The Great Worm Lich

An acre was about 4,000 square meters, and 200 acres was 800,000 square meters. This sounded like a very big number but when it was carefully converted, it was actually less than one square kilometer. In a vast desert, such a small oasis like this was as insignificant as a coin in a plaza.

If it was close to a large oasis, then it still might have a lot of use value but if it was too far away from the large oasis, the high development costs and dangerous living environment would make it worthless.

Two hours after ending the call with the senior officer from the Department of Defense, Zhang Lisheng drove into such a small oasis, and that the federal government deemed to have no development value.

The jeep rammed over several small shrubs as the heavy tires with heavy grip ran over the green grasses and jostled its way straight to the source of all the miracles of life in the desert, before stopping in front of a small river flowing from east to west, with a south-north width of not more than two meters, that passed through the entire oasis.

The young man opened the door and jumped out of the car.

The breeze was cool and the water vapor was moist. He stretched his body comfortably and when he was about to speak, he suddenly saw a very old white man wearing dusty denim overalls and wide-brimmed cowboy hat rushing towards him from a group of 30 to 40 figures who were either busy working by the river ditch or building special sample room; or studying the growth of riverside plants while measuring water quality, or doing nothing staring in daze. That old man reprimanded him with anger incoherently, “My goodness! Did you know what you just did?! Those dwarf shrubs, those dwarf shrubs are the last barrier to protect this oasis from being desertified by the sandstorm! You actually ran across more than ten of them? I’ve hesitated for three days and I am still reluctant to carry out a destructive study on them but you just…”

“Well, I just made your wish came true, didn’t I, sir?” Zhang Lisheng spread his hand and interrupted the old man before pointing at the shrubs scattered in the distance. “The juice of those shrubs that I’ve run across is still fresh and still maintains its basic activity. You can still collect it as a “test material” if you hurry up.”

Upon hearing this, the old man’s expression became even angrier. However, he no longer bothered shouting the young man but hurriedly shouted at the several assistants and students around him, “Darmin, start the generator! Emily, take the freezer! Donaldson, bring the sample-collecting vessels…”

Then, he strode into the broken shrubs in the distance.

Looking at the back of the old man who was running, Zhang Lisheng shrugged and said to the representative next to him who was stunned, “Good afternoon, Charlie, is this the geological expert you looked for the farm? Judging from the friendly scientist ‘academic dialogue’ between him and me, his temper doesn’t seem to be very good.”

“Boss, Professor Carnegie is the best candidate we can find at present.” Charlie said with a smile on his face. “Environmental and geological experts specializing in soil and water research now is very sought-after now so there’s not many to choose from.”

“You misunderstood me, Charlie. As a biologist, I admire such scientists who are devoid of human feelings and focus on academic research. You did very well,” Zhang Lisheng smiled at Charlie and turned his attention to the LS legal officer next to him. “Edward, it’s great to see you. Two hours ago I received a call from the director of the Logistics and Security Bureau of the Department of Defense who’s called Philips Edwards and we’ve made an appointment to see each other at 9 am tomorrow in the lobby of the Ocean Empire Building. I hope you can be there tomorrow.”

“Yes, boss.” Edward answered respectfully. “I’ll be prepared to make him untenable at any legal level, no matter what unreasonable demands he makes.”

The young man nodded happily. No longer continuing the business talk, he looked around at the lively environment that was very different from the desert and said, “Speaking of it, this is my first time coming to this oasis. It’s nice here, I can’t tell that it’s being desertified.”

“I felt the same way when I first came to this oasis, boss.” Edward said with regret. “Unfortunately, the water flow of the river on which the oasis depends is indeed decreasing. The federal environmental assessment predicts that this oasis has existed for more than a thousand years and has entered a ‘decay period’. It’s predicted that if the ecology was unchanged, it would still have a life span of 70 to 100 years. However, once the water consumption increases, the environment will deteriorate rapidly. ”

The instant his best friend’s words left his mouth, Charlie immediately explained from another perspective when he saw Zhang Lisheng frowned slightly, “Of course, we can also artificially excavate deep water wells, improve the quality of vegetation, and establish a more complete ecological cycle system to optimize the environment here. As long as we stop at no expenses, any miracle can happen, boss. ”

“You have a point since we won’t have any lack of money in the future anyway.” Zhang Lisheng’s frown eased away as he nodded. He lowered his head to look at the still river ditch under his feet and a curiosity suddenly rose in his heart, causing him to mutter to himself, “This small river has existed for so long but why is it going to dry up now…”

Opening his hands wide, he touched the water surface.

All of a sudden, streak of ripples that seemed to be set off by strong wind rippled silently on the calm river.

