Space Fusion

The value of clean drinking water in the apocalypse went without saying.

To her, this river was even more significant.

If it were only for her and her sister's drinking and daily needs, she could solve that by stockpiling in advance. The difficult part was irrigation water for crops, as well as water for livestock farms and processing plants.

In her previous life, she could only spend gold coins to purchase water through the system store. This time, she could save quite a few coins.

[Sis System, crops can be grown in the space. Can the farm's planting plots be moved directly into it? Will putting them in the space affect crop growth? And what about livestock? I can't enter the space myself. Can it raise animals?]

If crops could be grown in the space, then aside from the system farm's planting plots, she also wanted to clear a few more fields for Blue Star crops that had not mutated. The same went for animals, of course.

Seeds, saplings, young livestock, fertilized eggs, and the like were decisively added to her stockpiling list.

[Upon inspection, Blue Star's current crops and livestock cannot survive within the space. The host may conduct her own experiments. Whether crops will be affected after planting plots are moved into the space requires further testing.]

Ming Jiu was somewhat disappointed.

Indeed, the various crops Zuo Junhao used to trade with bases in the novel were all mutated varieties. Nor had there been any description of Zuo Junhao enjoying fresh Blue Star fruits and vegetables with his family or lovers.

Mutated crops were hardier and more productive, but without proper research and cultivation, most of them tasted terrible. Some even carried mild toxicity.

The vast supplies Zuo Junhao had stockpiled half a year in advance definitely included high-quality seeds. He was hardly the sort of person who believed in enduring hardship, either. The novel had plenty of scenes from his daily life with his confidantes, yet she had never read a single mention of normal fresh food from before the mutations.

Forget it. It seemed her personal farming plan could only be postponed until three years later.

System: [The system can provide the host with a more convenient solution, one that can perfectly resolve the issues she is concerned about, including planting plot storage, the impact on crop growth, and land use and site selection for livestock farms and processing plants.]

Ming Jiu pulled her wandering thoughts back on track. [Go on.]

Issues like storing planting plots really were a headache.

Like the space, the system farmland incorporated a function similar to spatial compression during renovation. It could not be placed into inventory slots, and once the renovation was complete, it was basically impossible to move.

In her previous life, if she wanted to work for the system, not only did she have to painstakingly search for and save up gold, she also had to find a stable, safe residence in the housing-starved City G base—one that was spacious and secluded as well.

It had been far too difficult. She had gone to great lengths to rent a tiny single-story house on the edge of the base long-term, painstakingly dug a cellar, installed the farmland in it, and then spent a great deal of effort assembling artificial lighting as cheaply as possible. Only then had she officially begun her working life.

Later, when an accident forced her to leave the City G base, she could not take the farmland stored in the cellar with her. All she could do was grit her teeth and let the system buy it back at half price.

Nothing but tears.

[The system can merge certain farm functions with the space. The space's soil has been detected to be premium-quality soil, which can greatly reduce the cost of converting planting plots and improve crop yield and quality.]

[Converting one qualified farm planting plot requires the host to provide approximately eight cubic meters of ordinary soil, plus eighty gold coins...]

[Wait,] Ming Jiu interrupted the system. [Doesn't one planting plot require ten cubic meters of soil and one hundred gold coins?]

That had been the price in her previous life.

System: [Please note the prerequisite: ordinary soil. When the host bonded with me, the mutated substance levels in Blue Star's soil had already exceeded the standard. The system must consume more energy and medication to reduce the proportion of mutated substances, and soil loss during the process will also increase.]

Ming Jiu understood.

[How much would it cost to directly convert the soil in the space?]

The system did not directly answer Ming Jiu's question.

[First, the host will not need to collect soil herself.]

Ming Jiu could not help recalling the bitter memories of her previous life, when she had tried every possible way to avoid other survivors while carrying a battered shovel around every nook and cranny of the base, digging up dirt bit by bit.

[Second, the conversion price for each planting plot will be reduced to twenty gold coins.]

One-fifth of the original price—a brutal discount. Ming Jiu's eyes shone brightly.

[Finally, the space comes with its own water source, so the host will not need to spend gold coins on watering.]

