Chapter 687: Phantom Sun

After discussing the black soil with Rhys Chase, Ronan Kendrick returned with Liam Sterling. As for the people who would enter the space to farm, Rhys Chase said he would personally bring them to the small courtyard the next day. He had selected young, able-bodied soldiers, so after some discussion, Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick decided against hypnotizing them beforehand. However, for the entire year, these men would have to remain in the space to work. Once the year was up and the lease ended, they would be released. Only then would Ronan hypnotize them to erase all their memories of being in the space. This approach would minimize any potential damage to their minds and bodies.

When Ronan Kendrick returned, he told Evelyn Ford that Rhys Chase had prepared Gold as a thank-you gift. In the past, Evelyn would have surely jumped for joy. But she was immune to Gold now; after all, there were still several tons of it in the storage area.

‘It can’t be used to develop the space, nor can it be spent. It’s less practical than a bag of rice.’

‘Still, since Rhys Chase is so sincere about giving it, I guess I’ll reluctantly accept.’

The next evening, Rhys Chase brought thirty young soldiers to the small courtyard. They were all blindfolded with black cloth. They already knew they were to carry out an important, secret mission, and every face was etched with determination and gravity. Rhys Chase hadn’t told them where they were going, only instructing them on one thing: upon arrival at their destination, they were to obey all commands. The mission duration was one year.

Along with the soldiers, five tons of wheat seeds were also delivered. After Rhys Chase and Evelyn Ford completed the handover, he returned alone. It was already midnight. A couple of barks occasionally echoed from within the base. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick led the thirty soldiers into the space and onto the black soil. After Evelyn told them to remove their blindfolds, the thirty soldiers took them off with swift, uniform precision.

They realized something was off about their surroundings, but they showed no panic or fear. While sizing up the environment, they were also sizing up the people before them.

“I am Leo Denton, their captain. Is the important mission the Base Chief mentioned to be carried out here?”

Liam Sterling stepped forward and shook his hand. “Captain Denton, hello. I’m Liam Sterling, and I’m also Mr. Chase’s personal assistant. Your mission will be carried out here. For the next year, I will be in charge of your work and daily lives.”

Leo Denton nodded. “Understood. Assistant Ford, please give us our orders.”

Liam Sterling didn’t waste any more words and directly informed Leo Denton of the mission. “For the next year, your mission is to farm this land. There are five thousand mu of the black soil here. A crop of grain can be harvested every three months. You will need to plant and harvest four crops. Once you complete the mission in one year, you can return to the base. There are tents over here. You can set up your living quarters first. One more thing, there are quite a few rules here. I’ll go over them with you in detail later.”

Leo Denton was a little surprised. He had been on many missions; not long ago, he had even led a team into the outer regions. When he accepted the mission that morning, the Base Chief had told him it was extremely important. He had thought it would be arduous, but it turned out to be just farming.

However, he didn’t underestimate farming. After all, farming five thousand mu of land with four crops a year… just hearing it made it clear the mission would be difficult.

“Assistant Sterling, are there any farming tools here?”

“All sorts of facilities are available here. We have micro-tillers and seed drills.”

Leo Denton breathed a sigh of relief. Eldoria was currently suffering from high temperatures and drought; the base was likely facing a food crisis. No wonder Rhys Chase had said this mission was so important. He now had only one thought: he had to give his all to complete the mission.

Seeing that Liam Sterling was handling things with ease, Evelyn Ford led everyone else back to the wooden cabin.

By the time Liam Sterling had settled in Leo Denton and his men, it was already three in the morning. At this hour, the base residents were starting their work shifts, while everyone in the space had already gone to their rooms to rest.

The next day, having set up their living quarters, the soldiers began their first day of work: tilling the land.

Evelyn Ford had Liam Sterling send them a good amount of grain and vegetables. One of the men was a logistics specialist, responsible for laundry and cooking.

The soldiers adapted well. Some tilled the land at the front while others followed behind, sowing seeds. After planting the first crop, they even helped Evelyn Ford and the others with their chores. Due to their strict military discipline, they never asked where this place was or who Evelyn and her group were.

In the blink of an eye, September arrived. The first crop of wheat was ready for harvest, but just then, an unprecedented crisis struck Eldoria.

Four suns appeared in the sky.

Of course, there was only one real sun; the other three were just “sun dogs,” solar phantoms created by a special atmospheric phenomenon. However, many people at the base didn’t know what sun dogs were. Everyone thought four suns had actually appeared, which was why the temperature was so high and the sun so scorching.

Recently, all sorts of theories had even begun to circulate within the base. Some believed the sudden appearance of four suns was a bad omen, predicting that Azure was about to explode and be destroyed. Others thought the sun was getting closer and closer to Azure, and that soon, all life on the planet would be scorched to death. Still others believed it was a divine punishment and that they had to build a temple and worship the gods to avert disaster…

Wendy came back during her break and told everyone about the situation outside.

“Lately, the days have been long and the nights short. It gets light at three-thirty in the morning. I got up to use the bathroom, and it was so hot I started sweating. The sweat beads were popping out of my pores like drops of blood—huge ones. It was terrifying.”

“The hospital is running out of beds. More and more people are suffering from heatstroke every day. Also, the morning before last, five residents farming in the desert agricultural area went missing. The base sent a lot of people to look for them, but by the time they were found, they were already dead. What’s more, their bodies were severely decomposed. Less than ten hours passed between when they went missing and when they were found, but their bodies had rotted beyond recognition. It’s unbelievable.”

“Does the sun carry some kind of ‘sun poison’?” Quincy suddenly asked.

Evelyn Ford shook her head. “The sun comes out every day; there’s no way it has ‘sun poison.’ It’s the ninth lunar month now—autumn—but there’s no sign of the temperature dropping. I’m worried this will turn into a sustained period of extreme heat.”

“Have any of the base’s livestock been dying?” Evelyn Ford looked at Liam Sterling. He had been going out frequently on business lately, so he should be familiar with the situation at the base.

“No, not at all. The livestock are all healthy.”

“If it doesn’t rain or the temperature doesn’t drop by the end of the month, we might need to make emergency preparations.”

“The base has already implemented various emergency measures,” Liam said. “Mr. Chase mentioned that the temperature at Central Base is two degrees higher than in Eldoria. There are many mountains over there, and a few of them suddenly self-ignited. Fortunately, patrol teams extinguished the fires in time, preventing a major blaze.”

Everyone began to worry. However, what no one expected was that at the end of the ninth lunar month, a fierce gale suddenly struck Eldoria. Three days later, the temperature in Eldoria plummeted by twenty degrees, and a light flurry of snow began to drift from the sky.

Meanwhile, on the border, an armed unit was heading toward Eldoria.