CH 157

In the northern hemisphere, the long-awaited development period had begun. The fleets that migrated from the southern hemisphere had also firmly established themselves in the northern hemisphere.

The transition period between winter and summer was always welcomed for its pleasant weather. Cang Zhan Star finally enjoyed a few days of good temperament. After the dry season, the gentle rainfall started nourishing the land, alleviating the cracks in the parched ground. Especially near the Cangyu Mountains, rainfall was quite frequent, mostly during the night, while the daytime remained sunny with comfortable temperatures and humidity.

Cang Zhan Star seemed to have taken a breath of life when it was on the brink of dying, slowly recovering.

In the Cangyu Mountains and the various bases, the previous assassination order had long been forgotten. The precious time was now dedicated to construction and harvest. The high temperatures of summer hadn’t had a significant impact on the Cangyu Mountains, and the crops planted had yielded abundant harvests, bringing joy to the people.

As for tree planting and greening efforts, each base continued to dispatch teams of three to ten people, who would go to the Shui Jing Gong daily to collect greening supplies and continue their greening tasks.

Though the number of people involved wasn’t large, the greening efforts continued. There was no need for the Shui Jing Gong to mobilize them; they themselves recognized the importance of greening. Especially considering that the trees they planted didn’t appear to be ordinary varieties, these might be the foundation upon which they would build their future. Moreover, planting trees also earned them planting points, so why not do it?

The current range of the protective barrier was sufficient for the survival of the various bases, but it was still far from enough. Shu Shuishui had once dreamed of turning the entire Cang Zhan Star into a protected area and had been working towards this goal.

The greening efforts in the Cangyu Mountains were slowly but steadily expanding, and every day, one could see teams of people in high spirits actively planting trees and caring for saplings.

As long as the newly greened area reached a certain standard, the Shui Jing Gong would naturally send people to bury the so-called spirit stones and expand the boundaries of the protective barrier to cover it. The people from the various bases felt a sense of accomplishment and security in this. The expansion of the protective barrier meant that one day they could encompass the entire Cangyu Mountains.

Confident as they were, they had no idea that Shu Shuishui’s goal extended beyond the Cangyu Mountains. However, this goal was too grand, and revealing it now might not be believable. So, they focused on their immediate tasks.

On the tenth day after the end of the dry season, the temperature had noticeably dropped. The cool breeze had gained some strength, and in the Cangyu Mountains, there were more bonfires at night.

Shu Shuishui sat by the campfire, using a stick to turn the sweet potatoes roasting near the fire. Gu Langu was nearby, skewering grasshoppers, planning to roast them later. “Gu Gu, do you want to sprinkle some salt?”

Gu Langu nodded. “Yes, and a little pepper too.”

Shu Shuishui took out the seasoning from his spiritual storage and handed it to Gu Langu. “Spread it evenly. Roasting grasshoppers isn’t difficult, Gu Gu, don’t be nervous.”

It was Gu Langu’s first time roasting grasshoppers himself. “I’m not nervous.”

Cui Cui chirped nearby, flapping its wings and picking up one of the grasshoppers to show to Shu Shuishui. That grasshopper was missing a leg.

Gu Langu calmly explained, “It removed the leg itself, probably thinking that being handicapped would save it from being eaten. How foolish.”

Shu Shuishui nodded. “Gu Gu is right. We shouldn’t discriminate against our food. Even if it’s missing a leg, it deserves some salt.”

The grasshopper seemed to understand and remained silent.

Cui Cui, feeling indignant, dropped the grasshopper it was holding. Just then, a moth flew towards the campfire, attracted by the light. Cui Cui made a dash for it, catching the moth, and then happily flew to Shu Shuishui, placing it in front of him as if offering it for him to eat.

Shu Shuishui looked at the moth struggling on the ground, flapping its wings desperately. “I’ll pass on this one.”

Cui Cui was slightly puzzled. They had just agreed not to discriminate against food, right? Being a dormouse, he couldn’t be hypocritical.

The moth continued to flap its wings, even though it couldn’t fly anymore, and in the end, it fluttered into the campfire, turning into ashes.

Cui Cui tilted its head, thinking that this moth wasn’t very smart. It didn’t know how to control its cooking time.

Gu Langu skewered the grasshoppers and then picked up a seasoning jar, holding it up solemnly. He used his precise control over the quantum cannon to shake out a pinch of salt. Then, with perfect timing, he sprinkled the seasoning evenly over the grasshoppers.

Even the leg that had fallen off was carefully seasoned.

With everything prepared, Gu Langu stared intently at the skewered grasshoppers, silently counting down.

Nearby, the southern team members watched everything in silence, exchanging glances. They hadn’t seen Gu Langu this nervous even when they were on the battlefield. Wasn’t he just roasting some grasshoppers?

Yu Jin made a cryptic comment, “These aren’t ordinary grasshoppers. They’re so precious.” He clearly remembered how Shu Shuishui had exchanged two grasshoppers for a simulator once.

Nan Ge and Liu Po were also watching with great interest. It had to be said that Gu Langu’s transformation was quite noticeable. While most of the changes were directed toward Shu Shuishui, they couldn’t help but be influenced to some extent.

When Gu Langu’s grasshoppers were finally roasted, a subtle yet enticing aroma filled the air.

After Shu Shuishui tried one of the grasshoppers, he sincerely gave Gu Langu a thumbs up. “Gu Gu, you’re amazing! These roasted grasshoppers are incredibly delicious, the best I’ve ever had.”

Gu Langu looked proud, his hands never stopping as he continued to work on the next skewer.

