Arrival in City B

Late at night in the villa, Ming Jiu took out storage boxes and painstakingly stacked bundles of cash inside.

There was no helping it. Without proper organization, each bundle of one hundred thousand in cash counted as one unit in the system, and over two hundred bundles would take up three inventory slots.

As she packed, Ming Jiu chatted excitedly with the system in her head.

[Sis System, Sis System, did you see my account balance? Damn, I've never fought a battle this well-funded before!]

[One hundred gold coins can upgrade one unit of farmland. If I throw in sixteen thousand gold coins, I'll become a major landowner overnight.]

[If only I could use Zuo Junhao's space. It'd be even better if the space could store farmland~]

She had gotten her hands on a whole hundred million for free. Ming Jiu felt that indulging in a little fantasy was perfectly reasonable.

The system finally spoke up: [Before the host died, I collected information on Zuo Junhao.]

Ming Jiu paused mid-motion as she packed the cash.

[Go on.]

[At the time, the City B Base where the host was located had already partially restored regional network communications. It was not difficult to operate. I gathered a great deal of information on Zuo Junhao, but regrettably, the system could not warn the host in advance.]

Ming Jiu's mental power was too weak for her to form a deeper connection with the system. She could only barely use some of the farm's basic functions.

The system probably wanted to tell her more about Zuo Junhao's spatial cheat—Ming Jiu thought—but that was not what she cared about right now.

She suddenly asked, [We aren't deeply bound, are we? I mean, even if I died, you could find someone more suitable.]

Ming Jiu did not believe she was the only person in the world who met the system's requirements.

[If you want to complete planting tasks more effectively, you need a host with high mental power. Is that a correct understanding?]

[When I died, there were many psychic ability users in the base. I didn't have any particularly outstanding talent. I wasn't even an ability user. You could have chosen someone else instead of paying a price to send me back.]

Ever since realizing that the system had saved her, this question had remained in Ming Jiu's mind.

She had a guess that sounded rather narcissistic, but she had never been able to confirm it.

In short, she suspected that the system from a higher-level world was more advanced and intelligent than she had imagined. It might even have preferences when choosing its host.

Of course, Ming Jiu genuinely could not think of what about her had caught the system's eye.

Even after she packed the final box of cash and stored it in an inventory slot, the system said nothing more.

After checking the hidden room where the money had been kept one last time, making sure she had left behind no evidence and missed no gold, Ming Jiu closed the door and climbed the ladder back to the gym.

[Don't go silent, Sis System. Or at least tell me what exactly is going on with Zuo Junhao.]

Only then did the system's electronic voice sound again.

[After rigorous analysis, the system has reached the conclusion that you are the most compatible host.]

[The City B Base seven years later did indeed have many exceptionally powerful psychic ability users, and their mental power was indeed formidable. Yet you remain the host most compatible with the Farm System.]

After checking the gym, Ming Jiu headed out and walked down the stairs toward the villa's first floor.

[Why is that? Is it because my passion for farming is especially intense and sincere, so I moved you?]

The system beeped twice this time. Though it was only a notification sound, Ming Jiu somehow sensed its impatience.

She had been right. The system really was intelligent.

The next second, the system dropped a bombshell on Ming Jiu.

[Zuo Junhao's space very likely has planting functions.]

Ming Jiu:!!!

What Zuo Junhao's space? That was clearly her space!

[What's the basis for that?]

Ming Jiu climbed over the courtyard fence and headed back along the road.

The system said, [The Zuo Family has a plantation. Zuo Junhao's team has long recruited plant-type ability users to work there, and the base leadership places great importance on the plantation's output.]

[However, the Zuo Family plantation's output is severely inconsistent with the actual volume of its transactions with the base. The traded goods are nearly three times the plantation's output.]

Ming Jiu was so excited that her fingers trembled slightly.

[The Zuo Family has only one plantation,] she said.

The system replied, [Correct.]

[Zuo Junhao also has to support the people under him.]

[Correct.]

What did that mean? It meant Zuo Junhao had a cheating artifact similar to the Farm System!

But Ming Jiu had confirmed in her previous life that there was only one system, so the cheat in Zuo Junhao's possession had to be his space.