More than ten seconds later, the young man’s expression suddenly changed. His eyes became brighter as he stayed for a long moment of silence before asking in a low voice, “Charlie, I remember you said that the company has invested a total of 20 million dollars in this oasis, then how much did it cost for you to buy it from the government?”

“Boss, most of the 20 million-dollar investment has been used to build farmhouses and agricultural machinery, and to order advanced automatic irrigation systems. The land price is only 370,000 dollars, which is equivalent to the total value of all the wood in this oasis.”

“Does it mean that if there was no tree at all, just the land itself wouldn’t have cost so much anymore?”

“Yes, boss. This oasis that we bought is closest to New Washington A and under the new Constitution’s Charter amendment, it belonged to the Washington State Government. It’s stated in the Washington Public Land Use Act that all lands in the state that cannot be reasonably used by the government can be paid in advance by the US citizens or companies at a guaranteed value of ten cents per acre as an application for purchase. After the land has been applied to be purchased, the state government must make an announcement within 15 days. Within one month after the announcement is issued, if there’s any other purchaser who is willing to compete for the land, the government will determine the ownership of the land by public auction within one week. In the case where there’s no competition, the land will be owned by the applicant of the purchase after one month. If we don’t take the value of land attachments, that is the wood, into calculation, the reasonable land price of this oasis would have been about 800 to 1,200 dollars.” Edward replied in a very professional tone on behalf of Charlie.

“Ten cents per acre? This is too cheap, Edward! Are you pulling my leg? how is that possible?” Zhang Lisheng asked in surprise.

“In fact, this price is already considered high, boss. Ten cents per acre, which is equivalent to 1,000 dollars per square kilometer. The prices for public sale for a desert area that has also been marked by the government as unavailable in Louisiana or Nevada did not even exceed 100 dollars more than ten years ago during the peace times. To the government, when a wasteland that has been idle for a hundred years that will not bring even an ounce of profit at all is sold out at a low price, no matter what kind of development is carried out by the private sector on that land, it would still mean a steady stream of taxes and job opportunities. Even in the worst-case scenario, the land would just continue to be left idle. Even then, the government would still be able to cash out a public fund using that ‘waste’ and the buyer must also pay a land tax to the government every year, so why wouldn’t the government be happy to do so?”

“You have a point, Edward. It seems that until now I haven’t really learned your American pragmatic way of thinking.” The young man opened his mouth and found that he could not refute so he just shrugged and said, “Oh yeah, is the annual land tax that you mentioned that we have to pay to the government expensive?”

“It’s very cheap, boss. Different states have different laws. If the land is continued to be deserted, the highest tax imposed will only be one percent of the land purchase price. If the land is successfully developed, then there’ll be various tax deduction mechanisms.”

“Oh, looks like we’re lucky.” Zhang Lisheng smiled excitedly and lowered his voice. “Charlie, apply to the Washington State Government to buy all the public land around this oasis. Buy all that is available.”

“All? Boss?” Even though Charlie had already foreseen his thoughts from the questions raised by the young man, he still continued to ask, “The New New York City lies about 350 kilometers northwest of this oasis. And a part of the desert in the distance belongs to the New York State, the southeast … ”

“Alright, Charlie. Don’t care about the small money. Take down all the land that can be bought around it regardless of its state.” Zhang Lisheng’s face became taut as he interrupted his representative’s words solemnly.

“Understood, boss.” Even though Charlie did not know the intention of the black-haired young man in front of him, he still responded respectfully and immediately when he heard his resolute tone.

Zhang Lisheng nodded silently and no longer said anything standing by the river. It was not until a few minutes later that the old man who had collected the broken branches and leaves had walked towards him with a gloomy face that the young man finally took the initiative to extend his hand and said, “Good afternoon, Professor Carnegie, my name is Zhang Lisheng.”

“Professor, Mr. Zhang is the founder of the LS Group and the owner of this oasis,” Charlie hurriedly added, lest the old man would continue to contradict his boss and the god that he had faith in.

“I know who he is, Mr. Charlie.” Carnegie glanced at Charlie and stretched out his dirt-covered palm and shook the young man’s hand before saying bluntly, “A geologist who studies soil and water conservation must also be a qualified biologist. There’s no biologist here in the US who doesn’t know who Zhang Lisheng is. However, to be honest, Dr., your attitude towards science is not proportional to your academic achievement.”

“Professor, in order to rush here to meet you as soon as possible, I’ve driven for two full hours in the desert and almost gotten a ‘desert-blind sickness’ so when I saw the oasis, I was too happy that I just barged straight right into it. I’m sorry about those shrubs.”