Life in the Shui Jing Gong was settling into a routine. On the thirteenth day after the end of the dry season, Cheng Que and Xie Feng finally came up with a preliminary mass production plan for the contract devices. They estimated that they would be able to achieve full-scale production of the contract devices before the onset of the freezing season. Furthermore, they planned to make further upgrades to the devices.

Xie Feng’s system also briefly made an appearance in front of everyone. Although it was only for a short ten minutes, and it took the form of a small green frog, at least they could communicate with it now.

The speculation of the group was correct. The system was indeed a product of a high-dimensional civilization. However, the system couldn’t reveal more information about that civilization; this was a fundamental limitation. The system explained that while the simulated frog image could temporarily put itself in a combined state, it couldn’t fundamentally solve the problem. It still needed to form a contract with a highly intelligent life’s thought to ensure its stability.

Unfortunately, the system was very selective, and the few individuals it had chosen were unwilling to contract with it. Even though they knew that the future of the Canghai Galaxy was not optimistic, they were reluctant to escape using the system. This barren planet had quietly become their home.

Although the system couldn’t communicate with the group for extended periods, it granted a few individuals the right to browse and use the system’s marketplace. These individuals were candidates for the system’s contract and were considered enticing prospects.

These selected individuals were all part of the leadership in the Shui Jing Gong. Gu Langu and Shu Shuishui were naturally among them. The others included Nan Ge, Liu Po, Yu Jin, Xie Feng, and Cheng Que. As for Nan Fang and Liu Du, they might not be considered mature enough, so they weren’t on the list.

Even though they had access to the system’s store, purchasing items required points, and points were earned by completing tasks. So, without tasks from the system, they couldn’t buy anything.

With the temptation of the system’s marketplace, Xie Feng began working diligently to find a reliable contractor for the system. However, after scouring the entire base, there was still no one who caught the system’s eye. Xie Feng suddenly felt like he was arranging a blind date for his own child, and it was truly a heartache.

The system’s transient state was quite unstable, and it could only maintain its frog-like appearance outside for a maximum of half an hour each day. Shu Shuishui developed a strong interest in the system’s frog form and even gifted a homemade lotus leaf hat to the little frog, considering it an essential accessory.

The little frog liked the hat very much and would always wear it or carry it when it appeared.

Slowly, the dormouse and the frog became familiar with each other. They often sat together, discussing life and dreams. Eventually, whenever the little frog transformed, it would seek out Shu Shuishui.

Shu Shuishui enjoyed the company of the little frog. Moreover, when the little frog was around, it would help with hunting and catching grasshoppers without asking for anything in return. What a great frog, and what a joyful frog!

Calm days are always precious and short-lived. Less than twenty days after the end of the dry season, the temperature dropped abruptly to below freezing, and the first snow of winter fell without warning. Although it lasted only a day, it prompted everyone on Cang Zhan Star to put on their winter clothing. People were acutely aware that winter had arrived!

It’s worth noting that this year, the Galactic Alliance indeed did not release any more simulators. Last year’s batch was indeed the last. This means that simulators, as consumables, will become increasingly precious.

Before the onset of winter, the Galactic Alliance was expected to conduct one more resource recovery operation, which would be the primary source of winter provisions for bases that had no stored food. Although the recovery prices were extremely low, with one top-quality energy stone exchanging for just ten loaves of bread, many people were still waiting for the activation of the resource recovery device.

However, what surprised everyone was that on the third day after the snowfall, the Shui Jing Gong in the Cangyu Mountains issued an announcement that shook Cang Zhan Star: they would provide a delayed service for simulators before the freezing season. One top-quality energy stone plus ten planting points could extend the lifespan of a simulator by one year!

This news caused an instant uproar. It sounded like a scam no matter how you looked at it, but the base that made the announcement happened to be the Shui Jing Gong, the base that had been continuously performing miracles since arriving in the northern hemisphere.

“It’s impossible! The Galactic Alliance has strict control over simulators, and the ones developing them are the top talents of the Galactic Alliance. How could anyone breakthrough on this desolate planet?”

“But it’s the Shui Jing Gong! They made it rain during the dry season, repelled Zones A and S, and accommodated all the migrating fleets…”

“So what? Simulators are so precious; it’s possible that the Shui Jing Gong is luring people with simulators and then planning to seize them opportunistically!”

“I want to give it a try.”

“Are you crazy? What if it’s dangerous?”

“My simulator only has three months left. Without it, I might not survive the winter.”

People with various thoughts speculated about the authenticity of the Shui Jing Gong’s announcement. Many individuals whose simulators were about to expire planned to test their luck, and well-established bases were sending people with simulators about to expire for experimentation.

While the outside world was filled with uncertainty, the Cangyu Mountains remained busy. After the snowfall, all bases became even busier, especially ensuring the construction of winter lodges to prevent anyone from freezing to death.

At the Shui Jing Gong base, Xie Feng and Cheng Que had been spending a lot of time together recently. Currently, the two of them were studying a simulator, which was a reward that Shu Shuishui had obtained during a previous raid—a simulator with indefinite usage.

“All right,” Xie Feng straightened up and then cautiously spoke.

Cheng Que leaned back, moving away from the computer. “One top-quality energy stone can now extend the simulator’s lifespan by 1.5 years, which is essentially the maximum effect achievable with current technology.”

“Do we need to issue an announcement to correct the extension period?” Xie Feng inquired.

“No need. Those who believe will come naturally, and those who don’t, even if we change it to ten years, they still won’t come.”

Cheng Que and Xie Feng appeared remarkably calm as if this breakthrough had nothing to do with them.