The novel she had seen after her death had emphasized the space's powerful storage capabilities. It had mentioned transactions of supplies between Zuo Junhao and the base—but it had not gone into further detail.

She had always thought those supplies for trade were the stockpile Zuo Junhao had collected before the cataclysm. Now, it seemed that was not the case at all.

After the apocalypse, the environment had become harsh, making cultivation extremely difficult. Even mutated crops that could more easily survive in the post-apocalyptic environment required plant-type ability users to continuously channel their powers to help them grow.

Without the intervention of plant-type ability users, mutated crops would only grow freely according to their survival instincts—yielding very little, being extremely aggressive, and developing random toxic properties.

In short, if the space could not grow crops, Zuo Junhao could never have produced so many mutated crops that met edible standards, much less earned the courtesy and preferential treatment of the base leadership.

Again, what Zuo Junhao's space? That was clearly her space.

At half past midnight, Ming Jiu drove onto the highway and headed back to City G.

An hour and a half later, the car entered the airport parking area. Ming Rong woke drowsily in the passenger seat, while Ming Jiu found the number for a car transport company online.

This SUV had been a graduation gift from their parents. It was still fairly new, and vehicle transport was cheaper than hiring a designated driver. Save where she could, spend where she should.

Half an hour later, the young man sent to collect the car found Ming Jiu. After handing over the keys, she took her backpack and local specialties, then brought Ming Rong to check in.

At four in the morning, the flight to City B took off on time. Ming Jiu had bought business-class tickets. Reclining in her fully flattened seat, she did not feel sleepy in the slightest.

She could not sleep. She simply could not sleep.

The thought that her space was still with the Zuo Family kept her wide awake.

She had awakened at around nine in the morning on the twenty-third. From then until now—past four in the morning on the twenty-fourth—she had not rested for even a second.

Ming Jiu forced herself to close her eyes and lay there until the plane landed.

On the twenty-fourth, the fourteenth day of the cataclysm countdown, at seven in the morning, Ming Jiu got off the plane with her sister.

City B was much colder than usual as well. It was now minus sixteen degrees Celsius, and the entire country was going through a cold snap. Ming Jiu and Ming Rong were dressed warmly enough.

Then came over two hours of the despairing morning rush hour. At last, Ming Jiu and Ming Rong arrived at a three-star hotel close to the psychological clinic and successfully checked in.

Their room was a family suite meant for larger families, with two bedrooms. Breakfast service had already ended, so Ming Jiu ordered a separate meal. After eating, she urged Ming Rong to get into bed and catch up on sleep.

Ever since Ming Jiu brought Ming Rong home yesterday, Ming Rong had been especially obedient, doing whatever Ming Jiu told her to do. But this time, she offered a small protest—lowering her head to type quickly before thrusting her phone in front of her sister.

[Sis, you need rest. Your eyes are red. You'll get sick like this.]

Only then did Ming Jiu find the time to look in the mirror—well, her long black curls were a little messy, her face was pale and bloodless, and her eyes were red.

Her skin was fairly pale to begin with, making the dark circles beneath her eyes especially obvious. Even her lips had a bit of peeling skin.

Perfect. She looked especially suited to going around asking for handouts. Fortunately, she had held herself back while Xiao Rong was washing up earlier.

Ming Jiu tucked her unhappy little sister into bed.

"Your sister did it on purpose. I deliberately made myself look miserable so I can visit Uncle's family."

Ming Rong looked confused.

Ming Jiu made it up on the spot. "That way, I might be able to get money from Uncle and the others."

Ming Rong signed: Are we out of money? I have money.

Ming Jiu hurriedly stopped her sister from taking out her phone to transfer money to her.

"We have money. Lots and lots of money. But your sister likes money—I never think there's too much of it. Go to sleep properly. I'll be back soon, and tonight I'll take you out for hotpot with sliced lamb."

After soothing Ming Rong, Ming Jiu immediately hailed a taxi. She had only just gone downstairs and gotten in when she received a transfer from Ming Rong—an entire ten thousand yuan.

The World's Cutest Little Sister: [There's a limit. I can only give Sis ten thousand a day. I'll be able to transfer it all in a little over ten days!]