After reaching the Expert Level in digging, Julianna Garland’s efficiency improved significantly.
She selected a relatively flat piece of land not far from the rice paddy and started digging anew.
The soil quality here was poor.
The ground was dry and hard, with much of the dirt mixed with stones of varying sizes.
She spent three days clearing it, successfully completing the Earth Recovery System’s required sixty-square-meter cultivation task with room to spare.
As soon as the digging was done, she saw that her hard work hadn’t been in vain.
Her digging experience points shot straight to 24,000, and the experience progress bar reached eight percent.
Although it was getting late, Julianna wasn’t in a hurry to rest.
She wanted to take advantage of her “Planting Master” title to plant as much as possible, increasing her sowing proficiency in the process.
Julianna took out her seeds.
As she sowed them, beautiful experience point notifications flashed before her eyes:
Sowing Proficiency +1.
Sowing Proficiency +1.
Sowing Proficiency +1.
…
Her sowing experience points accumulated rapidly.
She slowly walked along the ridge of the field, sowing as she went.
Before long, the system’s notification chime rang in her mind:
“Congratulations, you have reached the Expert Level in sowing.
“You are now a mature sower with significant experience.
With a simple pinch of a seed, you can determine its quality.
“Plants grown by your hands will have a significant increase in yield and quality (10%).
“Congratulations.
Now that your sowing and digging have both reached a proficient level, you have become a qualified entry-level farmer.
The system has rewarded you with a gift package.
Please claim it.”
Hearing this notification, Julianna paused, her curiosity piqued.
In the past, whenever a task issued by the Earth Recovery System was completed, the prompt would indicate a reward, which was usually found inside the wooden cabin.
She immediately got up and ran inside.
The cabin wasn’t large, and after a quick search, she found nothing unexpected.
She wondered what the system’s gift package could be and where it might be placed.
As she pondered this, the communicator on her wrist suddenly let out a BEEP BEEP.
She looked down and saw an incoming call request.
The device activated, and a familiar face popped up, forming a holographic projection in mid-air.
“Ms.
Garland, we meet again.”
The man was wearing the uniform of the Novaria Starship Corporation.
The moment he spoke, Julianna remembered him as the staff member who had escorted her to Earth Star a few days ago.
“Hello, you are—” She hesitated for a moment before the man promptly interjected.
“How rude of me.
I forgot to introduce myself last time.
My name is Travis Lowell, and I work for the Novaria Starship Corporation,” Travis said apologetically.
“After dropping you off at Earth Star last time, we were organizing our cargo and realized that a large shipment of yours had been left behind in the First Star warehouse during transit.
“This was a mistake on our part, so we will deliver your items to Earth Star tomorrow morning.
Our company will also hold a meeting shortly regarding this error to discuss a compensation plan for you.
As far as I know, you should receive an answer regarding your compensation tonight.”
Julianna’s heart stirred.
She immediately guessed that the “lost items” Travis mentioned were actually the system’s reward.
Suppressing her excitement, she nodded and ended the call.
Harboring a deep curiosity about the system’s reward, Julianna checked the rice’s maturation progress in her mind before going to sleep.
It was at fifteen percent.
Based on her calculations of the maturation rate over the past few days, she estimated that this batch of rice would be ready for harvest in about a month.
This growth speed far exceeded her expectations, but she would still face a temporary food shortage before the rice fully matured.
Fortunately, this problem was resolved that very evening.
At dusk, Travis called again.
The Novaria Starship Corporation was incredibly efficient.
Realizing their blunder, the relevant staff had held an online meeting on the Interstellar Net that afternoon and reached a resolution.
“Ms.
Garland, our company has provided two compensation options,” Travis said.
“First, our company is willing to open a new, exclusive flight route to Earth Star.
“From now on, I will be personally responsible for all matters related to this route.”
After Travis communicated with Julianna, the Novaria Corporation agreed to sign a three-year contract for an exclusive route between First Star and Earth Star.
Tickets for this flight would soon become available on the Novaria Starship Corporation’s official network.
Once confirmed, the people of Novus would be able to search for this route and purchase starship tickets at the official fixed price.
Julianna instantly realized the significance of this development.
Opening a new flight route was no small matter.
Earth Star completely lacked commercial value, making a single, dedicated starship flight exorbitantly expensive.
If it hadn’t been for Samantha Garland’s arrangements, Julianna would never have been able to afford such an astronomical ticket price.
No matter how high Novaria set the price, the Novus Government had strict upper limits on commercial starship ticket prices.
Even at full price, it would definitely be far cheaper than a special, one-off chartered flight.
She grew somewhat excited at the thought.
Travis continued, “However, I must clarify something first, Ms.
Garland.
Our company’s route contracts are signed in three-year cycles.
Within these three years, our upper management will conduct internal audits.
If the route operates at a loss, it will be subsequently canceled.”
Julianna nodded.
“I understand.”
Even if it was only for three years, it was still a massive win for her.
She was already taking advantage of this incident, so she had absolutely no complaints.
Travis breathed a sigh of relief before adding, “The second thing is that our company will provide a certain amount of material compensation.”
“Materials?” Julianna’s eyes lit up.
“I delivered the supplies to Earth Star last time.
I estimated that the provisions purchased for you by the Aeturnum Firm would last you about half a month,” Travis said with a smile.
“Since traveling to and from Earth Star is inconvenient, you probably have no way of purchasing goods yourself, right?
Because of this, our company intends to gift you a month’s worth of supplies as compensation for this incident.
If you don’t mind, I will bring them to Earth Star tomorrow morning, along with all your lost items.”
Of course Julianna wouldn’t refuse!
Such a windfall was exactly what she needed in her time of crisis.
The two happily ended their conversation.
By dawn the next day, the rice’s maturation rate had reached eighteen percent.
With two hours left until her scheduled meeting with Travis, Julianna simply grabbed her hoe and started digging the fields.
At 9:45 AM, the communicator on her wrist rang, and a name popped up on the screen: Travis Lowell.
The staff member from the Novaria Starship Corporation was arriving.
Julianna felt a surge of excitement as she remembered the system’s gift package that the starship was about to deliver.
She turned around, set her hoe down, and brushed the grass clippings off her clothes.
Only then did she stand in front of the wooden cabin and accept the call.
“Good morning, Ms.
Garland.”
Travis’s figure appeared before Julianna.
Since they were on a video call, they could see each other clearly.
Travis saw her fully geared up, looking as if she had been up early working.
He recalled the overgrown weeds he had seen when he visited Earth Star a few days ago, guessing that Julianna had been busy clearing the island’s weeds ever since she arrived.