The system continued its sales pitch. [The system inventory function can also be merged with the space. For a small amount of gold coins, the host can obtain a time-stopped warehouse. Of course, sorting and categorization functions will incur additional charges.]

[Will my original inventory slots be merged as well?]

System: [The initial inventory slots will be retained.]

In other words, after the merger, she would no longer be able to add more inventory slots and could only expand the warehouse.

Once the system finished explaining the conveniences of converting planting plots, Ming Jiu was greatly tempted. Other than being large, the space's functions were actually quite limited. During the three years of natural disasters, it could not grow crops and could only be used to store supplies that kept well. It was nothing compared to the merged space.

[How many gold coins will the conversion require? And how is the expansion price calculated?]

System: [The host must pay one hundred gold coins to convert the warehouse. The initial warehouse will cover one thousand square meters and have a ceiling height of seven meters. Each inventory slot awarded through farm upgrades will add at least one hundred square meters to the warehouse. The expansion price will be the same as the price at which the host purchases inventory slots from the system.]

One inventory slot cost one hundred gold coins. In other words, one hundred coins could add seven hundred cubic meters of storage capacity to the warehouse. It was feasible.

System: [In addition, because this space is the host's personal possession, the system will provide extra rewards after the merger. Rewards include, but are not limited to—system store discount coupons, planting plots, gold coins, early access to the livestock farm function, and more.]

The rewards were generous. It was Ming Jiu's first time encountering something like discount coupons. In her previous life, she had only received the most basic upgrade rewards: one planting plot or one inventory slot.

Ming Jiu sat cross-legged on the bed, unable to stop rubbing her hands together eagerly.

[Sis System, is there any chance the reward could be genetic or ability potions?]

[No chance.]

Fine, then.

[I agree to the merger.]

System: [Please confirm once more.]

A light-screen pop-up appeared before Ming Jiu.

[The space already belongs entirely to the host. Although the system has a mental connection with the host, it is still an external force. The host may take time to consider this carefully.]

[There's nothing to consider.]

Ming Jiu confirmed immediately.

Sis System had risked everything to save her life. She had at least that much trust in it.

[Merger in progress—estimated time—one hour.]

Ming Jiu did not sit idle during that hour. She took out the folder she had brought from the Zuo Family and opened it. Inside was a will.

The will was simple. Before his death, the old master had left Ming Jiu some assets—a small old house with a courtyard on the Fifth Ring Road, ten million, and a small safe deposit box at XX Bank.

The will stated that Ming Jiu could receive the inheritance once she turned eighteen. Perhaps because he did not trust his eldest son, Old Master Zuo had entrusted the assets to a trust institution.

After reading the will, Ming Jiu looked up the institution's number on her phone and saved it.

The facts proved that Old Master Zuo's concerns had been correct. Even though the money was nothing to Zuo Zhenrong, that did not stop him from meddling.

She had entered university at nineteen and studied in City B for four years, yet she had never heard anything about a will. She had not even known that her grandfather had left her anything before his death.

Who knew what Zuo Zhenrong had done in the middle of it all? The trust institution had actually never thought to contact her.

How interesting.

Ming Jiu put the will back into the folder, opened her phone browser, and searched for the old house's address. Sure enough, it had been demolished long ago. She would have to wait until tomorrow for details regarding the compensation and replacement housing.

How much had the original ten million become by now? And what was in the bank safe deposit box? Those would have to wait until tomorrow as well.

Without knowing the exact circumstances, Ming Jiu could not make specific plans for the inheritance she was about to receive. But at least one thing was clear.

She did not need to spend the money in her hands trying to buy a house in City B.

She tiptoed to her sister's room for a look. After confirming that her sister was sleeping soundly in the room next to hers, Ming Jiu returned to her own bed and lay down, turning her head to stare blankly at the folder on the bedside table.

As for the conflict between the two Zuo brothers—there was actually no dramatic struggle for power, no scheming or intrigues of a wealthy family. It was straightforward, boring, and even a little ridiculous when put into words.

The root of the irreconcilable conflict between the brothers was this—Zuo Zhenrong believed that the old master favored his younger son and had never loved him.