and repeated “good” twice.

Although the upgrade reward was only one big lottery draw, the farmland area had doubled, and more importantly, the staff limit increased twelvefold from twenty-five to three hundred. This would reduce the number of cycles, making farm research much more flexible.

“Rustle, rustle!”

At that moment, the sound of birds flapping outside came through.

Liu Wensheng glanced out the window. They had only been helping the animals following their conscience, but didn’t expect such a wonderful achievement.

“Nature…”

Nature was a cycle, full of wonders.

It was now 3:50 a.m. Everyone shuffled around with flashlights, checked the greenhouse, confirmed the animals were safe, then gradually leaned against the wall and fell asleep.

By seven in the morning, the rain had gradually lessened.

The Tulou fence was now covered with birds. Qin Yun thought for a moment and carefully opened the door.

“Chirp!”

The birds all looked over at Qin Yun.

Qin Yun raised his guard as a white-shouldered eagle flew to him. The eagle circled once at Qin Yun’s side and then landed directly on his shoulder.

Qin Yun stood straight and still.

The white-shouldered eagle rubbed its head against Qin Yun’s chin, and another golden eagle flew to the other shoulder.

The white-shouldered eagle weighed ten jin, the golden eagle twenty. Before Qin Yun could react, an adult male eagle eyed the spot above his head…

Qin Yun: !!!

He shifted slightly and shook the birds off, signaling to Liu Wensheng and the others, “It’s okay now.”

With Heart of Peace and Heart of Animals, Qin Yun felt a profound calm. Although he couldn’t communicate with the animals, he was certain that within the farm, humans and animals were safe.

Liu Wensheng observed for a moment, then stepped out.

He remained wary of the birds approaching, but the birds only glanced at him with no reaction.

While birds could not fight within the farm’s range, that didn’t mean they showed friendliness toward humans.

Liu Wensheng noticed this too and felt instantly frustrated. But no matter what, they could now go outside.

Over the next two days, the rain gradually lessened.

After two days, the floods outside the farm receded. The animals left the farmland greenhouse and, after confirming the outside environment was safe, headed toward the Deep Uninhabited Zone.

Though the farm was a perfect refuge, there was no food there. Compared to the stability of the farm, the animals preferred to contest outside.

Carnivores left.

Herbivores circled the farm and then departed.

Although Heart of Peace protected herbivores, it came with a debuff: animals could not graze on the farm’s crops.

Besides sweet potatoes and wheat, the farm had no edible pasture.

This place wasn’t suitable for carnivores or herbivores.

“They all left…”

Liu Wensheng had thought the animals would stay but hadn’t expected them to leave one by one. In nature, the strong prey on the weak. He had worried Heart of Peace would affect relations among animals, but once the rain ceased, the animals understood survival laws better than humans.

“These acid rains shouldn’t be their burden.”

Liu Wensheng said. The acid rain was caused by humanity’s unchecked emissions, but now plants were degrading, animals struggling to survive, and marine fish stocks declining… these were consequences they shouldn’t have to bear, yet their suffering was worse than humans’.

“Yes.”

Qin Yun watched the direction the animals had gone. Since yesterday afternoon, Xiaobai had been wagging his tail at him. He knew this was Xiaobai’s farewell… Now the wolf pack was leaving, and Xiaobai followed.

Xiaobai belonged to the wolf pack and needed ongoing struggle to hone survival skills.

The two watched a while longer before returning to the office.

Over the following week, the acid rain continued drizzling. According to Longxia’s data, 30% of the Uninhabited Zone’s land had degraded, worsening conditions there.

On July 2nd, after nearly half a month, the rain finally stopped.

“It smells terrible…”

On July 3rd, as soon as all the birds flew away, Qin Yun ordered two hundred AIs to start a thorough cleanup. The Tulou corridors and stairs were filthy. After a full day of cleaning and comprehensive disinfection with sanitizer, everyone finally felt alive again.

On July 4th, researchers gradually returned to the farm.

Qin Yun dismantled the farmland greenhouse. The wheat and sweet potato fields had been trampled beyond recognition. Whether these plants had fully matured or not, the farm researchers inspected carefully and decided to clear all the crops.

Though inedible, these crops could be processed into industrial feed, making good use of resources.

After finishing all the work, Qin Yun expanded the farmland area to 50,000 acres.

“Upgrade!”

The moment the farmland area expanded, the researchers were thrilled.

Now with more land, they could not only breed crops but also plant more food!

That afternoon, Liu Wensheng handed over a list of farm employees arranged by Longxia, mostly agricultural and technical staff.

Qin Yun reviewed it carefully and set them as employees.

The farm was now running smoothly. Qin Yun opened the System Interface to check the upgrade reward: one random big lottery draw.

With prior lottery experience, he clicked directly.

“Congratulations Host, you have received farmland seeds: Rice Full of Happiness.”

Rice Full of Happiness: 3,000 points per acre. Farm yield: 1,500 jin. Planting requirement: paddy field.

“Staple food.”

At the reward announcement, Liu Wensheng was very excited.

Rice, corn, wheat.

These were Longxia’s three main staples. Corn and wheat were mostly grown in the north, rice in the south. They already had Longfeng 001, but due to different growing environments, those seeds weren’t suitable for paddy fields. Before, Longxia worried about large areas of southern land going unused. Now that they had rice seeds, hybrid rice research became possible…

Liu Wensheng excitedly finished reviewing and immediately reported to his superiors.

“Ding, congratulations Host for completing the [Direct-operated Store] mission. Reward: Magical Vegetable Seeds x1.”

Liu Wensheng had just finished reporting when the system updated again.

Qin Yun opened the Longbao interface.

Name: Fengshan Farm Flagship Store.

Sales: 220 million.

Fans: 210 million.

Since reaching 150 million fans, the growth in followers had slowed down. At that time, the farm was dealing with acid rain, and Qin Yun focused all his energy on it. Unexpectedly, quietly, the mission was completed…

Qin Yun studied the screen carefully. The system prompted, “The vegetable seed is a random seed. Would you like to open it?”

Qin Yun consulted Liu Wensheng, who gave the go-ahead.

“Congratulations Host, you have obtained a random seed: Magical Oilseed Rape.”

Magical Oilseed Rape: 3,000 points per acre. Yield per acre: 5,000 jin. Planting requirements: within farm boundaries, not limited to specific farmland.

Oilseed rape is fresh and crisp, one of Longxia’s most common vegetables. Normally, the yield per acre is between 2,000 and 3,000 kilograms. The system’s oilseed rape yield was no exaggeration, but…

Both their eyes focused on the planting requirements.

The farm now covered 60,000 acres, with 50,000 acres farmland. Besides the farmland, the rest of the farm was a barren stretch. Now that oilseed rape planting wasn’t limited to farmland, this meant… the farm could have other greenery!

It was three in the afternoon. After they finished looking, the office phone rang.

Liu Wensheng answered, then excitedly looked at Qin Yun.

“What’s going on?” Qin Yun asked curiously.

Liu Wensheng hung up and said excitedly, “The wheat in Changlong County, Su Province, is ripe!”

Changlong County was one of the first regions in the country to plant wheat. Now, as the wheat there ripened, it signaled that July would be a harvest month even amid acid rain!