RIACMET chapter 64

 

The next morning, Jiang Nian accompanied Jiang Wenwen to sign the lease contract for the planned farm.

Each mu cost 100 points per month, so five mu totaled 500 points. This was also a one-time, upfront payment system.

Since there was no electricity or water supply, the farm provided two tons of irrigation water per month free of charge. Anything beyond that had to be handled by the tenant.

Additionally, the tenant was responsible for constructing any fences, walls, buildings, or other farm-related facilities, and the farm wouldn’t assist with any of it.

Renting farmland basically only meant renting the land itself. As stipulated, tenants could not use the land for any purpose other than cultivation and breeding, so you could not build a house to live in.

Just as he had done when he leased the shop, Jiang Nian signed a five-year contract.

In his previous life, experts predicted the apocalypse would last five years. Whether they would end up staying for five years or longer didn’t matter.

It was wise to prepare for a long-term fight.

Half a day later, once everything was finalized, the matter was temporarily settled.

Jiang Nian planned to wait until the grocery store opened and business stabilized before renovating the farm. Some things couldn’t be rushed.

After thanking Jiang Wenwen, Jiang Nian filled several flower boxes with soil from his leased farmland and brought them back to the dorm. He began fiddling with the soil out on the balcony.

He planned to use his supernatural ability to purify the soil, then plant a few seeds and see how they grew.

When Cheng Jing came home from work, he saw his boyfriend wearing gloves and playing in the dirt on the balcony.

A planting encyclopedia lay next to him, and various videos about vegetable cultivation played on his tablet. Cheng Jing tried to help, but Jiang Nian declined.

First, Jiang Nian sifted the dry soil through a screen. Then, he loaded it into two foam boxes. He sprinkled water on it and mixed it thoroughly.

After ensuring the moisture level was just right, he took off his gloves and gently pressed his hands into the damp soil, carefully releasing his supernatural power.

The contaminated dirt turned a burnt yellowish-black color and gave off an unpleasant smell.

It needed to be purified before returning to its normal earthy brown color.

Pale blue-white ripples of purification energy seeped into the soil. Gradually, along with a faint acrid odor, the yellowish-black color began to fade.

Cheng Jing watched intently from the side, thinking it was nothing short of miraculous.

After arriving at the base, they had been able to gather more intelligence, and he had deliberately looked up information about the attributes of supernatural abilities.

Most powers had fairly clear descriptions, but purification was universally labeled as the easiest to overlook.

Useless.

It had no offensive or defensive power, and its auxiliary functions weren’t even as good as healing. The most useful thing it could do was restore awareness to people under psychic control.

However, in most situations, if the psychic was attacked, the control would automatically break, so there was no need to rely on a purifier.

Not everyone had the same experience as Jiang Nian, so when they encountered an ability this weak, they simply dismissed it.

For example, most people believed that if you were infected by a zombie, not even a healing ability could save you, let alone purification.

However, the highest form of healing ability is called regeneration. It is said to be one of the most extraordinary powers discovered so far and is extremely rare.

As long as the person was alive, regeneration could heal them completely, even if they had lost a limb.

He’d heard that some people, after being scratched, would immediately cut off the affected part themselves. If they amputated quickly enough, they could survive.

Of course, if they didn’t cut in time and even a small amount of the virus entered the bloodstream, the limb would still mutate, even if it was reattached by a healing power.

But purification was different. According to Jiang Nian, purification targeted the virus itself.

In short, healing dealt more with physical damage, while purification addressed what you couldn’t see.

No one knew what the final evolution of purification looked like.

The user who had originally reported the basic information on purification died not long after. He didn’t leave behind a crystal core, only the label that his purification ability was worthless.

It wasn’t until Jiang Nian tried to save Chen Yue in his previous life that he discovered how special it really was.

“Niannian’s power is the best and strongest!”

Cheng Jing thought to himself, watching as the soil gradually returned to normal. He couldn’t help but sigh.

“All right, thank you, Brother Jing…”

It was too hot outside, and the balcony window wasn’t open. Sunset streamed through the glass, making Jiang Nian’s cheeks flush from the praise.

If someone else had praised him, he would have tilted his chin up proudly and replied, “Of course it’s amazing. Do you know who I am?” But—

—faced with Brother Jing’s serious gaze, he only felt shy.

…

So, Jiang Nian continued channeling his supernatural power into the soil in the foam boxes. He watched the contaminated black mud slowly return to the khaki color he hadn’t seen since the apocalypse.

It took half an hour to purify just one box, and he was drenched in sweat.

Cheng Jing wiped his face and handed him some water.

“Are you tired? Take a break.”

Using supernatural abilities was exhausting.

Jiang Nian shook his head.

“I’m fine. Once I’m done, I’ll wash my hands and take a break. If I stop now, though, I’ll be too lazy to pick it up again.”

He felt clearheaded enough that he didn’t need to rest yet. After drinking, he continued purifying the second box.

After finishing both large boxes, he divided the purified soil into the flower boxes and planted seeds in the order described in the encyclopedia.

Finally, he covered the boxes with plastic wrap and poked a few holes for ventilation.

They could have asked Huang Qian to come by and use her plant-based power to accelerate growth.

However, Jiang Nian wanted to test whether the soil he had purified could grow crops normally and if anything that sprouted would mutate.

Think of it as a small experiment. Later, they could let Sister Qian come over to “induce labor.”

They didn’t have many fruits and vegetables left, so they needed to replenish their supply before it ran out.

In his past life, he had eaten plenty of fruits and vegetables ripened by supernatural abilities. They weren’t as flavorful, but they had the same vitamins and nutrients.

For the sake of their health, they were worth eating.

After playing in the dirt for so long, Jiang Nian was covered in soil. But when he looked at the neatly arranged flower boxes, he felt a sense of pride.

Cheng Jing cooked dinner and urged him to shower and wait to eat.

Jiang Nian was in a wonderful mood. He kissed Cheng Jing on the cheek before heading to the bathroom.

Once he finished washing, he realized he hadn’t brought anything to change into. He could only shout out helplessly,

“Uh… Brother Jing, could you bring me some clothes?”

…

Cheng Jing, who had just set the table, let out a long sigh.

“Niannian! I’ve told you—you have to remember to take your clothes with you when you shower!”

Even though he only peeked through the crack in the door, the smell of soap and the rising steam were enough to conjure up certain images in his mind.

This has caused problems more than once.

“In that case, close the curtains and go out on the balcony for a while. I’ll come out and get them myself,” Jiang Nian said.

Jiang Nian’s voice was lazy and tinged with mischievous amusement.

“NO.”

Cheng Jing gritted his teeth, found some clean clothes, stuffed them in a bag, hung the bag on the doorknob, and quickly walked away, leaving Jiang Nian to get dressed on his own.