Chapter 40: Yu-type Bacteria
Chapter 40: Yu-type Bacteria
“Professor Qin, if that’s the case… give us two days at most—no, today even—we can finish this job for you.”
“Just as you said, Professor Qin. We’ll use drones to spread the bacteria strains you provided directly.”
After a moment of dazed silence, the leader of the desert control project spoke again.
Once he finished, he unconsciously smacked his lips, seeming to find the situation unreal.
“Professor Qin, we’ve got plenty of drones here too. After the bacteria are spread, we can spray water to keep the surface moist temporarily.”
Next, the head of the engineering team added.
Their drones were much larger than standard agricultural ones, perfect for this task.
“Professor Qin, what happens after spreading the bacteria? Do we need follow-up actions? Should we spray water again?”
“No need. Within about thirty days after spreading them in the designated zones… we’ll come back to inspect the results.”
The desert control leader couldn’t help questioning Qin Yu one more time.
He fell silent after hearing Qin Yu’s answer.
He looked at the desert stretching before him, then turned his gaze to distant lands of gravel and trees reclaimed through years of their effort.
Despite decades of desert control work still far larger in scale…
this experiment on ten thousand acres by Qin Yu and Research Institute 011 seemed almost too small.
But one had to recognize how much time and effort went into every patch of restored land!
Yet now, if Professor Qin’s method proved successful…
What would it mean? That just a few people with drones and bacteria strains could restore vast stretches of desert wasteland…
bringing life back to once-dead lands on an unprecedented scale.
“My apologies, Professor Qin. This feeling… it’s just too incredible. I lost my composure.”
Regaining focus, the desert control leader offered Qin Yu an apology,
then grew animated with excitement.
More than any researcher at Institute 011, the man leading desert restoration projects yearned to witness…
the outcome of this ten-thousand-acre experiment.
“No problem. Ease of use was our key research goal from the start.”
…
That day,
Qin Yu stood at the edge of the wasteland outside Shuling City…
Watching as this extraordinary bacteria underwent its first large-scale field trial.
Just as the desert control leader said,
Spreading the bacteria strains proved swift and simple—even easier than they’d imagined.
Agricultural drones featured automatic spreading functions; after setting the target zone…
they needed minimal oversight as the aircraft flew back and forth autonomously high above to disseminate the bacteria.
The engineering unit’s larger drones followed in the cooler evening hours…
mist-spraying the land once. Then their task was done.
The bacteria weren’t physically spread across every inch of the ten thousand acres…
Instead, they dispersed across a core section at its center.
Because Yu-type Bacteria naturally multiplied outward.
Based on their projections, over two generations before losing reproductive capacity…
these microbes would spread across the entire experimental zone.
And Yu-type Bacteria’s growth rate itself formed a critical focus of Institute 011’s research.
Thanks to fungal reproductive features, one month sufficed for exactly two full life cycles.
That day,
after exhausting all strains brought by Institute 011…
a few researchers stayed behind to monitor the bacteria across the coming month.
Qin Yu, having no reason to linger, returned to the Institute…
…
When July arrived, exactly a month later, Qin Yu returned to the site…
They found the desert landscape visibly transformed.
Its surface might show no immediate change—
yellow earth still stretched barren and plantless under the sky…
Winds still howled endlessly across the open expanse.
Yet something felt fundamentally different:
Sand and dust hung less thick in the air, replaced by faint moisture.
Closing one’s eyes evoked not desert emptiness… but the damp paths beside rural fields.
Plants hadn’t yet grown within this mere month.
But nearby and afar, birds alighted upon the soil as if foraging.
Creatures knew nothing of the scientific processes at play…
But some instinct told them the land itself had shifted.
As Qin Yu stepped from their vehicle…
the desert control leader greeted them.
On seeing Qin Yu, his excitement spilled over as he rushed toward the professor…
clutching something in his hands.
“Professor Qin! It worked! It worked!”
“Success, Professor Qin!”
Face, voice, gestures—every fibre radiated the exhilaration of this man who’d toiled fields like a farmer.
Words tumbled out barely coherent.
“Professor Qin… look… soil straight from this land!”
What he held was obviously earth freshly dug from the ground nearby.
Its shape suggested it might’ve been clawed out barehanded in his fervor.
He halted abruptly before Qin Yu, worried soil might dirty the professor’s clothes.
Unconcerned, Qin Yu reached directly for the dirt clod.
“Senior Engineer Chen… May I examine this?”
“Of course! Look! See it…”
Passing the soil over, Senior Engineer Chen watched Qin Yu study it while fighting fresh anxiety.
Though this remained Institute 011’s project…
its visual state plainly revealed whether their experiment succeeded.
The project manager remained nervous at this moment, afraid of hearing bad news from Qin Yu.
He had dedicated most of his life to desertification control and was nearing eighty years old.
Though Professor Qin Yu’s 2611 Longevity Injection made him appear younger and his life was far from over,
he had still spent so many years working on desert management projects.
