Chapter 18 - Spark
Everyone, including Meirin, stared at Zhao. I do not know what he's doing with those gestures. Does he simply have no way to improve the land? Meirin's heart couldn't help but sink. She had also noticed Zhao's recent changes, but it was a good kind of change. He had become more mature. But now she couldn't help but worry because it looked like Zhao might have gone silly under all that pressure.
Zhao was very embarrassed. He used to use a computer for something like this, and he could not help but wish he still had his mouse that he could tap on. Now he could only use his hand to point, and he completely forgot that the screen in front of him was a projection that no one else could see.
Scratching his head, Zhao tried shouting inside his mind. "Yes!"
Suddenly the voice echoed again: [Please enter the modified area], then an input box appeared with a flashing cursor. Zhao immediately thought of acres in his mind. The number [10] appeared inside the input box, and on the side was the word [acres].
A tone chimed and the voice came again: [Please select improvement methods] [Spatial Earth] [Spatial Water] [Custom]
Zhao had to work fast. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that Meirin was starting to think that he had gone mad since it looked like he was just staring at nothing. He immediately ordered a custom. Since he had already calculated the optimal improvement ratio, he chose to customize it. Sure enough, a customization input box appeared. A tone chimed and the voice said: [Please enter ratio of spatial earth and spatial water]
He immediately entered six parts for spatial water and four parts for spatial earth. Fortunately, he just had to think it and it would be entered into the input box. He did not need to use his hands, otherwise people would think that he was crazy.
After some time, the entry was complete. He then heard a tone which assured Zhao when he saw a pocket-sized hole open up in space, followed by some gray stuff that came flying out of the hole and into the black soil.
That gray stuff simply did not look like spatial earth or water. It looked more like dust. But when that stuff touched the black ground, everyone could clearly see the soil changing. The color of the soil that was once black as oil became lighter until it looked like the normal colors of earth.
It was interesting to note that the gray stuff that came out of the hole in space only landed exactly in the square range of farming land they marked down. No more, no less. When you look at the edges where the improved farming land met the surrounding black land, the contrast was clear.
After the transformation into farming land was over, Zhao grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and carefully looked at it. It wasn't his imagination. The soil had really become fertile black earth. Zhao, while holding the soil, laughed. He had finally succeeded! They could now plant anything here. With his ability, plus all of this land, it would difficult for everyone to starve.
Zhao's laughter woke up everyone in the field. When the hole had appeared beside Zhao, they were shocked. They had never encountered such a thing before. Everyone was frozen while standing there, staring as the black soil in front of them changed. When Zhao laughed, they regained consciousness. Everyone then involuntarily made the same movement as Zhao and grabbed a handful of soil from the land.
It took Meirin awhile to understand, but most of these slaves came from farming backgrounds. With just a glance they could see that this new fertile land was very different than the ones they worked on before. This soil was even better.
Everybody cheered! Although they were slaves, that did not make them fools. They knew what the situation was when they came to the Black Waste. But they really did not expect that one day they could actually see such a wonderful thing.
Meirin could not stop her tears from flowing out as she held the soil. Although she had never farmed before, she could still distinctly see that the land had really improved. This fertile land wasn't just a simple piece of land. It was the Buda clan's hope.
Meg was also excited to the point of tears. She did not think that such a happy day would come so fast and so suddenly. When the moment came, she was shocked and lost the ability to think. It was like she had become a wooden statue, but it did not stop the tears from flowing out of her eyes. Meg suddenly dropped the soil from her hands and ran towards Zhao. She hugged him. Zhao was shocked because of this. He did not think that Meg would ever hug him.
From Adam's memories, Zhao knew of Adam's desire for Meg. Adam's childhood memories had already blurred, and there was no memory of him loving Meg, just lust. In that case, of course, it was impossible for Meg to have feelings for Adam. In fact, she hated him. But now Meg was holding him, so he was shocked. Was this really the same Meg?
In his past life, Zhao was an otaku with low self-esteem, and he never had a girlfriend. He never even held a girl's hand before. It was precisely because of this that Zhao didn't know how to face Meg. He didn't know how to take resposibility for what Adam did, so he only pushed Meg away, the farther the better, or else Meg would think of those unpleasant things that Adam did.
But Zhao did not think that Meg would hug him today. It scared him a bit. Zhao helplessly froze there. He did not know whether he should hug Meg back.
Meirin also noted Meg's unusual action. She knew Meg better than anyone, especially her feelings for Adam. After what Adam did, Meirin was very clear on how deep the damage he did to Meg. During that period of time, Meirin would watch Meg everyday, afraid that she would committ suicide. Meg was like a lost soul, and Meirin could do nothing but watch on with heartache. She was very clear that there was no medicine for a broken heart. The only way for Meg to return to normal was if Adam became a better person. But Meirin had no hope for that, to be honest. She was thoroughly disappointed in Adam. If not for the fact that she was loyal to the Buda clan, she would have hurt Adam.
But when Adam woke up here in the Black Waste, it was like he was a changed man. He had become wiser and more stable, and he gained a very strange ability. He did not do any of the nonsense from before, and instead started to be more methodical with a very commanding presence. Of course, she did not know that this wasn't Adam, but Zhao.
Meirin had also noticed Meg's changes these past few days. Recently, Meg would unconsciously peek at Zhao when before it would have been impossible for Meg to want to look at Zhao from time to time. After the incident had taken place, Meg would always hide from Zhao, standing head down, trying as much as possible to not catch his attention.
But these days she would occasionally glance at Zhao, which made Meirin very puzzled. But when she saw Meg's actions just now, she finally understood.
Meg finally released Zhao, whose face was very red. In his past life, he had never held such an affectionate girl before. After the hug ended, Meg blushed, but not as much as Zhao did. His mouth would also open and close again and again, but no words came out. Seeing the look on Zhao's face, Meg smiled. She then turned around and ran. While watching Meg's departing back, Zhao lost his ability to think.
Meg was a beautiful girl. Zhao liked looking at her. But because of what Adam did, Zhao would always feel guilty when he saw her. So these days he had to think of ways to hide from Meg and try not to be alone with her. He would only see her when there were other people around.
But with that one hug from Meg, Zhao felt a spark and thought that something between him and her might not be impossible.