Chapter 94

“Grandpa?” Qin Yun immediately looked around, but the area was completely empty—there was no sign of Qin Hai.

Just then, a selection interface appeared in front of him: “Gift from Grandpa Qin Hai. Bind it?”

Qin Yun steadied himself and chose, “Bind.”

As soon as he made the selection, the surroundings dimmed. A deep blue gemstone appeared before him, crystal-clear and surrounded by a watery aura, as if it were wrapped in layers of ocean.

Qin Yun tapped on it.

Purification Gem: Resets the ecosystem of a designated area, restoring it to peak condition. Range: 1 million to 10 million square kilometers. [Advanced]

Qin Yun stared at the description, stunned.

They now had food and vegetables, but all of it was the most basic variety. Under the impact of the Harma Storm and the dual polar ice fields, global desertification had increased by 550% compared to the year 3027. Plant degradation and land desertification were among the world’s most pressing issues. Now, with the appearance of the Purification Gem, it meant the global ecosystem could be restored!

Excited, Qin Yun picked up the gem. Just as he was about to examine it more closely, he noticed a final line in the description: The Purification Gem is not native to this dimension’s ecosystem. There is a 30% chance of malignant mutation in individual plant species, and a 100% chance of regional malignant mutation.

If there were a hundred species within the gem’s range, each had a 30% chance of mutating. But ecosystems are interconnected—if one species mutated, the entire ecological chain could be affected, potentially spreading the mutation worldwide.

“This really is a tough one…” Qin Yun looked at a photo of Qin Hai.

The Purification Gem could solve their immediate survival issues, but it could also create even bigger problems… After some thought, Qin Yun decided to leave the critical decision to the team.

That night, Qin Yun reported the Purification Gem to the farm.

“When are you coming back?” Liu Wensheng asked seriously.

“Tomorrow night.”

“Need someone to pick you up?” Liu Wensheng offered to send someone.

“Zhuhé Airport,” Qin Yun replied, not refusing. With the Purification Gem now in his backpack, he was eager to return.

…

The next morning at 9 a.m., Qin Yun and Zhang Hu had just stepped out of Gaojia Ridge Hospital when the Gaotong Bus chugged up to the entrance.

“We stopped for gas, so we’re a bit late.” Xu Hanwen leaned out of the bus window and called out. They had agreed to depart at 9, but a detour had delayed them five minutes.

“No problem.” Qin Yun and Zhang Hu returned to their seats. The team had booked a 2 p.m. flight, so the schedule was fairly relaxed.

At 9:30, the bus arrived at Changlong Agricultural Base.

The bus needed to refill its water supply and would stop for about twenty minutes. Qin Yun checked the time and stepped off to stretch his legs.

Changlong Tourism was a newly planned project by the Zhuhé government. Thanks to its interesting features and reasonable prices, it had already welcomed 30,000 tourists this month. As soon as Qin Yun got off the bus, he saw a group of students planting seeds in the nearby fields.

“Is this how you do it?”

“Just cover it with a bit of soil. If there’s too much, the seed won’t sprout.”

…

Their teacher was confirming the planting process with local farmers, while the students earnestly mimicked what they’d been taught. They were planting wheat, and worried the seeds wouldn’t break through the soil, they gently sprinkled a thin layer over them before moving on to other spots.

Qin Yun was amused by their careful movements and walked over. “Hey kids, what grade are you in?”

“Third grade.”

“Wheat is pretty tough. We need to pack the soil down firmly so it can grow strong, full heads of grain.” Wheat is a monocot—its sprouting power is strong. Only when it breaks through the soil does it develop deeper roots and grow sturdier.

After Qin Yun explained, the kids looked at him, wide-eyed and unsure.

“Here, let me show you.” Qin Yun grabbed a handful of seeds and demonstrated. But just as he finished planting, his expression froze.

“What’s wrong?” a few students asked, looking up.

“Let’s cover it with soil and stomp it down a bit.” Qin Yun continued the demonstration, answered a few more questions, and returned to the bus amid a chorus of “Bye, big brother!”

As soon as he got back on the bus, Qin Yun opened the System Interface.

Host Name: Qin Yun

Current Mission: Participate in twenty types of planting labor

Mission Reward: Mysterious Planting Package

Mission Progress: 5%

…

The planting mission was a personal task. It had been three months since he accepted it, but due to the complex criteria, his progress had remained at 0%.

Qin Yun and the farm had decided to put the mission on hold, but today’s unexpected activity had triggered an update. Longfeng 001 was the farm’s first Acid Rain Seed. As soon as the seeds were developed, Longxia had arranged for them to be planted in Su, Zhe, and An provinces. That had been around December or January—roughly the same time of year as now.

Qin Yun looked out at the fields, then back at the System Interface.

The key to the planting mission… was it to plant each type of seed according to its characteristics and research order?

“Grilled sausage.” Qin Yun was deep in thought when Xu Hanwen and the driver returned to the bus with four skewers of sausage. They each took one and handed the other two to Qin Yun and Zhang Hu.

“No need,” Qin Yun said, surprised.

“They’re homemade at the Planting Base. Give it a try.”

Unable to refuse their enthusiasm, both Qin Yun and Zhang Hu took one. These were homemade chicken-and-starch sausages, deep-fried until golden. Each skewer looked as tempting as a blooming pear tree.

Qin Yun took a bite—crispy, savory, and full of flavor.

“How is it?” Xu Hanwen asked.

“Delicious!” Qin Yun gave a big thumbs-up.

“I thought so too.” Xu Hanwen quickly finished his.

