The Right Answer

Chapter 52: The Right Answer

Green turned his head to look at Merine for confirmation, and upon receiving an affirmative answer, his face lit up with excitement. "Fantastic! As long as we get through this crisis, we can immediately send the Magic Radishes to Markey Delphi Trading Company. Then, we can search for the things you need, Young Master."

Zhao Hai nodded and glanced at the monitor before turning to Merine. "Merine Grandma, Grandpa Green, you can go behind the cottage. I will monitor these Undead Creatures inside the room. Today, we need to focus on selecting the units we want."

Green and Merine nodded, and they walked towards the room outside. Zhao Hai kept a close eye on the situation outside the cottage and the capturing of the Undead Creatures. The real work had officially begun.

Over the next five days, the slaves continued with their daily tasks, while Zhao Hai and the others focused their energy on capturing the Undead Creatures. During this time, they used Zhao Hai's guidance to successfully capture over a thousand Undead Creatures. Once these Undead Creatures entered the Space, there was no prompt, but their green Soul Fires turned red, indicating that they were being sent to the Warehouse.

In these five days, Zhao Hai also received a harvest of corn and Oil Fruit from two seasons. He had accumulated a significant amount of corn, especially since he was now planting it in the four mu of land in addition to what he had before. Altogether, he had gathered 100,000 jin (0.5 kg) of corn. This made Zhao Hai consider trading for other types of goods.

However, he realized that he didn't have enough time for that now. The Magic Beasts and Undead Creatures had retreated, and after these five days, they had almost completely vanished. This brought relief to Green, who had been worried that these creatures would emerge from the Carrion Swamp. But now it seemed that they had not come because they had discovered their intrusion and blamed them. Instead, they had returned to the Swamp. This was good news because if they had come out, it wouldn't have taken long for them to discover and attack the castle, creating a big problem for them.

Seeing the retreat of the Magic Beasts and Undead Creatures, Zhao Hai and the others finally emerged from the Space. They had been confined there for days, and now they could finally see the destruction that had befallen the castle.

The entire castle was in a state of disarray. Although the main building had not been damaged, everything outside was in ruins. It was all in a state of disorder, with scattered debris and items that made the castle appear even more dilapidated.

Looking at the ruined appearance of the castle, Zhao Hai and the others felt a great discomfort in their hearts. Although the castle was quite simple, it was still their home. Seeing their home in such a state of destruction was unsettling.

Despite having seen the situation on the screen, experiencing it firsthand intensified their feelings. Blockhead couldn't help but punch the nearby wall in frustration, causing blood to flow from his hand.

On the other hand, Green remained calm. He had been overseeing the situation in the Space and was well aware of the condition of the castle. Therefore, he didn't show any extreme emotions.

Merine also surveyed the castle and noticed that besides the destroyed items, there was also excrement from the Magic Beasts on the ground, making the castle appear dirty.

Merine sighed and said, "Alright, everyone, let's start cleaning up. Gather all the items outside the castle and burn them. These Magic Beasts might have contaminated them, and we don't want to use anything that might be poisonous. Once we clean up, we can use water to wash the castle."

Green frowned and said, "Wait a moment. The water in the moat is green, and it seems poisonous. If we use that water to wash the castle, it might end up poisoning the entire castle."

Merine furrowed her brow and turned to Zhao Hai. "Young Master, do you want to go near the moat and take a look?"

Zhao Hai also wanted to check it out. Spatial Water had detoxification properties, so if possible, he wanted to use it to solve the poison in the moat.

Green seemed to have the same thought. He immediately turned to Zhao Hai and asked, "Young Master, can you use the Spatial Water to remove the poison in the moat?"

Zhao Hai sighed and replied, "Let's go and see, but first, Meg, please make sure they clean up the castle. They can drink the water from the Space, so it should be safe for them."

Meg agreed and started organizing the slaves to clean up the castle. Meanwhile, Zhao Hai, accompanied by Green and Merine, left the castle and headed towards the moat.

When they arrived at the moat, they saw that the water had indeed turned a strange light green color, making it appear ominous. What puzzled them was that even though the water was flowing, the green color remained, causing great unease.

Merine examined the moat water and frowned. "The water is flowing, but it is heavily contaminated with toxins. I suspect the source of the pollution is the swamp."

Zhao Hai nodded and said to Merine, "Merine Grandma, bring some water out, and I'll analyze it in the Space to determine its toxicity." Merine complied, and a water ball appeared in her hand. Zhao Hai immediately took the water ball into the Space.

The Space promptly sent a message to Zhao Hai's mind. "The water is contaminated with a poisonous chemical compound. Spatial Water can be used for purification." It was a straightforward prompt.

This news relieved Zhao Hai. As long as he could detoxify the water, it would be fine. He let out a sigh of relief and turned to Merine and Green. "Grandpa Green, Merine Grandma, let's go to the swamp. We can use the Spatial Water to purify the poison in the water, but we need to start from the source."

Merine and Green relaxed. To be honest, both of them had worried that the Spatial Water might not be able to purify the poison. Although they believed that the water's toxicity would gradually dissipate with time, it would still have a significant impact on them.

The three of them turned around to head towards the mountain, but suddenly, Zhao Hai stopped in his tracks. His face turned pale as he stared motionlessly at a certain spot.

Merine and Green looked at Zhao Hai in confusion, following his gaze. However, they only saw an ordinary patch of black soil, nothing out of the ordinary. Green looked at Zhao Hai with a puzzled expression, not understanding what he meant. Merine, on the other hand, understood in an instant, and her complexion turned ashen.

Merine understood why Zhao Hai's face had paled. That seemingly ordinary patch of black soil had been improved by Zhao Hai before, but now, the color of the soil was no different from the rest of the black wasteland. In other words, that patch of black soil had possibly reverted to its original state.

Merine trembled and asked, "Young Master, is it true?"

Zhao Hai nodded, his complexion pale as he walked over. He wanted to confirm if the black soil had returned to its original state, as that would mean his improvement had failed.

Green didn't understand the significance of their actions, but seeing the serious expressions on their faces, he realized that something was wrong. He quickly followed Zhao Hai, squatting down next to the black soil. He carefully observed it and soon let out an excited exclamation. "Young Master, is this...?"

Zhao Hai let out a long breath and said, "This is the land I improved using the earth and water from the Space. It can be used for planting, but when those Magic Beasts came, they possibly brought black soil from elsewhere and covered up the land I improved."

Green suddenly understood. Just as he was about to say something, Merine interjected, "No, Young Master. I don't think the black soil here was brought from elsewhere by those Magic Beasts. It's more likely that the surface of this land was influenced by the toxins carried by the Magic Beasts, causing it to turn into black soil again. If the Magic Beasts had brought black soil from elsewhere, the entire area would have changed color, not just this ten-acre patch."

Zhao Hai was taken aback, and then his expression changed as he carefully observed the ten-acre patch. Indeed, as Merine had said, the color of the improved black soil was uniform, blending in with the rest of the area. It was unreasonable. There was only one explanation: the improved land had been contaminated all at once.

Why the land in Black Wasteland would always turn into such a state was still unknown to the people of the continent, including Zhao Hai. But now, having witnessed the polluted river water and seeing the condition of the land, they immediately associated it with the pollution caused by the Magic Beasts. Unfortunately, they had found the correct answer.