Everything was ready; all that remained was the final step!
The machine had been prepared well in advance.
Julianna Garland moved the harvested rice to the machine.
With everything in place, she turned on the equipment and fed the untreated rice ears into it.
The machine quickly threshed the grains.
The removed grains poured into a container, weighing roughly over a hundred pounds.
Julianna grabbed a handful of the rice grains.
The system notified her: [The moisture content of the rice is too high.]
The machine gifted by the system only had basic functions.
To hull the rice, she first needed to dry the grains in the sun to reduce their moisture content and prevent them from sprouting or molding.
This step proved to be the most agonizing wait for Julianna.
Over the next few days, she was completely distracted while digging the fields, her mind constantly lingering on her newly harvested grains.
It wasn’t until the fifth day that the system finally notified her that the grains had met the hulling standards.
The moment she saw the notification, Julianna wept tears of joy.
She fed the collected grains into the machine.
Accompanied by a loud mechanical RUMBLE, crystal-clear, snow-white grains of rice poured into the basin she had prepared earlier.
Earth Recovery System notification:
[Agricultural experience value +1000.]
With a ping from the system, the agricultural experience value for each of Julianna’s farming skills instantly surged by a thousand points.
System notification: [Congratulations, Host.
Your skills in digging, sowing, and harvesting have all reached the Expert Level.
You are now a qualified ‘Beginner of Planting.’]
[Upon reaching the ‘Beginner of Planting’ level, the technique and efficiency of all your farming skills have increased by 5%.
Plants grown by your hands will have a slightly higher growth efficiency compared to those grown by others.
Note: The plant growth cycle will be shortened by approximately 10%.
At the same time, the yield and quality of the harvested fruits and crops will also significantly improve (by 20%).]
The pleasant surprises didn’t end there.
The system then issued another notification:
[Congratulations, Host.
For the first time, you have harvested 70 pounds of rice.]
Julianna looked at the plump, snow-white grains of rice, feeling an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.
Earth Recovery System notification: [Congratulations on the great success of your first planting and the harvest of rice.
Traditional Earth plants are reviving on Novus, but a single person’s success is not true success.
Let the people of Novus know of the existence of rice, and let the rice species be cultivated across The Interstellar once more.]
[The system has issued a new quest:
Quest Four: Achieving greatness in silence is like hiding your light under a bushel.
The total population of the Astral Domain in Novus has exceeded 29 billion.
Let at least 500,000 of them know about the existence of rice.
Reward upon completion: A complete set of oil-pressing equipment and technology.]
[The first step is always the hardest!
To promote Earth’s specialty culture, you must plan carefully.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Host, let us start our development right here on the Earth Star.]
[A planet entrusted with the legacy of recovery must not only see the revival of its plants but also possess the matching technology and equipment.
Please build a brand-new equipment room for the rice machinery and rationally plan the layout of the Earth Star.]
[Quest Five: Build a rice processing workshop.
Reward upon completion: Sorghum seeds.
Note: The rice processing workshop can be constructed by the system; you only need to place an order to purchase it.]
“…”
Seeing this, a thought stirred in Julianna’s mind.
As soon as the idea of planning the layout of the Earth Star crossed her mind, a rough topographical map of the island immediately materialized in her head.
Up until now, although she had been living on the island for about a month, she had been constantly busy with digging, sowing, and harvesting.
Her range of activity had been confined to the area around the wooden cabin, and she hadn’t ventured out to explore the rest of the Earth Star.
However, she had seen the general layout of the Earth Star in the documents Cedric Sutton had given her that day.
Now, the system presented an even clearer map in her mind.
Just as Cedric had mentioned, the planet was surrounded by water on three sides, enveloped by the ocean.
Hillsides, trees, and weeds all appeared in her mental map, visible in crisp detail.
With a mere thought, the moment her focus approached a patch of trees, detailed information—including their quantity, species, height, and diameter—popped into her head.
System notification: [Ancient Pine (Inferior Quality).
A common item on Novus; nothing extraordinary.
Once felled, its trunk can be used to manufacture various products.]
Information about several types of grass also surfaced in her mind.
They were all common plants on Novus that possessed some industrial utility.
However, their numbers were far too small to generate any real commercial value.
Julianna hadn’t yet decided on a location for the rice equipment room, but she did remember the Earth Recovery System’s note: she could purchase a processing workshop directly from the system.
As soon as this thought formed, a system prompt echoed in her mind: [Do you wish to spend 5 million to construct a perfect, upgradeable processing workshop?]
“Five million?!” Hearing this astronomical figure, Julianna froze on the spot.
She certainly hadn’t forgotten that she had come to live on the Earth Star entirely penniless. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Right now, not only did she have zero funds, but she also owed a 15,000-dollar medical bill to the First Sector Hospital, not to mention the government’s recurring Earth Star tax levied every five years.
Despite being buried in debt, the Earth Recovery System was now starting to demand fees as well.
She had no money!
The 70 pounds of newly harvested rice had temporarily saved her from the crisis of running out of food, but to Julianna, this merely kept her above the starvation line.
As for five million dollars, she didn’t have a single cent.
Wait!
The moment the thought of having no money surfaced, Julianna suddenly remembered something.
During her last login to the Interstellar Net, Cedric had suggested that she could use the Earth Star as collateral to secure a 30 million dollar loan from the government for operational development!
Thinking of this, Julianna immediately suspected that the Earth Recovery System might have been spying on her daily life.
Since Cedric had made this suggestion and was willing to help her, given a lawyer’s strict standard for accuracy, securing this 30 million loan shouldn’t be an issue.
But the question was: should she risk it all and take on a massive loan just to buy a processing workshop from the Earth Recovery System?
Julianna looked at the 70 pounds of rice in front of her, her mind plunged into a fierce internal tug-of-war.
In her past life, she had been an honest, ordinary person who had never owed such a colossal amount of money.
While she hesitated, she looked at the quests issued by the system.
So far, she had accepted a total of five quests:
Quest One: Successfully sow and harvest wheat.
Quest Two: Upgrade to the Expert Level in digging.
Quest Three: Harvest rice and successfully cook it.
Quest Four: Proclaim the reappearance of rice (requires 500,000 people to learn of this news).
Quest Five: Build a rice processing workshop.
Among these five quests, the first three were easy to complete.
The first and second quests only required time, and the third quest could be finished very soon.
Although the fourth quest was somewhat difficult, it was also just a matter of time.
However, if she couldn’t complete the fifth quest, failing to obtain the system’s reward of sorghum seeds would be a secondary issue.
The main problem was that the entire fifth questline would be completely stalled right here.