Deep down, he truly hoped Professor Qin Yu’s research would succeed.
“This earth was dug out over there, not far from here. Where we scattered the bacteria earlier, the mycelium is denser, and the soil quality is even better…”
The manager couldn’t help but add this, then fell silent again, fearing he might disrupt Professor Qin Yu’s thoughts.
Qin Yu examined the lump of earth in his hand.
Strictly speaking, it was still half-sand and half-soil,
yet it had clear soil properties.
When held, it stayed clumped together rather than crumbling like sand.
At the same time, he could distinctly feel its dampness.
From its cross-section, he could also see how it had transformed from yellow sand to its present semi-solid state:
Dense white mycelium threads—some thick, some thin—like roots of ordinary plants, wove through gaps in the sandy soil.
They bound the shifting particles together.
Under natural conditions, these white threads seemed to form a “mesh bag,” containing the sand.
They also acted like rebar inserted into concrete pillars during construction, adding “tensile strength” to the grains.
This turned mere sand into the foundation of usable soil.
Qin Yu gently tossed the lump in his palm.
A bit inevitably scattered, but the bulk remained intact.
He then squeezed it like twisting a towel.
And clearly, muddy water seeped onto his hands.
Seeing this, Qin Yu’s face relaxed into a smile.
“Manager Chen, thank you for aiding our experiments these past weeks. Our application test for this special strain…it’s a resounding success.”
He didn’t hide the obvious results from the manager.
Besides, large-scale deployment of Yu-type Bacteria would likely begin right here in desert governance.
“That’s great, really great! Excellent news, Professor Qin!” the manager exclaimed, voice trembling. His eyes reddened and tears welled up, though they didn’t fall.
He reached out as if to shake Qin Yu’s hand, then hesitated, worried his own hands were dirty.
But Qin Yu extended his hand firmly to grasp the desert project manager’s.
“Professor…I can’t thank you enough. This research of yours…it’s truly…beneficial to our country and people!”
In his excitement, the manager struggled to find grander words, speaking from the heart instead.
“I hope this will support desertification control efforts,” Qin Yu said calmly.
“It will! More than you know! Before this, restoring ten thousand acres required huge resources, manpower, and time compared to just spreading these bacteria! If this special strain can be widely used…Professor Qin, I might even live to see every desert in our nation treated!”
“This achievement of yours…future generations will thank you for centuries!”
The manager kept heaping praise, partly to vent his joy.
Qin Yu listened quietly until the older man gradually calmed.
“…Professor, would you examine the central plot? The soil there seems far more transformed.”
“Of course. Let’s see it.”
In truth, Qin Yu already knew the status of this ten-thousand-acre test zone.
Researchers from Institute 011 had monitored it daily for a month.
Still, he didn’t mind surveying it again.
After a walk, they reached the site’s core.
Qin Yu took a shovel from an assistant and scooped soil himself.
As Manager Chen said, this heartland—perhaps due to longer mycelium growth—was richer, its soil noticeably damp.
“…The rainy season began this month,” the manager explained. “We even had precipitation days ago! Before, rainwater would vanish instantly on sand dunes. Now it stays put.”
Qin Yu nodded.
The excavated earth confirmed it:
Yu-type Bacteria had improved the land within just thirty days.
Naturally, complete transformation couldn’t happen so fast.
Currently, only the top layer—30-40 centimeters deep—had turned to soil.
Full conversion would need more time.
“Manager Chen, we’ll provide grass seeds soon—the follow-up experiment after this bacteria trial. Part two of soil consolidation.
Scatter them like the bacteria earlier.”
These seeds weren’t exclusive like Yu-type Bacteria; just a drought-resistant grass strain developed alongside Institute 011’s projects.
Their roots would deepen and stabilize the newly formed soil layer.
“Let them grow and wither naturally. The cycle will take about a year. No further action is needed. Afterward, this land is yours: plant crops…or leave it wilderness.”
“Understood, Professor!”
The manager paused, then asked hopefully:
“Would your next large-scale test still be here? We’ve vast deserts left to treat—a hundred thousand acres? A million? We’d allocate them all for your research!”
China had nearly four billion acres of desertified land.
Shuling City province alone offered immense stretches.
The manager watched Qin Yu expectantly.
“For broader testing…we’ll likely remain near Shuling City. Though wider application across other regions may follow.”
Qin Yu kept his answer brief.
Yu-type Bacteria was ready.
Institute 011’s teams still needed to perfect safe mass production of base cultures.
Beyond that? Scale-up implementation wasn’t their role.
Larger strategies belonged to higher authorities.
The manager didn’t press further.
He shifted topics:
“Professor…once this plot fully revives, we may plant cash crops here.
When the trees bear fruit…you must try them!”
Qin Yu smiled.
“I’d be honored, given the chance.”
He turned, gazing across the Yu-type Bacteria-revived earth.
Thus concluded the first large-scale field trial—a perfect success.