As the driver started the engine, Xu Hanwen wiped his hands and asked, “Where do you work?”

They’d chatted a bit last time, but not in depth.

“A construction unit in Gan Province,” Qin Yun replied, using the same story he’d told Gao Hongwei.

“Do you get full benefits?”

“Yeah.”

“Make about ten thousand a month?”

“Roughly.”

“Man, that’s great…” Xu Hanwen looked at Qin Yun with envy.

Qin Yun chuckled. “You’ve got it good too—you get to see all kinds of places.”

“Good?!” Xu Hanwen scoffed. “Zhuhé’s economy is a mess. Just as the tourist spots were starting to develop, we got hit with the food crisis and economic crash. Things are a bit better now, but look at the mountains—what scenic spots are even left?”

At that moment, the bus passed a barren hilltop. Xu Hanwen asked, “Remember what this used to be?”

“Sanbuyao Scenic Area?” Qin Yun guessed, recognizing the hotel at the base of the hill.

“Yeah. There used to be a natural spring up there. People loved coming to shake the trees. Now it’s just a bald hill and Acid Rain Gully—no one comes anymore.”

Qin Yun listened intently.

The Acid Rain crisis hadn’t just impacted supplies and daily life—it had devastated the tourism industry. Small spots like Sanbuyao had shut down. Larger ones like Longshan and Xiangmen Mountain were barely hanging on thanks to nostalgia. Even cultural sites like Longtang Grottoes and Dachuan Temple, though focused on heritage, had suffered severe corrosion to their ancient structures—no less than the natural sites.

“Making money’s tough. If you’ve got a stable job, don’t switch. Who knows what next year will bring,” Xu Hanwen said earnestly.

“What do you think will happen next year?” Qin Yun asked.

Xu Hanwen thought for a moment. “No idea.”

Online rumors were all over the place. Some said living standards would never return to what they were. Prices for essentials like toilet paper and medicine were expected to skyrocket. Many residents had already started stockpiling gauze and medical supplies. Even clothes and shoes were getting more expensive…

Xu Hanwen rambled on, then caught himself. “I’m just talking nonsense. Whether the economy’s good or not depends on who you compare it to. At least we’ve got food, veggies, and meat. Right now, we’re one of the happiest countries in the world.” Even if that happiness was relative, Longxia had indeed handled the crisis better than most. The people had grown more united, and he felt genuinely proud.

“Things will get better,” Qin Yun said with conviction.

At 11:20, the bus arrived at Zhuhé Airport.

“Thanks a lot,” Qin Yun said as he paid the fare.

“Just doing my job.” Xu Hanwen waved goodbye.

Xu Hanwen watched Qin Yun’s retreating figure, thinking back to what he had just said: “It’ll get better.”

Will it?

Xu Hanwen thought about it. It probably would. Last month, his base salary was only 1,800 yuan. This month, with the Changlong project underway, both his base and commission added up to 3,200. The tourism market wasn’t doing great, but Longxia and the government were doing everything they could to stimulate demand and boost the economy…

“It’s all the weather’s fault.”

Xu Hanwen chalked up his emotional ups and downs to the changing weather. Zhuhé was in the southwest of Longxia and subject to global climate shifts. Summers there were like living in an oven. Now, in mid-November, the cold wind was already howling through the streets. Meteorologists were predicting this winter would be even colder than the last.

Xu Hanwen glanced at his schedule and decided he’d stop by after work to grab a down jacket.

…

“Finally back.”

“There’s a ton of work in the plantation. No one try to steal him.”

“Our lab needs him too.”

…

At 10 p.m. on November 17th, Qin Yun had just arrived at the farm when he was immediately surrounded by staff.

Daily system reports, System Task research, monitoring the plantation’s tree status… Qin Yun wasn’t a scientist, but the work he had to coordinate every day was complex and demanding. He’d only been gone for seven days, but for everyone else, it felt like an eternity.

“Secretary Qin’s been here this long and still doesn’t have a work badge. If you ask me, we should just officially assign him to our group,” one of the plantation researchers suggested enthusiastically.

Liu Wensheng laughed, “He’s already ‘Secretary Qin’—do we really need to reassign him again?”

The teasing was lighthearted, but after a bit of small talk, Qin Yun got straight to the point.

There were two progress bars from this trip to Gaojia Ridge:

1. Plantation labor task refreshed.

2. Purification Gem.

“It probably has something to do with the research sequence in Longxia.”

“We studied Longfeng 001 first, then Zhongzhi 002. Now that Secretary Qin has planted the Longfeng variety, next time we should sow Zhongzhi in its proper season. If we change the order to Fengshuang 003, it might trigger a new refresh.”

“That’s just a theory. We could try planting sweet potatoes in Longnan to test it.”

…

The research team analyzed the data carefully. Just as Qin Yun had suspected, everyone agreed that the key to the planting refresh likely lay in the order of research.

They were researchers, not strategy analysts. So they decided to hand this discovery off to the planning team and turned their attention to the second progress bar: the Purification Gem.

Qin Yun took out the Purification Gem.

“This was left behind by Old Master Qin, wasn’t it?”

“An incredible legacy.”

…

The Farm System had been created by Qin Hai. The deeper their research went, the more they respected his vision and boldness.

After their discussion, everyone focused on the gem’s notes: The Purification Gem contains non-native ecological substances. There is a 30% chance it will cause malignant mutation in a single plant species, and a 100% chance of regional malignant mutation.

The Purification Gem was like a massive lure—once used, it could immediately resolve Longxia’s current issues, but it would also bring unknown consequences.

To use it or not—that was the question.