Chapter 30: What’s Happening to the Sweet Potato Tree?

“Master! Master! Look quickly, what’s happening to that patch of ground?” Fatty Lei sat at the edge of the Metal Wall, full and content, enjoying the morning breeze and staring blankly at the huge planet in the distance when Wangcai suddenly interrupted his daydreaming.

“What’s the matter?” Fatty Lei turned his head to look at Wangcai, his eyes full of blame. Just moments ago, he had been fantasizing about building a large harem and engaging in intimate acts with beautiful girls.

“Master, look! I can’t really explain what’s going on,” Wangcai said with a panicked expression. At the same time, Wangcai’s right hand pointed toward the huge green vine, looking very frantic.

After all, Wangcai was someone who didn’t even flinch when facing more than a dozen Xenomorphs. So what could possibly make him so panicked now?

Fatty Lei’s heart couldn’t help but tense up. He rolled down from the edge of the Metal Wall and, led by Wangcai, approached the green vine. Leaning forward, he looked down below.

“Holy crap!” After just one glance, Fatty Lei cursed loudly. “What’s going on? How did it turn out like this?”

As Fatty Lei leaned out to look down, his pupils instantly contracted.

This strange ‘Sweet Potato Tree’ appeared unchanged at a glance, but its roots were slowly starting to melt. Moreover, the surrounding Desert had turned into black soil, replaced by a small patch of black earth roughly covering thirty square meters.

“Could it be that because of this plant, this area of Desert has been transformed?” Fatty Lei wondered silently after seeing such a bizarre situation. “When did you first notice things had become like this?” Fatty Lei asked, tilting his head to look at Wangcai.

“I don’t know when it started either. I just discovered it accidentally a moment ago,” Wangcai replied.

“Probably there’s no danger outside now. Let’s go down and take a closer look. It’s a bit hard to see clearly from up here. We just need to be careful,” Fatty Lei said, then turned and walked down from the high platform.

“Don’t worry, Master. I’m here. As long as the number of Xenomorphs or Bugs isn’t too large, I can definitely ensure your safety,” Wangcai assured him, following behind Fatty Lei.

“Clank~~~ Clank-clank~~~”

The metal door of the Military Outpost opened, and Fatty Lei and Wangcai walked out.

The ‘Sweet Potato Tree’ was planted about ten meters to the left of the Military Outpost’s main gate. So, once outside, Fatty Lei and Wangcai only needed to turn to reach the base of the ‘Sweet Potato Tree’.

“Squish~ Squish~”

Only when Fatty Lei got closer did he hear the unnerving grinding sound made by the melting vines of the ‘Sweet Potato Tree’.

“Why is it melting? And how did it transform this small patch of Desert?” Doubts rose in Fatty Lei’s mind. Staring at the melting vine, he suddenly thought of something unsettling. “If this Desert area has been converted into soil, I wonder if it will affect plant growth?”

This was a crucial problem, since the ‘Sweet Potato Tree’ relied on the Mana contained in the sand grains to nourish it. If the Desert was transformed into normal soil, wouldn’t that suggest a troubling possibility—that in the future, it might be impossible to grow ‘Sweet Potato’ in the transformed land?

This concerned Fatty Lei’s ability to earn Credit Points, so he had to take it seriously. Immediately, he voiced all his doubts to Wangcai.

Fatty Lei’s questions stumped Wangcai as well. He didn’t know whether Fatty Lei’s worries would come true. If they did, life would become tough for them…

Even though this Planet had vast Desert regions, and losing this small patch wouldn’t matter much, Fatty Lei didn’t see it that way. He thought, “If this Contract Manufacturing business grows in the future, the required planting area will expand too. Who knows how much Desert area will be needed for cultivation then? If planting causes the land to transform, the usable Desert area on this Planet could be destroyed exponentially.”

This was the situation Fatty Lei feared most and least wanted to see.

Seeing the worried expression on Fatty Lei’s face, Wangcai approached and said quietly, “Master, things might not be as bad as you imagine. I can’t really judge right now; let’s wait and see how it turns out.” Even Wangcai had no solution in such circumstances.

Fatty Lei knew that all they could do now was wait for the final outcome. After all, neither he nor Wangcai could stop this from happening. They couldn’t just dig up the already planted ‘Sweet Potato’ to prevent the Desert from turning into soil.

After all, that Sweet Potato might be the last one passed down from the Andrew family. If the planting failed, Andrew would be in a truly miserable situation.

