Thinking of this, Travis Lowell instantly felt a profound sense of respect for Julianna Garland.
As an employee of the Novaria Starship Corporation, Travis had traveled to planets of all sizes, and he had seen his fair share of dying worlds like the Earth Star.
To him, such planets were destined to be abandoned sooner or later.
There was too little usable energy here, a sparse variety of flora, no government attention, and absolutely no value for tourism, sightseeing, or commerce.
When he had dropped Julianna off that day, knowing she had a return ticket, he had assumed she would quickly head back to the First Star.
He hadn’t expected someone so young to possess such a resilient character.
Not only had she refused to give up early, but she had also begun working the land on her own.
It was so early in the morning, yet it looked like she had already been toiling away for quite a while.
Admiration flashed across Travis’s face as he said, “Ms.
Garland, I will arrive at the Earth Star in ten minutes.
I will dock the ship at the previously pinned coordinates and use a carrier drone to deliver the cargo right to your door.
Please keep an eye out for it.”
The Novaria staff member was incredibly punctual.
Ten minutes later, a low HUM echoed from above the Earth Star as a starship flew by.
Massive air currents blasted against the weeds, whipping up fierce gusts of wind.
Before long, four small carrier drones arrived in front of Julianna’s wooden cabin, carrying a huge, securely packed crate.
The drones unloaded the cargo and emitted a mechanical electronic voice.
“Cargo has been delivered.
Identity verified; received in person by the designated recipient.”
With that, they turned and flew away.
Losing the cargo earlier must have been completely unexpected for Travis, making this trip to the Earth Star extremely rushed for him.
He didn’t even step off the ship to greet Julianna in person.
Instead, after adding her as a friend on the Astral Domain Net, he sent another video message to express his apologies, and the Novaria starship promptly departed.
This outcome played right into Julianna’s hands.
She had only dug up two plots of land.
While the wheat had just been planted recently, the rice had already reached a maturity level of 18%.
The seedlings had shot up quite high; amidst the withered, yellow wasteland, that cluster of green looked exceptionally vibrant and full of life.
All of this had happened in a very short span of time.
If Travis had actually asked about it, she would have had a hard time explaining herself.
Watching the Novaria starship shrink into a black dot in midair and warp away at light speed, Julianna finally turned her attention to unboxing the packages.
There were three packages in total, of varying sizes.
Inside the slightly smaller one was a brand-new set of kitchenware and dining utensils.
Another crate was enormous and incredibly heavy—so much so that she couldn’t budge it on her own.
Once she dismantled the crate, the Earth Recovery System immediately issued a prompt:
[You have received a new model of a thresher-huller machine.]
Julianna’s eyes lit up.
This reward couldn’t have come at a better time.
She moved the kitchenware into the house without unwrapping it for now.
Then, she began examining the thresher-huller gifted by the system.
Judging by its pristine exterior, the machine wasn’t a relic from the Earth Era Period, though it closely replicated the aesthetic features of machinery from that time.
Accompanying the machine was a user manual.
After reading it thoroughly, Julianna realized that this equipment was manufactured by the Friday Mechanics Institute on Novus.
On Novus, there were many people fascinated by the history of the Earth Era Period, which had led to the emergence of various enthusiast organizations and companies.
The Friday Mechanics Institute, in particular, was deeply interested in the mechanical and electronic devices produced during the Earth Era.
Its investor, a member of the Earth Era Historical Society, had amassed quite a collection of artifacts from Earth’s past.
By pouring massive amounts of money into research, they had managed to restore and replicate numerous early mechanical and electronic products.
This thresher-huller was one of the company’s creations.
It was an antique replica born out of endless data analysis and simulations.
The company’s investor had once boasted that this device perfectly retained the functions of threshing and hulling.
However, since rice had long gone extinct, the machine had lost its true practical purpose; instead, it was mostly purchased as a collector’s item by those who shared a passion for Earth culture.
Yet, a machine that held merely collectible value to others was an absolute necessity for Julianna.
The system’s gift was impeccably timed!
Equally well-timed was the massive crate of food provided by the Novaria Starship Corporation.
The provisions were enough to sustain her for over twenty days, effectively eliminating any worries about starvation.
With her survival secured, Julianna dedicated all her remaining time to practicing her digging skills and grinding for experience points.
More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, the maturity level of the first batch of rice she planted finally reached 98%.
That night, she could hardly sleep.
The winds on the Earth Star were usually dry and scorching.
There were no forests here; the landscape consisted mostly of dead, barren earth, and the water sources were heavily polluted.
Whenever the wind swept over the parched slopes, it kicked up clouds of dust that mingled with the miasma in the air, creating an atmosphere that smelled of lifeless stagnation.
But now that the rice had grown, everything was different.
Lying inside her wooden cabin, Julianna could hear the soft RUSTLE of the rice panicles swaying as the breeze rolled over the paddy.
The heavy, plump grains tinkled like strings of little bells, producing a crisp, melodious ringing as they shook.
The only things missing were the chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs.
Listening to these sounds, Julianna felt as though she had returned to her childhood.
Before she knew it, sleep quietly washed over her.
Since it was her very first harvest, Julianna had expected to toss and turn all night.
Surprisingly, lulled by the gentle sound of the wind sweeping through the rice field, she slept soundly.
When she opened her eyes again, the sky was already bright.
The moment she woke up, she immediately checked the rice’s maturity progress in her sea of consciousness.
Sure enough, it had reached 100%.
[Earth Recovery System prompt: Rice is fully mature.]
Julianna didn’t even bother washing up before dashing out of the cabin.
The field outside was already a sea of gold.
The slender stalks bowed under the weight of the heavy rice panicles, carrying the fresh fragrance of vegetation.
It added a brilliant splash of color to this desolate, withered, and lifeless abandoned planet.
Gold meant life.
Julianna’s heart raced with excitement.
This was her first harvest day since becoming a farmer!
The machine was already in place.
Over the past twenty-odd days, during her breaks from daily labor, she had read the user manual so many times she knew it backward and forward.
She was just waiting to finally put it to use.
Without a second thought, she turned around and hurried back inside to wash up.
Having grown up in the countryside as a child, she had witnessed the farmers harvesting rice during the busy agricultural seasons.
This little patch of farmland wasn’t very large, so harvesting it wouldn’t be too much work for her.
She fetched a knife from the cabin, changed into long sleeves and trousers, and tied her cuffs and pant legs tightly.
Then, she immediately set to work.
Right before noon, she finished reaping all the rice in the field.
As she sliced off the very last tuft of grain, the Earth Recovery System prompted:
[Farming under the midday sun is grueling; every grain on the plate is earned with sweat.
Congratulations, Host, for successfully harvesting your first batch of crops.
Farming Experience +100.
You have become a Beginner Farmer.
Please enjoy the fruits of your labor and become the first human of Novus to taste rice.]