Cao County Citizen: I don't really know, I just bought it from someone about ten minutes ago, and it hasn't even warmed up yet.
Jiang Ye: Why is this "Miracle Seed" name so tacky and flashy? What kind of seed is it? Vegetable or grain?
Cao County Citizen: I don't recognize it. It's just a plastic box with about thirty black seeds inside. The instructions on the box are simple, saying to plant it in the soil and water it with a tiny bit of water, and it will grow quickly. Don't worry about where it came from, this box of Miracle Seeds was also won in a lottery. Some guy got farm tools, and these seeds were a bonus gift with the tools. The quality is definitely fine!
Reading the messages sent by the other party, Jiang Ye became interested.
So far, he didn't know of any other food sources. If these Miracle Seeds could grow fruits, vegetables, or grains, it would directly solve the famine problem!
But then he thought about it again, and Jiang Ye felt it wasn't that simple.
Jiang Ye: You said these seeds were a bonus with the farm tools. Many people must have landed on this planet and drawn farm tools, so many people have seeds, right? Why haven't I seen anyone say they've planted these seeds in the last two days?
Cao County Citizen: It's very simple, no one has started planting them yet. Whether you plant grains or vegetables, you need to water them a lot, right? But look, most people don't have any water. People are almost dying of thirst, where would they get water to irrigate the land?
Jiang Ye nodded repeatedly, realizing the truth. What he said made sense.
Through observation over the past few days, Jiang Ye discovered a phenomenon, a very important one, perhaps even a matter of life and death:
Although many people landed on different locations on this planet, so far, no one has found any natural fresh water!
There are no lakes, no rivers, not even a single stream or spring that anyone has encountered. The only source of water is the sea. But humans cannot drink seawater directly; drinking too much leads to dehydration and death.
The current water shortage is a life-or-death issue for everyone.
Jiang Ye had also saved a bottle of urine just in case. As far as he knew, many people were already so thirsty that they had started drinking their own urine. It probably didn't taste good, otherwise, they would have launched bottled urine beverages.
After a slight hesitation, Jiang Ye decided to take a look at the seeds and typed a message:
Alright, I'll take the Miracle Seeds. Here are the last few pieces of flint for you. Happy trading!
Cao County Citizen: Okay, Great Jiang, happy trading!
Both parties placed their items into the trading pods. A flash of light passed, and the trade was completed.
Jiang Ye took out the can of Miracle Seeds and examined them carefully.
The can was small and made of transparent plastic.
Inside the can, dozens of seeds were neatly packed, just as the Cao County Citizen had described, all black. Each seed was about the size of a black bean. Jiang Ye initially thought they were black beans and figured growing some sprouts would be good.
However, when he unscrewed the can, picked out a black seed, and examined it closely, he realized something was wrong.
They weren't black beans.
They were perfectly standard spheres.
Like ball bearings, they had none of the characteristics of seeds!
Jiang Ye was startled. Had he been tricked?
He quickly checked the instructions printed on the can. Seeing them, he relaxed:
Product Name: Miracle Seed 024
Product Description: A flagship product of Lafon Co., Ltd., a Fortune 500 company in the Milky Way. Manufactured using safe genetic modification technology, these artificial seeds, when planted in loose soil and watered with a small amount of water, will grow rapidly. In their normal state, they are standard spheres. Do not squeeze.
Shelf Life: 18 years
So they were artificial seeds. It wasn't strange for them to have an unusual appearance.
Two pieces of information on the instructions caught Jiang Ye's attention. One was "a small amount of water," which was very important, as he didn't have many bottles of water to spare. The other was "grow rapidly." This statement was very confusing. How rapid was "rapid"? They didn't give a specific time! You know, some things are considered rapid if they take a few minutes, while others are rapid if they take a few months.
Jiang Ye thought about it. Since they were seeds, they should at least take a few weeks to grow.
Since he had bought them, he decided to try planting them.
Planting them outside the base was definitely not an option. The sun was very strong during the day, requiring constant watering. Moreover, if there was a strong wind or heavy rain, they would be washed away, resulting in no harvest.
Conveniently, he still had the empty cappuccino cup he had finished drinking from. It was just sitting there, so he could use it as a flowerpot.
Jiang Ye pushed open the hatch and jumped out. He grabbed a few handfuls of soft soil and stuffed them into the cup.
Then, using his index finger like he was picking his nose, he dug two small holes in the soil in the cup and pressed two seeds into them.
Finally, he watered them!
He still had four bottles of water left, so there was no need to use too much at once. Jiang Ye stingily poured in two capfuls of water, carefully watering the seeds, trying not to waste a single drop.
"Drink up! Drink and grow fast!" Jiang Ye smacked his lips, saying to the seeds with anticipation.
After finishing, he placed the flowerpot in a corner and flopped onto his seat to sleep.
He had been mining all day and was exhausted, his muscles aching. He closed his eyes and waited for a long time but couldn't fall asleep. Jiang Ye had no choice but to silently count sheep.
He used to count sheep on Earth, but now that he was in outer space, Jiang Ye imagined alien sheep in his mind.
One alien sheep, two alien sheep, three alien sheep...
*Zzzt*
Eight alien sheep, nine alien sheep, ten alien sheep...
*Zzzt-zzzt*
Twenty alien sheep, twenty-one alien sheep...
*Zzzt-zzzt-zzzt*
Jiang Ye couldn't stand it anymore. He suddenly sat up, opened his eyes, and turned his head to look around. Something was making a faint buzzing sound. There was no such noise in the base last night. What on earth was it? Was there a short circuit? Was the cappuccino expanding?
After searching for a long time, his gaze suddenly fixed on the flowerpot in the corner.
It was one thing to look, but another to almost jump up!
The seeds had already sprouted!
Not only had they sprouted, but they had also grown several centimeters tall!
Jiang Ye's mouth fell open in shock. After a long moment, he reacted and quickly reached out to pick up the flowerpot, holding it in front of him to observe.
As soon as he brought it to his eyes, the small seedlings in the flowerpot made a soft sound:
*Zzzt-zzzt-zzzt-zzzt*
Yes, it was these small seedlings that were making the noise. The sound was very faint, much like the sound of roots absorbing water.
Jiang Ye could hardly believe his eyes. He looked at the time on the base's display screen. It had only been ten minutes since he watered the flowerpot, but at this very moment, both seeds had cracked open, and two slender stems had grown straight up, reaching about four centimeters in height. The stems also had a few small leaves, all a tender yellow, looking fragile.
Growing this much in ten minutes was simply monstrous!
Jiang Ye reached out and touched the soil in the flowerpot. It was completely dry.
He quickly opened a water bottle and poured another capful of water onto the yellow seedlings.
As soon as he poured the water, a magical scene unfolded. The buzzing sound from the seedlings instantly intensified, and then the stems grew upwards at a speed visible to the naked eye! Even the leaves on the stems rapidly expanded. They had been curled up pitifully, but now they unfurled, becoming ear-sized leaves.
Jiang Ye watched in a daze. He only regained his senses when the seedlings stopped growing again. He checked the time. It had only been another ten minutes, and the two seedlings had doubled in size!
This growth rate was terrifying!
They really were Miracle Seeds!
This was no longer a question of whether they were miraculous; it was simply a miracle!