Considering all this, Fatty Lei nodded and said to Wangcai, “Given the current situation, that’s all we can do. I hope heaven is on our side and we don’t end up empty-handed.” Fatty Lei’s gaze never left the slowly melting vine as he watched it turn into a thick orange liquid and gradually seep into the sand.

…

Half a day later, the once tall ‘Sweet Potato Tree’ had disappeared. In its place were scattered vines, each bearing many bright yellow flowers.

At this moment, Fatty Lei and Wangcai were both bent over, digging in the ground with metal shovels.

Fatty Lei carefully dug a trench along the direction the vines had grown. Then, at both ends of the trench, he set up a framework using metal rods. After that, he and Wangcai gathered the scattered vines and draped them over the metal frame.

Once all this was done, Fatty Lei lifted his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

“Who would have thought that after crossing over, I, Lei Yaotian, would end up being a farmer. Compared to those pioneers who crossed over before me, I’m really ashamed,” Fatty Lei mocked himself inwardly.

He walked to the base of the Metal Wall and sat down against it. From his upper pocket, Fatty Lei pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

“Almost out of cigarettes. Might have to quit soon,” he thought as he looked at the remaining dozen or so cigarettes. Lighting one, he took a deep drag and blew out a smoke ring. He called out to Wangcai, who was keeping watch: “Wangcai! What are we having for lunch?”

It seemed that in Fatty Lei’s daily life now, aside from eating and sleeping, the only other activities involved fighting the Xenomorphs and Bugs that occasionally appeared around the Military Outpost. It was extremely boring.

Only now, Fatty Lei’s schedule included one more task: ‘farming’.

“Master! How about grilled Loro meat today? You can’t eat bread every day,” Wangcai called back, turning his head.

“Do I have a choice? That guy Andrew gave me so much meat but didn’t bother to get me any green vegetables,” Fatty Lei complained, completely forgetting the days when he used to go hungry.

“Master, once we have some extra Credit Points, you can go to Andrew’s and buy some more,” Wangcai said as he walked over and crouched beside Fatty Lei, watching him puff away.

Fatty Lei tossed the cigarette butt far away, stood up, and brushed the sand off his pants.

“Let’s head back to the Military Outpost. I feel a bit uneasy staying outside. Who knows when those damned Xenomorphs and Bugs will suddenly show up,” Fatty Lei said as he walked toward the Military Outpost’s Metal Gate.

Wangcai followed behind Fatty Lei, and the two returned to the Military Outpost.

After closing the Metal Gate, Wangcai took out the prepared grill and began skewering the sliced meat.

“Where did you find these things? Are you planning to use this stuff for grilling?” Fatty Lei pointed at the red crystals under the grill and asked, very puzzled. In his view, how could these crystals possibly be used for barbecuing?

Wangcai piled the crystals under the grill, picked up two of them, rubbed them together, and placed them back.

“Master, you might not know, but these are high-temperature crystals. Once you rub two together, they can maintain an average temperature of 300 degrees for five hours. Moreover, this heat will cause other crystals to heat up too,” Wangcai explained after finishing these preparations, then came over to Fatty Lei’s side.

“I found these crystals in the kitchen inside the Military Outpost. The people who originally occupied this outpost used these crystals to cook food,” Wangcai’s explanation left Fatty Lei’s mind momentarily blank.

But then Fatty Lei let it go. In his mind, it wasn’t strange that he didn’t know about these functions. After all, he wasn’t from this World but had crossed over here.

Besides, in his original World, he had never come across such things anyway.

What’s more, the Universe was vast and full of wonders. Just because he hadn’t seen something didn’t mean it couldn’t have such functions.

If he kept viewing things with an Earthly perspective, he would really be hopelessly foolish.

So, Fatty Lei accepted the reality before him with a learning mindset. He even marveled, “Look at their Energy usage—no pollution at all. Plus, it’s recyclable and doesn’t waste anything.”

In truth, Fatty Lei had no idea that these crystals did cause some air pollution when releasing high heat. However, compared to the coal used as Energy in his original World, the pollution was much less.

Back then, the Empire’s Northern Fleet was unwilling to invest in building up this desolate Military Outpost. So they used these crystals as a substitute for kitchen Energy. In fact, proper military outpost kitchens had much better Energy sources.

These were all things Fatty Lei didn’t know.

After all, Fatty Lei was too ‘backward.’

Just as our comrade Fatty Lei guarded his ‘Farm,’ Andrew, far away in another Dimensional Plane, was busy looking for buyers for his goods.