Chapter 120: The Must-Have for a Successful Ranch Owner

Liu Heming still felt a bit angry inside. He always thought the System was wrongly blaming him. But right now, the System was the boss, and he couldn’t beat it, so he had to let it keep saying bad things about him.

As if knowing Liu Heming was not in a good mood, the System chose to speak first this time. “When I arrived on this planet, the first person I met was you. My Database was damaged, so I could only bind with you as my host.”

“I told you before, we have a symbiotic relationship. I need to absorb Bio-energy from your body to keep myself alive. That’s why the tasks I give you come with rewards that improve your physical condition.”

“But at the beginning, because my Database was in chaos, the tasks had many restrictions. After this upgrade, I sorted out some data from the Database. From now on, I will definitely build a sustainable golden path for you.”

“Tch, that sounds nice. Right now, I’m buried in debt. Why don’t you just make a few million dollars appear for me? That would save so much trouble. With money, is there anything I couldn’t do?” Liu Heming said, acting spoiled despite having an advantage.

“Idiot, would that improve your physical condition? What good would it do me?” the System shot back, not willing to be outdone.

“Don’t forget, I have a chance to leave you. I could just let you waste away and then find someone else. They would definitely be better than you. Your understanding is too poor.”

“Fine, if you say you can’t make money appear, can you at least change the weather around here? Don’t tell me that heavy rain a few days ago wasn’t your doing. If you adjust the weather here properly, make it favorable, our Ranch would naturally get better,” Liu Heming continued.

“Are you an idiot? Changing the weather means challenging the rules. Even though I have the ability, I can only make small changes for now. I could change all the weather here, but the cost would be using up all my Bio-energy. Want to try? If you do, we can start changing the weather right now,” the System said, really annoyed, its tone devoid of much feeling.

Seeing the System was angry, Liu Heming backed down and said with an appeasing smile, “Don’t be mad. I’m just anxious about the situation here. If I had money, I could give Alex a better life too.”

He knew the System cared more about his daughter than about him, so he steered the topic toward his daughter, hoping to smooth things over with the System.

“How do you know I haven’t done anything? I can’t change major natural rules, but I can adjust certain things on your Ranch,” the System said, sounding quite proud.

“During this upgrade, I collected a lot of data. I said I would give you a golden path, and I will. Now I have much more freedom, and future tasks will be tailored for you.”

“Due to the rules, I can give you some hints. First, my abilities are still limited to your Ranch. Second, the animals or plants you get from the Lucky Grand Draw have special effects. Third, after careful research, I found that every successful Ranch Owner has one must-have.”

Here, the System deliberately paused for effect. The little figure that appeared in Liu Heming’s mind looked very smug.

“What’s the must-have?” Liu Heming played along, like the straight man in a comedy duo.

“Haven’t you noticed the extra Small Lake? That’s the must-have for a successful Ranch Owner. You must have a lake. Plants watered with water from this Lake will grow better and have higher quality. Animals that drink from this Lake will have increasingly better physical condition.”

“You mean that extra little green water pit?” Liu Heming asked hesitantly.

The System nodded proudly. “That’s the one. As for what specific effects it has, you’ll have to figure that out yourself. Because of the rules, I can’t tell you everything.”

“Wait, I still have questions,” Liu Heming said quickly when he saw the System’s figure starting to fade after it finished speaking.

“What else? I just upgraded and need to rest. I also have to plan tasks for you,” the System asked, looking at him cautiously.

“Ahem, it’s nothing much. Among the rewards you gave me, there’s an option for Appraisal Skill. I think I’ve saved up three now, right? What exactly does the Appraisal Skill do?” Liu Heming coughed twice and asked with a little anticipation.

“Appraisal Skill is just what it sounds like. For example, you could use Appraisal Skill directly to see the effects of that Sweet Potato and its vines. No wonder I call you an idiot. You had the Appraisal Skill but didn’t use it, and you wasted so many Sweet Potato Vine. Keep the rest; they’re all good stuff,” the System said, looking at him like he was an idiot again.

“Oh, so it seems the old Database was bad, and the tasks it gave were all messy. It even forgot to explain what the Appraisal Skill was for, right?” Liu Heming said, acting like he didn’t care.

“Yeah, at that time, the Database was messed up, I…”

The System only got halfway through before Liu Heming looked again and it was gone.

Liu Heming sighed bitterly to himself, his mouth also feeling a bit bitter. Why was his luck so bad to meet such an unreliable System? Something as important as the Appraisal Skill really wasn’t explained to him because the System forgot.

Given the System’s forgetful nature, it might be due to some rules that it couldn’t explain certain things. But Liu Heming felt that many things were “forgotten” by the System. As for whether this “forgetting” was intentional or not, only the System itself knew.

Still, today’s gains were not small. After the upgrade, the System had a bit more “human feeling” than before, and it helped him confirm some things.

At the very least, the System’s abilities had limits, mostly restricted to within his Ranch. Whether the area would expand in the future was still unclear.

The second thing was that the System couldn’t truly “read” his thoughts; most of the time, it was guessing. From now on, he could think about things freely and boldly.

The third thing was that anything produced by the System had to be top quality. So, the effects of this Finger Sweet Potato and its vines needed to be studied carefully. As for wasting so many vines, what was done was done. Regretting it was useless; he could plant more next year.

The last and most crucial point was what the System called the must-have for a successful Ranch Owner: the Lake. According to the System, it created the Lake, and it was very proud of it, showing off to him for a long time.

Tomorrow, he would have to test this Lake properly to see what it could really do. It seemed like it should be pretty amazing.